NYC class S-1
| NYC class S-1a or S-1b "Niagara" | |
|---|---|
| Numbering: | 6000 (S-1a), 6001-6025 (S-1b) |
| Number: | 26th |
| Manufacturer: | ALCo |
| Year of construction (s): | 1945-1946 |
| Axis formula : | 2'D2 'h2 |
| Type : | Two-cylinder superheated steam locomotive |
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) |
| Wheelbase with tender: | 29.63 m |
| Service mass with tender: | 366.5 t |
| Friction mass: | 124.7 t |
| Indexed performance : | 4981 kW at 136.8 km / h |
| Coupling wheel diameter: | 1905, later 2007 mm (S1-a); 2007 mm (S1-b) |
| Driving wheel diameter: | 75 inches (1905 mm, S1-a), 2007 mm (S1-b) |
| Control type : | Baker |
| Number of cylinders: | 2 |
| Cylinder diameter: | 648 mm |
| Piston stroke: | 813 mm |
| Boiler overpressure: | S1-a: initially 18.96, later 19.99 bar; S1-b: 18.96, according to other information 19.3 bar |
| Grate area: | 9.38 m² |
| Superheater area : | 192.58 m² |
| Evaporation heating surface: | 447.68 m² |
| Water supply: | 68, 1 m³ |
| Fuel supply: | 41.7 tons of coal |
The express train locomotive of the New York Central Railroad (NYC) designated with the generic name Niagara (classes S-1a and S-1b ) was a superheated steam locomotive with two cylinders and single steam expansion . As machines with the Northern wheel arrangement , they had four coupled axles and both a leading and a trailing two-axle bogie.
history
Due to the increasing number of passengers towards the end of the Second World War, NYC needed locomotives with higher boiler and towing hook performance than the existing machines of the Hudson wheel arrangement ( classes J-1a, J-2 and J-3a ). An indexed performance of 6000 HP was aimed for during development . Based on this performance value, the NYC selected track numbers from number 6000 for the machines. The generic name "Niagara", however, followed the custom of the railway company to designate their locomotive types with river names (here after the Niagara River ).
The first locomotive of the type, track number 6000, was completed by ALCo in August 1945. Other machines followed between October 1945 and April 1946.
The locomotive type was used in the express trains " The Chicagoan ", " The Commodore Vanderbilt " and " The Empire State Express " between New York City and Chicago . Due to the large, seven-axle tender, only one additional charring was necessary on the route, the water supplies were replenished several times during the journey by scooping. The individual machines covered an average of 40,200 km a month.
The Niagaras are considered to be one of the best express steam locomotives ever and a highlight of North American locomotive construction. All locomotives were scrapped after being decommissioned.
technical features
The so-called locomotive bed was used for the machines, in which the locomotive frame and the cylinders consist of a single cast steel piece. In the engine, all axle shafts, coupling rods and other engine rods were roller bearings . All reciprocating parts of the engine consisted of alloy steel (for comparison: the DR preferably used the unalloyed steels St 60 or 70 for the engine rods). Parts of the locomotive - especially the driver's cab, smoke deflectors and handrails - were made of aluminum supplied by Alcoa to save weight .
The clearance profile of New York Central was tighter than usual for American railways. In order to fully exploit it in favor of the largest possible boiler diameter, the boilers of the Niagaras did not have a steam dome , but a steam collecting pipe located at the top of the boiler.
A scooping device under the tender allowed the water supplies to be replenished from troughs between the tracks during the journey . A stoker carried the fuel (coal) onto the grate.
The locomotives were able to move a train composed of 18 passenger cars at a speed of around 129 km / h; the maximum towing hook power of the S-1b was determined by measurement to be 3,765 kW at 101 km / h.
literature
- A. Haas in Karl-Ernst Maedel : Wide world of rail tracks . 2nd edition, Franckh'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1967, pages 97 ff.
- Brian Solomon: ALCO Locomotives . MBI Publishing Company and Voyeur Press, Minneapolis 2009, ISBN 978-0-7603-3338-9 , pp. 76 ff.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Author collective Johannes Schwarze, Werner Deinert, Lothar Frase, Heinz Lange, Oskar Schmidt, Georg Thumstädter, Max Wilke: Die Dampflokomotive. Development, construction, mode of operation, operation and maintenance as well as locomotive damage and its elimination . Reprint of the 2nd edition from 1965 by Transpress Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-344-70791-4 , p. 897