ClassicTrainsMag.com 39New York Central L-4b 4-8-2
THE CENTRAL BEGAN BUYING 4-8-2s for freight in 1916. By 1930 it
had 485 class L-1 and L-2 Mohawks, as the Water Level Route called what
was generally known as the Mountain type. Although limited to 60 mph,
the 4-8-2s occasionally worked in passenger service. NYC souped up two
of the L-2s, making them good for 80 mph, and the improvements were in-
corporated in 65 L-3 engines ordered in 1940. The L-3s could haul fast
freights and, despite 69-inch drivers, were considered equal to 4-6-4s on
varnish, and 25 were built with pilots (instead of footboards) and roller
bearings for passenger work. Then came the ultimate Mohawk, the L-4.
NYC ordered 50 from Lima in 1942; the last few arrived in January 1944.
A magazine ad from that year titled “Modern Mohawks on the Warpath”
extolled their virtues: 5,400 h.p., 198½ tons engine weight, 6-foot drivers,
600-mile fuel range, and “instant adaptability to freight or passenger service.”More Mohawks
hit the warpath
At Yosts, N.Y., 50 miles west of Albany, Mohawk 3149 — the last-built of NYC’s 600 4-8-2s — hurries east with stock cars in July 1946. John Pickett