Steam Pusher Engines

[NW Mailing List]

Jack

You have some fairly broad based questions here. I am working on a sidebar about the pushers on Blue Ridge for the next Arrow, which may, or may not have space for it.

I can only speak to observation of photos and film, I was not there personally. I will address only the pushers used over Blue Ridge, some of the details on operation on other divisions were covered in the earlier parts of the High Noon Series in the Arrow.

> On Feb 27, 2021, at 8:19 PM, NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
> 
> I am curious about pusher steam engines used during the 1940’s and 50’s.  I have several questions:
>  
> 1.      Which class engine would normally have been used as a pusher engine?

My observation is they normally used a Y6 or Y6a as pushers at least in the mid to late 1950s. But that does not rule out Y6bs, as I have seen evidence of that as well, but typically, it was a Y6/Y6a. Of course, the Jawn Henry also served stints as a pusher on Blue Ridge to keep it closer to the shops for the growing number of breakdowns.

> 2.      Would pusher engines every have been used on loaded, east bound, coal trains?

Pushers could be used on any loaded trains, freight or coal going east, or on an over loaded trains coming west. The grade on Blue Ridge is actually a bit steeper westbound, but the preponderance of coal and heavy traffic was eastbound, and westbounds did not need the extra shove, unless, as I said, were overloaded. Timetable instructions for tonnage ratings were published, but on occasion, it was exceeded. 

> 3.      If coal coals trains used pusher engines, where would they have been attached?

Pushers were attached out of the pusher siding at Boaz, a location little known today, but considered Berkeley Bottom to some. The former pusher siding is next to some soccer fields today. Then they pushed east over the summit at Blue Ridge, where they cut off on the fly, usually, and returned to the pusher siding at Boaz. Now, that operation really depended a lot on what else was going on. Sometimes the pusher would go all the way to Montvale and there was a westbound pusher siding east of the station, if there was a westbound that needed a pusher, or was broken down.

Normally, there were two locomotives at Boaz, one pushing east, while the other awaited the next eastbound. 

The pushers would couple on in back of the caboose.

> 4.      Did passenger trains, pulled by J class engines, ever have used pusher engines?

I’ll never say never, but it is highly unlikely. The only instance that I could think of is if something happened to a Class J eastbound on the grade, it is conceivable that the pusher may well have come to the rescue, but I’ve never seen any evidence of such. Since the grade is close enough to Roanoke, one of the protection passenger locomotives would be dispatched in case of serious issues.

Now, that being said, I know of at least one occasion where a Class J broke down at Christiansburg, and had to be towed to Roanoke by the Salem Shifter. I was told the Walton pusher was closer than anything else, and the Y6 was used to power the passenger train to Roanoke, while another pusher crew came out of Radford to Walton to shove the next move east.

The passenger trains were also limited by train length as well, none heavy enough to require a pusher. If there was that kind of traffic, they ran a second, or third section of the passenger train.

Hope this helps, be glad for more details from anyone else as well.

Ken Miller

> 
> Thanks for your help.
> 
>  Jack Fletcher​
> ​
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