N&W Geeks... A Question

[wm3798]

Well, there ya go... throw in a CNJ unit for seasoning!  Doesn't Atlas do a GP38?

[davefoxx]

Wouldn't there be a good chance that you might see run-throughs of any Alphabet Line in Hagerstown in the early 1970s?  That might include: NYC&StL/NKP, W&LE, P&WV, RDG, CNJ, L&HR (I hear Steve will work you a deal ;D), and NYNH&H.

[sirenwerks]

Well, there ya go... throw in a CNJ unit for seasoning!  Doesn't Atlas do a GP38?

I don't think CNJ had GP38s, just 9s and GP40Ps. They had SD35s. If you have the paint and decals and decoders, I know where you can find a couple of those cheap and financed...

[wm3798]

Wouldn't there be a good chance that you might see run-throughs of any Alphabet Line in Hagerstown in the early 1970s?  That might include: NYC&StL/NKP, W&LE, P&WV, RDG, CNJ, L&HR (I hear Steve will work you a deal ;D), and NYNH&H.

Not really.  You mostly saw NW and/or Reading as they were the immediate adjoining lines.  NW had taken over the PWV and NKP on the west end, and used the WM as a bridge route between Rook Yard near Pittsburgh through to the Shenandoah line at Hagerstown.  You'd rarely see WM power west of Rook before Chessie started moving things around.  Toward the end, it was possible to see more NW traffic on the WM than WM.  It was also possible to catch pool power from the west arriving via the NW, such as SouPac and UP, but this would have been closer to 74-75 as NW traffic really picked up.

The Reading ran through from Rutherford, east of Harrisburg, because the two lines met at Lurgan, a relatively obscure location with no engine facilities.  Likewise, WM power would run through to Rutherford, or on occasion all the way to Allentown.  The CNJ power that Bob describes was probably an anomaly.  Odds are I'd not include that in the regular fleet, but if I found a steal of a deal on it, I might snag one at some point.

Lee

[Robbman]

I find myself in possession of a surplus GE U25B, and I think I have found a use for it.  But I want to make sure I'm pointed in the right direction.

I need to add some more N&W power to my fleet to handle grain trains and Alpha Jets from Connellsville, and it appears the N&W had a handful.  Well, three maybe.  I found pictures of 8139, 8142 and 8143 on Elwood's Fallen Flags, and they have me asking a couple of questions.

First, they don't appear to have dynamic brakes and they do have low short hoods, so I'm assuming they were inherited from the Nickel Plate and/or Wabash... would this be correct?

Yes, Wabash, WAB 501-514.  However, one unit (512) was wrecked on the WAB before the merger and it's replacement was delivered to N&W (to be WAB 515, numbered N&W 3515 re # 8138), this unit is a later phase with the two-piece windshield.  I won't bother with the whack numbering scheme on these, just tell you that they were renumbered to 8138–8152 circa 1970. 

8142 and 8143 were shot in northern Ohio (Nickel Plate country) in 1972.  Any thoughts on what service they would have been in?  Any chance they may have wandered down to Connellsville via the P&WV? (and thence thru to Hagerstown, thereby justifying its existence on a WM themed layout?)

NKP and WAB power generally lacked dynamics, and thusly, were somewhat confined to former NKP and WAB rails... nevertheless, they did wander often, so there is very good justification for one.

And finally... What's up with the lettering on these two?  It looks like the N in N&W is stenciled upside down!  This looks like a transitional paint job between the black "Hamburger" and the white block NW, how long did that last?  Are there decals available for this?

It was indeed a transitional job between the two schemes... quite a few U25Bs wore it, as many were painted (I use that term lightly) when they were renumbered to the 8100 series.  Shellscale makes the decals

[parkrrrr]

I was hoping to find evidence of a pure NW one with a high nose, but apparently these all came in with the absorption of the NKP/Wab.

I'm not a regular here, so please forgive me if this is an intrusion, but what about NW 1929 from the Fallen Flags site? It claims to be a U25B, but all its neighbors are U28Bs. If I knew how to tell the difference, I probably wouldn't even ask.

[wm3798]

I saw that too.  It looks to be a U28 as it lacks the platform at the rear of the walkway, and the number series falls inline with the other U28's.

Thanks, Robb!
Lee

[Robbman]

Thanks, Robb!
Lee

Word!

[Mark5]

The optimal wish list would be as follows:
2 NW C425's (Life Like black hamburger scheme)
1 NW SD40 hi nose
1 or 2 NW Alco RS 11 or C424 hi hoods.

The LL units are not C425s. N&W had no hi-nose C424s, just the ex-Wab units.

In your time frame Lee, I seriously doubt if N&W was using merger inherited locos on pool trains (if ever!) ... I could be wrong on this.

Mark

[Mark5]

I'm not a regular here, so please forgive me if this is an intrusion, but what about NW 1929 from the Fallen Flags site? It claims to be a U25B, but all its neighbors are U28Bs. If I knew how to tell the difference, I probably wouldn't even ask.

1929 is a U28B (1900-1929 are U28B)

[wm3798]

I stand corrected.  I'll have to spend some more time digging through the stacks for pictures of NW run through power.  It seems to me the old Jahn and Johnson "Western Maryland Diesels" book covers this era well...
Lee

[Mark5]

I should note that N&W did have hi-nose C425s, as well as a few low nose C425s that were on order at the time of the merger (Wab IIRC).

I have one of the LL C424s that is on slate to be kitbashed into a C425 hi-nose.

Mark