One engine that seems to come pretty close, at least to my eyes, is the Virginian Railway MB, an Alco design; a photo gallery, courtesy of the N&W Historical Society, is below:

http://nwhs.org/archivesdb/listdocs.php ... pe=Picture

Let's see, there are a number of Virginian cabooses around, including at least one wooden job, and some other cars are still around, or could be replicated easily, such as the small fleet of PS-1s they had. But what about those hoppers? Take a little thinking there. . .

As to a Q with that external dry pipe, why not just take the casing off and lag the pipe? The effect might come out to something like that of an early Superpower engine, like Lima's A-1 demonstrator, as did a number of other engines built in that time period.

http://www.bluffton.edu/courses/TLC/BushP/SP-1.html

Of course, if you really wanted to get ambitious, how about rebuilding these 2-10-2s to modern, high speed 4-8-2s, which would be more useful in excursion service? After all, that's what the Frisco did back when--that blasted alarm clock, how is anyone supposed to get any sleep around here?!! :-)

IIRC, the major dimensions on a QJ (driver diameter, cylinder dimensions, etc.) more closely match a Southern Ss (which is a light USRA 2-10-2, correct?) than any other U.S. locomotive. A QJ to Ss conversion, even leaving alone the stuff like drivers, trailing truck, and valve gear would be a BIG job though.

It may be worth posting the link to J.David's first blog entry on the subject of the 3025:

http://theenginehouse.blogspot.com/2008 ... -3025.html

The entry includes a sketch of what the finished locomotive might look like.

Once at the blog site (on the Valley Railroad Website), you can also look at subsequent entries as he reports on the progress of the project.

Thx,

/Kevin

I really like those arched cab windows.

Perhaps it's time to stockpile a number of these SY's, along with parts, for the future?

What's made this great is that it confirms what many people always imagined, that with some steel cosmetic work there was a standard-looking 2-8-2 under there, even to Americanized eyes.

I became a fan of the SY up here on the Knox & Kane, it was tight, worked hard, had a good american whistle, and was darn easy on some pretty sketchy track. You got over the "Pagoda" Cab and developed a respect for it rapidly.

The difficult part for this project is that unlike almost any park locomotive, this isn't eligible for a lot of historic grant money that is the funding fuel for many restoration efforts. If you can put together a funding package outside that scope as the Valley has, it becomes a doable project. Remember, at least this particular SY has the same age as an EMD SD50.

Once you factor in the cost of shipping, restoration, and cosmetic changes, you could restore a park engine for about the same or less.

I love the fact that this SY will someday resemble a New Haven Mikado. That makes great sense to me because I'm a steam enthusiast living in America with a love of American steam locomotive history. I can appreciate steam in any part of the world, especially if it is in some historical context (i.e. it's what used to run there back before diesels.).

What I don't get is the discussion recently about the Swiss loco recently purchased by the Great Smoky Mtn. RR where many on this board scoffed at the thought of making it appear more Americanized.

Why do many applaud the efforts to change this loco but not the Swiss 4-6-0?

The Chinese steamers are heirs to ALCO clones and retain a basic American style of design and massing. The changes are mostly sheet metal and accessory stuff. The Swedish locomotives are very unlike American steamers in most stylistic ways, and would require a lot of rebuilding to be used as the basis for a replication, such that overhauling a park hulk would probably be more rational. Take a look at the photos and you'll see the differences.

dave

But that park engine was rode hard and put away wet, whereas these are pretty much new engines, with very low miles on them. If it were possible to get more of these (and folks perhaps should have when able) this would be a good time to get some. Only problem is that I think most of the SY's and QJ's in the US were built special to meet FRA specs and I don't think any more are available.



Michael Seitz
Missoula MT

It's a pity more people didn't show interest in these SY's when JDC was trying to import them in quantity. Who knows, if enough had been purchased, you probably could have custom-ordered yours from Tangshan factory-built to resemble whatever you wanted within reason.

Only 3 of the SY's were built with U.S.-specific modifications due to a lot of hard work by JDC. Unfortunately, one of those wound up at the bottom of the Indian Ocean on its trip here.

The one JS and two (?) QJ's here are standard Chinese engines.

But that would require thinking ahead...

Michael brings up an excellent point about park engines being difficult to restore in the future. For the cost of replacing the boiler on your Pacific or Consolidation you could grab a lightly used Mikado and use the older locomotive for display and other interpretive purposes. This will not be appealing for every tourist railroad, but for those that are willing to offer a "steam train ride" rather then a "vintage steam train ride" I think there could be a significant cost savings

I see your (?) --- it is three. Two (so far) at Iowa Interstate (which are for sale BTW), and R.J.Corman's "Old Smokey."

.....which is why starting with a Chinese steamer makes sense and a Swedish one doesn't. Clear now?

The Iowa Interstate pair was overhauled in China under the direction of Dennis Daugherty, and made to be in compliance at that time. Several more were offered to be similarly overhauled but found NO takers. I think the number deleivered to the US port was about $300K - much cheaper then starting with even the finest of park hulks, and a bargain if even twice the cost. Probably other Chinese models could have also been overhauled and exported for similar cost.

Polish 0-8-0's for 2 foot gage were also a bargain - maybe still are.

Did anybody try partnering with a Canadian or British group to repatriate a Cuban hulk when that list was distributed a few years back? What about the Vulcan built Turkish skyliners?

Thanks to JDC to show us how possible it is - maybe more of us will learn.

dave