A few simple questions...

[ezielinski]

In general, is a 4-6-4 Hudson longer then a 4-6-2 Pacific?  If yes, by how much?  Can a 4-6-4 Hudson be turned on a 90' turntable?

Thanks.

[wjstix]

There might be an exception somewhere...the Omaha road's 600-class Pacifics were HUGE 4-6-2's (the biggest ever built) while the New York Central's Hudsons weren't terribly large...but generally yes, a Hudson would be bigger than a Pacific. A Hudson was in effect a Pacific that had it's firebox stretched (to allow more fuel to be burned, producing more heat and therefor more steampower) to the extent it took a 4-wheel truck to support it, instead of just two wheels.

For turntables, it would depend on the tender and engine together. Either engine with a large 'centipede' tender might not fit on a turntable that it would have fit on with a smaller tender. Some railroads specifically ordered engines with small tenders so that they could fit them on their existing turntables. Soo Line did this with their 4-8-4's for example, and I think the Missabe did it with their 2-8-8-2's, both of these engines were big engines with small tenders with two 2-axle trucks.