What would be required (besides a pant load of money) in order to run a British Steam Locomotive on American rails? I know when the Flying Scotsman was brought over, it had a cowcatcher, bell and American-style headlight added to it, which looked kind of goofy. But that was before the 1472-day inspection. Would the locomotive have to pass the inspection on arrival or would the FRA simply honor the British certification?
I’d be interested to know as well. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway locomotive, the Royal Scot came over as part of the Century of Progress fair in Chicago in 1933 and it was fitted with a bell and whistle but no cowcatcher. It made an extensive tour of the US and Canada and there is a picture of it next to what I think is a Pennsy K4 to compare loading gauges. I was on the Flying Scotsman when it came to Penn Station in 1969 and it did have all the equipment you mention. I saw it recently in the museum in York, England and it has a knuckle coupler on the back of the tender.
One of the Great Western’s “King” class also came over in the 1930’s and received a bell from the B&O. I understand the preserved loco still has that bell
Aside from the mods done to the Flying Scotsman, I don’t think anything special would have to be done to a British locomotive. I could be wrong, but I think the FRA would honor the Brit certifications, they’re pretty stringent as well. The FRA might even give it a pass as it would be here in a, ahem, “guest worker” capacity and not taking up permanent residence. If it IS taking up permanent residence, who knows?
ACY, that would be the King George V, a Great Western 4-6-0. It is still fitted with the bell and is still running. It came over in the fall of 1927 for the B & O’s 100 anniversary. I would think that the Brit’s standards for steam locomotives would be pretty high. They did invent them, didn’t they?
Next to parliamentary democracy the steam locomotive’s got to be Britains greatest gift to the world. Seems odd to say this on Independence Day but I’ve got to give credit where credit is due!
Here is a linked THREAD on This Forum from 2013 that has lots of links and Information on the 4472 [ The Flying Scotsman]. Its trip to the USA and Canada in 1968 thru to 1972. At first it was sponsored by Alan Pegler, and then a consortium that bought the 4472 out of his Bankruptcy.
My dad told me he saw the Royal Scot running through Akron on the B&O mainline. He was interested in railroads, but didn’t have an in-depth knowledge, so it’s possible he was talking about King George V. At any rate, he said he was impressed with the sound of the loco. He was used to the loud blasts of B&O steamers on the eastbound ruling grade out of Akron, but he said the British engine voiced a steady woosh-woosh-woosh, sounding more like a piece of precision machinery. Incidentally, he also recalled seeing a locomotive named George H. Emerson, but didn’t know its significance.
The George H. Emerson was B&O 5600, the N-1 4-4-4-4. Unlike the T-1, the rear cylinders faced the rear were adjacent to the firebox.
And it was a disappointment.
That old gremlin added a chatterbox post to this thread. How ?
King George V came to the United States in 1927 as part of the B&O Centennial of the Iron Horse to celebrate their 100th anniversary. King George V ran on B&O rails as part of the visit and was operated by a GWR crew with a B&O pilot.
The “King George V” certainly did appear at the “fair of the Iron Horse” but I think it went alone to the USA without a train and I’m not sure where else it might have run.
The Royal Scot, however, took a complete train representative of the train of that name. It appears that Otto Perry got a photo of 6100 in Denver CO, so the Royal Scot certainly got around.
The description of the sound might be rgarded as more like the three cylinder exhaust of the Royal Scot rather than the four cylinder King George V which would sound more like a US two cylinder locomotive with its cranks at 180 degrees.
M636C
Picture from Fair of the Iron Horse stereoscopic slide set.
For those that want to see the picture, go to the Denver Public Library site, and search OP-20568.
The locomotive looks very odd with a top mounted headlight and no smokebox access keys on the front.