MOC: Shark of the Pennsylvania Railroad

[SavaTheAggie]

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Pennsylvania Railroad T1 Duplex (4-4-4-4) Steam Engine #5544, one of the Sharks of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

The Pennsylvania Railroad's 52 T1 class duplex-drive 4-4-4-4 steam locomotives, introduced in 1942 (2 prototypes) and 1945-1946 (50 production), were their last steam locomotives built and their most controversial. They were ambitious, technologically sophisticated, powerful, fast, and distinctively streamlined by Raymond Loewy. Sadly, however, the inevitable march of Dieselisation meant that every T1 was out of service by 1952 and the last was scrapped in 1956. None survived.

This model is a near complete rebuild of my original version. While it may not be initially obvious, the locomotive is about 90% different parts, the tender was only slightly adjusted to prepare it for swap over to Power Functions. Changes include: XL drivers, SNOT boiler, added boiler length, new wheel arrangement and articulation, added details and an overall closer eye on matching the prototype.

--Tony

[ronenson]

Nice work. I'm impressed with how you've been able to have it make the turns.

[marsupilami]

Looking good Tony, and here's a 'me too' for being impressed with the way it can make the turns.

Will you be releasing building instructions for this remake? (hint) :)

Edited December 29, 2013 by marsupilami

[LEGO Guy Bri]

Excellent loco Tony! A nice subtle improvement over your first

[SnapLock]

Wow, all i can say Wow, this is such a great looking, jaw dropping loco.

Thanks for sharing

[SavaTheAggie]

Thank you all. I have not yet tested her under power, so that should be a fun experiment. Though right now I have to say it's looking promising - as I was taking photos of her, I had to break the track and separate the tender and locomotive so I could spin them around independently; I didn't have enough room to spin the whole thing. My table has a ever so slight lean to it, and when I separated the tender (motored, heavy) from the locomotive (free-wheeler), the locomotive quickly got away from me multiple times. She rolled off the track enough that her forward driver pair left the track. I don't think many of my locomotives would so freely roll so far on their own like that.

As for instructions - probably not. I made instructions for the original version and they haven't sold well enough for me to make a new version.

--Tony

[Hey Joe]

Many thanks for sharing with us, it's a beauty.

That's a shame that none of the engines were saved.

Joe

[MetroiD]

Wow, starting the new year in style, Tony! She's a true beaut, and judging by your story, she can't wait to get going!

I was wondering - what's the pulling power on one of these behemoths (I mean the LEGO version)?

[SavaTheAggie]

Thanks guys.

Presently she's equipped with two 9v standard train motors, so she's got a bit of power. But she'll never have the same amount of power as a similarly equipped diesel since the powered tender is pushing an unpowered locomotive.

I plan to upgrade her with 2 PF train motors, so she'll have increased torque, along with full torque at low speeds - not that I plan to run her slowly. She's got more than enough pep to pull my four streamlined coaches at full tilt.

--Tony

[Man with a hat]

Nice update of an already great train.

Hopefully you can show us the pulling power of this beast soon.

[Bluredblue]

Thanks for sharing! That looks amazing! I've always been a big fan of the PRR T1 and the S1 as well.

Have you thought at all about pairing up some passenger cars to this beast?

[SavaTheAggie]

Thanks guys. I plan to build some lightweight "shell" coaches for her, but not a full train. The coaches will be part of a "mixed fleet" of passenger liveries.

--Tony

[neonic]

Great looking train

i've never seen such long coal car/tender (don't know the name, sorry)

[Doom2099]

What an incredible train. The yellow stripes in the tender look great, as does the nose. If Lego ever put out a set like this from the eXpert line I'd be all over it! Great job on doing it yourself, and doing it so well.