Railroad Forums 

  • J3 Hudsons on Freights?

  • Discussion relating to the NYC and subsidiaries, up to 1968. Visit the NYCS Historical Society for more information.
Discussion relating to the NYC and subsidiaries, up to 1968. Visit the NYCS Historical Society for more information.

Moderator: Otto Vondrak

 #649045  by rlsteam
 
Someone is asking me if the J3 Hudsons ever found themselves heading a freight train. I have seen videos of some J1s double-heading on a freight train, but not J3s. Does anyone have any information about this?
 #649573  by onder
 
Id guess the J3 wasnt so hot as a freight engine, more a high
speed engine. But who knows toward the end, steam got
all kinds of off the cuff jobs just to run out the miles.
 #649945  by Allen Hazen
 
There are photos in one or another of Alvin Stauffer's books(*)...
I think it was standard practice that when a locomotive had just been overhauled it would be assigned to a local freight run: less embarrassing if something overlooked (or caused) by the repair shop turns up on a low speed, low priority, freight than if the problem surfaces at the head of the Century!

And, at the very end of steam in the 1950s the remaining steam locomotives were often pressed into duty in roles they hadn't originally been intended for.

(*) Two big books on New York Central power in general (one on earlier locomotives, one on modern (+ diesels and electrics), plus "Thoroughbreds," a volume devoted to the Hudsons. All mainly pictures, but with some informative captions and short introductory essays to chapters.
 #655319  by jr
 
I have an ICC report from an accident dated October 5, 1950. Engine 5454 had an eastbound freight of 76 cars and a caboose. They derailed at the 37th car, near Erie, Pa. Although they sent out a flagman from the engine, they weren't certain whether a derailment had actually occurred - all they knew for certain, was that the train had gone into emergency (it was during the middle of the night). The 5454 was well-equipped with two cross-compound pumps, and was able to restore full trainline pressure quickly, even though the train had parted. So, they (incorrectly) assumed that the train had not derailed after all. They recalled the flag from the front of a train, just in time for a westbound passenger train to pass them, and run into the derailment. Nobody was killed, however.

JR