Hello All,
Did the NYC continue to use Hudsons for the Century Limited after the Streamliner era started or would they have been replaced with diesel power? I am wondering if it would have been prototypical to see a Hudson with an all Streamliner Century Limited consist.
Thanks,
Bernard
The Hudsons pulled the Century for about 7 to 8 years until the first E7’s took over. The are some pictures of a Niagara also on the Century in about 1946. The steamlining was removed from all of the Hudsons starting in 1945 after one of the locomotives was involved in an accident. The NYC ran tests between the Niagara and the E7’s in 1946 and the steam was very good on the train except for the maintenance costs.
June 15, 1938: The Dreyfuss Hudson is introduced to pull the new, streamlined 20th Century Limited.
I am not sure of the exact date, but diesels were assigned to the 1948 train from that time on and may have pulled the older train once the new E7’s had been received. The first 8 E7A’s were received in late 1945 and some later in 1947 and again in 1948 and 1949 for a total of 36 units.
|
03.45, 10.45 |
2865-2872 |
E7A |
NYC |
4000-4007 |
8 |
. |
. |
|
|
04.47 |
4163-4178 |
E7A |
NYC |
4008-4023 |
<
| E840A | 02.48 | 4847-4852 | E7A | NYC | 4024-4029 |
|---|
Heck, just for general information I have seen pictures of Southern Pacific cab forwards at the head end of the California Zephyr passenger train.
Hi Bernard,
When the Twentieth Century Limited was re-equipped with Pullman lightweight streamlined cars in 1938, the New York Central also received ten streamlined J-3a Hudsons. Numbers 5445-5454 were the last Hudsons built for the NYC, and were delivered in March and April of '38. The Dreyfuss-styled streamlining of these locomotives was intended specifically for the Century trains, and included a tender stripe matching the window stripes on the cars.
The ten locomotives were supposed to be enough to maintain the train’s streamlined look with intermediate power changes (one each way), and when two sections were operated each way in peak seasons. Nevertheless, as has been mentioned, there were occasions when unstreamlined power was assigned, including Mohawks (4-8-2s) and Niagaras (4-8-4s) in addition to Hudsons. And as the railroad’s premier train, the Century was quickly dieselized when E7 locomotives became available after WWII.
So long,
Andy
The streamlined Hudsons were designed to pull the streamlined 20th Century Limited, but there were situations where a regular Hudson (or later a Niagara) filled in.
The first two-unit AA sets of E7s were delivered in March 1945 IIRC. They were painted to match the 1938 streamliner colors (i.e. medium gray body with dark gray through the windows - these were reversed in 1948 on the cars and engines) except for one set that was all black but had the same “lightning stripe” striping outline of the other units.
Non-streamlined Hudsons can be seen pulling Budd-type stainless steel cars on trains between Cincinnati and Chicago on Greg Scholl’s “New York Central Steam Finale” DVD in the fifties.
http://www.lancerusswurm.com/TrainPaintingsbyLanceRusswurm/thetwentiethcenturylimited.jpg
That probably would be the James W. Riley from "Cincinnati to Kankankee, where the IC pulled it the rest of the way to Chicago on IC tracks. Steam ran on that line late into 1956.
CZ
When the 1948-edition Century was put on display in Grand Central, I remember noticing that the motive power was a pair of A-units back to back. The break in the streamlining jarred my eleven-year-old sensibilities, which is why I still remember it.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
You are right about the new 1948 train being pulled by diesel power from the start. It would be interesting to know if any steam power ever was used on the Century after that time. I can only guess it would be to pitch hit for a diesel that failed it it did happen.
The new diesels eliminated the water track pans and coaling towers and ran month in and month out without being in the roundhouse after every run. During the winter months, the track pans had to be heated to prevent the water from freezing over. Maintenance was probably the biggest savings, but the NYC still failed and was broke in ten years after the dieselization.
I have to laugh at the idea that one broke railroad could make a comeback if they combined with the biggest broke railroad and become the largest mess ever called the PC.
CZ
Glad this came up, thinking about doing a Limited this coming year.
Thank you one and all for the info.
Bernard