Talk:Mercury (train)

Photo

It seems the picture with the caption "One of the Mercury Hudson locomotives" is actually a post 1938 version of the 20th Century Limited train — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.23.249.119 (talk) 09:59, 11 November 2015 (UTC)

• Could be, but the NYC included it in a brochure about the Mercury: File:Mercury brochure 1939.JPG. Mackensen (talk) 13:47, 11 November 2015 (UTC)

  This is likely J-1e 5344, based on the fireman’s side raised rear running board. BMECNYC (talk) 11:32, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

All scrapped?

No museum pieces? Jim.henderson (talk) 13:56, 24 June 2017 (UTC)

I'm trying to find this out too, seems none were preserved? :( shame. Sylonin (talk) 14:53, 17 December 2021 (UTC)

This is correct BMECNYC (talk) 10:44, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Powered by steam or?

I'm not a train-expert, so it isn't obvious to a layperson what powered- locomotive it is? If it's mentioned in article, I can't find it. Is it steam? I had to get a hold of this NYT Archive report which says steam-powered. A few references cited, also have titles mentioning that. Ugog Nizdast (talk) 17:17, 8 June 2020 (UTC)

I would have gone BOLD and added "steam" myself but I'm not finding a proper source explicitly saying it's steam via a quick search. Moreover, seeing that it says "family of trains" I'm even more reluctant. Ugog Nizdast (talk) 17:21, 8 June 2020 (UTC)

I was just about to write the same thing. I find it odd that the engines are not described in the article - and I'm not even a train enthusiast myself. Jorgenjorgenjorgen (talk) 18:31, 29 December 2021 (UTC)

I completely agree, I read carefully all the article but I also couldn't find the type of engine had the locomotive. I hope the article is revised. Martago54 (talk) 17:11, 15 December 2025 (UTC)

In February 1950, the westbound Detroit-Chicago Mercury was suspended due to coal shortages while the eastbound counterpart remained in service. - "coal"? Nakonana (talk) 08:18, 8 February 2026 (UTC)

Initially, NYC K-5b class Pacifics, numbered 4915 and 4917 were used, the ones that sort of looked like an inverted bathtub. Later, these were replaced by J class Hudsons of the J-1 or J-3 variety. BMECNYC (talk) 10:53, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

J-3a 5426 (Empire State Express streamlining) was assigned to the Mercury from July 1947 until Nov 1950.

J-1e 5344 ran on the Chicago-Detroit Mercury. BMECNYC (talk) 11:06, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Overview Edit Needed

The Locomotive type is currently stuffed into “Onboard Services”. Is there a template for this type of information for named train pages?

The “normally” assigned power for these trains is known. BMECNYC (talk) 11:50, 14 July 2026 (UTC)