I think she’s going here 70 MPH. What you think?
I’ve no way of knowing for sure, but I wouldn’t be one bit surprised if it were true by the looks of your video!
How’s that too fast? Those engines were made for speed; not for sputtering along at 5mph on some weed-covered branch line…
If 614 looks like she was going that fast, then she probably was.
I’ve had the oppertunatity to see her in operation several times.
The last time I saw her, was from Charleston, Wv, towards Hinton, Wv.
I was able to catch her at Charleston, Handley and Thurmond, Wv.
Whatever the speed limit was on the old C & O at that time,
She was Doing It!!
This isn’t my video. Somebody elses. By the way, why dose your picture of your account have the BNSF H3 Logo backwards?
Where’s she at now? Is she going to run again?
Same question,and what about the other Chessie loco 614-T
I think she’s going every bit of 70.
Just my way of being a bit of a non-conformist I guess.
C&O 614 and 614T were one and the same. It became the 614T when it became the test bed for some components of the ACE3000 steam locomotive.
Ross Rowland, the man behind the ACE3000 (and current owner of the 614) has appeared on this Forum before; perhaps he can elaborate if he desires.
As for 70, I don’t doubt it.
Indeed. Just loping along…
One measure I’ve heard regarding design speed for steam locomotives more or less equated driver size with working speed. The 614 has 72" drivers.
The operative working phrase witrh these Steam Locos is “fast passenger.” You can bet if the speed limits allow it Steve Lee and Ross Rowland will let them roll at track speed. Having chased the 3985 and 844 here in Kansas. They Will roll at track speed![tup][tup][:D]
Thanks for the info,I had forgotten about the ACE3000 project and those experiments…
The factor I’ve seen was 1.1, as in approx. max. speed (in MPH) = 1.1 x driver diam. (in inches). So, for 72" drivers, it wold be 79 or 80 MPH, which seems about right.
I’m pretty sure 614 was for fast freight, not passenger, esp. on C&O - a coal road. Plus, I understand that the T-614 was rebuilt for freight use, not passenger. Modern ten-coupled passenger power was rare, aside from maybe UP’s 4-10-2’s and 4-12-2’s. More common was 8-coupled, like Northerns (4-8-4) and Mountains (4-8-2). Both UP & AT&SF used 4-8-4’s as their fast passenger power, even though they too had larger (ATSF also had 2-10-4’s).
- Paul North.
Actually, the “Greenbrier’s” were built for passenger service.
They (610-614) came along about the time C & O was dieselising,
and probably pulled more freights than passenger trains.
Maybe C.S. will jump in here and tell the story about 614-611.
(had something to do with an R F & P engine, and a C & O Engine)
Of course being a 4-8-4 C&O 614 is not a ten-coupled engine…
The C&O Greenbriers (4-8-4s, but never call them “Northerns”!) were in fact built as passenger locomotives.
C&O used its 2-10-4s (the 3000 series) and 2-12-6s (the 1600 series [;)]) for coal trains, though the latter probably could have handled passenger as well without problems.
"Open mouth, insert foot . . . ", or, as Roseanne Rosannadanna (the late Gilda Radner) used to say on Saturday Night Live: “Nevermind.” [:I]
Well, at least my reasoning was pretty close. And thanks for pointing that out - I learned something new: 614 is a 4-8-4, not a 2-10-4 - for some reason, I really thought it was. Oh well. And nice to know there’s yet another 4-8-4 in the land.
- Paul North.
So whats the propblem Seems to me that they were built and designed to run like that
If you’ve never stood alongside a mainline facing an oncoming train doing 60, 70, or even 80, you can’t realize the sensation. Been there, done that. It’s imposing, even frightening.
CSX runs through the Utica station at track speed most of the time. For intermodals, that’s 60. You step back, even if you’ve already stepped back.
Seeing a big Northern (or Greenbrier, or FEF, or GS) bearing down on you at speed is certainly an intimidating experience.