NYC NYC 6015 at Beech Grove. Last Niagara in service

NYC 6015 at Beech Grove. Last Niagara in service
Charlie Smith said: June 30, 1956. Last run of 6015 in passenger service, train no. 416, Indianapolis to Cincinnati on account of a diesel failure. Departed Indianapolis 34 minutes late, arrived Cincinnati 6 minutes late. July 2, 1956. Returned to Indianapolis in freight service, train CC-3. Final run. -
Photo by Soph Marty.

 

And a c. 1952 Dodge truck hiding behind.

R.E.A. liked Dodges. Suppose it's one of theirs?

 

6015 must have been already in steam to have left Indianapolis only 34 minutes late. IIRC, it took more than an hour to bring a large locomotive up to usable pressure from cold iron. LEW, is this true?

 

She made up 28 minutes enroute, pretty typical of NY Central running. Thanks, Roger, for another great photo of NYCS steam.

 

Yes it was under steam . It was used as a relief engine at that time so it was ready to go . When you can make up 28 min. on a 100 mile run , as they say there was not any grass growing under your feet . I would bet 95 - 100 was the number on the speed recorder . LEW

 

According to a timetable from that era, train no. 416 was carded at 2hrs and 40min, with three station stops, over the 109 miles between Indianapolis and Cincinnati - an average speed of about 40mph.
In the same timetable, the The James Whitcomb Riley was scheduled over the same route in 2hrs flat, with two station stops - an average speed of about 55mph.

So, even making up 28min would still have resulted in an overall running time 12min slower than that of the Riley, while allowing for an extra station stop.
Would the Riley have had to hit 95-100mph to make its average of 55mph?
If not, would it have been necessary for the 416 to run that fast in order to make up that much time?

 

I don't know if railroads, back in the day, followed the same practices tourist railroads follow today, but the ideal warm up time of a locomotive such as 6015 would be around 7-8 hours. Keep in mind that it was also common practice to have hot water/steam circulate through the boiler prior to a fire being lit so when it came time for a fire, it would take about an hour to get the fire in order and the engine ready to go.