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58-414: The S1 had a unique 6-4-4-6 wheel arrangement , meaning that it had two pairs of cylinders , each driving two pairs of driving wheels . To achieve stability at fast passenger train speeds (above 100 mph), articulation was not used. The S1 was completed on January 31, 1939, at Altoona shop, and was numbered 6100. At 140 ft 2 + 1 ⁄ 2  in (42.74 m) overall, engine and tender,

116-559: A different use (often with only some being actually "driven"). Modern diesel and electric locomotives are much more uniform, usually with all axles driven. The main notations are the Whyte notation (based on counting the wheels), the AAR wheel arrangement notation (based on counting either the axles or the bogies ), and the UIC classification of locomotive axle arrangements (based on counting either

174-513: A frame structure of some kind. The frame may in turn be supported by axles directly attached to it, or it may be mounted on bogies ( UK ) / trucks ( US ), or a combination of the two. The bogies in turn will have frames of their own. Three main types of frame on steam locomotives may be distinguished: These used steel plates about 1–2 in (25.4–50.8 mm) thick. They were mainly used in Britain and continental Europe. On most locomotives,

232-639: A joint contract. T. W. Demarest headed the joint committee, General Superintendent of Motive Power in PRR's Western Region. The members of the joint committee were: On 28 April 1937, PRR's Board authorized $ 300,000 for this experimental high-speed passenger locomotive project. The design started with a 4-4-4-4 duplex. On 2 June 1937, PRR officially announced the development of the “Pennsylvania Type” high-speed passenger locomotive which would become Class S1. After various details were discussed and finalized, it became necessary to make changes that substantially increased

290-427: A locomotive by type, position, and connections, with the adopted notations varying by country. Within a given country, different notations may also be employed for different kinds of locomotives, such as steam , electric , and diesel powered. Especially in steam days, wheel arrangement was an important attribute of a locomotive because there were many different types of layout adopted, each wheel being optimised for

348-479: A locomotive with all four axles coupled together, smaller and lighter moving parts ensured less wear and tear. Baldwin's chief engineer believed that the 8-coupled, two-cylinder locomotives of the time were at or near practical limits in terms of steam flow, cylinder efficiency could be improved at high speed by getting the same power from four smaller cylinders with proportionately larger valves. Valve travel in S1's cylinder

406-635: A passenger version with 6 ft 8 in drivers and a freight version with 6 ft drivers. However, the cooperation between PRR and Baldwin, which proceeded without signing any agreement or contract for the development of the new high-speed duplex engine, didn't go smoothly. Ten months after the first conference (April 1937), PRR ended Baldwin Locomotive Work's consultation and assigned the task to a consortium of Baldwin Locomotive Works , American Locomotive Company , and Lima Locomotive Works under

464-443: A sense of pride at the sight of what I had helped to create." The lack of curve compatibility led to the S1 not being used for its intended long-distance express service. Although the S1 had less than half (47%) its total weight on the driving wheels, its Factor of adhesion was still close to the much more successful PRR Q2 , Santa Fe "Northern" 4-8-4s the 2900s, and the renowned N&W J class 4-8-4s. More than half of its weight

522-617: A single load-bearing assembly. They were first used on the Bury Bar Frame locomotive during the 1830s, and were widely used in nineteenth century American locomotives (including those exported to Australia and New Zealand; see Vogel railways ). Cast steel locomotive beds were developed in the latter years of steam locomotive design in the United States, from where they were also exported to Britain and Australia. An articulated locomotive with no fixed wheels (i.e. excluding

580-438: A standard wheel arrangement classification system. Instead of being classified by wheel arrangement, they are instead classified by their design and their number of trucks . Locomotive bed A locomotive frame is the structure that forms the backbone of the railway locomotive , giving it strength and supporting the superstructure elements such as a cab , boiler or bodywork. The vast majority of locomotives have had

638-557: A stock order to build a 4-4-4-4 duplex high-speed passenger locomotive as a demonstrator, with bullet nose streamlining by noted industrial designer Otto Kuhler . However before it could be built, the PRR placed an order for two locomotives of this type in July 1940. This implied that the S1 was a showpiece exclusively built for the World's Fair instead of replacing the K4s as the new prime power of

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696-469: A straight stretch of track without any curves for miles; I waited for the S1 to pass through at full speed. I stood on the platform and saw it coming from the distance at 120 miles per hour . It flashed by like a steel thunderbolt, the ground shaking under me, in a blast of air that almost sucked me into its whirlwind. Approximately a million pounds of locomotive were crashing through near me. I felt shaken and overwhelmed by an unforgettable feeling of power, by

754-469: Is now stored in The Hagley Museum and Library , No. 6100 was awaiting engine truck repairs at Crestline. It was expected to be returned in service after a few days. This is one solid proof that the S1 was still in service at least until December 1945. At the time, at least 13 T1 4-4-4-4s were already put into service. The design flaws of the S1 led to only one example being produced. Before

812-447: Is still popular elsewhere, but North American locomotives nowadays are overwhelmingly hood units —with a strong frame beneath the superstructure that carries all the load, and bodywork made of removable panels for easy maintenance. Fully enclosed locomotives are used in some limited applications, mostly for passenger trains . These tend to be cowl units , in which the body is not load-bearing. This locomotive-related article

870-619: The Long Island Rail Road . Many obstacles, like some of the third rail guards, had to be temporarily removed while other obstacles were passed at a crawl to reach the fairgrounds. S1 was towed (facing backward) by smaller freight engines like PRR Ils and took a round-about route to the fair site. She ran up the Bel-Del , interchanged with the Lehigh and Hudson River Railway at Belvidere and NH at Maybrook . The S1 traveled over

928-596: The Mallet locomotive but including other articulated steam locomotives , as well as most diesel and electric locomotives ) may have a separate frame beneath the superstructure, or the bodywork's internal structure may be load-bearing. Rarely is a true monocoque structure used. Diesel and electric locomotives with a traditional, full-width body, known as cab units in North America , tend to have their strength in an internal structure. This style of construction

986-656: The Poughkeepsie and Hell Gate Bridge , crossed over the Hudson River and then brought it across on the NY Connecting. On March 13, 1939, the S1, lettered “American Railroads” on the tender, arrived at New York World's Fair. At the Fair, the drive wheels operated under the locomotive's steam power ran continuously on the roller platform at 60 mph (97 km/h) for an entire day. Film footage shows that all

1044-450: The Q1 4-6-4-4 and S2 turbine 6-8-6. To increase the adhesion and improve performance, PRR enlarged the sand dome on the S1. It ensured the supply of sand for steam sanding and slightly increased the axle load above the first and second set axle. The S1 was partially de-skirted in 1942 to improve the visibility of the reciprocating parts for the crews and better operation. Suspension springs of

1102-432: The 4-8-4 design in favor of a rigid frame duplex and asked Baldwin to consider the wheel arrangement 4-4-6-4. In July 1936, PRR requested Baldwin Locomotive Works to submit a design for a 4-8-4 engine capable of handling a 2,000-ton train between Colehour and Harsimus Cove. Two months after the conference, Baldwin Locomotive Works officials presented four designs to PRR: PRR preferred 4-4-4-4 and asked Baldwin to consider

1160-752: The Detroit Railroad Club, the S1 reached 105 miles per hour (169 km/h) on the route between Fort Wayne and Chicago. An article "Riding the Gargantua of the Rails" in the Dec 1941 Popular Mechanics Magazine cites a speed recorded by assistant road foreman Charlie Wappes of the Fort Wayne Division during the S1's test runs at 133.4 miles per hour (214.7 km/h) with a train of 12 heavyweight passenger cars. There are other stories of

1218-529: The Eaton paper company as part of an advertising campaign. One of the stamps depicts the S1 hauling the Broadway Limited. The S1 began its passenger train services starting from December 1940, on the run between Chicago and Pittsburgh . On its first run out of Fort Wayne, Indiana, the crew was led by H.H. Lehman (Fireman), C.J. Wappes (Road Foreman) and Frank Ritcha (Engineer). Due to its gigantic size,

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1276-474: The PRR. The PRR T1 was developed when the S1 was under construction or on display in the World Fair. The stylish appearance of the S1 has proved to be very popular: Wheel arrangement In rail transport , a wheel arrangement or wheel configuration is a system of classifying the way in which wheels are distributed under a locomotive . Several notations exist to describe the wheel assemblies of

1334-409: The S1 also achieved an average speed of 66 miles per hour (106 km/h), which was 27% faster than the average schedule speed of the route. Some publications from Germany stated that the S1 was able to reach 120.01 miles per hour (193.14 km/h) in other road tests during the late 1940s when pulling lighter load, but PRR never claimed this record. On Apr 19, 1941, during an excursion run organized by

1392-458: The S1 had to turn on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad 's wye at Chicago before going eastbound and was unable to go through the 130 lb switch (No. 8) just to the west of Pittsburgh Union Station . This problem wasn't fixed until 1946 (which also prevented the PRR class T1 operating through Pittsburgh). The S1 was so large that it could not negotiate the track clearances on most of

1450-669: The S1 hauled the Broadway Limited (New York to Chicago) and Liberty Limited (Washington D.C to Chicago) in the first few months of its revenue service, and was then assigned to haul other popular, heavier and commercially successful passenger trains such as The General , The Trail Blazer and The Golden Arrow on this route. Monthly mileage reports from the Hagley Library indicated that the S1 racked up 10,388-mile (16,718 km) per month, equivalent to twenty round trips between Chicago, Illinois and Crestline, Ohio , which in Aug 1941

1508-526: The S1 reaching or exceeding 140 miles per hour (230 km/h). In the German trade press and literature from 1945 there was a report of a record run of the S1, citing railroad officials of Interstate Commerce Commission that a speed of 141.2 miles per hour (227.2 km/h) was reached when the engine was trying to make up time for a delayed westbound train, the Trail Blazer . Its high-speed capability

1566-458: The S1 was clocked at 73 miles per hour (117 km/h) towing 90 freight cars. The S1 was displayed at the 1939 New York World's Fair with the lettering "American Railroads" rather than "Pennsylvania Railroad" , as 27 eastern railroads had one combined 17-acre (6.9 ha) exhibit, which also included the Baltimore and Ohio class N-1 . To reach the Fair, the S1 took a circuitous route over

1624-534: The S1 was officially put in revenue service, the PRR already ordered the T1s. Unlike its duplex sisters, the S1 didn't install any form of Poppet Valve Gear, even though it was proposed to install Franklin Type A rotary cam poppet valve gear when it was already under construction, but such proposal was rejected due to technical difficulties in 1938. This decision unexpectedly prevented many issues that would have been caused by

1682-421: The S1 was the longest reciprocating steam locomotive ever; it also had the heaviest tender (451,840 lb / 205 tonnes), highest tractive effort (76,403 lbf (339.86 kN)) of a passenger steam engine when built and the largest driving wheels (7 feet in diameter) ever used on a locomotive with more than three driving axles. The problem of wheel slippage, along with a wheelbase that was too long for many of

1740-471: The T1 in 1940, it had already begun developing duplex designs for fast locomotives since 1938, including a rigid-frame 4-2-2-4 and three-cylinder 4-4-4 for lightweight trains and the preliminary design for a 4-4-4-4 for heavy trains; BLW presented these designs to several railroads, but only the PRR adopted the duplex concept. In Oct 1939, when the S1 was still on display in the 1939-40 World's Fair, Baldwin placed

1798-711: The UIC classification scheme is generally used for all locomotive types including steam, with some exceptions. In France , the UIC classification is used for diesels and electrics while a scheme similar to the Whyte notation, but counting axles instead of wheels, is used for steam locomotives. Notably, Switzerland had its own separate notation system until 1989, with the Swiss locomotive and railcar classification now only retained for its narrow gauge railways . Geared steam locomotives such as Shays , Heislers , and Climaxes do not have

Pennsylvania Railroad class S1 - Misplaced Pages Continue

1856-665: The axles or the bogies). Whyte notation is generally used for steam locomotives throughout the United States , Canada , the United Kingdom and Ireland . For diesels and electrics, North America uses the AAR wheel arrangement scheme while British practice uses a slightly simplified form of the European UIC classification scheme (except for small diesel shunters, where Whyte notation is used). In mainland Europe ,

1914-420: The axles, but these proved to be inadequate. Unlike other experimental duplex engines like PRR's Class Q1 #6130 4-6-4-4, there were no flangeless wheels or blind drivers adopted on S1. In March 1938, a Chicago and North Western class E-4 4-6-4 "Hudson" #4003 was tested by PRR at Altoona. Based on the test results, PRR decided to adopt 84" drivers and a cylinder pressure of 300 psi for the S1. PRR believed that

1972-446: The centerline with the other cross tube forming the bottom of the 7-inch vertical tube that sprayed the water up into the steam space above the crown sheet. The lowest set pair of tubes was forward with the side openings of the other six steadily rising toward the back. A large Worthington 6 SA feedwater heater was fitted with a 7 SA pump to handle the enormous boiler's thirst. The six-wheel leading and trailing trucks were added, as

2030-475: The crank in the driver, so the big end made a 26-inch (660 mm) circle while each side rod pin made a 28 + 1 ⁄ 4 -inch (718 mm) circle. The boiler for the S1 was the largest built by the Pennsylvania Railroad; with 660 square feet (61 m) of direct heating surface and 500 one-inch diameter tubes, the total heating surface area of S1 was 7,746 square feet (719.6 m); it

2088-417: The design of its streamlined shrouding, and it was the same laboratory where he conducted testing of the streamlining of PRR K4s #3768. The design of the smoke lifting plate around the smokestack on S1 was improved based on the wind-tunnel test result from Guggenheim. The cost of the S1 was $ 669,780.00, equal to $ 14,671,066 today, which was over twice the cost of a PRR T1 4-4-4-4 (#6111 cost $ 310,676). No. 6100

2146-447: The electrified territory to be dieselized”. Preservation of the S1 was discussed inside PRR's board, but due to the deteriorating financial situation since 1946, 6100 was scrapped in 1949. The PRR continued developing the T1 class of 4-4-4-4 duplex locomotives but wheel slip and mechanical failures also plagued the T1. Before Pennsylvania Railroad commissioned Baldwin Locomotive Works for

2204-497: The engine used 70.6% limited cutoff (presumably to increase port openings at short cutoff), so the railroad claimed a correspondingly lower tractive effort. During a test run between Chicago, Illinois and Crestline, Ohio in December 1940, the S1 managed to reach 100.97 miles per hour (162.50 km/h) on level track with 1,350 tons of passenger stock behind it, which was equal to 24 postwar lightweight passenger cars. In this test run,

2262-547: The frames would be situated within the driving wheels ("inside frames"), but some classes of an early steam locomotive and diesel shunters were constructed with "outside frames". Some early designs were double framed where the frame consisted of plates both inside and outside the driving wheels. Others were sandwich frames where the frame was constructed of wood sandwiched between two metal plates. These are openwork girder structures built up from steel or iron bars which are usually 4–7 in (100–180 mm) thick, welded into

2320-471: The large diameter drivers could increase the tractive effort without causing undue slipping. In August 1941, PRR VP-Western Region James M. Symes , a senior official who turned against the idea of duplex engine in later years, approved the extension of stall no. 30 of the Crestline roundhouse to accommodate the S1. The stall had a connection at the back because the S1 could only be turned on a wye, but not on

2378-413: The lines of the PRR system, in its brief service life it was restricted to the mainline between Chicago, Illinois and Crestline, Ohio (283 miles/446 km). It was assigned to the Fort Wayne Division and based at the Crestline engine-house. As such, the S1 had to be turned on the wye at Crestline whenever it was in town, and suffered from repeated derailments as a result. Based on photographic evidence,

Pennsylvania Railroad class S1 - Misplaced Pages Continue

2436-485: The locomotive together with the unique, massive 6-wheel trailing truck soaked up the bumps and the surging often experienced with duplex locomotives. In terms of tractive effort and drawbar horsepower , the PRR S1 was the most potent reciprocating steam locomotive ever built for passenger service. Starting tractive effort calculated in the usual way (85% mean effective pressure) comes out 76,400 lbf (340 kN), but

2494-405: The locomotive was too heavy for four-wheel units. The streamlined Art Deco styled shrouding of the locomotive was designed by Raymond Loewy , a design concept based on his earlier streamlining design for PRR K4s #3768 in 1936, for which he received U.S. Patent No. 2,128,490 . Raymond Loewy conducted the wind-tunnel test by using the clay model of S1 at Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory for

2552-529: The locomotive's weight. By the time the plans were finalized and approved it had evolved into a 6-4-4-6. The benefits of a duplex design included lighter machinery, shorter cylinder stroke, less wear, lower piston thrust, smaller more efficient cylinders, and a more stable frame than an articulated underframe; also, no hinged connection had to be maintained. Reduced hammer blows on the track resulted in lower maintenance cost. Two sets of drivers with four wheels each could have lighter (as much as 25%) running gear than

2610-547: The new S1 steam locomotive would have a performance equal to their Pennsylvania Railroad class GG1 electric engine and would be capable of hauling a 1,000-ton passenger train at 100 mph. A conference was held between Baldwin Locomotive Works officials and W. F. Kiesel, J. V. B. Duer and W. R. Elsey for PRR, where PRR demanded a passenger locomotive to haul 15 standard cars at 100 mph on level track between Paoli and Chicago. Baldwin presented several 4-8-4 and 4-4-4-4 designs made for other railroads. However, PRR rejected

2668-426: The pilot truck and trailer truck were fine-tuned to straighten out the overall weight distribution to achieve better performance. Railway Historian and Author Alvin F. Staufer agrees that she (S1) was oversized and thus unable to visit most roundhouses or handle tight curves, but contends: "She was an excellent steamer and gave trouble-free service." According to an official report from PRR dated December 1, 1945, which

2726-632: The problematic Franklin valves in the T1's service. The total service years or total service mileage of the S1 (from Nov 1939 to March 1940, Dec 1940 to May 1946) was indeed slightly longer than some of the younger T1s. A time-book belonging to Pennsy engineman Byron Breininger from the Ft. Wayne division records a trip to Chicago on No. 6100 at 8:59 AM on May 5, 1946. This run was possibly one of its last in service, as less than two years later PRR president Martin W. Clement announced that “by May of this year (1948) we expect all of our through passenger trains west of

2784-495: The rail line's curves, limited the S1's usefulness. No further S1 models were built as focus shifted to the much smaller but more practical class T1 in June 1940. Design of the 4-4-4-4 T1 and the 6-4-4-6 S1 occurred concurrently, however, the S1 was the first produced. As early as June 1936, the management of Pennsylvania Railroad decided to build a new passenger locomotive to replace its aging K4s locomotives. They also hoped that

2842-420: The roundhouse's turntable. Timken roller bearings were equipped on the crosshead pins, all engine trucks, and drive axles as well as the tender trucks. Besides, the lightweight reciprocating parts were manufactured by Timken High Dynamic Steel and designed by Timken engineers. To get enough steel between the crank and axle, the back end of each main rod was offset 1 + 1 ⁄ 8 inches (29 mm) from

2900-433: The wheels on S1, besides the drive wheels, were also placed on rollers powered by electricity; every time S1 started its performance by moving the drive wheels, all the wheels were rolling, including the wheels on the tender's truck. The World's Fair was open for two seasons, from April to October each year, and was officially closed on October 27, 1940. During the five-month break between October 1939 and April 1940, No. 6100

2958-516: Was 7-1/2 in, the lap was 1-7/8 in, the lead was 5/16 in, exhaust clearance was 0.25 in, valve diameter was 12 in. The S1 was the largest passenger locomotive ever constructed, and the cast steel locomotive bed plate made by General Steel Castings was the largest single-piece casting ever made for a locomotive. In order to negotiate sharper radius curves, S1 was equipped with lateral motion devices made by Alco on its first and third set of drivers, allowing 57.2 mm (2.25 inches) of lateral play on

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3016-554: Was 99.3% as massive as the boiler for Union Pacific's 4000-class "Big Boy" locomotives . In terms of drawbar horsepower, the S1 was 13% more powerful than the Big Boy, with 7,200 hp (5,400 kW) and 6,345 hp (4,731 kW) respectively. The large Belpaire firebox met the Pennsy's standards; its heating surface area included that supplied by seven American Arch circulators. Water passed through 5.5-inch horizontal tube met at

3074-453: Was a very spectacular figure for an experimental engine, compared to K4s monthly average of 6,000 to 8,000 mi (9,700 to 12,900 km). This implied that the PRR had high regard for the S1's power and speed. The S1 helped PRR to handle the extreme busy wartime traffic until the end of WWII and paid off its high construction cost within one year. Crews liked the S1, partly because of its very smooth ride at speed. The great mass and inertia of

3132-414: Was accumulated from this fair's live steam show. After the World's Fair, the S1 was re-lettered for the Pennsylvania Railroad fleet. As one of the most important exhibits of the World's Fair, S1 was used by the PRR for various publicity purposes; her image was featured in calendars, stamps, advertisements, brochures, puzzles, etc. The American Bank Note Company issued a series of stamps in 1939, published by

3190-459: Was carried by the three-axle pilot (leading) and trailing trucks instead of the drivers, which left the four duplex driving axles susceptible to wheel slippage. However, during the 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 years service history of the S1, no serious accident occurred due to wheel slippage. The S1 served between Chicago and Crestline, Ohio for almost 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 years, giving it a longer career than other experimental PRR steam locomotives, such as

3248-477: Was completed at Altoona on December 21, 1938 without the streamlined casing. On the same day, it made its first road test with two cars, running backward to Huntingdon and returned to Altoona at speeds up to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h). During the run, it was stopped and checked for overhang on all tight curves. Assistant Chief of Motive Power-Locomotive Carleton K. Steins (1891-1973) noted superior riding and steaming qualities. During another pre-service road test,

3306-620: Was put back on the system for passenger service and road testing. There is photo evidence showing that the S1 was hauling the Manhattan Limited , a named train serving as an alternative to the Broadway Limited , in November 1939. Popular Mechanics described S1 as the " Pride of American Railroad " in an article in their June 1939 issue. The World's Fair attracted nearly 25 million visitors, S1's first 50,000 service mile

3364-639: Was such that many have claimed that the S1 exceeded on multiple occasions the 126 mph (203 km/h) record steam locomotive speed set in 1938 by the British LNER locomotive 4468 Mallard . The engine was claimed to have exceeded 152 mph (245 km/h) on the Fort Wayne-Chicago run, as it was reported that the PRR received a fine for the feat. The streamlining designer of the train Raymond Loewy himself wrote in 1979: "On

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