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Modelcar asks: "...When side rods on the "J's" were interchanged from heavy "war time rods" and replaced with "light alloy", wasn't it necessary to replace the wheels / counter weights as well....?" The wheels didn't have to be replaced. The counterweight covers were welded over the cavities in the back of the wheel, and the cavities could be opened to adjust the weights. MurphySiding - all N&W's engineering talent was homegrown in that it wasn't recruited from any outside company, at least after the reorganization of the railroad in 1896. The names to remember chronologically are W. H. Lewis, John A. Pilcher, H. W. Reynolds, Charles Faris and Gurdon (not Gordon) McGavock; in the testing department were H. W. Coddington, I. N. Moseley and John Pilcher's son Robert M. These were the leaders of a very talented group of men, and from about 1915 on they were responsible for N&W's locomotive and freight car designs. Jeffries' new and revised N&W - Giant of Steam (just out) goes into some detail about the designs, and King's The A - N&W's Mercedes of Steam (in process of being revised and expanded) has information about N&W's designers from interviews with Voyce Glaze, who was N&W's last Mechanical Engineer, and was in the engineering office from 1922. N&W did have one lemon, the K-3 4-8-2 of 1926. Evidently, someone desired an answer to Lima's 2-8-4. The K-3 had certain design characteristics that made it impossible to counterbalance properly, and was thus hard on track. The engine was a fine steamer, but was never satisfactory. It was designed during the reign of a Superintendent of Motive Power named Alexander Kearney, and IMHO the K-3 was more Kearney's engine than Pilcher's. Kearney busied himself with the business of the Mechanical Engineer's office; his successor was R. G. Henley, who let the engineers alone. Henley's successer was C. E. Pond, who did likewise. Old Timer
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