PRR T1 Steam Whistle to be Used on WMSR

A former Pennsylvania Railroad steam locomotive whistle will be used on Western Maryland Scenic Railroad trains pulled on June 18 and 19 by former Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-2 No. 1309.

The whistle was once used on a PRR T1 steam locomotive and is being loaned to the WMSR by the Pennsylvania Railroad T1 Trust, which is seeking to create a T1 locomotive, to be numbered No. 5550.

In an email announcement, the Trust group said some of its members will be present to discuss the project and answer questions about it.

The T1 whistle will be used by the WMSR tourist trains leaving from Cumberland, Maryland.

The 1309 was recently restored to operating condition by the WMSR and it seeing its first season of operation this year.

T1 Trust Shows Work Done on New Engine

The Pennsylvania Railroad T1 Steam Locomotive Trust held an open house last weekend to show the combined cab, boiler shell, and prow of steam engine No. 5550.

The Trust is working to recreate a PRR T-1-class 4-4-4-4 locomotive. The Pennsy had 52 of the locomotives, which it used for passenger service. All have been scrapped.

The open house was held in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, during the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society.

If all goes according to plan the Trust hopes to have the 5550 operating by 2030.

The group has raised $1.715 million thus far for the project and construction of the locomotives is 39 percent, officials said.

For more information about the T1 building project, visit https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/t1-trust-displays-progress-in-building-new-steam-locomotive/

T1 Group Gets Challenge Grant, Seeks Donations

A group seeking to rebuild a former Pennsylvania Railroad T1 steam locomotive announced this week that it has received a $50,000 challenge grant from an anonymous donor.

The donor will match dollar for dollar every donation received through December up to a maximum of $50,000.

In an email blast the Pennsylvania Railroad T1 Steam Locomotive Trust said it has already received $10,200 from its Founders Club Members.

The group is said if it receives $50,000 the matching grant will mean the restoration fund will receive $100,000.

Information about how to make a donation can be found at https://prrt1steamlocomotivetrust.org/station/index.php?route=challenge/challenge

On its website the group said that through last July it had raised $1.2 million, which is 35 percent of the funding it needs to complete recreating T1 No. 5550. The original 5550, the last surviving T1 locomotive, was scrapped by the Pennsy in 1956.

The T1 trust estimated that it will complete the project in 2030.

T1 Trust Buys Boiler Courses

The Pennsylvania Railroad T1 Steam Locomotive Trust recently announced that it purchased the first and second boiler courses of new-build 4-4-4-4 No. 5550.

The order was placed with Continental Fabricators of St. Louis. In a news release the T1 Trust described the acquisition as a major milestone because the boiler courses represent the largest parts yet built for the streamlined duplex locomotive.

The two sections are more than 93 inches in diameter and nearly 12-feet long. The boiler code steel is 1-inch thick and weighs more than 12,000 pounds.

All welds will be x-rayed to ensure perfect seams. The sections will include wash-out plugs and openings for water delivery.

The T1 trust is seeking to raise the $25,000 to complete the third and final cylindrical boiler section. The goal is to have donations pledged by April 15. If so the trust said it can have 25,000-pounds of boiler complete by summer 2018.

T1 Trust Acquires Tender from New York Society

The Western New York Railway Historical Society has sold to the T1 Trust a tender that is being described as the last of its kind.

Former Pennsylvania Railroad long-haul tender No. 6659 was used behind an M1, a 4-8-2 Mountain-type locomotive.

The acquisition means that the T1 trust will not have to build a tender because the tender it purchased is essentially a T1 tender minus the streamlining.

Design, construction, and fabrication of a new tender was estimated to eat $3 million out of the T1 restoration project’s $10 million budget.

No. 6659 holds 31 tons of coal and 21,000 gallons of water. No other coast-to-coast tenders with 16-wheels are known to exist.

In a news release, the T1 Trust said that No. 6659 is in excellent condition with sealed hatches, minor surface rust and well-preserved trucks.

The WNYRHS had acquired No. 6659 with the intent of using it to replace the gutted-out short tender for its Pennsy 2-10-0 I1sa-type locomotive.

As part of the purchase agreement, the T1 Trust will fully restore the I1’s tender tank to its original specifications as part of a planned cosmetic restoration of the I1 locomotive. The tender restoration is estimated to cost $75,000.

T1 Restoration Group Reports Building Cab

A group restoring a Pennsylvania Railroad steam locomotive recently announced that it has finished building the engine’s cab.

The rebuilding was done in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, in a former PRR shop how owned by Curry Rail Service.

The group, The T1 Trust, is seeking to restore PRR T1 4-4-4-4 No. 5550.

The group described finishing the cab as a major step forward. Earlier this year it said it had cast its first boxpok driver.

Curry Rail is a locomotive supplier and railcar maintenance company that is a corporate sponsor of the T1 Trust project.

The Pennsy had 52 Class T1 locomotives, including 25 built at its shops in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Another 27 were built by Baldwin Locomotive Works.

Most of them were built in 1945 and 1946 and used in high-speed passenger service.

Group Says it Cast Boxpok Driver

The Pennsylvania Railroad T1 Steam Locomotive Trust said that it recently created a boxpok driver, the first in the United State in more than 70 years.

The non-profit group said that the driver is unlike a typical driving wheel in that it is hollow.

The design provides a high strength-to-weight ratio and allows the fine-tuning necessary for high-speed operations for the PRR T1 4-4-4-4 No. 5550.

To make the driver, the group said it had to obtain the original drawings from the Pennsylvania State Archives.

The boxpok driver is one of the first components that the organization plans to build.