Does anyone know if Union Pacific owned any 4-6-4 Hudsons? Where did they use them? What trains did they haul?
According to George Drury’s Guide to North American Steam Locomotives, the UP didn’t have any Hudsons.
Hudson type engines (also known as Baltics) were generally used in passenger service, representing the application of the super-power concept (i.e., supporting a larger firebox with a 4-wheel trailing truck) to the Pacific type. AFAIK, only the Illinois Central had Hudsons designed for frieght service. (Although as the steam era drew to a close, some 4-6-4s did end up pulling freight trains; I believe there is a picture of a Nickle Plate Road 4-6-4 pulling a freight train in Don Ball, Jr.'s America’s Colorful Railroads.)
One might find older (pre-1927) engines with 4-6-4 and 4-6-6 wheel arrangements, but these were basically 4-6-0s with a trailing truck supporting a tender for local or commuter use. (And properly they should be designated 4-6-4T and 4-6-6T for tank engines.)
Other than NYC and CP, Hudsons were not that common, although NKP had eight for a marginal passenger service. Axle loadings may have been the reason on some roads but I would think that 4-8-2’s and light 4-8-4’s handled the heavy passenger trains on other roads.
There is an article about UP’s 4-8-4s in “Steam Glory” which I got in the mail today. It says that UP was thinking about 4-6-4s to replace its 4-8-2s for passenger trains but decided that they would not be powerfull enough so they decided to go for 4-8-4s instead.
Nice magazine, by the way.
Uffe