Kitbashed CNJ 4-8-0 camelback COLLECTION OF ANTHRACITE RAILROADS HISTORICAL SOCIETY; PHOTOS BY CHARLES SCHRADE: CIRCA 1930’S
By the time these photographs were taken in the 1930’s, the Jersey Central had updated its turn-of-the-century 4-8-0 camelbacks. The locomotives received electric headlights and generators, new cylinders, valve gear and air tanks. The most noticeable feature of these steamers remained the wide firebox, which was situated behind the cab. While the engineer operated the locomotive from the cab located above the drivers at the center of the loco- motive, the firebox door was located at the rear of the firebox, so the fireman did not share the cab. Instead, he hand-fired the loco from a platform between the engine and tender.
Central’s 4-8-0’s plied the rails of the Northeast for an amazing fifty years. Several upgrades were added to them, and they were not put to the torch un- til after diesels arrived on the line. They were products of the Brooks Locomotive Works in Dunkirk, New York, and were built between 1899 and 1901 as the K-1 class. When delivered, they were some of the most powerful locomotives in the Americas. A boiler pressure of 200 p.s.i. with 55″ drivers powered by 21″×32″ cylinders gave them a slow but surefooted stance, a perfect match for the drag freight as- signments they received. Those drivers carried 201,000 pounds of boiler over them, which helped give a tractive ef- fort of 43,600 pounds. On most of this class’s assignments
it was common to have two firemen feed that cave of a firebox because of its grate area of just over 82 square feet. Stephenson valve gear and in- board piston valves handled the trans-
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mission. They were also the first loco- motives to receive the CNJ’s patented Macintosh combination boiler check- blow off valve. All other camelbacks built after them got this device as a standard. It is possible that this appli- ance was named after the Superinten- dent of Motive Power who served the Central at that time. As for fuel storage, they were mated with one-of-a-kind,
allowed for the removal of the old oil lamps to make way for a modern elec- tric headlamp. Superheaters and out- side motion in the form of new Baker valve gear were added at the CNJ’s shop at Elizabethport, N.J., in April of 1924. This created the K-1as class that my model represents. Along with these conversions to the K-1as, all the 4-8-0’s fireboxes were modified to a sloping bot- tom; the first that were built featured a straight bottom. This sloping was thought to improve the air flow over the grates. At some point during the 1930’s a power reverse was added along with cab signals and larger air tanks on the top of the firebox. The tenders also re- ceived some modifications in the way of electric lighting and new coal boards that added capacity for another two tons of fuel held over the cistern. These modifications added almost another 23,000 pounds over the drivers. increas- ing their adhesion to the rail. The Chunkers worked mainly as pushers and heavy freight locomotives on the Central’s Lehigh and Susquehan- na Divisions. They were common sights on the all-day coal drags between Penobscot Yard near the Huber Breaker in Ashley, Pennsylvania, and the coal docks at the south end of Bayonne, N.J., just off New York Harbor. The K-1’s weren’t displaced from mainline freight until the 1920’s when the CNJ took de- livery of a group of heavy Mikados; but even then they were still a common sight along the main at the point of many a rattling freight train. They kept their status as pushers working along- side their sister 2-8-2’s. As the Mikes be- came more prevalent and internal com- bustion started to show its face, the K-1’s became familiar with branchline service all over the system, but they were still a mainstay of local freights. As the end came near for these unique steamers, they even saw some passen- ger service when they became the power for the Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe) passenger local as late as 1947. This was an unusual move, taking a drag freight loco and placing it in commuter service.
class C 14-ton,
7,500-gallon tenders that, when loaded, tipped the scales at 141,800 pounds. These tenders were not equipped with water scoops, unlike other camels of the same vintage on the CNJ. Although the Central liked to swap around tenders our subject kept the same ones through- out their service life. To insure that the Jersey Central got the most bang for their buck, the Chun- kers were given several upgrades dur- ing their fifty-year tenure. During the First World War, electrical improve- ments were added to the engines which
Modeling Given this amazing 50-year career and an unusual look that says pure power, I realized this was an engine I had to model. After wading through dozens of prototype photos, I chose to build No. 454 because it was one of the last of its class to be scrapped, January 18, 1947, to be exact. I was lucky to lo- cate one photo of each side of the en- gine from the mid 1940’s (the time pe- riod I model). I found there was a great variety in the details on these engines, and the placement of appliances and piping varied greatly from loco to loco.
JUNE 2012
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