H7 on RF&P Potomac Yard hump duty -really?

Here's a link to what the N&W was using on their Roanoke hump yard in the late steam era.  Facebook

Using large engines for hump duty was not unheard-of generally; if you think about it, a train that has just arrived to be humped is still a full size road train that would need a powerful engine to get it going.

I'm most familiar with the New Haven - they had a special class of 3-cylinder 0-8-0's that were most commonly assigned to hump duty, however they were joined by Heavy Mikados that had been bumped from road service. There are records and photographs of road freight engines (2-10-2s and 4-8-2s) on hump duty as well, especially towards the end of steam.

~Chris

The RF&P used heavy 0-8-0 switchers for hump engines but they weren't enough to keep up with demand during WWII. The H7's were becoming obsolete on the C&O when the Alleghenies started to supplant them in coal drags starting in 1941. The H7's were slow and suffered with frame failures so the C&O was able to give up some of their H7's. The RF&P needed engines with a lot more pushing power for the Potomac Yard hump and as the C&O was part owner of the RF&P the transfer of the three H7's made a lot of sense. Later during the war the C&O transferred more H7's to the UP

As far as the Lionel proposed model goes, the Southern Pacific small Vanderbilt tender they are showing on their RF&P version just doesn't look very much like a 12,000 gallon C&O Vanderbilt.

Ken

The green frog videos on FB were remarkable. My previous perception was the big trains were broken up or assembled in small chunks but obviously a few of these big steamers were useful. Interesting that this may have happened more at the end of steam when units like the h7s may have been under utilized and "free" so to speak.