Anthracite is considered the highest quality coal of all. It contains hardly any volatile components and a very high proportion of carbon. For this reason, it not only has a high calorific value and burns for a very long time, but also burns almost without smoke and leaves hardly any ash and slag. For these reasons, it has long been used as domestic fuel.
Traditionally, steam locomotives use softer types of coal that burn faster. In Pennsylvania, however, large quantities of anthracite were mined and fragments (culm) were left over as waste, which could hardly be used industrially. A very large grate surface was required to burn these fragments in a steam locomotive. Since an excessively long grate was very difficult to load with coal by hand, a very wide firebox had to be used instead. John E. Wootten then developed the firebox named after him, which, with its great width, allowed a large, thin layer of anthracite to be slowly burned off.
Since the cab was usually located behind the firebox, the forward view of the track was restricted. The solution was a driver's cab that lay like a saddle on the boiler in front of the firebox. The driver now had a clear view of the track, while the fireman continued to stand on a covered platform at the back of the boiler. Communication between the two people was now only possible by means of whistle signals.
Despite the disadvantages, more and more of these Camelback steam locomotives appeared in the vicinity of the anthracite mining areas in Pennsylvania in the 1890s, since the anthracite fragments could be obtained very cheaply. These ranged from small switchers to passenger locomotives to the Erie Railroad's L-1 class eight-axle Mallet. In the field of passenger transport, some railroads used the clean and smoke-free combustion of anthracite coal in their advertising campaigns to raise public awareness.
Around 1910, mechanical stokers, which could distribute the coal evenly over a long grate, became popular in the USA. At the same time, more and more locomotives with trailing axles were being developed, in which long fireboxes that were no longer quite as wide could easily be implemented. Another factor that hastened the Camelback's demise was safety concerns over the cab's location above the connecting and coupling rods. It was feared that in the event of a defect, loose steel parts would pose a danger to the life of the driver. Thus, the production of this type of locomotive ended within a few years. Since many Camelbacks were rebuilt into conventional locomotives, only five known representatives of this type exist today.