steamers, which were better? UP's or N&W's? OR ???????

[NW Mailing List]

Different horses for different courses.  The N&W machines would have been too slow (except for the As) and probably too heavy for the UP and the UP machines wouldn’t do well on the roller-coasters of the Appalachians.  Just a thought . . . 

Agree on the northwestern Yellowstones. OTOH, their machinery might not have been able to keep up with the horsepower those boilers could have produced on “good” coal.  Also, their boilers might not have been properly proportioned for taking full advantage of high heat coal.

pete groom (A student but hardly an expert.)
> On Aug 11, 2015, at 4:21 AM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
> 
> This topic will ALWAYS come up and there are always facts and figures and tests to often-times prove this one or that one was better at doing this or that. The Big Boy 4000 vs. what at the N&W? N&W J vs. UP FEF-3 800 series. Of course the Allegheny and its Virginian similarity will typically dominate the occasion as will those who really know, the DM&IR Yellowstones. They were all great and especially in their native environment.
> 
> But an unheralded one might really be one for which there are sadly no surviving examples: I think it was the GN or NP Yellowstones. Why, you ask -- check out the size of their firebox! It was humongous and for a reason; those babies used lignite for fuel in there and in case you didn't known, the heat qualities of lignite and dirt are not terribly far apart. Okay, there is an exaggeration there but lignite has terrible heat exchange properties, hence the reason for the large firebox. Some have suggested that if you ever put some really good stuff in there from eastern coal mines, it would have given the Big Boy, Allegheny and any other comers a good run for their money. But alas we shall never know, will we?
> 
> Ed King, care to chime in on this one? You are quite well-read on this little topic.
> 
> Bob Cohen
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