Why, pray tell, is it so important to so many folks that this locomotive, if it ever becomes a reality, operate over Horseshoe Curve? Historically, T-1's rarely made un assisted trips westbound over the Curve. Even on fairly light trains, they doubleheaded with a K-4s or even an L-1s, not because they couldn't make the grade, but to keep train speed up. I'd be much more interested in riding from Altoona east to Harrisburg or from Pittsburgh west, where the beast could really get out and stretch its legs.

My wife's grandfather was a special duty engineman on the Middle Division during the time that the two prototype T-1's were testing between Altoona and Harrisburg, and he was often the man on the right-hand seatbox. He told some fairly hair-raising tales about the post-construction modifications and tweaks made to the locomotives as the PRR engineering folks evaluated their performance.

My wife's grandfather was a special duty engineman on the Middle Division during the time that the two prototype T-1's were testing between Altoona and Harrisburg, and he was often the man on the right-hand seatbox. He told some fairly hair-raising tales

The real goal of this project is not the five minute thrill of shooting some video of the T1 going around horseshoe, it is in the thinking and planning and the making of each of the parts and assemblies and in the assembling of the locomotive.

Alex, every owner of an operable mainline steam locomotive makes the same crap shoot. Fort Wayne does not own the trackage that 765 runs on. VMT does not the mainline that 611 will run on. Neither do the owners of 261 or 4449 among others. Yet they seem to get out there on the mains. Instead of the constant harping on the "where are they going to run it" canard, maybe it would be a bit more useful to discuss the finer points why it is important to attempt to build a large steam locomotive this many years after the end of steam.

Recently leafing through a book I found in the local used bookstore, Production Processes, by Roger W Bolz, The Industrial Press, 1963, I found a photo of the bed casting for the T-1 on page 563. It is pretty amazing with all of the detail there. Photo was courtesy of Eddystone Steel Castings Co., whom I assume is long out of business. Looking at the photo, I was reflecting on whether there was a still a foundry in business that could still cast something that huge?