NYC Niagara

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Niagara #6015 in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 30, 1956.

The New York Central Railroad's Niagara type of steam locomotives, named after the Niagara River and Falls, were express mixed traffic locomotives with a wheel arrangement of 4-8-4 in the Whyte notation.

The first New York Central Northern (or 4-8-4) was ordered in 1931: #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 it was obvious that the loads being hauled along the New York Central Main Line from New York to Chicago was 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 hp 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.

1 Locomotive details
2 Maintenance
3 The 1946 steam-versus-diesel trials
4 The last days of the Niagaras
5 See also
6 References

[edit] Locomotive details

The first actual Niagara ordered by the NYC was Class S-1a #6000 in 1945. The S-1b (6001-6025) were delivered in 1945-46. These were built as mixed-purpose locomotives. The 4-8-4 traditionally is a passenger locomotive, as the NYC used its Niagaras for after World War II, but War Production Board regulations prohibited the building of passenger engines in 1945. The NYC's last steam locomotive was a Class S-2 Niagara: #5500; it had poppet valves. One notable trait of the Niagaras was that they did not have steam domes, as other steam locomotives did. This resulted in a very smooth contour across the top of the boiler. This was because of the lower loading gauge of the New York Central (15 ft 2 in, versus 16 ft 2 in for the other American railroads).

These locomotives had a quite small water capacity in the tender, because the New York Central was one of the few in North America which used track pans (or water troughs). This allowed for a larger coal capacity, which enabled the New York to Chicago run to be done with only one intermediate fuelling. Fuel capacity was 92,000 lb or 42 metric tons.

On test, these locomotives achieved 6,700 hp, and ran an average of 26,000 miles per month.

Cylinders:
Bore and stroke: 25½×32 inches (648×813 mm)
Driving wheel diameter: 79 inches (2.007 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 5½ inches (35.19 m)
Total weight: 405 long tons (411 t)

All bearings were either rollers bearings or needle rollers.

[edit] Maintenance

The six days per week running schedule of these locomotives meant that all of the 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.

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 in these Niagara-class locomotives: reliability; and a close attention to details leading to a reduction in maintenance costs.

[edit] The 1946 steam-versus-diesel trials

Six of these locomotives were chosen by their designer, Paul W. Kiefer, to participate in the famous 1946 Steam Versus Diesel road trials, where the 6,000 hp Niagaras were put up against some 4,000 hp diesels (E7's). The locomotives were run along the 928.7 miles (1,494.6 km) from New York to Chicago, via Albany, Syracuse and along the shores of the Great Lakes and return. The results were actually very close, as the table below shows:

Cost comparison Steam versus diesel, 1946 NYC road trials Running from New York to Chicago (929 miles or 1,495 km) and return Note: dollar figures quoted in 1946 US dollars. To get 2007 US dollar figures, multiply by 10.66
	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 power	6,000 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

The above table is from Paul W. Kiefer (1947). A Practical Evaluation of Railroad Motive Power. Steam Locomotive Research Institute Inc., New York.

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 dieselisation sales efforts; and a failure of the highly-expensive firebox-wrapper metallurgy to withstand the conditions of actual operation.^{[citation needed]}

Diesel now stands at around the US$3 per US gallon: a 3,750% increase since 1946, and coal at US$70 per short ton ($77/t) (at the time of writing): a 1,555% increase since 1946.