Norfolk & Western 1218
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Norfolk and Western Railway 1218 in railfan service in 1987 |
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| Power type | Steam |
|---|---|
| Builder | N&W's Roanoke Shops |
| Serial number | 340 |
| Build date | 1943 |
| Configuration | 2-6-6-4 |
| UIC classification | (1'C)C2' |
| Gauge | 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) |
| Leading wheel size | 33 in (0.838 m) |
| Driver size | 70 in (1.778 m) |
| Trailing wheel size | 42 in (1.067 m) |
| Locomotive weight | 951,600 lb (431,600 kg) |
| Tender capacity | Coal: 30 short tons (27.2 t/26.8 LT) Water: 22,000 US gal (83,000 l/18,000 imp gal) |
| Boiler pressure | 300 psi (2.07 MPa) |
| Cylinders | Four |
| Cylinder size | 24×30 in (610×762 mm) |
| Valve gear | Baker |
| Tractive effort | 114,000 lbf (507.10 kN) |
| Career | Norfolk & Western Railway |
| Class | A |
| Number in class | 19 of 43 |
| Locale | United States, South and Midwest |
| Retired | 1959 |
| Restored | 1987 |
| Current owner | City of Roanoke, Virginia |
| Disposition | On display |
Norfolk & Western 1218 is a steam locomotive that at one time was the strongest-pulling operational steam locomotive in the world. It is a four-cylinder simple articulated locomotive with a 2-6-6-4 (Whyte system) wheel arrangement. The Norfolk & Western Railway built it in 1943 at its Roanoke Shops in Roanoke, Virginia, and it was part of the Norfolk & Western's "A class". It was retired from regular rail service in 1959, but Norfolk & Western successor Norfolk Southern Railway operated it in excursion service from 1987 to 1992. Today it is on display at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke.
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[edit] Historic significance
Norfolk & Western 1218 is the sole survivor of the railroad's A class—which many consider to be the finest steam locomotives ever built for use in the United States—and indeed the only surviving 2-6-6-4 steam locomotive in the world.
During 1218's excursion career, it was the strongest-pulling operational steam locomotive in the world, with a tractive effort of 114,000 pounds-force (507.10 kN), well above the next-strongest-pulling operational steam locomotive (Union Pacific 3985, with a tractive effort of 97,350 lbf (433.03 kN)). Despite its high tractive effort for starting heavy trains, it could easily run 70 miles per hour (113 km/hr) and more.
[edit] Operational history
Norfolk & Western used 1218 and the other A-class locomotives primarily for fast freight trains, but they also pulled heavy coal trains on the flatter districts of the Norfolk & Western system, and reportedly even pulled heavy passenger trains at times.
After Norfolk & Western retired 1218 in 1959, Union Carbide bought it to use as a backup boiler in an industrial plant. In 1965 steam preservationist F. Nelson Blount bought 1218 for his Steamtown collection, which today the National Park Service operates. However, Blount sent 1218 back to Roanoke, Virginia, where she went on display and eventually became property of the city.
In 1982, Norfolk & Western merged with Southern Railway to become today's Norfolk Southern Railway, and Norfolk & Western president Robert B. Claytor became the first president of Norfolk Southern. Bob Claytor's brother W. Graham Claytor, Jr. had started a steam excursion program at Southern Railway when he had been an executive, and then its president, in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Both Claytor brothers were great rail preservationists and champions of maintaining some historic steam operations. Bob Claytor had Norfolk Southern restore 1218 for its steam program. On May 10, 1985, Norfolk Southern pulled 1218 from its park display for restoration, on January 16, 1987 she was fired up, and on March 26, 1987, 1218 ran a break-in run from the steam shops at Irondale, Alabama to Wilton, Alabama. She entered excursion service and pulled many excursion trains until 1992, when she went for an overhaul. This overhaul was in progress when Norfolk Southern canceled its steam program in late 1994.
[edit] Current status
Today 1218 and her former stable-mate Norfolk & Western 611 are the main attractions at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke. She sits cosmetically restored, her insides completely empty since her partial overhaul in 1992 was never finished. But 1218 does get out a bit, on rare occasions. In 2007, Norfolk Southern pulled her (cold), with 611, to its Roanoke Shops for the shops' 125th anniversary celebration.
There are many who hope that 1218 will return to steam. Doing so would likely involve expenses in the millions of dollars, and years of work by skilled craftsmen. Annual expenses of an operational 1218 would run hundreds of thousands of dollars just for basic supplies and insurance. That is not to say it could not happen, but that there are many substantial obstacles.
[edit] References
- Jeffries, Lewis I., N&W: Giant of Steam (Rev. ed. 2005).
- Wrinn, Jim, Steam's Camelot: Southern and Norfolk Southern Excursions in Color (2000).
