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References: [1] [2] [3] |
Pennsylvania Railroad 1361 is a 4-6-2 K4 "Pacific" type steam locomotive built in May 1918 by the Pennsylvania Railroad's (PRR) Juniata Shops in Altoona, Pennsylvania. It hauled mainline passenger trains in Pennsylvania and commuter trains in Central New Jersey on the PRR until its retirement from revenue service in 1956. Restored to operating condition for excursion service in 1987, No. 1361 and its only surviving sister locomotive, No. 3750, were designated as the official state steam locomotives by the Pennsylvania General Assembly. In late 1988, it was sidelined due to mechanical problems and was currently owned by the Railroaders Memorial Museum (RMM) in Altoona, Pennsylvania, who were currently getting No. 1361 back to operation.
No. 1361 was one of 425 K4 class steam locomotives built between 1914 and 1928 for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) as their standard passenger locomotive. [1] [4] Built in May 1918 at PRR's Juniata Shops in Altoona, Pennsylvania, No. 1361 was assigned to haul PRR's mainline passenger trains, including the Broadway Limited, between New York City and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, via the PRR Main Line. [1] [4] When first built, No. 1361 was originally equipped with a square oil headlight, a round number plate, a long wooden pilot, and a 70-P-75 type tender, which held 7,000 US gallons (26,000 L) of water and 12.5 tonnes (28,000 lb) of coal. [1] [5] During the 1920s, No. 1361 was re-equipped with an electric headlight, a steel bar pilot, and a keystone style number plate. [5] Additionally, the PRR's express passenger trains grew longer and heavier, which led to No. 1361 and the other K4s required to double head and even triple head each other. [6] [7]
When the PRR's Eastern Region line between New York and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania was electrified in the 1930s, No. 1361 was relocated to the Central Division, running between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. [1] [4] Additionally, the No. 1361 locomotive was re-equipped with a 110-P-75 type tender, which held 11,980 US gallons (45,300 L) of water and 18.5 tonnes (41,000 lb) of coal along with a mechanical stoker made to increase the locomotive's performance. [1] [8] After the end of World War II in 1945, No. 1361 was re-equipped with a cast steel pilot and a vertically retractable coupler along with its headlight and dynamo's positions switched from the front and top of the smokebox. [5] Additionally, a platform stand was added to the bottom front of No. 1361's smokebox for the maintenance crew to attend and inspect its headlight and dynamo. [5]
In the early 1950s, 72 K4 locomotives, including No. 1361, were relocated to Central New Jersey to haul commuter trains between Perth Amboy and Bay Head, New Jersey on the New York and Long Branch line as their main line duties were taken over by the diesel locomotives. [9] [10] [11] During that time, No. 1361 swapped out its original 110-P-75 tender with a 130-P-75 type, which held 13,475 US gallons (51,010 L) of water and 22 tonnes (49,000 lb) of coal. [1] [12]
In May 1956, No. 1361 was retired from the PRR and was cosmetically refurbished to be on display next to the PRR's famous Horseshoe Curve, where it was dedicated on June 8, 1957. [11] [13] It had traveled over 2,469,000 miles (3,973,000 km) during its revenue service. [4] For three decades, No. 1361 sat on display outside exposed to the elements, so the members of the Horseshoe Curve Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) were volunteered to repaint and maintain the locomotive. [14] [15]
On September 16, 1985, PRR's successor Conrail and Assemblyman Richard Geist removed No. 1361 from its display site and moved it to the Railroaders Memorial Museum (RMM) in Altoona for its fifth anniversary. [4] [16] There were originally plans to have the No. 1361 locomotive cosmetically restored again, but the RMM have seek interest in restoring it to operating condition for excursion service. [4] On April 15, 1986, the restoration work of No. 1361 began at Conrail's ex-PRR Altoona Car Shop. [4] [17] No. 1361's former display location at the Horseshoe Curve was taken over by an EMD GP9 diesel locomotive No. 7048, painted in PRR livery. [18] [19]
On April 12, 1987, the No. 1361 locomotive moved under its own power for the first time in 31 years and made its first excursion run from Altoona to Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. [4] It also ran excursion trains on the Nittany and Bald Eagle Railroad and Northern Central Railway. [19] [20] On December 18, 1987, the Pennsylvania General Assembly designated Nos. 1361 and 3750 as the official state steam locomotives; the same bill designated the GG1 4859 as the state electric locomotive. [21] In August 1988, No. 1361 pulled an excursion on the Conrail mainline from Altoona to York, Pennsylvania, but during the return run, the locomotive suffered a main bearing and drive axle catastrophic failure near Lewistown. [4] [22] As a result, No. 1361 indefinitely had to be sidelined from excursion service for a complete rebuild. [4] [20] [22]
In preparation for its second restoration, No. 1361's boiler shell passed an ultrasound test, but the backhead was discovered to have needed additional repairs, so the whole locomotive was disassembled inside Conrail's Altoona Car Shop. [22] The RMM subsequently made plans to spin-off ownership of No. 1361 to a newly-formed group called Keystone Restoration and Preservation, Inc. (KR&P); KR&P would gain the rights to operate No. 1361 and raise funds for it, while the museum would retain the rights to display the locomotive on their property. [22] In 1992, the National Park Service (NPS) awarded the RMM a $900,000 federal grant, which included a $420,000 grant being received from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Heritage Preservation Commission (SPHPC), and the RMM quickly prioritized the grant for No. 1361's rebuild. [22]
In 1996, the No. 1361 locomotive was moved to the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania, for its rebuild to begin. [23] The RMM had reorganized their plans for the restoration, and they arranged to have No. 1361 restored through a partnership between them, Steamtown, and the University of Scranton. [24] But the restoration work progressed slowly, since to some its original parts needed to be replaced with fabricated duplicates. [24] Scheduled completion dates were repeatedly pushed back, and the restoration work was eventually reestimated to cost $1.7 million to complete. [25] [26] In 2008, the plans to rebuild No. 1361 at the Steamtown facilities were cancelled, since the RMM stopped paying out the funds and made the decision to return the remains of the locomotive and its parts back to their property. [27] In 2010, most of No. 1361's parts, including the cab, driving wheels, frame, and tender, have returned to the RMM, but the boiler and some other parts were stored at the East Broad Top Railroad shops in Orbisonia, Pennsylvania. [20] [26] [28] In 2015, the museum had completed the construction of their new Harry Bennett Memorial Roundhouse to store No. 1361's boiler, tender, frame, and other part components. [20] [29] [30]
In May 2018, restoration hopes were renewed when former Philadelphia commissioner Bennett Levin and former Amtrak CEO Wick Moorman announced the creation of a private restoration fund. [20] No. 1361 needed a newly welded boiler, which would cost at least $1,000,000. [20] Levin and Moorman also announced that once the No. 1361 locomotive was fully restored, it will eventually pull a set of ex-PRR P70 passenger cars and B60 baggage cars for use as a demonstration exhibit train. [20]
In February 2019, the group has planned to design a new boiler in order to meet the current Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and mechanical engineering standards. [31] In October 2019, No. 1361's tender was fully repaired and upgraded with rolling bearing trucks. [32] Additionally, the tender's water scoop was restored for demonstration purposes. [32] On June 24, 2021, the museum announced that they hired the contracting firm FMW Solutions to rebuild No. 1361's boiler with a new firebox. [33] [34] The total cost of the restoration work are estimated to be $2.6 million. [17] [33] In October 2021, the old firebox was completely removed from No. 1361's boiler as part of FMW Solutions' total renovation. [35]
In late June 2022, the construction of No. 1361's new firebox was commenced. [12] At the same time, the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society (PRRTHS) donated $100,512.33 to the RRM for the construction. [12] [36] On October 14, 2022, the RMM went into partnership with the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad (WMSR) in Cumberland, Maryland, to run an evening fundraiser excursion being pulled by WSMR's No. 1309 steam locomotive with more than $13,000 raised to benefit No. 1361's restoration. [37] [38] [lower-alpha 1] By December 2022, the new firebox was nearing completion, although with thicker steel and other modifications of the 1914 design in order to comply with current FRA safety requirements. [39]
On February 13, 2023, the RMM acquired an ex-PRR B60b baggage car from the Railway Excursion Management Company for use behind the proposed No. 1361 exhibition train. [40] On May 6, 2023, during No. 1361's 105th anniversary, the RMM ran a fundraiser excursion with the Everett Railroad's No. 11 steam locomotive pulling it, while a press conference meeting about No. 1361's restoration progress was held at the RMM's roundhouse. [41] [42] [43]
In July 2023, the construction work for the new firebox was fully funded. [44] The original PRR firebox design significantly increased the cost and complexity of the work. [44] Assembly of the inner sheets is anticipated to start in August or September. [44] After completion of the firebox, the next phase is development of the work needed to mate the boiler and firebox to the frame and running gear. [44] The new boiler is being fabricated with welded rather than riveted seams. [45] : 17:04 It was announced in November 2023 that the restoration work determine the effects of this weight change on the running gear was ongoing. [45] : 18:34 The remaining work is estimated to cost at least $1.9 million and would take three years for completion. [46] In May 2024, the tender was unveiled in a new coat of paint. [47]
The Horseshoe Curve is a three-track railroad curve on Norfolk Southern Railway's Pittsburgh Line in Blair County, Pennsylvania. The curve is roughly 2,375 feet (700 m) long and 1,300 feet (400 m) in diameter. Completed in 1854 by the Pennsylvania Railroad as a way to reduce the westbound grade to the summit of the Allegheny Mountains, it replaced the time-consuming Allegheny Portage Railroad, which was the only other route across the mountains for large vehicles. The curve was later owned and used by three Pennsylvania Railroad successors: Penn Central, Conrail, and Norfolk Southern.
The Pennsylvania Railroad K4 was a class of 425 4-6-2 steam locomotives built between 1914 and 1928 for the PRR, where they served as the primary main line passenger steam locomotives on the entire PRR system until late 1957.
The M1 was a class of steam locomotive of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). It was a class of heavy mixed-traffic locomotives of the 4-8-2 "Mountain" arrangement, which uses four pairs of driving wheels with a four-wheel guiding truck in front for stability at speed and a two-wheel trailing truck to support the large firebox needed for sustained power. Although built for both passenger and freight work, they spent most of their service lives hauling heavy high-speed freight trains. Many PRR men counted the M1 class locomotives as the best steam locomotives the railroad ever owned.
The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) class T1 duplex-drive 4-4-4-4 steam locomotives, introduced in 1942 with two prototypes and later in 1945-1946 with 50 production examples, were the last steam locomotives built for the PRR and arguably its most controversial. They were ambitious, technologically sophisticated, powerful, fast and distinctively streamlined by Raymond Loewy. However, they were also prone to wheelslip both when starting and at speed, in addition to being complicated to maintain and expensive to run. The PRR decided in 1948 to place diesel locomotives on all express passenger trains, leaving unanswered questions as to whether the T1's flaws were solvable, especially taking into account that the two prototypes did not have the problems inherent to the production units.
The Pennsylvania Railroad's class B6 was its most successful class of switcher locomotive, or as the PRR termed them "shifter". The PRR preferred the 0-6-0 wheel arrangement for larger switchers, whereas on other railroads the 0-8-0 gained preference. The PRR generally used 2-8-0s when larger power was required.
The Pennsylvania Railroad's S2 class was a steam turbine locomotive designed and built in a collaborative effort by Baldwin Locomotive Works and Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, as an attempt to prolong the dominance of the steam locomotive by adapting technology that had been widely accepted in the marine industry. One was built, #6200, delivered in September 1944. The S2 was the sole example of the 6-8-6 wheel arrangement in the Whyte notation, with a six-wheel leading truck keeping the locomotive stable at speed, eight powered and coupled driving wheels, and a six-wheel trailing truck supporting the large firebox. The S2 used a direct-drive steam turbine provided by the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, geared to the center pair of axles with the outer two axles connected by side rods; the fixed gear ratio was 18.5:1. Such design was to prevent energy loss and S2 achieved a mechanical efficiency of 97% which means only 3% of steam energy was lost within the propulsion equipment. The disadvantage of a direct-drive steam turbine was that the turbine could not operate at optimal speeds over the locomotive's entire speed range. The S2 was the largest, heaviest and fastest direct-drive turbine locomotive design ever built.
The Pennsylvania Railroad class Q1, #6130, was a single experimental steam locomotive designed for dual service. The locomotive entered service in 1942, and retired in 1949 after accumulating a relatively low 165,000 service miles.
The Railroaders Memorial Museum (RMM) is a railroad museum in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The museum focuses on the history of railroad workers and railroad communities in central Pennsylvania, particularly Altoona, the Altoona Works, and the greater Pittsburgh area. Since 1998, the museum has been located in the Master Mechanics Building, built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1882. The museum also operates a separate museum, visitor center, and observation area at the Horseshoe Curve.
Class E6 on the Pennsylvania Railroad was the final type of 4-4-2 "Atlantic" locomotive built by the railroad, and second only to the Milwaukee Road's streamlined class A in size, speed and power. Although quickly ceding top-flight trains to the larger K4s Pacifics, the E6 remained a popular locomotive on lesser services and some lasted to the end of steam on the PRR. One, #460, called the Lindbergh Engine, is preserved at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. It was moved indoors to begin preparations for restoration on March 17, 2010. On January 10, 2011, PRR #460 was moved to the museum's restoration shop for a two- to three-year project, estimated to cost $350,000. The engine is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Pennsylvania Railroad Class L1s were 2-8-2 "Mikado"-type steam locomotives that were used on the Pennsylvania Railroad during the early twentieth century. These 574 locomotives were manufactured between 1914 and 1919 by the railroad's own Juniata Shops as well as the Baldwin Locomotive Works (205) and the Lima Locomotive Works (25).
Pennsylvania Railroad 3750 is a 4-6-2 "Pacific" type steam locomotive located at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, just outside Strasburg, Pennsylvania in the United States. For over a decade, the No. 3750 locomotive stood-in for the prototype K4, No. 1737, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. It was one of two surviving K4 locomotives, along with No. 1361, both designated as the official state steam locomotive by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1987.
Pennsylvania Railroad No. 1223 is a class "D16sb" 4-4-0 "American" type steam locomotive built in November 1905 for the Pennsylvania Railroad by their own Altoona Works for passenger service. After being retired from active service in 1950, the locomotive ran excursion trains on the Strasburg Rail Road outside of Strasburg, Pennsylvania from 1965 to 1989 when it was removed from service requiring firebox repairs. Currently, the locomotive is still on static display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania outside of Strasburg. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. No. 1223 is the only surviving example of the Pennsylvania Railroad's D16sb class.
Pennsylvania Railroad 1737 was a 4-6-2 Pacific type K4 class steam locomotive built in 1914 as the first of its class and would haul heavier passenger trains that the smaller E class 4-4-2 Atlantics could not handle such as the PRR's flagship passenger train, the Broadway Limited. In the 1930s, as the PRR had increased passenger service time tables, the trains became longer and heavier than a single K4s could handle, necessitating double-heading with a second engine. The "Standard Railroad Of The World" made attempts to replace the 1737 and its classmates with larger, more powerful classes including: K5, S1, and the T1, none of which were successful; thus, the K4s continued hauling passenger trains until the Pennsylvania Railroad replaced steam locomotives with the increasingly-popular and less-costly diesel-electric locomotives in 1957.
The Pennsylvania Railroad G5 is a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotives built by the PRR's Juniata Shops in the mid-late 1920s. It was designed for passenger trains, particularly on commuter lines, and became a fixture on suburban railroads until the mid-1950s.
Boston and Maine 3713, also known as the "Constitution", is the sole survivor of the "P-4a" class 4-6-2 "Heavy Pacific" type steam locomotives. It was built in December 1934 by the Lima Locomotive Works for the Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M), hauling passenger trains around the New England region. In 1956, No. 3713 was given the duty to haul B&M's Farewell to Steam excursion between Boston, Massachusetts and Portland, Maine, marking the end of steam operations on the B&M.
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway 2716 is a class "K-4" 2-8-4 "Kanawha" (Berkshire) type steam locomotive built in 1943 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O). While most railroads referred to these 2-8-4 type locomotives as Berkshires, the C&O referred to them as Kanawhas after the Kanawha River, which flows through West Virginia. Used as a dual service locomotive, No. 2716 and its classmates served the C&O in a variety of duties until being retired from revenue service in 1956.
Pennsylvania Railroad 5550 is a mainline 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 Railroad's T1 steam locomotive class and the only operational locomotive of its type, as well as the largest steam locomotive built in the United States since 1952. 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. As of February 2024 the locomotive was 43% complete.
The Pennsylvania Railroad's class K29s comprised a single experimental 4-6-2 "Pacific" type steam locomotive. Constructed by Alco-Schenectady, it was given road number 3395. Although only one demonstrator was constructed, the K29s would become the basis for the highly successful K4s Pacifics and L1s Mikados. The lone example spent most of its life on the PRR's Pittsburgh division main line and was retired around 1929.
Western Maryland Scenic Railroad 1309 is a compound articulated class "H-6" "Mallet" type steam locomotive with a 2-6-6-2 wheel arrangement. It was the very last steam locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) in November 1949 and originally operated by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) where it pulled coal trains until its retirement in 1956. In 1972, No. 1309 was moved to the B&O Railroad Museum for static display until 2014 when it was purchased by the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad (WMSR), who undertook a multi-year effort to restore it to operating condition. The restoration was completed on December 31, 2020, and the locomotive entered tourist excursion service for the WMSR on December 17, 2021. This was the first time an articulated locomotive operated in the Eastern United States since the retirement of Norfolk and Western 1218 in November 1991.
The East Broad Top Railroad owns six three-foot gauge Mikado locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works. These engines original to the railroad have survived from their construction to the present day, with various members of the fleet having run in steam for excursion train service on the preserved route.