Pennsylvania Railroad class N1s

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Template:Infobox Locomotive The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) N1s was a class of 2-10-2 "Santa Fe" steam locomotives built for the Pennsylvania's Lines West. 60 engines were built between December 1918 and November 1919, and worked heavy mineral freight to and from ports on the Great Lakes until their retirement in the late 1940s. All examples were scrapped by 1950.[1]

Overview

The 2-10-2 wheel arrangement, ten driving wheels with a two-wheel leading truck and a two-wheel cast KW-pattern trailing truck under a large Belpaire firebox, suited the N1s' intended purpose well. They were drag freight engines, designed to haul heavy freight up the 0.3% grade leading out of the PRR's "Lake ports," and were rated at Template:Cvt on these relatively easy grades.[1] The design was developed by the PRR's Fort Wayne Shops and orders were placed with Alco (Brooks) (35 locomotives) and Baldwin (25 locomotives) for a total of 60; the first Alco locomotive was delivered in December 1918, with the remainder arriving during 1919.

File:Prr7128s.jpg
Pennsylvania Railroad N1s #7128 in Erie, PA in 1948. Note the repositioned headlight compared to the original 'Lines West' configuration.

The N1s was a large locomotive; the boiler was the largest then used on any non-experimental PRR locomotive, and the firebox had Script error: No such module "convert". of grate area and a Script error: No such module "convert". long combustion chamber. No feedwater heater was fitted, but a mechanical stoker and power reverse were installed, being necessities on such a large locomotive. Boiler pressure was initially set at Script error: No such module "convert"., but was quickly raised to Script error: No such module "convert"..[1] The boiler was reportedly designed to take a pressure of Script error: No such module "convert"., but whether it attained this pressure in service is not known.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

File:PRR N1s 8363s.jpg
PRR N1s #8363 in its official builders' photo.

To allow the locomotive to negotiate tight 22-degree curves, the first and fifth driving axles were fitted with lateral motion devices and the center axle was blind.[1]

Comparison

In many respects, the N1s was similar to the I1s 2-10-0 "Decapod". Driver diameter was identical, and the cylinders on the I1s were a mere Script error: No such module "convert". wider, having the same stroke of Script error: No such module "convert"..[2] The N1s had a longer boiler at Script error: No such module "convert". long, but the I1s used a higher working pressure of Script error: No such module "convert".. The I1s' tractive effort was higher, at just over Script error: No such module "convert"., but the N1s had a superior factor of adhesion—4.13 to the I1s' 3.28, suggesting the N1s had less of a tendency to slip than the Decapod. The N1s, as a low speed drag hauler, was limited to Script error: No such module "convert"., while the I1s was capable of Script error: No such module "convert". or greater.

Disposition

The N1s were the first class of large power withdrawn after diesel locomotives appeared, as diesels proved superior at the low-speed "lugging" the N1s was designed for. All were scrapped by 1950.

See also

References

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