Them Ol' Steem injines

NW Mailing List nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Sat Aug 15 22:44:32 EDT 2015


All three OK up the river, not so hot on the mountain.  Check out the low-speed drawbar pull figures.

The Q2 (no hyphen in PRR notation) did not have more DBHP than the H8.  The figure you’re thinking about was calculated CYLINDER HP, not DBHP which was the HP available for pulling the train.  It would have taken three Q2s to get the train up the mountain if the wheel-slip butterflies were working OK.  

Two L-131’s equal 262,000.  They’d need help.

Two DMIR’s would have needed help.

EK

From: NW Mailing List 
Sent: Saturday, August 15, 2015 4:09 PM
To: NW Mailing List 
Subject: Re: Them Ol' Steem injines

Dear Ed, 

How well do you think the following locomotives would've done?

1). DM&IR Yellowstone
2). PRR Q-2, supposedly more BHP than an H-8.
3). D&RGW 2-8-8-2

Patrick
pfwhalen at gmail.com

On Saturday, August 15, 2015, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:

  Here are two more for you steam performance guys to consider.

  The 2184 is coming around the curve at Walton Tower with a 10,000+ ton coal train.  The 2179 is the pusher on the same train.

  The “84” dropped down the mountain out of Bluefield and then went to work, lifting that train up the New River’s .2 per cent grade at between 29 and 32 MPH.  It was necessary for it to put 5,500 horsepower on the drawbar to accomplish this.  Then she, with the help of an identical sister, will have no problem lifting this train up to Christiansburg on Alleghany’s 1 per cent grade – they’re rated for 5,150 tons each.

  Now, these two engines are capable of putting 332,000 pounds of low-speed drawbar pull (and/or push) to get this job done.  I remember one double which had to get its pusher east of Walton Tower on the grade itself.  It was raining.  The train was in several curves and on the grade and the two Y’s got her moving, and on up the grade she went.  That job took every ounce of the 332,000 pounds.

  Now consider putting other locomotives in that position.  The two Triplexes would have done it, but neither would have made the mountain without stopping to blow up steam.  Two Virginian AE 2-10-10-2s would have done it, but one of them would have maybe made 15 MPH coming up the river.  Two Big Boys didn’t have enough low-speed oomph to get this train up the mountain; Big Boy was rated for 4,800 tons on one percent.  An H-8 could have brought the train up the river that fast, but it would have taken more than two of them to get it over the Mountain.  So pick your favorite and do the math.

  Two more cents . . .

  EdKing

   



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