Rock on Trains © 2023, Tom Rock + T.D.R. Productions. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from Tom Rock is strictly prohibited.
Rock on Trains © 2023, Tom Rock + T.D.R. Productions. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from Tom Rock is strictly prohibited.
Mr. John Uhelski, my friend and fellow train buff, shares his train recollections with us this month. Thanks for your memories, John!
My train watching addiction began at and early age; I, too, remember the trains at the Detroit Zoo, but also grew up with Grand Trunk Western steam at places like Brush Street Station and Eastern Market in Detroit. I also recall freight and passenger trains at the classic Birmingham Station with the high platforms.
My dad was a salaried Ford Motor Company employee, so he took my brother and me on a GTW steam-powered trip from Detroit to Pontiac in the late 1950s. Years later, I was at one of the meetings of the AATTW when Emery Gulash was showing his GTW steam slides and I saw the photos he’d taken. I mentioned that I was on this trip, and he replied, “This was a private Ford employees special; how did you get to ride on it?” I told him about my dad and it all made sense. Mr. Gulash and I remained friends for many years and stood side by side along the ROW in future train journeys over the years before his passing.
Not to dismiss the diesel engines that replaced the iron horses of my youth, my Dad often took us to the many junctions in the Detroit area. We spent much time at places like Wayne Jct, Romulus, Carleton, Milan and South Lyon, watching the growlers bounce over the diamonds in the 1960s. Great memories of climbing the tower steps to visit the operators, waiting for the bell announcing an upcoming train, throwing switch and semaphore levers to “help” the operator. All that’s left now are silver boxes trackside and memories.
In the late 50s and early 60s, we vacationed “up north” around the Petoskey, Michigan area of the northern lower peninsula. The C&O and EJ&S got the once-over by my family. I have vivid memories of C&O spotless E-Units on passenger trains and GP-30s on freights. Old #6 on the EJ&S was a treat for us steam-starved train nuts then.
My first real freight ride was in 1967 on the C&O from Petoskey to Central Lake, MI. We were at the Petoskey station and the train was about to depart southbound when a request was made to hitch a ride. The friendly conductor told me, “You cannot ride in the caboose, but if you find an open box car, I will turn my head while you jump on.” To this day, I cannot believe that my parents allowed this trip. It was a perfect Michigan summer day with blue sky and lakeside breezes. The trip was magical for me and I only wish I had taken my Kodak Instamatic along for the ride. The crew dropped me off at the Drawbridge Road crossing, just north of Central Lake, MI, where I had a short walk back to my grandparents’ cabin on Benway Lake. I was walking on air, a railfan for life!
I have countless more snapshot memories like this and could go on for days. My first ever train photo was of an eastbound NYC freight at the Henry Ruff Road crossing in Inkster, MI, led by a set of ALCO cab units. The B&W image is speed- and nerve-blurred , but I have it to this day. First color photos were of cigar band NYC E-Units on long passenger trains at the classic depot in Ann Arbor, MI. My aunt and uncle lived in this town , walking distance from the depot. Our tradition was as follows: visit with Ethyl and Rolland, eat dinner at the Old German Restaurant, then head to the depot in the late afternoon/evening for the passenger rush. I can remember the massive waiting room there, foot steps echoing on the tile floors. Then the show began, east and west bound varnish, pulled by sets of big E-Units. The spotless stainless steel cars hinted of exotic far away places and had to be documented with my trusty Instamatic camera — then, the wait for processing soon after. All quaint memories in this digital age of instant gratification.
Rock on Trains © 2021, Tom Rock + T.D.R. Productions. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from Tom Rock is strictly prohibited.
Data from CN to 1953 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. (Thanks to Chris Hohl for his 30 January 2016 noting the booster’s tractive effort and for his 22 September 2017 email reporting unlikely boiler pressure values for 177 entries. A Locobase macro caused the error .)) Works numbers were 68394-68396 in September 1930, 68540-68541 in October. The Canadian National’s only essay in Hudsons, these were clearly express machines and ran for years trailing the expresses from Montreal to Toronto. K-5s also pulled the International Limited that ran from Toronto through Windsor and Detroit to Chicago on the Grand Trunk’s metals. But, according to Wes Barris of steamlocomotive.com, the CNR wasn’t crazy about the 4-6-4 arrangement and bought only 4-8-4s from that point on. Even so, the last K-5 wasn’t retired until 1967. When the class was headed for the ferroequine knacker’s yard, the CN had decided to preserve the class leader. Well, as often happens in such things, someone failed to get the word and 5700 had already been sliced into with the cutting torch when the mistake was discovered. To preserve appearances, 5703, which was still whole, was renumbered 5700 and is now on display at the Elgin County Railway Museum in St Thomas, Ontario. 5702 went on display for the Canadian Railroad Historical Association in Delson, PQ.
Data from CNR locomotive diagram published on [] (confirmed 3 March 2003). This is part of a Steamtown special report on this class. (Thanks to Chris Hohl for the valve gear ID.) See also “Grand Trunk,” Railway Age Gazette, Volume 58 (19 March 1915), pp. 628-629. Works numbers were 54894-54896 in September 1914. The RAG report notes an increase in demand, the use of heavier cars (137,000 lb vs 75,000 lb/62,142 kg vs 34,019 kg for the older cars), and longer trains led to the replacement of the 4-4-2Ts then in service with this design. The result was the ability to pull seven cars instead of the five hauled by earlier locomotives. It had a Gaines combustion chamber and the Security brick arch. “This combination secures complete combustion,” the report continued, “the back end of the firebox being more fully utilized with a resulting increase in the generation of steam; and the amount of smoke is reduced to a minimum.” (For a full description of the Gaines combustion chamber’s intended effect on combustion, see Locobase 4228.) Built for commuter service from Montreal where they ran until they were retired in 1956-1961.
| Principal Dimensions by Steve Llanso of Sweat House Media | ||
|---|---|---|
| Class | K-5-a | K2/X-10a |
| Locobase ID | 177 | 2454 |
| Railroad | Canadian National (CNR) | Grand Trunk Western (CNR) |
| Country | Canada | Canada |
| Whyte | 4-6-4 | 4-6-4T |
| Number in Class | 5 | 6 |
| Road Numbers | 5700-5704 | 1540-1545/45-47 |
| Gauge | Std | Std |
| Number Built | 5 | 6 |
| Builder | Montreal LW | Montreal LW |
| Year | 1930 | 1914 |
| Valve Gear | Baker | Walschaert |
| Locomotive Length and Weight | ||
| Driver Wheelbase (ft / m) | 14 / 4.27 | 15.67 / 4.78 |
| Engine Wheelbase (ft / m) | 40.17 / 12.24 | 39.37 / 12 |
| Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheelbase | 0.35 | 0.40 |
| Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender) (ft / m) | 79.53 / 24.24 | 39.37 / 12 |
| Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle) (lbs / kg) | ||
| Weight on Drivers (lbs / kg) | 188,600 / 85,548 | 146,000 / 66,225 |
| Engine Weight (lbs / kg) | 356,400 / 161,661 | 275,000 / 124,738 |
| Tender Loaded Weight (lbs / kg) | 303,500 / 137,665 | |
| Total Engine and Tender Weight (lbs / kg) | 659,900 / 299,326 | 275,000 |
| Tender Water Capacity (gals / ML) | 16,800 / 63.64 | 2900 / 10.98 |
| Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal) (gals/tons / Liters/MT) | 19.80 / 18 | 5 / 5 |
| Minimum weight of rail (calculated) (lb/yd / kg/m) | 105 / 52.50 | 81 / 40.50 |
| Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort | ||
| Driver Diameter (in / mm) | 80 / 2032 | 63 / 1600 |
| Boiler Pressure (psi / kPa) | 275 / 19 | 210 / 14.50 |
| High Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke) (in / mm) | 23″ x 28″ / 584×711 | 21″ x 26″ / 533×660 |
| Tractive Effort (lbs / kg) | 43,279 / 19631.05 | 32,487 / 14735.87 |
| Booster (lbs) | 10,000 | |
| Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort) | 4.36 | 4.49 |
| Heating Ability | ||
| Tubes (number – dia) (in / mm) | 44 – 2.25″ / 57 | 191 – 2″ / 51 |
| Flues (number – dia) (in / mm) | 146 – 3.5″ / 89 | 26 – 5.375″ / 137 |
| Flue/Tube length (ft / m) | 19.08 / 5.82 | 11.83 / 3.61 |
| Firebox Area (sq ft / m2) | 345 / 32.05 | 160 / 14.86 |
| Grate Area (sq ft / m2) | 73.60 / 6.84 | 47 / 4.37 |
| Evaporative Heating Surface (sq ft / m2) | 3377 / 313.73 | 1786 / 165.92 |
| Superheating Surface (sq ft / m2) | 1465 / 136.10 | 342 / 31.77 |
| Combined Heating Surface (sq ft / m2) | 4842 / 449.83 | 2128 / 197.69 |
| Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume | 250.89 | 171.40 |
| Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information) | ||
| Robert LeMassena’s Power Computation | 20,240 | 9870 |
| Same as above plus superheater percentage | 26,312 | 11,449 |
| Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area | 123,338 | 38,976 |
| Power L1 | 49,816 | 11,986 |
| Power MT | 1746.96 | 542.97 |
All material Copyright © SteamLocomotive.com Wes Barris
Rock on Trains © 2021, Tom Rock + T.D.R. Productions. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from Tom Rock is strictly prohibited.
Featured steam subjects this month include various locomotive classes of the Grand Trunk Western Railway around the Brush St. station in Detroit, Michigan on August 13, 1956:
All photos courtesy of Mr. John Dziobko, Jr., GodFatherRails.com.
Rock on Trains © 2021, Tom Rock + T.D.R. Productions. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from Tom Rock is strictly prohibited.
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