Harlem Div. dieselzation

Having ridden many miles behind RS-3s on the Harlem in the 60s I well recall those units' builder plates said "July 1951."

Now, it is well known that the Harlem dieselized *** in the late summer of 1952 (Last steam run on Sept. 11), so my question is: where were those RS-3s assigned for the intervening year after their delivery? Anybody know? Just curious.

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*** With a couple of exceptions, such as the "Rutland milk" freights that ---- according to photos in Lou Grogan's great opus --- were running with Alco FAs earlier than that.

When I hung out at Woodlawn tower, I used to see them on some local freights, and on work trains.

Going backwards, what did the diesels replace? I understand that the Harlem was ruled by a fleet of K-11 Pacifics. Were these the last steam to run on the Harlem?

Did the Harlem get dieselized with Alcos? The nearby Put was inundated with Limas and Baldwins in 1951.

According to Lou Grogan's Harlem book, the Harlem was all K-3 Pacifics and J-2 Hudson until dieselized by RS-3s in Sept. 1952.

The Put had been dieselized the previous summer with the Lima diesels. Dieselization there was apparently not a sudden event. The first Lima appeared around July 15 1951 and the last steam ran Sept. 29. I got that out of Gallo & Kramer's The Putnam Division. The Limas didn't last more than a year or so when they were replaced by the Baldwins. All that had nothing to do with the Harlem dieseliztion.

In Grogan's book there's a "last steam run" publicity-looking shot of K-11e #4549 and RS-3 8336 in NWP, and as mentioned in a previous post, dated 9/11/52.

8336 was part of class DRSP-6g, a total of 23 RS-3s built in 5/52....so perhaps this subclass "g" did in steam on the Harlem and maybe bumped the Baldwins off the Put.

Twelve RS-3s were built in 7/51 (subclass "c", 8269-8280), my guess is they were first assigned to the West Shore and/or B&A. By the 60's, locomotives from the different lines/branches would have been rotated around the NYC system.

Now this is making me wonder how many steam engines it took to cover the Harlem in the early 50's, and how many diesels it took to replace them. (all 23 in subclass "g"?) I'm guessing fewer diesels would be needed (less maintenance = greater availibility?)

i've also seen pictures of f-m c-liners on through freight trains, and f-m roadswitchers on the branch down to hudson (part of b&a). a former o&w nw-2(renumbered not repainted) worked in chatham as a local switcher. there could also be detours off the hudson line if there were problems. interesting to find out if the 20th century ltd. came through. as far as putting together a roster for the harlem, what other types were in use? how were they utilized?.

bill8106 wrote:In Grogan's book there's a "last steam run" publicity-looking shot of K-11e #4549 and RS-3 8336 in NWP, and as mentioned in a previous post, dated 9/11/52.

8336 was part of class DRSP-6g, a total of 23 RS-3s built in 5/52....so perhaps this subclass "g" did in steam on the Harlem and maybe bumped the Baldwins off the Put.

Twelve RS-3s were built in 7/51 (subclass "c", 8269-8280), my guess is they were first assigned to the West Shore and/or B&A. By the 60's, locomotives from the different lines/branches would have been rotated around the NYC system.

Now this is making me wonder how many steam engines it took to cover the Harlem in the early 50's, and how many diesels it took to replace them. (all 23 in subclass "g"?) I'm guessing fewer diesels would be needed (less maintenance = greater availibility?)

Fewer diesels needed?, not necessarily so. It often took two diesels to
operate a heavy commuter train that one steam engine could handle.
Most of the commuter railroads were quite dismayed to discover that it
could often require two diesel units to replace one steam engine.
A prime example of this was on the Pennsylvania trains that operated on
the New York and Long Branch when they started replacing the famed K-4
Pacifics with E-7's. They found out very early on that it was going to
require more diesels than they had expected to replace the steam and as
a result steam on this line lingered for about a year and a half after the
diesels were first introducted to replace them.
Yes, the diesels were more efficient and could make faster turns but more
of them were needed to do the job.
Noel Weaver

found several nice shots of power in 'new york central system, gone but not forgotten' by h.f. cavanaugh. a great out of print book if you can find it.
a full set of baldwin sharks , and f-m erie builts. the sharks roamed systemwide untill being reassigned primarily west on the big four lines towards the 60's. the erie builts were bumped to commuter service after being re engined w/ emds'.
but from most other pics ive seen, the harlem seemed to be the stable of rs-3s'