Class 3 (Locobase 15623)

Data from NYC 9 - 1905 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. Works numbers were 1482 (road #9) in December 1881, 1485 in January 1882 (road #10), 2480-2481 (road #4, 12, later 4 and 8) in February 1888, 2594 (road #6) in February 1890, 3265-3266 (road #5 and 7) in October, 3267 (road #3) in November.

Described as dummy engines, this set of motors is hard to figure out and the 1905 book does not offer a diagram. The weight seems high and the firebox puny. They were probably car shunters at Grand Central Station.

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Class DeWitt Clinton (Locobase 4787)

The first locomotive for what would later become the New York Central, this little teakettle had inclined cylinders at the rear driving down and forward to the lead set of drivers. A slender boiler rode high in a frame set above the driving axles and a tall steam dome sat on the boiler between the drivers.

The Clinton was choosy about the fuel it burned (anthracite was too hard, coke too hot). According to Henry B. Comstock (1971), the engine choked on the anthracite because it had an tall, large-diameter stack that drew poorly. In a celebrated example of unintended consequences, the substitution of pitch-pine meant showers of sparks that left holes in hats and parasols as well as coats and dresses. Also, the utter lack of any buffering of the links between cars led to neck-snapping starts and tumbling stops. The DeWitt Clinton remained in service only a year, but was later reproduced in replica in the 1890s.

See also Kinert, 1962.