New York Central Niagara

NYC Niagara
Niagara #6015 in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 30, 1956, soon before retirement
Type and origin Power type Steam Builder Alco-Schenectady (ALCO) Build date 1945–1946 Total produced 27
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 4-8-4 Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Leading dia. 36 in (914 mm) Driver dia. 79 in (2,007 mm) Trailing dia. 41 in (1,041 mm) Length 115 ft 5+1⁄2 in (35.19 m) Width 10 ft 8 in (3.25 m) Height 15 ft 2+3⁄4 in (4.64 m) Axle load 68,750 lb (31,184.5 kg; 31.2 t) Adhesive weight 275,000 lb (124,737.9 kg; 124.7 t) Loco weight 471,000 lb (213,642.0 kg; 213.6 t) Tender weight 420,000 lb (190,508.8 kg; 190.5 t) Total weight 891,000 lb (404,000 kg; 404 t) Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 92,000 lb (42,000 kg; 42 t) Water cap. 18,000 US gal (68,000 L; 15,000 imp gal) Fuel consumption 1 short ton (0.89 long tons) of coal per roughly 15 miles traveled (1 metric ton per 21 km) Boiler 100 in (2,540 mm) Boiler pressure 275 psi (1.90 MPa) Cylinders Two Cylinder size 25.5 in × 32 in (648 mm × 813 mm) Valve gear Baker (No. 5500 Equipped With Franklin Poppet Valve Gear)
Performance figures Power output 5,070 hp (3,780 kW) at 62.5 mph (100.6 km/h) Tractive effort 61,568 lbf (273.9 kN) Factor of adh. 4.47
Career Operators New York Central Railroad Class S-1a, S-1b, S-2a Number in class S-1a (1), S-1b (25); S-2a (1) Numbers 6000 (S-1a); 6001–6025 (S-1b); 5500 (S-2a) Retired 1951-1956 Disposition All scrapped, none preserved

The New York Central Railroad's Niagara was a 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive named after the Niagara River and Falls. It had a 4-8-4 wheel arrangement and is considered as one of the most efficient 4-8-4 locomotives ever built.

The first New York Central Railroad Northern was ordered in 1931: No. 800, an experimental locomotive that had its boiler divided into three sections of different pressure. This was another failed experiment in high pressure steam locomotives.

By the 1940s, loads being hauled on the New York Central main line from New York to Chicago were as much as the famous J-class NYC Hudson 4-6-4's could handle. The Chief of Motive Power for the railroad, Paul W. Kiefer, decided to order some 4-8-4's which could sustain 6,000 horsepower (4,500 kW) on the run between the two cities, day after day without respite.

The American Locomotive Company (ALCO) proposed these locomotives, and although the design owes something to the Union Pacific 4-8-4's, of which Union Pacific 844 is the best-known, the design was actually quite new. Some steam experts have claimed the Niagara to be the ultimate locomotive, as it had the speed of an FEF (the Union Pacific's nickname for their 'four eight fours' was FEF) and the power of Northerns with smaller driver wheels.

Locomotive details

The first Niagara was Class S-1a No. 6000, delivered in March, 1945; the S-1b's (6001-6025) were delivered in 1945 and 1946. The NYC's last Niagara steam locomotive was Class S-2 No. 5500 "Super Niagara", also delivered in 1946; uniquely among Niagaras, it had Franklin-Caprotti poppet valves. The Niagaras did not have steam domes, as did most steam locomotives, which resulted in a smooth contour along the top of the boiler. A perforated pipe collected steam instead. This was necessary because of the lower loading gauge (height clearance restrictions) of the New York Central (15 ft 2 in versus 16 ft 2 in (4.93 m) for other American railroads), particularly east of Buffalo.

These locomotives had a small water capacity (18,000 US gallons; 68,000 litres) in the tender, because the New York Central was one of the few railroads in North America which used track pans. This allowed a larger coal capacity—46 tons—so the Harmon, New York to Chicago run (928.1 miles) could be done with one stop for coal. The stop was at Wayneport, New York: 14 miles east of Rochester, which left 602.2 miles to Chicago via the Cleveland lakefront. This worked with the 46-ton coal capacity of the PT tenders, though coal was fairly low in the tenders by the time La Salle Station was reached, with an approximate mileage of 15 miles per ton of coal for such a high-horsepower steam locomotive.

On test these locomotives reached 6,600 hp (4,900 kW) in the cylinders, and ran 26,000 miles per month.

• Cylinders:
• Bore and stroke: 25½×32 inches (648×813 mm)
• Driving wheel diameter: 79 inches (2.0 m)
• Boiler pressure: 275 lbf/in² (1.90 MPa)
• Tractive effort: 61,570 pounds-force (273.9 kN)
• Axle load: 32 long tons (32.5 t)
• Valve gear: Baker valve gear
• Total length: 115 feet 5+1⁄2 inches (35.192 m)
• Total weight: 405 long tons (411 t)

All bearings were either roller bearings or needle rollers.

Maintenance

The six days per week running schedule of these locomotives meant that all of the maintenance work normally done over the course of that week would have to be done on one day. This meant a specialized system was developed, where men in "hot suits" (asbestos heat-resistant coveralls) entered the firebox while the locomotive was still in steam and cleared all of the tubes, repaired the brick arch, etc. As the temperature inside the firebox itself would have been well over 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 C), and the working area these maintenance workers would have been standing on was the still-hot firebars of the grate, all references describe these workers as 'heroic'.

This type of intensive maintenance was studied by steam locomotive designers such as Andre Chapelon, Livio Dante Porta and David Wardale. These designers based their modern steam locomotives on the experience gained with these Niagara-class locomotives: reliability and a close attention to details, leading to a reduction in maintenance costs.

The 1946 steam-versus-diesel trials

Six of these locomotives were chosen by their designer, Paul W. Kiefer, for the famous 1946 Steam Versus Diesel road trials, where the 6,000 hp (4,500 kW) Niagaras were put up against some 4,000 hp (3,000 kW) diesels (E7's). The locomotives were run along the 928.1 miles (1,493.6 km) from New York (Harmon) to Chicago, via Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo and Elkhart, and return. The results were close:

Cost comparison Steam versus diesel, 1946 NYC road trials Running from New York (Harmon) to Chicago (928.1 miles or 1,493.6 km) and return Note: dollar figures quoted in 1946 US dollars. To get 2019 US dollar figures, multiply by 13.17
	Steam S-1 'Niagara' (six locomotives)		Diesel E7 4,000 bhp two unit (six locomotives)		Diesel E7 6,000 bhp Three Unit (estimated by New York Central)
Approximate relative first costs (as at December, 1946)	100%		147%		214%
Total drawbar horsepower	5,000 hp		3,320 dbhp		4,980 dbhp
Relative first cost, in dollars per horsepower	100%		265%		258%
Total annual mileage per locomotive	288,000 (310 trips per annum)		324,000 (349 trips per annum)		324,000 (349 trips per annum)
COST PER LOCOMOTIVE	Actual	As percentage of total	Actual	As percentage of total	Estimated (by New York Central)	As percentage of total
Repairs	$102,528	31.48%	$114,048	35.6%	$162,000	38.4%
Fuel	$118,080	36.26%	$90,720	28.3%	$136,080	32.3%
Water	$8,928	2.74%	$1,296	0.4%	$1,620	0.4%
Lubrication	$3,168	0.97%	$9,720	3.0%	$14,580	3.5%
Other Supplies	$1,440	0.44%	$648	0.2%	$648	0.2%
Enginehouse Expense	$28,800	8.84%	$32,400	10.1%	$32,400	7.7%
Crew Wages (Two men)	$55,987	17.19%	$64,120	20.0%	$66,290	15.7%
Vacation Allowance (3%)	$1,670	0.51%	$1,912	0.6%	$1,976	0.5%
Social Security & Unemployment Tax (8.75%)	$5,040	1.55%	$5,767	1.8%	$5,962	1.4%
Total Cost Per Mile (Operating)	$1.1307		$0.9896		$1.3011
Total Annual Operating Cost	$325,642		$320,630		$421,556
Fixed Charges (Interest, depreciation, insurance)	$24,453		$38,841		$56,640
Total Annual Cost Per Locomotive	$350,095		$359,471		$478,196
Total Annual Cost Per Mile Per Locomotive	$1.22		$1.11		$1.48
Total Annual Cost Per Locomotive Drawbar Horsepower	$58.35		$108.27		$96.02

(Note that Kiefer only claimed 5050 drawbar horsepower from a 79-inch 4-8-4, and the last line (dollars/power) has been added)

The results were much closer than the diesel salesmen were comfortable with, but these steam locomotives were hampered by several factors: a series of coal miners' strikes; aggressive dieselization sales efforts; and a failure of the highly-expensive firebox-wrapper metallurgy to withstand the conditions of actual operation.

Planned Duplex Drive Variant

A 4-4-4-4 duplex drive steam locomotive based on the Niagara was planned as a true competitor to the Pennsylvania Railroad’s T1, called the C-1a, which was never built. The C-1a would have had a larger coal capacity, increased from 46 to 64 tons, an overall length of 123 ft 1+1⁄4 in (37.52 m), an overall wheelbase of 104 ft 2+1⁄2 in (31.76 m), an overall weight of 970,400 lb (440.17 t), a slightly-longer PT-class centipede tender with a required extra axle, the same amount of weight on drivers, four 20 in × 26 in (508 mm × 660 mm) cylinders, boiler pressure of 290 lbf/in² (2.00 MPa) and a tractive effort rating of 64,901 lbf (288.7 kN).

Disposition

The entire series was retired and scrapped between late 1955 and July, 1956, with #6015 the last engine to go. (S2a #5500 was retired earlier, in 1951, and served as a spare-parts supply for her sisters until 1956). The reason that none of the NYC Niagara locomotives survive in preservation today is due to the total pro-scrapping mentality of then-NYC President Alfred E. Perlman, who similarly ordered that every NYC Hudson be scrapped. (Two New York Central 4-8-2 Mohawks, L2d #2933 and L3a #3001, managed to survive by lucky flukes.) As the NYC gained less than $15,000 in scrap value from Luria Brothers for each Niagara, which cost about $248,000 each in 1945, this "leadership" was and is an enormous historic-preservation tragedy and outrage.

Replicas

• Completed in 1998 after 25 years construction, the accurate live steam replica 1/5 scale 10+1⁄4 in (260 mm) gauge model of 6019 is the largest known example of this extinct class in the world and works alongside a 1/5 scale NKP Berkshire at the private Stapleford Miniature Railway in the UK.

See also

• PRR T1

Further reading

• Staufer, Alvin (1961). Steam Power of the New York Central System, Volume 1: Modern Power, 1915–1955. Staufer.
• https://nycshs.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/the-niagara-story.pdf
• Know Thy Niagaras (The Definitive Sourcebook On This Locomotive Class)