Delaware, Lackawanna &Western 4-6-4 "Hudson" Locomotives in the USA

The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western took delivery of five (road numbers 1151 through 1155) Hudsons from the American Locomtive Company in 1937. These were the last steam locomotives the railroad purchased.

Class Details by Steve Llanso of Sweat House Media

Class M-1 (Locobase 184)

Data from 1930 Locomotive Cyclopedia, supplemented by D&LW 7 - 1940 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange collection. (Thanks to Chris Hohl for his valve gear ID and his comment about streamlining; and for his 22 September 2017 email reporting unlikely boiler pressure values for 177 entries. A Locobase macro caused the error.)) Works numbers were 68910-68914 in 1937.

Firebox heating surface included 100 sq ft (9.3 sq m) of syphons (two in the firebox, one in the combustion chamber) and 27 sq ft (2.5 sq m) in arch tubes. 12" (305 mm) piston valves had 7 1/2" (191 mm) of travel. S. Kip Farrington's opinion (Railroading Coast to Coast, 1976): "One of the truly great 4-6-4 type built. A little higher steam pressure and tender capacity would have made them perfect." One of the class was temporarily renumbered 1939 to celebrate the 1939 New York World's Fair. Chris Hohl found that the same engine was renumbered again for the second year as 1940 and reshrouded in a new streamlining rig.

Drury (1993) notes their outsized power for the traffic on the road: "...fast, powerful engines designed to pull 16-18 cars at 80 mph -- but the speed limit on the route was 70 mph and the trains were rarely ever more than 8 to 10 cars."

According to Wikipedia:"The five locomotives only lasted ten years in their original intended assignments, since the Lackawanna dieselized its express passenger trains in 1947. The Hudsons were relegated to lesser assignments such as commuter trains, and began to be seen on the eastern end of the railroad. One assignment was the early morning Merchants Express (Train 26) from Scranton to Hoboken, New Jersey, returning in the late afternoon hauling the Scrantonian (Train 11). Another was the Interstate Express (Train 1301), received from the Reading Railroad/Jersey Central at Taylor Junction, near Scranton, and hauled to Binghamton, New York.

Even in this service, they did not last long. All five were withdrawn from service in 1951-53 and subsequently scrapped; none of the railroad's later steam locomotives survived the cutter's torch."

Principal Dimensions by Steve Llanso of Middle Run Media
ClassM-1
Locobase ID184
RailroadDelaware, Lackawanna &Western
CountryUSA
Whyte4-6-4
Number in Class5
Road Numbers1151-1155
GaugeStd
Number Built5
BuilderAlco-Schenectady
Year1937
Valve GearWalschaert
Locomotive Length and Weight
Driver Wheelbase (ft / m)14 / 4.27
Engine Wheelbase (ft / m)40.59 / 12.37
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheelbase 0.34
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender) (ft / m)81.21 / 24.75
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle) (lbs / kg)
Weight on Drivers (lbs / kg)198,000 / 89,811
Engine Weight (lbs / kg)377,000 / 171,005
Tender Loaded Weight (lbs / kg)313,100 / 142,020
Total Engine and Tender Weight (lbs / kg)690,100 / 313,025
Tender Water Capacity (gals / ML)15,800 / 59.85
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal) (gals/tons / Liters/MT)26 / 24
Minimum weight of rail (calculated) (lb/yd / kg/m)110 / 55
Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort
Driver Diameter (in / mm)80 / 2032
Boiler Pressure (psi / kPa)245 / 1690
High Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke) (in / mm)26" x 30" / 660x762
Tractive Effort (lbs / kg)52,791 / 23945.62
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort) 3.75
Heating Ability
Tubes (number - dia) (in / mm)231 - 2" / 51
Flues (number - dia) (in / mm)52 - 5.375" / 137
Flue/Tube length (ft / m)17.50 / 5.33
Firebox Area (sq ft / m2)477 / 44.31
Grate Area (sq ft / m2)81.50 / 7.57
Evaporative Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)3854 / 358.05
Superheating Surface (sq ft / m2)1123 / 104.33
Combined Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)4977 / 462.38
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume209.00
Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information)
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation19,968
Same as above plus superheater percentage24,560
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area143,744
Power L128,957
Power MT967.26

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