MTH HO 4-8-2 L-4A Mohawk Steam Engine NYC

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4-8-2 L-4a Mohawk Steam Engine Up for auction is a brand new 4-8-2 L-4A Mohawk Steam Engine NYC MTH Item #80-3126-1 MTH HO Brand New in Original Box never opened (only took out of box for pictures) and is from the 2008 HO Volume 3 Cab #3117 4-8-2 L-4A Mohawk Steam Engine with Proto 3.0 Sound. Product details: Roadname: New York Central 4-8-2 L-4a Mohawk Steam Engine w/Proto-Sound 3.0 - New York CentralCab No. 3117Product Number: 80-3126-1 First appeared in: 2008 HO Volume 3 While its competitors needed monstrous engines to conquer mountain ranges, the New York Central did not. Its Water Level Route from New York City to Chicago was a nearly level raceway built along rivers and the Lake Erie shoreline, and the Central’s main line steam engines were racehorses bred for speed on that route. By the early 1930s, the NYC relied on two locomotives for premier services: the 4-6-4 Hudson for its Great Steel Fleet of passenger trains and the nation’s largest stable of 4-8-2s for fast freight. Although the 4-8-2 was labeled a Mountain on any other railroad, that would hardly do on the Water Level Route, so the Central named its engines Mohawks after one of the rivers its rails followed. As the Depression waned in the late 1930s and traffic picked up, the need arose for a dual service locomotive that could augment the Hudson fleet and hustle freight as well. As an experiment, two existing L-2 Mohawks were modified with higher boiler pressure, smaller cylinders, lightweight rods and other reciprocating parts, and roller bearings —which pushed their top speed from 60 mph to the 80 mph needed for passenger work. The success of these engines led to the class L-3 Mohawks delivered from 1940–1942. With over 5000 horsepower on tap, they were equally at home pulling the 20th Century Limited or more than 100 freight cars. A new feature on the L-3s was the largest tender yet seen on a Central locomotive, with a 43-ton-capacity coal bunker. These tenders didn’t carry enough water to match all that coal, however, because the Central used water scoops under its tenders and track pans between the rails to enable locomotives to pick up water on the move. One of the most spectacular sights of the steam era was a Mohawk or Hudson taking on water at speed, with excess water blasting out of relief vents on the tender deck. Class L-3 engines were delivered in three subclasses. ALCo-built class L-3a Mohawks were dual service steamers with roller bearings on all axles but no booster engine. Class L-3b engines, built by both ALCo and Lima, and class L-3c built by ALCo, were freight-only locomotives with booster engines on their rear trucks — small auxiliary steam engines that produced extra power for starting heavy loads. The pinnacle of Mohawk development was Lima-built wartime class L-4, with larger 72” drivers and a tender upgraded to take on water at 75 mph. Famed author Alvin Staufer noted that “The dual purpose concept had really taken hold on the Central and the wartime service they performed was almost beyond belief. It was nothing for them to come in on a heavy freight drag, be serviced, and leave a few hours later at the head of one of the Great Steel Fleet. Whenever possible, the heavy War Trains were assigned to the L-4 Mohawks.” Soon after the war, L-4 and L-3 engines were retrofitted with smoke deflectors (a.k.a. “elephant ears”) to deflect smoke from the engineer’s line of vision. Whether they worked, and whether they improved or ruined the look of the Central’s premier freighter, remains a subject of debate among railfans to this day. While the M.T.H. Mohawk is not the first HO model of this NYC racehorse, we believe it is the best — offering accurate detail for each subclass of L-3 and L-4; smooth performance from a three-scale-mile-per-hour crawl to full throttle; “cruise control” for steady speeds regardless of curves, switches and grades; a wide range of steam locomotive, crew, and station sounds; prototypical Rule 17 lighting; and puffing smoke synchronized with driver revolutions at a correct four chuf... read more

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