N&W in 1903 -- Leviathans

NW Mailing List nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Sat Jan 12 07:14:19 EST 2008


could this be the water shifting back in the boiler? LOL when
braking, the water would shift back over the 'smaller wheels.'


Mark Lindsey
Stuck in the 1930's



On Jan 11, 2008, at 8:13 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:

N. & W. TO HAVE FASTEST TRAIN IN THE SOUTH
------
N. & W. WILL HAVE SIX LEVIATHONS (sic)
------
New Atlantic Type of Engines Have Been Ordered
------
The Norfolk and Western railway will shortly have six new engines
of the Atlantic type in operation. These engines are to be used to
reduce the schedule between Richmond and Norfolk.
The most distinctive features of these racers are the large fire
surface and an automatic arrangement whereby, when pulling a heavy
train up grade, or in starting, an additional 10,000 pounds of weight
is placed on the drive wheels, thus preventing to a large extent the
slipping that is usually experienced in such instances. When running
on the level or in coasting, the additional weight is thrown from the
drivers on to the smaller front wheels, thereby obtaining a higher
speed.
The Baltimore & Ohio and the Chesapeake & Ohio railroads, which
cross both the Blue Ridge and Alleghany mountains in reaching the
West, use these locomotives for fast passenger work, both systems
having in one or two instances grades of nearly 2 per cent, or 100
feet to a mile. This is especially true of North mountain, in the
Alleghany range, on the Chesapeake & Ohio, where for ten miles there
is a grade of 94 feet. Formally passenger trains of eight or nine
cars were double headed for such ascents, but it is a frequent
occurrence for an Atlantic type locomotive to pull nine cars over the
mountain on schedule time.
The Atlantic type of engine is regarded as a luxury by many
railroad men. The number of these locomotives now in commission on
the Eastern railroads is: The New York Central, 155; Pennsylvania,
103; Baltimore and Ohio, 60 [?? blurred, best estimate]; Chesapeake
and Ohio, 25; Norfolk and Western, 6.
Until the Chesapeake and Ohio gave its first order about eighteen
months ago for ten of these monsters, the operation of such
locomotives was confined to the lines north of the Potomac and Ohio
rivers. The Norfolk and Western has now fallen into line with an
order for six of the Atlantic type.

Bluefield Daily Telegraph
July 10, 1903

[ It is interesting that locomotives produced in New Jersey were
readied in Kenova, WV for service between Norfolk and Richmond. Also,
can anyone explain how the mechanism worked to put an extra 10,000
pounds on the drivers as claimed in the article?]

Gordon Hamilton
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