After the Y4 class of 1927 demonstrated the effectiveness of the Worthington BL feedwater heater, the N&W modernized the Y3 and Y3a classes. They receive Worthington 4 1/2 BL feedwater heaters on the left side of the boiler and the air compressors were moved to the right side for balance. The engines also received N&W standard tenders of increased capacity ranging from 16,000 to 22,000 gallons and riding on Lewis six-wheel trucks. The smokebox front was modified with a larger round door carrying a circular number plate.
Other details were changed as well, until the most prominent remaining sign of the Y3's origins was the USRA-style cab. The Y3s served as the basis for the N&W's later and more famous 2-8-8-2 designs, including the ultimate Mallet class Y6b. By the time of World War II, the N&W had built enough of these more modern articulated to consider 19 Y3s surplus and they were sold to other railroad that were short of power. Thus six Y3s served on the Pennsylvania Railroad, five on the Union Pacific, and eight on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe. In 1948 seven were sold to the Virginian Railway. They were reconditioned and put into service as the Virginian's USE class.
The World War II vintage Mallets worked out their last miles back in the coal fields and were ultimately scrapped in 1954 and 1955. The N&W's own remaining Y3s stayed in service until 1957-58, and the Y3as lasted until 1958-59.
In 1952, the Norfolk & Western ran several tests. These tests compared a four- unit F7 consist against a modified class A (2-6-6-4 number 1239) and later a modified class Y6b (2-8-8-2 number 2197). Several modifications were made to 2197 which made it different from the other Y6b locomotives. These modifications included a "booster valve", a new "intercepting/reducing valve" which increased its drawbar horsepower by 26% and its drawbar tractive effort by 15%. An article in the November 1991 issue of TRAINS titled N&W's Secret Weapons goes into more detail about these tests. The author of this article nicknamed the modified 2197 a "Y6c".
In the mid-1950s, when the older 2100 series locomotives were "shopped", they were fitted with these same modifications. According to the author, these retro-fitted "Ys" could now produce 170,000 pounds of tractive effort and 5,600 drawbar horsepower. Many consider these numbers to be erroneous.
| Specifications (as built) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Y1 | Y2 | Y2a | Y3 | Y3a | |
| Builder: | Baldwin | N&W/Baldwin | N&W | ALCO/Baldwin | ALCO |
| Wheel Arrangement: | 2-8-8-2 | 2-8-8-2 | 2-8-8-2 | 2-8-8-2 | 2-8-8-2 |
| Length: | 110' - 11" | 110' - 11" | 113' - 11 1/4" | 113' - 11 1/4" | |
| Drivers: | 56" dia | 56" dia | 57" dia | 57" dia | 57" dia |
| Weight on Drivers: | 370,000 lbs | 472,000 lbs | 472,000 lbs | 485,000 lbs | 485,000 lbs |
| Locomotive Weight: | 400,000 lbs | 526,000 lbs | 526,000 lbs | 539,000 lbs | 539,000 lbs |
| Tender Weight: | |||||
| Locomotive & Tender Weight: | |||||
| Grate Area: | |||||
| Cylinders: (dia x stroke) | 24 1/2" x 30" (HP) 39" x 30" (LP) | 24 1/2" x 32" (HP) 39" x 32" (LP) | 25" x 32" (HP) 39" x 32" (LP) | 25" x 32" (HP) 39" x 32" (LP) | 25" x 32" (HP) 39" x 32" (LP) |
| Boiler Pressure: | 200 psi | 230 psi | 270 psi | 270 psi | 270 psi |
| Tractive Effort: | 83,615 lbs (s) 66,892 lbs (c) | 123.960 lbs (s) 104,300 lbs (c) | 139,450 lbs (s) 116,212 lbs (c) | 139,985 lbs (s) 114,154 lbs (c) | 136,985 lbs (s) 114,154 lbs (c) |
| Tender Capacity: | |||||
| Water: | 9,000 gals. | 12,000 gals. | 12,000 gals. | 12,000 gals. | 15,000 gals. |
| Coal: | 14 tons | 20 tons | 20 tons | 16 tons | 17 tons |
| Specifications (as built) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Y4 | Y5 | Y6 | Y6a | Y6b | ||
| Builder: | N&W | N&W | N&W | N&W | N&W | |
| Wheel Arrangement: | 2-8-8-2 | 2-8-8-2 | 2-8-8-2 | 2-8-8-2 | 2-8-8-2 | |
| Length: | 114' - 10 3/4" | 113' - 11 1/4" | 114' - 10 1/2" | 114' - 10 1/2" | 114' - 10 1/2" | |
| Drivers: | 58" dia | 57" dia | 58" dia | 58" dia | 58" dia | |
| Weight on Drivers: | 508,500 lbs | 522,850 lbs | 522,850 lbs | 522,850 lbs | 522,850 lbs | |
| Locomotive Weight: | 567,000 lbs | 582,900 lbs | 582,900 lbs | 582,900 lbs | 582,900 lbs | |
| Tender Weight: | ||||||
| Locomotive & Tender Weight: | 961,500 lbs | |||||
| Grate Area: | ||||||
| Cylinders: (dia x stroke) | 25" x 32" (HP) 39" x 32" (LP) | 25" x 32" (HP) 39" x 32" (LP) | 25" x 32" (HP) 39" x 32" (LP) | 25" x 32" (HP) 39" x 32" (LP) | 25" x 32" (HP) 39" x 32" (LP) | |
| Boiler Pressure: | 270 psi | 300 psi | 300 psi | 300 psi | 300 psi | |
| Tractive Effort: | 136,985 lbs (s) 114,154 lbs (c) | 152,206 lbs (s) 126,838 lbs (c) | 152,206 lbs (s) 126,838 lbs (c) | 152,206 lbs (s) 126,838 lbs (c) | 152,206 lbs (s) 126,838 lbs (c) | |
| Tender Capacity: | ||||||
| Water: | 16,000 gals. | 22,000 gals. | 22,000 gals. | 22,000 gals. | 22,000 gals. | |
| Coal: | 23 tons | 26 tons | 26 tons | 30 tons | 30 tons | |
| This page last modified: Thursday, 28-Oct-2004 23:36:10 CDT. | [Contact] | All material © 1999-2008 SteamLocomotive.com |
