The end of steam. The last steam locomotive delivered to a major US railroad:
source: 1953 Norfoll & Western #244
The Norfolk and Western Railway’s No. 244, the last steam locomotive built for a mainline railroad in the United States.
While other lines were converting to diesel locomotives in the early 1950s, the Norfolk and Western Railway remained committed to steam.
Unlike most railroads, the Norfolk and Western designed and constructed steam locomotives in-house. In addition, the company had ready access to locomotive fuel, as the railroad’s chief cargo was coal.
Completed in 1953, the No. 244 was the last of forty-five identical locomotives constructed by the Norfolk and Western’s Roanoke Shops. These engines were built to a design produced by Baldwin Locomotive Works eighteen years earlier. In 1955, the Norfolk and Western began to replace its steam locomotive fleet with diesels. The 244 was scrapped in 1958.
Steam locomotives are often classified by wheel arrangement, in the order of leading, driving, and trailing wheels. This engine has no leading wheels, eight driving wheels, and no trailing wheels. It is therefore classified as a 0-8-0 locomotive.
This type of engine was used for switching, or sorting cars in a railroad yard.
While other lines were converting to diesel locomotives in the early 1950s, the Norfolk and Western Railway remained committed to steam.
Unlike most railroads, the Norfolk and Western designed and constructed steam locomotives in-house. In addition, the company had ready access to locomotive fuel, as the railroad’s chief cargo was coal.
Completed in 1953, the No. 244 was the last of forty-five identical locomotives constructed by the Norfolk and Western’s Roanoke Shops. These engines were built to a design produced by Baldwin Locomotive Works eighteen years earlier. In 1955, the Norfolk and Western began to replace its steam locomotive fleet with diesels. The 244 was scrapped in 1958.
Steam locomotives are often classified by wheel arrangement, in the order of leading, driving, and trailing wheels. This engine has no leading wheels, eight driving wheels, and no trailing wheels. It is therefore classified as a 0-8-0 locomotive.
This type of engine was used for switching, or sorting cars in a railroad yard.
Any of you folks who are also following the electric vehicle threads ... you may be interested in the technological transition that killed the steam locomotive. Not the same as ICE vs. electrics ... but there are parallels. When the Union Pacific "Big Boy", and C&O "Allegheny's" had reached the pinnacle of 100 years of locomotive development, 10 years later they were out of service.
This was a frighteningly fast transition -- imagine yourself as President of Sante Fe, or Union Pacific with epic investments in steam and you gotta do something BIG to turn things around, compared to if you were President of Electro-Motive Corp about to reap a diesel electric windfall (the EMC-E1 below - a model featured many times all through this thread).
Eclipsed (ie., beaten like drum) by the diesel electrics .. themselves only 20 years earlier relegated to "yard duties" (moving around other trains at rail yards .. basically "mules") .. the steam locomotives were soon all retired/scrapped.
Even in 1930 (11 years before the Allegheny's were ever built), seems with just a bit of executive foresight, it would have been easy to guess steam locomotives were NOT going to survive the technological transition.
Btw, as you will note what duty the N&WR No. 244 had when it was scrapped 6 years after its birth? "Yard Duty".
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