New York, Susquehanna and Western 142 is a China Railways SY class "Mikado" type steam locomotive. It was built in May 1989 as SY-1647M by the Tangshan Locomotive and Rolling Stock Works for export to the Valley Railroad (VALE) in the United States. Its design was altered to meet requirements for U.S. operation. It made its inaugural run in early 1990.
Inspired by VALE, the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYSW) ordered a similar locomotive, but it sank with its cargo ship en route from China. So the NYS&W bought VALE's locomotive in late 1991, renumbered it as 142, and used it pull mainline excursion trains in New Jersey and New York state.
Since 2003, the locomotive has been owned by the New York, Susquehanna and Western Technical and Historical Society, and since 2004, it has been operated by the Belvidere and Delaware River Railway (BDRV).
Background Design
No. 142’s associated class, the SY locomotive, was built for use in switching and freight services in Chinese industrial areas, such as coal mines, petroleum fields, chemical plants, and steel mills. In mining areas with long-distance rail networks, the SYs would also haul passenger trains for workers. The SY prefix was an abbreviation for shàngyóu (Chinese for "aim high" (上游). The SYs were developed from the JF6 class, which in turn was a variant of the ALCO-designed JF1 class, but the SYs came with different design features; the SYs had different motion bracket arrangements, taller smokestacks, all boxpok driving wheels, a higher boiler pressure (, and a lower axle loading (.
Since the SYs often operated in reverse, their tender tanks, which carried of coal and of water, were built with sloped-back sides to improve rearward vision for crews. The first SY (SY-0001) was built by the Tangshan Locomotive and Rolling Stock Works in 1960, and for the next three decades, over 1,800 were built by Tangshan and other manufacturers, before production ceased in 1999.
Valley Railroad dilemma In 1985, the Valley Railroad (VALE), a tourist railroad based in Essex, Connecticut, experienced some problems with their steam operations; No. 97, while still serviceable, was due for an overhaul, and 2-8-2 No. 40 had to be removed from service, after breaking a driving wheel tire. While No. 97 had to cover the VALE's schedule, the railroad began to consider acquiring another steam locomotive.
The following year, the VALE decided that they would import a new steam locomotive from China, since Chinese steam locomotives were still being mass-produced at that time, and their specifications were identical to those on North American locomotives. VALE board member Bob Bell and chief mechanical officer J. David Conrad visited three separate factories in China, and they negotiated with them to build a new locomotive specifically for use in North American excursion service.
History Construction and export
Stock-standard Chinese steam locomotives were prohibited from operating in the Northeastern U.S., due to certain construction methods. So before construction began, the state of Connecticut ordered the boiler to be redesigned to match the boiler code from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). In 1988, the VALE ordered the locomotive for $300,000 from the Tangshan Locomotive and Rolling Stock Works, whose workers were willing to study American boiler codes and regulations, and whose lighter locomotive designs better suited tourist operations. The new locomotive was to be a copy of Tangshan's SY class, and it was to be numbered SY-1647M, "M" indicating its planned shipment to America.
The Chinese-written construction plans for the boiler were translated to English with converted measurements, and engineer Joe Michaels studied the plans to identify the required modifications. The way the boiler was welded together had to be altered; the firebox sheets had to be thickened; and the crownsheet staybolts had to be enlarged. Furthermore, the engineer's controls, which were positioned on the left side of the cab in China, had to be moved to the right side for American usage. Larry Loke, a representative of the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company, regularly inspected the construction and testing of the modified boiler. On May 2, 1989, the SY-1647M locomotive was completed and was test fired for the first time that same day. Six days later on May 8, the locomotive made a successful test run.
After the VALE announced plans to import a Chinese locomotive, other tourist railroads began to follow suit. Sloan Cornell ordered SY-1658M from Tangshan, a duplicate of SY-1647M, for his Pennsylvania-based Knox and Kane Railroad. Additionally, the Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad of Iowa bought stock-standard JS class locomotive No. 8419 from the Datong Locomotive Factory, since the state of Iowa allowed standard Chinese boilers for hobbyist and tourist usage, and the Arizona-based Grand Canyon Railway (GCR) looked into acquiring some American-built KD7 class 2-8-0s.
All locomotives were to be shipped across the Pacific Ocean by mid-1989, but no freighter ship could be secured for several months, due to that year's Tiananmen Square massacre. GCR backed out of their KD7 acquisitions, since they were unwilling to wait out the ordeal. The WMSR canceled their order as the Allegany County commissioners persuaded the WMSR into purchasing an American-built locomotive instead, believing it would be a better suit them. In September, when one ship was secured, the M.V. Trade Fir, the two SY locomotives were loaded aboard in Dalian, and No. 8419 was loaded in Qingdao, and then the eastbound voyage began. In November, the M.V. Trade Fir stopped at Long Beach, California, to unload No. 8419, and then the ship carried the two SY locomotives to the Northeastern U.S. via the Panama Canal. On December 17, the M.V. Trade Fir docked at the Port of Camden in New Jersey, and the two SY locomotives were unloaded at the Beckett Street Terminal. They were subsequently shipped to their respective destinations via Conrail.
VALE excursion service On January 13, 1990, SY-1647M arrived at the Valley Railroad's location in Essex. Crews added more modifications to the locomotive, adding a bell atop the smokebox door, and replacing the Chinese safety valves with American-model valves for safety. On March 21, No. 1647 performed its first test run on VALE trackage. On April 21, the SY hauled its inaugural train on the VALE between Essex and Deep River, Connecticut: 12 passenger cars, the longest passenger train in VALE's history. The following day, No. 1647 ran at low speed into the rear of the idling North Cove Express dinner train on passing trackage. Ten minor injuries were reported, and a damaged coupler on one of the cars had to be replaced.
Operating No. 1647 in excursion service was deemed a success, and the locomotive consumed less coal than Nos. 97 and 40. No. 97 was relegated to stand-by service, while No. 40's overhaul continued. On November 3, No. 1647 hauled its first excursion train outside the VALE, when it led a round trip over the Providence and Worcester Railroad's (P&W) former Norwich and Worcester mainline between Putnam, Connecticut, and Groton, Massachusetts, as part of the route's 150th anniversary.
Susquehanna steam program
In 1989, the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYSW), a regional railway that had been heavily reorganized by the Delaware Otsego Corporation, began to explore ways to host a steam excursion program like those of the Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS). Railroad officials initially planned to restore a pair of former Morris County Central locomotives, Nos. 385 and 4039, but after seeing the successful operation of SY Nos. 1647 and 1658, decided in 1990 to import their own Chinese locomotive. The company placed a $400,000 order for an SY equipped with some features that 1647 and 1658 were built without, including a separate back-up air tank and safety chains between the locomotive and tender.
The new locomotive was numbered SY-1698M, but at the suggestion of the NYSW Technical and Historical Society, the NYSW planned to renumber it as 141, following their previous new-build steam locomotive: No. 140, purchased in 1908. SY-1698M ran successfully at the factory on December 27, 1990, but shipping was delayed for several months by the Gulf War. On May 16, 1991, the new locomotive was loaded on a Norwegian vessel, Braut Team, and four days later began its westbound voyage to the U.S. On June 6, the hull of Braut Team sprung a leak, while in transit in the Bay of Bengal, and the ship sank the following day. Its 17 crew members were rescued, but all of its cargo was lost, including SY-1698M.
While NYSW officials waited for a $400,000 insurance settlement claim, they mulled their options, including placing a new order with Tangshan and possibly having it shipped alongside another SY for the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad (WMSR). By November 1991, the VALE decided to sell their No. 1647 locomotive, since they had only used it as a stopgap while No. 40 was out of service, and as a demonstrator for the concept of adapting Chinese steam locomotives for American usage. The state of the economy of that time also contributed to the VALE's decision. The NYSW offered to buy No. 1647 with their insurance settlement, and the transaction was completed on December 2.
The NYSW opted to renumber No. 1647 as 142: one more than No. 1698's planned renumber. They also decided to reclassify it as an N-4, as a nod to the N-3 class 2-8-2s of the Erie Railroad, the Susquehanna's former parent company. On December 22, No. 1647 received its new number for publicity photos, and it hauled its final tourist train for the VALE. The following day, NYSW crews traveled to Essex to repaint the SY in its new Susquehanna livery. In January 1992, NYSW 142 was to be moved to the Susquehanna's shops in Utica, New York. Railroad officials eschewed the shorter route over track owned by Conrail, which charged $50 per mile for special moves, in favor of a longer route over smaller railroads.
On January 21, No. 142 left the VALE's Old Saybrook interchange on Amtrak's mainline. Over the next several days, the locomotive was ferried over the Central Vermont (CV), the Green Mountain Railroad (GMR), the Vermont Railway (VR), the Clarendon and Pittsford (C&P), and the Delaware and Hudson (D&H). From January 25 to 26, No. 142 stayed in Bellows Falls, Vermont, where it was filmed for a television film, Ethan Frome, collecting compensation that helped defray its ferry costs. On January 29, at Binghamton, No. 142 moved onto Susquehanna rails, and for the remainder of its journey to Utica, NYSW president Walter Rich served as the engineer.
On April 4, No. 142 hauled its first excursion trains for the NYSW. Five roundtrips on their Syracuse branch between Cortland and Marathon, New York, for the annual Marathon Maple Festival, and other roundtrips occurred on the same route, on April 5, 11, and 12. In October, No. 142 hauled Fall Foliage excursions between Butler, Hawthorne, and Sparta Junction in New Jersey. On May 15, 1993, No. 142 hauled a roundtrip excursion over the NYS&W's former Lackawanna line between Syracuse and Jamesville, New York—a fundraiser for a $1.2 million upgrade of the line for regular passenger service. On July 2, No. 142 hauled some roundtrip excursions between Hawthorne and Campgaw, New Jersey. Shortly thereafter, the locomotive was temporarily sent to Oakland, where it switched some tanker cars of liquid sweetener.