Engines of New York Central - Hudson

[Music] hey everyone amtrakguy365 here and today on this first episode of andrews of new york central i'll be talking about the railroads hudson locomotives before i begin though i'm very very sorry about this video taking literal years to happen i announced this series with the original ending avengers of amtrak back in august of 2018 with the original asella episode but then for some reason i just never got around to engines of new york central i don't know why but anyway it's finally here so let's get right into it throughout the 1920s american railroads like the new york central were quite busy the railroad had plenty of passengers and freight to move but this was also proving to be too strenuous on the road's existing fleet of locomotives the central's primary passenger power were 462k class pacific engines these could manage anything from freight to commuter passenger runs and even premiere passenger trains like the 20th century limited the pacific's could manage around 12 passenger cars at most averaging around 50 miles an hour but with increasing passenger numbers and company interests and speed new york central would need an all-new locomotive to power their passenger trains due to the railroad's axle load limits they couldn't make their pacifics any larger and would need a whole new design to support a bigger boiler this would ultimately result in the first 464 steam locomotive built in the united states in 1927. this was numbered 5200 and classified as a j-1 paul kiefer was the new chief mechanical engineer of motive power and rolling stock on the new york central and led the experimental 464 project the design was based and inspired on the railroad's existing fleet of k5 pacifics in terms of their appearance the 464 was also inspired by the then relatively new lima built 284 berkshire design and their larger firebox resulting from the four-wheel trailing truck a larger firebox meant more continuous steaming power referred to as super power at the time and larger steam production meant more pulling power j1 5200 was delivered from the american locomotive works or alco on february 14th 1927 and was subjected to thorough tests on the main line between albany and syracuse new york the tests were proving positive the hudson being able to manage 16 to 18 heavyweight passenger cars compared to the 12 of a pacific type the new york central deemed the locomotive a keeper however this new engine type needed a name paul kieffer asked company president pat crowley what to name the 464. crowley said let's call her the hudson after the hudson river with that the name was settled for what would become one of america's most iconic locomotives crowley chose this name as from his desk he had a view of the hudson river the railroad's main line the water level route also ran next to the hudson river as for technical specifications the new york central j-1s were a 4-6-4 locomotive four wheels up front six driving wheels and four trailing wheels they were rated for a top speed of 110 miles per hour with 79 inch drivers producing 41 860 pounds of tractive effort they weighed in at 681 900 pounds they came in at a length of 97 feet 2 and 3 8 inches a width of 10 feet 6 inches and a height of 15 feet 1 inch the locomotives came equipped with a nathan six chime step top whistle here's an example 205 j1 hudson's would be built and delivered to the new york central from 1927 up into 1931 being numbered 5200 to 5344. they were quickly put to work on crack trains like the 20th century limited and other passenger services while these were the first hudsons on american rails they weren't the first 464s ever designed in the us or north america the milwaukee road had designed a 464 baltic type in 1925 but due to financial constraints the design wasn't put to rails until 1930 three years after the central even older than that though was the grand trunk railways 464-t x-10a tank engine built for commuter service around montreal quebec and canada meanwhile railroads that were tied to the new york central like the michigan central and cleveland cincinnati chicago and st louis railway or simply the big four ordered their own set of 30 j-1 hudsons each these railroads would be fully incorporated into the central 1930 along with their hudson engines new york central subsidiary boston and albany ordered 20 hudsons known as the j-2 and were delivered from 1928 to 1931. the j-2s had 75-inch drivers instead of the standard 79 were a little bit heavier and had smaller tenders some also had a green boiler jacket and grey smoke box the boston and albany would eventually be fully incorporated into the central as well [Music] around this time throughout the mid to late 1930s streamlining was starting to take hold as part of the art deco movement especially on railroads the union pacific had been bringing its new m-1000 diesel streamliner on tour across the us beginning in february 1934 and the chicago burlington and quincy railroad made a name for itself in may of that year with its equally new pioneer zephyr diesel streamliner in february 1934 the central's equipment engineering department staffer carl f cantola designed a new streamlined shroud for a hudson in december j1e hudson number 5344 which was the newest and last to be delivered was at the west albany shops and given the streamlining treatment the engine became america's first streamlined steam locomotive had its number removed and was given the name commodore vanderbilt named after the notable cornelius vanderbilt in his aforementioned nickname who was one of the central's former early leaders the engine was nicknamed the upside down bathtub and went on a publicity tour to big cities on the new york central system back to the standard hudsons though they would see their last new variant in the form of 50 j-3s in 1937 and 38. the j-3s had 20 percent more power than the j-1s at 65 miles per hour and they could produce 4 700 horsepower at 77 miles per hour the engines could run around 185 000 to 200 000 miles before needing heavy repairs which was equivalent to about two years of service some of these engines were equipped with much larger centipede tenders allowing for more coal and water storage and were nicknamed super hudsons the last 10 j-3s number 5544 to 54-54 were given streamlining by industrial designer henry dreyfus in 1938. dreyfus had worked with the central in designing the streamlined 462 mercury locomotive in its train in 1936. the dreyfus hudsons came with a redesign of the 20th century limited with brand new lightweight equipment as well these were designed in an art deco style with 79 inch skull and disc drivers and a blue gray and white color scheme the locomotive was sleek with a rounded out nose and a front end reminiscent of a spartan helmet the tender and coaches had a long stripe band along the entire consost as well the streamlined j3s could race the near 20 car train up to 90 miles per hour along the water level route with ease j1 number 5344 the commodore vanderbilt would receive the dreifa streamlining job in 1939 and was used on the mercury train this made the engine the first steam locomotive to be streamlined twice another streamlining design would be used for the empire state express in december 1941 instead using a two-tone white and black color scheme with stainless steel passenger cars j3a's number 54 26 and 5429 would receive this treatment throughout the late 1930s and into the early 1940s the new york central's j-class hudsons would continue speeding passenger trains up and down the railroad's iconic system they would often be featured in advertising or public relations material as well while they perform great on level and straight track bet at high speeds the hudsons weren't so great at low speeds or ingredients meanwhile though the idea of more modern power namely dieselization came quickly new york central began developing new dual service 482 mohawk engines and emd e-series diesels had replaced steam on the 20th century limited in 1945. in 1944 after receiving permission from the war production board the central begin building new 484 niagara locomotives these combined the benefits of the mohawks and hudsons and took inspiration from other railroads who had already adopted 484s the niagaras went into service starting in 1945 and took the helm of heavy passenger trains the hudsons remained in service but engines like 5344 would lose their streamlining yet kept their disc drivers they continued pulling passenger trains but again dieselization was on the horizon moving into the 1950s the new york central would dieselize by 1957 with some hudson surviving into service up until around 1956 and 57 afterwards though like many other steam engines they would be sent to various yards to be cut up for scrap strangely the central didn't preserve a single hudson despite their popularity in iconic design the mighty hudsons were now reduced to scrap metal after a famous career being the railroad's flagship locomotive however there is somewhat of a silver lining back in 1948 j1 hudson's number 5311 and 5313 were sold to the toronto hamilton and buffalo railway of southern ontario and canada the thb dieselized in 1954 and the two hudsons were promptly scrapped but 5313's tender was converted into a steam generator for passenger trains much later in the summer of 2002 it was sent to steamtown national historic site in scranton pennsylvania where it remains today as the sole remaining piece of a new york central hudson the legacy of the new york central's hudson locomotives proved quite impactful lionel used j-1 number 5344 as the basis for its famous 700e o gauge model of the hudson beginning in 1937 being the first mass-produced model train the hudsons also saw use on music album covers animated media and it remains a fan favorite amongst rail fans in my personal opinion if i think of an iconic or typical steam locomotive in my head i imagine one of the central's unstreamlined hudsons i think it just epitomizes what a steam locomotive is meant to look like regardless though the hudson sure enough left their mark on what was the new york central system the road to the future [Music] thanks for watching this first episode of engines of new york central sorry again that it took three years to make but i still hope you enjoyed it after three years in development hopefully it will have been worth the wait i'll likely be alternating between edges of amtrak and engines of new york central so the next engines of video will be the remake of the amtrak metroliner episode then after that i'll do an episode on the mohawk engines for new york central anyway hope you enjoyed this video please let me know what you thought of this first episode and thank you again for watching

Channel: AmtrakGuy365

Views: 153,608

Keywords: Amtrakguy365, Engines Of, Engines of New York Central, New York Central, NYC, Engines of New York Central Hudson, Hudson, New, York, Central, EoNYC, New York Central J3A, New York Central Railroad, J3A, 20th Century Limited, Empire State Express, Engines of NYC, New York Central Hudson, Commentary, History, Hudsons, Engines of Amtrak, NYC Niagara, NYC Hudson, NYC Mohawk, New York Central Niagara, New York Central Steam, Steam, Train, Trains, Railroad, Railway, Educational, Locomotive

Id: uvXAus8all8

Length: 11min 22sec (682 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 25 2021