T1 Cylinder Construction begins

jasonjohnson · **Joined:** Mon May 26, 2008 9:25 pm **Posts:** 66

Many of asked how we are going to manufacture the massive 8,000 lb cylinders for the PRR T1. This video should clear it up with the actual cylinders.

https://youtu.be/jrJxj_YOwGc

co614 · **Posted:** Sun May 11, 2025 8:59 pm

Great progress. I'd urge all my fellow steam lovers to join the T-1 Trust and donate as you're able to as a way to share this exciting journey.

Congratulations to Jason Johnson and the whole T-1 Trust team for achieving another significant milestone.

Onward & Upward. Ross Rowland

mldeets · **Joined:** Thu Aug 05, 2010 2:06 am **Posts:** 411

I certainly wish you continued success.................mld

Tails · **Joined:** Fri Mar 29, 2013 11:14 pm **Posts:** 139

So what's the next thing people will say " I won't believe they will succeed until they....." about? They have the start of a boiler, they have a basic frame. Sure there is a lot more that goes into all of this, but the big parts are there. After cylinders I would expect guides would be a logical next step, since that would go hand in hand with boring the cylinders.

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Thu May 15, 2025 12:24 am

Tails wrote:

So what's the next thing people will say " I won't believe they will succeed until they....." about? They have the start of a boiler, they have a basic frame. Sure there is a lot more that goes into all of this, but the big parts are there. After cylinders I would expect guides would be a logical next step, since that would go hand in hand with boring the cylinders.

There are people apparently determined not to "believe" until it breaks the 126-mph speed record officially set by LNER 4468 Mallard in 1938....................

MCH765 · **Posted:** Thu May 15, 2025 2:53 pm

Alexander D. Mitchell IV wrote:

Tails wrote:

So what's the next thing people will say " I won't believe they will succeed until they....." about? They have the start of a boiler, they have a basic frame. Sure there is a lot more that goes into all of this, but the big parts are there. After cylinders I would expect guides would be a logical next step, since that would go hand in hand with boring the cylinders.

There are people apparently determined not to "believe" until it breaks the 126-mph speed record officially set by LNER 4468 Mallard in 1938....................

Meh, I'm still convinced the PRR 7002 and its 127.1mph record is the true one... *snickers*

PMC · **Joined:** Sat Oct 17, 2015 5:55 pm **Posts:** 2876

Will they wait for the cylinders to be finished to stress relieve the frame?

PMC · **Joined:** Sat Oct 17, 2015 5:55 pm **Posts:** 2876

Assembly location announced: https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews ... 1-no-5500/

Still no word on stress relieving the frame that I have seen.

ParisHill · **Joined:** Fri Sep 13, 2013 4:42 pm **Posts:** 216

YouTube announcement:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmjIixLtqJk

co614 · **Posted:** Sat May 17, 2025 1:24 pm

Great choice. Dennison is rich in PRR history and played a huge roll during WW 11 servicing countless troops being carried on endless troop trains.

Exciting development. Congratulations to Jason Johnson and team.

Ross Rowland

jayrod · **Posted:** Sat May 17, 2025 4:26 pm

I’d bet that Wendy Zucal at the Dennison Depot Railroad Museum had a hand in getting the grant. She has a knack for being rather successful at that.

Randy Musselman · **Posted:** Sat May 17, 2025 9:29 pm

Hello,

This project is gathering exponential momentum. Perhaps this may be our “Big Boy” event on the East Coast….I think the general public is going to be startled on the shear size of the T. In a digital age, it will be a monument to state of the art modern steam locomotive design practice the 1940’s.

Very much looking forward to the new set of roller bearing side rods being manufactured, hopefully see reports on the billets being forged and machined! In this forum I have repeatedly obsessed to the shear impressive appearance of Timken rods. Absolutely stunning pieces of machine work! Fortunately in the near future I’ll be certain to get a Strasburg shop tour and get my next Timken rod fix on the 614.

Once this facility is built I suspect the enthusiasm and support is going to accelerate.

Great development!

Cheers,

Randy

Mgoldman · **Posted:** Sun May 18, 2025 12:01 am

But... where are you gonna be able to run it?

(Lol)

Great news and a very welcome update!

Interesting concept - weld it before you align it. I've been looking my whole life for a place that embraces a concept I often use - measure once, cut twice - need a volunteer? Lol. - kidding, of course.

So - a 1,000 hours of welding - what was the process the PRR /Baldwin used in the past?

/Mitch

J3a-614 · **Posted:** Mon May 19, 2025 3:54 am

Mgoldman wrote:

So - a 1,000 hours of welding - what was the process the PRR /Baldwin used in the past?

/Mitch

The standard thing then for modern steam power (including N&W 611 and C&O 614) was a large, CAST steel "engine bed," that included the cylinders, a lot of brackets and things, and in the case of the 614, the main air reservoirs.

It was quite a foundry job, and required a host of risers to let the molten steel fill all the cavities and places in the mold, and for a casting this large, would probably have required multiple ladles of steel being poured at the same time.

This is the frame casting for the experimental PRR S1 6-4-4-6 of 1939 (T1 predecessor), just out of the molds.

This image was via the Pennsylvania Railroad T1 Steam Locomotive Trust and its Facebook page. The commentary from that page is below.

Quote:

We get quite a few questions about why we are not casting the locomotive frame. We wanted to put some rumors to rest. Below is a photo of an original PRR S1 frame right out of the sand molds. You can see all the risers and gating on top of the actual frame. All of that needs cut off with torches and machined down. The shear amount of work to do that today is not the best use of your donations. We can fabricate something just a strong and looks nearly identical for a fraction of the cost to cast.

We have identified 3 shops in America that can do a casting of this size (120,000lbs) but the costs for patterns and tooling are well over $2 Million and that does not include machining. By building the frame the way we currently are, we can machine all of the components before they get welded together saving huge amounts of money and time. The decision not to cast frame was simply an economical one.

We hope you can come out on May 11 to Altoona and see how the new frame is coming. We think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Photo supplied by Gary Bensman

co614 · **Posted:** Mon May 19, 2025 10:52 am

The bottom line here is by doing it by segments welded into a whole frame it cost a fraction of pouring a complete frame ( yes, there are a number of places in the lower 48 that are capable of that large a casting) AND at the end of the day you end up with a frame stronger than a 1 piece cast frame, nearly identical weight , and a fraction of the cost.

No doubt whatsoever in my mind that the locomotive builders would have gone the same route if that had the large advances in welding made since the end of steam.

Onward & Upward. Ross Rowland