NYC Mohawk

NYC Mohawk

The New York Central Railroad (NYC) called the 4-8-2 type of steam locomotive the Mohawk type. It was known as the Mountain type on other roads, but the mighty New York Central didn't see the name to be fitting on its famous Water Level Route, so it instead picked the name of one of those rivers its rails followed, the Mohawk River, to name its newest type of locomotive. Despite the more common name, the 4-8-2 was actually suited in many ways more to flatland running than slow mountain slogging, with its 4-wheel leading truck for stability at speed.

Indeed, the New York Central became the largest user of this wheel arrangement in North America, with 600 locomotives of this type built for its service; only the Pennsylvania Railroad came anywhere close, with 301 of the type.

The Mohawk type was the pre-eminent freight power of the System, displacing the Mikado (2-8-2) type from first line service. While other roads obtained much more massive freight power, Decapods (2-10-0s), Texas (2-10-4) types and a multitude of articulated designs, the New York Central, with its practically gradeless high-speed raceways along the rivers, needed speed, not lugging ability.

The 600 Mohawks delivered were divided into four main classes, plus a few experimental and prototypes:

Read more about NYC Mohawk:  L-1, Experimental 3-cylindered, L-2, L-3, L-4, Survivors