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The 4-6-4 Hudson Type Steam Locomotive

The Hudson Type was a steam locomotive design synonymous with the New York Central Railroad as, to no surprise, the 4-6-4 wheel arrangement was developed by the railroad and thus is where it received its name (the NYC's Hudsons are also quite famous for the streamlining the received by Henry Dreyfuss for the railroad's regal passenger train, the 20th Century Limited). The development of the Hudson was the need by the New York Central Railroad for a better and faster steamer to haul its passenger trains as by the 1920s its fleet of Pacifics could simply no longer handle such large and heavy trains.

In conjunction with the American Locomotive Company (Alco) the NYC came up with the 4-6-4 wheel arrangement and the first model was out-shopped in early 1927. While the New York Central would, of course, end up with the most Hudsons, eventually rostering almost 200 of the locomotives (275 in all) several other railroads also purchased, or built, at least a few of the type (Alco would manufacture the most but other builders like Baldwin, Montreal Locomotive Works [for Canadian National and Canadian Pacific], and Lima also chipped in to build Hudsons).

The below table lists most railroads that owned the Hudson Type and their designated class with total number owned (Please note that the class listing here is very general as many railroads broke the locomotive down into further designations such as H-1a, H-1b, H-1c, etc. Also, not all railroads are listed that owned Hudson):

· Baltimore & Ohio: Class V (1-4) – 4

· The “Big Four”: Class J-1 – 30

· Boston & Albany: Class J-2 – 20

· Burlington: Class S-4 – 14

· Canadian National: Class K-5a – 5

· Canadian Pacific: Class H-1 – 65

· Chesapeake & Ohio: Class L-2/L-1 – 18

· Chicago & North Western: Class E-4 – 9

· Illinois Central: No Designated Class – 1

· The Frisco: No Designated Class – 10

· Lackawanna: No Designated Class – 5

· Maine Central: No Designated Class – 2

· Milwaukee Road: Class F-6/F-7 – 28

· New Haven: Class I-5 – 10

· New York Central: Class J-1/J-2/J-3 – 195

· Nickel Plate Road: Class L-1 – 8

· Santa Fe: Class 3450/3560 – 16

· Wabash: Class P-1 – 7

Because the Hudson Type was developed in the late 1920s most of the designs built only saw around 30 years of regular service before being retired in the 1950s. Still, several of the models have been preserved with most of the U.S. versions from the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (the Canadian roads also have seen several of their Hudsons preserved). Of note, one of the more prominent Hudsons to be preserved is C&O 490, an entirely streamlined locomotive that saw use pulling the railroad’s most well known passenger trains.

For more information on the Hudson Type please click here to visit SteamLocomotive.com to learn much, much more about this steam locomotive.

Lastly, for more information on the Hudson Type consider How a Steam Locomotive Works by author Karen Parker, which explores in great detail how exactly each component of a steam locomotive works but is also easy enough to read for anyone to understand. The book has received excellent reviews and is a great resource on steam locomotives and a fine reference tool; you should find it very useful.

Also, consider the book American Steam Locomotives from author Brian Solomon. While this publication does not include quite as much technical data as Parker's book, How a Steam Locomotive Works, it is still a very good resource with lots of information and best of all, is loaded with photographs! If you're interested in perhaps purchasing either (or both) of these books please visit the links below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.

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