T1 Trust shows frame and drivers; K4s 1361 tender painted

ALTOONA, Pa. — Milestones of progress on two Pennsylvania Railroad steam-locomotive projects were unveiled at last week’s 56th annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society.

The Pennsylvania Railroad T1 Steam Locomotive Trust brought the frame and four drivers for its 21st-century recreation of the PRR T1 class of 100-mph streamlined 4-4-4-4 passenger engines, all 52 of which were scrapped. Mounted on a low-boy trailer, the display was parked outside the Blair County Convention Center where the meetings took place May 8-11. [See “PRR T1 Trust to hold open house …,”  Trains News Wire, May 3, 2024.]

Host for some convention activities was the Railroaders Memorial Museum, which is in the midst of a $2.4 million project to restore and operate its PRR Class K4s 4-6-2 engine No. 1361, built in the railroad’s Altoona Shops in 1918. [See “Fully funded, new firebox work advances …,” News Wire, July 27, 2023]. Volunteers and staff completed the painting and lettering of No. 1361’s Class 130P75 tender. Having worn a gray primer coat for decades, the tender now glistens in a fresh application of PRR’s “Dark Green Locomotive Enamel,” commonly called Brunswick Green, a shade so deep that it’s indistinguishable from black in all but the brightest sunlight.

Joe DeFrancesco, museum executive director, said the project was funded by a $10,000 Emery Rail Heritage Trust grant and about $7,000 donated by the Altoona-based Horseshoe Curve Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. “We  had the materials on hand,” he said, “and there was no reason to wait.” With the PRR group coming, it was an opportune time.

While giving credit to volunteers Mike Reindl, Josh Nace and Ryan Mulholland, among others, he noted that one component in the tender restoration has proven to be elusive. He asked that anyone, including News Wire readers, contact him who may be able to help locate a back-up headlight for the tender deck.

Update on T1 No. 5550

The T1 Trust used the occasion to show the progress on its 64-foot-long, 35-ton frame, which is being fabricated and welded, with some cast parts to be included, at a shop in Ohio. The original PRR T1s — 27 built by Baldwin Locomotive Works and 25 by PRR’s Juniata Shops in Altoona — rode on cast one-piece frames with cylinders integral, but the cost of replicating that technology for just one locomotive prompted the Trust to opt for a fabricated design. The Trust has designated its engine as PRR No. 5550, one above the highest-numbered production T1, No. 5549.

The Trust has seven of the eight driver centers completed, and brought four to show what one side of the engine will look like when the parts are assembled. Driver diameter is 80 inches, with the cast nickel-steel centers measuring 72 inches. They will be fitted with 4-inch steel tires to bring them up to 80 inches.

At $25,000 each, many of the drivers were funded by the Paul Nichini family, whose individual names appear cast onto the counterweights. Nichini, the speaker at a fund-raising dinner that the Trust held during the event, is among the last engineers to operate an American steam locomotive (Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Class J3a 4-8-4 engine No. 614) at speeds over 90 miles an hour.

Counted by weight, No. 5550 is 43.3% complete, according to T1 Trust General Manager Jason Johnson. Completion of the frame, expected by July 4, will lift that figure to more than 50%. That work will be followed this fall by fabricating the four cylinders, which will be welded onto the frame.

After that will come the machining of journal boxes and axles. As for the boiler, Johnson said, the front and rear tube sheets are done, leaving work on the inside firebox sheets, combustion chamber and, eventually, the driving of 3,000 staybolts.

The four-day showing was a follow-up to the Trust’s display of the cab, boiler shell and nose at the Society’s 2022 annual meeting in Harrisburg. Pa. [See “T1 Trust displays progress …,” News Wire, May 14, 2022]. The cab was fabricated in nearby Hollidaysburg, Pa., by Curry Rail Services, which occupies part of the former PRR Samuel Rea Car Shop.

So far, Johnson said, the Trust has raised $2.4 million of an estimated $6 million total, with completion projected for 2030. Several developments have sharply sliced expenses, including the opportunity to buy a PRR Class 250F75A 16-wheel freight tender for $25,000, mechanically similar to the original T1 passenger-style Class 180P84 tenders, and relatively easily modified. At an estimated $300,000 cost, the Trust can add streamlining and a stainless-steel tank to hold the recycled motor oil that No. 5550 will burn as fuel. Otherwise, Johnson said, the price tag to build an all-new tender would run about $3 million.

A second cost savings stems from a broad collaboration with other operators of large American steam engines to fabricate and build new versions of the Nathan Manufacturing Co. Type 4000C injector, the plumbing device that feeds water from the tender to the boiler. Johnson, who calls the model the “Cadillac” of injectors used during the modern steam era, said the Trust is planning to construct 12 injectors and split the cost 12 ways, with two units retained for the 5550.

The remainder, he said, will be divided among the operators of Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 No. 4014, Union Pacific 4-6-6-4 No. 3985, Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 No. 765, Norfolk & Western 4-8-4 No. 611, Chesapeake & Ohio 2-8-4 No. 2716, Pere Marquette 2-8-4 No. 1225, and C&O 4-8-4 No. 614. This, he said, will cut in half what would otherwise be a $90,000 unit cost. Also saving money is the fact that the Trust located the original Nathan engineering drawings.

“In about two years, we’ll be bringing the wheels, boiler and frame together,” Johnson said.

Interestingly, the specialist steam-locomotive engineering firm FMW Solutions is consulting on both the T1 and K4s projects. Wolf Fengler, FMW vice president of engineering, was on hand, as was Brad Noble, T1 Trust founder and chairman, along with Gary Bensman, a veteran of many American steam-locomotive restoration projects.

News on K4s funding

In addition to showing off the tender, DeFrancesco announced that RMM Board Chairman Wick Moorman has arranged for matching donations, dollar for dollar, for any gifts toward the next phase of restoration – the boiler – by PRRT&HS members. They can come, he said, from individual members, the national organization, or any of the Society’s 13 chapters.

The Society previously gave $100,000 toward the construction of a new Belpaire firebox that complies with current federal pressure-vessel regulations while remaining visually identical to the K4s firebox design.

At the Society’s banquet on Saturday, steam from a farm tractor allowed the 1361’s whistle to be blown from time to time. During his remarks, DeFrancesco said, “The firebox fund was a great success.” Urging members to consider contributing to the next step, he said of the 1361, “It is the voice of Altoona. It is the voice of the Pennsylvania Railroad.”

Thoughts from Henry Posner III

Keynote speaker for the PRR event was Henry Posner III, chairman of Railroad Development Corp. of Pittsburgh and one of the founding partners of the EBT Foundation. (The PRR group took a bus trip to the Foundation’s East Broad Top narrow-gauge steam preservation railroad about an hour away.)

His wide-ranging remarks touched on the federal economic deregulation that followed the collapse of PRR successor Penn Central. When he entered railroading in the 1970s, he said, “If you went into the industry, it was to turn out the lights, with dignity.” Other topics he noted were the PRR engineering legacy and how its disciples failed to adapt to changes in marketing, culture and government; intercity and commuter passenger service; Norfolk Southern’s 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, wreck and environmental spill; the Iowa Interstate Railroad that he chairs; his Conrail career; the EBT’s future expansion (“We’re going all the way to Broad Top Mountain”); his favorite railroad books; and his campaign to compel Pittsburgh-area officials to build a rails-with-trails project instead of sticking with a trail-only option for the former PRR Brilliant Branch.

In closing, Posner urged his listeners to become “rail activists” supporting — preferably with volunteer time — any worthy rail-related project, such as Operation Lifesaver, the Friends of the East Broad Top or the Railroaders Memorial Museum.

— Updated at 6:15 p.m. CT to correct to 56th annual meeting.