New York & Northern / New York Central 2-4-4 Locomotives in the USA

Class D (Locobase 5218)

Data from a reproduction of the New York Central's 1902 Locomotive guide found on [] (visited December 2002); and "Passenger Locomotive for Suburban Service", Railroad and Engineering Journal", Volume LXII [62], No 10 (October 1888), pp. 450-451. See also E E R Tratman, "Tank Locomotives", Official Proceedings of the Western Railway Club (Chicago: W F Hall Printing Company, 1903), pp. 342 et seq. See also Georgia Railroad History account of the Greene Country Railroad at [], last accessed 28 September 2014. (Thanks to Chris Hohl for his 31 December 2018 email noting the original fuel capacity and driver diameter.) Works numbers were 3891 in January 1888, 3892 in February, 3913 in March, 3926-3927 in April, 4502 in May 1891, and 4716 in June 1892.

These tank engines were bought for short-haul commuter work in the NY area. Chris Hohl pointed out these engines had a 3-ton coal capacity and 54" drivers when delivered. REJ described them as "very neat, compact, and serviceable-looking engines, and have so far given satisfaction in a very trying service."

It's apparent from the other specs that more fuel was needed and thicker tires increased the driver diameter to 55". The equalizing system for the drivers was carried forward from the front spring hangers of the lead drivers to a central bracket under the truck springs on each side. The fulcrums for the equalizer were mounted on the about halfway between the two assemblies. This "strong and durable" design was a "very neat job", REJ pronounced, adding that it was "apparently preferable to the somewhat unsightly arrangement of levers ...often used in similar cases."

Locobase can't explain a consistent inconsistency in the New York Central's diagrams. All of them describe the boilers as containing 186 fire tubes, each 1 3/4" (44 mm) in diameter and 7 ft 10 1/2" (2.41 m) long. The stated tube heating surface is then given as 771 sq ft (71.62 sq m), which added to the firebox heating surface area amounts to 860 sq ft (79.93 sq m) of evaporative heating surface area. But calculating the tube heating surface area from the data yields 673 sq ft (62.52 sq m) and an EHS of 762 sq ft (70.79 sq m).

One explanation for the discrepancy is a confusion between the tube HS and the EHS figure through which the tube HS is used for the EHS. (Locobase has seen this a few times in other sources.) Another possibility is that the tube diameter is consistently understated, or the internal diameter is given rather than the outer. If the outer diameter is 2" (50.8 mm), then the numbers fall into line quite neatly.

Locobase has entered the 2" diameter into the entry, but cannot confirm it.

In 1894, they were incorporated in the parent New York Central & Hudson River and placed in class D.

Four were scrapped by February 1913. Two others were sold to locomotive rebuilder/reseller Southern Iron & Equipment in June 1910. The SI&E sold ex-42 to the Compania des Phosphates de Florida (Pembroke, Fla) in May 1911.

The SI&E sold ex-44 to Mitchell Mountain Coal & Iron Company headquartered in Atlanta as their #1. MMC&IC didn't hold the 1 for long, selling it in March 1913 to 19-mile (30.6 km) Greene County Railroad. Railga's historian notes that its "name is odd because none of its tracks ever entered Greene County, which lies a few miles east of Apalachee. Perhaps it was the owners' intention to build such an extension, and the railroad was named with that in mind. A possibly relevant fact is the name of the railroad's president, Forest Greene."

The GCRR eventually sold it in November 1919 to locomotive reseller Georgia Car & Locomotive, who found a buyer in Kaul Lumber Company, who renumbered it 16 and operated until it was scrapped in the late 1920s.

The New York Central sold the ex-45 itself, inducing C W Lane to buy the engine in June 1915..

Class D-1A (Locobase 6828)

Data from Roy V Wright (Ed.) 1912 Locomotive Cyclopedia of American Practice, Sixth Edition (New York: Simmons-Boardman Publishing Company, 1912), p. 167. See also NYC 8 -1917 Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. (Thanks to Chris Hohl for his 16 April 2017 email reporting the bunker's coal capacity.) Works numbers were 48420-48424 in June 1910.

Tank engine for short-haul commuter work in the NY area. The little bobtails were used on the Yonkers branch of the Putnam Division (aka the Getty Branch), which had very light rail. Brooks built ten of these. The first five arrived in July 1910 and generated their steam in saturated-steam boilers. Two years later, Brooks delivered five more "Forneys" with superheaters installed; see Locobase 471.

In December 1926, the entire class was retired following electrification of their line. The last three--1918-1920--went on to work for Mexico's FerroCarril de Rio Mayo as their 10, 9, and 11, respectively.

The FC de Rio Mayo was located in the Mayo Valley and served the towns of San Ignacio, San Pedro, Bacobampo, Etchojoa, Estación Rosas, Huatabampo and Yavaro. The last of these is a port on the Gulf of California in southern Sonora State

Class D-2A (Locobase 471)

Tank engine for short-haul commuter work in the NY area. Data from Bruce (1952), confirmed by NYC 8 -1917 Locomotive Diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. Works numbers were 51790-51794 in September 1912.

Two years after the first Forneys from Brooks (see Locobase 6828), that builder supplied five more with superheaters fitted from the beginning. All of these supported service on the Getty Branch in nearby upstate New York until electrification rendered them redundant and the entire class was retired in December 1926.

Four were scrapped, but the 1913 was sold to the Lima & Defiance.