Y6 allocations, Shenandoah line locos etc.

[nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org]

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org 
  To: N and W Modeling List 
  Sent: Wednesday, June 28, 2006 11:53 AM
  Subject: Y6 allocations, Shenandoah line locos etc.


  Ed (King)

  Many thanks for the information you provided on the allocation of Y6s.

  Some further queries arise about this.

  In Jim Nichols' book "Norfolk and Western in Color", on p.38, is a photo with the following comments "Y6 #2121...probably returning from pusher service on the Shenandoah Valley line...Take note of the ATC shoes suspended from the rear of the tender, a good indication that the engine is assigned to the Shenandoah..."

  The tenor of the comments suggests to me (perhaps wrongly) that not all Roanoke assigned locos received ATC equipment. Is that the case?

  AFAIK, all Roanoke-assigned Y-6s were equipped.  If they weren't, they'd be in a position of having to hold an "equipped" engine for the Valley runs, an undesirable situation.

  I gather from the DVD "Pocahontas Glory - Volume 2" that Roanoke was HQ for both the Radford and Shenandoah divisions of the N&W. Were locos specifically assigned to the different divisions? If so, perhaps only the Shenandoah assigned locos were ATC fitted?

  Roanoke was, indeed, HQ for both Shenandoah and Radford Divisions.

  Jim Nichols' comments continue by pointing out that it was only the 107 mile stretch between Shenandoah and Hagerstown which had ATC installed.

  Don't have any information contrary to Jim's.

  Volume 3 of "Pocahontas Glory" is specifically about the Shenandoah division, and in it there is the following comment: "Shenandoah Virginia was division point of the line where a roundhouse and turntable were maintained. Y class engines are in abundance, waiting to relieve their brothers heading north or south".

  Putting these together, it would seem that non-ATC equipped locos would be able to work from Roanoke to and from Shenandoah but not beyond. If not all Roanoke assigned Ys were ATC equipped, perhaps Shenandoah was "division point" in that sense as well.

  As noted above, having all Roanoke-assigned Y-6s equipped eliminated the necessity for holding specific engines out for specific runs.

  A related point concerns the fact that classes J and A were apparently not used in the Shenandoah division. Was this because they were not ATC equipped? Or was it basically for other reasons (track curvature? axle-loading?) - hence there would be no point in equipping these classes with ATC?

  If there had been any advantage to running Js and As up the Shenandoah Valley, they'd have been equipped.  The streamlined Ks handled the Shenandoah passenger runs very nicely, and there was no need for a locomotive of the As capabilities on the Valley.

  I would be grateful for enlightenment on these matters from anyone who knows, as I've probably reached a number of wrong conclusions.

  Regards to all,

  Frank Hung

  Hope this helps.

  EdKing


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