Roger, I second Hank's comment. Pretty, and typical NYC with that Elesco feedwater heater up there in front. :tb-biggrin:
It is a pretty photo. I just dug it out of my diminishing supply to post it. Getting Big Four photos is now very difficult.
Thanks for sharing the photo. Can't make out the number under the headlight, but that sure looks like a class K-5a or K-5b Pacific.
Number 1322 would be an H-5p Mikado, which doesn't look at all like the locomotive in the picture. Roger, I took a closer look at that picture. When I blow it up, the first digit looks more like a 4 than a 1. The last two digits are definitely 22. The second digit could be a 5 or a 9. Loco 4522 would be a K11d Pacific, but I don't think those had the Elesco feedwater heaters on the front. I'm guessing we see 4922, a K-5b Pacific originally built for the P&LE. It was renumbered in 1936 when it was assigned to the system.
Mike, K-11d #4522 was assigned to the Harlem Division between North White Plains, NY and Chatham, NY. The photos I have of #4522 show no visible feedwater heater. On the other hand, that same document* states that K-14f #4399 was the only NYC Pacific to have an Elesco feedwater heater, which she received when she was converted from K-11f #3193 in October 1925. * NYC Steam On The Harlem And Putnam Divisions, Photographs from the Edward L. May Collection.
I'm gonna vote with Mike that it is K-5 4922. All of the K-5a and b locos had Elesco feedwater heaters, 36 in all, 4905-4940. Oh that we had one available to look at today. :tb-sad:
Well, I can't argue with a photo, in this case 4924. Though she was a Big Four loco, not NYC, so my earlier statement about 4399 still stands.....I think:tb-wacky: BTW, 4924 was a K-5b, Alco class of 1926.
Since the author was limiting his discussion to steam on those two divisions, it seems he must have meant it was the only Pacific ON THOSE DIVISIONS to have an Elesco feedwater heater.
Mike, I'm sure you're correct, though he could have been refering to the New York Central as an entity in the historical sense. Many NYC fans and historians still do not accept that the CCC&StL (Big Four) was a corporate member of the "real" New York Central System, even though it had been bought and absorbed by the Central in 1906, 102 years ago. I note that the document where I found the photo of 4924 referred to it as a "Big Four" engine, not a New York Central engine, and I believe the photo was posted within the past eight years, which shows that parochialism is still alive and well.......:tb-biggrin:
