Steam question regarding the Shenandoah Division

[NW Mailing List]

Interesting comments about the Y-6's at high speeds - thank everyone . . .

The Bristol Line also saw Y-6s drifted at high speeds.  I've been told that 
they often were drifted through Atkins, for instance, at speeds sometimes 
exceeding 60 MPH.  And I was told that the 2200 on its maiden trip went 
through the dip west of Abingdon over the Route 11 overpass so fast that the 
rods were just a gray blur as attested to by witnesses on the ground.  The 
engineer claimed the speedometer read 70, but you know how engineers are . . 
.  8^)

There were engineers who knew how to drift the engines properly to minimize 
problems at those speeds, and, surprisingly enough, there were a couple who 
didn't know, and who ran hot main rod back ends.

Shaffers Crossing tried to keep a "good" Y-6 on train 51 because its 
turnaround time at Bristol for train 52 left no time for much in the way of 
repairs.  The summer I worked at Bristol Shop we saw the 2146 on 51 nearly 
every night.  Then, during its boiler wash time, we got the 2142 for a 
while.

EdKing
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "NW Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
To: <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Sent: Monday, July 07, 2008 5:38 PM
Subject: Re: Steam question regarding the Shenandoah Division



> Steam question regarding the Shenandoah Division

>

>

>

> I would like to add a few comments regarding this question that has been 

> much discussed during the past several days.

>

> I agree with Bud Jeffries' comments that the A's and J's were not the 

> ideal locomotives for the Shenandoah Division.  In passenger service, the 

> K-2's were all that were needed to handle passenger trains that rarely 

> exceeded 7 seven cars in length.  That's not to say that a J might not 

> occasionally have been operated in a detour movement.  And two J's did 

> quite capably handle General Eisenhower's 18-car campaign train on the W-S 

> District in 1952.  (Please see RAILS REMEMBERED, Volume 3, pp. 666-668.) 

> Incidentally, according to the division superintendent's instructions 

> regarding that movment, a Y-6 -- not a J -- followed the train north from 

> W-S.

>

> In regular freight service with tonnage trains, the principal heavy grades 

> encountered by A's were the 10-mile Kingston Hill on the Columbus District 

> and the Blue Ridge grade on the Norfolk Division.  The Y-6's were better 

> suited for the long, heavy grades on the Shenandoah Division, where they 

> could operate more efficiently at relatively low speeds than the A's could 

> have done.  It's true that there were places on the Shenandoah Division 

> where relatively high speed operation was possible; e. g., north of Front 

> Royal in both directions, northbound from Lofton to Waynesboro, and 

> southbound from Troutville to Roanoke.  In such territory the Y-6's could 

> DRIFT at high speeds, probably up to 60 MPH, which is why Gordon Hamilton 

> found so many broken parts on them.  But it was hard to WORK a Y-6 with 

> tonnage much above 45 MPH.  As far as the Mechancial Department was 

> concerned a 45-MPH speed limit would have been desirable.

>

> A similar situation existed on the Cincinnait District, where Y-5's could 

> DRIFT at high speed in much of the territory east of Peebles.

>

> Louis Newton

> ----- Original Message ----- 

> From: <nw-mailing-list-request at nwhs.org>

> To: <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

> Sent: Monday, July 07, 2008 3:24 PM

> Subject: NW-Mailing-List Digest, Vol 32, Issue 19

>

>

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>> Today's Topics:

>>

>>   1. Re: Steam question regarding the Shenandoah Division

>>      (NW Mailing List)

>>   2. RE: Steam Question on the Shenandoah Division (NW Mailing List)

>>   3. The A in Chambersburg (NW Mailing List)

>>   4. Re: Steam question regarding the Shenandoah Division

>>      (NW Mailing List)

>>   5. RE: Agents? (NW Mailing List)

>>

>>

>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------

>>

>> Message: 1

>> Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2008 12:49:21 -0400

>> From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

>> Subject: Re: Steam question regarding the Shenandoah Division

>> To: "NW Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

>> Message-ID: <004f01c8e051$67a55380$1801a8c0 at DESKTOP>

>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

>>

>> I have photographic proof of an A travelling all the way to Hagerstown on 

>> the Shenandoah Division.  The photo was made in Chambersburg, PA, 20 

>> miles north of Hagerstown when N&W sent a Class A to the New York World's 

>> Fair in 1939-40.  The A was dead in tow, with the main rods removed, 

>> being pulled by a K-4 Pacific.  The engine was polished to perfection. 

>> Presumably it was towed dead all the way from Roanoke.

>>

>> As for speed, I remember the Y class engines which passed my childhood 

>> home near Shepherdstown. All I can say is they gave real meaning to the 

>> term "fast freight."

>> I was puzzled in later years when I read about the Y class having had a 

>> top speed of 45 mph.

>>

>> --Rick Morrison

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>> Message: 2

>> Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2008 12:57:10 -0500

>> From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

>> Subject: RE: Steam Question on the Shenandoah Division

>> To: "NW Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

>> Message-ID: <EKEBLGDIIMBIBLOFFKIFOEBDCEAA.mycooper at comcast.net>

>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

>>

>> Jimmy,

>>

>>    I do not know. On the sheet that showed J 606 at Shenandoah there were 

>> a

>> few 1100 Class Ms dispatched. I assumed it was one of these. Also to 

>> correct

>> an spelling error, the Track Foremen I mentioned was Vance Nauman. My 

>> spell

>> checker changed it to "Norman".

>>

>>

>> Mason Cooper

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>> Message: 3

>> Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2008 14:35:56 EDT

>> From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

>> Subject: The A in Chambersburg

>> To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org

>> Message-ID: <c3a.3ab03306.35a3bc0c at aol.com>

>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>>

>> Rick :

>>

>> Could you put the photo of the A being towed to NY on this site would 

>> love

>> to see your photo.

>>

>> So glad to see you & Mason Cooper enter this discussion about the 

>> Shenandoah

>> Line.

>>

>> Regards,

>> Terry Marshall

>> Hagerstown, MD

>>

>>

>>

>> **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for

>> fuel-efficient used cars. 

>> (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)

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>> Message: 4

>> Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2008 11:48:46 -0700

>> From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

>> Subject: Re: Steam question regarding the Shenandoah Division

>> To: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

>> Message-ID: <534D1B7F-BE90-4C44-A7CF-162440E8E09F at sbcglobal.net>

>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; Format="flowed";

>> DelSp="yes"

>>

>> Yes, it was north of Shenandoah, probably between there and Hamberg.

>> The car speedo was probably a little fast, but . . .

>>

>> pete groom

>> On Jul 6, 2008, at 5:51 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:

>>

>> Your clocking of a 2100 at 55 mph interested me because it confirms

>> what I had heard.  To explain, the first job I had at the Shaffers

>> Crossing roundhouse in 1956 was handling the broken steam locomotive

>> parts reporting.  When a failed part was removed, either someone

>> would notify me or I would discover it on my frequent circuits of the

>> roundhouse.  I would inspect the part, fill out a report form to send

>> to the physical lab in Roanoke Shops, and secure the part in case the

>> lab wanted to inspect it.  In some cases as a result of the lab's

>> inspection, the lab would notify the design office that a change in

>> design was needed.  This was one way the N&W refined steam locomotive

>> components for better durability.

>>

>> I began to notice that a disproportionate number of broken parts were

>> from 2100s off the Hagerstown line, so I asked one of the older

>> supervisors about it and was told that the crews ran the 2100s as

>> high as 60 mph, particularly on the portion of the line north of

>> Shenandoah.  So, I am glad to see your confirmation of speeds in that

>> range.

>>

>> Gordon Hamilton

>>

>> . . .

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>> ------------------------------

>>

>> Message: 5

>> Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2008 15:05:22 -0400

>> From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

>> Subject: RE: Agents?

>> To: "'NW Mailing List'" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

>> Message-ID: <20080707190522.1ADCF628D7 at warspite.cnc.net>

>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>>

>> Thanks for the insights. I guess a regular agent would be set up at a

>> particular location and a traveling agent as you said would call on 

>> people

>> maybe even off line for business. I see that most of them were in 

>> junction

>> cities or places where there interchanges with other lines.

>>

>>

>>

>> Robert Mee

>>

>> on Outlook 2003

>>

>> from Home on XP Home

>>

>>  _____

>>

>> From: nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org

>> [mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List

>> Sent: Monday, July 07, 2008 7:32 AM

>> To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org

>> Subject: Re: Agents?

>>

>>

>>

>> Robert Mee-

>>

>> Maybe I shoulda looked in The Official Guide

>>

>> before responding to your question.  Traveling

>>

>> Freight Agents did not work for the Transpor-

>>

>> tation Department.  Believe the hopper cops

>>

>> were known as Traveling Agents.

>>

>>

>>

>> The Traffic Department had offices spread

>>

>> all over the country -- Pittsburgh, San

>>

>> Francisco, Durham, and many others.  The

>>

>> Traveling Freight Agent solicited traffic from

>>

>> out-of-town customers. For example, the

>>

>> Traveling Freight Agent at Durham would

>>

>> call on Westinghouse at Raleigh, Weyer-

>>

>> hauser at Plymouth, and usually the local

>>

>> station agent for the railroad.  C&O's

>>

>> Traveling Freight Agent paid a visit to

>>

>> Chocowinity and while I was copying a

>>

>> train order, he was flipping through the

>>

>> waybills to determine if there was any

>>

>> traffic that could be diverted to C&O.

>>

>>                                       Harry Bundy

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>  _____

>>

>> Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used 

>> cars

>> <http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007> .

>>

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