I just saw a post from 2002 about a wrecked Hudson at Little Falls, NY.

Brian Hebert says in the following:

"I recall reading somewhere that a NYC Hudson wrecked at Little Falls,New York and lost it's trailing truck into the nearby Mohawk River and it was never recovered."

I don't know if this is true if anything was recovered.

Is there any update on this?

Sometimes I wonder if there are any hidden steam locomotives (pieces or locomotive itself) still hiding from public.

Alec

It might be just the lost trailing truck, but if it exists, I'm sure the Hudson Hounds would be on it. Research required!

Some detail on the accident

https://www.uticaod.com/article/20150503/NEWS/150509858
location marker

https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=11351

Looks like the wreckage was all in one long pile. Reference on locomotive: No.5315, which headed the Lake Shore Limited, was wrecked in Little Falls, New York, in 1940 and was scrapped.

You likely wouldn't find anything of it that went in the river - it would all be buried under the RR today or have been dug out after with the reroute. After the wreck the river was rerouted and Gulf Curve eliminated to get a much better alignment with a lesser curve. Part of Moss Island was shaved off and where the bend in the river was at the time of the wreck was filled in for the new ROW. This was a pretty infamous wreck - there are lots of pics out there. Google Gulf Curve train wreck and you'll be busy for a while. This (https://nebraskaenergyobserver.wordpres ... ig-wrecks/) and this (https://www.uticaod.com/article/20150524/news/150529666) have pics of the old and new alignment. Of note - you can see where the engine landed was at the western retaining wall - he almost made the curve at 59 MPH, but not quite.

And who says even if we did find it that it wouldn’t be a mangled piece. 5315 was wrecked very badly from what it looks like.

You’re better off pulling B&M 3666 out of the water.

I have read of credible reports (ICC accident investigation) that some parts of the loco (firebox grates) where indeed found on the south side of the Mohawk River (opposite of the wreck site on the north side of the river). That would mean that the trailing truck parts may have landed in the River (could still be there ?).

When the loco left the tracks it overturned onto it's side and hit the stone wall. When it hit the stone wall is was on it's side and the rear portion of the boiler was punctured. The sudden release of steam blew the grates and trailing truck away from the wreck site with significant force southwards towards the river. The Mohawk River is maybe 200-300 feet wide at that point, so a boiler explosion could blow parts "into" and "across" the river.

The train never exceeded the calculated overturning speed on the curve, legend from other experienced crews has it that the Road Foreman of Engines riding the loco that night "panicked" and either ordered the engineer (one of the most experienced men in that division) to close the throttle, or the road foreman closed the throttle himself. That sudden reduction in speed of the locomotive caused the rest of the cars in the train to "ram into" the suddenly decelerating loco and forced the whole train off the tracks. The Loco literally "jumped" off the rails and crossed two (or three) other tracks before it hit the wall. One of the baggage cars between the Loco and the Pullmans stayed on the mostly intact rails and ended up rolling to a stop well past the wreck site.

The engineer was one of the most experienced men on that division and had been through Gulf Curve hundreds and hundreds of times.

In any case most of the locomotive was recovered from the wreck site (broken frame, punctured boiler, all the drivers, etc.) and moved back to the shops for inspection before it was scrapped.

There are photo's of the majority (90% plus) of the locomotive at the NYCRR shops where it was inspected as part of the ICC report.

The Road Foreman of Engines riding the loco that evening was considered a "newbie" who survived and worked up until PC (or maybe even Conrail).

And if anybody finds the trailing truck in the River you only need to rebuilt the other 95% of the loco to have a running Hudson.....

Back in the day, many steam locomotives were dumped into lakes or rivers just to get rid of them. If you search surviving steam locomotives, and go state by state, you will often see "sunk" in the description. One of the more famous sunk locomotives was used in a movie called "Ring of fire" where it was blown up on a bridge in Shelton, Washington. You can still see the wheels sticking up out of the water. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjUjmxFaBrE

Movie with locomotive falling off bridge skip to 1:27:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VMJlRgPcqs

I have a news recording from the 1980's where a group of guys in Colorado claim a entire passenger train was swept away in a flood and buried in the mud. I believe this is around the Durango area. The said they found the cars but never found the locomotive. The news crew was out there and a guy with a backhoe was digging up the ground. Still haven't found that locomotive.

I like this rumor but that a rumor, find a NYC hudson in 2019 was like a miracle

For me, the history of 2 ATSF mikado sunk in the Kaw River (Kansas) is more interesting

Remember, the only thing that could possibly be found from that engine is the trailing truck, not even close to a complete engine.

There are plenty of engines underwater in varying physical condition (some were a part of wrecks, others weren’t) that survive: including the 3 AT&SF engines in the kaw River, B&M 3666, and a few others.

Wasn't this the locomotive whose pilot or trailing truck was pulled from the river and is sitting at the Danbury RR Museum, Danbury, Ct? There is a huge chunk missing from one of the wheels (between 1/4-1/3 of it), not sure if it was decided that this caused the derailment or if it broke afterwards.

I believe you're thinking of the pony truck from B&M 3666, in the Piscataqua River, Maine.