Did all the NYC proper Mikes start out with the smaller tenders and get upgraded to the larger ones? Even the H10's? I see lots of photographs of Mikes on the NYC, but the only as built photos it looks like they all came with the 4 wheeled trucks and shorter tenders. All the later photos I see have them (all Mikes) with varying size tenders, but the H10's almost always have the larger 6 wheeled truck tenders inherited from the Mohawks.
Another question is the H10 series. It seems that some of them have what I think is 2 air compressors on the firemans side of the locomotive, while some have 1. It didnt seem to matter if it was a H10a or b either. Why did soo many of the H10's look so different from each other, even though they were of the same class, even one number apart?
Hunter, I can't give you definitive answers, as most of the over 1,000 Mikes that the Central operated were much before my time. I wish LEW could get on here, as he has run Mikes for the Central. Most of them were delivered with the four wheel truck tenders; however, Al Staufer's "Steam Power of the New York Central, Vol. 1" has a builders photo of an H-10 built by Lima in 1924 for the Big Four that shows a six wheel truck tender. Other photos in the same book show later configurations featuring "hand-me-down" Mohawk or even Hudson six wheel truck tenders. Concerning the air pumps, most of the photos I have or have seen show a single cross-compound air pump on the fireman's side of H-10 models, just forward of the firebox. Several had Elesco feedwater heater pumps just behind the cylinder on the fireman's side, and they look a lot like the air pumps. There is a shot in Al's book showing 1331, a 1916 H-5p class, with two air pumps right close together just forward of the firebox, fireman's side. The way that Central messed around with feedwater heaters and pumps, I wouldn't be surprised at any combination you might find. Hope this helps a little. :tb-biggrin:
The following site lists specifications for each of the NYC H Classes, including tender capacities. The tender wheel arrangements are not defined, but perhaps you can determine the number of wheels required by calculating wheel loading from the capacities. http://www.steamlocomotive.com/mikado/nyc.shtml I Googled for photos, but all I found was one of an H10, and that was from the engineer's side. There are quite a few of H5's and H7's from the fireman's side, but I doubt if they would help you.
Thanks for the replies. I browsed through my NYC power by Alvin S. again, I saw one builders photo of a H10b Mike with the larger 12 wheeled tender. The only H10a's I saw had the 8 wheeled tenders, or clearly stated that the 12 wheeled tenders shown in the photos were hand me down tenders from Hudsons or Mohawk. Not a big deal, as I am sure that once they were rebuilt, if there duty was mainline frieghts, the H10's surely got a 12 wheeled tender. I was just curious for correct dating/timeframe era. Plus I am trying to generate some discussion on the NYC forum.
And that is greatly appreciated! I see you have a copy of Al Staufer's book. He sure covered a lot of NYC ground, also appreciated by those of us who didn't take photos back in those days. :tb-embarrassed:
Yeah, I still need to get his "Thoroughbreds" book. I know where a copy is, I just have to pony up the 65 dollars for it. I actually have quite the collection of NYC books. Always looking for more.
Do You have "The Great Steel Fleet" By Geoff Doughty? Great Book! I'm both a passenger train and Trolley fan CT
