C&O 2-6-6-2 To WMSR

Question:

 

I would think that using the lead engine in simple mode is possible for only short periods of time, as the boiler could not keep up with the increased steam demand, is that correct?  Any other details you could provide on a compound operation vs. simple would be appreciated.

 

Really looking forward to this.  The ex LS&I 2-8-0 is great, love hearing and seeing her working up the grade to Frostburg.  This will be even better!  But there is still no beating a Lima locomtive!

In order to start moving all compound steam locomotives had to be able to start in "simple" mode, in which live steam was fed to all of the cylinders.  Once the train was moving the engineer would change the steam feed to "compound" mode, usually by 10 MPH.

 

This was necessary because in compound mode the low pressure cylinders only get steam after its been through the high pressure cylinders.  If the locomotive isn't moving then there is no steam available from the high pressure cylinders for the low pressure cylinders to use.  So in order to start moving the locomotive has to be set in simple mode so all cylinders get steam.  Once in motion then the locomotive is switched to compound mode.

 

Stuart

 

I read all of this and have a couple of questions.

Who is paying for the restoration, and where will the work be done?

The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad is paying for the restoration and the work be completed in their shops located in Ridgeley, West Virginia.

You are stealing my "Thunder" Bob!
The main focus now is now on the 1309 and what is gonna happen next...
...but the leadership at the B&O Railroad Museum needs to be praised for permitting the loan of the 1309 and its restoration back to service.

Late this summer, I plan to make a Foamers Trek to Cumberland to see the 1309 and visit old friends.  If time and $$$ permits, I want to visit the B&O Railroad Museum as  would be my small way of saying Thank You!

The B&O Museum has been known to occasionally let some things out to play... the RDC, recently returned from a long term lease to a Pennsylvania operation. In addition,  the museum's B&O GP30 and I believe the SD35 spent a good deal of time (loan for the summer perhaps?) in Cumberland running on the WMSR in the late 1990s/early 2Ks. 

FYI -- WM M2 Challengers weighed in at 601,000 lbs. Next in the weight line were the J1 Potomacs at 506,500 lbs.  These are engine weights w/o tender.  BTW, the H9's Consolidations weighed 309,910 lbs while the H8's weighed 244,500 lbs, again sans tender.  In fact, the K2's outweighed the H8's by just under 10 tons. 

 

Back in the day the rap on the Challengers west of Cumberland was that they were slippery going up grade.  Abnormal track wear did not seem to be a problem out there but it did appear to be a problem when they were moved back east between Cumberland and Lurgan.

 

Poppyl  

Agree on the need to start in simple, as no steam available from rear engine.  But what I was wondering is at what point would they have to switch to compound, and would they run out of steam if it was kept in simple, considering the boiler size?

Bryan,

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

I am stunned the WMSRR has the cash to restore the 1309, that's gotta cost a fortune. I would have expected a 611 style donate in advance fundraising program, versus a surprise, look what we done announcement. Good for them, they must be well managed to have squirreled away that kind of scratch.

 

Whatever the case, I am excited and ready to see, hear, and get a ride behind 1309.

Greetings Craig!

 

The Western Maryland RR Foundation has several ambitious projects on their plate.

http://www.movingfullsteamahead.com/

I do not know where their are receiving their funding, but kudos to the WMSRR Leadership, the Foundation and their staff (especially those penny pitching accountants ) for being so resourceful!

Yes, I agree with you: "Good for them!"

...which means good for the community of western Maryland, good the tourist railroad industry, railroad historic preservation and good for all us railfans and foamers (like me!)

 

So, you are excited to see and ride behind the 1309?

I passed excited long ago and I am now beyond stoked!

I am officially a WMSRR foamer!

I will freely admit, I am biased, as I lived in Cumberland for 8ish years, so I have a special fondness for the WMSRR.

 

Wonderful news. Now if we can get some trees and brush cut so we can see

the locomotives at work!

 

Here's the 734 on her the first day of this season..

 

734

 

Ed

Awesome pic Ed!

I am starting to get somewhat homesick for Cumberland.

I have to say, while I'm am excited about 611 and the Big Boy, they are both sexy stars.  And I was blessed to see, chase and ride 611 (and 1218) years ago.  But I've always had a place in my soul for the beasts of slow, powerful, drag steam that slugged over the eastern mountains, day in and day out at 10-15 mph, carrying the steel, the coal and all the goods that helped to make this country second to none.  

 

These locomotives are the unsexy, the brutes, the plain, the ugly, the slow.  The ones with a face only a mother can love.   From the PRR I-1's (most horsepower at 14mph!), to the compounds, it was hard to imagine we would see one running in this day in age.

 

So I wish all the best to WMSR for this project.  When the concept was first brought up a few months ago, I was at first taken aback that there is indeed a tourist road today that this type of locomotive is perfectly suited to.  

 

I hope they document their progress on the web and in social media.  Doing that will only serve to increase the excitement and build their fan base.

 

Bob

 

Bryan,

 

I am excited too.

 

I can't believe it: 765 restored (I rode behind it around Horseshoe Curve last year, me and my two sons had a great day that Sunday, thank you), 4501 being restored, 4014 being restored, 611 being restored, 1309 being restored.

 

A few years ago this was all unthinkable...East of the Missisippi we had 734, Cass Shays, a few others, and a 1361 promise that floundered, and that seemed like that was the way it would be, and that these remaining locos would burn out, and than we would have nothing. (think Steamtown)

 

Now, boom, all of the sudden several steamers are coming on line, in a "bad economy" to boot.

 

It looks like we are entering Golden Age of restored steam engines. I am a model railroader, a railfan, a steam locomotive lover, and shutterbug, so at a time like this I am very stoked too!

At the end of my first paragraph I wrote that by 10 MPH they would have to shift to compound.  However, I checked one of my books on N&W steam locomotives the power curves show the transition from simple to compound as happening at 5 MPH.

 

Stuart

 

Thank you Stuart for those finer details.

The better we are educated, the better railfans we can be!

 This is cool news !

 Her sister engine 1308 sits in the Collis P Huntington transportation park in Huntington WV.

 

         

 

Boy that is one ugly cuss, I Love IT, can't wait to see it under power.

Per Lionel's excellent USRA 2-6-6-2: the C&O H-5 and the USRA were not the "same" locomotive, anywhere except wheel arrangement and general dimensions. The C&O had both types (the USRA was Class H-6, the 2-8-8-2 was H-7 and the Allegheny was H-8) However, the original C&O design, from which this "new" loco is descended, pre-dated the USRA and was influential in the Government's design.

 

Here's the confusing part: the Lionel USRA 2-6-6-2 is not the to-be-restored C&O, but the Lionel catalogue artwork IS! As I recall, Right-of-Way (defunct) offered a C&O 2-6-6-2 back in the 80's/90's and I think Lionel used it for the catalogue photos. So, doubly confusing unless you think about this stuff too much, which I do.

 

 

You have things backwards.  The H-5 was the USRA design, and the H-6 was the C&O design.  The first H-6's were updated versions of the H-4, with the biggest change being piston valves on the LP cylinders of the H-6 instead of the slide valves used on the H-4.  In 1949 C&O decided that they needed some replacement locomotives for the coal branches, as the old H-4's, H-5's, and H-6's were getting worn out.  So the C&O went and ordered new H-6's from Baldwin.  Originally they ordered 25, but then reduced the order to 10 (probably mid order they decided to dieselize).

 

Stuart

 

Wow!   Who would have thought both a Big Boy and the C&O 2-6-6-2?   And the Challenger.    Nice trips to anticipate, to see these in action.

Them's fightin' words!

 

Larry

The C&O IS my favorite eastern road, due to engines like this and the K and F-19 series.  Do any of these, K's and F's survive?  There was an old O scale kit for a K, but I think MTH only did an elusive version of the F-19's, and there are no three rail K's?

 

The K4 2-8-4 has one of the highest survival rates of any steamer ever built, and it was even more so until around 1980 when the last one(s) were cut up. However none of the earlier K class Mikes have survived, AFAIK, ....the last one getting torched around 1980.   Of the surviving K4 Classes, 2716 has steamed under various guises, while 2789 "may be" steaming again fairly soon.   When talking about C&O K4 models in O gauge, don't forget the Adams and sons bronze boilered kit....which when finished, weighted almost as much as her prototype !