Chasing Trains  Big and Little

May 2015                                          T-1

 

Some of us will remember the Pennsylvania Railroad's class T-1 steam locomotive. This was the Pennsy's last steam passenger locomotive. Fifty Two of these streamlined monsters were built in the 1940's as the railroad's last attempt to produce a steam passenger locomotive equal in performance to a diesel locomotive.

 

The T's' depending on one's perspective were either loved or hated and were rapidly replaced by diesels in the mid 1950's. All were scrapped. The design was a joint effort between the Railroad and the Baldwin Locomotive Works. The engine was streamline by Raymond Lowey. On the Altoona test plant it registered about 5000 horsepower. Wheel arrangement was 4-4-4-4. Stories are that top speed was beyond the ability of the test plant to register

 

According to the May issue of Trains Magazine, a group of former railroad  and industry executives and design engineers have formed the T-1 Trust to raise $10 Million to build a new T-1 from the ground up between now and 2030. The group would use the locomotive for research and excursion purposes.

 

The writer remembers walking along the street below the elevated tracks in Wilkinsburg. When a T passed over head at about 50 MPH the ground shook.