2-6-6-6
The 2-6-6-6 (in
Other equivalent classifications are:
The
History
External videos | |
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Allegheny - Most Powerful Steam Locomotive, 1:54, Wanda Kaluza on YouTube |
Two classes of 2-6-6-6 locomotives were built: the sixty H-8 "Allegheny" class locomotives for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) between 1941 and 1948,[1] and the eight AG "Blue Ridge" class locomotives for the Virginian Railway in 1945.[2] (The locomotives were Series AG on the Virginian. This was an abbreviation for "Articulated, Series G", not, as is sometimes thought, for "Allegheny".) All were built by the Lima Locomotive Works. The "Allegheny" name refers to the C&O locomotives' job of hauling coal trains over the Allegheny Mountains. C&O-1601's power output is 7,500 hp.[3]
Although it was apparent to many knowledgeable people in the railroad industry that
Gene Huddleston's book, C&O Power, reports tests of the C&O with a dynamometer car indicating momentary readings of 7,498 hp (5.6 MW) with readings between 6,700 to 6,900 hp (5.0 to 5.1 MW) at about 45 mph (72 km/h). The state of calibration of the dynamometer car is not known. The calculated starting tractive effort was only 110,200 lbf (490.2 kN), but no one has published a higher dynamometer horsepower for any steam locomotive.
The locomotive was built to power coal trains on the 0.57% eastward climb from White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, to Alleghany, Virginia. With one at the front and another at the back, 11,500-ton coal trains left Hinton, West Virginia, and were at full throttle from White Sulphur Springs to the top of the grade at Alleghany. C&O's 2-6-6-6s also handled coal trains from West Virginia to Columbus, Ohio. Huddleston says that 23 locomotives were equipped with steam piping for heating passenger trains.
While delivering the first group of locomotives in 1941, Lima miscalculated and misrepresented the H-8s' weight.
Multiple unit operation in the diesel era removed the need to pack the highest horsepower in a single unit. The H-8's 80,000+ pound axle load demanded heavy rail and track structure.
One H-8, the 1642, suffered a crown sheet failure and subsequent boiler explosion at Hinton, West Virginia, in June 1953. The force of the explosion rocketed the boiler off the running gear towards the rear, killing all three crew. While these locomotives had two sources of water for the boiler, a steam turbine pump-fed Worthington hot pump and one injector, it is not known whether any were defective at the time of dispatch. According to the family of the locomotive's engineer, Wilbur H. Anderson, of Hinton, previous crews had complained of a faulty water level gauge. Anderson's widow, Georgia Anderson, was given $10,000 in compensation by the C&O.[citation needed]
Preservation
There are only two surviving Allegheny locomotives. Upon retirement in 1956, 1601 was donated to
References
Notes
- ^ Drury (1993) pp. 83, 88
- ^ Drury (1993) pp. 417–419
- ^ "Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-6 "Allegheny" Locomotives in the USA". www.steamlocomotive.com. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
- ^ The Goldem Age of steam: Trains Unlimited - When Giants Roamed: favorite fragments (original sound), archived from the original on 2021-12-13, retrieved 2021-07-09
- ^ "Allegheny". Archived from the original on 2008-01-27. Retrieved 2005-05-11.
Bibliography
- Drury, George H. (1993), Guide to North American Steam Locomotives, Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing Company, LCCN 93041472
- Official Railway Equipment Register. Vol. LXVII #3. Railway Equipment and Publication Company, reprinted by National Model Railroad Association. June 1996 [January 1953]. ISBN 0-9647050-1-X.