New York Central Niagara

[2] These locomotives had a small water capacity (18,000 US gallons; 68,000 liters) in the tender, because the New York Central was one of the few railroads in North America which used track pans.

This meant a specialized system was developed, where men in "hot suits" (asbestos heat-resistant coveralls) entered the firebox while the locomotive was still in steam and cleared all of the tubes, repaired the brick arch, etc.

[3] This type of intensive maintenance was studied by steam locomotive designers such as Andre Chapelon, Livio Dante Porta and David Wardale.

Despite the size limitations imposed on the design, the Niagaras were the largest locomotives on the New York Central, and Beech Grove was the only shop on the railroad that could accommodate them.

[4] The last general overhauls were completed by Beech Grove in 1953, the year steam was displaced from Harmon and the Eastern Lines of the system.

The locomotives were run along the 928.1 miles (1,493.6 km) from New York (Harmon) to Chicago, via Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo and Elkhart, and return.

The results were close: (Note that Kiefer only claimed 5050 drawbar horsepower from a 79-inch 4-8-4, and the last line (dollars/power) has been added) The results were much closer than the diesel salesmen were comfortable with, but these steam locomotives were hampered by several factors: a series of coal miners' strikes; aggressive dieselization sales efforts; and a failure of the highly-expensive firebox-wrapper metallurgy to withstand the conditions of actual operation.

[3] A 4-4-4-4 duplex drive steam locomotive based on the Niagara was planned as a true competitor to the Pennsylvania Railroad’s T1, called the C-1a, which was never built.

The C-1a would have had a larger coal capacity, increased from 46 to 64 tons, an overall length of 123 ft 1+1⁄4 in (37.52 m), an overall wheelbase of 104 ft 2+1⁄2 in (31.76 m), an overall weight of 970,400 lb (440.17 t), a slightly-longer PT-class centipede tender with a required extra axle, the same amount of weight on drivers, four 20 in × 26 in (508 mm × 660 mm) cylinders, boiler pressure of 290 lbf/in2 (2.00 MPa) and a tractive effort rating of 64,901 lbf (288.7 kN).

The reason that no NYC Niagara locomotives were preserved was due to the total pro-scrapping mentality of then-NYC President Alfred E. Perlman, who similarly ordered that every NYC Hudson be scrapped, as he disliked historic preservation[7] (two New York Central Mohawks, L2d #2933 and L3a #3001, managed to survive by chance).