News of this locomotive's return to service is most welcomed, especially here in the DC/Maryland region! It will be enjoyable to see this 2-6-6-2 storm up the WMSR line to Frostburg-- but that turntable might be a bit short!
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There's a lot of interest in duplex steam these days. Did you hear about the Pennsy T1 project?
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The wheel base is 88 ft. on the 1309 and the turntable in Frostburg is 100 ft. Just to clear that up!
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HURRAY!
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I have heard that they have already measured and that it will fit on the turntable
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Does anyone have news of the time frame on this project?
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This will be the 1st compound steam articulated locomotive to ever be brought back into service. I don't live far and I can see myself spending a great deal of time near the WM Scenic RR shops. By compound, this locomotive uses team twice, hence the larger front cylinders. Steam from the rear cylinders is sent to power the front cylinders. The larger diameter cylinder compensates for the lower pressure. N+W perfected compound steam back in the 1930's. Several manufacturers tried unsuccessfully to develop their own compound steam loco's, but only N+W ever had any success with it. Even the Union Pacific RR tried compound steam, but then converted all 4 cylinders to be powered directly from the boiler. The engineers at N+W were geniuses when you consider all the locomotives they developed and built.
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From what I heard they want to have her running in 2 years or by 2016 or so. Once they finish 734's 1,472 this winter they will be able to fully focus their attention on the 1309.
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I think pjflstc should look at the picture more closely. The cylinders are all the same size, and there is a steam pipe coming directly from the boiler to the rear cylinders
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Dick, Photo ID #'s 401568 & 352132 both confirm my statement regarding compound articulated which does have larger front cylinders & using the steam twice. You can see the larger front cylinder diameter by looking at the bolts on cover plates on the front of the cylinders. Compound steam locomotives had the high pressure from the boiler feed into the rear cylinders which then fed the exhaust to the front cylinders. Google "Mallet Compound Locomotive" for more detailed explanation
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| Posted by Mordy on May 9, 2014 | |
Shame they can't get more of their stock/power under canopies... I know that most of this rust is cosmetic, but still, it takes a toll.
To the last commentator: read the above comment again. Steam is routed directly to the rear drivers (thus the pipe), then back to the larger front drivers (the bottom cylinder is clearly much larger in front than in back).
In other news, moving that engine out of there is going to be quite the event... lots of stock to move to clear the track.
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There is a mallet running in South Dakota and in California. Another was restored several years ago by California Western. This is undoubtedly a compound engine but I also question the apparent size of the cylinders. I would suspect the outside castings are birth the same size but have been machined to different cylinder diameters. Maybe a C&O expert can enlighten us. I wonder if they can engineer an N&W "booster" valve to allow it to run simple longer.
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The CUMBERLAND TIMES-NEWS reports that the locomotive is due at WMSR in June. It also claims that the locomotive is slated for inspection in 2015-- others might weigh in on how optimistic that time-frame might be.
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