The term "shotgun exhaust"...

The 611 has more adhesive weight than 765, but with larger cylinders and a 2" shorter stroke has a lower factor of adhesion so might have slipped...no way to tell. But if the Berk got down to .68 mph, the 611 would have gone up faster assuming adequate adhesion. But it would not have been twice as fast unless the 611 had twice the drawbar HP at this speed, which is doubtful.

The trip up at 21 mph with a smaller train is probably the way the operation would have been operated in steam days., assuming it was not a helper operation. By the way, this is the only time I have ever seen a NKP Berkshire at the upper limit of its performance, quite a sight (and sound!), and certainly "one for the books".

Several good questions, Gregg.

1. Is it hard on a engine to have the reverser in the corner with full throttle for extended periods of time?
   Sure it is. It's like running your car at wide open throttle on a steep grade. It's much easier on the engine to be drifting along with a light load at 40 mph than doing this.
2. Would the fireman also have manually throw coal in the firebox?
   No. All the coal going into the firebox was being delivered by the stoker.
3. Why does the fireman open and close the door between each shovel full?
   To minimize the amount of cold air drawn into the firebox.
4. If the stoker failed could the fireman actually hand bomb the engine or is it just too big?
   It's too big. The firebox is 90 square feet. That is a 9 x 10 foot room with a fire on the floor.
   
   What we have done in the past when the stoker failed was to shovel the coal onto the firing table just inside the fire door, then allow the stoker blast jets to blow the coal out into the fire. That "sort of" works, but there is no way someone could have hand-fired the locomotive on that grade under those conditions.

nothing to do with presenting a pacifist's view, but when faced with a challenging grade, i've typically heard the term "barking" used when referring to exhaust blasts.

anyone else?

cheers...gary

I have heard "bark" or "barking" used to describe all kinds of loud exhausts - motorcycles, stock cars, truck and tractor pullers, muscle cars, and hot rods.

Yesterday I rode behind ex-CN 2-6-0 No. 89 on the Strasburg. Since her valve gear was rebuilt, she really "barks" getting a train out of Groff's Grove and accelerating around a curve and up the grade by Cherry Crest Farm.

Reading & Northern's ex-Gulf, Mobile & Northern 4-6-2 No. 425 "barks," too. She was loud before, but since her valves were shopped at Strasburg, she uses less coal and water. Here she is departing Jim Thorpe with the 1:00 PM train on the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway on Sunday, August 23. NKP 765 passed the 3:30 PM train at Old Penn Haven.

425's valves are set nice and square.