Elvas Tower: NP Class W 2-8-2 Mikados - Elvas Tower

MSTS NORTHERN PACIFIC CLASS-W 2-8-2
SET OF THREE(3), Nos. 1507, 1515 and 1558.
!!**VERY-HIGH DETAIL**!!
MODEL MESHES BY TIM MUIR
TEXTURES BY TIM MUIR, WAYNE CAMPBELL ( SOLID WHEEL FACES) AND CGTEXTURES.COM (weathering and fire source materials).
Coupler textures originally from Steve Thompson.
Original coupler mesh by Jeff Link, modified by Tim Muir.
Additional crew member meshes and their original textures by Tom Werb.

Prototype's General Background.

These models represent three of the Northern Pacific's 160-strong fleet of Class W 2-8-2 Mikado type locomotives (1500-1559), the first 2-8-2's to run on American mainline railroads. Numbers 1507 and 1515 were built by ALCO's Schenectady plant in October of 1904. These two engines feature the longer front-ends equipped with the Cyclone Spark Arrestor inside the smoke box. 1558 was built in Schenectady in April of 1906 and features the short smoke box as originally built. The class W's received Schmidt Superheaters in 1916. Power reverse gears were added around 1934 to most of the engines. 1948 saw the addition of lighted number boards mounted high on the smoke boxes and on some engines, cast steel Commonwealth pilots.

They had 63" drivers, 24"x30" bore and stroke and set to operate at 200lbs boiler pressure. They had 46,600 lbs of tractive effort. Total weight was 263,500 lbs. without stokers.

The Class W's were first used on way freights, symbol freights and mineral drags on the railroad's toughest divisions. Later they were also found pinch-hitting in yard duties and helper service in addition to their usual duties. They were first choice for protection power on passenger trains when needed. They were free-steaming, simple, rugged and reliable, consistently giving trouble-free service right up until the end of steam operations, 50 still on the roster in 1956, outlasting most of the NP's other classes of steam locomotives. The Stephenson valve gear lent itself well to the rigors of switching so some of the W's were found in regular yard service on the St.Paul District, fitted with power reversers, larger air tanks, coal pushers, footboard pilots, switcher-style headlights and tenders with coal boards cut back for better rearward vision.

These models are very high in polygons, averaging 32,000 more or less, depending on which one. They will run in MSTS but I have not run them in Open Rails and have no guarantees about their behavior in that untested platform.

I wish to thank the following folks for their assistance along the way:

Steve Thompson, for supplying invaluable high quality photographs from his collection, information and anecdotes from his late father, Frank, testing and further input. Also the whistle .wav files from NP W-3 #1776 and bell .wav files from NP A-1 #2626.
Allen Norten, original driver tire part, general help, support and technical assistance.
Jim Bebenroth, for testing and suggestions.
Derek Miller, for testing, tweaking 1507's engine files and making .sds and sound adjustments (based on his Western Pacific Mikados).
Tom Werb, for permission and the use of his crew member files.
Dave Nelson for other high-resolution photos, including #1515.

The follwing publications were used for research and photographic materials:

"Classic Steam Era" by Schrenk & Frey, Hundman Publishing, 1997.
"Northern Pacific Steam Locomotive Erecting Drawings", From the Robert Hundman Collection, CD, Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association.