Stack Talk

The railroad fans among you will know what I mean

Dean
Berkshire 765

that's as hard as I've ever heard one labor. my first thought was he needs to lay off the horn to save steam....LOL

Lack of steam is not the problem, he's feathering the throttle to keep from spinning.

Once it slips it looses traction and momentum.

Still an impressive display of bottom end torque!

All I can say is WOW. Steam is a powerful force. I went to a Steam engine school years ago and learned a lot and got to operate some huge traction engines.
Richard in NW SC

I love reciprocating steam, Steve.

Unlike IC engines, a reciprocating steam engine makes maximum torque at stall. For this and other reasons, the operator of a steam locomotive was an "engineer," a highly skilled trade.

Dean

Yeah, there was one spot where the engine speeded way up, indicating slippage, but only for about 3 revolutions before engineer throttled back to regain traction. I think those old locomotives were fairly easy to run on the level, but the grades were where the engineer earned his keep.

Here's another impressive video of a steam locomotive working near the limit of adhesion.

In the heyday of steam passenger service this train would have been double-headed and would have crested the hill at 50 MPH or more.

Dean
Workin Hard

Don't they have the ability to drop some sand on the track when traction problems happen.

Enjoyed the clip Dean, man that Baldwin was quite a engine. Thank you

Beautiful video and sound,thank you.My brother and I had the good fortune to ride behind many steam engines in the '80s,including 765.The only time that an engine was working at that limit of adhesion was when we were riding from Pittsburg to Akron behind 614 with Ross Rowland at the throttle,that shows a real engineer.

Yes.

More than likely, the engineer was sanding the rails during the entire video.

Dean

I saw 765 in Lawrenceburg, IN in, IIRC, 1982.

I also rode a steam excursion powered by N & W class J 611 in, IIRC, 1993, and another excursion powered by Reading 4-8-4 2002 (?) in 1977.

All fascinating experiences.

Dean

Reminds me of Plowing with a 41B JD pulling a 2-14

There really is not one better quality of steam engine locomotives vs modern diesel/electric other than cool factor.

This video has been posted before, it is my favorite display of raw steam power.
Norfork and Western Hauling Coal

Dean, that is quite the 2 cylinder.
The Reading engine you refer to in 1977 was most likely Reading 2101 on the Chessie Steam Special trains. Thanks for posting the video, I love steam trains.

4Play...actually there is an advantage with Steam as many classes of steam locomotive generated more horsepower than even the most modern
diesel locomotive. There were steam locomotives at 7-8000 drawbar horse power. The modern diesel are just over half that horsepower and
rated in flywheel horsepower not drawbar. There is significant loss in power in the electricity conversion to put power to the wheels. Yes
diesel locomotives are much much more convenient.

Thank you, Larry.

Yes, it was the Chessie steam special.

The B & O line runs through Aurora, IN and passes about 1/4 mile from the farm where I grew up and now live.

The nearly 15 mile hill up out of the Ohio River valley starts about two or three miles west of my place. In the days of steam a helper engine was stationed in Aurora, less than 1/4 mile from my window as the crow flies. The freights, sometimes with double-headed steam freight hogs and sometimes with F Units would stop about 1/2 mile beyond my window to allow the helper to couple to the caboose before attacking the hill. I am just old enough to remember the twilight of steam before the B & O dropped the fires in 1957. I have many fond memories of the sights, sounds and smell of steam railroading from my childhood and have been a railroad fan ever since.

For three or four years in the late 1970s, the Chessie Steam Special, powered by Reading 2101 4-8-4 ran the route from Union Central Terminal in Cincinnati to the Y in North Vernon, IN, passing our farm on it's way. I rode it with my son in 1977 and chased it in a car on two or three other occasions. All wonderful experiences.

Though down to 25 MPH or so cresting the hill near Moores Hill, IN, the 2101 pulled its 18 coaches and over 2000 passengers up the hill unassisted. Following behind a mile or so were two EMD units as contingency in case of breakdown or stall. They never coupled, and we passengers did not know that they were following.

Sadly, the 2101 was destroyed in a roundhouse fire in the early 1980s. Subsequently, the Y in North Vernon was removed, rendering steam excursions west from Cincinnati problematic.

I have many photos but no audio as I had no audio equipment at the time, but the sound of the 2101 pounding its way up the hill will live in my memory as long as I live.

Dean

My favorite steam locomotive video, SMS, probably recorded in 1960.

FWIW, the N & W Y6B locomotives were mallets (compounds). The rear high pressure cylinders received steam at boiler pressure. The exhaust steam from the rear cylinders was then expanded again in the front, low pressure cylinders. Note that the 48" front low pressure cylinders are mounted entirely ahead of the smoke box to maintain tunnel clearance. The B versions could be operated with high pressure steam in all cylinders to start heavy trains.

The 2-8-8-2 Y6Bs were freight hogs. Big, powerful, and efficient, they could pull more than a Big Boy and do it with less coal.

Dean

Thanks Dean for starting this thread. Enjoyed it very much.
Richard

You're very welcome, Richard.

I've been a railroad fan all of my life.

I am fortunate to be just old enough to remember the last year or two of mainline steam on the B & O. I still sometimes get goose bumps recalling some of the experiences.

Dean

Dean, very interesting. My brother and I rode behind 2101 in '78 out of Cleveland to Willard Ohio where my wife's uncle worked in the Chessie yard there. My brother and I chased it on another day and saw it Sterling Ohio. The 2101 now is on display at the B&O museum in Baltimore, it looks like you could coal it, water it, and she'd be ready to go. I have a few hundred feet of super 8 movies that I recorded of the loco during that era.