Hi everyone. Hope you are all well. I got to thinking the other day; with dieselization starting up, and SW1s and other small diesel switchers starting to supplant steam in yards, what was the latest batch of steam switcher to be produced new? I don't mind if it's built by the big three, or in a Class I's own shops. I was curious how this fit into the big changeover. Weren't N&W 0-8-0's built kind of late? Looking forward to some insight. Thanks. Seth


Wilmington & Western Railroad
sethajackson@hotmail.com

Without my books handy to give you a guaranteed date, I'm staking my reputation (stop laughing or throwing rotten fruit) on the N&W 0-8-0's, I think Class S1a. Does 244, outshopped by Roanoke in December 1953 as the last steamer built for an American railroad, count? Basically, they were a variation of the USRA design, of which N&W picked up thirty brand-new (1948) from C&O in 1950. N&W even attempted to modify the design to be capable of one-man operation, with automatic stoker. It's unlikely you'll even find a truly innovative switcher built after 1953 overseas.

LNER4472-NOSPAM-@bcpl.net

You are correct that Norfolk and Western had the latest-built switchers. N&W's Class S1a No. 244 was the last Roanoke-built steam locomotive and the last steamer built for service in America, according to Norfolk and Western Steam (The Last 25 Years). It was the last of 45 copies constructed by N&W of the 30 S1 0-8-0s purchased virtually brand new from Chesapeake and Ohio in 1949. The S1a (200-244) could be distinguished from the Baldwin-built S1 by their larger all welded tenders.

hcastle@rcn.com

> You are correct that Norfolk and Western had
> the latest-built switchers. N&W's Class
> S1a No. 244 was the last Roanoke-built steam
> locomotive and the last steamer built for
> service in America, according to Norfolk and
> Western Steam (The Last 25 Years). It was
> the last of 45 copies constructed by N&W
> of the 30 S1 0-8-0s purchased virtually
> brand new from Chesapeake and Ohio in 1949.
> The S1a (200-244) could be distinguished
> from the Baldwin-built S1 by their larger
> all welded tenders.

And if there was ever a locomotive deserving of preservation, it was N&W 0-8-0 #244; the very last of the last! But of course, it was only a lowly 0-8-0 and N&W was scrapping everything at the end. For a railroad that operated steam so late, it really did a poor job of preservation.

Les Beckman (Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum/North Judson, Indiana)


midlandblb@cs.com

Anyone know when and where N&W 244 was scrapped? I suspect about 1960-61, but it would be interesting to know.

http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/001/798rflcx.asp
ryarger@rypn.org

> Wasn't the president of the N&W at the time quotes as saying something on the order of he would not rest until every steamer was off the roster-but with some more colorful language?

That might explain the lack of effort in that regard.

superheater@rrmail.com

Would that be Stuart Saunders, leter prez of Penn Central?

Electric City Trolley Museum Association

> Would that be Stuart Saunders, leter prez of
> Penn Central?
Don't get me started on Mr. Saunders. The less said about that bleep the better. One of you mentioned N&W trying to modify an S1 for one-man operation. Are you perhaps thinking of the 2 "automatic" switchers that Roanoke made from 4-8-0's before the S1's were acquired? BTW, Northwestern Steel and Wire was running its 0-8-0's with one man, but the engines had been converted to oil.

justighe@bright.net

The Richard E. Prince definitive book on N&W steam lists the 244 as scrapped Sept. 1958. Built in 1953, it had only five years service. And yes, Stuart Saunders was president of the N&W at the time. My understanding is that had N&W followed the plan set forth by Saunders' predecessor, R.H. Smith, the last N&W steamers would have been retired in the late 1970s. So anxious was Saunders to dieselize that he leased ACL and RF&P E-units to replace the Class J locos on N&W passenger trains until the boiler-equipped GP9s arrived.

hcastle@rcn.com