Re: C&S Operating Practices

Posted by Mike Trent on Jan 19, 2015; 12:44pm
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/C-S-Operating-Practices-tp287p306.html

There were all manner of things which affected tonnage rating. As you may know, on the C&S, one of the things which increased adhesion over D&RGW engines was the half flange on the blind drivers. Another thing which surprised me to learn was if the main connecting rod was attached at the third axle, as it lessened the angle.. It wss for that reason that on the D&RGW, the C-18's actually had greater adhesion than the C-19's.

After the 1936 wreck on Boreas, the C&S leased three C-19's to compensate for the loss of #75 and #73.. The engine crews hated the C-19's as they "wouldn't pull their tonnage". On paper, the tractive effort of a C-19 should have been the same as a B-4-E, but actually was only similar to the B-4-D's. Reasons for this were the main rod driving the #2 axle and the true blind drivers. The C&S added half flanges to them but couldn't fix the main rod problem, as the frames were never engineered like that.

Another huge factor was steam pressure, which is yet another reason why the B-4-F class was so strong.

It is interesting to note that the B-3-C class was rated same as the B-4-D class, which is why they were often used in helper service.