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.

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

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(A deep thanks to the Museum of the Rockies at Montana State University for allowing Ron Nixon's historic collection of 4-6-4 Hudson steam locomotives to be featured here. Please note that the photos featured on this page feature their corresponding image number so that you may quickly and easily find more information about it from their website. To view Ron Nixon's entire collection please click here.)

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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