A video by Arkansas Locomotive Works. Congratulations to the New Mexico Steam Locomotive & Railroad Historical Society!
Amen! Amen!! AMEN!!!
Wow. Oh wow!
The “Sleeping Beauty” awakens. Maybe they should name it the “Princess Aurora?”
And you can tell it’s ready to come alive when that smokestack extender pops up, like an opening eyelid!
And those campaign ribbons on the cab? Those are the American Theater of Operations Medal (WW2) and the National Defense Medal. Makes sense, we wouldn’t have won WW2 without locomotives like 2926.
Thanks Mr. Jones!
She needs to run the route of the Chiefs just like 3751 did all those years ago! [bow]
Sure would be awesome to see 3751 and 2926 together again!
Can you imagine either one of them tackling the grades on the Grand Canyon Railway!?
Or perhaps both…
The fact that six of those 30 WW2 era beasts still survive is amazing. Just reminded that only one DRGW standard gage steam engine survives and it was a relatively small engine. Wonder if they will let it out on Glorietta hill or find somewhere to turn that beast?
You are welcome, Wayne. Thank you so much for reminding us about those campaign ribbons.
I can’t wait to see those sexy 80" drivers spinning at high speed once again. The tender trucks are the same type used on the PRR S1, looking forward to seeing them traveling at higher speed!
The Santa Fe was pretty generous in donating retired steam engines, so were some other 'roads like the Union Pacific and the Nickle Plate. Too bad we can’t say the same for some others.
Can’t wait to see that big-barreled Baldwin blasting up the mainline!
If I remember correctly, the 2900s were The Biggest Northern That Ever Was in terms of weight of locomotive and tender, with the Northern Pacific A-5 class (another Baldwin) coming in a close second.
Certainly the heaviest, due to the wartime shortages of lightweight steels.
Lightweight steels?
I think perhaps “high strength” steels.
Ed
Well, the information I’ve read described them as “lightweight.” I’m not a metallurgist by any means but I do know there’s different grades of steel for different applications. 2926 is a “war baby” when you comedown to it and the War Production Board was tasked with “who got what” during the war years.
Here is a link to the 4-8-4 page on steamlocomotive.com
Not sure how they pull the data on tractive effort, as Sante Fe rated their 4-8-4 locomotives in the mid-60,000s, but still an interesting table.
http://steamlocomotive.com/locobase.php?country=USA&wheel=4-8-4
What he means are “alloy steels” permitting lighter weight.
Of course the ‘lightweight steel’ important as such is the ‘High Dynamic’ used in the thin-section roller-bearing Timken rods and associated valve gear – which you will note 2926 is now equipped with. The WPB initially attempted to restrict this based on the ‘strategic metal’ alloy constituents… hence the fiasco of the N&W J1s and fairly brisk about-face on railroad inability to spec the Timken rods and their bearings as needed.
Great list! Thanks!
I couldn’t help but notice there’s no numbers for drawbar horsepower. Is it because it wasn’t as important as tractive effort, or was there no reliable way to measure it at the time?
'76, of course dbhp is on a curve, but the New Mexico Steam Locomotive & Railway Historical Society has this FAQ page about 2926:
http://www.nmslrhs.org/FAQ/faq.php
It says 2926 produces 4,590 dbhp at 40 MPH.
Thanks!
Interestingly, 4,590 dbhp is in the ballpark with an ET44AC or SD70ACe-T4, but I would dare to say delivered in a way cooler manner!
What’s is scary is that figure is only about 85 percent of what the 2900s could actually do. Santa Fe was always conservative on ratings to avoid needing helpers if possible. So the 2900 class was more than likely over 5000 hp or more.
Yeah, I was wondering if that was the case myself, that thing is a beast!