On April 29, 1951, New York Central H-10b 2-8-2 #2081 hits the crossing at Porter, Ind., with a westbound freight out of Niles, headed for Gibson. She likely made a hell of a racket as she pounded across the diamond with the Michigan Central Railroad, itself an NYC subsidiary.
NYC H-10b Mikados #2190 and #2199 pound through Minerva, Ohio on the Lake Erie & Pittsburg. The LE&P was a "paper railroad" in that it existed legally but had no equipment. Everything was supplied by the New York Central, which owned and operated it. Built around 1910, the LE&P ran from Marcy in Cleveland to a connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad at Brady Lake. From there trains ran on trackage rights either to Alliance and Minerva, or to Ravenna where they got on the Baltimore & Ohio to go to Niles Junction. From there trains went back to the PRR until reaching the Lake Erie & Eastern (another paper railroad) at Girard. The Lake Erie & Eastern took the trains across Youngstown into the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie (not the Lake Erie & Pittsburgh) yards at Struthers, Ohio. This was quite a confusing arrangement but it made for a direct Cleveland-Youngstown route for both the NYC and PRR. The Lake Erie & Pittsburgh was abandoned and torn up after the Penn Central merger, since it was single-track "dark" (unsignalled) territory, versus the Pennsy's nearby double-tracked, signalled line.
New York Central J-2 Hudson #5469 at West Nyack, NY on 4/11/52. The rails are the former New York, West Shore & Buffalo, which was infamously part of a rate war between the NYC and the PRR and was purchased by the NYC in exchange for ending construction of the Southern Pennsylvania Railroad (which would then become the Pennsylvania Turnpike). And that weird square sand-dome is a giveaway that this is actually one of the ex-Boston & Albany Hudsons. Due to the Boston & Albany's hillier terrain and shorter hauls, the NYC ordered the J-2s with 4" shorter drivers, higher-capacity square sand domes, and short 4-axle tenders. The B&A was one of the first areas of the NYC to be dieselized, and so the J-2s were reassigned to commuter runs on both the West Shore and the Harlem Line, since the shorter drivers made them accelerate faster.
New York Central S-1b Niagara #6020 north of Cold Spring, NY with an advance section of the Commodore Vanderbilt. You can tell this is shortly after the S-1bs were delivered, because it still has the original headlamp, instead of the twin sealed-beam headlight that the Niagaras were rapidly fitted with.
The famed shot of "The Mohawk That Refused To Abdicate". In the summer of 1955, Trains editor David Page Morgan and his photographer compatriot ventured to the last stand of steam on the New York Central: the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis, better known as the "Big Four Route". Steam on the Central had been booted out of New England first, then the eastern ends of the line towards Harmon, then was pushed west of Buffalo, while at the same time it was being evicted from the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, ending with it all being congregated in Ohio. Morgan got word that L-3a Mohawk #3005, one of 25 dual-purpose 4-8-2s owned by the NYC, was being assigned to an eastbound "hospital train" extra, moving empty cars to a repair facility. They ran ahead to the diamond at Shelby, Ohio and set up shop at the tower, waiting for Extra 3005 East to pass through. Word came in that the train had pulled apart a drawbar on a car and was stalled, snarling up traffic, so they simply sat and watched PRR J1s on coal drags pass by. After a while, they noticed that the dispatcher was in a state of alarm because no one knew where exactly Extra 3005 East was or what it's status was.
As all of this was going on, Morgan and Hastings heard a train rapidly approaching, and they assumed that it was another passenger train. They ran trackside to see what it was, and lo and behold, it was #3005. In the incomparable words of David Page Morgan "Extra 3005 East, now no less 98 cars between tank and caboose, was bearing down on Shelby with all the implications of destiny of the Book Of Revelations, gaining momentum with each revolution of those 69-inch drivers, making the legal mile a minute with ease and perhaps a notch or two better. The elephant-eared aristocrat of an Alco rammed across the diamond with smoke going high, the Baker up near center, and the crew enjoying the breeze."
Sadly, by the time the article was published in September of 1956, immortalizing the #3005 in print, the #3005 was long gone. Even at the time of the writing, she had fallen on hard times: the cylinder head covers were gone, the jacketing for the steam and sand dome were also nowheres to be found, and the trailing truck booster had been removed to simplify maintenance. And then in January of 1956, it was sideswiped by derailed freight cars (pulled by one of those mysterious Pittsburgh & Lake Erie A-2 Berkshires, no less) and suffered considerable damage to the fireman's side. That late in the era, the NYC certainly wasn't going to fixed it, and the #3005 was cut up almost immediately afterwards.
In the twilight of her career, grungy and showing a lack of care, J-3 Hudson thrashes her way across Illinois, proving she still had what it took.
NYC J-1 Hudson #5230 with a particularly baffling consist at Cold Springs, NY. The lack of a baggage car would, at first glance, lead you to believe it was a local train. But behind that first heavyweight coach are three lightweight sleepers. Why would a local train require sleeper cars, and why would you have sleeper cars and no baggage or dining car for a long-haul train? It doesn't make sense either way. This led some to guess that maybe it was a "hospital train" moving cars to the Albany car shops for service, but then why are they on an inner express track. There would be no big hurry to get those cars there, so it would have been running on the outer, lower-priority track. Whatever this mystery train was, it's lost to history.
New York Central S-1b Niagara #6020 races along just north of Stuyvesant, NY with the Delaware & Hudson's Montreal-New York City Laurentian. The D&H handed the train off to the New York Central at Albany-Rensellaer for the final southbound stretch into Grand Central Terminal. While New York Central preferred to call their 4-8-4s Niagaras, the D&H preferred the term Laurentians for their 4-8-4s.
One of the New York Central Systems/Pittsburgh & Lake Erie A-2 Berkshires. Ten of these Berkshires were ordered from Alco by NYC chief mechanical engineer Paul Kiefer in 1948, and there is a definite familial resemblance between the A-2s and the S-1b Niagaras and, to a lesser degree, some of the late J-3a Hudsons and the L-4a/b Mohawks. There was apparently a lack of communication between management and Kiefer, because the NYC was already on its way to dieselization, and when they found out that Kiefer had just ordered ten new brand-new steam locomotives, they tried to cancel the order. But Alco had already begun construction on them, and so they refused to cancel the order, because they would be stuck with locomotives that would likely be difficult to sell. Since they had only begun construction seven of the ten, they did reduce the order down to seven. Also interesting was that by this point, Alco had already converted their tender shop over to diesel construction and so they actually had to sublet out construction of the tenders to Lima, who was still all-in on steam locomotives.
NYC had no desire to really take ownership of these locomotives for their main system, and so they decided to foist them off on the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie. The P&LE wanted to purchase diesels, and was not particularly pleased at these orphan locomotives getting tossed at them instead. The A-2as as they were classed, were also rather antiquated machines even when new. They had 63" drivers, long after it had been realized that 69"/70" drivers were the best choice for Berkshires, they had friction bearings, no feedwater heater, no trailing truck booster, and they had smaller cylinders and a lower boiler pressure (and resultantly, less tractive effort) than the Boston & Albany A-1a Berkshires of over 2 decades earlier. The only concession to modern construction that they had were overfire jets, an appliance of dubious usefulness. I have to wonder if these were supposed to have 69" drivers and all the modern appliances, and New York Central nixed all that to save costs on locomotives that they didn't even want in the first place. One oddity was that they were delivered in olive grain paint on the boilers, cabs, and running gear.
The P&LE put them in service, where they toiled in relative obscurity, and started putting them into storage as early as 1952, at just 4 years of age, as diesels started filtering onto the property. They would see a brief revival in 1956, when casualties of deferred maintenance on steam locomotives began wiping out the remaining Mohawks, Mikados, and Niagaras that were still running on the "Big Four Route" and caused a power shortage. The A-2as were put shipped west to Ohio and reactivated but that was a short-lived reprieve. Almost immediately they began having their own issues, caused by poor maintenance and years of storage, and their availability was very poor. The shortest-lived of them ran for 20 days before being knocked out of service, while the longest-lived ran for only 100 days in this service. They were plagued with issues of scored axle bearings and leaky flues and superheater elements. By 1956, scrapping had begun, and by 1957, they were all gone, making Alco the only American manufacturer whose last-built steam locomotive no longer exists.
0-8-0 close to Joliet ^ Northern Indiana (MC) 5 stall roundhouse
In reply to NickD :
I know exactly where those shots of NYC trains north of Cold Spring, NY were taken. Only two tracks now, just south of the tunnels under Breakneck Ridge. It's basically the same spot you see in this image, turned around 180 degrees.
I wonder when they went down to two tracks, and how far north the four tracks extended in NYC's heyday. Certainly couldn't have been too far, since there are some sections further north that sit on man-made land extending out into the river that are only wide enough for two tracks.
You can definitely see the resemblance between the A-2a and the S-1b, with the squared-off smokebox door and the high-mounted headlamp. I have to wonder why the New York Central went to such a drastically different appearance with their last batches of locomotives.
The earlier New York Central L-4a Mohawks, which also have the weird square smokebox door, but with a more conventional headlight location. These rolled out in 1943, two years before the Niagara, and 5 years before the A-2a Berkshire. You can see how the design was slowly evolving towards the late locomotive designs.
New York Central J-3e Hudson #5451 in the deadline at Melrose Park, IL, also showing the squared-off front end treatment. Unlike the S-1b, A-1a, and L-4a/b, only four of the J-3e Hudsons (#5447, #5450, #5451, #5453) received this treatment.
LS_BC8 said:
0-8-0 close to Joliet, Northern Indiana (MC) 5 stall roundhouse
Apparently, there were some New York Central Systems (P&LE) 0-8-0s that had been transferred to the Big Four #'s 8000, 8006, 8008, 8012, 8034, and 8060 that hung around on New York Central property until 1959/1960, stored at the Riverside Roundhouse in Cincinatti, OH in hopes of resale to industrial companies. The sale never materialized, and they were all scrapped, meaning there are no surviving NYC 0-8-0s. There are two surviving NYC 0-6-0s, which is amazing, because the 0-6-0s were some of the first to go. Most of the 0-6-0's were being replaced 1945-49, another batch left 1951-52, and a few held on for a few more years, but 1955 is a distinct line. All those DS-4-4-1000s, S-12s, S-1s, S4s, SW1s and NW2s really made a dent quickly and the 0-8-0's took care of the rest of the work until they weren't needed any longer. In 1932 the 0-6-0 roster was 681 system-wide, by 1939 it was down to 414, and by 1951 there were only 128. The last of the 0-6-0s were ones that ran on the Whitewater Branch including #6784 and #6825. The #6784 was retired in December of 1956 and #6825 is shown to have been retired in May of 1957, replaced by Baldwin S-12s and RS-12s.
02Pilot said:In reply to NickD :
I know exactly where those shots of NYC trains north of Cold Spring, NY were taken. Only two tracks now, just south of the tunnels under Breakneck Ridge. It's basically the same spot you see in this image, turned around 180 degrees.
I wonder when they went down to two tracks, and how far north the four tracks extended in NYC's heyday. Certainly couldn't have been too far, since there are some sections further north that sit on man-made land extending out into the river that are only wide enough for two tracks.
I'm not certain the exact date when they went down to two tracks, but it was sometime in 1961/1962. Under Alfred Perlmann, leading up to the Penn Central merger, the NYC went on an aggressive program of leaning out their railroad. They stripped out a lot of the 4-track main line, constructed hump yards, sold off excess property, reduced physical plant, went all-in on centralized traffic control to reduce the number of manned towers, severed branch lines, and generally just trimmed off as much fat as possible. With the drastic drop in traffic and culling of passenger service that had been experienced since 1954 and the more efficient utilization of the tracks they had through CTC, there was no reason to keep four tracks maintained and operational, so they yanked up two of them. As far as I know, the NYC prided themselves on a 4-track from NYC to Chicago, and I know it was four tracks through Utica, Rome and Oneida. That's on top of the other parallel route across NY: the West Shore from Weehawken, NJ to Buffalo, NY (4 tracks from Weehawken to Dumont, 2 tracks to Buffalo). PRR also bragged about their 4-track main line from NYC to Chicago, referring to it as "The Broad Way" which is were the train name of "Broadway Limited" came from, not from Broadway in New York City. It's also worth pointing out that the PRR did not undertake the same program as the NYC, and was for all intents and purposes a 1920s railroad in the 1960s and much worse off.
This photo was taken in 1962 and you can see that the rails are gone on the outer tracks, but the ties still remain.
Perlmann's aggressive cost-saving procedures were a huge success and the NYC was showing signs of recovery, and then the Penn Central merger
New York Central Systems/Canada Southern 4-6-0 #1290 at Brigden, Ontario, on the NYC’s St. Clair branch in September 1955. The #1290, and sister #1291, were constructed in the Canada Southern's St. Thomas Shops in 1900, and held down the St. Clair branch until April of 1957, due to light rail and weak bridges. Still in as-built form with no concessions to modernity, Jim Shaugnessy described them as "It was like entering a time warp to see old locomotives still in steam. Hardly anything had changed on the two 4-6-0's in their 56-year lifetime—no stoker or power reverse, just hand-fired, 73-ton machines with slide valves, 64-inch driving wheels, and 50-inch-tall smokestacks." The NYC had demolished all the water towers on the 64-mile branch, and so the two of them trailed an auxiliary tender, the only ones in use on the New York Central, so that they could make their trips. St. Thomas tried to get one of the two locomotives preserved after their retirement, since they were built there, but the Central scrapped the #1290 at St. Thomas and sent the #1291 to Buffalo to be broken up. The #1291 came within one month of being the last NYC locomotive in steam, but the honor went to H-7 Mikado #1977 when it dropped its fires at Riverside in May of 57.
The S-1bs had an interesting tender design where they had a massive coal bunker and a relatively tiny water cistern. The idea was that since the NYC had track pans everywhere on the mainline and they could pick up water on the fly, making a huge coal bunker would allow long hauls with minimal, if any, stops. This came back to bite them later on, when the NYC began retiring the track pans in the '50s. The pans, and their steam heating plants, were expensive to maintain and there was less and less steam locomotive using them. David Page Morgan recounted speaking to an NYC dispatcher in Ohio, trying to hunt down the remaining Niagaras, and being informed that they were stuck on commuter runs and local trains because they simply couldn't make it from water tower to water tower if assigned to any sort of tonnage.
Here's a sobering thought for fans of the Water Level Route: in the 66 years since NYC #1977 dropped it's fired, there has not been a NYC steam locomotive that has returned to service.
There has actually been attempts. Both NYC #2933 and #3001 have been repeatedly looked at. Ross Rowland considered the #3001 for his 21st Century Express. The group operating Frisco #1522 looked at replacing it with the #2933. The group operating Milwaukee Road #261 considered the #3001 after negotiations with extending the lease of #261 broke down. And there was a rumored Conrail corporate steam excursion program that was to include either #2933 or #3001 and PRR M1a #6755. But none have ever progressed past the initial inspection phase. The 21st Century Express was stillborn, the Conrail steam program died with the president that proposed it, the Frisco #1522 folks decided to overhaul the #1522 again, and Friends of MILW #261 were able to work things out with NRM.
I know Ross Rowland said that the #3001 was to be determined in pretty poor condition. When it had been disguised as Texas & Pacific #909, someone had gone ape with the oxyacetylene torch and had gutted the coal bunker out of the tender, torched the firebox grates out and cut the stoker auger away as well. The humid climate of Dallas also hadn't done it any favors, and the flies, superheater tubes, and front flue sheet had nearly completely rotted away.
The Whitewater Valley Railroad, which operates the old NYC Whitewater Valley branch, has an NYC 0-6-0, and a pair of 0-6-0s held down that branch until near the end of NYC steam, but as far as I know, there are currently no plans to restore it to operation. At one point they bought the standard-gauge 0-6-0 used at East Broad Top's Mount Union yard with intent to operate it, but that fell by the wayside. I imagine keeping the only operational Lima-Hamilton diesel going is enough excitement for them.
If you've got $2500 to burn, the URHS of NJ is tacking a NYC tavern-lounge and round-tail observation/sleeper/lounge Hickory Creek to the tail end of the Lake Shore Limited to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the 1948 iteration of the 20th Century Limited. Sadly it doesn't follow the exact route of the 20th Century because all Amtrak trains leave from Penn Station, and not GCT.
https://railfan.com/hudson-river-rail-excursions-back-in-2023-with-expanded-schedule/
NickD said:Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:NS derailment that looks like quite a mess...
I saw that video, that was a hard hit.
Taken from the article: "The tractor-trailer was waiting for a green light," authorities noted on social media. "He was carrying a 134-foot concrete bridge beam. Then, the crossing arms went down as the train approached. The truck driver was unable to get out of the way in time."
Okay, but why was he blocking the crossing while waiting for a green light? You're not supposed to enter a crossing or an intersection unless you can clear it.
Follow up on that bad crash in Collegedale, TN: The truck driver, Jorge Luis Cruz-Vega, has been arrested and charged with failure to yield, a registration violation, and felony reckless endangerment. He posted bail and was released ahead of a court appearance set for April 12. If convicted of the felony, the man could spend up to six years in prison.
Cruz-Vega had allegedly not contacted or made arrangements with the railroad prior to moving the extra-long beam through town.
In reply to NickD :
That's harsh, but also his own damn fault.
The number of operational Lima-Hamilton diesel locomotives has now doubled. For years, Whitewater Valley Railroad has operated their ex-Cincinatti Union Terminal Lima-Hamilton LS-750 end-cab switcher, but this weeked they were able to fire up and move their ex-Armco Steel LS-1000 end-cab switcher, the last one in existence, under it's own power. Armco #709 was actually operational when it arrived on Whitewater Valley's property in 1987, but only briefly, and has been dormant for over 25 years. They did fire up the prime mover in 2005, but this is the first time it's been out and about. There's still some work to be done before it returns to regular operation.
Of the 174 diesel-electric locomotives built by Lima-Hamilton, there are only 4 surviving, and of those, 3 of them are at Whitewater Valley Railroad.
Whitewater Valley Railroad's three are:
The fourth and final Lima-Hamilton locomotive is at Illinois Railway Museum and is another LS-1200 from Armco Steel, although unlike B&O #320, this one was ordered brand-new from L-H by Armco Steel. Again, this one hasn't operated since it arrived at IRM and I don't believe there are any plans to get it running.
No LRS-1200 road switchers still exist, although at least two that had been repowered with EMD 567s by NYC ran on the Penn Central into the mid-'70s. New York Central was the sole purchaser of the LRS-1200, owning 16 of them, and had another 17 on order when Lima-Hamilton was merged into Baldwin. The order was converted to Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton RS-12s instead. There are also none of the wild LT-2500 transfer locomotives still in existence. Similar to the LRS-1200, Pennsylvania Railroad was the sole owner, and had purchased 22 more when the Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton merger went through, and the order was converted to 23 B-L-H RT-624s.
There were also a number of proposed Lima-Hamilton models that never saw the light of day.
Also worth pointing out that Lima-Hamilton never actually assigned the commonly-used model names to their products. They didn't have official model designations, and railfans simply came up with the names at a later date to make it easier.
One of PRR's big LT-2500 transfer units at Columbus, Ohio. The PRR caused a slight issue with Lima-Hamilton when PRR gave them their own class designation of LRS-25, for Lima-Hamilton Road Switcher - 2500hp. But the unit actually had two 1200hp Hamilton turbocharged inline-8s and was officially rated by L-H at 2400hp. Lima-Hamilton decided just to play along and changed all their official paperwork to list them at 2500hp as well.
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