Category:NYC Hudson 4-6-4 locomotives

1931: NYC Hudson locomotive 5271 [image info]

1931: NYC Hudson locomotive 5249 [image info]

Erector Set box artwork [image info]

The New York Central Railroad's powerful 4-6-4 "Hudson" locomotives were produced between 1927 and 1938, with a fleet of 275 locomotives eventually being built, and special measures taken to ensure that they could use an unbroken consecutive sequence of running numbers, from 5200 (to 5474).

The trailing four wheels of the Hudsons' 4-6-4 configuration allowed a longer firebox behind the boiler, and the locomotive was designed to pull longer trains out of New York than its predecessors, with a combination of power and high speed.

Used in New York and the surrounding states, the Hudsons were named after the Hudson River running through New York, and in the US, a 4-6-4 locomotive wheel configuration, generally known as a "Baltic", became known as a "Hudson".

NYC Promotional Department description:

Probably the most famous locomotive in the world is the giant Hudson class, developed by the New York Central in 1927. since then, nearly three hundred of them have been in use on famous main line passenger trains of the Central's great steel fleet. No other locomotive has ever caught the public's fancy like this one, or attained such an enviable record for operating efficiently.