Postwar Steam-5 Steam on the N&W - HD 1080p

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The Golden Twilight of Postwar Steam Part-5
Steam on the Norfolk & Western Railway (1959-1960)
(The Films of Frank W. Schlegel)
As the 1950s wound down, a few isolated pockets of steam remained on major railroads, or steam power was in storage waiting a call to return to work - a call that did not come until additional diesels had arrived to rule out a last hurrah for steam.
On the Norfolk & Western, things were different - very different. The N&W was a major railroad, operating big-time steam over its rail lines radiating out of Roanoke. Although diesels could be seen all over the railroad, the high iron was still dominated by the throaty sound of the steam whistle and the pulsating rumble of 12 or 16 drive wheels of steam giants, sometimes double-headed, pounding the railheads.
Steam was not stilled on the N&W until May 7, 1960. Fourteen months before this happened, Frank Schlegel made the first of four or five trips to Roanoke and West Virginia to film the final year of steam operations on the U.S.’s very last large steam railroad.
Approx. Time: 55 Minutes
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100% All Color Film on this program
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[@JungleYT]

Wow, look at that firebox blazing in the cab! - 2:36

[@ces4399]

I have to admit: the forward large cylinders of those Y-class girls are simply amazing. Sure, they were the larger of the two sets of cylinders because the front pistons needed a larger surface area to deal with "used steam" from the smaller, rear primary cylinders of that Mallet configuration, but still, those front cylinders are HUUUGE!

[@kriswalker7106]

While the steam era is gone, these videos allow us to relive the glorious days of American railroad history. Thanks to all the railfans who filmed these timeless scenes of a bygone and happier era in rail history.

[@Tennfatmatt]

Great video! Saw many of these Y engines pulling freight out of Saltville, VA during the late 50's. Never forget that burnt cinder smell as they got up to steam from the yards. Thanks for the great memories!

[@thavvolf9157]

Boggles the mind to see a Y class steam engine doing yard duty

[@Dulcimerdude205]

Norfolk & Western.......my favourite "fallen flag" of all the railways!!

[@OKFrax-ys2op]

Those darn diesels 🫨

[@williamcharles9480]

GreenFrog, I just love the videos and the informative narration. This is truly railfan stuff at it's best.

[@GreenFrogVideos]

Thank-you for watching, we are very glad you enjoyed it!

[@gunnyusmc8412]

Just awesome my compliments sir and thank you

[@hakeemsd70m]

Amazing video of the final bow of N&W steam. It's really cool seeing those big steamers do yard work. Makes me wonder if any of these steam locos still came to Cincinnati in the late 50s. I also really liked the C&O passenger train.

[@kennethhall3471]

as a boy my uncle took me to the Roanoke shops when I visited him there. All the big engines & passenger cars were parked on sidings, but I never forgotten their hugeness, even if they weren't running. I was born in Norfolk so the N&W and Virginian were on about every boxcar or gondola I'd see...

[@SteamKing2160]

Fun fact about Y6b 2190: She participated in an excursion with a K1 class and the Virginian railway. She was also one of the last locomotives when her fire was doused for the last time in 1960.

[@b3j8]

SteamKing2160 Late reply but the Y's went to 2200. These last ones were just afew yrs old. Wish one of those had been saved rather than the 2156.

[@tonydevault3844]

My Grandfather worked for Southern. He sail they kept steam in operation so long to keep contracts with the coal companies by purchasing coal to run the steam engines. Southern ceased coal operations in 1961.

[@visheshkumar4963]

The King

[@stanleytipsword9560]

I enjoy all films of steam but I like the films of steam in the glory years when the engines were new rather than just before steam disappeared

[@Traveller2016]

Wow!! Using main loco's as a switcher.

[@gecko36a]

IT'S A SHAME THAT NOT MANY STEAM LOCOS WERE SAVED. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN WONDERFUL TO SEE A DREYFUSS HUDSON J3A OR A MILWAUKEE HIAWATHA AGAIN.

[@bsmith4525]

It was called a "pole" care (not pull car), and the practice of poling (moving a car on an adjacent track by the use of a heavy wooden pole placed between the pole car and the other car) was dangerous for the men handling the pole.

[@johnzamboni7561]

I would love to see this high resolution in the WV coalfields.

[@GeDoBa]

Very impressiv the steam locomotives in mallet construction. In Germany only used on curvy areas in the mountains like the Ostharz. After looking this video I can better imagine the real circumstances in the steam era of my bachmann spectrum modell! Tip: set the video speed to a level of 50%!

[@thelaborpeasant]

Anyone else spot Mule Dick McCoy over there at 2:20 all like "yep, I'm strollin down my train, so what?" XD

[@thefitchemist2123]

Scientist: “I just invented the first time machine, want to go back in time and see how the pyramids were made?” Me: “Nah I wanna go back to the 1940s or 1950s and be a train engineer on a Y6b.”

[@jackp9122]

CygnusTheWeedian like these steam vids-was born 1951 and by the time I was seeing trains, was all diesel.

[@thefitchemist2123]

J P Same here, although I am stoked that a Big Boy is running again in my lifetime. There is lots of steam still going in the world, just heartbreaking seeing these old vids though and not being able to see it on a daily basis

[@jamesbelcher8509]

Norfolk and Western 2-8-8-2 Y Class Locomotive 2103 1:58 Class Y 2-8-8-2 number 2103 has shoving cars up the Schafer's crossing hump.

[@DouglasP201]

Classic!

[@shinigami117s8]

I wish I lived back then 😭

[@litanaturals2176]

R.I.P 2174 and 1240

[@cesaralemao6591]

Saudade tempinho bao

[@benlahrman926]

should be more preserved N&W steam.

[@SteamKing2160]

I agree but I guess no one during the 1960s and 1970s had any ideas of saving N&W steam other than 2174 which got scrapped in the mid 70s after the lead project person passed away.

[@uliuli1603]

SUPER KLASSE

[@wolfox712]

oh wow steam engines were way more dirty back then lol

[@Alizara75]

Heh, touch one, even now. I guarantee you, no matter how bright and clean it looks, your hand will come away black with grease and oil and soot.

[@spoon5415]

not needed just stand by one for a few mins XD

[@wolfox712]

i have spoon xD watch my Krøderbanen 1122 video.. stood centimeters away from it xD

[@wolfox712]

also one kid went up to the buffer and stroked his finger ALL over the grease on the buffers. xD

[@wolfox712]

i also believe the grease was hot or newly applied cause seconds later the kid cried to his dad xD (curious 3 year old.. xD)

[@oldcroneysgarage9739]

Why didn't they just keep the steam locomotives for a spare locomotives when they need one

[@b3j8]

Casey like every business railroads are all about saving money. Even the Norfolk & Western, which built it's own locomotives well into the 1950's, knew steam, which needed extensive servicing facilities, was ultimately just too costly compared w/diesels.

[@oldcroneysgarage9739]

@@b3j8 ok thank you

[@b3j8]

@@oldcroneysgarage9739 Glad to help!

[@SteamKing2160]

@@b3j8 it was more than that the N&W after WW2 relied on outside suppliers for their homebuilt steam locos and even their shops couldn't keep up with the maintenance.

[@Froggyman145]

"TENDER ENGINES DON'T SHUNT" Y6B: "Allow me to introduce myself"

[@boomy776]

Steam engines certainly changed the face of this nation and then vanished

[@j.reynolds3089]

What happened to all the steam engines?

[@natejenkins8645]

Most were cut up for scrap. A good number of steam locomotives are however preserved and on static display in state parks or train museums. A handful of smaller steam locomotives that were pulled from retirement operate on short excursion lines or tourists railroads. Then there are the handful of main line steam giants that operate like the N&W’s J 611, Southern Pacific’s G.S class 4449, Union Pacific’s Big Boy 4014 (one of the largest and most powerful locomotives ever built), and Union Pacific’s FEF-3 844 (this locomotive holds the distinction of never being retired from the active U.P roster, which means it’s been in continuous service since 1944).

[@jacksalvin364]

Steam and Diesel on the Norfolk and Western.

[@AmityBlightAndSP4449Fan]

I wish there was a Norfolk & western y6b built and It will be named 2170 and it will have a new speed limit and it will be up to 110mph and it can travel from 55mph to 80mph and it will rumble completed In 2030 and it will exist forever and it will pull passenger trains from Norfolk, VA to Harrisburg, PA and it will be used to the pull the American freedom train every 4th of July from Roanoke, To Savannah, GA and it will pull the polar express from Virginia to Orlando, Florida and it will run every day and it will double head with N&W 2156 every year when it pulls the polar express and it will pull passenger and freight trains every day, week, month, & year

[@stuartaaron613]

1:59 the narrator called engine 2102 a Y-2. You just lost this sale. 2102 was a Y-5. All Y-2 class were in the 1700 series. If such a basic error can occur what else is wrong with the narration of this video.

[@toad100s]

They actually say Class Y, 2-8-8-2. They didn’t say what y class it was, just the wheel arrangement afterwards.

[@michaelnaisbitt1639]

Modern locomotives scrapped way before their time. Victims of the diesel salesman. Only a few countries got their worth out of steam China South Africa India etc

[@angelocucuzza7958]

WISH I WAS BORN IN THE IN THE ARE///////////////////////////////

[@SteamKing2160]

What was the main reason why the pull car became illegal in 1959?

[@Varinki]

Safety.

[@SteamKing2160]

What would happen to the crew if they were on one of those pull cars?

[@Varinki]

The pole could slip out of its pocket or snap and hit people.

[@SteamKing2160]

Ouch did that happen often?

[@Varinki]

Often enough to get the practice banned along with cableing.

[@raritanriverrailroadfan4418]

1:29, US Army Switcher?

[@regmason2329]

That is a class S-1, ex C&O, modified by N&W. The engine was built in 1948 and sold to the N&W about 1951, after C&O had a corporate head change and went hard to diesel. The N&W liked them so much they built copies. In fact the last steam engine made in the US, in 1953, was a copy of these engines.

[@raritanriverrailroadfan4418]

Ah my mistake.

[@SteamKing2160]

I think the last S1 made was S1a 244.

[@gettonmoreorless3741]

What is a pull car?

[@b43xoit]

Pole car. Originally they would have sockets on the corners and a pole would be used to push a car on an adjacent track.

[@douglasskaalrud6865]

I'll never understand why N&W stuck with compounding. Their boilers were high pressure-high horsepower but they wasted that energy trying to recycle steam.

[@GTgyro]

Allow me enlighten you. The purpose was to stretch a dollar. Simple articulateds burned 30% more coal - and water - to haul the same tonnage over the same distance. Compound locos re-use exhausted steam from the rear engine to power the front one. In the case of the Y6b it also used a special valve to divert primary steam headed to the rear engine to the front cylinders, thus making it a super locomotive - one that saved on fuel plus had even more power than the simple articulateds. In fact, it was so damn successful that N&W converted ALL of its earlier Y4's, Y5's, and Y6a's to this configuration. The result was that every one of those ~150 locomotives was more powerful (pulled more weight) than any of the mere 25 legendary Big Boys, by a whopping margin of 21,000 lbs - 156,200 lbs pulling force to 135,375 lbs. ALCo, at the request of the UPRR, sacrificed high-fuel use in the designing of Big Boy for speed which the UP was looking for to haul manifest freights over long, flat, wide-open distances quickly. N&W used its class A 2-6-6-4's for their high speed overland express freight, and even passenger service. When you see 2-8-8-2's being used for yard work, they are the much older Y1, Y2 & Y3's that were aging and no longer suitable for long distance work. Some 250 N&W 2-8-8-2's were built, TEN times more than the 25 UP 4-8-8-4 Big Boys.

[@SteamKing2160]

@@GTgyro the N&W Y6's could also work in simple there was a control mechanism in the cab that switched between simple and compund. It also had booster which engaged when the train went below 10 mph.

[@GTgyro]

@@SteamKing2160 please re-read my comment, line 3. Although it is simpler to call it a switch to simple, it never operated in common "simple" mode. Simple means both cylinders get HP steam exclusively. In the Y6b, and the converted earlier locos, they always ran with exhausted steam powering the front set of cylinders, it was never exhausted to the smoke box straight from the rear cylinders. The recycled LP steam to the front cylinders was only augmented with HP steam that was diverted from the feeder to the rear cylinders. This was used mainly for starting, but the engineers liked the added power so much that they used it for high balling as much as possible. Had the Y6b been a straight simple locomotive with identical front and rear cylinders it would have been capable of 175,862 lbs of tractive force! As it was, using the mix of LP and HP steam to the massive front cylinders, its was recorded to produce a reliable 152,206 lbs of tractive force - something that only one other 8 drive axle locomotive was ever claimed capable of besting, and that was the Great Northern 2-8-8-2 which figures to have produced 162,475 on paper. I seriously doubt that the GN "Chesapeake" ever got there though, given that all the other exact, same type locos built in 1927 came nowhere close to this number, and the desktop numbers were never substantiated on the rails. Plus there are problems with realizing this derived number: the size of the firebox and the fact that this GN loco ran without roller bearings - meaning the factor of efficiency is more like the 75% used by the railroad itself, not the 85% used by the AAR for smaller, lighter engines and those using roller bearings, which was basically unheard of on giant locos in 1927! Using the more realistic factor of 75% we find that even the GN 2-8-8-2 never produced anything more than 143,360 lbs - far short of N&W Y6b, and the rest of the converted Y4 and Y5's, proven 152,206 lbs. with the diverting valve running in combined simple mode. This locomotive was the ultimate "Stump Puller", as so declared over on the website Steamlocomotives.com. I am really happy UP got Big Boy back on the rails! It has generated - and regenerated - much interest in these wonderful engines.

[@SteamKing2160]

@@GTgyro hmm interesting ik the N&W Y's were very versatile machines the N&W owned over 200 of them throughout their history from 1910 to 1952. If u watch pillars of smoke in the sky, they describe the Y6 as a 3 speed steam engine. I do like that a big boy is back at work it be nice if lets say an N&W or C&O articulated met it side by side or front to front.

[@GTgyro]

@Иван Ангелов I've never seen that documented. The numbers I stated above are documented in several respected books on the subject.