O Scale Locomotive Guide: Mountains & Mohawks

Hallmark made an HO scale Illinois Central Mountain of the 2500 series , made from USRA Heavy 2-10-2 locos ...

I do do not believe anybody has built a model of the IC 2600 beasts ...

http://www.railarchive.net/randomsteam/ic2603.htm

http://www.steamlocomotive.com/mountain/?page=ic

I finally did get a Mountain.  I found I could modify a Lionel Southern 4-8-2 into a SAL 4-8-2 and got one for cheap on Ebay

Before:

After a few modifications (tender, running boards, sand dome, bell):

The Southern green sure is pretty, and I hated to strip it, but Seaboard is my fav therefore it had to be done

This is a wonderful thread, thanks, everyone!

Can anyone comment in more detail on the 6-18009 Lionel NYC locomotive? I realize it's not state of the art by any means, but is it a reasonably good performer?

Jeff C

What railroad had the largest fleet of Mountain's?

Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:

What railroad had the largest fleet of Mountain's?

According to steamlocomotive.com the New York Central had 435 ALCO and 165 Lima Mountain (Mohawk) Type locomotives.

Sort of knew the Central's numbers were up there, just expected someone else to have a bit more. Cool.

@Hot Water posted:

Originally Posted by Rich Battista:

I'm not sure if the SF 3751 qualifies but I threw it in anyway.

Rich

Rich, Santa Fe #3751 is of course a Northern, not a Mountain/Mohawk, thus it can't qualify.

I know this is a REALLY old thread - but it gave me a chuckle.   

At least one of the original blueprints of 3751 class identify it as a "Mountain Type Coal Burner" and although I can't seem to locate it today, I know I've seen another blueprint which identifies the class as a "Heavy Mountain."   

 

The Index to the Blueprints of the ATSF held by the Kansas State Historical Society labels 3751 as a  "Mountain 4-Wheel Trailer".  The revision notation on this Index is 6-16-1927 - the same year 3751 was built.



When they applied for the Register of Historic Places - neither 3751 - nor any ATSF 4-8-4 - was referred to specifically as a "Northern". The application references correspondence found in the archives of the SBRHS which refers to the first 4-8-4s as the "New Mountain" type.  https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetA...dd-8ddc-a6151a34c599

So when is a 4-8-4 a Mountain?  When it's on the Santa Fe - of course! 

@Hot Water posted:

Originally Posted by PRRronbh:

The Southern Ts-1 which conquered the Saluda Mountain 4.7% grade regularly.

I was not aware the Southern ever painted their Mountain class locomotives in the passenger green & gold colors.

Color pictures in "Southern Railway In Color" first and second volume don't lie!

Ron

It should be noted that the MTH NYC Mohawks are modeled as the late/final version of the engine with the one piece front air pump shield, the top check and the relocation of the sand dome.  Dimensionally, compared with the dimensions of the prototype, they are either very close or exact, although MTH used 69-inch for the driving wheel dimensions on the L-4, which had 72-inch drivers.  (An L-4 with a max of 3-inches of tire wear would be at 69-inches.)   Of course, builders and super heater plates are also correct for each road number, and the hydro and hammer date and two letter location on the main reservoir is correct for the specific engine assignment for the date stenciled., and these dates and locations differ depending on the road number.  Lettering and numbering are the correct size, font, and in the correct location on engine and tender.

MTH also did a great job with the differences in the NYC L-3 and L-4 Mohawk subclasses, especially the tenders.  Coal and water capacity varied slightly among the L-3's and L-4's, and MTH correctly reproduced each specific capacity on the rear tender sheet.  As built, the Central's L-4B's were the only NYC Mohawks with the "cistern tender", enabling water to be picked up from track pans at 80 mph.  The MTH model of the L-4B tender differs from the L-3's and the L-4A and models this tender correctly.  MTH models of the NYC Mohawk also include, as an extra piece, the piping along the bottom of the tender as an add on part for those who have layouts with wider radius, and MTH Mohawk models include the ATC pickup shoe on the third axle of the tender truck on the engineer's side of the locomotive.

I’ve taken a recent interest in the history of the handful of NKP Mountains. They started their life as an N&W K3. I stumbled on this (awesome) old thread. It looks like 3rd Rail made a K3 years ago.  Since this thread was last updated, has anything resembling a K3 been made, particularly in Legacy?  I’m the furthest thing from knowledgeable on the Mountains, so my question may definitely be a silly one.

Are the recently released Lionel Mohawks heavy or light Mountains?  I'm looking for a locomotive to convert to an Illinois Central Mountain, which, to my knowledge, were all heavy Mountains.  The Sunset models seem to be very hard to find.

@IC EC posted:

Are the recently released Lionel Mohawks heavy or light Mountains?  I'm looking for a locomotive to convert to an Illinois Central Mountain, which, to my knowledge, were all heavy Mountains.  The Sunset models seem to be very hard to find.

Neither, they’re Mohawks, not Mountains…..the NYC had that specific 4-8-2 wheel arrangement locomotive built to do a specific task on the Water Level Route. If you want to know the size of a scale Lionel L2a Mohawk, you can convert the full size Locomotive’s numbers to O scale. The Lionel L2a Mohawks are pretty accurate to scale.

Pat

@harmonyards posted:

Neither, they’re Mohawks, not Mountains…..the NYC had that specific 4-8-2 wheel arrangement locomotive built to do a specific task on the Water Level Route. If you want to know the size of a scale Lionel L2a Mohawk, you can convert the full size Locomotive’s numbers to O scale. The Lionel L2a Mohawks are pretty accurate to scale.

Pat

Thanks, Pat.  The search continues....