NYC Mohawk
Encyclopedia
The New York Central Railroad (NYC) called the 4-8-2
type of steam locomotive
the Mohawk type. It was known as the Mountain type on other roads, but the mighty New York Central didn't see the name to be fitting on its famous Water Level Route, so it instead picked the name of one of those rivers its rails followed, the Mohawk River
, to name its newest type of locomotive. Despite the more common name, the 4-8-2 was actually suited in many ways more to flatland running than slow mountain slogging, with its 4-wheel leading truck for stability at speed.
Indeed, the New York Central became the largest user of this wheel arrangement in North America
, with 600 locomotives of this type built for its service; only the Pennsylvania Railroad
came anywhere close, with 301 of the type.
The Mohawk type was the pre-eminent freight power of the System, displacing the Mikado (2-8-2
) type from first line service. While other roads obtained much more massive freight power, Decapods (2-10-0
s), Texas (2-10-4
) types and a multitude of articulated designs, the New York Central, with its practically gradeless high-speed raceways along the rivers, needed speed, not lugging ability.
The 600 Mohawks delivered were divided into four main classes, plus a few experimental and prototypes:
The first Mohawks delivered for the NYC were delivered by ALCO
in 1916; these were purely freighters, with 69-inch drivers and small tenders. Further orders of L-1 subclasses followed in subsequent years, including some from the Lima Locomotive Works
. All these locomotives had uncluttered lines as built, mostly thanks to the lack of such modern appliances as feedwater heater
s, booster engine
s and the like. Many had feedwater heaters and other appliances added later, however. 185 L-1 locomotives were produced.
, valve gear
, main rod and crank axle were worthwhile. The NYC must have come down on the negative side of that question, for no more were built.
passenger locomotives.
Two L-2 locomotives were given modifications for dual service work; higher boiler pressure, smaller cylinders, light-weight reciprocating parts, dynamic counterbalancing of the drivers, roller bearings on all axles, etc. The success of these modifications prompted the construction of the L-3 class in 1940, 25 of which were built for dual service and the remaining 40 for freight only.
All L-3 locomotives were given axle spacing that could accommodate 72" drivers, but only one was ever fitted with such. This locomotive, #3000, paved the way for the final class of Mohawks on the Central, the L-4.
. The L-3 and L-4 classes had huge tenders riding on two six-wheel trucks that were almost as long as the locomotives hauling them, and were mostly coal space, a capacity for 43 tons of coal; water was taken en route using the tender scoop from track pan
s and thus the locomotives did not need to have that great an on-board water capacity. Some L-4s had Scullin
drivers.
Many L-4 locomotives were fitted with smoke deflectors later on.
and Niagaras
were scrapped. The first, #2933, is a 1929 ALCO-built L-2d and resides at the Museum of Transportation
, St. Louis, Missouri
while the second, #3001
, is a 1940 ALCO-built L-3a at the National New York Central Railroad Museum
in Elkhart, Indiana
.
- The Pennsylvania Railroad
's version of the Mohawks. Also a dual mode 4-8-2
"Mountain" type steam locomotive
.
4-8-2
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-8-2 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle...
type of steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
the Mohawk type. It was known as the Mountain type on other roads, but the mighty New York Central didn't see the name to be fitting on its famous Water Level Route, so it instead picked the name of one of those rivers its rails followed, the Mohawk River
Mohawk River
The Mohawk River is a river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk flows into the Hudson in the Capital District, a few miles north of the city of Albany. The river is named for the Mohawk Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy...
, to name its newest type of locomotive. Despite the more common name, the 4-8-2 was actually suited in many ways more to flatland running than slow mountain slogging, with its 4-wheel leading truck for stability at speed.
Indeed, the New York Central became the largest user of this wheel arrangement in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, with 600 locomotives of this type built for its service; only the Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
came anywhere close, with 301 of the type.
The Mohawk type was the pre-eminent freight power of the System, displacing the Mikado (2-8-2
2-8-2
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-8-2 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle...
) type from first line service. While other roads obtained much more massive freight power, Decapods (2-10-0
2-10-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-10-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, ten powered and coupled driving wheels on five axles, and no trailing wheels...
s), Texas (2-10-4
2-10-4
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a 2-10-4 locomotive has two leading wheels, ten driving wheels , and four trailing wheels...
) types and a multitude of articulated designs, the New York Central, with its practically gradeless high-speed raceways along the rivers, needed speed, not lugging ability.
The 600 Mohawks delivered were divided into four main classes, plus a few experimental and prototypes:
L-1
American Locomotive Company
The American Locomotive Company, often shortened to ALCO or Alco , was a builder of railroad locomotives in the United States.-Early history:...
in 1916; these were purely freighters, with 69-inch drivers and small tenders. Further orders of L-1 subclasses followed in subsequent years, including some from the Lima Locomotive Works
Lima Locomotive Works
Lima Locomotive Works was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company took the most distinctive part of its name from its main shops location in Lima, Ohio. The shops were located between the Baltimore & Ohio's Cincinnati-Toledo main line...
. All these locomotives had uncluttered lines as built, mostly thanks to the lack of such modern appliances as feedwater heater
Feedwater heater
A feedwater heater is a power plant component used to pre-heat water delivered to a steam generating boiler. Preheating the feedwater reduces the irreversibilities involved in steam generation and therefore improves the thermodynamic efficiency of the system...
s, booster engine
Booster engine
A booster engine for steam locomotives is a small two-cylinder steam engine back-gear-connected to the trailing truck axle on the locomotive or, if none, the lead truck on the tender. A rocking idler gear permits it to be put into operation by the engineer...
s and the like. Many had feedwater heaters and other appliances added later, however. 185 L-1 locomotives were produced.
Experimental 3-cylindered
The New York Central had two L-1 locomotives rebuilt by Alco in 1922 with three cylinders to help determine if three-cylinder drive was worthwhile. They were substantially more powerful than the two cylinder locomotives but it was debatable if the additional maintenance headaches of that third, hard to reach central cylinderCylinder (engine)
A cylinder is the central working part of a reciprocating engine or pump, the space in which a piston travels. Multiple cylinders are commonly arranged side by side in a bank, or engine block, which is typically cast from aluminum or cast iron before receiving precision machine work...
, valve gear
Valve gear
The valve gear of a steam engine is the mechanism that operates the inlet and exhaust valves to admit steam into the cylinder and allow exhaust steam to escape, respectively, at the correct points in the cycle...
, main rod and crank axle were worthwhile. The NYC must have come down on the negative side of that question, for no more were built.
L-2
The next development of the Mohawk type for the New York Central was the L-2, 300 of its various subclasses being built between 1925-1930. These were rather more modern locomotives than the L-1 class, fat-boilered, long-tendered, fitted with feedwater heaters, mostly of the Elesco type and generally mounted in front of the smokebox at the top, giving an aggressive, beetle browed look. Later L-2 subclasses, the L-2b and L-2c, had somewhat smoother lines with recessed feedwater heaters and cleaned up lines. The later L-2 locomotives, in fact, looked very close in styling to the Central's fleet of HudsonNYC Hudson
Hudson was the name given to the 4-6-4 steam locomotive wheel arrangement by the New York Central Railroad which was the first to use locomotives of this type in North America.-History:...
passenger locomotives.
L-3
The next development of the Mohawk type was that of the dual service locomotive, capable of working passenger as well as freight trains. Passenger service required the ability to work at 80 mph, as opposed to the 60 mph required of freight. The NYC's fleet of Hudsons, 275 strong though it was, was proving inadequate to handle peak traffic demands, and some dual-purpose power would fix the problem nicely, as well as giving the ability to handle express freight and mail services.Two L-2 locomotives were given modifications for dual service work; higher boiler pressure, smaller cylinders, light-weight reciprocating parts, dynamic counterbalancing of the drivers, roller bearings on all axles, etc. The success of these modifications prompted the construction of the L-3 class in 1940, 25 of which were built for dual service and the remaining 40 for freight only.
All L-3 locomotives were given axle spacing that could accommodate 72" drivers, but only one was ever fitted with such. This locomotive, #3000, paved the way for the final class of Mohawks on the Central, the L-4.
L-4
50 L-4 locomotives were produced by the Lima Locomotive Works in 1943. None of them had booster engines, although they were built to take them should they be ever needed in a dash; they weren't. The L-4s were truly dual purpose locomotives, and worked the heaviest freight and passenger trains during the warWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The L-3 and L-4 classes had huge tenders riding on two six-wheel trucks that were almost as long as the locomotives hauling them, and were mostly coal space, a capacity for 43 tons of coal; water was taken en route using the tender scoop from track pan
Track pan
A track pan or water trough is a device to enable a steam railway locomotive to replenish its water supply while in motion...
s and thus the locomotives did not need to have that great an on-board water capacity. Some L-4s had Scullin
Scullin
Scullin may refer to:In places:* Scullin, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra* Division of Scullin, an electorate in the Australian House of RepresentativesPeople with the surname Scullin:...
drivers.
Many L-4 locomotives were fitted with smoke deflectors later on.
Survivors
Two Mohawks survive, making them the largest New York Central steam power remaining after all NYC's HudsonsNYC Hudson
Hudson was the name given to the 4-6-4 steam locomotive wheel arrangement by the New York Central Railroad which was the first to use locomotives of this type in North America.-History:...
and Niagaras
NYC Niagara
The New York Central Railroad Niagara was a type of steam locomotive named after the Niagara River and Falls.They were express mixed traffic locomotives with a wheel arrangement of 4-8-4 in the Whyte notation....
were scrapped. The first, #2933, is a 1929 ALCO-built L-2d and resides at the Museum of Transportation
Museum of Transportation
The Museum of Transportation of the St. Louis County, Missouri, United States Parks Department is a museum located in the Greater St. Louis area. It was first founded in 1944 by a group of individuals dedicated to preserving the past and has a wide variety of vehicles from American history...
, St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
while the second, #3001
New York Central 3001
New York Central Railroad Mohawk #3001 is a preserved 4-8-2 "Mountain" type steam locomotive.-History:In the late 1930's, when looking for heavier steam power to move freight and passenger trains swiftly, the New York Central looked at a dual service steam locomotive. The modern 1940 L3a from ALCo...
, is a 1940 ALCO-built L-3a at the National New York Central Railroad Museum
National New York Central Railroad Museum
The National New York Central Railroad Museum is a railroad museum located in Elkhart, Indiana that preserves the history of the New York Central Railroad....
in Elkhart, Indiana
Elkhart, Indiana
Elkhart is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The city is located east of South Bend, northwest of Fort Wayne, east of Chicago, and north of Indianapolis...
.
See also
PRR M1PRR M1
M1 is a class of steam locomotive of the Pennsylvania Railroad . It was a class of heavy mixed-traffic locomotives of the 4-8-2 "Mountain" arrangement, which uses four pairs of driving wheels with a four-wheel guiding truck in front for stability at speed and a two-wheel trailing truck to support...
- The Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
's version of the Mohawks. Also a dual mode 4-8-2
4-8-2
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-8-2 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle...
"Mountain" type steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
.