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EXPLORING THE COMPLEX WORLD OF HISTORIC RAILWAY PRESERVATION Closer to Making the Dream Reality


TO MANY RAILFANS, the Pennsylvania Railroad 4-4-4-4 T1 duplex represents the pinnacle of high-speed steam locomo- tive design in the U.S. (see “Almost the Ultimate” in the March 2017 issue of R&R). Envisioned as the next generation of high-speed mainline steam locomo- tives, the development of the T1 relied on the duplex design (where two pairs of cylinders and drivers are mounted on a single, rigid frame), and the installation of poppet valves as opposed to piston valve gear. Early teething problems and increased competition from new diesels sealed the fate of the T1. She was wrongly accused, falsely convicted, and gone before her time. Not a single example was saved, with the last T1 cut up for scrap in 1956. The T1 Trust was founded in 2013 with


the goal of constructing No. 5550, the 53rd member of her class representing an important milestone in steam preserva- tion. The business plan calls for a 17-year project lifespan with an expected comple- tion date of 2030, and an estimated price tag of $10 million. The goals of the T1 Trust are ambitious


Susquehanna and Western


Before the era of container trains and big diesels, we take a fond look back at the old Susquehanna operations from Jersey City tidewater into the mountains and coalfields of eastern Pennsylvania. You’ll enjoy rare black-and-white views of Ten-Wheelers and Decapods, early Alco and EMD diesels, as well as streamlined motorcars and Budd RDCs.


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for sure, and great progress has been made since we last checked in (see PRESER- VATION TOPICS, December 2015 R&R). History was made on February 26, 2016, when a new Boxpok driver was cast in the U.S. for the first time in nearly 70 years. Unlike a typical spoked driver, the Boxpok design is almost entirely hollow. This promotes a favorable strength-to- weight ratio and allows the fine tuning necessary for high-speed operation. In an effort to capitalize on cheaper steel


prices, the T1 Trust placed an order this past December for the next driver to be cast in March. This component represents the second half of the Number 4 wheelset. This new driver will be cast in the same custom-formulated nickel steel by Beaver Valley Alloy in Monaca, Pa. As was the case with the first, the second driver will be heat-treated to match the physical properties of the original General Steel Castings nickel steel formula. Modern steam locomotives are complex machines that relied on hundreds of drawings detailing each component, large and small. From an archives perspec- tive, 2016 was a very successful year. The T1 Trust has now acquired a nearly complete set of original T1 blueprints. One by one, volunteers have scanned, catalogued, and digitally preserved more than 1,750 drawings. The master tracing list includes only 1,530 drawings, but our


search has turned up a number of super- seded and revised drawings that reflect design changes implemented after the master list was published. Fortunate- ly, most of the missing drawings for the locomotive are relatively minor details, like pipe clamps, fittings, and fasten- ers, and are small format drawings that would require only a single frame of microfilm. By comparison, a large format drawing may encompass up to 16 frames of microfilm, so significant post-process- ing is sometimes needed to reconstitute a complete drawing. Typically, a volunteer spends about


two hours processing drawings for every hour spent scanning. Piecing together a single large format drawing can take up to eight hours. To date, the T1 Trust has invested about 41 days in research and scanning activities at the Pennsylvania State Archives in Harrisburg, comprising 237 man-hours of labor, with another 500 hours in processing and uploading files afterwards. Most recently, the T1 Trust has uncovered the Franklin Railway Supply instruction manual, which specifically describes how the FRS Type B2 rotary cam poppet valve gear was applied to No. 5500 in 1948. Following this conver- sion, 5500 was considered the queen of the T1 fleet. We had intended to incorpo- rate rotary cam valve gear into the design for our 5550, and now we can thanks to Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society archivist (and T1 Trust supporter) Charlie Horan. In what can be seen as another example


of just how sharp the T1 Trust’s pencil is and how deep the group is willing to dive, the T1 Trust is now in possession of the only known audio recording of a PRR T1 engineer discussing the specific attri- butes of the T1 locomotives as a class. Available exclusively to members of the Trust’s Founders Club, Gene Bell of the PRR St. Louis Division does not disap- point with the accolades he heaps upon the high-wheeled speedsters. Building up components will not only


help us visualize the finished product, but also move us closer to our goal of having a working locomotive. Engineer- ing has been finalized on the 5550’s cab and on the iconic prow as well. In order to speed construction and reduce cost, the T1 Trust has converted original PRR blueprints to three-dimensional comput- er-aided design (CAD) files which can be sent directly to computer numerical control (CNC) cutting machines. These


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