KnowThyNiagarasFINAL

The last of the S-1B’s, Niagara 6025 is at Westfield, NY on October 23, 1949. The hogger
has found something in the area of the crosshead not to his liking. (DS/TRG)

The last piston valve Niagara takes a sixteen car Train No. 1, the all coach
Pacemaker, westbound at Oscawana, NY on September 20, 1947. (TRG)

Modern Niagara 6024 and Super Hudson 5444, minus its oval, were at Collinwood, OH in
1955. Antiquated lubrication drum and wooden body iron wheel cart give some indication
of the road’s attention to and investments for its steam fleet. (NYCSHS)

New Niagara 6024, oblivious to potential third rail and trainshed clearance issues, poses at
Detroit in 1946. Based on this image, Alco may have used black graphite for the smokebox
color of the last six Niagaras. (AH/TRG)

Niagara 6025, the last of the piston valve Niagaras,
is at Englewood, IL in late 1946. (TRG)

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Lightning striped EMD E7 No. 4024 keeps company with Niagara No. 6023
at Rensselaer, NY in the early 1950’s. (RB)

Niagara No. 6019 is making a light move southbound from LaSalle Street Station
to Englewood immediately below Roosevelt Road. April 19, 1954. (JS)

Niagara No. 6009, its blue oval prominent, is at Rensselaer in the 1950’s. (RB)

This image provides a detailed view of the PT5 tender on Niagara No. 6009. According to available
records, this Niagara kept its original tender, T-3154, until retirement in August, 1955. (RB)

Water overflow from a stand pipe has soaked the tender water deck of Niagara No. 6009, and this excess
water is draining through the two deck drains that exited at the rear of the tender on the tender underside,
and inside the track gauge. (RB)

Niagara No. 6020 arrives at Poughkeepsie, NY in this scene from 1952. (Krambles-Peterson Archive)

This three quarter wedge photo of Niagara No. 6023 shows some neglect at the end of steam on the east end
of the railroad. There is no date for this image but we know that this Niagara received a Class 2 overhaul at
Beech Grove, outshopped on April 30, 1953, so we suspect that this photo was taken prior to that date. (RB)

Niagara No. 6010 is spotted under Roosevelt Road, and is ready to move to Englewood for servicing
after delivering a train to the yard north of Roosevelt Road. Image dated October 9, 1954. (JS)

No. 6022 is ready to depart Englewood, IL with an eastbound
train, in this image dated November 21, 1953. (JS)

Niagara No. 6023, minus the smokebox mounted NYC oval, arrives
at Englewood in this image by Robert Caflish dated 1949. (HE)

The way that the general public sees the railroad, Niagara No. 6010 teams up with
Super Hudson No. 5408 out of Chicago in this scene that dates from about 1950.
Cab windows are closed and the amount of steam suggests a late Fall or early
spring exposure. (Krambles-Peterson Archive)

Niagara No. 6023 is at Rennselaer in 1953. (RB)

Niagara No. 6025, with a slight haze at the stack indicating excellent
firing, approaches Olive, IN on a westbound run on August 12, 1950.
(Krambles-Peterson Archive)

Niagara No. 6016 was at the Englewood servicing facility on May 30, 1955. (JS)

The last Niagara in service, engine 6015 climbs Albany Hill with a M&E train in the
early 1950’s. The lack of smoke or diesel exhaust haze in the distance indicates that
pushers were not required with a Niagara on the point. (RB)

The personification of New York Central Super steam was the smoke deflector and the PT tender. Elephant eared
Mohawk No. 3001 is parked behind Niagara No. 6015 at Greensburg Indiana on a summer evening in 1956.
Retirement of 6015 was imminent, while the Mohawk would be retired in early 1957 but not scrapped. In 1959,
it was purchased by the Texas and Pacific Railroad for display. It is now located on NYC rails in Elkhart, IN. (TRG)

Niagara No. 6009, a Line East assigned engine, was at Englewood on August 23, 1953. (JS)

No. 6022 departs Englewood on an eastbound run on November 21, 1953. (JS)

Niagaras 6016 and 6020 are in line for service at Englewood on May 30, 1955. (JS)

Line West stalwart, Niagara 6015, is at Englewood and ready to run to Elkhart, in this view taken in 1951. During this
period, there were eight odd numbered Niagaras beginning with Niagara 6011 assigned to Line West for cycle mileage.
All Niagaras were cycled to Harmon for any required maintenance, and were given class repairs at Beech Grove, the
only shop on the railroad that could handle them. (Krambles-Peterson Archive)

Niagara No. 6013 departs Englewood for LaSalle Street on July 5, 1953. (JS)

No. 6010 is ready to depart for Englewood after delivering a train
to the yard north of Roosevelt Road. Date is October 9, 1954. (JS)

Niagara No. 6007 has a Mail and Express train in tow in this
view taken in the Rensselaer, NY area in the early 1950’s. (RB)

Niagara No. 6013 was on the floor at Beech Grove Shop in August, 1953 in the course of class repairs.
Evidently, that Niagara overhaul was never completed and the locomotive was demolished by the
New York Central at Beech Grove. It was officially retired on October 4, 1955. (TRG)

Minus a headlight, Niagara No. 6015 is at the end of a class
overhaul at Beech Grove Shop in August, 1953. (TM/TRG)

Niagara No. 6015 is receiving a class 3 overhaul at Beech Grove Shop in Indianapolis, IN. The engine
was released on August 25, 1953, and was stored for almost two years at Airline Junction Roundhouse
in Toledo, OH. As a result of this flue time extension, No. 6015 was the last Niagara retired, lasting until
early July, 1956. It was officially retired on August 20, 1956. (TM/TRG)

Niagara No. 6015 being overhauled at Beech Grove in August, 1953. Beech Grove
Shop no longer performed any steam locomotive overhauls after December, 1953.
The last locomotive to receive a class overhaul at Beech Grove was S-1A Niagara
No. 6000. It was released December 24, 1953. (TM/TRG)

Cab end of Niagara No. 6015 at Beech Grove Shop
in Indianapolis, IN in August, 1953. (TM/TRG)

Niagara No. 6007 was at Englewood on October 9, 1954. (JS)

Niagara 6016 at Englewood on May 30, 1955. (JS)

Niagara No. 6015 on the ready track at Greensburg, IN in the summer of 1956. (TRG)

Niagara No. 6015 is out of service at Indianapolis, IN in late summer, 1956. PT-5 tender
is derailed, either indicating a problem when the locomotive backed up, or an attempt by
someone who did not want the engine moved? (TRG)



Niagara 6008 is shown here, new at Alco, equipped with sand dome drip lips. (AHP)

Changes and Modifications

After the Niagaras entered service, there were additional pipe. (K-74200-B) The boiler detail seam drawing for loco-
changes made over a period of years as a result of this ser- motives 6003, 6007, and 6015 was “No Longer Used” after
vice experience. There was one major change to eliminate 6/5/52. A total of three Niagaras were shopped for Class
a deficiency in material selection, and that was the material 2 repairs in 1947, and seventeen additional engines had
used to manufacture the original rivetted boilers. their riveted boilers replaced in 1948. The Locomotive
Historical Record Cards do not contain Class 2 overhaul
Welded Boilers dates for locomotives 6017, 6019, 6021, 6023, or 6025.
The Edson papers contain a sheet that tabulates orders for
The production Niagaras, Class S-1B, entered pool ser- welded boilers for all Niagaras, so it is unclear whether all
vice when deliveries started in October 1945, along with Niagaras received welded boilers or whether five Niagaras
twelve newly purchased EMD E7 passenger diesels, con- never received them. There is a published reference that
sisting of eight cab units and four booster units. Based on Alco made an arrangement with Combustion Engineering
photographs, these new diesels were primarily assigned to Co. of Chattanooga,Tennessee to provide three additional
the 20TH Century Limited, so almost all of the remainder of welded boilers to the railroad in 1950. If that is correct, at
the Great Steel Fleet were hauled by Niagaras and Hudsons the end of Niagara operation there might have been two
until twenty additional EMD “E” units arrived in 1947. The locomotives with rivetted boilers. We also know that one
Niagaras were intensively used for two years, and the first of these two was 6015, and that it received the welded
major failures developed at the end of this period. boiler from poppet valve 5500 in August, 1953.

The Niagaras experienced trans crystalline cracking of the Boiler Support and Throat Sheet Repairs
boiler shells after two years of extensive operation. This
failure mode was supposedly traced to the type of water In the steam age, the railroad was required to document
treatment used by the railroad. In spite of this, Alco re- any changes made to a boiler by the issuance of a drawing
sponded with a change in the boiler material, from nickel specific to that locomotive. The listing of those drawings
steel to carbon steel, and began to supply all welded boiler shows that several Niagaras had the welded boiler support
shells beginning in late 1947, and extending through 1948. replaced by a “loose boiler support”. Niagaras 6001, 6008,
There was a claimed weight savings of 7,000 lb with the 6013, 6020, and 6021 had this alteration between July 30,
use of the original nickel steel boilers. Several other rail- 1951, and November 23, 1951. Those records also show
roads experienced problems with the use of nickel steel that 6007 had right and left throat sheets replaced on May
for boilers, including one order of large Northern type lo- 19, 1952. All of these repairs were made at Beech Grove.
comotives on the Santa Fe railroad. The Central made a
few minor design changes to the original rivetted boilers, Main Rod Change – 5500
and there were slight differences in the boilers applied at
one time to 6003, 6007, 6015, 6016, and 6017, but the Niag- For poppet valve Niagara 5500, main rod drawing V-73475
ara rivetted boiler was obsoleted and no longer used after was issued. This main rod was superseded by Main Rod
July 2, 1948 (T-72611,T-72959). Drawing R-74786 identifies Drawing V-72710 on 1/14/49. This was the main rod
some differences between the “standard” boiler and the design used by the production Niagaras.
boilers of 6003, 6007, and 6015. The manhole inspection
“dome” on the fireman’s side of engine 6016, for example, Trailing Truck
was moved six inches toward the cab. This might indicate
a change in the dry pipe length on this locomotive, since The trailing truck of the Niagara 6000 was significantly
this dome gave direct access to the top of the slotted dry different than the trailing truck used on the production

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This undated document was discovered in the E. E. Edson files, and recorded the application of welded boilers to
Niagaras. At the time this information was developed, the only Niagara with a riveted boiler was 6015.

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The S-1B Niagara trailing truck was significantly different than the trailing truck used
on the Prototype Niagara No. 6000. It had a shorter wheelbase, it used two pair of 41-
inch diameter wheels, and its location under the locomotive was changed. (AHP)

Niagaras. The original Niagara trailing truck used two dif- Photos identify a difference in the ash pan of the poppet
ferent diameter wheelsets and had an 80-inch wheelbase. valve Niagara vs. the piston valve Niagaras. We have no
The trailing truck of the production Niagaras used two information that describes this difference.
pair of 41-inch diameter wheelsets, and had a sixty-six-inch
wheelbase. The location of the trailing trucks also differed. Front Air Compressor Shield
The distance from the centerline of the rear driving axle
of the original Niagara to the centerline of the first set of An early change to the Niagaras was a modification to the
trailing truck wheels was ninety-six inches. That dimen- air compressor shield located on the pilot beam. On March
sion for the S-1B production Niagaras was 106 inches. The 20, 1947, four, three-inch holes were drilled to access the
reason for the longer wheelbase of the trailing truck used intercooler without the need to remove the shield. At the
on the original Niagara may have been to make provision same time, there is a note on the drawing dated 3/20/47
for the installation of a booster engine. (The NYC Hud- that the air compressor shield grab irons were inverted
son type locomotives used boosters and the wheelbase of and the bolts were to be located on the underside of each
those trailing trucks was also 80 inches.) With a decision grab iron. (X-72833-D, N-72833)
that no booster was required, the trailing truck wheelbase
could be shorter. The relocation of the trailing truck on Door in Boiler Jacket
the production Niagaras toward the rear of the engine was
probably made to balance individual axle loads as a result A thirty-six-inch-wide door was cut into the boiler jacket
of a change in the length of the combustion chamber. The for access to the two rectangular tubes that led from the
changed geometry of the trailer and its reposition also per- recessed top sand dome to the sand boxes under each run-
mitted an increase in ash pan capacity. ning board. (X-73306)

The original Niagara trailing truck used a pair of 36-inch Elimination of Lower Sand Boxes
wheels and a pair of 44-inch wheels. The trailing truck on
the production Niagaras used two pair of 41-inch diameter The welded boiler drawing eliminated the studs that were
wheels. The axle size of the 44-inch wheelset of the origi- previously used to mount the lower sand boxes, which
nal Niagara was 10-1/2 inches in diameter. The use of two were originally located on the boiler and beneath and in-
pairs of 41-inch wheels and decision to not use a boost- side each running board. (S-1A 6000 was added to the tab-
er permitted an axle size reduction to 8-3/4 inches. With ulation on 5/25/48, and the Locomotive Historical Record
this change, a modification of the brake hanger on Niagara Card indicates that this engine received new welded boiler
6000 was required. The original trailing truck used on pro- courses and was outshopped on 8/30/48.) One possible
totype Niagara 6000 was replaced with the trailing truck reason for the stud elimination might have been that they
from poppet valve 5500 after 5500 was retired. Locomo- were a source of crack propagation of the rivetted boiler.
tive 5500 was removed from the tabulation, and Niagara The elimination of these studs precluded the application of
6000 was added on 11/6/52. the lower sand boxes, and they were eliminated 11/3/47.
They were obvious in photographs due to the hook shaped
Ash Pan breather pipes, which were obsoleted 1/14/48. (V-73304,
T-73542) There was another change made to the sanding
The capacity of the ash pan of the original Niagara was 86 system in this area, and that was the relocation of the sand-
cubic feet. The change in the trailing truck permitted an in- er valves to immediately above the running boards on each
crease in ash pan capacity to 98 cubic feet. In April, 1952, side of the engine. In order to improve sanding system
the original Niagara trailing truck was obsoleted and no performance, a cleanout port was added to the trailing bot-
longer used as of 5/26/52, and this ash pan from 5500 was tom edge of the recessed sand dome on the fireman’s side
applied to S-1A 6000 on 11/6/52. The trailing truck with of the engine. Date of this drawing is 6/29/49. (N-74114,
two pair of 41-inch wheel sets was applied to 6000 from N-74115,T-74972,V-73304)
poppet valve Niagara 5500, which had been demolished at
Beech Grove, Indiana on May 18, 1951. (T-72847-C)

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