Was surprised to not see this posted on here, but the firebox and boiler of 5550 are together:

https://youtu.be/bw7sobRR_GQ

They indicated on Facebook that the remaining boiler pieces are on order from FMW and will be arriving before the year is out, at which point welding will commence.

Please donate to this project if you haven’t already!

That is one HELL of a model railroad locomotive!

If the "Tornado" project has taught us anything, it's never to say it couldn't be done. As far as they've gotten, I wouldn't bet much against it being completed.
I know the original T-1s were finnicky so I'll be interested as to where they're going to run this and what'll happen once it takes to the high iron.

They address the finicky nature of the operation of the T1 in their FAQs page on their website. They also used to have a tab with some letters of support from places to run the locomotive (AoS, CVSR, etc) but since they've redone their website I haven't been able to find it.

Per an archived version of their website

"The T1 Trust has received letters of intent from three well established tourist railroads; the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, PA, the Steam Railroading Institute in Owosso, MI and the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad in Independence, OH. All three of these fine organizations are experienced in handling mainline steam locomotives and can easily support the operation of the T1 locomotive when complete."

I also recall on their website long ago that an alliance was made with the group that uses the PRR painted cars in Sunbury, PA on their excursion line to Berwick.

I'm amazed at the progress of this project so far! It'll probably be finished before Steamtown finishes 3713.

John

There's no "excursion line to Berwick." That's the North Shore RR, owned by SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority and run by the company founded by Dick Robey.

There are no PRR-painted cars in Sunbury.

A private owner has some former PRR cars and some ex-Lackawanna MUs (ex-West Shore RR) stored in Northumberland (last I checked). He has willingly (after some contention) worked with the local short line outfit for "Santa Trains" and special-occasion excursions on the lines in question, and I'm certain he was amenable to any sincere, longer-range plans to work with the T1 project, as he worked with the original 1980s restoration of PRR 1361.

"Letters of Intent" are all fine and noble; an essentially new machine of this size on these rails? When the crowds depart, where will the 5550 live? who has a space to store an engine of this size out of the weather?

The PRR needed to add on to roundhouse bays to accommodate them as at Crestline and other facilities.

I was told long ago that said roundhouse stall extensions were done specifically for the slightly earlier, 140-foot-long PRR S1 6100, not the 122-foot T1's.

One stall at Crestline was extended to accommodate the S1, 6100. It had a through track and doors at both ends and led to a through track on the turntable as well. The S1 had too long a wheelbase (123 ft 9 1/4 in) to turn on the Crestline turntable.

A T1 had a 107 ft 0 in wheelbase and was 122 ft 9 3/4 in long.

Phil Mulligan

The T1 Trust and friends at the Fort Wayne Railroad have an agreement to ensure the T1 can access the future railyard park/roundhouse development site – and have a stall long enough to accommodate it.

No finer place for a T1 to reside than Fort Wayne.

Let's be honest. There's a lot of " build it and they will come" in this project. To their immense credit the doers behind this ambitious effort are firmly of the belief that when she is done they will find places to let her run.

Truth be told there's no one who knows what the Class 1 scene will look like 5/10/15/20 years from now.

Perhaps Amazon will have bought a controlling interest in CSX and will use the new T-1 to power a highly promoted "high speed" run from Chicago to its new mega warehouse outside Philadelphia pulling 20 cars filled with Prime stuff. Far fetched? Yes. Impossible? No.

This group is a real life example of the old adage " dream no small dreams....as they fail to stir men's souls".

Onward & upward. Ross Rowland

I wish the T1 group the best, and the progress they have made is quite amazing, surely it will be a locomotive that will be impressive to see.

That being said, even something like a NYC hudson etc would be much more usable for excursions on non C1 RRs - like the Cuyahoga valley, R&N etc vs the T1.

After all, how many mainline trips have locomotives such as the 3751, 4449, 700, 1225, 261, 765, 611 made in the last 3-4 years? Even the 2926 would have been likely finished a couple of years ago if BNSF was wanting to do their version of NS's short 21st century program with it.