I just got a notification from Youtube that the PRR T1 guys dropped a new video on the frame construction and announced an Open House in a few weeks. Looks like they are bringing their frame to Altoona May 10-11. I am planning on taking my grandson over, it is about a 2 hour drive for me. Anyone else going? I would love to meet some RYPN'ers

Ted

Check out the video https://youtu.be/2LkCHt9kw_w?si=D-2EP2myYDR0FZek

Yes, I'll be there on May 10th. ( Golden Spike Day ) to enjoy seeing the complete frame and I have a ticket for that nights supper.

I look forward to meeting you Ted and some other RyPN ers.

It is impressive how far they have come in building this fascinating machine.

I need to get busy lobbying to be picked to be the hogger when the attempt to set a new world steam land speed record is run.

Onward and upward. Ross Rowland

I'm also going. I expect to be there Friday for the private frame viewing at the convention center and the cheap seats at the evening diner. I expect to look like a retired Santa Claus in a Tiki shirt.

Ross and I met back in the day during the Everett Railroad “torrefied biomass” testing:

https://csrail.org/everett

Look for a 2005 Suburban that has been converted to a stealth camper. I have no intention of attracting a DWI -- perhaps LOL ?

I plan to drive home Saturday.

Brian

Conveniently, the T1 Trust fails to mention that the reason they're in Altoona that weekend and the frame is being accommodated on the grounds of the Blair County Convention Center is because the 56th Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society is being held from May 8th through May 11th At the BCCC. Activities for the meeting include a trip to the EBT for a shop tour and train ride, and the event concludes Saturday afternoon/evening with a catered barbeque on the grounds of the Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum with a keynote address being given by Henry Posner.

More info: [url]prrths.org[/url]

Why would that be "conveniently"?

Nice write up in trains. It will be very interesting to see the huge frame up close and personal and also to have a chance to see the 1361 up close and see the progress that has been made on the K4.

There's still a very few tickets available for the Friday night supper where NH&I CEO Paul Nichini will be the key note speaker. If you're available I'd recommend your attending as between Paul's remarks and PRR T-1 Trust's GM Jason Johnson who will be taking questions from the attendees it will be a very interesting evening.

I hope to meet a lot of fellow RyPNers there.

Safe travels. Ross Rowland

You're a good, positive force in the steam revival community, Ross. Thanks!
Now let's get 614 out and running, huh?

Thanks Richard for the kind remark. Better days are soon ahead for the 614 and I will be in the position to share details with everyone in the next month or so.

Patience is a virtue. Ross Rowland

P. S . There's still a few tickets available for the Friday night May 10th. ( Golden Spike Day !! ) supper being sponsored by the T-1 Trust at which noted steam CEO Paul Nichini will be the keynote speaker sharing his extensive experiences running mainline steam.

I look forward to seeing some of you there.

Just a word for those planning to show up at the Blair County Convention Center.

Unless the T1 trust is having a talk outside (in the forecasted rain?) adjacent to the locomotive frame, as well as a table outside selling T1 trust memorabilia, the talks being given on the by the T1 Trust inside the convention center, as well as the table being manned by the T1 Trust inside the vendors room are part of the 56th Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society and are only available to people who registered for the event. Non-ticketed people will be closely monitored and asked to register for the event if they wish to partake. The vendors room will also have security which closely monitors that only registered/badged attendees are given access to the vendors room.

There are special accommodations being extended to the PRRT&HS By the Altoona Museum on Saturday afternoon where they'll have a BBQ in the museum yard, featuring a keynote address by Henry Posner. The whistle from 1361 will be hooked up to a live steam boiler which can be blown by anyone for a nominal donation, the recently acquired PRR Altoona Works Firetruck will be on display. I've been told to expect additional surprises as well since the Museum would like to thank the membership of the PRRT&HS for their financial support in the restoration of 1361.

John,

Thanks for pointing this out. We have worked with the organizers of the PRRT&HS since last November to do this open house for the public. This is no different than when we did it in Harrisburg two years ago.

We will be set up in the outer parking lot far away from the entrance of the convention center. There will be plenty of signs so people coming to T1 Open House will know where to go. There is zero concern that anyone will come inside during the PRRT&HS convention on Saturday. We are giving two separate talks to the convention goers as well.

We look forward to seeing you on what we hope will be a Sunny Saturday!!!

Jason

Thanks Jason for clarifying that. It makes total sense that the PRRT&HS would be 100% behind the T-1 project as when it's up and running it will be celebrating the proud heritage of the " Standard Railroad of the World".

I'm looking forward to learning more at Friday nights supper.

Onward & Upward. Ross Rowland

Or to a degree wiping the eye of the weasels at the "Standard Railroad of the World" who couldn't be bothered to train crews how to run T1s effectively, pulled the plug on the comprehensive 1948 repairs before they could happen, refused to supply proper passenger gas coal for the ridiculously small grate they designed in, and (arguably) threw the design under the bus to be able to get out of the expensive equipment-trust obligations early with "plausible denial".

The simulation and then testing ought to establish compellingly what part of common foamer knowledge... and PRR management opinion... is BS.

Has the grate area been expanded on the new build T1?

Well, the T1 had 92 square feet of grate. That's not really small, though it is a bit smaller than that provided for most other 4-8-4s of the time.

C&O J-3, J-3a--100 sq ft
NYC S-1a--101 sq ft
CoG K--90.4
SP GS-3, GS-4--90.4
GN S-1/S-2--102/98
N&W J--108
B&O N-1--80 (also a Duplex drive engine, water tube firebox)

While the grate area is a bit smaller than it should be for the size of the engine (most of the locomotives with comparable grate areas are a bit smaller than the T1), it doesn't seem to be a drastic difference overall--and when the type was tested on the C&O, it was found that the boiler steamed very well.

C&O's main complaint was that acceleration was a bit sluggish, and this was blamed on somewhat taller drivers than were used under its own 4-8-4s, and on the lack of a trailing truck booster, a device that was on most of C&O's modern steam power--a notable exception being its huge Allegheny types, which apparently didn't really need it.

As it was, the T1 did make schedule time on the C&O, and was even found to be able to start a heavy train on a grade and with the consist draped around curves. It did give some slipping trouble there, but that was with the engine and train in a marginal condition (train resistance and engine tractive effort were almost equal). . .and the engineer still got the thing going. I do think the C&O passenger engineers, promoted from freight service as on most railroads, were well used to divided drive engines with all the Mallet articulated types on the roster.

https://web.archive.org/web/20200319033 ... 005-05.pdf