Unexpected New York Central

Unexpected New York Central

by Art Peterson

All photos are from the Krambles-Peterson Archive

Frank’s recent, outstanding coverage on the NYC S-motors sent me back into the NYC photos, to see what other locomotives there were photos of that he had also mentioned in his piece. In addition, there were a few other images of a few cars that one wouldn’t normally expect to find in a Class One railroad roster. I hope you find these of interest.

NYC Coaches 1219-1220 – High Bridge – ca. 1913

It seems like “all God’s children” had ex-New York City elevated cars (think of interurbans in Ohio using them as line cars, or the yeoman duty ex-New York cars did during WWII on the Richmond Shipyard Railway, etc.). So, when I first saw this print of NYC 3436 (Alco, 1911) sitting on the electric division trackage at High Bridge, that’s what I thought looking at the coaches on the Putnam Division embankment in the background.

How wrong I was! Posting the shot on the “passenger car site,” I asked about the history of cars 1219-1220 and found out that they had been built new by Gilbert in 1888 for the New York Northern. In my excitement, I had managed to overlook the fact that the cars clearly had sets of steps to load/unload at low-level platforms (a definite “doh!” moment). The cars later worked for the New York & Putnam before becoming part of the NYC&HR roster.

Dating of this image is helped by the fact that the steam-to-electric (or vice versa) changeover was made at High Bridge until about 1913, when that was relocated to Harmon.

NYC Tri-Power Locomotive 1525 – Alco-GE – February 1928

Frank talked about the tri-powers in his piece, and here’s a shot of the distinctive styling of the prototype, when new at Alco-GE. This locomotive was equipped with a 300 hp Ingersoll-Rand engine and also accommodated a 218-cell battery. This unit was converted to a hump trailer in 1945. The balance of the tri-powers used a boxcab body design, slightly more squared off, compared to the Alco-GE-Ingersoll-Rand oil-electrics that would follow.

NYC MT-9 – Fort Wayne – June 19, 1939

So, this is one of those “unexpecteds.” NYC bought four of the ex-Michigan Railway, St. Louis Car-built, 1915 combines and converted them to trailers for use with gas-electric cars. The MT-9 was originally assigned as CCC&StL MT-1212 and had previously been MRy 803. This car was scrapped in the 1940s.

NYC Q-Type 1251 – Alco-GE – March 1926

As noted in Frank’s piece, the Class Q steeplecab type locomotives were bought in anticipation of the electrification of the West Side Freight Line. The 1251 would later be renumbered as NYC 121 and would finally be scrapped in 1955.

NYC R-type 1201 – Alco-GE – October 7, 1926

Here’s one of those great Alco “paster” shots – this time showing the prototype for the R-types at the builder’s plant. The R-type design evolved into the single-unit version familiar on the Detroit River Tunnel and New York City electrifications and later on the South Shore. These prototype units were converted to diesel hump trailers in 1945. Frank adds: This prototype R-motor was electrically identical to a pair of Q-motors with a drawbar between them, featuring the same trucks, motors, and control. Of course, as shown, it had boxcab instead of steeplecab car bodies.

NYC R-1-type 7500 – Alco-GE – May 1910

For this Alco “paster” the darkroom technician has blanked out all the cab windows on this R-1 locomotive for the Detroit River Tunnel (DRT) operation. DRT had been formed in 1905 to build and equip the tunnel. Seven locomotives to this style were delivered in 1910 (7500 was the grand-daddy of them all), with another four following in 1914 (increased to 123 tons) and a pair of 125-ton locomotives which were delivered in 1926. The R-1s were equipped with four GE 209 (300 hp) motors and could develop a maximum of 67,000 lbs. tractive effort. Through 1924, the first two orders of steeplecabs were reported to have repair costs of just $0.09 per locomotive-mile. Frank adds: Note that this is something of a larger version of ComEd 4, with its two trucks pinned together in a B+B rather than B-B arrangement that avoided transferring buffer forces through the car body frame.

NYC&HR 11 – Circa 1911

Although the photo is undated, the car is still lettered for the NYC&HR, which it wore until at least 1912. The car (homebuilt by the Boston & Albany in 1904) operated on the 1.2-mile Riverside-Newton Lower Falls service until late April 1930. The electrified passenger operation on the branch began in January 1904.

NYC 825 – G.C. Kuhlman Plant – January 26, 1906

NYC used this car to test a gas-mechanical car design at its Collinwood, OH shops (east of Cleveland) in October 1906. The tests were not successful. George’s notes on the print indicate the handsome little carbody found further employment as a yard office in Seneca, NY.

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Rich Stoving of the NYCHS for some of the commentary on the High Bridge shot. In addition, WD Middleton’s “When Steam Railroads Electrified” was an invaluable resource.  Several on-line sources were also used.

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