T1 Trust Casting First Wheels

ted101 · **Joined:** Tue Jul 17, 2012 5:24 pm **Posts:** 79

I saw on Facebook today that the T1 Trust (building the mainline 4-4-4-4 Duplex locomotive) is coming along nicely on the engineering. They posted a photo of some of the CAD work on their NEWS page. https://www.facebook.com/t1locomotive

http://prrt1steamlocomotivetrust.org/news.php Click on the wheels link to see large CAD model.

I don't know how long they have had a store up, but I don't remember it. They have lots of fundraising options on there including an entire driver. I wish I had the money. Someday.... I made a small donation to help out.

Here is a link to their storehttp://prrt1steamlocomotivetrust.org/store/

Richard Glueck · **Posted:** Tue Mar 24, 2015 2:20 pm

I'm a bit confused here. If I understand the post on their site, they are putting together a digital model of the T1. That would be a good move in terms of the "state of the art" in the modern world. Your post makes it sound like they are pouring steel. That's a noble, but huge jump.
Have I missed something?

p51 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 24, 2015 3:05 pm

Richard Glueck wrote:

Your post makes it sound like they are pouring steel. That's a noble, but huge jump.

It's not just you, I thought exactly the same thing. "Casting wheels" means pouring metal.
The title of this thread is quite misleading.

Dennis Storzek · **Posted:** Tue Mar 24, 2015 3:20 pm

More like casting pearls before swine.

ted101 · **Joined:** Tue Jul 17, 2012 5:24 pm **Posts:** 79

Sorry, I can see that now. Too many things going on at once and I didn't re-read my post.

They have many things going on, they are doing engineering, but they also started getting quotes for casting the drivers and it sounds like they are going to do it soon. Here is a direct link to the driver casting page. Sorry for not re-reading and the confusion

http://prrt1steamlocomotivetrust.org/store/driver.php

From their website:

Quote:

2015 is shaping up to be a major turning point for the T1 Trust. We have every intention of pouring the first major steel parts for 5550. Our goal for 2015 is to cast two of the eight large 72” driver centers that make up the bulk of the 80" wheels.

In 2014 much of the Trust's time and energy was invested in extracting original PRR blueprints and mechanical drawings from the PA State Archives. These remarkable historic artifacts have been converted to working 3D CAD (Computer Aided Design) files. A prototype casting pattern was constructed from the CAD files and was used as a mock-up by the Trust's engineers to further improve the CAD model. This mock-up is now on display at the Dennison Railroad Depot Museum in Dennison, Ohio.

Ron Travis · **Joined:** Sun May 15, 2005 2:22 pm **Posts:** 1543

Are they building this locomotive as a perfect replication of the orginal, or are they doing a lot of re-engineering and other modern improvements that will go into the locomotive they are building?

ted101 · **Joined:** Tue Jul 17, 2012 5:24 pm **Posts:** 79

I believe I remember reading at one time that they were doing some engineering to make better and fix some small issues. I don't remember where I read it. Maybe on their FAQ page?????

http://prrt1steamlocomotivetrust.org/faq.php

Buslist · **Joined:** Sun Jul 21, 2013 10:32 am **Posts:** 37

I wonder what their plans are for procuring an instrumented driver set which they are most likely to need to test at the speeds they are talking. Producing one will require a casting precision machined and strain gauged, then calibrated in a large cal rig. I also wonder if they have done any modeling to select which driver to instrument.

softwerkslex · **Posted:** Wed Mar 25, 2015 3:08 am

I imagine an engine like this had all kinds of commercial accessories with unique part shapes and engineering
Think stoker, locomotive valve pilot, feed water heater- I don't know what is specific to T1

How are these going to be replicated?

TimReynolds · **Joined:** Sat Aug 31, 2013 4:11 pm **Posts:** 287

Casting a driver center will be a pretty good test of the CAD work thus far. I presume the first ones cast will be basically destroyed to test them. As for casting and this project, the driver centers and cylinder castings will be the largest. That is if I'm recalling correctly that the they are not going to attempt a single frame / cylinder(s) casting as was the case with the original locos.

Pegasuspinto · **Joined:** Fri Mar 26, 2010 11:43 am **Posts:** 783

One piece at a time....and it cost a pretty dime.
In the Psychobilly LOCO-motive....

scarabbrian · **Posted:** Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:16 pm

TimReynolds wrote:

Casting a driver center will be a pretty good test of the CAD work thus far. I presume the first ones cast will be basically destroyed to test them.

Why would the first casting have to be destroyed? Any forces subjected to the wheel can be modeled with FEA and it isn't like cast steel is a new, not well understood technology. Non destructive testing can easily and cheaply check for flaws in the casting itself.

filmteknik · **Posted:** Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:59 pm

Cylinder castings will be the largest? Um...yeah, if by cylinder castings you mean the entire frame with all four cylinders / valve chambers and boiler saddle in one piece! That is how they were built.

Unless they...IMHO wisely... break up the design at strategic points and make some modifications at those points that lend themselves for welding the frame together.

wrg113 · **Joined:** Fri Feb 12, 2010 7:52 pm **Posts:** 112

The fundamental thing I don't understand is the why on this project. Why bring a failed design/engine back from the dead? To me this is like having a desire to clone a retired quarterback and picking JaMarcus Russell. The Pennsy T1 was a bust. Sometimes things should be left in the past where their maker intended. If the Pennsy wanted one of these things alive, they would have sent one to Northumberland. I've always said there was a reason why John Wayne locked 'Hondo' in a vault....

Wouldn't it make much more sense to clone/reincarnate something that was a resounding success?

hamster · **Posted:** Wed Mar 25, 2015 3:42 pm

wrg113 wrote:

The fundamental thing I don't understand is the why on this project. Why bring a failed design/engine back from the dead? To me this is like having a desire to clone a retired quarterback and picking JaMarcus Russell. The Pennsy T1 was a bust. Sometimes things should be left in the past where their maker intended. If the Pennsy wanted one of these things alive, they would have sent one to Northumberland. I've always said there was a reason why John Wayne locked 'Hondo' in a vault....

Wouldn't it make much more sense to clone/reincarnate something that was a resounding success?

Well, I don't think that the Pennsy regarded them as a failure. After all, they DID build 52 of them. And while they did have their weaknesses, their lack of a long career was for the same reason that other "much better" locomotives were scrapped, wholesale. The Pennsy was looking for a particular locomotive for a particular service and they got it in the T1. Whether it was ultimately a great design, that is entirely in the realm of opinion.

What I don't understand is why anyone would be willing to throw $10 MILLION into a rathole. Of all the Class 1's, only TWO are steam friendly to any extent at all. And that "friendliness" changes with the direction of the wind. This is a locomotive that will NEVER have a place to run, much less run as it was designed to. 10 million for something to look at is pretty steep. There is no place for romance in the world of today's railroads and railroading.