The New York Central Hudson was a popular 4-6-4 "Hudson" type steam locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO), Baldwin Locomotive Works [1] and the Lima Locomotive Works in three series from 1927 to 1938 for the New York Central Railroad.

Development of the New York Central's Hudsons culminated in the J-3a class, Nos. 5405-5444, delivered by ALCo in 1937, followed by the ten streamlined Hudsons a year later. The unstreamlined members of the class weighed in at around 360,000 pounds.

May 27, 2021 · New York Central’s 275 4-6-4 Hudson-type engines are among the most celebrated of all steam locomotive classes. As the top passenger power of one of the most passenger-oriented railroads from the late 1920s to the early 1950s, the J-1, J-2, and J-3 classes were in the public eye like few other groups of engines.

Ten of the Class J-3 Hudsons numbers 5445 through 5454 were built streamlined in 1938. The design was created by Henry Dreyfuss and styled to match the new cars of the New York - Chicago "Twentieth Century Limited" which was America's most famous luxury train. After 1945, the stainless steel shrouds were removed.

The First Hudson, New York Central No. 5200 On January 1, 1926, when Paul Kiefer took over as Chief Mechanical Engineer of Motive Power and Rolling Stock of the New York Central System, the NYC was the nations largest railroad.

The final group of ten members of class J-3a, Nos. 5445-5454, were built streamlined in 1938 for service on the Twentieth Century Limited, the New York Central's premier train.

The New York Central No. 5450 was a J3a class 4-6-4 "Hudson" type steam locomotive built in 1938 by Alco for the New York Central railroad. This streamlined locomotive was used for high-speed passenger service on the New York Central's own crack passenger trains, such as the 20th Century Limited.

The New York Central Hudsons were a class of 4-6-4 "Hudson"-type steam locomotives built in several batches by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) and the Lima Locomotive Works between 1927 and 1938.

Here we see No. 5450, first member of the second streamlined group of J-3a Hudsons delivered by ALCo in 1938. These last five locomotives were similar to the first five, but had roller bearings on their connecting and coupling rods as well as on …

New York Central | Troy, New York | Streamlined 4-6-4 Hudson J3a 5450 | April 19, 1938 | Most likely a test run as the loco was outshopped by Alco in 1938, the first streamlined NYC Hudson | Henry Dreyfuss design Boiler explosion at Canastota, NY in September 1943 resulting in the engine out of service for a year due to WWII material shortages ...