Power

The Transition Era

Rail historians, enthusiasts, and modelers call a period from ~1940 to ~1960 "The Transition Era." This is a popular period to model because North American railroads were in the process of replacing their aging steam locomotives with new Diesel-Electric (originally termed oil-electric) locomotives. During this period, you could see a mix of steam and diesel on railroads across the continent.

The New Haven dieselized early. Their first diesel switcher was delivered in 1931. They were the second or third Class I railroad to fully dieselize. There were a number of reasons for this, but it primarily came down to cost savings.

New Haven Steam and Diesel Locomotives 1946-1951

  • 1946: 379 Steam; 170 Diesel

  • 1947: 319 Steam; 230 Diesel

  • 1948: 253 Steam; 278 Diesel

  • 1949: 173 Steam; 298 Diesel

  • 1950: 84 Steam; 338 Diesel

  • 1951: 29 Steam; 355 Diesel

New equipment on the New Haven was assigned to the Shore Line trains first, or from west-to-east for non-passenger locomotives. Because of this, the west end dieselized sooner than the east end. The New Haven, in the 1948 Annual Report the NH stated, "At the close of the year, the territory west of Cedar Hill and Hartford, including the Springfield line, was completely dieselized except Maybrook Yard."

Locomotives in New Britain 1946-1949

My operating sessions are set the first Monday in November, so data like this is based on November of a given year.

  • 1946: All passenger (mostly I-2), New Hartford Local (K-1-d 479), New Britain Switchers steam (T-2-b), steam. All else diesels.*

  • 1947: All passenger (mostly I-2), New Hartford Local (K-1-d 479) steam. All else diesels.*

  • 1948: Only 131/136 passenger (I-2 1331) and New Hartford Local (K-1-d 479) steam. All else diesels.*

  • 1949: All diesel.

*Through November 1948 there was one additional steam locomotive running through New Britain, R-1-b 3335 on ANE-1/EA-2. I did have a model for this locomotive, but since it runs in the evening/early morning, it isn't a train that will be within the operating window on the layout.

Last Steam from Waterbury

Former New Haven fireman Noel Weaver reported the last of each steam class used in Waterbury in 1948 on the NHRHTA Forum.

    • I-1 #1001 to Boston over Highland with a snow plow and a derrick on May 17.

    • F-5 #164 on a work train on Aug 20.

    • I-2 #1331 on 136 to Boston over Highland on Nov 20.

    • K-1-b #388 on a work train on Dec 15.

    • J-1 #3003 on a work train on Dec 23.

The work trains may have gone down the Naugy or across the Highland. For an "early transition era" layout, I only need three classes of steam locomotives, and only 5-6 total steam locomotives. You'll notice, however, that the vast majority of photos I have of my era in New Britain are steam. That's because most of the photos were taken by New Britain natives Kent Cochrane and Tom McNamara, who seem to have focused their efforts on photographing the end of New Haven steam.

Steam Locomotives

Steam locomotives are listed by the New Haven Railroad class as opposed to the popular naming conventions. For example, I-series locomotives (I-1, I-2, I-3 and I-4) were all 4-6-2 pacifics.

I-class 4-6-2 Pacific

Diesel Locomotives

Diesel Locomotives are listed by the class designated by the New Haven Railroad:

DER-x: Diesel-Electric Road locomotive

DERS-x: Diesel-Electric Road Switcher locomotive

DEY:-x: Diesel-Electric Yard locomotive

The New Haven Railroad numbered their diesel locomotives with a "0" prefix, to differentiate them from the steam locomotives. By late 1950, with the steam nearly completely retired, they began numbering new diesels without the "0" prefix.

Self-Propelled Equipment

The New Haven adopted gas railcars, and several streamlined trainsets over the years. Budd rail diesel cars (RDCs) were also very successful.

  • Comet - A streamlined trainset, was used for about a year on 128/129 from Boston to Waterbury near the end of its career.

  • RDC-1 - all coach

  • RDC-2 - coach and baggage

  • RDC-3 - coach, baggage, and railway post office (RPO)


Steam Models

  • I-2 - 1319, 1331 - Crown Custom Brass (<1948)

  • K-1-d - 479 - New England Rail Services brass (<1948)

  • T-2-b - 2398, 2446 - Overland brass (<1946)

Diesel Models

  • DER-1 (DL-109) - 0700, 0703 - Overland Brass and Proto 1000

  • DER-2a (FA-1) - 0402, 0405, 0412, 0416, 0424, 0429 - Rapido, Proto 2000 (1947+)

  • DER-2b (FB-1) - 0450, 0457, 0458, 0464 - Rapido, Proto 2000 (1947+)

  • DER-2c (FB-2) - 467 - Rapido (1951+)

  • DERS-1b (RS-1) - 0660, 0661 - Atlas (1948+)

  • DERS-2b (RS-2) - 0502, 0503 - Proto 1000 (1948+)

  • DERS-2c (RS-3) - 523, 537, 556 - Athearn (1951+)

  • DEY-3 (S-1) - 0967, 0994 - Proto 2000 (1949+)

  • DEY-4 (44-tonner) - 0802, 0805, 0813 - Bachmann, W&R brass (1947+)

  • DEY-5 (S-2) - 0605, 0606 - Atlas (<1947)

Self-Propelled Models

  • Comet - Con-Cor (1950)

  • RDC-1 - 21, 23, 26, 29 - Rapido (1953+)

  • RDC-2 - 120 - Rapido (1952+)

  • RDC-3 - 126, 129 - Rapido (1953+)

Motive Power by Year

These are the locomotives, including road numbers, that I'll be using for ops sessions in a given year.

All years: Stanley S1 (HK Porter 0-4-0F)

I'll have some additional models. Since I have to scratch-build the Stanley locomotive, I'll probably use an Atlas HH660 model "leased from the New Haven" as a temporary solution. As late as 1948 L-1 and J-1 class steam locomotives remained at major yards (Maybrook, Hartford, etc.) as backup for the diesels should they need to be shopped.

1946 (8)

  • DER-1 (DL-109) - 0703

  • DEY-5 (S-2) - 0605, 0606

  • I-2 - 1319, 1331

  • K-1-d - 479

  • T-2-b - 2398, 2446

1947 (8)

  • DER-1 (DL-109) - 0703

  • DEY-4 (44-tonner) - 0802, 0805

  • DEY-5 (S-2) - 0605, 0606

  • I-2 - 1319, 1331

  • K-1-d - 479

1948 (14)

  • DER-2a (FA-1) - 0402, 0405, 0412, 0416

  • DER-2b (FB-1) - 0450, 0457

  • DERS-1b (RS-1) - 0660, 0661

  • DERS-2b (RS-2) - 0502, 0503

  • DEY-4 (44-tonner) - 0802, 0805

  • I-2 - 1331

  • K-1-d - 479

1949 (9)

  • DER-1 (DL-109) - 0700, 0703

  • DERS-1b (RS-1) - 0660, 0661

  • DERS-2b (RS-2) - 0502, 0503

  • DEY-3 (S-1) - 0967

  • DEY-4 (44-tonner) - 0802, 0805

1950 (9)

  • Comet

  • DER-1 (DL-109) - 0700

  • DERS-1b (RS-1) - 0660, 0661

  • DERS-2b (RS-2) - 0502, 0503

  • DEY-3 (S-1) - 0994

  • DEY-4 (44-tonner) - 0802, 0805

1951 (20)

  • DER-1 (DL-109) - 0700

  • DER-2a (FA-1) - 0402, 0405, 0412, 0416, 0424, 0429

  • DER-2b (FB-1) - 0450, 0457, 0458, 0464

  • DER-2c (FB-2) - 467

  • DERS-1b (RS-1) - 0660, 0661

  • DERS-2b (RS-2) - 0502, 0503

  • DERS-2c (RS-3) - 537

  • DEY-3 (S-1) - 0994

  • DEY-4 (44-tonner) - 0802, 0805

1952 (13)

  • DER-1 (DL-109) - 0700

  • DER-2a (FA-1) - 0424, 0429

  • DER-2b (FB-1) - 0458, 0464

  • DER-2c (FB-2) - 467

  • DERS-2b (RS-2) - 0503

  • DERS-2c (RS-3) - 523, 556

  • DEY-3 (S-1) - 0994

  • DEY-4 (44-tonner) - 0802, 0805

  • RDC-2 - 120

1953 (9)

  • DEY-4 (44-tonner) - 0805, 0813

  • RDC-1 - 21, 23, 26, 29

  • RDC-2 - 120

  • RDC-3 - 126, 129