Good morning gentlemen, While looking through the diagrams of the 4-8-4 4500 Northerns I was paying close attention to the boiler pressure and drivers. Therefore, it draws me to these questions. What was the average top speed of these giants? What was their fastest recorded speed? AJ
The Frisco's maximum speed was 70 mph for passenger trains, and it was 50-55 mph for freight trains. Speeds in excess of these speeds were not sanctioned by management. So even though Frisco enginemen might cheat a bit, an actual top speed produced by these locomotives has been lost to history. The Frisco 4500s were near copies of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy's (CB&Q) 4-8-4 O-5as, Since we know that the Burlington ran its passenger trains at 85-90 mph, we can assume that the Frisco 4500s were capable of 90 mph if not slightly more.
Great reply Karl. In order to really stretch out, you need a long run of straight track or curves of less than 2 degrees. Back in the day, curves with elevations exceeding 5 inches was common. Frisco had some long straight track, but it was not the norm. Most areas of course has lots of curves. Individual cities or municipalities also can and did impose speed restrictions. As the railroads aged and in today's time, speeding is a serious offense. William Jackson
Thank you Karl, Also just to hit two birds with one stone, the 4500s have draw string whistle pull cords correct?
While I cannot speak on this positively for all 4-8-4 locomotives. I do know that our engine in Springfield, MO, 4-8-4 SLSF 4524, has buttons on both the engineer an fireman side for what we are assuming are the whistle. I do not know if she had a whistle chord in addition to this but I believe the 4500s had push buttons whistles.
My Dad worked in the Ft. Scott roundhouse and car shop for 37 years. He knew many engineers well and he told me a couple of interesting stories regarding locomotive speeds. Engine SLSF 182, a rebuilt 4-4-0, was the daily power for the two car trains No 121 and No 124, the Joplin Plug. Dad asked the engineer how fast the SLSF 182 would run, and the engineer replied, "between 75 and 80". All Frisco folks knew that the SLSF 1060 class 4-6-4s were fast. We never found out how fast but here is a story that was told by a fireman. He was firing on a run and the engineer said he was going to see how fast a 1060 locomotive would run. They hit a straight stretch and the engineer opened the throttle and sat on his seat with his watch in his hand. After two or three miles the engineer pushed in the throttle, his face white as as sheet. When the fireman asked how fast they were going the engineer would not tell him. I do not know if the 1060s had a speed recorder then or not, but it is a good story.
Fred, I have heard similar things. I asked a Kansas City Subdivision engineer, what his favorites were. Without hesitation, he responded that the big Ten Hundreds and the 4300s were his favorites. He said that they would run as fast as the engineer had guts to run'em.