Ok troops, here’s your Pennsy forum, anything Pennsy, and I do mean anything, from Steam to Electrics to Diesels and anything else with a Pennsy logo on it. This will be an open discussion of anything Pennsy so does anyone have questions, answers, or just plain old BS about the Pennsy to start. Have fun.
I liked their Electric GG-1’s.
Ahhh, good old Pennsy. In my opinion, the most creative railroad in America. Famous for their GG1’s, and unusual steam locomotives. I love the S1. Too bad it wasn’t successful. And who can forget the Q1, and Q2? And the T1. Fine examples of duplex system steam. I’d love to model these locos, but money is tight.
[8]TrainFreak409[8]
Emerald you sure know how to push all the right buttons in a guy! Pennsylvania (IMHO) was the most innovative railroad ever…real risk-takers. They were never afraid to try new locomotives and let’s face it–if you look at the Pennsy’s history they had the most interesting assortment of steamers and diesels in it’s storied history. If I could call one, just one, railroad back into existence with the nod of my head, the Pennsylvania would be it.[:D]
Pennsylvania. To me, they are the best in the northeast, while N&W is king of the southeast.
I love their massive J1 2-10-4s, possibly the most ultimate Texan. An accurate model of it would be awesome. (BLI’s doesn’t capture the look right)
I wouldn’t say they were that innovative with the bulk of their steam engines.
They had 2 class of Mikes.
They had 2 classes of Santa Fe’s.
They had one class of decapods.
They had 5 classes of Pacifics.
They had one class of Mountains.
Granted they had a gazillion of each type. But they were very simple mechanically.
The thing was they were uniformly attractive. Even the Hippos. Boy that must have been a sight with 2 or 3 hippos on the point and another couple for helpers.
The G’s were a engine unto themselves. They didn’t have a bad angle to them.
Dave H.
Have you visited the PRRT&HS (www.prrt&hs.com) site? It is a goldmine of info and they have published an on-line Modellers Magazine …it is really A1… a must visit for Pennsy fans.
The BLI J1s are out now. They look a little better than in the pre-production photos. I hope by the time the 3800 is released, they’ve gotten their act together.
Who can’t love the Pennsylvania Railroad? They have a little something for everybody.
Sure, not all of their locomotives were as innovated as the others, but, you can’t run a railroad using unproven methods, you have to use proven, reliable technology as well. With their massive numbers of each class, they had a great backup for their experiements.
I wi***hey hadn’t scrapped the S2, I would love to see a monster like that in person. A true beast.
[8]TrainFreak409[8]
I love the Pennsy as well. From their Position Light Signals to their Duplex Locos, I love it all. I am grateful that I was able to work on former PRR lines while employed (briefly) by CSX.
Now I wish for an E44 to come out in mass-produced plastic [:D]!
While the PRR was known as the “Standard Railroad of the World” it was the opposite, who else had 4-4-4-4’s and 6-8-6’s, the PRR dieselized late but in the end owned almost every 1st and early 2nd generation diesel ever made.
The Pennsy was both innovative and at the same time very conservative. The Pennsy would test everything - from brooms and gloves - to rotory poppet valve gears. Once it found something that it liked, it would stick with it - in a big way. In the case of steam power, you would have a small number of Major classes (K-4, L-1, M-1) but a huge number of subclasses - both recognized by an official subclass suffix but many more without.
As for owning every 1st and 2nd gen. diesel ever made - A true statement that has to be placed in context. When the PRR made the decision to dieselize, it did not want to spend any resources on major overhauls of existing steam (every 5 years). The diesel mfrs could not meet the demand that the PRR had for motive power and they had to spread the orders around. Further proof of this policy is evident when the PRR leased steam from everyone (SR, RDG, RFP,etc) in 1956 instead of making class repairs to the J-1s in storage.
As for the high number of Baldwins diesels on the roster, Baldwin was the on-line hometown mfr.
Later…
Pennsy had some AWESOME locos, that’s for sure. T1 4-4-4-4s, J1 2-10-4s, K4 4-6-2s, Baldwin Centepiedes, GG1s, and those awesome Q2 4-4-6-4s.