Steam & Excursion > These 2 Steam Giants Ring Out The Steam Era In Grand Style!

While admitedly not the best photo for 1954, this image still manages to capture the last days of Northern Pacific's large steam motive power quite well.

Here we see a pair of NP's 4-6-6-4's racing along the NP rails in Montana one fine afternoon.  Thier tenders have just been filled with coal and they have all the power for any grades they may encounter ahead.

Long live steam on the NP!

Martin



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/21 03:48 by LoggerHogger.

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Fantastic photo, but they aren't exactly "racing."  More like stopped for a signal.

radar Wrote:
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> Fantastic photo, but they aren't exactly
> "racing."  More like stopped for a signal.

Judging from the exhaust coming from both stacks, they're pulling.
And that signal probably just dropped to stop after the lead engine passed it.
Either that or the train overran the signal!

Great photo!  I love these thoroughbreds!

Does anybody know how common it was to double-head these Challengers?

Sawdust 

My sympathy goes out to the draft gear and under frame of that first stock car,  

sawdust Wrote:
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> Great photo!  I love these thoroughbreds!
>
> Does anybody know how common it was to double-head
> these Challengers?
>
> Sawdust 

Could it be this is a helper district?  Disclaimer:  it does look pretty flat out there.
Either way, there is something dramatic about steam double headers.

AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA

Clearly the tenders have not been just filled, other wise the coal load would be even across the tenders where as in this photo that is not the case, from the look of the coal load I'd say they have been 'on the road' for about an hour.    From the look of the tenders I'd say a Z8  on the point with a Z6 behind.     A nice photo.

Malcolm
New Zealand.

Honestly, I could care less whether the train is stopped, moving forward or moving in reverse.  I have long considered these as among the most aesthetically pleasing Challengers ever built.  It is such a shame one wasn't preserved, but I remember well about this time the furor when 2626 (Four Aces) was to be scrapped.  NP president MacFarlane was very direct in saying that 2626 was simply too valuable as scrap and the NP needed the money.  He was right --the NP survived its final years on its CB&Q dividends and was ultimately saved by the BN merger.  The NP was very generous in donations of steam locomotives--much more so than the wealthier GN--but never anything larger/heavier than a 4-6-2 or small 2-8-2.

Gordon

 

agentatascadero Wrote:
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> sawdust Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Great photo!  I love these thoroughbreds!
> >
> > Does anybody know how common it was to
> double-head
> > these Challengers?
> >
> > Sawdust 
>
> Could it be this is a helper district? 
> Disclaimer:  it does look pretty flat out there.
> Either way, there is something dramatic about
> steam double headers.

Could be the Chief needed another engine at the other end of the division.

TAW