Tom, do you have an existing photo of the top of the Niagara model that you can attach to an email and send me? If so I can then publish it, or just send it direct to Ron. Yes, we are lucky this year in the west, as far as steam goes. The 4449 will be out on BNSF tracks May 26-27, running up the Columbia River gorge to Pasco, on to Yakima, overnight, then over Stampede Pass and return to Portland. We rode this same trip behind 4449 a few years ago and it was fantastic. Incredible scenery. Tentatively she will also run day trips June 2-3, round trips Vancouver, WA to Wishram, in the gorge. Link to 700 site: All Aboard the SP&S 700 Link to 4449 site:Friends of the 4449 Y'All can look at MY site, link is part of my signature and see highlights of all of these trips and more. In case you haven't noticed, I LOVE steam.
Fitz, I do not own a digital camera...still a Nikon guy using Kodachrome 25....so I cannot respond to your request for a digital image. (A digital camera is in my future...but I think they have to get to 6-10 megapixels before I would be interested.) I have been reading about the "high resolution" of the 3.34's, but K25 will resolve the equivalent of about 35 million pixels. (The Kodak engineer I talked to a few years ago thought that this would not occur "in his lifetime.") Anyway, it appears that Ron received some info from Precision Scale, who made my engine.
Tom, I'm sorry I wasn't clear on that call. I guess that means you don't have a scanner either. Some (most) photo shops will scan your photos (And in my opinion you CAN'T BEAT a Nikon and K25) and put them on a 3 1/2 inch floppy for you. That way you can send them out on the net as attachments to email, etc. I am just about to start your great looking article on Mohawks in the Headlight. If you are running out of NYC wheel arrangements to write about, just start over again. There are whole new generations out there just getting around to appreciate what used to be.
Fitz, I don't have a scanner either! They are very inexpensive, but my quality standards are high (I think), so am waiting. I should tell you that about two years ago I arranged with a Professional Photo Lab in Cleveland to scan my 900 oldest color slides (Steam) on 8 Kodak Photo CD's, with resolutions up to 2048X3096 pixels. The slides had started to fade, so I thought it prudent to do so. I also have the "full house" Adobe Photoshop and am "tinkering" with these images. My youngest son will be home from college next week, and I might try some attachments using the "snapshot" Fuji-1300 digital camera we purchased for him.
Fitz, Forgot to thank you for the kind words re the Mohawk article in the Headlight. L-4's will follow as a "second section"..... I don't know about "starting over" with wheel arrangements...a lot of those younger readers are "diesel guys" (including my son Steve...!)
Tom, I have finished the first installment of Mohawks. Wonderful stuff. How I wish I had something to do with all of that. Airplanes were "my bag." Having done the flight test routine, I would really have enjoyed being part of a NYC test crew out on the line with a new loco, intstrumented to prove performance.
You can find some top 3/4 views in Stauffer's "NYC Steam Power Volume 1". They are not quite what you are looking for, but you can deternmine angle and length of the plumbing. Hope it helps.
To NYCentral Thanks. I have, as far as I know ,ALL of the NYC books that deal with steam.There are a few photos in some of them but none of them show every thing I need to know,but all together I believe I have enough to do the job. The thing that has been nagging at me for all this time is the ONE photo that I know I have seen from the top,head on almost straight overhead as if shot from a bridge or signal bridge,that is the ONE I am looking for (if for no other reason then to prove to ME that I saw it!!!!!) Thanks again for everyone's in put on this. Ron
Ron, Oh, so that's the photo you need!!!?? Look in Staufer's "Later Power" book....That's where it is-on page 263 (assuming its the one I also refer to.....) I believe it was taken from a bridge and enlarged slightly, note the "tell-tales" and the image foreshortening. TRG PS. I don't think it shows enough detail to help you?! (But it sure shows the size of the boiler on those monsters!)
Thanks TRG Your right about the size of that boiler and that the photo doesn't help much. IF I ever find the picture I'll let the world know about it !! Thanks again Ron
To CPRailfan........poor you! If you've never stood on a platform and watched a steam engine rumble into the station, with bell ringing, ground shaking, steam belching and hissing...they seemed to actually be alive.....and they had a whistle, not a horn.
Lindalace, welcome to the New York Central Forum. All I can say is "amen." Nothing like those living, breathing beasts.
Hudsonut.... Is that a fact? I recall the steam locomotives very well but I admit that at that time they all looked the same to me. The exception was that those on the LIRR were obviously smaller. Tell me, what were Niagras used for? Did they replace the Hudson? [ 23 May 2001: Message edited by: Lindalace9 ]
Actually, like many of the later steam engines, Niagaras had BOTH whistle and horn. They didn't exactly replace the Hudsons, as the Central only had 26 Niagaras, and 275 Hudsons. They did take over most of the name varnish and were seldom seen in freight service. They were of course larger, and more powerful than Hudsons. See Hudson5432's post on the first page of this thread about the power developed. Never matched by any other 4-8-4.
Hi guys, One of the very romantic things in railroading was the competition between the Pennsylvania RR's "Broadway Ltd" and the NYC's "20th Century Ltd". as they raced from New York to Chicago. Am I correct that the NYC put Niagaras on this train? What type locomotive did the Pennsylvania RR use on the "Broadway Ltd."? Ohhhhh.....how I would love to have sat in the club car.... socializing.....Martini in hand..... [ 24 May 2001: Message edited by: Lindalace9 ]
"Romantic" is a term I never heard used when discussions of the NYC-PRR 20th Century-Broadway Ltd. rivalry occurred. "War" would be more appropriate. Yes, Niagaras hauled the Century. Pennsy used their K-4s Pacifics but I don't know what later power they used (Most NYC fans wouldn't care). Yeah, it sure would be great to be able to go back to the days of club cars. I'd have a Manhattan.
Up....? or on the rocks....? I'll have mine straight up with 3 olives, please. I'll bet the ride was so smooth that I wouldn't spill a drop. And there's no need to specify a brand of liquor......they only serve from the top shelf. It's true that the competition was more than keen. It's romantic for us to think back on those times, however. Ahhhhhh.....here's your Manhattan now. Sit back in that swivel chair and relax......listen to that whistle. Isn't this better than being crammed in the middle seat of an airliner?
Down with Airliners! Give me the full meal in the dining car and let me relax in the parlor car for the trip. I'm with you guys! I'll have mine any way I can get it as long as its two hands!
Hi Watash, What is the difference between parlor car and club car.....or is there any difference? I've never actually been on board. I've just seen them in the movies......stuffed chairs with a small bar at one end.....the way to go.
