The T1 Trust -- I Don't Get It

The video above reflects a somwwhat revisionist view of the PRR T1, stressing that it was often run at speeds over 130 mph on the track between Crestline, OH and Fort Wayne, IN. This was above the speedometer limit of 120 mph and well above the authorized speed in the employee timetable. This was also above the warranty speed of the Franklin rotary poppet valves, which frequently failed on these locomotives, not because of a design flaw, but because trhey were never intended to run at those speeds.

I'm not surprised at these revelations. I've read that in the late 1930s, PRR top management intended a major speedup of both passenger and freight trains on its main lines. The T1 and Q2 duplex locomotives were part of this program, since the intent of the duplex design was to minimize the constantly shifting weight of the siderods, which would allow higher speeds. Electrfication to Pittsburgh was also part of this plan. However, World War II interrupted the program, while postwar dieselization diverted the capital it would have needed.

There can be no question that the T1s could have pulled passenger trains at 100-120 mph in normal service, as could have the GG1s. However, the overall PRR speedup required track and alignment upgrades that never took place, and the PRR never made money after World War II. This was all nothing but a might-have-been, and the T1 was just an artifact of that circumstance. No matter, railfans have created something of a fantasy around the PRR, and the T1 is an important part of it.

Enter the T1 Trust. Chrome A1 mode does a good job of summarizing the main points the T1 Trust itself doesn't quite make on its own website:

The T1 Trust, formally known as the Pennsylvania Railroad T1 Steam Locomotive Trust, is a non-profit organization building a brand-new, fully functional Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) T1 class steam locomotive from scratch. This new locomotive, numbered 5550, will be the 53rd member of the class, as all 52 original T1s were scrapped decades ago.

Project Overview

• Mission: The Trust aims to reignite the golden age of steam by building a powerful mainline excursion engine that will also attempt to achieve the world speed record for a steam locomotive.
• Design: The PRR T1 was an advanced, streamlined 4-4-4-4 steam locomotive known for its speed, power, and art-deco design. The new locomotive 5550 will be a "continuation" of the class, incorporating modern welding techniques and other subtle engineering improvements while maintaining the original spirit and appearance.

All well and good, but to break the steam world speed record, you're going to need to have track that allows speeds over about 130 mph. In North America, there are only two possibilities, the DOT test track in Pueblo, CO, and the Amtrak Northeast Corridor in a few stretches. Whether the DOT would allow a steam loco on its test track is an open question -- steam locomotive siderods put a shifting load on the rail that could damage the track. The same applies to Amtrak, with the additional problem that to avoid interruption of normal schedules, a test could only be done in the very early morning, making daylight photography impossible.

But there's an additional problem that even to run rthe T1 at 70 mph speeds on a Class 1 mainline, the Class 1 railroad has to think this is a good idea. The UP runs its own steam locos, because they put the UP name in front of the public. Other railroads have proven less and less likely to allow steam excursions. A PRR that would gain publicity by running a T1 is long dead; Norfolk Southern wouldn't see the point. Steam excursions attract large crowds of spectators along the tracks, with the potential for irresponsible behavior, significantly increasing the potential for accidents and liability issues.

In addition, in recent decades, the North American rail network is essentially full. Excursion trains can disrupt schedules and require significant extra manpower to manage the public and ensure smooth operations, which the railroads are often unwilling to provide. The amounts needed for indemnification and insurance coverage are probably beyond even the T1 Trust. But beyond that, most excursion steam locomotives run with a diesel helper no matter what, to be sure the train can be pulled off the main line if the steam loco fails. But no diesel helper can run at 100-140 mph in any case.

So as a practicasl matter, the T1 will normally operate on museum or preservation railroads where the speed limit is much lower and the track might not even accommodate the T1's weight. But let's grant the best possible case: let's say the DOT allows the faux T! on its test track, and it smashes the previous official world speed record for a steam locomotive of 126 mph -- hey, grant that it'll do over 140. This will never be anything but an asterisk in the record book, taking place maybe a century after the last record, which was set during the actual age of steam.

The PRR of railfan and modeler fantasy never actually existed, and I say this as someone whose lifetime train riding mileage was overwhelmingly on the old, actual PRR -- I commuted to school several times a year on the whole length of the norheast corridor. It was never much fun. The T1 Trust is a chimera.

Walthers Mainline KCS SD60

One of my all-time favorite locos is the conventional cab EMD SD50s-60s. I really like their extended hood length, it seems to fill the overall profile out better than SD40s and 45s. Fairly late in life I've come to like the Kansas City Southern. So I ordered a Walthers Mainline KCS SD60. (All photos mine.)

Ths fits a KCS roster from the 1980s and 90s that I'd already assembled:

I just wish these locos had ditch lights.

But at least my ScaleTrains ET44 has them, and ground lights as well:

I haven't gotten too many prototype photos of KCS power, esepcially in the gray scheme, but here's an SD70MAC I caught from the Amtrak sleeper window in Jackson, MS:

Units in the Southern Belle scheme make it out to California now and then:

Micro Trains Weathered Railbox Cars

Micro Trains introduced a model of the FMC Plate B Railbox in 1981. These turned out to be accurate for only two years; in 1983, TTX sold all the Plate B Railboxes to member railroads, which first patched them with new reporting marks but left the Railbox paint and lettering in place, but eventually repainted many. This site discusses the railroads that purchased the Plate B cars, as well as the prototypes for many other N scale boxcars.

According to the site,

SOUTHERN PACIFIC- Espee acquired ACF, Berwick and FMC plate B boxcars from Railbox in 1983.

The FMC cars were in Railbox series 18806-19219. Below is my photo of Micro Trains SP 19009:

This would represent a car that had been running for some years after 1983, possibly in the 1990s. Its number is correct for the FMC cars that went to SP. According to the site,

CSX . . . inherited FMC plate B cars from Seaboard System and Chesapeake & Ohio. The Seaboard System cars were numbered 141523-141766; while the C&O cars were numbered 503260-503308.

CSX then renumbered the Seaboard Syatem cars into CSXT 141523-141766. The link doesn't mention the ex C&O cars, or other CSXT series. This site says CSXT 141948 is an ex-C&O car. Below is my photo of Micro Trains CSXT 141948:

The patching and re-renumbering would have taken place about 1988 or later. The amount of weathering on this model would make it later than the ex-SP car above, and in fact, this model has yellow conspicuity stripes on the lower side that were mandated in 2010.

These models can be found on eBay and elsewhere in the $25-$30 range, which makes them a bargain for models of this accuracy.

Micro Trains N Weathered 60 Foot Boxcars

One of my favorite pieces of N rolling stock in the Micro Trains 60 foot boxcar, especially the weathered version. I decided to see if I could find prototype versions of these cars, and surprisingly, I discovered I could. In fact, I think the factory weathered versions of these cars are currently good bargains, considering weathered models can go at a premium. Hewre is my photo of Conrail 216718:

There is a 2005 photo by Joe Rogers of the same prototype car at rrpicturearchives.net, but it won't let me copy or link to it. However, here is a photo of a car from the same BE60A class by Grant Lowry at the Conrail Photo Archive.

Here is my photo of Penn Central 278708

Again, there's a Ken Roble photo of the same prototype cwr at rrpicturearchives.net, but it won't let me copy or link to it. The Conrail Cyclopedia says the prototype cars were built by Berwick for Penn Central as class X77 in series PC 278045-278174 and used for auto parts. Here is an Angelo Toresani photo of PC 278128:

Checking the models against the prototype photos at rrpicturearchives.net, the prototype lettering, weathering patterns, and even graffiti are very close.