Are there any pics of Articulated locomotives or big engine crash pics.
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N&W Class A 1204 and 1205 both wrecked. Both were pretty ugly
Carl,
That's a good pic of the 604 crash.
Here's the 607
The 611
...and the 613
All repaired and restored to service. Wrecking 4 of 14 in class was pretty rough. I believe all three derailments were attributed to excessive speed / engineer error.
Union Pacific Big Boy 4005 jumped the tracks thanks to a misaligned switch.
DM&IR Yellowstone 224 derailed during a runaway train incident.
And of course the crying shame of the 5315 J1 Hudson jumping the curve with the Lake Shore Limited - the only NYC Hudson to get scrapped due to heavy damage.
According to this contemporary account, the Powhatan Arrow service was commenced April 26, 1946, only to be curtailed due to a soft coal strike 11 days later. The crash occurred only two weeks after the PA service had been resumed. Basically, the crews had less than a month's experience running the train. The engineer and fireman perished.
Kelly Anderson posted:The DM&IR #224 was not "Ex". They would lease their engines to other railroads when Great Lakes shipping was closed for the winter. In the photo, #224 is brand new, having been delivered by Baldwin in the winter, and delivered directly to the D&RGW for operation until spring, when she was promptly piled up. That's enough to **** you off if you are the DM&IR!
And the cause of that wreck on the D&RGW was determined to be, the lack of the "water brake" on the DM&IR articulateds. The Engineer was either not aware of the fact, or maybe he forgot, that the DM&IR locomotives were NOT equipped with the "water brake" system that all the D&RGW locomotives had. Thus, the train speed accelerated very quickly on the descending grade.
The D&RGW subsequently stopped leasing the DM&IR locomotives.
Edit: For those folks interested, Google, Le Chatelier Water Brake.
Hot Water -- Could you explain the operation of the "water brake" system used by D&RGW?
B Smith posted:Hot Water -- Could you explain the operation of the "water brake" system used by D&RGW?
May I suggest that you Google it first (see my edited post above), then if you have any additional questions, I'll try and help. The Santa Fe also experimented with the Le Chatelier Water Bake.
The wreck involving 611 was due to excessive speed. The 611 received a new boiler during the subsequent repairs and that was the main reason why the N&W chose to restore her many years later. Rumor has it that the late O. Winston Link threatened to purchase the 611 if the N&W did not opt to restore her. Can anyone else add to this?
Allegheny48 posted:The wreck involving 611 was due to excessive speed. The 611 received a new boiler during the subsequent repairs and that was the main reason why the N&W chose to restore her many years later.
To be clear, the reason that Mr. Robert Claytor WANTED to "restore" #611 was,,,,,,,,,,,she was the ONLY J Class locomotive remaining!
Rumor has it that the late O. Winston Link threatened to purchase the 611 if the N&W did not opt to restore her.
Don't think so, as #611 had already been "donated/sold" to SteamTown, when SteamTown was still located up in Vermont.
Can anyone else add to this?
Thank you, Hot Water, I did some research by way of Google, and now I believe I understand the operation of the water brake. I didn't mean to put the work off onto you ...
B Smith posted:Thank you, Hot Water, I did some research by way of Google, and now I believe I understand the operation of the water brake. I didn't mean to put the work off onto you ...
Not a problem. I thought you just might want to "read up" on that little known feature, before my old fingers tried to answer you.
The 611's sand dome has the dent, the sand dome is removable. And in one of Rich's videos, "Queen of the Fleet" I belive...there is an interview with O. Winston Link and he tells of how he put in an offer of first refusal on the 611 but that took place back when he was trying to make sure that she wasn't scrapped by the N&W, not before her 1st excursion career.
Pingman posted:According to this contemporary account, the Powhatan Arrow service was commenced April 26, 1946, only to be curtailed due to a soft coal strike 11 days later. The crash occurred only two weeks after the PA service had been resumed. Basically, the crews had less than a month's experience running the train. The engineer and fireman perished.
Nope! If you remember, the Class J entered service in 1941 and handled passenger service since day one. Experience didn't fly out the window just because someone hung a name on a train.
Allegheny48 posted:Rumor has it that the late O. Winston Link threatened to purchase the 611 if the N&W did not opt to restore her. Can anyone else add to this?
I don't have any exact quotes or page numbers on hand, but I just recently (within the last 2 months) re-read "Steam, Steel and Stars" and Link definitely did try to buy the 611 to keep her from going to the scrapper's torch.
Dunno if boiler explosions count, but the C&O managed to blow up one of its articulateds coming into Hinton, W.V. with low water.
Here is a small article on the C&O boiler explosion www.gendisasters.com/west-virg...r-explosion-aug-1936
So, if I understand this water brake concept correctly, if you didn't use this system properly, you could seriously damage the locomotive?.
Clarence Siman posted:So, if I understand this water brake concept correctly, if you didn't use this system properly, you could seriously damage the locomotive?.
Right. Thus, the reason behind the Santa Fe only experimenting with it, and NEVER putting it into use on their system. The operation is EXTREMELY dependent on having VERY competent & qualified Engineers. Thus, the smaller, more "family oriented" D&RGW was able to use the system to great effect on their severe mountain grades, even with their largest articulated locomotives.
Hot Water posted:Allegheny48 posted:The wreck involving 611 was due to excessive speed. The 611 received a new boiler during the subsequent repairs and that was the main reason why the N&W chose to restore her many years later.
To be clear, the reason that Mr. Robert Claytor WANTED to "restore" #611 was,,,,,,,,,,,she was the ONLY J Class locomotive remaining!
Rumor has it that the late O. Winston Link threatened to purchase the 611 if the N&W did not opt to restore her.
Don't think so, as #611 had already been "donated/sold" to SteamTown, when SteamTown was still located up in Vermont.
Can anyone else add to this?
Gotta jump in here with a correction, Jack.
1218 was once owned by Steamtown and was swapped to the NS in exchange for a couple of diesel units, former NKP GP9 514 and Wabash SW8 132.
Even though 1218 was owned by Steamtown, she had been loaned and displayed in a Roanoke, VA park since 1971.
611 was never part of the Steamtown collection. She was donated to the city of Roanoke upon retirement and was likewise displayed in the same park, as was C&O H-8 Allegheny 1604.
That last bit was rather odd since neither the C&O or 1604 had any historical connection to the N&W or the city of Roanoke. The only near-link, and it's a stretch, is that the Virginian AG class 2-6-6-6s (copies of the C&O H-8s) operated between Roanoke and Sewell's Point, VA.
colorado hirailer posted:Dunno if boiler explosions count, but the C&O managed to blow up one of its articulateds coming into Hinton, W.V. with low water.
I believe you're referring to the boiler explosion of 1642, an H8 Allegheny that blew up in June 1953 due to a low water condition.
Here is a TO thread containing a portion of the ICC report on the 1642:
http://www.trainorders.com/dis...n/read.php?10,878598
There is also some description of a low water boiler explosion of a UP 4-12-2 in Kansas.
Scott Griggs
Louisville, KY
