Norfolk and Western’s Y3 and Y3a
CRAFTSMAN/Robert D. Walz
N&W 1701 (Y2a class 2-8-8-2) at Cincinnati, Ohio, in September 1937. This is an example of the loco- motive upon which the USRA heavy 2-8-8-2 was based. The resemblance to a USRA heavy 2-8-8-2 is striking. — Harold K. Vollrath collection
The United States Railroad Ad- ministration Heavy 2-8-8-2 mallet compound was one of a series of standard locomotives designed while the government, through the USRA, ran the nation’s rail- roads during World War I. The USRA heavy 2-8-8-2 was subse- quently the basis for improved 2-8-8-2s on the Norfolk & West- ern, culminating in the famous Y6b.
While the 2-8-8-2 mallet had been built in the United States since 1909, most development work had gone into making sub- sequent locomotives larger and heavier. Norfolk & Western Rail- way, on the other hand, in its Y1
68 RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
and Y2 locomotives, had taken development in a different direc- tion. By using smaller cylinders and higher boiler pressure, the re- sulting locomotive was capable of powerful performance and a turn of speed higher than the 20 mph maximum of the “traditional” mallet designs. The N&W Y2 was designed to move coal — from mines on branches to coal tipples — and then take that coal over Elkhorn grade to Vivian, West Vir- ginia. Electric locomotives took it from there to Bluefield.
N&W’s delegate to the USRA 2-8-8-2 design committee had brought a full set of blueprints of the Y2 to the committee’s de-
liberations. The design commit- tee used these blueprints as the basis for the USRA heavy 2-8-8-2. The Y2 was a poor steamer due to problems with its boiler and fire- box. The design committee recti- fied these problems and created a locomotive tailor-made for steep grades, sharp curves, and hauling heavy tonnage.
The USRA assigned 45 of the 2-8-8-2 locomotives to N&W, and that railroad classed them Y3. Alco built 40 Y3s and Bald- win built five. These locomotives had 474,000 pounds of weight on their drivers and weighed 531,000 pounds. They had a fire- box-heating surface of 134 square
NORFOLK & WESTERN’S Y3 AND Y3A
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100