Displayed at Zacatecas, Zacatecas. Photos from 1999. Engine is one of 12 extant NdeM 4-8-4s.

http://www.mexlist.com/photo/ruelas1/1.htm
ryarger@rypn.org

> Displayed at Zacatecas, Zacatecas. Photos
> from 1999. Engine is one of 12 extant NdeM
> 4-8-4s.

Thanks for the pics. Please forgive my ignorance, but just where is Zacatecas?

LL675@aol.com

> Displayed at Zacatecas, Zacatecas. Photos
> from 1999. Engine is one of 12 extant NdeM
> 4-8-4s.

Does anyone have info or specs on these engines? I had heard they are Alco products and very similar in design to J-3 576 in Nashville.

D Alderson

da@comcast.net

> Does anyone have info or specs on these
> engines? I had heard they are Alco products
> and very similar in design to J-3 576 in
> Nashville.

> D Alderson

According to "Drury" it was one of thirty-two 4-8-4 purchased in 1946. Half of them were built by Alco and half by Baldwin. They had 70" drivers, weighed a very modest 387,000 lbs. and were called "Niagaras" on the NdeM. I don't have the cylinder dimensions. They were class "QR-1" and were retired about 1965.

Ed


ff1044@aol.com

> According to "Drury" it was one of
> thirty-two 4-8-4 purchased in 1946. Half of
> them were built by Alco and half by Baldwin.
> They had 70" drivers, weighed a very
> modest 387,000 lbs. and were called
> "Niagaras" on the NdeM. I don't
> have the cylinder dimensions. They were
> class "QR-1" and were retired
> about 1965.

3025 - 3032 and 3049 - 3056 were ALCOs. 3033 - 3048 were Baldwins. They carried 250 lbs of boiler pressure, had 25x30 cylinders and made 57,000 lbs of tractive effort. Some were in service as late as 1968.

Don C.

http://www.261.com
milw261@sbcglobal.net

I sure wish one of the major video companies would put out a good video on Mexican steam. I know there are excellent 16mm movies available, some with sound recorded at the time they were filmed. When I contacted several of these companies, their response was that "foreign" railroad videos don't sell very well. How much more american could you get? 99% of their engines were built in the USA and they bought many more from U.S. railroads.

rogernetz@hotmail.com

> I sure wish one of the major video companies
> would put out a good video on Mexican steam.
> I know there are excellent 16mm movies
> available, some with sound recorded at the
> time they were filmed. When I contacted
> several of these companies, their response
> was that "foreign" railroad videos
> don't sell very well. How much more american
> could you get? 99% of their engines were
> built in the USA and they bought many more
> from U.S. railroads.

WE made a couple of trips to Mexico about '64. Have to check the pictures to be sure. WE ate breakfast at the Union Station and then rode the employee bus out to the Valley Terminal. Everyone was very friendly and seemed pleased that we were there to photograph their steam. They most always
asked "Esta usted aqui para fotographia las
locomotora de vapor "Niagra"?".WE had the run of the property.
Unfortunately, some of the fans who went there had pictures published back home of them running the engines and we were told by fans who went down a year or so after we did that "Los Federalies", the soldiers who policed the property, would lead them off the property and instruct them not to come back.
Jim


rfanjim@charter.net

> Does anyone have info or specs on these
> engines? I had heard they are Alco products
> and very similar in design to J-3 576 in
> Nashville.

> D Alderson
The NdeM 4-8-4s look very similar to the orginal NC&STL 4-8-4s,the J2 class that were not semi-streamlined and also built by American locomotive company at Schenectady.How about the group that has been trying to get 576 in Nashville give up that task and concentrate on one of the Mexican 4-8-4s,there are still two surviving NC&STL Vanderbilt tenders to mate with one.I think a replica engine in this case would be a good thing,there is already a train to pull and a place to go.I think having only an authentic engine or no engine cause everyone to miss out on a lot of potential fun and big steam would create a lot of new railfans to pursue engines such as 576 in the future.

wink638@aol.com

> Displayed at Zacatecas, Zacatecas. Photos
> from 1999. Engine is one of 12 extant NdeM
> 4-8-4s.
Anyone know what happened to the ex NdeM 4-8-4 allegedly being "rebuilt" in New Hope since about 1994?

bas1210@comcast.net

> Anyone know what happened to the ex NdeM
> 4-8-4 allegedly being "rebuilt" in
> New Hope since about 1994?

I saw this locomotive in the New Hope shops about 5 years ago. The shop crew had made good progress removing most exterior appliances and prepping the boiler for measurements or additional work. I can only assume that since then priorities have changed or resources have been limited, slowing or halting progress on the 4-8-4.

New Hope & Ivyland's current management is a for-profit corporation using its own resources for this project, so of course they are not obligated announce their plans or changes to them.

eledbetter@rypn.org

Ha! Not much work has progressed on the "El Taco Loco", as the NH&I folks call her. Finances are a bit tight at New Hope these days. The engine was kept inside the enginehouse for awhile but is once again outdoors shoved on the back track. The engine's tender sits behind the enginehouse next to ex-CNR #1533. Should be interesting, as the NH&I folks are on year ten of a 10-year lease with the folks in Schenectady, which called for the engine to be returned to operating condition by this year--it's far from it. It will require a lot more extensive and complicated mechanical work beyond the capabilities and resources of the present shop staff. With little money and no facilities, you can see right away where it's all headed.

> Anyone know what happened to the ex NdeM
> 4-8-4 allegedly being "rebuilt" in
> New Hope since about 1994?

> Ha! Not much work has progressed on the
> "El Taco Loco", as the NH&I
> folks call her. Finances are a bit tight at
> New Hope these days. The engine was kept
> inside the enginehouse for awhile but is
> once again outdoors shoved on the back
> track. The engine's tender sits behind the
> enginehouse next to ex-CNR #1533. Should be
> interesting, as the NH&I folks are on
> year ten of a 10-year lease with the folks
> in Schenectady, which called for the engine
> to be returned to operating condition by
> this year--it's far from it. It will require
> a lot more extensive and complicated
> mechanical work beyond the capabilities and
> resources of the present shop staff. With
> little money and no facilities, you can see
> right away where it's all headed.
Well, that's a shame. I never could figure why NH&I would want such a big loco, but the dreamer in me would have loved to see it creep out thru Pauline trestle under steam.

bas1210@comcast.net

> Thanks for the pics. Please forgive my
> ignorance, but just where is Zacatecas?
Zacatecas is located in the center of Mexico on the line between El Paso/Juarez and Mexico City. It is about 800 miles south of the border. The major city to the north is Torreon and Aguascalitenes to the south. The city is in the mountains and a center for silver mining the goes back prior to the Spanish arrival.

fhc1290@aol.com

> Displayed at Zacatecas, Zacatecas. Photos
> from 1999. Engine is one of 12 extant NdeM
> 4-8-4s.

I have always understood that next to the GTW U-3-b's, these were the lightest 4-8-4's built, at least in terms of weight on drivers. If that is the case, one would think restoring one of these makes much more sense for a museum or tourist operation (i.e. N.H. &I.) to restore one of these for operation, given that 90% of tourist operations have track conditions (tie-placement, weight of rail, etc.) less than ideal for a full-size 4-8-4 of say, #844 or #700's weight?

Then again, how many steam locomotive restorations start out with logic being the mitigating factor? ;-)

T.J.


Port Huron Museum
tjgaffney@phmuseum.org

> I have always understood that next to the
> GTW U-3-b's, these were the lightest 4-8-4's
> built, at least in terms of weight on
> drivers. If that is the case, one would
> think restoring one of these makes much more
> sense for a museum or tourist operation
> (i.e. N.H. &I.) to restore one of these
> for operation, given that 90% of tourist
> operations have track conditions
> (tie-placement, weight of rail, etc.) less
> than ideal for a full-size 4-8-4 of say,
> #844 or #700's weight?

> Then again, how many steam locomotive
> restorations start out with logic being the
> mitigating factor? ;-)

> T.J.
They may be the lightes that are still around. For this lightes ever I think it would be the Ontarrrio Northland or the t. p.&w. bb