Jawn Henry

[NW Mailing List]

I worked at the Shaffers Crossing roundhouse during the time that Jawn 
Henry was a frequent visitor, and it is my recollection that the most 
frequent failure mode involved auxiliary equipment such as air-operated 
steam-control valves with their "delicate" diaphragms and water pumps 
with their "delicate" shaft seals, etc.  I was told that many of these 
components were originally designed for the relatively open areas of a 
fixed power plant, whereas they were "crammed" into a closed, hot 
compartment on Jawn.  The excessive heat must have caused rapid 
deterioration in certain "delicate" components.  This apparently was the 
cause of a road failure on Jawn on the only occasion that I had a cab 
ride on it.  I rode from Shaffers Crossing to Boaz where we began 
pushing an eastbound train up Blue Ridge grade until a water pump 
failed. I seem to recall that there was an auxiliary water pump that 
allowed us to limb back to Shaffers Crossing.

Gordon Hamilton

On 7/25/2019 1:26 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:
>
> “the problems were with the steam producing side”
>
> Not true. The Babcock & Wilcox portion of JH was probably the most 
> reliable of all systems on the loco. Kudus to them! Especially since 
> there was concern of how a water-tube boiler would perform in a 
> dynamic, railroad environment.
>
> John Garner
>
> *From:*NW Mailing List [mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]
> *Sent:* Thursday, July 25, 2019 11:00 AM
> *To:* NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> *Subject:* Re: Jawn Henry
>
> Don’t agree that the generator on JH gave no problems. Actually, it 
> was plagued with flashovers.  Remember, they were getting 4500 HP from 
> a DC generator that would fit inside a locomotive carbody.  In the 
> diesel era, I don’t believe that anybody tried to get more than 3000 
> HP out of a DC generator; they went to alternators  - EMD with the GP 
> and SD 40s.
>
> Ed King
>
> *From:*NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List
>
> *Sent:*Thursday, July 25, 2019 9:51 AM
>
> *To:*nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org <mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
>
> *Cc:*NW Mailing List
>
> *Subject:*Re: Jawn Henry
>
> Agree - the problems were with the steam producing side; the actual 
> drive train
>
> (generator and traction) worked well.  The decision to spend more on 
> the turbine
>
> vs. going diesel, was a no brainer.  The steam age was over.
>
> I am a volunteer at the NMOT in St. Louis.  One of our artifacts is a 
> fully operational
>
> Chrysler turbine auto from the early 1960's.  Some visitors, 
> especially the car nuts,
>
> view the turbine car as a wasted effort, etc.  Then we explain that 
> the drive train led
>
> directly to the modern Abrams Tank.  Progress is often ups and downs.
>
> Mike - thanks for the positive comment about JH.  I wish the N&W had saved
>
> the shell, but not to be.  Act in haste, repent at leisure.
>
> Jerry Crosson;  NWHS in St. Peters MO.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 
> <mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>>
> To: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 
> <mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>>
> Cc: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 
> <mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>>
> Sent: Wed, Jul 24, 2019 11:28 am
> Subject: Jawn Henry
>
> Jawn Henry was anything but an embarrassment. It was an innovative 
> idea that didn’t work. I’m sure plenty of things were learned during 
> the experiment. Plenty of things fail and lead to greater things.
> The recent Apollo celebration comes to mind as I type this on my cell 
> phone.
> Mike Shockley
>
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