When the Class J locomotives were retired from passenger service in the late 1950’s, what locomotives replaced them? I was thinking that it was the GP9’s but am not certain.[:D]
Yep, passenger GP9s started in 1957. Good article link attached:
http://www.trainlife.com/magazines/pages/661/45944/december-1999-page-20
Actually the J’s left passenger service earlier. They got doghouse brakemans cabs welded to the tenders and were put into freight service. N&W leased E units from either SAL or ACL under a long term lease. They kept their home paint scheme, but got N&W lettering. These were eventually replaced by the passenger GP9’s as they arrived from EMD.
Jim
Good info, Jim. Do you know what year that N&W started leasing the E units?
Dave,
Thanks for the link! I thought that it was 1957 when the first GP9’s made their way to the N&W. Obviously, this is not correct. It was the second group of GP9’s that arrived in 1957 that took over for the K2’s. Appreciate the information.[tup]
Jim,
When did the N&W stop using the J’s for passenger service? I would like to run J’s for October, 1957 if that is correct.[:D]
The last run of the J class in passenger service was in July of 1958. There was an excursion run behind #611 in '59, then nothing until the 1980’s.
John
Although the J’s were generally removed from passenger service by mid 1958, they still appeared occasionally on regularly scheduled passenger trains, even after teh ACL adn RF&P E-units were leased. The latest dates I have for J’s in regular service are
(1) 12/24/58, 602 from Roanoke to Williamson and back on the WB and EB Cavalier, and
(2) 1/3/59, 603 from Bluefield to Williamson and return, also on the WB and EB Cavalier.
Both these trips were recorded on train by O. Winston Link, so he likely had something to do with the use of steam on one or both of the runs. I believe there was one other run about a week after the 1/3/59 trip but I can’t find the reference. The Link recordings of these trips are so far unpublished, but the sound is available at a listening kiosk in the Link Museum, Roanoke VA.
N&W experimented with the J’s in coal train service west of Williamson in Feb 1958, with some amazing results. WB with a 12,297 ton train, a J ran at sustained speeds of 35-40 mph in Feb 1958.
Tests in merchandise service were equally impressive. A J ran 55 mph sustained with a 77-car, 4,200 ton train.
The final assignments of the last few J’s were in local freight service, mostly out of Norfolk. The last excursion prior to 611’s first retirement was a round trip west out of Roanoke 10/24/59. The return trip got back to Roanoke after dark, but the sound of 611 coming up Christiansburg grade at about 9PM was something I haven’t forgot to this day!
As you can see, they appeared in a variety of settings, so you can run almost anything and have some historical basis.