Wednesday, November 22, 2017

NYC locomotive compressors

A recent discussion revealed some interesting information about New York Central electric locomotives and, more specifically, their air compressors. Talk about a niche interest! There are four NYC electric locomotives preserved: three of the iconic S-motors and one T-motor. Until recently I only had air compressor information for 115 (PC 4715) at the Illinois Railway Museum, which was fitted with a more modern Gardner-Denver pump later in its life (this pump is actually current in use on South Shore 803 but that's a different story. But Bill Wulfert provided some information on pumps used on various NYC locomotives from 1951 spec sheets:

S-3 - 1 x CP-26A
T-1, T-2 - 1 x CP-26A
T-3, Q - 1 x CP-26C2
P-1A - 2 x CP-35B1
P-2A - 2 x CP-35A
R-2 - 2 x CP-26C7

It's too bad none of the P-motors or R-2s was saved; the P-motors were real classics and the R-motors, while certainly more homely, did lead interesting lives that lasted into the 1970s on the South Shore. Anyway, the record for the one surviving T-motor has been updated to show a CP-26C2 though I'm admittedly not certain that it still has this type. A video taken of S-motor 100 seems to show a more modern type, likely also a Gardner-Denver, so that locomotive has had that added to its listing. That leaves S-motor 113 at St. Louis, which may have a Gardner-Denver or may still have its original CP-26A. Anyone know for sure?

As a trivia tidbit, none of the four NYC electrics is operational. But it hasn't always been that way in preservation; 115/4715 did operate a handful of times in the late 1980s at the Illinois Railway Museum courtesy of a South Shore pantograph grafted onto its roof. Unfortunately it was only running on two motors, one having been blown up prior to retirement, and after a few years another failed, so it hasn't run since. Photos of this spectacle are pretty rare but I do vaguely recall seeing it for myself at the time.

1 comment:

  1. Some of those NYC electric locomotives were retrofitted with WABCo 3CDC compressors, not Gardner Denvers. Even the 2 out of the 3 former Niagara Junction GEs that went to NYC-Metro North had CP26s, the one unit was also retrofitted with the WABco 3CDC.

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