Why N&W's Jawn Henry Shook Itself Apart — Steam's Last Great Machine

Comments · 112

• IR

  @Ironclockwork · 1 month ago

  I gotta say, seeing a steam-powered locomotive named Jawn Henry shaking itself to death is some next-level irony reflective of its mythical namesake.

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• WI

  @williamhayslip1644 · 1 month ago

  No it did not shake itself apart. As a demonstrator "Jawn Henry" was successful and N&W was prepared to buy 20 copies if the other coal roads bought in. That would have brought the cost down considerably. If you want the true picture read "Rails Remembered volume 4" . It's the complete story from construction to retirement of "Jawn Henry".

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• RE

  @rennethjarrett4580 · 1 month ago

  Thanks for showing the original real one of these. As a kid I saw in Popular Mechanics this engine and wondered what ever happened to it. That was back around 1970-1975.

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• MA

  @MarkCraig-x1z · 1 month ago (edited)

  Without pure distilled water and preheaters that boiler was doomed. I know this because I ran Babcock and Willcox boilers in the navy. Even with pure distilled water, these boilers had to be cleaned once a month, to stay working. We used bunker oil. I can't imagine, how much maintenance was needed, when you burned cheap coal.

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• WA

  @Waty8413 · 1 month ago

  It's amazing that anyone ever thought that these overly complex turbine designs could compete with diesel-electrics. None of them overcome the fact that steam designs require a lot of maintenance and that was the one factor that doomed steam.

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• RA

  @RantzBizGroup · 1 month ago

  A magnificent piece of work! I wonder what we could with today’s technology?!!

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• AL

  @ALCO-C855-fan · 1 month ago

  Thx. for using the Jawn Henry footage. So rare to see that stuff.

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• VE

  @vettebecker1 · 1 month ago (edited)

  Too bad it wasn’t  saved, would have been a sight to see one in action today 😮

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• DA

  @David_Threlfo · 3 weeks ago

  A brilliant telling of a fascinating story, thank you 😊

• RE

  @Reality_Check1974 · 1 month ago

  I recall seeing and hearing the Jawn Henry one time in Bluefield, WV in my very early years. The strange sound it made was spooky when you are used to hearing the chugachuga sounds of the Y class and J class locomotives.

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• TI

  @titusrider7948 · 2 days ago

  What a fantastic time for transportation innovation  👍

• MA

  @MarkStockman-n8s5w · 1 month ago

  Sad part is, if they had made upgrades to the Class Y6Bs based on the work of Andre Chapelon, L. D. Porta, and others, they could have massively improved the efficency and reduced the maintenance of Stephensonian steam locomotives.  If they really wanted a water tube boiler, Abner Doble had a different design than Babcox & Wilcox.

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