synonymouse Wrote:
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> I'm pretty sure I never saw "nickel" referring to
> the NYC Niagaras. Now I believe the ca. 1940
> Santa Fe Northerns(number series around #3780
> IIRC)did have nickel steel boilers and I don't
> think any of them survived the scrapper. It
> appears the Santa Fe favored the 2900's and I am
> guessing it was because they were heavier.
>
> The loco designers wanted lighter(easier on
> track)but the operating people liked heavier(less
> likely to slip)?

Has little or nothing to do with it. Somebody got the
bright idea that adding nickle to the boiler steel formula
would make the steel more resistant to corrosion and it would
last longer. Nobody thought about the fact that by making
the steel harder, it was less accommodating of bending
stresses, which are a much bigger issue in locomotive
boilers because of the endless changes in steam pressure
compared to stationary boilers. It didn't particularly like
being banged around on the road, either.

The boilers work-hardened at numerous places and that
led to cracks. A lot of cracks, leading to a lot of
repair work and shop time. Thus Santa Fe and most other
afflicted roads built or bought new, carbon steel (and
usually all-welded) boilers and scrapped the nickle ones.

It is rumored that Santa Fe never finished replacing the
nickle boilers and still had some brand-new replacement
boilers on hand at the end of steam. So the new ones got
scrapped, too.

A hard and expensive lesson learned.