USRA 0-6-0?

[michael_balcos]

I've read that the USRA 0-6-0 was a switcher. I'm not just sure if it was used in the mainline, at least for short hauls. Was the USRA 0-6-0 used in the mainline for freight or passenger service when speed was not important?

[nachoman]

Probably not. Definitely not for passenger service, and I seriously doubt larger railroads used 0-6-0s for mainline duties. They would just be too slow, too underpowered, and not have the fuel or water capacity to venture very far.

[Sumpter250]

An 0-X-0 ( 0-4-0,0-6-0,0-8-0, and I believe there was an 0-10-0,are usually classified as switchers), tends to be (with a couple of exceptions) a light weight loco. Partly because they were designed for yard service, to move limited numbers of cars, with ready access to fuel and water. a 2-6-2, as opposed to an 0-6-0, could have a heavier boiler and firebox, because the pilot and trailing wheels could bear the additional weight, and also guide the loco into curves.
The 2-10-0 "Decapod" at the Illinois Railway Museum, has to back around some tight curves, and the flanges of the rear drivers wear more rapidly because there's no trailing truck to guide the "wheelbase", and the rear driver flanges take all the abuse.
With sufficient water stops, and short trains, an 0-6-0 could be a shortline's "freight engine", but that would normally be an exception to the rule.
In any case, economics rule. An 0-X-0 would be economically inefficient for "mainline" service, and not normally used that way.

( Yes, my first loco was an 0-4-0, and yes, I did use it for "mainline service"........until I got a bit further up the learning curve )

[michael_balcos]

hihihi... I guess this will be another case of "this is my railroad." I'm going to use my 0-6-0 in the mainline. I like this engine since it handles sharp curves well. I've even seen an article in Model Railroader where the author used the 0-6-0 in the mainline because he had a small layout that had 12" radius curves. But I believe he also knows that the 0-6-0 was for the yard. Oh well, I'm happy with my engine.

[cid]

I think you have exactly the right attitude!!

Personally I like a model to look authentic or realistic , not necessarily prototypical!

And you know, they say there is a prototype for everything! If there was never an
0-6-0 used in some type of freight or passenger service, I'll eat my Sir Topham Hatt!

[doctorwayne]

I'm sure that it must've been done somewhere.  My own hometown road occasionally used diesel switchers as helpers on a mainline grade up the Niagara Escarpment, and may have used their 0-6-0 switchers for the same task in earlier years. 
Here's an SW9, at Vinemount, Ontario, assisting a train on its way to Buffalo, NY.



In less than a mile, the switcher will cut-off, heading back to Hamilton as a light engine.

Wayne

[Sumpter250]

Go for it Michael, it is your railroad.
In the 1940's the Warrenton Railroad, Warrenton N.C. used a light 2-4-2, which was about as heavy as the 0-6-0, as a "mainline" ( all three miles of it ) locomotive.
Interestingly, I'll be using the MDC 0-6-0 as the base for my 2-4-2 kitbash.

[nkp_174]

Your basic rule of thumb...

0-x-x was for switching
2-x-x was for freight
4-x-x was for passenger

0-4-0s were common in the 19th century. 0-6-0s were the standard steam switchers for the 20th century. 0-8-0s were commonly used heavy switchers. Some 0-10-0s were built, but usually weren't as good as 0-8-0s at switching due to their long wheelbase. The C&O historical society once offered parts for the C&O's 0-10-0s in HO. There is an 0-10-2 in western Pennsylvania that was used to switch ore jimmies.

Some notable exceptions to my basic rule of thumb: 4-8-2s, 4-4-0s, and 4-8-4s were commonly used for both freight and passenger trains. A few 2-8-4s were also used as power for heavy passenger trains. 2-6-2s were sometimes used as passenger power...and so on.

Typically, the lead wheels were there to provide a smooth ride as well as reduce the wear of the lead drivers. The rear wheels were there to allow for a larger firebox (greater ability to keep heavy trains rolling at speed). Since 0-6-0s were almost always switchers, they had no need for speed or endurance.

The USRA designs were mostly constructed between 1918 and 1928. Some served until the bitter end.

0-6-0s typically would have handled passenger trains at the station and in the coach yard. Perhaps if two yards were close together (say Railroad A acquired railroad B, and hence had both A and B's yards in the same town), a switcher could be seen on the main. IIRC, the C&O had a place or two where 0-8-0s would make such transfer runs. Shorlines usuaully operated with 2-6-0s, 4-6-0s, or 2-8-0s...but if your road has a power shortage, the 0-6-0 could be called in...

0-6-0s were mainline locomotives at certain times and places in the 19th century. Many small narrow gauge roads (in the 1870s) bought their first generation power from Porter. Commonly, these were 0-6-0s.
Here are some pictures of the Colorado Central's early days...
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.narrowgauge.org/ngc/html/excursion6/excursion6-cccanyon.html">http://www.narrowgauge.org/ngc/html/exc ... anyon.html</a><!-- m -->
The backbone of the roster was 0-6-0s. Two started off as tank engines...but they ended up, along with 4 more, as tender engines. They were replaced by 2-6-0s in the 1880s.

Here's another photo:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.midcontinent.org/rollingstock/CandS/dsp-passenger/images/dsp050_gtloop_1884lrg.jpg">http://www.midcontinent.org/rollingstoc ... 884lrg.jpg</a><!-- m -->
the business car in the foreground is pulled by an 0-6-0. The 2-6-0s which have displaced it on the regular trains are in the background.

I would suggest that you build your layout with a nice opportunity for switching. If your 0-6-0 is a LL P2K, just run it. If it is a B-man 0-6-0, It suggest planning to get one of their Spectrum 4-4-0s or 4-6-0s and have both a road engine as well as plenty of opportunities to switch.

[Brakie]

I've read that the USRA 0-6-0 was a switcher. I'm not just sure if it was used in the mainline, at least for short hauls. Was the USRA 0-6-0 used in the mainline for freight or passenger service when speed was not important?

The 0-6-0 could see service in urban local service and transfer work..

[nachoman]

Considering most layouts are small and train lengths are short, even running on your layout's "mainline" could be easily argued that the train is a transfer between yards or a local.

[eightyeightfan1]

Who cares if its protypical.
The only excuse you need is "Its my railroad...I'll run what I like! You don't like it...There's the door."

[sgtcarl1]

[nkp_174]

Who cares if its protypical.

NO! You're wrong. It does matter. And the only way to make it okay is for photos to be posted!

If you are trying to be prototypical, we need photos to help you. If you are trying not to be prototypical, we need photos to help you. If you are doing neither...photos are still needed

[Steamtrains]

On that second photo...it seems as if they're using a helix to climb up those mountains....Or am I seeing things..?? hock:

[BR60103]

The railways in Britain used 0-6-0 s for just about everything. If you include tanks, it was the most common wheel arrangement (4-6-0 was second).

Use on a mainline over here would depend on how main it was. Not on the Northeast corridor, but maybe on the Strasburg. Those heavy 0-8-0 s on the Indiana Harbor Belt probably took everything over their main line but at slow freight speeds.

A story I've told elsewhere: The LMS ran very heavy coal trains that required 2 0-6-0 s. They built the Beyer Garrats to replace a pair of them. The practice had been that at the Toton hump yard the locos would uncouple, push the previous train over the hump and them follow it. There was a rather sharp peak at the hump that never bothered them, but when the first Beyer Garrat did the same one of the wheels came up through the cab floor.