NYC 2073 9-4-1949

[rhensley_anderson]

NYC 2872 4-8-2 Mohawk on the Ready Tracks at Bellefontaine Yards on 9-4-49

http://madisonrails.railfan.net/belle/ba2872a.jpg

[Charlie]

Another good one Roger! I can hear her stampin' away from the yard right now!

Charlie

[fitz]

Thanks for coming up with those great photos, Roger. I have to question the number, though. 2073 was a 4-6-0, and that ain't no 4-6-0. Looks like a mighty Mohawk.
:tb-biggrin:

[CP&E 3207]

Bears resemblance to the 2800-class L2C's or the 2900-class L2D's.

I dont know what it is about the New York Central, but IMHO, the NYC's steam locomotives were always the most beautiful in the world, reguardless of their duty, design or style.

[Charlie]

Bears resemblance to the 2800-class L2C's or the 2900-class L2D's.

I dont know what it is about the New York Central, but IMHO, the NYC's steam locomotives were always the most beautiful in the world, reguardless of their duty, design or style.

================================================== ==================

I presume you folks have all seen the motion picture made by the NYC RR , "The Steam Locomotive". Primarily concerned with the 4-6-4, but it shows how the NYC RR was on the
forefront of locomotive technology. I recall reading that they did some very serious testing
of steam v.diesel with the intent of keeping steam technology indefinitely! As I've said before, they were past masters at matching the power to the job!

Charlie

[fitz]

I can't agree with you more, Pat. Charlie, the Central did some serious testing of all their locomotives. They ran some tests of the 4-8-4 Niagara vs. the first diesels and concluded that the Niagara was superior in performance and cheaper to operate. Of course that was when all of the infrastructure to support steam was in place. The diesel soon proved that it could survive without the steam infrastructure, go on for miles without water and never needed coal. Then John L. Lewis lead the United Mine Workers on strike at the coal mines. It was over.
:tb-sad:

[rhensley_anderson]

Thanks for coming up with those great photos, Roger. I have to question the number, though. 2073 was a 4-6-0, and that ain't no 4-6-0. Looks like a mighty Mohawk.
:tb-biggrin:

Yes, I have a problem with the number. How about NYC 2872 4-8-2 Mohawk?

[Triplex]

I dont know what it is about the New York Central, but IMHO, the NYC's steam locomotives were always the most beautiful in the world, reguardless of their duty, design or style. I do wonder how they did it... I always thought the Niagara was the best-looking of steam locomotives, more so than its cousin the FEF-3. Then I realized that they equalled its looks with their last freight power, the L4 and A2. With those and the J3, the NYC system is the only one to have four designs on my list of favorite steam power.

[fitz]

Here is an example of New York Central testing. This is a photo from Harold K. Vollrath's collection, my poor scanning ability notwithstanding. It is the "prototype" Hudson, no. 5200, undergoing road testing on the Mohawk Division, somewhere near my home town of Little Falls, NY. Notice the wooden structure on the pilot. It housed all kinds of instruments to record relevant parameters to determine the performance of the locomotive. I have done a lot of testing in aircraft, but I can't imagine what it would be like to ride on the pilot of steam locomotive recording data, protected only by a wooden "fence!" Notice the dynomometer car behind the tender, where a more civil environment existed for the test engineers.
http://www.pioneer.net/%7Efitzrr/5200.jpg

[Hytec]

Note also that 5200 is pulling at least 10 cars and the dyno, and still has excess steam to "pop", or maybe that's her whistle, dunno....:thumbs_up: