> True, but didn't NYC, a high speed road if ever there was one, have 2-6-6-2's?? I think they may have used them in hump service at Dewitt(Syracuse), but they surely couldn't have spent their entire service lives there. >> The NYC Class NE-1 and NE-2 2-6-6-2's were originally purchased beginning in 1910 for use on the grades of the Boston and Albany, and for coal trains on the Pennsylvania Division. They were true Mallets - they started a train with simple expansion, but were compounded after the train was started. When the NYC bought the A-1 Class 2-8-4's, the NE's were moved from the Boston and Albany to the coal branches south of Cleveland, where some of them remained in service until 1952. The NYC NB Class 0-6-6-0's and NU class 0-8-8-0's were used in hump service. They were designed for that work, where they remained throughtout their lives. The Boston and Albany experience closely parallels the DL&W. They needed a fairly fast road engine for most of the route, so they concentrated the tractive effort in the helper engines which were needed in any case. The NE Class Mallets were just too slow to run efficiently over the road on the B&A. They were never intended for service on the high speed main routes of the NYC. The D&H had more of its route south of Mechanicville on grades, so they needed the tractive effort over the entire route. The D&H J-95 class 4-6-6-4's were a modern design with a speed limit of 50 mph, and they were an economical replacement for hand-fired E Class 2-8-0's in 1938+. ------------------------------
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