The tender holds 31 tons of coal and 21,000 gallons of water. The tank is the last of its kind — no other coast-to-coast tenders with 16-wheels are known to exist. The tender is in excellent condition with sealed hatches, minor surface rust, and well-preserved trucks, thanks to the tender’s low side walls that sheltered the trucks and bearings from weather. Jason Johnson, the T1 Trust’s General Manager remarked after having visited the tender for a thorough inspection, “I just can’t get over what great shape it’s in.”
The long-haul tender was originally acquired by the historical society to replace the gutted-out short tender for their Pennsy 2-10-0 I1sa-type locomotive. As part of the purchase agreement, the T1 Trust has agreed to fully restore the I1’s tender tank to its original specifications as part of the historical society’s planned cosmetic restoration of the I1 locomotive. The cost of the tender restoration is estimated to be approximately $75,000.
The T1 Trust has also made arrangements to store the tender at the historical society’s museum site, the Heritage Discovery Center, in Buffalo, N.Y., for up to 30 years at a cost of $1 per year where it will be displayed alongside the Pennsy I1. Historical society President Joseph Kocsis Jr. expressed much enthusiasm for the agreement, “We’re grateful to partner with the T1 Trust to make 5550 a reality. They bring a great deal of expertise to the table and we look forward to working with them in the restoration of our I1 tender and seeing the long haul tender return to its intended use”.
T1 Trust members will travel to New York to complete a renovation of the brake system and replace the oil in the roller bearings. In addition, the Trust plans to sandblast, prime, and paint the tender in the appropriate Brunswick green paint scheme. The overall cost of the tender preservation effort is at least $45,000. About half of the work will be donated, and the T1 Trust is seeking donations to cover the remaining cost.
More information is available online.
— A Pennsylvania Railroad T1 Steam Locomotive Trust news release. Aug. 21, 2017.
Mr. Ha, as one of Jim’s acquaintances, I kinda understand his position on the T1 Trust. Sure, we both don’t wanna see them fail in actually BUILDING the locomotive, but he and I are both very adamant that the T1 Trust shouldn’t try to smash Mallard’s speed record. Crew safety and training are paramount. Otherwise, the 5550 will suffer a case of catastrophic wheel slippage similar to what happened with LNER Peppercorn A2 #60532 “Blue Peter.” Don’t get me wrong. I’m TOTALLY onboard with the idea of a new-build PRR T1 Duplex, but I think the Trust should just perfect the issues seen on the 50 production engines and build the new 5550 to the specs of the two prototypes, the late 6110 and 6111. They had proper spring equalization that wouldn’t result in as much violent wheel slippage as seen with the original 5500s.
Marvin, the whole point of the T1 Trust’s goal is to answer and debunk whatever myths that had surrounded the class after its lifetime. Most of the “problems” the locomotive class had been rumors and were a result of poor decisions made by the PRR. Poorly trained drivers (Even veteran K4s drivers mind you), lower quality materials, poor spring riggings, and much more.
A Trains thread for you: http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/t/37621.aspx
Also, rude. Be glad there are people out there willing to commit to something that could go either way with or without your support. Don’t be a Jim Van Der Kolk (Guy who’s adamant on shooting down any T1 related topic without any proper research and ultimately desires that any extinct Union Pacific locomotive should be rebuilt instead by any draconian means) by insisting that the group should go with restoring another locomotive class instead. As with many other crazy events that could go either way in our world, let it play out until we can form a formidable conclusion.
That huge
The T1 trust must be from Colorado. Smoking something. Why not try to restore, or rebuild a more popular, and more likely acceptable locomotive like a K4s, as opposed to one which had a myriad or problems when it operated. The current private railroads would be much more likely to operate a common engine than one that had so much problems during its lifetime.
Looking forward to this one!
A huge step forward. Good luck T1 Trust!
very smart acquisition and demonstrates the benefits of cooperation among preservationists. Bravo
Smart move. Not stated or even inferred, however, is whether the T1 Trust would remodel–or should I say, enhance– this long-haul tender to resemble the typical streamlined tender of a T1. All that’s said is that it will be overhauled and repainted in PRR Brunswick green livery. There’s quite a difference between a mechanical overhaul and refurbishment and a major cosmetic alteration.
I should correct that, building a new T1 will not be a restoration but it will be the railfan story of a lifetime even eclipsing UP’s restoration of a Big Boy
This is a huge score for the T1 group. I think if they succeed in building a new T1 it will be the restoration story of a lifetime.