I still want the doghouse option... but I really want a pair of detail correct Redbirds, thank you very much.
Sign me up for prototypical Redbirds too!
This thread is way too young to die ! My question for the real class J nuts is... did the last batch of J's feature 4" flues like some of the later Lima locomotives? Also wondering how much difference this makes in steaming capacity. With regards to the freight hauling abilities of the J's, I'd be inclined to think they'd be the drag
equivalent of a small 2-10-2 when running on the superbly maintained mainline. The high TE. value of the J would be a potential issue on secondary track...forcing the engineer to cut back a bit. The J would also have the speed potential of any 2-8-4 type, and beyond, what with those 70" drivers, and endless steam to propel them. Now picture a pair of these machines, doubleheaded on a freight heavy enough to make them really work. With a potential 10K+ HP to play with.....well you get the picture !
No, 3.5" and 2.25" I believe. Now there's a first person story of the 607 in freight service in 1958 in which it handled a train weighing 12,297 tons which was hauled from Williamson to Portsmouth a distance of 111 miles in 3 hrs 48 minutes 
. A lot of the run was over 35 mph, and the maximum speed was 41 mph I think. Not bad for a 70" drivered Northern. The J's were rated for coal drags between Williamson and Portsmouth and with time freights as well. I think from Roanoke to Crewe and to Petersburg also. I have always said they were race horses and army mules all in one.
Ed,
Thanks for your reply's! This is somewhat off topic, however I play golf weekly with a retired NS employee (formerly Southern) who claims to have operated both 611 & 1218 on a regular basis between Atlanta & Jacksonville. Did you ever interact with Bill Godbee.
Thanks! Bruce
Ed King is Steam editor of SRHA's TIES Magazine and is one very knowledgeable fellow with access to much additional research of recent years. TIES has done a tremendous job of publishing the history of Southern steam locomotives in detail, including my favorites, the many classes of Pacifics and Mikados.
Anyone who is a Southern fan, steam or diesel, should be a member of the SRHA [Southern Railway Historical Association]. TIES Magazine comes with the membership. Marvin Black longtime Southern employee is Diesel Editor of TIES. Marvin worked the Southern's Danville Division and helped me here in Greensboro many times with data on the old A&Y Ry and rail activities at the local textile mills.
Dewey, I appreciate the testimonial, but the late Dale Roberts of Spartanburg was the driving force behind the coverage of the various steam classes. Dale spent a lot of his leisure time looking at photos of Southern Steam locomotives with a magnifying glass, and he could look at a photo of an old class Ks 2-8-0 and tell you which shops it had been assigned to, and in what order it had been there - just by his knowledge of the details and the way the shops worked.
Unfortunately, Dale passed on while we were studying the Ms (4501 class) Mikados, and never completed the fourth of the four episodes planned. He was a great guy and a pleasure to work with; I told him many times that he didn't need me to do that series. I tried to do one on the 0-8-0s on my own, and it wasn't as good as it would have been with his input. We were going to do the articulateds, the 0-6-0s and some of the Ten-Wheelers, but we just didn't get to it.
We did about eight episodes on the K and Ks 2-8-0s (414 engines); three or so on the Mountains (both classes); several on the Ms-1 (USRA Light) Mikados; four on the Ms-4 (USRA Heavy) Mikados; several on the light Pacifics (P Ps, P-1, Ps-2 and P-5 classes) and we covered both classes of 2-10-2s.
The Southern was a strange outfit in steam days; the regions and shops within regions were pretty autnomous, and detailed their locomotives differently. The famous Ps-4 Pacifics were maintained at Spencer and Atlanta on the system proper; Ferguson Shops on the CNO&TP, and Birmingham's Finley Shop for the AGS. The Ps-4s from all of these shops were distinct.
Bill Schafer has re-assumed the editorship of TIES,and it is now being produced on the outside; quality has taken an upturn.
EdKing
Originally Posted by B Treadway:
Ed,
Thanks for your reply's! This is somewhat off topic, however I play golf weekly with a retired NS employee (formerly Southern) who claims to have operated both 611 & 1218 on a regular basis between Atlanta & Jacksonville. Did you ever interact with Bill Godbee.
Thanks! Bruce
Nope. Never had the pleasure.
EdKing
Old pictures of 611 taken in Hamilton Ohio June of 1989
Attachments
Images (2)
Nice pics...
