4-6-4 J3A Streamliner

The **4-6-4 J3A Streamliner** is a steam locomotive in the game Railroad Tycoon II. It becomes available in 1938, and is a fast and powerful locomotive that is a solid choice for long distance routes. However, it is also the most expensive steam locomotive to maintain in the game along with the 4-8-8-4 Big Boy, so it should really only be used selectively. It can haul a 5 passenger + dining set at around 85-90mph.

## Strategy

This locomotive is an able replacement for older Pacifics that were performing on fast and long distance routes for both passengers and freight. It is important to remember that while the upgrade between the two locomotives is significant, the costs will tend to also rise massively too, so it really should be only selected for routes that truly demand it's power along with speed. Otherwise, one can persist with the Pacifics until dieselization, or electrify and use the GG1 (which has performs similarly to the Streamliner) instead. On non-North American maps, the Class A4 Mallard is a better option for express passengers routes, due to being faster, yet 3 times cheaper than the J3A Streamliner. Another downfall of using the J3A Streamliner is it's dreadful reliability, which means it's breakdown odds will be close to 16% within a year of purchase, and continue to rise past that. If this locomotive is used, it'll be replaced eventually by the F9 locomotive (available in 1949), as it is close to half as cheap to maintain as the Streamliner, and is even more powerful and fast. This locomotive really shouldn't ever be the best choice, due to it's flaws with maintenance and reliability. Fortunately, the AI will love to spam this locomotive from 1938 onwards, meaning they will be hampered due to the high fuel costs.

## History

The J3A Streamliner is based on a streamlined version of the New York Central Hudson locomotive. The **New York Central Hudsons** were a series of 4-6-4 "Hudson" type steam locomotives built by the American Locomotive Company and the Lima Locomotive Works from 1927 to 1938 for the New York Central Railroad. Named after the Hudson River, the 4-6-4 wheel arrangement came to be known as the "Hudson" type in the United States as these locomotives were the first examples built and used in North America. Built for high-speed passenger train work, the Hudson locomotives were famously known for hauling the New York Central's crack passenger trains, such as the *20th Century Limited* and the *Empire State Express*. With the onset of diesel locomotives in the mid 20th Century, all of the New York Central Hudson locomotives were retired by 1957, with none preserved.

The locomotive depicted in-game is actually *not* a New York Central J3a, but rather is the Santa Fe's Hudson locomotive #3460, known as "The Blue Goose" because of it's two-tone blue paint scheme. The locomotive was the first member of the Santa Fe's 3460 Class Hudsons, built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1937. The 3460 was given the streamlined casing to be assigned to the Chicago to Kansas City section of Santa Fe's then new Chicago to Los Angeles passenger train, "The Super Chief". Santa Fe 4-8-4 3765 was meant to receive a similar streamlined casing, however due to restrictions requiring the locomotive's weight to be within certain parameters, this idea was cancelled, and thus 3460 was one of a kind as Santa Fe's only fully streamlined steam locomotive. The Santa Fe Hudsons were among the largest steam locomotives to run East of Kansas City, and stayed in operation until 1956. Although the "Blue Goose" was scrapped, un-streamlined sister engine 3463 was preserved and put on display in Topeka, Kansas.

**Trivia**

The locomotive's in game model is based on Rivarossi's HO scale model of the "Blue Goose" which was introduced in the 1980s. This locomotive, along with their model of the Milwaukee Road Class F7 4-6-4 "Hiawatha", utilized tooling that was modified from their streamlined New York Central Hudson, which was originally introduced by AHM in the 1970s.