Large Scale Central

🦖 Bringing a New Dino to Life from Blueprints

Prototypes
#1

I thought I’d try to add this to an existing thread only to find no links to the Pennsylvania 5550 or the T-1 Trust, in the LSC wayback machine.

Has anyone seen this?

They’re Building a New Steam Locomotive from Blueprints!

Here’s the propaganda…

The Pennsylvania T1 Trust is working on a fascinating project: recreating the Pennsylvania Railroad T1 Class 5550, a duplex-drive 4-4-4-4 steam locomotive. It’s an ambitious project, as it’s the first mainline steam locomotive to be built in the U.S. since 1952 and the first of its kind since the original T1s were retired.

Here are some details about the project:

The Original T1 Locomotives:

  • History: The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) built 52 T1 locomotives between 1942 and 1946. They were designed for high-speed passenger service, featuring a streamlined design by Raymond Loewy.
  • Performance: Known for their speed, they could reportedly exceed 120 mph. However, they also had a reputation for being difficult to maintain and operate due to wheel slip and complex machinery.
  • Retirement: The original T1 fleet was retired in the early 1950s, with all examples scrapped.

The T1 Trust:

  • Mission: The T1 Trust is building a brand-new T1 locomotive (#5550) entirely from original blueprints, modern engineering, and funding from rail enthusiasts.
  • Blueprints: The team is using PRR’s original 1940s plans, with updates for improved materials and safety.
  • Construction: Many components are being fabricated from scratch. Major milestones include casting the driving wheels, fabricating the massive boiler, and building the cab. Some parts are even machined using modern CAD/CAM technology to ensure precision.
  • Progress: As of now, the T1 Trust has completed several key components, including the frame, wheels, and cylinder castings. They’re steadily progressing towards completing the locomotive.
  • Goals: Once complete, #5550 will be fully operational and capable of running on mainline tracks, participating in rail excursions and preserving the legacy of the PRR.

Funding & Support:

The project is funded by donations, memberships, and merchandise sales. It’s one of the most ambitious steam locomotive projects to date and has drawn comparisons to the successful recreation of locomotives like Britain’s LNER A1 Tornado.

See below for more technical details and the current progress.

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#2

Wonderful to know about, thanks Bill. Seems like the list of such projects is steadily growing.

#3

Old hat and god bless em

Bill,

Read up on the Juniata shops in Altoona and please dig up some history for us… :grinning:

If it’s already in the video then my apologizes cause I didn’t watch it.

Actually Bill come visit me in Pennsyltucky. However I do recommend bringing or purchasing a case of underpants as on day 1 of Rooster and Hollywood tours you will have already sh$t yourself three times. So by my calculations if your get 24 pairs in a case you will be covered for the week.

#4

…and before yesterday, I was excited about bringing the Tasmanian Tiger back to life!

#5

And before just now (after banging round the 'net for a time) I thought you brought up the Tasmanian Tiger because it was some sort of a locomotive, not an extinct animal…

Now I get what you saying, Bill.

:grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

#6

I was quite surprised that there is money out there to build a loco from scratch considering the number of static displays that will never run, that may need an essential part made.

However, building a new one from blueprints and allowing for new manufacturing techniques and better tolerances also makes a lot of sense.

I suspect it may be time saving too. I think most of us have had the experience of trying to loosen up a rusted bolt and not break the part it was frozen to. Then of course each old part would have to undergo tests.

#7

Might want to include this in your excitement, though personally I don’t see the need.

" Are they resurrecting the woolly mammoth?

Church, who is funded by the Long Now Foundation, is attempting to create a mammoth–elephant hybrid using DNA from frozen mammoth carcasses. According to the researchers, a mammoth cannot be recreated, but they will try to eventually grow a hybrid elephant with some woolly mammoth traits in an “artificial womb”.

The above from here:

#8

The Gresley P2 project is indeed using modern casting techniques on their monoblock cylinders.
https://www.a1steam.com/prince-of-wales/home

2 Likes
#9

I’ve been following this for a while now, they are making good progress. The T-1s were reputed to be the absolute fastest locomotives ever built with speeds routinely topping 130mph. There is no “official” records of this because the then president of the PRR declared that he was running a railroad and would instantly fire anyone who even mentioned setting records. But there is a ton of anecdotal evidence that the assertions were true. Including personal observations of the onboard speedometers capping past their registered maximum of 120 and timetable records that strongly suggest easily at higher than 120mph speeds. Once this is built I strongly expect a record run attempt will happen once its through its breaking in period.

1 Like