OK this is a rant... I am reading the latest Classic Trains special issue about the 4-8-4- loco types. I think it is a cryin' shame and bordering on criminal malfeasance that not a SINGLE ONE of those fabulous S-1 & S-2 Niagaras were ever saved. Didn't anyone in the hierarchy of the NYC RR stop and realize that those locos were their last steam engines and that maybe there might be some value in preserving at least one of them for posterity? Even the parsimonious and asphalt minded CTA in Chicago realized that the steel rail trolley cars they were so eager to displace had some sentimental value and preserved several streetcars of various age and types! At this far remove there is probably nobody left that could be held culpable for the ruthless disposal of a locomotive type that could produce more drawbar horsepower than most of todays diesel trashmotives. It's still shameful though! Rant over! Charlie
Charlie, I sympathize with that rant, and have read many others, most of which blame NYC prez Al Perlman for being more interested in the scrap value of these magnificent locomotives than in the heritage of preserving one. They were in financial trouble back then. I would love to see one today, but they are gone. :tb-sad:
I agree with Jim, NYC management at the time were not railfans. They were "Bottom-Liners" with no imagination stubbornly refusing to recognize that the Central's 100 year-old business model needed a complete redirection to compete and survive. Consequently, they destroyed what should have been a major player in today's railroad industry. Southern's management appeared to be the only major eastern road that recognized and responded to the handwriting on the wall after WW-II.
It is incredibly sad. But I would have done the same thing as Perlman if my company was in as poor shape as his.
