2-6-6-2

[electrical whiz kid]

This engine is an ideal size for a lot of layouts; BAchmann did a very good job in it's production; I just have one thought:
The layout I'm going to construct will operate prototypically in the capacity of a bridge road, running from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Troy, New York; Pretty much in the manner of the B&M.
It will be focused upon freight operations with some pax activity.  I have two of these engines, plus a mantua 2-6-6-2.  Would it have been feasible for a road to have operated them, and what type of freight makeup would [it] have hauled?
Rich

[GN.2-6-8-0]

Whats pax? keep in mind the 2-6-6-2s were all drag freight engines pretty much restricted to a maximum of 30-35 mph.
And yes the ideal engines for smaller layouts. I have only 1 and love it.

http://youtu.be/w2XG2IM25e8

[2-8-8-4]

New York Central did use 2-6-6-2's.  They are documented to have run on the Pine Creek Branch south from New York State into PA.  They would have hauled whatever freight traffic there was.

John

[ebtnut]

I believe I recall a pic of a NYC 2-6-6-2 hauling coal on the NF&G in deepest WVA.

[electrical whiz kid]

Pax...Passenger

[blwfish]

Bridge routes came to be known in the late steam age as fast freight lines, such as the Nickel Plate. But not all freight would be manifests - if you can come up with a logical reason for bulk transfers, the 2-6-6-2's can be quite at home. Basically they are big, slow freight mashers that can handle relatively light and twisty track. That's the purpose for which C&O operated them. Originally they were the heavy haulers to replace double- and triple-headed 2-8-0's over the mainline grades, and they operated that way for about ten years (roughly 1913 - 1924). When giant single-expansion 2-8-8-2's replaced them on Allegheny, the 2-6-6-2's gathered in the hollows of the coal branches. A bridge route that has similar traffic patterns - such as a good offline source or destination for coal, iron or wheat - could readily support that same kind of power.

[J3a-614]

blwfish, you may know that the fast freight Nickel Plate also rostered USRA 2-6-6-2s--four, to be exact, the remaining units of what were originally 10 locomotives of this type on the Wheeling & Lake Erie.  These four survivors were inherited with the W&LE in the merger in 1947, and I believe they may have survived, in the same branch service in Ohio that they had held down for years, into about 1952. 

[electrical whiz kid]

Hi guys;
Happy father's day if it applies, and thank you much for the insight. Other than paper products, wood, seafood, machinery products, aircraft parts, etc, there wouldn't be any huge concentrations warrantying drag freights.  Most of the freight on this railroad would be of local and pedlar variety, with a fair amount of connecting freights to and from Albany/troy ("carfloat systems"), connections with other roads, and the Boston-Portsmouth area, similar to the B&M and NYNH&H railroads.  While not a slave to one prototype or another, I would like to keep a logical approach to this stuff.
Thannks again, guys!
RIch

[J3a-614]

Whiz Kid, I'll tell you that you can still run those draggy Mallets, even on a "fast freight line."

First, I'll dispense the bit about how "it's your road, you can do what you want;" it's certainly true!  Having said that, though, it's always nice to have even the most fictitious of roads represent reality in some way.

In this case, part of that is to remember that the claim of some roads to having "fast freight" was, at times, almost fictitious, or at least would be compared with later operations.  For instance, the Chesapeake & Ohio had "manifest" freights back in the 1920s, and they did run, at least at times, with 2-6-6-2s and the big 2-8-8-2s.  Both classes had 57-inch drivers, and compared with a Kanawha, a Greebriar, or an Allegheny, would not be considered fast; in fact, the 2-8-8-2s suffered a variety of problems in this service, including cracked frames and a tendency to throw rods in certain places on the road.  The C&O had to resort to double-headed 2-8-2s for those trains.  

Scheduled "manifest" trains on the Virginian drew 2-8-8-2s on the road's west end; grades and particularly curvature kept these engines as the best power on this division.  

Norfolk & Western was famous for its 47 fast class A 2-6-6-4s, but the road rostered 100 modern 2-8-8-2s, and those held down manifest assignments in a lot of territory, including the long Shenandoah Valley line, where the A's never did run.

The wonderful Rutland announced it was in the fast freight business with a train called The Whippet (named for a small racing dog) in 1940; assigned power was an elderly 2-8-0 with Stephenson valve gear!

What may be most helpful to remember about some of these fast freight operations, particularly the early ones, is that part of the speed came as much from expedited or streamlined classification and priority running more than raw speed over the road.  Remember, most freights might run as extras, and as such, would have almost no operational priority.  Putting the "meat train" or whatever on a timetable gave it authority over other trains that were inferior in class.

Another point, again working in the early manifest freight era, is to consider the 2-6-6-2s as handling the "normal" trains that aren't expedited, but the expedited trains get other power--early 2-8-4s and later 4-8-2s on the B&M, or even a dual service 4-6-2, as was the case on the Lehigh Valley, the Lackawanna, and the B&M as well.  

Finally, the fact that you have these articulated engines at all suggests you are inspired by one of B&M's mountain divisions; that alone could justify these machines.  In fact, the B&M did have 2-6-6-2s for a while, so you are still OK even for that!

Anyway, I hope this gives some food for thought, and hope it provides more inspiration. . .

[J3a-614]

Some other material, which you may or may not have seen, for more "inspiration:"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wawwisew6aM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V1ig5FWS4w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vui59tfqkcE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muH7bSf5lo8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJbZI1_G5VA&feature=related

Have fun!

[MilwaukeeRoadfan261]

The Milwaukee Road had 1 2-6-6-2.

[2-8-8-4]

As I said above, the New York Central, even being the "Water Level Route" did roster 2-6-6-2's, and besides running into some rugged northern branch lines in Pennsylvania, were they not also used on the Boston and Albany in New England?  

I have no information to confirm or not confirm.

Also--there is a wonderful book out there--actually a 2 volume set--Robert A. LeMassena's "Articulated Steam Locomotives of North America".  It documents that in fact most railroads actually did roster articulated steam engines at one time or another, and it is filled with rare images of as many engines as he could obtain photographs of.  It is an excellent reference book, and not that difficult to find.  I highly recommend it.

I also believe the above "fast freight" post to be quite good and rather accurate--back then "fast" was a relative term, and may have related more to schedule and priority rather than pure speed.  Therefore, many roads did entrust normal manifest freight to articulated steam power.  Some operating folks wanted to have an engine that could empty out the entire yard and take it down the line to the next desired point.

John

[J3a-614]

2-8-8-4, thank you for the compliment on the post--and for tickling my brain cells into remembering a couple of "fast freight" promotional films.  Note that even in this time period (late steam) that these priority freights didn't match passenger times, if for no other reason than the time spent in yards along the way:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xf9CTEG5hE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwLVOez58pk&feature=relmfu

How the latter looked trackside:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9tNx921EQk&feature=related

Have fun.

[Jhanecker2]

To electrical whiz kid :  The reason  GN did not understand your reference to passenger service is that "Pax" is the Latin word for Peace   and  is pronounced  like "  Paks  "   it is usually better to use the full word .  J2.

[Doneldon]

Or pssgr