Class N-1 (Locobase 11081)

Data from "Mallet Articulated Compound Locomotive, 2-6-6-2 Type" American Engineer and Railroad Journal (April 1910 ), pp. 135-137. Works number was 46714 in January 1910.

Moving up from Consolidations, with 4 axles of power, to Mallets in the Berkshires only made sense, according to the report in the AERJ. The territory was "...country where heavy grades combined with sharp curves are practically continuous. There are several long sections where grades of approximately one percent are encountered and eastbound, the section of six miles between Pittsfield and Hinsdale is on a grade of 1.42 percent. Westbound a grade of 1.5 per cent 11.5 miles long is found between Chester and Washington, Mass.

To determine if a Mallet was the answer, the New York Central ordered this prototype. The AERJ writer noted that the relatively small grate was chosen to better fit the demands of slow-speed service in compounds burning bituminous coal. In most other respects, except for the larger boiler and the larger truck wheels, the N-1 was "practically duplicate in design to eight recently delivered by the same builders to the Denver & Rio Grande Railway." (See Locobase 294 for the superheated upgrade of the D & RGW L-62.)

Fred B Furminger, Associate Editor of the New York Central Railroad System Historical Society's Central Headlight, contacted Wes Barris of steamlocomotive.com in March 2010 to correct the entry Barris and Locobase then presented. Locobase gratefully includes the following quotation of Furminger's communications:

"[1249] was immediately put into service on the Albany and Springfield in the Berkshire Hills for exhaustive testing. After testing was completed, it was sent back to Alco at Schenectady for the addition of a superheater and a security brick arch to improve performance, efficiency and economy.

"By April 1911 it was transferred over to the New York Central & Hudson River, reclassified as an NE-1a, renumbered to #1374 and sent to the NYC Lines Pennsylvania Division where additional testing took place."

"The objective on the Pennsylvania Division was also to obtain a locomotive capable of handling a 70 car train at an average speed of 10 to 14 miles an hour without assistance. The alternative was to double track the railroad to get the increased capacity the traffic required.

"These tests proved so successful that an additional 74 of these mallets in the NE-2 class with sub-classes a through g were added through 1921 for use on the B&A and NYC&HR. [See Locobase 5583 for the production variant.]

"So the first NYC/B&A 2-6-6-2 was not classified as NB-1a. That class was an 0-6-6-0. It should be classified as N-1 and the number should be #1249, not #1374. It was not #1374 until it was reclassified as an NE-1a when it was moved over to the NYC&HR in 1911."

Furminger adds, bibliographically: "The above information was gathered from "Steam Locomotives of the New York Central Lines, Vol. 1, Parts > 1&2 NYC&HR and B&A" by Edson and Vail and "New York Central's Later Power 1910-1968" by Alvin Staufer and Edward L. May.

Class NE-1a (Locobase 11082)

Data from NYC 8 - 1917 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Once the NYC had committed to buying superheated versions of the B & A's NB-1a (Locobase 11081), the B & A began procuring its own batch. The first of the class was produced in December 1913 and still had the 10" piston valves for its HP cylinders and a firebox of relatively small area.

Class NE-2a (Locobase 5583)

Data from the 1917 guide to Dimensions and Classifications of Locomotives seen on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/nyc-lb30.html (May 2003). See also "Maintaining Mallet Locomotives," American Engineer, Vol 86, No 7 (July 1912), pp. 335-337.

These were the first articulateds on the New York Central. Following very successful trials on the Boston & Albany in the previous year (Locobase 11081), the NYC bought some for itself and some for the B & A. Key differences were the adoption of superheat, a bigger firebox, and larger cylinders with 12" piston valves on the HP cylinders.

The AE reported the results of the first year of service: "On the test, the Mallet locomotive handled 3,461 tons behind the tender at 15 miles per hour and 3,734 tons at 12 1/2 miles per hour. After one year's continuous service all of the locomotives are handling an equal tonnage at speeds as good as or better than those obtained in the test. They are doing this easily and to the complete satisfaction of all concerned. The fuel and water consumption is practically the same as was obtained on the tests which required .084 Ibs. of coal per tonmile at 15 miles per hour. This was practically 40 per cent, less than was required by either of the consolidation locomotives at the same speed."

The AE writer attributed the locomotives' "This continued excellent service" to three factors: "[T] hey were properly designed for the conditions ...they were well built, and, most of all, ...they are being properly taken care of at the terminals."

Class NE-2f/g // NE2b/c/e (Locobase 4794)

Data from the 1930 guide to Dimensions and Classifications of Locomotives seen on http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/nyc-lb30.html (May 2003)

Used in coal hauling in the Pennsylvania Division. Boston & Albany had 13 similar NE2b/c/e. They were used in the Pennsylvania Division on secondary lines for coal trains where axle loadings didn't permit heavier engines.