RailRoadFan.com

Does anybody know when the last NYC Dreyfuss Hudson steam locomotive ran? Does anyone have pictures of the last or last ones being scrapped? Any pictures/info pertaining to this subject would much be appreciated.

Not Michigan but here are several photos of NYC Dreyfuss Hudsons on trains at Elkhart, Indiana (which is pretty darn close to the border). I love the last two "non roster" shots especially. I've always been more of a PRR fan moreso than "home road" NYC, but this is one of the most beautiful steam locomotives ever constructed. I like the angular steamlined look of the Pennsy's T1, but the Dreyfuss Hudson is better. Plus they ran them in Michigan!!

Enjoy: http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/sho ... hp?t=42178

I have one of these shots as my desktop background

GP30M4216 wrote:Not Michigan but here are several photos of NYC Dreyfuss Hudsons on trains at Elkhart, Indiana (which is pretty darn close to the border). I love the last two "non roster" shots especially. I've always been more of a PRR fan moreso than "home road" NYC, but this is one of the most beautiful steam locomotives ever constructed. I like the angular steamlined look of the Pennsy's T1, but the Dreyfuss Hudson is better. Plus they ran them in Michigan!!

Enjoy: http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/sho ... hp?t=42178

I have one of these shots as my desktop background

Wow! Very cool stuff Nate! Thanks for sharing!

Yup, this one is pretty frickin' awesome:

Very neat, definitely got that art deco Metropolis 1930's kinda style, must have been an awesome sight back in its day! Thanks for posting, GP!

GP30M4216 wrote:Not Michigan but here are several photos of NYC Dreyfuss Hudsons on trains at Elkhart, Indiana (which is pretty darn close to the border). I love the last two "non roster" shots especially. I've always been more of a PRR fan moreso than "home road" NYC, but this is one of the most beautiful steam locomotives ever constructed. I like the angular steamlined look of the Pennsy's T1, but the Dreyfuss Hudson is better. Plus they ran them in Michigan!!

I also am a PRR fan. I started thinking of your comment on the Hudsons running in Michigan but not the PRR T1s. Given the weight difference of engine and tender, the T1 at over 900,000 lb and the Hudson at about 690,000 lb, I think the Michigan tracks of either railroad would have failed with a T1 running at any speed.

The resulting carnage would have been interesting to see, at a good safe distance.

Pretty sure something that big could have the ran on the Michigan Central without much issue, can't see a PRR line in Michigan where they could have done so, though.

Pennsy tried to reinvent the horse at the end of steam while they should have went whole hog for diesels as the Central did or let the guys at Alco and Lima show them how to reinvent the horse successfully. Lima had a 4-8-6 on the drawing boards that I think would have really been something.

MagnumForce wrote:Pretty sure something that big could have the ran on the Michigan Central without much issue, can't see a PRR line in Michigan where they could have done so, though.

Pennsy tried to reinvent the horse at the end of steam while they should have went whole hog for diesels as the Central did or let the guys at Alco and Lima show them how to reinvent the horse successfully. Lima had a 4-8-6 on the drawing boards that I think would have really been something.

I think there were several reasons why the PRR held onto steam. There was a lot of well maintained steam engines available after the electrification of the NE corridor. The infrastructure was in place. And like the C&O and N&W the politics of being a coal hauling railroad required that they support their customers.

Even those of you on the "Green Team" have to admit, some of the Pennsy's steam experiments were beyond cutting edge.

I believe that those technologies paired with modern electronic control technologies and condensing might make for some very efficient locomotives.

Beyond cutting edge sure, another sign of the PRR being wholly unstandard at the expense of themselves definitely. Did these beyond cutting edge engines really work well for them? Not exactly.