Draft:Norfolk and Western 2174

Norfolk and Western 2174 was a Y6b class 2-8-8-2 compound Mallet steam locomotive built by the Norfolk and Western's (N&W) own Roanoke Shops in 1948.

History
No. 2174 was among one of thirty examples of the N&W's Y6b class (Nos. 2171-2200).

The Y6bs were used generally for freight service on the N&W, even on time freights (which is unusual work for a Mallet). They were eventually replaced by the EMD GP7s and GP9s through the late 1950s.

On July 11, 1959, No. 2174 was tasked to haul an eighteen-car "Farewell to Steam" excursion on the N&W mainline alongside 2-6-6-4 Class A locomotive No. 1240. No. 1240 pulled the excursion from Roanoke, Virginia to Bluefield, West Virginia, where the train was transferred to No. 2174. The Y6b pulled it through the N&W's Pocahontas Division to Iaeger, and then it traveled over the Dry Fork Branch to Cedar Bluff. No. 2174 returned the excursion to Bluefield, and then No. 1240 returned the train to Roanoke.

Following the excursion, No. 2174 was sold to the United Iron & Metal Company, and the locomotive was stored in their scrapyard in Roanoke along with fellow Y6b No. 2189 and Y6 No. 2143. The rest of the Y6b class was scrapped between 1958 and 1961. The United Iron hadn’t prioritized the scrapping of the three mallets, since they had already scrapped multiple other locomotives. By 1971, No. 2189 was scrapped, and No. 2174 and the tender-lacking No. 2143 remained in a corner of the company’s yard.

During 1975, some local preservationists, including the Roanoke Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS), made an attempt to acquire No. 2174. The Roanoke Chapter made a commitment to raise $1,000 to cosmetically restore or purchase the Y6b, but they did not have enough time to raise $50,000—the locomotive’s scrap value. Also in 1975, United Iron was purchased by the British-based Bird International Company, and due to a slump in the steel industry at the time, the company ordered for Nos. 2143 and 2174 to be dismantled. No. 2143 was scrapped in January 1976, and the following month, on February 11, the scrapping process on No. 2174 began. This decision stirred controversy among local railfans, including retired N&W employees who used to operate mallets in revenue service.