Taking the cue from Dave Klepper in the Top 5 4-8-4 Discussion Topic, what are your Top 5 8-coupled articulated locomotives?
Compound or simple, any combination of lead truck, trailing truck or no trailing truck.
Here is a list to get things started:
Norfolk & Western Y6b 2-8-8-2 - compound articulated black diamond hauler mountain mauler extraordinaire with a shot of simple steam on the side
Great Northern R-2 2-8-8-2 - simple articulated fast freight speed with maximum tractive effort for the Rockies
Great Northern N-3 2-8-8-0 - simple articulated Swiss Army knife - iron ore hauler, grain hauler, merchandise hauler, troop train hauler
D&RGW R1 L-132 2-8-8-2 - High altitude heavy hauler
DM&IR M-3 2-8-8-4 - Iron ore hauler of 15,000 tons decades before UP-BNSF coal trains of that size
Surely Beyer Garratts count....
The NSWGR AD60 comes to mind.
The South African GMAM must be up there along with the East African 59th class.
Peter
B&O's EM-1's shown tripleheading a coal train up Chardon Hill inroute to Painesville.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
I'll throw this out:
Union Pacific 4000 class 4-8-8-4
Norfolk & Western Y6b 2-8-8-2
Duluth Missabe & Iron Range M-3 2-8-8-4
Baltimore & Ohio EM-1 2-8-8-4
Southern Pacific AC-12 4-8-8-2
Scott Griggs
Louisville, KY
But....WHY?????? WHY????? They looked purdier than the other contenders? They rode better between the speeds of 30 and 50 mph? Their whistles were cooler?
Please flesh this out with a little carne.
sgriggs I'll throw this out: Union Pacific 4000 class 4-8-8-4 Norfolk & Western Y6b 2-8-8-2 Duluth Missabe & Iron Range M-3 2-8-8-4 Baltimore & Ohio EM-1 2-8-8-4 Southern Pacific AC-12 4-8-8-2 Scott Griggs Louisville, KY
Here is some rationale for my list:
UP 4000 - Largest, heaviest (yes I know what Huddleston wrote and I think he was reaching), arguably most capable high speed super power articulated.
N&W Y6b - Masterpiece of evolutionary design. Easily the highest thermodynamic efficiency of any modern articulated. Best design for hauling dead freight up steep grades.
DM&IR M3 - Excellent modern and versatile heavy duty freight locomotives. D&RGW leased some M4’s for use over the Tennessee Pass in the 1940's and raved about them.
B&O EM-1 - Another excellent late steam design that did everything the B&O wanted. Although on the small side, the EM-1’s were easily among the finest articulateds operating in the Eastern U.S.
SP AC-12 - Very versatile big power used all over the SP, including through the tunnels and snow sheds of the Sierra Nevada. The AC-12’s were the newest cab forwards in the SP’s large fleet.
Scott
The SP AC units were also consistently used on passenger runs as primary power for passenger schedules at several locations around the SP system, if I recall correctly.
kgbw49 The SP AC units were also consistently used on passenger runs as primary power for passenger schedules at several locations around the SP system, if I recall correctly.
I’ve seen photos of cab forwards hauling long strings of heavyweights over rugged parts of the SP.
I would agree with Peter and put up a Garratt for consideration, specifically NSWGR AD60 class 4-8-4+4-8-4's. I believe that these were the largest Garratts ever built and provided big power for relatively light rail.
N&W Y6b because they were perfectly designed for the task they were most often assigned to: mineral service on heavy grades.
N&W Z1b simply because I like the look of them and maybe also because they were workhorses that didn't get much glory. And where else besides on the N&W could you find big articulateds in yard and hump service.
UP Big Boy because as with N&W's Y classes they were designed to do a specific job and they did it admirably.
C&O H-8 2-6-6-6 because I like 'em.
PRR T1 because who besides the Pennsy would try to streamline an articulated?
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Penny TrainsPRR T1 because who besides the Pennsy would try to streamline an articulated?
Hey, THAT'S NOT FAIR. And you know better about the 'real thing' being articulated, even though some of the models kinda are...
And not even true: a perfectly good counter-example already having been mentioned here: the AC-12s were streamlined by most definitions that could be applied to nominally much "faster" steam power...
(What you need for full comic effect here is to put up a picture of a lash-up of TWO T1s here, which is an 'eight-coupled articulated' just as a brace of K4s is equivalent to a very fast 4-6-6-4...)
Geeeeezzz... Even Broadway Limited Imports knew better'n to articulate their HO scale T1.
This is a great video - double-headed AD60s - just 1 minute 35 seconds
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O22dS7JbAHQ
And another heading up Fassifern Bank - about 4 minutes
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-1EWpCQP7eE
Powerful imagery.
Powerful imagery all right. Makes me feel like I'm on the Bismarck and King George V and Rodney are coming to get me! British steel at it's most awesome!
kgbw49 This is a great video - double-headed AD60s - just 1 minute 35 seconds https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O22dS7JbAHQ And another heading up Fassifern Bank - about 4 minutes https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-1EWpCQP7eE
I guess it wouldn't surprise anyone to know that I had been to Fassifern in that era, and photographed the double headed Garratts there, only still photos of course and mainly B&W. I remember one occasion in 1970 when I did have colour film, because Pacific 3822 was expected to haul the "Newcastle Flyer" after some time out of service for repairs, that nobody really expected to be completed. But to our relief, it appeared heading south as a "light engine" and returned on the "Flyer" as advised. we spent about half a day on a rocky outcrop north of the road bridge seen in some of the videos.
However, I also met the man who took the movies, Philip Belbin in August 1962 photographing trains on a rural branch on the southern edge of Sydney from Campbeltown to Camden. Phil gave me a lift to follow the train, but I had used the last frame of 35mm on the first shot of the branchline train. His eldest son is a magazine editor which I regularly contribute to, and is a close friend. But all wasn't lost. The photo I took with that last frame is the best I ever took of that line, and I have a 10" x 12" enlargement handy. I should scan that some day...
If we're talking about garratts, then the South African Railways class GL of 1929 has to be mentioned.
These were the most powerful garratts ever built with a tractive effort of 89,000 lbf. They originally hauled 1000 tonne trains up 1 in 66 gradients and 2000 tonne trains downhill, before electrification in 1938 transferred them to pulling 1200 tonne trains up 1 in 50 gradients. A truly remarkable feat for any loco, far eclipsing anything ever run in Europe.
The AD60 garratts were actually not that big nor powerful as far as garratts go. Their tractive effort was only 59,000 (later 63,000) lbf which was less than all later South African garratts besides the branch-line GO of 1954. The Algerian Railways BT, Rhodesian Railways 20th class, East African Railways class 59, Bengal Nagpur Railway class N, NM, and P were all also much more powerful.
The physically largest garratt ever built was the sole Soviet Ya.01 class of 1932. It had a tractive effort rivalling the GL of 89,000 lbf. It was 17 feet tall and the boiler (7ft 6in wide, same diameter as EAR 59) was so large it had to be transported by truck. It was designed to run in extremely cold conditions, but was retired only 5 years into service as the Soviets were unfamiliar with Garratt technology.
There were plans to build a 61 class for the East African Railways, which would have had a boiler 8 ft 6 in wide and a tractive effort of 115,000 lbf, which would have certainly have been the largest garratt and the largest locomotive to ever have run on a narrow gauge. Was never built as it was decided impractical, especially with diesels on the horizon.
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Back to United States articulateds, I think the Great Northern R-2 deserves to be mentioned. Truly massive things with original tractive effort of 146,000 lbf, 63-inch drivers and grate area of 126 sq ft. Quite an appearence too with the air-compressor smokebox front. I rarely see these mentioned when it comes to great articulateds.
I'm also fond of the Great Northern's rebuilt 2-8-8-0 2000 class of 1940. They were an extremely extensive rebuild, rendering the locos unrecognizable from their original selves, with new nickel-steel boilers, roller bearings, and integrally cast frames. A testament of the GN's skill at rebuilding power and giving it a new lease of life. Almost certainly the largest 2-8-8-0s in existence.
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