Norfolk and Western BIG STEAM DVD Sunday River Productions 

That’s a great plus when it comes to trains of yesteryear, just goes to show you how we once lived in a time when people had respect for someone else’s property. Wouldn’t it be great to experience those times again.

@@eugeeropel5572 Absolutely!

CLhenderson4 - and the smell of coal smoke I remember as a kid walking the Long Island RR south branch with my kid brother. Forever burned into my memory.

I was born in the wrong time line

I have 13, i wish i had 113

theres a chance they get to know it many locomotives are getting restored and run again

You CAN hear those whistles again. Go to the July 4th parade in Cumming, GA. They have over 15 working steam tractors in the parade. Most of them have installed steam train whistles which they blow quite a bit, often at the same time. Here's a video of that parade with the steam whistles: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vysQ5w9Hvno.html You can close your eyes and imagine you're at the train yard. You get many steam sounds too but not much clickity clack.

You're not the only one!

Those compound engines were something else to get started compared to single expansion Bill

The steam from the rear cylinder was directed to the front cylinder, and that is why the front cylinder had to be so large. Imagine if they used a 3rd expansion cylinder like they do in ships, how large that one would be?

39 inches across

Yes and no. Yes they used pushers and that was generally to relieve stress on couplers. No it wasn’t because they were “pulling the couplers apart” In the steam era it was a lot more common to see helper locomotives on the rear or cut in at the middle of a train, rather than tacked onto the head-end. Head-end helpers, or double heading, was a practice typically reserved for smaller locomotives, and for passenger trains where the weight demands were generally far less extreme. In flatter areas you could get away with two locomotives on the head of very long trains as there wouldn’t be any extra force from the weight of the cars pulling on the couplers, so you did see that a lot in the Midwest and South. But in mountainous terrain, generally you wouldn’t couple more than about 5,000-6,000 tons to a single or pair of locomotives, rather you would distribute the power, with one locomotive on the head and another somewhere mid or rear train. Southern Pacific actually forbade locomotive crews from using AC class Cab Forwards in tandem on freight trains, if a second 4-8-8-2 was needed to power a train over a steep grade, the second locomotive MUST be placed on the rear of the train, or cut into the middle, depending on the tonnage distribution. I’m not familiar with other railroads as intimately, but I’d assume N&W and most other railways with extreme mountain grades had similar standards in place to avoid broken couplers. The practice didn’t end with steam, either, manned helpers continued to be commonplace until the mid 90s, and even today we still use DPU(distributed power units) on heavier trains. Though it’s worth noting that coupler strength greatly improved over the decades, and after the steam era, distributed power became more about brake recharge speed and fuel efficiency, rather than safety.

@@trainknut Thanks so much for your informative essay and the time you spent on it

No, those were the N&W Triplexes

You are right Mr. Chambers - that's one important factor as well. - Another maybe that time to pass a hill section could almost cut in half - going 40 mph instead of 20 (only mass matters at such low speeds, difference in drag or roll don't do much.) - Passing the hill section in half time increases overall average of the complete system from Chicago to Pittsburgh or New York. I drive 65 mph flat, 20 uphill, 65 downhill again. Doubling the 20 provides max leverage. - this pays out even if the one locomotive would only be used on such uphill sections only and return immediately down again single to help a next train make it. - An insurence premium - if one locomotive breaks down because of 100% throttle over long, long time very slow driving, the complete rail would be blocked. If one breaks down while doing this uphill section, the other will make it alone - and i loose the time advantage of two instead of one only. And the line keeps going. - If both break down, very unlikely, i still need to send one rescue only, to push it all over the hill - the lever does not come with a disadvantage in opposite direction, it works just to one, good side.

@@JamesBrown-ux9ds Wow, what a lot of thought, far beyond my poor power to add or detract. Thanx!

Same

and the sound is not synced

I think it was sped up a bit

That's why you retarded the spark first.

The A 1218 was restored, then taken out of service. No Y6Bs or As are restored.

@@1940limited I completely forgot about 1218 lol. It would be nice to see 1218 run again or for a Y6B to be rebuilt.

@@That_Thicc_Cat Definitely!

(It's simple expansion actually) The Y6's could actually use both. When starting a train from a dead stop they would use simple expansion and once the train was moving they would switch over to compound steaming.

Both, they used high and low pressure steam. Low pressure for a rolling speed, and high pressure for starting up

That's an interesting question, but n one answered. I'm not sure why the caboose is ahead of the pusher at times. Apparently they could withstand the pressure. On the Lackawanna, cabooses wee build on old tender frames to be strong enough to withstand a pusher behind it. The were called Keyser Valley cabooses.

The N&W didn't run through either mountain range and it's "Allegheny" not "Alleganie"

@@7kslair153 😭

The images are still great.

For safety of the crew and not to possible crush the caboose.

easy , drop the caboose run the freight past the siding switch let the pusher out on the main back the helper down to couple up to the caboose ,pull forward & couple to the freight & push

OK, then how do they reattach it after the pusher is cut off? Thanks for your reply.

@@1940limited The same thing - Cut off the pusher, pusher cuts off the caboose, goes onto whatever track it returns to its station down, train backs up and recouples to caboose.

By lead unit, I’m going to assume you mean that z class in the front. No. It doesn’t. That z class is it’s own engine. If you mean the y6b lashed to the z, it doesn’t set off the lead unit. They are two different sets if drivers on different sets of steam. One uses high pressure , one uses low pressure. The steam is always being re used to power the other set of pistons so if the wheels spin in the rear, it really doesn’t affect anything. It just puffs out more exhaust. It’s hard to explain.

They used high pressure to get the darned thing going, then low pressure to keep her rolling

@@skiiipawbs I know how the compounding works on the mallets (such as the y6b class I was referring too). I was asking about slipping while on the move because when starting, the compounds are easily seen to slip, thanks to the increased power using the simpleing valves on the low pressure engine unit (the first 8 driving wheels in the y6's 2-8-8-2 arrangement) The part that I was asking about was when the simpleing valves are closed, and the engines are on the move, and the compounding is in action. If the high pressure unit ( the second 8 of the y6's wheel arrangement) starts slipping, will the resulting increase in pressure in the low pressure cylinders cause those wheels to start slipping, or will the back pressure in the system stop the slipping?

Yes, always done this way for safety of the crew in the cab car.

@@GTgyro It was a Conductors preference.

Less maintenance.

afraid the older wooden cabooses would be crushed

@@THOMAS81Z Correct. That's why you see the rear brakeman riding on the rear platform of the caboose. Any slack run in caused by the head or rear locomotives slipping could cause the caboose to be crushed. Riding on the platform gave the man a chance to jump clear. The speeds were relatively slow, so there was a low chance of getting injured.

@Иван Ангелов Difficult to see where they break or hinge... The Big Boy's it's more evident

Definitely not, N&W didn't go any furthur west than Cinncinati, Ohio

That would be at the west end of the Portsmouth, Ohio yard. The crossing is Broadway St. The Harmon St. overpass in the background was replaced with a newer structure approx. 10 yeas ago, but you can stll watch trains pass there everyday.

What is "see's"?

I would think the archival footage was well worth it even without sound.

Mallets mean one engine exhausts to the other engine, and therefore 4 beats per exhaust, not 8. Try and learn about steam locomotives before commenting.

Pandeslar, the class A is not a mallet, this is an articulated and works with four high pressure cylinders.

modelsof1900, mate I think you meant, not a compound? :-)

Articulated does not mean mallet, mallet locos were all compound is what is trying to be said.

The archival footage is still awesome even with no sound.