Y Class, Etc

[NW Mailing List]

I think that it is a coincidence that both Rick and Mason mentioned the 
speed of Y6 locomotives on the northern end of the Shenandoah because I was 
pondering doing the same.  So, I'll go ahead with my comments.

When I finished college in June 1956 and went to work in the Motive Power 
Department of the N&W, I was given the title of Shop Inspector and assigned 
to the Shaffers Crossing roundhouse.  The N&W was 100% steam then (including 
steam-turbine-electric N&W 2300, Jawn Henry).  One of my assignments was to 
handle the broken parts reporting.  Either the foremen would notify me of a 
failed part removed from some steam locomotive or else I would tour the 
roundhouse to find any broken parts removed on another shift.  I would use a 
report form to describe the nature of each failure to the N&W physical lab, 
and hold the part until I heard back whether the lab wanted to inspect it.

I began to notice that an inordinately large percentage of the broken parts 
that I found had been removed from Class Y6 locomotives off the 
Roanoke--Hagerstown part of the Shenandoah Division.  When I mentioned this 
to one of the more experienced shop inspectors, he told me that it was 
because the engineers on the north end ran the Y6's up to 60 mph there (this 
figure is what my feeble mind seems to recall he told me), obviously putting 
more stress on the reciprocating parts, such as the valve gear components. 
So, my information on Y6 speeds on the north end of the Shenandoah Division 
agrees with what Rick and Mason describe.

This brings to mind another Y6 maintenance problem that I observed as a Shop 
Inspector during the summer of 1956, but one that doesn't seem to be well 
known based on some conversations that I have had with knowledgeable N&W 
locomotive historians.  What is generally well known, and chronicled in Bud 
Jeffries book on N&W steam locomotives, is that the N&W in 1953-55 poured 
some 14 tons of lead in the low-pressure engine frames of Class Y5 and Y6 
locomotives to take advantage of the increased tractive effort afforded by 
the application of booster valves that admitted some high pressure steam 
into the low pressure cylinders at low speeds.  What I saw in my rounds of 
the roundhouse was an occasional Class Y5 or Y6 shopped because of a 
low-pressure frame crack in the upper corner of the pedestal opening caused 
by the extra weight of the lead (so I was told).

The procedure was to spot the wheel set that was in the cracked pedestal 
over the roundhouse drop table, remove the rods connected to that wheelset, 
drop the wheelset and move it to the drop pit release spot to stow the 
wheelset, and return the drop table to the roundhouse floor level.  The 
welding supervisor at that time was Curry Neese, and one of his men would 
take an acetylene torch and cut out the full length and depth of the crack 
in the frame.  I would guess, based on my recollection now, that the width 
of the cut was at least an inch wide.  The welder would then take a stick 
electrode and slowly fill in the cut groove with weld metal, finishing the 
job by grinding the weld metal flush with the frame surfaces.

This was a case of ten steps forward and one back.  The forward steps were 
the increased performance with the booster valves, and the back step was the 
occasional cracked frame.  I don't recall that there was an epidemic of 
cracked frames, but they did occur.

Gordon Hamilton

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "NW Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
To: "'NW Mailing List'" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Sent: Saturday, June 29, 2013 11:06 AM
Subject: RE: Y Class, Etc



> Rick is correct. The Y Class engines on the Hagerstown District ran as 

> fast

> as track conditions would allow. In the memories I have of them they

> appeared in a flash and were gone. Several times I would prompt my father 

> in

> the car to catch up to them and more often than not we would lose.

>

> Mason Cooper

>

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org

> [mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List

> Sent: Saturday, June 29, 2013 3:47 AM

> To: NW Mailing List

> Subject: Re: Y Class, Etc

>

> Years after steam power was gone from N&W, I was puzzled when I would read

> articles proclaiming the Y class as drag engines good for 45 mph at best.

> Well, I grew up along the northern end of the Shenandoah Division and you

> could have fooled me.  The Y's were the principal freight locomotive 

> there,

> and they did roll.  How fast I don't know, but 50 mph was the posted speed

> for freight.  They pulled trains as fast as the diesels that replaced 

> them.

>

> As for the much maligned ACL 4-8-4's, their problem was counterbalancing.

> Once the amount of lead was reduced, their operation became satisfactory.

> And during World War II they did duty pulling passenger trains as 

> intended.

> With normal postwar traffic levels and the rapid dieselization of ACL they

> ran out their last miles in freight service.  My guess is ACL got 10+ 

> years

> of service from them, so they were fully depreciated when they were sold 

> for

> scrap.

>

>>From an article I read years ago, UP was revolutionary in their

>>thinking

> about counterbalancing formulas for their modern steam power.  The 

> weighting

> was much lighter than what was the accepted industry standard.  UP's 

> 4-8-4's

> were built for passenger service at high speeds, and a certain number of

> Challengers assigned to passenger trains had no trouble maintaining 70 

> mph.

> Had ACL's 4-8-4 been treated similarly when built, their problems would 

> have

> been avoided.  When  EMD's E class units hit the market ACL believed they

> were suitable only for new lightweight streamliners.  Had ACL been as

> confident as Seaboard which bet their money on the E's, they should never

> have bought those 4-8-4's.

>

> --Rick Morrison

>

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