| Posted by on January 2, 2013 | |
Great shot, Steve! Number 563 was the "protection" engine for CV District trains 5 and 6; sister 578 was the regular engine. Only Pacifics, 2-8-0s or 4-8-0s were turned on this rather short turntable at Norton. The Y6, Y5, Z1b Mallets--and L&N's 2-8-2s and 2-8-4s--were all turned on the Interstate Railroad's wye, which was accessed via a short connection track. Before L&N passenger service expired in 1953, the layover time for between inbound train 11 and outbound number 12 was only one hour--so N&W roundhouse crews had to hustle to hostle the engine to the service area, turn it on the table, add water, coal, clean the fire, shoot the rods, and return it to the passenger depot in time for number 12's departure time. You couldn't do that today, of course, since there would be a dozen or more "three steps," five safety briefings, a rule test, fittings for new safety vests, and mandatory calisthenics for the engine crew.
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Great one Steve.
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It certainly is a beautiful engine and I’m assuming neither of the two Pacific’s were saved. Although in 1957 the end of steam was near on the N&W and would come practically overnight, steam was still king. As a train loving kid at the time, I rode with my dad on the J-Class powered Pocanontas between Cincinnati and Norfolk, VA probably two months after this picture was taken. Always one to be looking out the window, I counted a total of three N&W diesels for the whole trip.
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The 578 survives today at the Ohio Railway Museum in Worthington, Ohio.
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