Niagaras were one of the most efficient steam locomotives built. Yet, all scrapped without a single one to make into preservation. So glad we have these films which captured them in their glory.
What is it about steam locos ❓ They seem so human , so alive .... beautiful things , majestic almost , such a crying shame so few were actually preserved ....
At least there was something preserved. The 3001 Mohawk. We have to be thankful about what we have, it may not last forever. Niagara’s and Hudson’s were great, but The New York Central scrapped EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.
@@Bolly650 It’s their fault, and they should’ve realized how important the Hudsons and Niagaras were due to the Hudsons streamlined looks, and how useful the Niagaras were. The NYC shouldve taken pride in their engineering legacy, just like the PRR by preserving these beauties for children and railfans to enjoy. Despite being scrapped, they will always be remembered as famous machines that represented the future and how important they were in the history of railroading. I hope, though we can build a Hudson and a Niagara from scratch so that we can correct this grave mistake the NYC made.
It's also of note these machines were designed by slide rules, theoretical calculations, and teams of draftsmen and design engineers. No computers, or automation here, these were all basically hand built machines. While they were maintenance intensive and expensive when compared to diesels, it's hard to ignore their pulling power, looks and sheer scale. It's a real shame none of these magnificent engines were saved and preserved for future generations to enjoy. Wonderful video and thanks for posting it and sharing.
That's really sad. In the UK a number of businessmen were instrumental in saving steam locomotives. These were formidable giants and the ultimate in U.S. steam traction
When my dad was a boy during the depression, his mom would send him to the railroad tracks to glean coal. When a train came by and the firemen saw him, they frequently would toss an entire shovelfull over the side for him.
That's cool, but I feel like he could've been hit in the face by the coal flying at him at like 100 mph and kill him, unless they just dumped it out away from him.
that's not what that's for lmao That alarm is there for safety reasons. Should the engineer, i dunno, DIE, that alarm will set off the emergency brakes. Should that happen in a steam engine, you're out of luck and the train'll keep going until it explodes from derailing.
@@TrolololGaming No, because there would be two men operating the steam locomotive. The only exception would be the Camelback locomotive. They were designed so that the fireman in back was isolated from the engineer. If the engineer keeled over, the fireman wouldn't be in a place to see it.
@@TrolololGaming I'm no expert, but GWR Locos had a warning chime/bell that went off when the locomotive approached a station, and should the reset for the alarm not be set the brakes will apply to stop the locomotive. Best thing is that the chime is a physical and not an electrical piece of equipment (to my knowledge).
2:57 The Mohawk classes were amazing. The fact that one still exists is a miracle (3001). I don’t know why they scrapped all of the Hudsons, they were the most streamlined steamers, and the only remaining piece of the Hudson’s is a singular tender. Sadly, for the Niagara’s, not a single piece of them remains today.
@@fafnir242Both are ironically preserved on the far western side of the old New York Central Railroad, where they made their final stand from 1953 to 1957.
I was fortunate enough to witness these wonderful locomotives whenn I was a boy. I would stand at track level within a yard or two of these huge wheels rolling into Union Station at Columbus Ohio, inhaling the sweet aroma of the steam and acrid smoke. God, it is a memory I'll take with me to me grave. Thank you so so so much for posting this unforgetable video.
Every time I see that lone archway across from the Arena I can Imagine how utterly huge Union Station was. I have seen pictures of it. But Im sure it doesn't even come close to seeing the actual station.
The amount of money I, who was born in 2002, would pay to go back in time to see what you saw is astronomical. You’re a very fortunate individual, my friend
@@77goofyguy Fastest in North America in steam was the original Hiawatha service on the Milwaukee Road (CMStP&P). This was the only steam operated service that required daily 100+ mph speeds just to maintain schedule.
Wow does that bring back memories. Every year as a yong boy in the 1950s we used to take the route from Harmon to Cleveland to visit mom's relatives. Mostly diesel but on occasion still steam. You would find me sitting in the back of the curved observation-lounge car or running back to my seat in the pullman to see where I could get the best views as we travelled along the Hudson and across NY. It was 13 hours of joy each way (but not for mom chasing me). I think she finally tired of that and we started flying back and forth on United DC-6s. Never lost my enthusiasm for railroads though. Took Amtrak from Trenton to Denver in 1986 on a business trip. The western portion with a sleeper was great. Could not stop looking out of the window day and night. Eyes were red for days after. It is truly a shame that the NYC did not preserve and restore any of these marvelous machines as had Norfolk Southern, Southern Pacific and UP.
These beautiful steam locomotives feel like there human. Theres an element of breathing of smoke puffing like on a cold winters day. A heart beat of pistons and rods pounding. And an actual whistleing sound from the wistle. A fire in its belly and the need for both intake of fuel that had to be physically feed into it. and a drive to move once feed. And move as fast as possible because everyone could use an adrenaline rush/ get to work on time. Its easy to love and relate to theses human like machines. Diesel/electric are robotic and blah. Bring back steam to a new glory.
My moms dad died in 1955 while working for the Erie as a fireman, that is all I know of him since mom did not talk much about him and the RR. Being born in 1958 in Spring Valley NY this video brings me much happiness seeing it and thinking that my grandpa could have been on one of these locomotives as the firemen. Thank you for a great video.
What is it about steam locos ❓ They seem so human , so alive .... beautiful things , majestic almost , such a crying shame so few were actually preserved ....
All the running gear, the mechanical aspects of these machines are out in the open to see, not hidden behind doors or panels, like diesel-electrics, and can be enjoyed an marveled.
I love it, I love the sound and the narration, I can put this on while I sit here and draw houses for a living. I am an old-school draftsman (steam loco) trying to compete with CAD draftsman (diesel). The sounds of the steam engines make me draw faster!What great rare color footage! Thank you so much for posting !
I can remember seeing the N.Y.C. trains running on the East Side of the Hudson river from my home on a hill overlooking the Hudson in Newburgh, back in the late 50s...we could hear the whistles clear across the Hudson, and see the lights of the passenger cars at night.
I can tell that some of the audio on this video was lifted from "Sounds of the New York Central" published by Cook Records. I had this LP as a kid. Cool to hear it again.
Good video! I find the sheer size of American locomotives fascinating. Also the number of locomotives being prepared for service was remarkable. A really good insight into the age of steam over on your side of the pond. You scrapped your steam trains before we did in the UK. Such a shame, they are such great pieces of engineering.
Great video. I thoroughly enjoyed it, seeing steam next to diesel and the competition for greater pulling. It was the best time for appreciating trains. I am going to model the transition with NYC, NH, Pennsylvania, and the later Penn Central going along the CT shoreline into New York City. So this video really gets the juices flowing! Thank you.
@@GiordanDiodato Europe seems to manage it just fine. Stand at any station in Italy, watch an express roll by at 120 MPH, and then a loaded (albeit shorter) freight roll by two minutes later...
What we're coming to is the beginning of the end of any passenger service in America heck Amtrak I think is planning on phasing out long-distance passenger service, I could be wrong on this information but it's what I heard at the time
Another amazing fact in the toy train odyssey - the Hudson 4-6-4 is still far and away the toy train locomotive to buy from Lionel in today's modern era.
THANK YOU FOR THESE WONDERFUL PICTURES OF STEAM ENGINES. i WAS BORN DURING THE CHANGE FROM STEAM TO DIESEL. i MISSED THE GOLDEN AGE OF STEAM LOVED THESE PICTURES.
The Hudson, one badass machine. Pure function over form. Love it. Thanks for the upload. :)) Over here in the Netherlands they scrapped all steam engines! all!! The locos we have today are all German. It's a shame.
It is to America's Eternal discredit that we that they destroyed all of the steam engines that had years and Decades of service left in them and it's funny how all these railroads were bankrupt in 10 years
Steam locomotive represent an America that was prosperous now we have nothing and our prosperity is nothing but a memory that is fading away God shame this country
I’ll never understand why New York Central failed to preserve one example from each class of Hudson and Niagara type locomotives. Paul Kiefer must have been very disappointed none of his remarkable designs were saved.
NYC was willing to sell its locomotives at scrap price to anyone or any group that would put up the cash. But, no-one did. NYC was in severe financial difficulties in the 1950s and 1960s and could not afford to donate locomotives. A private corporation is there for profit and not to provide freebies to railfans.
To put it simply, New York Central during Dieselization did not want their steam locomotives anymore. They didn’t care to save them. It’s a shame, but it’s not like they didn’t preserve a candidate. We even have a Hudson tender. Edit: Another thing that I have a theory for was that when the Railroads began to fail, before the merging of Pennsylvania and this one, the New York Central scrapped their locomotives to gather as much money as they could to stay afloat. This is a notable reason as to why there are very rare diesel representatives in preservation. They scrapped them in order to get more money, and when that didn’t work, they eventually merged with equally struggling railroad: the Pennsylvania Railroad. The Pennsylvania had a problem as well when it came to their locomotives, they had to sell their locomotives to scrapyards to get more money. But there were preservationists that were willing to either buy them for use or, they were put on display. Knowing the central, putting a Hudson or Niagara on display would be more money than they were willing to spend. There were some individuals who bought their locomotives for static display, and there were possibly Hudson and Niagara offers, but it was possibly rejected by the Central.
@@jppicur I had heard that F. Nelson Blount of Steamtown fame offered NYC twice scrap value for Hudson and was turned down. So who knows the real story.
@@AdmiralColdhead that is probably the case, which is sad to think about but it is the truth and we all know how Penn Central ended up, and it does make sense just the funny thing is that the difference between NYC and PRR locomotives was that PRR engines were basically disposable, so firebox trouble? Slap a new one in there and put it back in service. So the NYC engines meant to last long were beat to preservation by disposable PRR engines…. It’s a cruel irony (besides the 2 Mohawks I mean)
When Timken introduced roller bearings, they specifically outfitted 1 locomotive with them and for a demonstration had a team of local high school cheerleaders PULL IT by ropes. Roller bearings can remove the weight of a locomotive carrying itself and allows that to be transferred into tractive effort. That said and being factual....Me & Bob are NOT pushing that thing. -just sayin
@@TotallyMusicArtistChannel Thats not how roller bearing work, roller bearing reduce the friction between the axel and frame. By lowering the friction you also lower the force required to move it. Its like how putting something on wheels makes it easier to move, in fact its the same principle!
What a FANTASTIC collection of sights and sounds! It makes ya quiver all over like a kid again when you saw them "in the flesh" the first time! You can almost smell the coal smoke and hot steam oil, feel the heat, ground shake,AHHH! Who cares if the exhaust beat doesn't quite the wheel revs! I loved it, Thanks for posting.
I rode the NYC's twentieth Century Limited. I went from Cleveland, Ohio to Buffalo, NY. The trains pulled by the Hudson's always were on time. After the switch to diesel, the trains were always late or not on time as some conductors said.
@@tommytruth7595 You are absolutely right! The NYC was going down and the road was becoming unmanageable. In the end, the merger with the Pennsylvania was meant to save both roads but the financial burden of the NYC proved too much and both went under, resulting in the government taking over and creating a new railroad the Conrail system.
I’m too young to have seen any steam locos. But the 20th century limited had a prominent part in one of my favorite movies, “The Sting” . Paul .Newman rode the train hooked the mark ( Robert Shaw) in a poker game.
Outstanding video! Have never seen steam trains quite like this! Born 1953 here. Thank You very much! BTW, I remember CNWs Pacifics here in my wee childhood in Chicago!
Re: the 4-6-4's from Trent (below) it would depend on the diameter of the drivers. Remember, the bigger the drivers, the more they were denoted as passenger class as they were faster and smoother operating, such as 74-86" class drivers. The freight engines always had the smaller diameter drivers, such as 32-62". This is an average and did not always apply. Many of the 74-78" drivers locomotives when close to retirement after having served as passenger haulers, were then relegated to combination passenger and freight haulers. So double stacking 2 of the 4-6-4's was not out of the ordinary per say. Great catch in the video though. Also, whomever placed this video on You Tube, thank you very much. It brought back many memories.
I'm in awe of the doctor rail fan that took all the color footage of some of the last steam locomotives back in the day. I'm also in awe of whomever dubbed sound to this!!
15:58 CNJ!! :) 16:25 Fanwood, NJ....I grew up nest door in Plainfield, live now two towns west of there! But that footage looks more like Roselle. Dunellen is the town between Plainfield and Middlesex, where I now live. Ahh, CNJ Camelbacks!! Loving the Whole vid, not just my home turf!
Absolutly amazing to see this living machines in full speed and Power.And the wonderfull music of the singing weehls on the tracks, accentuated from the beats of the steamengine.👍🇺🇸Greatings from Germany
My Mother would share memories of this error . when not to hang your clothes out to dry , what the time was by the sound of each whistle , and more . love watching these golden classics !
Anyone catch those 4-6-4's double heading a coal drag around the 2:20 mark. that had to be somewhat rare. as most considered the 4-6-4 strictly a passenger engine.
yeah with no maintenance, then when they broke down they were towed to a death row siding in a yard, sat for a few years and scrapped. A bit like the life of a death row inmate really :)
Wonderful to see the old Locomotives remind me when I came to California in 1947 I won from New York to California on locomotive I still remember to this day, I went through Theresa Grorge
It is a wonderful thing that we have the ability to view these videos of actual history, and see a world now long gone and abandoned. I would have loved to be able to see a NYC Niagra for real, especially since it was a technological achievement unequalled by any other steam locomotive in power and efficiency. One can only wonder what might have happened if the steam locomotive had been oil fired and designed to make the most perfect use of the boilers that had never been designed for anything but burning coal. Our technological prowess today should not be so arrogant as to imagine itself any less subject to being rendered obsolete than were the majestic Niagra Locomotives of the late 1950's. Now realize the world's greatest fortune exceeding all the others by 1890 was amassed by a man and later his son who died illiterate, never advanced beyond the fifth grade in school. The son was once considered by his illiterate father 'Too Stupid' to become anything but a farmer, and so the old man bought his son a farm on Staten Island, intending to leave the fortune to a son who died before the old man did. That Fortune was the product of No Income Tax, and the Monopoly private ownership of the New York Central that required all passengers, mail and freight traveling between New York and Chicago to be carried by The Vanderbilt's Personal Railroad, The New York Central.
Im so thankful that here in the UK we have numerous heritage lines and preserved Locos and rolling stock so that the kids (of all ages) can go and see how things once were. Its great when you see the look of wonder and awe on a kids face the first time they get close to a stem loco and their excitement when they go for a ride in a steam hauled train. We didn't preserve enough of course but at least we have some.
Some folks ask me, “Mark why the steam engines, they’re so old timey” Besides the mechanical aspect.... They are making 6000hp boiling water...... that’s impressive I don’t care who ya are!
I used to engineer on steam ships, 30 to 60 thousand hp boiling water was not uncommon, but you might get a shock at the fuel bill. 6 oil might cost less, but we used a lot. The turbines were dead reliable, the diesels, less so. Have fun
What a wonderfully evocative series of clips of magnificent locos. The incidentals of people, cars and other trains shows what a special time in history this was. Diesels may be more efficient, but these will stir the blood long after diseasels are made back into cans. Thanks so much for sharing wonderful sights and sounds.
I've watched this video hundreds of times and I really like it. I'm predisposed to liking an NYC video anyway, since I'm a Reading fan first and foremost and up until Penn Central NYC was a VERY important RDG ally in terms of both ownership of RDG stock and being the second largest freight interchange partner (at Williamsport/Newberry). But the Central had a lot to offer on its own, and this video shows the best. The super power Hudsons and Niagras. The almost super power Mohawks of which the Lima built L-4b's were the ultimate expression. The early diesels. But this guy, God love him. He LOVES(Loved) the NYC: "The ULTIMATE dual service locomotive." (4-8-4) "The world has never seen their equal." (4-8-4). "The greatest (coal) capacity in the WORLD." (4-6-4). I LOVE it when anyone is this crazy about their favorite railroad. Because so many of us not only LOVE trains, but our FAVORITE railroads. For me the READING. And my next tier faves: CNJ, B&O, Santa Fe and NEW YORK CENTRAL.
Wonderful quality footage of incredible locomotives, very surprising that no Hudsons or Niagaras are preserved, perhaps the UK example of building new ones from scratch could be followed, as with the A1 pacific Tornado?
Not a chance. There is no facility in North America and, perhaps, in the industrial world capable of producing the massive and complex steel frame castings with integral cylinders. Tornado is still a simple plate-frame engine -- easy 19th Century technology.
@@jppicur actually there is a Northern sized steam locomotive, currently being built from scratch, it's called the PPR T-1 Trust, engine no.5550. The T-1 is a duplex and has a ridgid frame, similar to a Northern. The only difference is that a T-1 is a duplex. Building a Northern from scratch in today's world is possible. The hard part is raising the money. I'd Check out The T-1 Trust if you are interested. It is possible to do the same with a Niagara, problem is getting enough public interest.
As someone from Toledo, OH who lived for a while around Rochester, NY, and who now lives in Chicago, I have driven the entirety of the Water Level Route and it sort of traces a lifetime for me...
Only those who remember our now atrophied industrial might from the fifties will realize how far we have declined as an economic entity. Heaven help our young people.
That's what happens when greedy racists gut tax revenue and destroy union representation for the workers that make those products. Pure utter and complete Republican greed and racism.
William Barnett-Lewis: De-industrialization began after WWII, during which the USA had Hyper-industrialized because of the needs of WWII. In the railroad industry alone, automation, roller bearing axles, and dieselization did away with hundreds of thousands of once secure railroad jobs. Over two million Americans - many of them Americans of color - worked on railroads in the 1920's. Today that number is less than 200,000, and dropping all the time. Much the same can be said for our other traditional smokestack industries. I worked in heavy industry, as did my father. My uncles worked in steel mills and on the railroads. All the places my father, my uncles and I worked at are now abandoned buildings. I caution you and those like you: You cannot solved critical national problems by labeling your opponents (And Democrat Bill Clinton sold NAFTA to Congress; no Republican President could ever have done this!) as "Racists" and "Facists." Peace.
Amtrak, consistently four hours late for the past forty years. My parents told me about how it would take a half hour to make a hour long car trip on the trains. They were fast and efficient.
The made-in-china fanatics are to blame. Just because the world market is there, doesn't mean everyone must hop on the _cheap and easy_ bandwagon. Tools made in china are dangerous and should be outlawed. Especially drill bits and grinding discs.
I've been on the highways next to the Mohawk River. To think that some of the most famous American steam locomotives have traveled there is incredible. Wish I could have seen it
Imagine the engineer that is driving it; he has to stay in that small cab mounted on the side of a boiler that is at 250 F or more. Its like sitting inside an oven, that's why he is hanging out of the window most of the time.
I enjoyed seeing this as I rode the Water Level route in 1964. The thing I heard in the film was Baldwin RF16 Sharks with the EMD 567 exhaust instead of the Baldwin 606/608 NA or or 606/608SC exhausts which tends to sound like a John Deere one lunger with a plow. But who's going to notice besides me
Tho I'm pretty sure that sequence at 6:18 was on the pre-CTC Toledo Div in western Ohio, I'd love to know exactly where. That guy was definitely at, and prob exceeding the timetable speed of 80!!
