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  • Discussion of the NYO&W Railway and predecessor New York and Oswego Midland Railroad (NY&OM) for the period 1866 to its abandonment in 1957. Visit the historical site here: O&WRHS.
Discussion of the NYO&W Railway and predecessor New York and Oswego Midland Railroad (NY&OM) for the period 1866 to its abandonment in 1957. Visit the historical site here: O&WRHS.

Moderators: David, CAR_FLOATER

 #1138219  by Cactus Jack
 
Looking at The Final Years by Krause and Crist it mentions that the P class were the most powerful locomotives after the X and Y's.

but looking at the data in Helmer's O&W after getting into the progression of O&W steam power and wondering about the differences betwen the P's and the W's I note the following:

Class P
Qty: 20
Road Numbers: 201-220
Built: 1900 - 1904
Type: 2-8-0 Center cab
Drivers: 55"
Cylinders: 21x32
BP: 200#
Total Weight: 200,000
Weight on Drivers: 178,000
Tractive Effort: 44,300

Class W
Qty: 26
Road Numbers: 301-326
Built: 1910-1911
Type: 2-8-0 Long John
Drivers: 55"
Cylinders: 21x32
BP: 200#
Total Weight: 206,000
Weight on Drivers: 182,000
Tractive Effort: 45,400

The W's were about a decade newer and from this data a little more powerful. Is the data correct? Is the interpretation correct?
I guess I always thought the P class was a much "heftier" and powerful engine than the W's but maybe not. I did calculate the factor of adhesion for each and get 4 for the W and 4.01 for the P for whatever that is worth. A pure calculation for a superheated loco
using .85 as the boiler pressure factor yields a lower figure of 43,618 lbs if my math is correct, so I am not sure how the higher number was calculated but it appears to represent them in rebuilt form with piston valves and superheat ?? How did the conversion to W-2 affect TE ?

What kind of issues did the railroad have in keeping fuel stocks and allocation for the different coals and at what point could Norwich no longer fuel camel backs ?

Any thoughts and clarifications appreciated.

also...

To add to this, I was also looking at similarities and differences between the I (I-1) class and V class (2-6-0's). The I-1's (2-6-0's converted to 4-6-0's) lost TE upon conversion which makes sense I guess but in some areas the V and I's had many similarities and both were 15 units in the final tally of each class.

What was the philosophy as far as type of fuel used ? Were the differences largely a hedge against fuel prices and sources ? The I's were built 1903 - 1907 and the V's were newer from 1908 - 1909. Earlier power to the I's were the big P's and later to the V class were the straight boilered W's.

** P class & V class were camel backs and W class and I class were straight boilered