wow, I have never heard of those before

those are so cool

very artistic mini valves, contributing to an overall reducer frontal area
that were capable of 140 mph

(insert evil laugh here...and open the cad file again)

dr

So before choosing the #614, you must have at least walked over to glance at #1604!?

http://www.steamlocomotive.com/bomuseum ... -duley.jpg

Count me a fan of the streamlined version of the #490. The photo above of the engine without a shroud is very impressive (very impressive!), but there are so few saved streamlined engines.

/Mitch

I seem to remember reading years ago that the initial plans for the J-3a class locomotives was to streamline them in a fashion similar to the 490. If I remember correctly the only thing remaining of the streamlining is the cast steel pilot. Does anyone else remember reading this?

John Bohon

John,

Yea, I remember reading that, and IIRC that serious consideration was given to equipping them with Franklin Type B (rotary cam) poppet valves.

Wasn't the 1604 was on loan to the Roanoke Transportation Museum whenever Ross would have been looking over the 614? I remember after the flood hit the old museum in Roanoke in they had a terrible time getting it out. After it left Roanoke didn't it go on display in a mall before finally coming back to Baltimore?

Folks,

The 1604 was initially put on display in a shopping mall to the west of the B&O roundhouse, built anew on the site of a former shop building. The 1604 was set in place on new track and the sidewalk and building built around it.

Several years later, the mall, a merchandising disaster from Day One, was closed down and the loco removed out the back doors on the rails the same route it came in on. The former mall is now a low-cost health provider clinic, which explains the occasional swarms of not-fully-reputable folks you may see around Arlington Street if you try to scope out the back gates of the B&O Museum.......