J-1 e Hudson 5344 as streamlined for the "Commodore Vanderbilt" in December, 1934. NEW YORK CENTRAL STREAMLINED STEAM LOCOMOTIVES Ca rl F. Ka nto la Assista nt Engineer, Equipment Engineering Depa rtment The Commodore Vanderbilt Locomntive for construction. The presid ent's offi ce advised that the locomo­ On December 27, 1934 the " World 's F irst-Powered Stream­ ti ve sho uld be na med the "Commod o re Va nd erbilt," a ft er the lined Steam Locomoti ve" was exhibited a t the Gra nd Centra l fo under of the New York Centra l System. A cast a luminum New Termina l. T he New York Times a nd other newspa pers gave it a York Central oval was designed fo r the front of the locomoti ve. The headlined article with photographs a nd procla imed it to be a great 16-gauge steel cowling over the bo il er a nd front e nd was d esigned day for the ra ilroads a nd the beginning of a new era in locomotive to be suppo rted o n li ght weight structura l steel a ngle attached to des ign. the bo il er. The thro ttle rods a nd va ri ous piping we re concealed Here is the insid e story of how it ha ppened . It was ea rly in the under the cowling. Recessed openings were provid ed for the bell, year 1934 a nd the country was coming out of the great d epressio n whistle, safety va lves a nd low water a la rm. The front end cowli ng years. The ra ilroads had a lso fe lt the econo mic distress a nd had a hinged d oor for access to the smo kebox inspecti o n d oor, something was need ed to inspire more interes t in the railroads. a nd a lso provid ed access to the two cross-compo und a ir com­ Strea mlining seemed to be the coming thing in industrial d es ig n, pressors a nd the turbo-electric ge nerator which was relocated o n so why not try it on the ra ilroad? the front pilot beam. Access to the dro p-type front coupler and a ir hoses was had by removing a cowling pa nel. A smoke lifter was Since I was a bachel o r a t tha t time, with free time in the built into the des ign by forming a n a ir scoop a round the smo ke evenings, I drew up a pencil sketch of a strea mline d es ign for a stack, with head end a ir entering the scoop through a grill in fro nt Hudson type locomoti ve. At the o ffice we presented the sketch to of the scoop. An additiona l smoke-lifting fea ture was desig ned by Mr. Pa ul W. Kiefer, C hief Engineer of M otive Power a nd Rolling fo rming scoops back of the ri ght a nd left sid e running board Stock, who was quite ta ken with the id ea. He then showed it to steps. Head end a ir entered these scoops a nd was directed upwa rd Mr. F. E. Willi a mson, Presid ent of the New York Central. M r. thro ugh grills in the running boards a nd a lo ng each side of the Willia mson tho ught it would be very good publicity fo r the boil er cowling. T he sid e pa nels ex tended fo rward of the steps to ra ilroad a nd gave us the a uthority to p romptly proceed with the make more effective scoops. strea mline project. T he 16-gauge steel sid e pa nels were des igned with a lo ng Having started the id ea, it became my assignment to .draw up sweeping a rch over the engine truc k a nd driving wheels. A fi xed the working pla ns from my prelimina ry sketch. Work was sta rted , secti on of these pa nels extended a bove the running boards. T he a nd in two months the pla ns were dra wn a nd blueprinted ready lower sid e pa nels were in severa l secti o ns, and were hinged at the 8 running boards so that they could be raised for maintenance a nd As had been predicted, this first streamliner was followed up by inspection. When closed they were supported on structural similar designs on many other railroads in the United States and frames and locking devices were provided to secure them to the Canada. frames. After the delivery of class J3a Hudsons #5445-5454 with Covering the coal space on the tender presented a problem. modified streamlining in 1938, #5344 "Commodore Vanderbilt" However, we designed a cover consisting of four longitudinal lost her distinctive shroud and was restreamlined to resemble the panels welded to longitudinal rods which ran the length of the later ten locomotives. coal space. These rods extended beyond the front of the coal The Rexall Streamlined Convention Train space doors a nd were provided with levers to swing the covers to a vertical position for loading coal. During his travels, Mr. Louis K. Liggett, president of the The gangway between engine and tender was closed off with United Drug Company had occasionally seen our streamlined curtains. We designed canvas side curtains which operated on "Commodore Vand.erbilt" locomotive and had been very much vertical rollers mounted to the rear edges of the cab. The free impressed. One day it occurred to him that it would be a great idea edges of these curtains were attached to the tender by slotted to have their own streamlined train to travel over the country. fixtures. A heavy canvas curtain attached to the roof contour was Their personnel convention meetings could be held on this train provided to enclose the space between the cab roof and the tender at the various cities, rather than to have all I 0,000 people come to coal space covers. a central convention, and in addition the train could be a traveling display of their products. The painting specifications called for black metal lacquer on the engine and tender with white lettering and striping. Mr. Liggett contacted our president, Mr. F. E. Williamson, about having a streamlined locomotive like the "Commodore Model tests in a wind tunnel indicated that this streamlining Vanderbilt" for the proposed train. Mr. Williamson agreed to would reduce headend air resistance by 30 percent at speeds of furnish the locomotive, and Mr. Liggett made arrangements with from 60 to 80 miles per hour. the Pullman Company to furnish 12 cars for the train. Six U.S. patents were later granted covering various features of The big question was could we furnish the locomotive in t11 e.30 the completed des ign. days that was specified for completion. Anyhow, smce I had About November I, 1934 I went to West Albany Shops where recently drawn the plans for the "Commodore Vanderbilt" and the work was to be done, to direct the construction and to stay had directed the construction, this project was assigned to me. until the work was completed. With the wonderful cooperation of On March I, 1936 I went to our West Albany Shop with a set of the locomotive shop superintendent, Mr. John Parsons, a real the "Commodore Vanderbilt" prints. However, they were for gentleman; Mr. Frank McMahan, the shop engineer; and all reference only as they were for a Hudson type locomotive. A fast others concerned, the job went along well. As it happened, freight locomotive was to be streamlined for the Rexall train as it although we did not know it at the time, we won the race to would be pulling a 12-car train over the steep grades of the complete the first streamliner. At the same time the American western mountains. Locomotive Co. in Schenectady was building the Milwaukee Road's first streamlined steam locomotive, but this was not Locomotive #2873, a class L2c Mohawk with 69" drivers and completed until sometime in 1935. with roller bearings on all axles except the engine truck and with trailing truck booster was selected for this project as it had been A Hudson type 4075 horsepower passenger locomotive with 79" recently outshopped but had been in service long enough to be drivers, class J le #5344 was just being outshopped, so this was broken in. Since #2873 was a freight locomotive steam heat and picked for the streamline project. train air signal equipment had to be installed, and since some The streamlining was completed on December 14, 1934. western railroads burned oil the locomotive had to be converted Photographs were taken outside of the shops with the modern to an oil burner. 228-ton streamliner posed alongside of the 7 Y2 ton "Dewitt Clinton," replica of the New York Central's first locomotive in 1831. As it developed, this turned out to be not only a 30 day, but a 30 day and 30 night project. The shop management and personnel The 5344 had roller bearings o-n all of the driver axles and on were very cooperative and with the help of Frank McMahan, the the engine truck axles. As first outshopped, the driving wheel shop engineer, we covered the day trick and the second trick to centers were of the original spoke type, but on September 12, 1935 expedite the project. Each night I would mark up my set of prints they were replaced with solid type driving wheel centers.