The Pennsylvania Railroad T1 was a 4-4-4-4 steam locomotive in PRR's Duplex class, they were Streamlined steam engines Designed by Raymond Loewy
History
The T1 Locomotive was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1942 with first locomotives No. 6110 and 6111 rolled out, unlike later T1 designs, they were slightly different, their number keystone was on the bottom of the front and the tender was different, from 1945-1946, class No. 5500 were in existence, they were to be the next generation of Steam Passenger Service, But like the Erie Triplex before and the S1 No. 6100 which was soon to perish, due to the finikey nature with the drive gear the T1 was assesive to wheelslip, But they could reach the Steam Locomotive speed record easily. When the PRR purchased Diesel engines, they were downgraded to Mail and Express Service, they were retired in 1952 and scrapped in 1956
PRR T1 Trust
In 2014, a non profit group called The Pennsylvania T1 Steam Locomotive Trust was formed by some preservation experts to build a new T1 and Number it #5550, The Year 2015 was a major turning point for the company as they reached for their goal of $20,000, the new T1 is expected to be completed in 2030
Trivia
- The South Australian Railways 520 Class has similar design to these Sharp-Nosed giants however, those engines are 4-8-4 Northern Type Engines
- The Original T1 had a rounded bottom front with the number printed on it and the tender had the word Pennsylvania printed in yellow and the PRR Keystone printed in a circle next to it, in the first few 5500 class engines, The tender was repainted to having the keystone above the lettering, in the last few engines built, the rounded front was flatter, The Keystone was Brass and it was Moved to the nose of the engine