PRR 5550
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Pennsylvania Railroad 5550 (PRR 5550) is a mainline
duplex drive DD or Duplex Drive tanks, nicknamed "Donald Duck tanks", were a type of amphibious swimming tank developed by the British during the Second World War. The phrase is mostly used for the Duplex Drive variant of the M4 Sherman medium tank, that was ...
steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
under construction in the United States. With an estimated completion by 2030, the locomotive will become the 53rd example of the
Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
's T1 steam locomotive class and the only operational locomotive of its type. The estimated cost of PRR 5550 was originally $10 million, but an updated projected cost of $7 million was released with the acquisition of an existing long-haul tender from the Western New York Railway Historical Society in August 2017. Construction began in 2014 with the casting of the locomotive's keystone-shaped number plate. Major components, including two
Boxpok A Boxpok is a steam locomotive wheel that gains its strength through being made of a number of box sections rather than having traditional solid spokes (the name is a variation on "box-spoke"). Being hollow, they allow better counterbalancing ...
drivers, the prow, the cab, third-course boiler, and fire door have been completed.


Introduction


The original T1 Class

The Pennsylvania Railroad class T1 class steam locomotive was one of the most unique and controversial classes of locomotives ever constructed. This was due to its unusual
duplex drive DD or Duplex Drive tanks, nicknamed "Donald Duck tanks", were a type of amphibious swimming tank developed by the British during the Second World War. The phrase is mostly used for the Duplex Drive variant of the M4 Sherman medium tank, that was ...
4-4-4-4 A 4-4-4-4 steam locomotive, in the Whyte notation for describing locomotive wheel arrangements, has a four-wheel leading truck, two sets of four driving wheels, and a four-wheel trailing truck. While it would be possible to make an articulated lo ...
wheel arrangement, its use of the
Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...
Type A oscillating-cam poppet valve, and its characteristic streamlining conceived by renowned industrial designer
Raymond Loewy Raymond Loewy ( , ; November 5, 1893 – July 14, 1986) was a French-born American industrial designer who achieved fame for the magnitude of his design efforts across a variety of industries. He was recognized for this by ''Time'' magazi ...
. The T1 was also the only class of Pennsylvania duplex able to travel the railroad's entire network and the first production series locomotive designed to use the poppet valve. The two prototype T1 locomotives were constructed in 1942 by the
Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades t ...
, numbered 6110 and 6111 respectively. Of the fifty production units, twenty-five (numbered 5500 to 5524) were constructed at the Pennsylvania Railroad's
Altoona Works Altoona Works (also known as Altoona Terminal) is a large railroad industrial complex in Altoona, Pennsylvania. It was built between 1850 and 1925 by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), to supply the railroad with locomotives, railroad cars and relat ...
and twenty-five (numbered 5525 to 5549) at Baldwin, for a total of fifty-two T1 class locomotives. This made the T1 the most-produced of all the Pennsylvania Railroad's duplex-drive locomotives. The T1 class suffered from several performance and design issues, including difficulties with the poppet valves. The original materials used to construct the valves were subject to fatigue issues, particularly when the locomotives were operated above 100 miles an hour. In 1947, a higher-strength and fatigue-resistant alloy was used and retrofitted to the T1 class to solve the fatigue problems. Nevertheless, the design of the Franklin Type A poppet valves made several key areas of the valves hard to access during maintenance overhauls. Despite these issues, the poppet valves did improve the T1's high-speed performance, requiring less horsepower and distributing steam flow with greater precision. The T1 locomotives were further burdened by excessive
wheel slip Slippery rail, or low railhead adhesion, is a condition of railways (railroads) where contamination of the railhead reduces the traction between the wheel and the rail. This can lead to wheelslip when the train is taking power, and wheelslide ...
on one of the two engine sets at startup or high speed. The Pennsylvania Railroad tried to address the problem by changing the
spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...
bed arrangement on the T1—from a single bed, supporting all eight drivers, to two beds, each of which supported one of the engines and its adjacent truck. However, no complete solution was found to the problem of wheel slip, even though an "anti-slip" mechanism had been previously installed on the
PRR Q2 The Pennsylvania Railroad's class Q2 comprised one prototype and twenty-five production duplex steam locomotives of 4-4-6-4 wheel arrangement. They were the largest non- articulated locomotives ever built and the most powerful locomotives ever ...
-class duplex. One possible reason is that the engineers, familiar with the slower throttle action of the K4 class, were unprepared for the T1's more immediate throttle response. Before many of the problems that plagued the T1 class could be solved, the Pennsylvania Railroad decided to begin the transition from steam power to
diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...
. Moreover, these problems ensured that the T1 class would be retired before more reliable steam engine classes such as the K4s. The T1 locomotives were retired between 1952 and 1953. Scrapping began in 1953, and the last surviving T1 was scrapped in 1956. The hasty retirement of the T1 left several performance-related and technical questions unanswered.


The T1 Trust

The Pennsylvania Railroad T1 Steam Locomotive Trust, also referred to as the T1 Trust, is a non-profit public charity founded in 2013. The T1 Trust is composed of railroading experts who intend to build the 53rd member of the T1 class and put it into mainline steam excursion service within the United States. The last production T1 bore the number 5549, making 5550 the logical choice for the new locomotive's number. The T1 Trust's goal was to construct the locomotive within 17 years (by 2030) at an estimated cost of $10 million. The price is based on calculated costs for
inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...
, labor, material, fabrication, retooling, and design. Lessons learned during ''Tornado's'' construction in the U.K. were also taken into account. The T1 Trust chose to build a T1, rather than a proven design such as the
New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
's "J" class Hudsons, to test the T1 class's long-rumored performance and to avoid conflicts of interest with other locomotive replication projects.


World Steam Speed Record

The builders of PRR 5550 hope to break the world steam speed record, which is held by the
LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard LNER Class A4 4468 ''Mallard'' is a 4-6-2 ("Pacific") steam locomotive built in 1938 for operation on the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Doncaster Works to a design of Nigel Gresley. Its streamlined, wind tunnel tested design allowe ...
at . The 5550 will operate under its original design with no major modifications in its attempt to break the record. It has been unofficially reported that PRR T1 locomotives were capable of achieving speeds in excess of with fully loaded trains, and the T1 Trust believes the original T1 design is capable of achieving this feat.


Design and construction


Project leadership, techniques and organization

The
chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
of the T1 Trust is Bradford Noble, with Scott McGill the Chief Mechanical Officer, Wes Camp the Director of Operations, and Jason Johnson the General Manager. The project structure is similar to that used by the A1 Trust to accomplish the funding and construction of ''Tornado''. To do this, the T1 Trust reached out to the UK-based A1 Trust and its engineering director, David Elliot, who gave important advice on organizational structure and engineering techniques to be used when critical information or blueprints regarding specific locomotive parts or needed materials are absent. Other UK-based organizations that are helping or working with the T1 Trust include the BR Class 8 Steam Locomotive Trust, the
Caprotti Black 5 Limited Caprotti is an Italian surname. Notable people include: * Arturo Caprotti (1881-1938), Italian architect and engineer who invented the Caprotti valve gear * Bernardo Caprotti Bernardo Caprotti (7 October 1925 – 30 September 2016) was an Italia ...
and the P2 Steam Locomotive Company. The T1 Trust has sponsorship programs, where donors can choose to sponsor driving wheels or other parts of the locomotive as well as sponsoring blueprints. This along with occasional
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campaigns, regular monthly donations, one-time donations and membership for the Trust's "Founders Club" help raise the money necessary to construct the locomotive. The CMO of the Trust, Scott McGill, visited the
Pennsylvania State Archives The Pennsylvania State Archives is the official archive for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, administered as part of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Located at 350 North Street in the state capital of Harrisburg, it is a part o ...
in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...
where he scanned hundreds of original drawings and blueprints of the Pennsylvania Railroad class T1 from the Pennsylvania Railroad collection into digital formats. By November 2016, most of the scanning work had been completed with 1,638 of the 1,798 needed drawings and blueprints having been scanned and acquired by the T1 Trust. Only 150 of the drawings are missing from the collection, and these are composed mainly of simple fasteners and other readily-available, commercial components. The digitally-scanned drawings collected by the T1 Trust are used to create detailed and intricate 3D Models using the Dassault Systèmes
Solidworks SolidWorks is a solid modeling computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) application published by Dassault Systèmes. According to the publisher, over two million engineers and designers at more than 165,000 companies we ...
Computer Aided Drafting Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...
(CAD) program. For construction of the locomotive's many pieces and components, the T1 Trust contracts with different manufacturers and organizations such as the Strasburg Rail Road or Diversified Rail Services. The T1 Trust also prints a quarterly newsletter called the ''T1 Trail Blazer'', which is received by members of the Trust's "Keystone Society": a group of donors that either pledge life income gifts to the Trust or pledge to list the Trust as an estate beneficiary. In September 2016, Doyle McCormack, a locomotive engineer best known for restoring and operating the
4-8-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and four trailing wheels on two axles. The type w ...
GS-4 class steam locomotive Southern Pacific 4449, joined the T1 Trust as a member of the organization's advisory board.


First signs of progress

Construction of PRR 5550 was officially started on May 31, 2014, with the completion of the locomotive's bronze keystone-shaped number plate, following a successful conclusion to the initial
Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
campaign launched by the Trust. The number plate was forged by traditional methods by a member of the T1 Trust, Chuck Blardone, at an
Amish The Amish (; pdc, Amisch; german: link=no, Amische), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churches ...
forge within
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Lancaster County (; Pennsylvania Dutch: Lengeschder Kaundi), sometimes nicknamed the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the south central part of Pennsylvania. ...
. This was followed by the construction of the first driving link pin, in October 2014. On May 2, 2014, the T1 Trust began meetings and discussions with the
Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail saf ...
to help ensure that PRR 5550 is constructed to FRA standards. The T1 Trust's application to the
United States Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...
(IRS) to operate as a federally approved tax-exempt 501(3)(c) charity was approved in July 2014. By March 2015,
Steamtown National Historic Site Steamtown National Historic Site (NHS) is a railroad museum and heritage railroad located on in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, at the site of the former Scranton yards of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W). The museum is buil ...
, the
Steam Railroading Institute The Steam Railroading Institute is located at 405 South Washington Street, Owosso, Michigan. It was founded in 1969 as the Michigan State University (MSU) Railroad Club. It became the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation, and later adopted ...
and the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad expressed interest to the T1 Trust to have the locomotive run on their premises. A part sponsor named Gary Bensman constructed the headlight of PRR 5550 in May 2015 and donated it to the T1 Trust. As a sign of gratitude, Bensman's name was engraved into the headlight by the Trust.


Wheelset and engine assembly

5550 is slated to use the Franklin Type B2 rotary-cam poppet valves in place of the Type A oscillating-cam poppets due to an increased ease of maintenance and superior performance. Although an unusual arrangement, it is not the first time the Type B poppets were used on a Pennsylvania Railroad class T1. In 1948, T1 number 5500 was rebuilt to use the Type B2 poppets following a damaging collision with a
K4s The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) K4 4-6-2 "Pacific" (425 built 1914–1928, PRR Altoona, Baldwin) was its premier passenger-hauling steam locomotive from 1914 through the end of steam on the PRR in 1957. Attempts were made to replace the ...
in
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
. 5500 was soon noted for its superior performance over the other engines of its class. The Pennsylvania Railroad at one point even considered retrofitting the Type B2 poppets to other T1's, but this action was never taken. It is worth noting the Pennsylvania Railroad also experimented with the idea of fitting the conventional
Walschaerts valve gear The Walschaerts valve gear is a type of valve gear used to regulate the flow of steam to the pistons in steam locomotives, invented by Belgium, Belgian railway mechanical engineering, engineer Egide Walschaerts in 1844. The gear is sometimes name ...
to the T1 and retrofitted number 5547 to such a configuration. To aid in the reconstruction of the Type B2 poppets, the T1 Trust was generously given full access to the
USATC S160 Class The United States Army Transportation Corps S160 Class is a class of 2-8-0 Consolidation steam locomotive, designed for heavy freight work in Europe during World War II. A total of 2,120 were built and they worked on railroads across much of th ...
2-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. ...
USATC No. 611 by Bill Miller Equipment Sales. USATC 611 is located along with its owner in Eckhart Mines, Maryland. USATC 611 was fitted with Franklin Type D rotary-cam poppet valves during the 1950s during its career at
Fort Eustis, Virginia Fort Eustis is a United States Army installation in Newport News, Virginia. In 2010, it was combined with nearby Langley Air Force Base to form Joint Base Langley–Eustis. The post is the home to the United States Army Training and Doctrine ...
. The T1 Trust hopes to do a full inspection and documentation of key features within the Type D poppets to use as a basis for reconstructing the Type B2 poppets proposed for use on 5550. It is also hoped that the investigative work and documentation can aid a future restoration of USATC 611. The P2 Steam Locomotive Company is also planning on using the Franklin Type B Rotary Cam poppet valve (albeit the earlier B1 model) for the proposed new build
LNER Class P2 The London and North Eastern Railway Class P2 was a class of 2-8-2 steam locomotives designed by Sir Nigel Gresley for working heavy express trains over the harsh Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line. As they were to serve on Scottish expresses, they wer ...
steam locomotive, No. 2007 ''Prince of Wales'', and has shared valuable design documents with the T1 Trust needed to reproduce the valve. Components of the Caprotti valve gear will be examined to help recreate the gear box of the Type B2 poppet valve, as some of the original blueprints of the Type B2 gearbox have been lost. The copies of design documents and blueprints of the Caprotti gearbox were provided by the BR Class 8 Steam Locomotive Trust and Caprotti Black 5 Limited. The eight
Boxpok A Boxpok is a steam locomotive wheel that gains its strength through being made of a number of box sections rather than having traditional solid spokes (the name is a variation on "box-spoke"). Being hollow, they allow better counterbalancing ...
driving wheels of the original T1's were in diameter. This design is of a higher strength than conventional spoked driving wheels and is ideal for high-speed operations. On July 8, 2015, the T1 Trust launched a Kickstarter campaign titled "Let's Get Rolling" to raise $20,000, to be used in the design and building of a casting pattern for the new Boxpok drivers. The campaign reached over its goal and construction began on the casting patterns, which were finished in October 2015. Construction of the casting patterns was undertaken by Liberty Pattern in
Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...
using a complex CAD model made of PRR 5550's proposed number-four wheelset. Casting of the drivers was awarded to Beaver Valley Alloy in Monaca, Pennsylvania On February 26, 2016, Beaver Valley Alloy cast the first of eight driving wheels at its foundry successfully. This historic event marked the first time a steam locomotive driving wheel had been cast in the United States since the 1940s. A second driver was ordered on December 9, 2016, and was cast by Beaver Valley Alloy on March 6, 2017. The second Boxpok driver was delivered to the T1 Trust on March 15, 2017, and placed next to the first completed driver. Both drivers represent the number four wheelset.


Aluminum components

The cab of the locomotive is of aluminum construction. This is not a new feature, as the cabs of the previous T1s were also made of aluminum, which was done to reduce weight. The streamlining of the locomotive, like the cab, also consists of aluminum construction. Digitization of the original cab blueprints was undertaken by JAKTOOL in
Cranbury, New Jersey Cranbury is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. Located within the Raritan Valley region, Cranbury is roughly equidistant between New York City and Philadelphia in the heart of the state. As of the 2010 United States Ce ...
. On January 18, 2017, the frames and main components of the cab were cut by Gemini Industrial Machine in Dover, Ohio, beginning construction of the cab. Construction of the cab was contracted to Curry Rail Services in
Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania Hollidaysburg is a borough in and the county seat of Blair County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is located on the Juniata River, south of Altoona and is part of the Altoona, Pennsylvania, metropolitan statistical area. In 1900, 2,998 ...
. By coincidence, the facility currently housing Curry Rail Services was previously the Pennsylvania Railroad's Samuel Rea Car Shops. The cab was completed on July 10, 2017, albeit unpainted. Construction on the "prow" portion of the locomotive's streamlining, also made of aluminum, began on November 10, 2016, by Gemini Industrial Machine. This part of the structure houses the headlight and keystone number plate. Using existing CAD models, a water jet cutter, bodywork, fabrication and paint, the prow was completed on May 16, 2017, with the headlight and keystone number plate attached.


Locomotive frame

As of fall 2017, the frame of PRR 5550 was being transferred from original Pennsylvania Railroad blueprints to CAD software by JAKTOOL. The model is reported to be around 30 percent complete, with all work hours being donated. Both the left and right sides of the frame structure are expected to be symmetrical.


Boiler

On January 26, 2018, the T1 Trust announced it had ordered the first and second courses of the massive boiler. The courses are the largest parts of PRR 5550 ordered to date. The first two sections of the boiler will be constructed from thick boiler code steel and will each be in diameter and in length. The sections will be welded and will include openings for water refilling along with washout plugs. Once finished, the welds made will be x-rayed to detect and prevent any possible defects or flaws. The order was placed with Continental Fabricators in
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
, which as of February 2018 is involved in at least 3 other steam engine boiler construction projects and has been involved in steam locomotive projects since the 1980s. On March 6, 2018, the first two boilers courses were completed and welded-together, and, on June 15, 2018, the third boiler course was completed and welded to the first two. The design of 5550's boiler was handled by the T1 Trust's boiler engineering team, led by Wolf Fengler. Others working on the design of the boiler included Trust members Gary Bensman, Dave Griner, Scott McGill and Jason Johnson. The team re-engineered the T1 boiler and
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design to exceed current ASME standards and codes. In December 2019, the Trust officially launched a campaign to raise the necessary $150,000 to build the firebox. In 2020, the full boiler was completed and welded together. The smokebox, smokebox streamlining, and combustion chamber have also been completed. These components were joined along with the prow by the end of 2020.


Tender

On August 7, 2017, the T1 Trust purchased the sole surviving "Coast to Coast" 16-wheeled tender from the Western New York Railway Historical Society for eventual use on PRR 5550. According to the Trust, the purchase of said tender reduces the overall cost of the project by at least $3,000,000 US. The tender, No. 6659, is a class 210-F-75A originally built for an M1 class 4-8-2 Mountain type. At some point in its existence, the mechanical stoker and "doghouse" structure were removed when the Pennsylvania Railroad converted it into a mobile water tank. Prior to the sale, the Historical Society planned to display the tender behind PRR 4483, an I1sa class 2-10-0 locomotive. Currently, the tender sits in
North Collins, New York North Collins is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 3,523 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from its parent town, Collins. The town of North Collins is in the southern part of the county and is one of the "So ...
. The Trust agreed to help restore the tender currently paired with the Historical Society's I1sa as part of the M1 tender purchase agreement. The Trust plans to perform a mandatory test of the tender's brake system, restore the brake systems, replace the oil in the roller bearings and move the tender to Hamburg, New York for repainting and final restoration. To help fund the tender restoration, the Trust has created a separate donation fund for this task and will display the names of all donors who pledge $500 or higher to the fund on a bronze plaque placed upon the tender itself. The total cost of the tender restoration is estimated to be more than $50,000. On October 5, 2017, an automatic coal stoker was donated to the Trust. The motor, coal crusher, gearbox, stoker trough, and reversing valve were donated by Gary Bensman and Warren Lathom.


Project milestones

*2013: The
Pennsylvania Railroad T1 Steam Locomotive Trust Pennsylvania Railroad 5550 (PRR 5550) is a mainline Duplex locomotive, duplex drive steam locomotive under construction in the United States. With an estimated completion by 2030, the locomotive will become the 53rd example of the Pennsylvania R ...
is founded. *2013: The T1 Trust begins scanning original blueprints and documents of the
Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
at the
Pennsylvania State Archives The Pennsylvania State Archives is the official archive for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, administered as part of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Located at 350 North Street in the state capital of Harrisburg, it is a part o ...
. *2014: The keystone shaped number plate is cast starting the construction of PRR 5550, April 3, 2014. *2014: 501(c)(3) status is granted to the T1 Trust by the
IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...
, July 3, 2014. *2014: Work starts on the
Boxpok A Boxpok is a steam locomotive wheel that gains its strength through being made of a number of box sections rather than having traditional solid spokes (the name is a variation on "box-spoke"). Being hollow, they allow better counterbalancing ...
driver center casting patterns, December 14, 2014. *2015: The headlight for PRR 5550 is constructed and donated by parts donor Gary Bensman. *2015: "Let's Get Rolling"
Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
campaign launched to fund the casting of the first Boxpok driver, July 8, 2015. *2015: "Let's Get Rolling"
Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
campaign completed raising $2,577 over the intended $20,000 goal, August 7, 2015. *2015: Boxpok driver center casting patterns completed, October 22, 2015. *2016: First Boxpok driver is cast, February 26, 2016. *2016: Construction of the locomotive prow begins. *2016: Scanning of PRR original blueprints and documents nears completion, November 2016. *2016: Second Boxpok driver is ordered, December 9, 2016. *2017: Construction of the locomotive cab begins, January 18, 2017. *2017: Second Boxpok driver is cast, March 6, 2017. *2017: Prow completed with headlight and number plate installed, May 16, 2017. *2017: Cab completed but left unpainted, July 10, 2017. *2017: Tender purchased from Western New York Railway Heritage Society, August 7, 2017. *2017: PRR 5550 is estimated to be 28.1 percent complete, August 7, 2017. *2017: All necessary parts for an automatic coal stoker are donated to the Trust, October 5, 2017. *2018: The first section of the boiler is ordered, January 26, 2018. *2018: Second section of the boiler is ordered, January 28, 2018. *2018: $5,000 Grant awarded to the T1 Trust by the Tom E. Daily Foundation for Tender brake work, February 3, 2018. *2018: First and second boiler sections are completed and welded together, March 6, 2018. *2018: The third section of the boiler is ordered, May 4, 2018. *2018: The third boiler section is completed and welded into place, June 15, 2018. *2019: The front flue sheet is ordered, March 24, 2019. *2019: The smokebox and extension are ordered, December 16, 2019. *2020: The Trust holds its first open house at Gemini Industries, March 7, 2020. *2020: The smokebox and extension are added to the boiler and work on the firebox commences. *2020: A Trust supporter challenges the organization's followers to raise $50,000, to be matched dollar-for-dollar if the amount is reached by the end of the year. Just under $60,000 is raised before December 31, 2020. The project is 39.1% complete as of January 2022.


Anticipated operation

Economic, regulatory and liability considerations required that the Trust make some changes to the PRR's operation of the T1. The locomotive will burn oil rather than coal and have multiple-unit compatibility with diesel locomotives. It will also have a modern 26-L braking system and a wheel-slip alarm. Though capable of operating on the main line it would not be economical to do so and will likely operate up to on branch lines.


See also

*
LNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado LNER Peppercorn Class A1 No. 60163 ''Tornado'' is a 4-6-2 steam locomotive completed in 2008 to an original design by Arthur Peppercorn. It is the first new build British mainline steam locomotive since 1960, and the only Peppercorn Class ...
* LMS-Patriot Project *
GWR 6800 Class 6880 Betton Grange No.6880 ''Betton Grange'' is a steam locomotive which is under construction as a "new-build" project, originally based on the Llangollen Railway in Denbighshire, Wales, then subsequently at Tyseley Locomotive Works. Described as "building the ...
*
Steam locomotives of the 21st century Steam locomotives of the 21st century fall into two broad categories: those that use advanced steam technology and are designed to be commercially competitive with diesel locomotives; and those built to more traditional designs for hauling tour ...
* Duplex locomotive


References

{{reflist


Further reading

*Staufer, Alvin (1962). Pennsy Power. Staufer. pp. 216–225. LOC 62–20872.


External links


The T1 Trust Official WebsiteThe Pennsylvania T1 Steam Locomotive Trust Facebook Page
– Includes photographs showing the overall progress of PRR 5550.
YouTube video highlighting the original T1's in operationCasting of PRR 5550's first driving wheel
– Sounds at the end of the video recorded from Grand Trunk Western 6325 using an authentic T1 whistle.
YouTube video displaying the operations of the original T1 duplexes on the Pennsylvania Railroad
– At 3 minutes and 15 seconds, an example of the T1's infamous wheel slip can be observed. 4-4-4-4 locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Individual locomotives of the United States Steam locomotives of the 21st century Duplex locomotives Pennsylvania Railroad 5550