and he notes - I hate t' be 'picky' but the Central's pans were steam heated during the winter since the 1890s and the crew shed was a boiler house. Pans were as long as 2800 feet and located every forty or so miles along the main line between New York & Chicago. Usually the were only placed on the high speed center tracks as locals using the outer pair would take on water at station stops.
Both freight and passenger trains scooped water at high speeds once tenders were fitted or built with venting pipes to let air flow out as water gushed in. I spoke to Carl Cantola, the Central's chief designer, back in the 80s about this and he said the tender hatches had to be left open or the pressure from the incoming water would blow them off the loco. Running out of water (or running low) before the next pan was common until longer pans were installed. Even then a freight would occasionally run low and need help to the next pan or water plug. Double headers were rare on the NYC and getting enough water for both locos was always a problem. You can see a typical pan setup in the site below (scroll down to the bottom article): http://www.aamrc.org/page.php?5 Obviously a half-mile track pan on a model layout is impractical but a truncated version with the boiler house would be interesting. A smoke generator could be rigged to simulate the spray as the loco scoops water . Pans had a tapered bottom sheet that forced the scoop back in the tender if the fireman missed the end of pan signal. Scoops had a nasty habit of getting torn off until the tapers were installed. The PRR had pans too, as well as the New Haven (at one time). The Michigan Central had them but the Big Four didn't. We sell a video (DVD or VHS) with a clip on NYC track pans in action. http://stores.ebay.com/EMPORIUM-PICTURES_Railroad-Documentary-Videos_W0QQcolZ2QQdirZQ2d1QQfsubZ3QQftidZ2QQtZkm Look for NYC Collection Vol. I Raleigh in Maine where water pans are for the cats! At 05:04 PM 6/7/2007, Edward Loizeaux wrote: >Gents... > >While working on my layout this morning, I determined there was a >suitable location on the mainline for a famous NYC track pan. "What da >heck is a track pan?" you ask.... [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
