I went to trainart.com and downloaded the ESE steam engine. It's on my MSTS now and lots of fun, I wrote the site about the lack of a cab. He said that's second on the list, after building the 16 passenger cars. He does need pictures of cab interiors, if anyone has some e-mail them to me and I'll forward them.
Chris, I have found a couple. I'll scan and send to you off line. They won't be great quality but hope they will help.
Jim, Thanks for the photos, but you were right about the resolution, don't think they're usable. And thanks in advance for the other source you suggested.
Chris, Tom Gerbracht has suggested Alco Historical Photos. I have a five year old catalog from them and don't see any cab photos advertised, and even then they wanted $11 for an 8X10. I know they have given the collection to Union College in Schenectady, so would suggest you get on Dogpile or another search engine and try Alco Historic Photos. Tom insists they have a cab photo of 5405, the first J-3.
Chris, I got a decent one via email from a source over on RailNet. Emailed it to you and hope it helps. BTW, the "Wheel" over on the engineer's far right is the precision power reverse that the Central used in lieu of Johnson Bar. It allowed for very precise setting of the cutoff, but was a real PIA if you had to do a lot of switching (which of course the Hudsons seldom did). 16 full turns from full forward to full reverse and vice versa.
Man, I sent it at 4:48pm EDT. It is now 7:15 EDT. Have you not received it? This theory about the speed of light being 186,000 miles/second seems to get interrupted by ISP's, humans, etc.
Chris, check your mail. I had a bit of a brain fade and typed Net instead of Com in your address. Sorry.
Chris, when you mentioned "trainart", did you mean "trainartisan?" I just found their sight, and as they say, "wow!" They have had over one million hits in less than a month! They have some super stuff on that site re the Empire State Express. Also saw a post on TrainOrders from someone at the site, looking for explanation of controls in the cab--They found that 5405 photo. Care to help them Watash? I only know the throttle, reverse and brake stand. Anyway, you TrainSim guys who are interested in steam, go look at the link I have provided. Steam doesn't get better than the New York Central Empire State Express! TrainSim Empire State Express
Yes it was trainartisan. Now you know why I downloaded the ESE, it's really awesome. The only problem I have with it is the cab, which is why I started this thread. But we do need Watash. Even though I've run a 2-8-2, it was only with about 3 hours of instruction and all they explained to me was the throttle, johnson bar, train and engine brakes. The injectors, and the rest of the controls were operated by the pilot and the fireman. I'm trying to set up a photo shoot of that engine to give them some help. Thanks for all your help! and if you come across any other cab shots, send them along!
Chris, all TrainSim fans, all New York Central fans, here is the photo that was published by the guys at trainartisan. I have the major components ID'd, but who can help with (these are numbers that trainartisan assigned) 5. Bell Air Valve 6. Whistle 7. Injector Water Valve (live) 8. Injector Water Valve (exhaust) 9. Injector Steam Valve (live) 10. Injector Steam Valve (exhaust) 11. Blower Control 12. Sander 13. Damper Control 15. Speedometer 16. Steam Heat Pressure valve and gauge 17. Brake gauges 19. Steam Chest Pressure gauge 19. Boiler Pressure 20. Tender site glass 22. Headlight Control 23. Air Compressor control. Wow, what a list. On the 1225, the headlight control was on an electrical junction box above the engineer's head, wouldn't be visible in this photo, and the injector controls to the left of the engineer's seat, also not visible. I suspect the boiler pressure gauge is the largestin the center cluster of five. Anyone know the rest of them?
You expect me to name some 73 different things on that backhead? That is a New York Central J-3 4-6-4 high steppin' Hudson man! Sheesh! In the photo above, a light glare blots out everything from the dynamo to the water glass upper valve. (about 8 valves you can't see). How about I send you a photo and number everything, then give you a list of what it all is? Let me know.
Watash, it looks to me like someone left the hatch open on the engineer's side when they took that picture. Of course, we expect Trainboard's answer man to identify all 73 backhead items!! That's what we pay you them big bucks for!! Seriously, yes, you can send me a marked up copy of it. If I knew how to "mark up" one I would have sent it to the original requestor. I think his Empire State Express is going to be a lot of fun to run on TrainSim. I might even have to go buy Trainsim.
Fitz, Inorder for you to be able to read and see the detail, I had to scan the right half, then scan the left half of the backhead drawing of a J3 New York Central Hudson back head, (if that is ok with you). I also had to scan a top half and bottom half of the list of items as typed, so I left some over-lap on all four scans, so you can see where the exact dividing line needs to be. Some of this was on some floppies I got at a garage sale and was re-formatting to use, when I discovered what they were. I have no idea right now where the floopy info came from. They will have the equipment to combine the right and left views of the backhead ok, and will probably decide to name each item as it is refered to in their tutorial because it would be easier for the student to follow. You might tell them that the gauge cocks are on three levels. The knobs are in line of sight here, so no room for arrows to all three, but if you look just to the left of the knobs, you can see the three valve stems going up hill to the valve bodies. Believe me, if they are going to instruct someone in America to start with a cold engine, and bring her up to a head of steam, that is going to be a whole tutorial alone! They must be British, because what they call a regulator, is what we call a throttle over here, I think. (Unless I miss-read their tutorial). Are they going to show the trees and telephone poles going buy the windows as they pick up speed? They will want to clock the telephone poles to make sure the drivers aren't slipping, you see. I suggest they draw the backhead to suit what detail they need. It might not need to be so complicated as your photo. They could enlarge an item for clearity like we do on any other model. Most people wont know the difference anyway. If the student has to learn all this before he can "hit the gas and go", his poor little brain is going to for sure reach critical mass, and totally melt down! HA! You usually attend engineer's school and serve a four or more year apprenticeship before you get to HONK THE OLD TOOTER! [ 06 August 2001: Message edited by: watash ]</p>
Watash, you are truly Trainboard's "Answer Man." The scans you sent are GREAT. I have forwarded them to the ESE TrainSim guys. Chris Dante, stand by for a cab update from them, thanks to Watash.
Fitz and Chris, did the streamlined 4-6-4's have classification lights on the engine, like the regular Hudsons? I see the two little ears up beside the smoke deflector intake, but I don't think I ever heard one way or the other. If not, how did they handle that?
Watash, I don't know the answer to that one. I don't recall ever seeing a photo of one with Class lights. The little "ears" are shrouds over the ends of the Elesco feedwater heater. Maybe they were on the pilot? What year did they quit using them on the rest of the system?
I have one photo with no lights in late 40's and has the twin headlights, and it has had the streamlined skin removed, so maybe they didn't have class lights after the mid to late 40's? Going to have to get an old NYC hog to clear this one up, I don't have anything about class lights at all. Sorry.