Just got back from Franklin Institute this past Sunday for their Star Wars show. Pretty good show if you're into it. Had to go downstairs to see the old girl.
Judging she's been sitting down there for the past 75 +/- years, could she be restored?
I mean, if the Institute wouldn't mind a gaping hole in the side of the building, the City of Philadelphia wouldn't mind a behemoth traveling on a flat bed to the nearest rail line, (keep in mind that the rails would have to support her) and the railroad closest would allow her to roll on their line.

Could such a place still exsist to house her restoration?

Did Baldwin install the 60000 complete? The backhead appears to be complete, but that's not to say the Museum didn't obtain the parts afterwards and have someone from Baldwin cosmetically install them for them.

How much work would be needed to run the 60000 again? Oh, removal of the electric motor is a given...

Don't forget the FI board saying "sure you can have one of our prize exhibits", an engineer skilled at running a locomotive with a 350 psi water tube boiler and a railroad willing to host a 4-10-2....

The "devil in the details" is the watertube boiler. All else aside, even presuming that this loco was sitting at the Railroad Museum of Pa. ready to roll into the Strasburg shops, I could scarcely think of a more impractical loco to restore to operation. Unorthodox boiler, unorthodox design, unorthodox wheel/cylinder arrangement, too big for most "mainline steam" operations, not fast enough for a mainline steam excursion.............

It does have PRR cab signals, and can be converted back and forth between coal and oil, if you have a spare tender. The electric motor is part of the museum, not in the loco. It spins a worm gear, which engages something added to the bottom of the loco.
Here's the link to historical data:
http://www.cwrr.com/Lounge/Reference/ba ... ldwin.html

Purely on a mechanical standpoint, can she be restored? Forget that she's a three cylinder 4-10-2 and that she has an experimental boiler, can she be brought back to operating condition depending on her current condition? The last time I was there probably a year ago I noticed that there was a lack of any type of lubricant on any of the running gear. I'm not an expert but I would have expected to see at least some sort of lubricant dripping, running and even pooling on the ground from dripping off over the years. What type of maintenence has been done over the years to make sure that the locomotive is not wearing itself into the ground?

As has been pointed out many times on this board, anything can be fixed. All that's needed is someone with cubic money and a use for a 4-10-2.

I recall a query from the 1970's that must have originated with the Franklin Institute management of that time, asking what to do with the 60000's journals, which were said to have worn eccentrically from being dragged back and forth less than a revolution for many years. But I never learned whether this problem was imaginary or not, and evidently the locomotive is still going back and forth with or without lubricant. The thing I recall most from my one visit to the 60000 arouncd 1980 was the deafening din made by 200 schoolchildren in the echoing room housing the engine - enough to cause hearing loss and disorientation among the musuem volunteers tending the exhibit. Sure was weird to look into that floodlit water-tube firebox.

I was told by the late Dr. Robert Kimmel, Sr. that during his stay in Philadelphia while attending college, he personally offered his services to the Franklin Inst. to lubricate 60000. He supposedly dropped driving-box cellars, cleaned the accumulated dirt and applied lubrication. He also lubricated the running to the extent possible. How correct his story was is unknown to me.

As a side note, Dr. Kimmel was responsible for obtaining 0-6-0 CNJ #113, currently under repair at Minersville, PA. His son, Robert Kimmel, Jr. is leading that project.

Rob
Lehigh Valley, PA

I was at the FI last summer. I made a point of smelling and feeling some major portions of her running gear. From what I could discern, there is the proper lubrication on the locomotive.

Peoples from the RRMPA and/or Strasburg have lubed the 60000 before.

Joshua

If you want to help get a behemoth running somewhere in PA, then the B&LE 2-10-4 #643 is the project to get behind. I believe a certain campaign slogan would be apt here - "Tested and Ready". It was hydro'd and test fired several years ago. Just needs some home rails, insurance, and lots of $$$ to get trips off the ground. A real shame to let all of that time and effort go to waste. Of course there is the problem of a blind center driver trying to run over modern self-guarding frogs.

Of course there is the problem of a blind center driver trying to run over modern self-guarding frogs.

Explain this problem, please.

What is the issue with a blind center driver?

I remember hearing this would have been an issue when the Steamtown grand opening committee was attempting to acquire the locomotive, but never really paid attention.

Typically, a blind tire is wider than a flanged tire, and since self-guarded frogs use the outside rim of the wheel to keep the flange where it belongs while passing through the frog, the blind tire won't fit through the gap. It's a heck of a bump when the blind driver runs up over the frog!

643 has had no issues with self-guarding frogs, at least not recently. It went through many on the way from Glenwood down to the P&LE shops in the mid-90's, with no problems.

The engine needs at least its form 4 work and some missing parts replaced before it's boiling any water, though.

A far cry from tearing down a wall in a museum to get the 60000 out!

Tim -

And, as I've reported before, B&LE #643 could also stand in for a DM&IR 2-10-4 or a CB&Q M4 Colorado class.

Les