Sharks of the Pennsylvania RailRoad

[TheDarkPhoenix23]

I always come back to watch this vid. I love the T1's but my absolute favorite is still the S1!

[j69buckjumper]

I love big powerful steam, and have models of many American and British steam engines, but the S1 was by no means the fastest steam locomotive, that being the British A4 class 4-6-2 "Mallard" (named after a species of duck!)

[STICKGUYMB]

I just love how PRR had all of the most unique looking steam locomotives and some of the most powerful and the rarest. I would have loved to see these back in the day...

[thepresident1981]

the PRR Q-2 Class had more HP than any other steam locomotive in the history of steam engines 7,987 cylinder horsepower (5,956 kW) wish i had one or two

[robertgift]

Why allow only BRIEF glimpses of the locomotives?

You start to show one, whenn it gets close you then interrupto display description, then fade away!

[ArcticStarFox]

Dear Pennsy......can you believe people still love you after all these years? I agree we miss you terribly....only can you in a few museums anymore...and on youtube....

[kickflip1234100]

dear pennsylvania railroad, "we wish you were still here..."

[OlDoinyo]

#6100 was ahead of its time in many respects--120+ mph in actual service, 25 years before the first Shinkansen in Japan, and not equalled in North America until the Acela 61 years later. In retrospect, something such as that really needed a dedicated track, something not yet conceived (and still nonexistent in the US.) With those 7-foot drivers it was a mighty machine and a great piece of history; and a terrible shame it is that it was not preserved.

[mstng100mph]

The wheel slip at 2:50 is awesome!!!

[boonpole84]

. They also have created the Southern Pacific 2-10-2 cab foward and the 2-6-6-6 H8 Allegheny and others in 1:32 scale live steam as well. Pretty cool. Steam is live and well!!!

[boonpole84]

Thanks 420glass for posting this historical footage of the PRR T1 Duplex 4-4-4-4 in action. I deeply appreciate it. For those who are saying that the T1 will never hit the rails agian, I got exciting news for you. A "Live Steam brass scale locomotive company in CA called "Accucraft", have recently recreated the T1 in 1:32 scale/45mm gauge alcohol fired live steam scale model for $5,500.

[999dog11]

them aint sharks & NY Central had better & faster steam

[KenMacMillan]

It's a real shame that none of the Q2's survived. They were the most powerful steam engines ever built.

[trainguy3]

Y wud they use 4-4-4-4s wen they could just as easily have built 4-8-4s?

[BNSFandSP]

@trainguy3 The two sets of four is an easier way to negotate sharp turns.

[j69buckjumper]

@trainguy3 Twice the number of cylinders = more power, and less "hammer blow" effect on the track at speed than with an 8 coupled loco.

[Paublo79]

Thumbs up if you love the S1

[bobbyhill789]

so there r no longer any at all? they cldnt have all been scrapped

[Jamersonde]

I wish they could've salvaged at one of each class for display. Those steamers rocked!!!

[nerfreak01]

T-1s rule!

[kiddnormal]

This is one of my most favorite videos on YouTube. I LOVE the T-1 Duplex. ...and of course others have pointed out the Q1-Q2 discrepancy but still GREAT VID MAN!!!

[DEOTY1]

Sharks of the Pennsylvania RailRoad 

[420glass]

@DEOTY1 they called some of the streamline engines shark noses

[reedman9]

That's not a Q1. It's a Q2.

[420glass]

@reedman9 you maybe right that's what it was labeled as on the original film

[reedman9]

@420glass Yeah it's a Q2. Q1's were 4644s and the rear set of drivers were facing backwards.

[420glass]

@reedman9 thanks I may redo the caption

thanks again and i like your picture of Lee Marvin as A-1

lol

[reedman9]

@420glass Yeah. No problem. I love that movie so I had to use it. haha.

[CSXer]

Always hated the T-1's. Great song and vid though!!

I'd rather see this set to a Challenger video....(in color)

[clusterfak]

I'm so old I saw Jethro Tull live...lol...love the vid!

[420glass]

@clusterfak I've see them too lol and thanks

[santafemad]

@clusterfak Well I live in Shiplake< England and rent a feild for my pony from Barry Barlow - he doen't seem that old (but then i am now 50!)

[beatletrainfan129]

cool wheel slip at 2:50

[secretstring]

Love this footage, wish the SOUND had been captured too!!

[tprdfh51]

As a modern locomotive engineer you don't know how envious of the hoggers on these engines I am!

[Marta7350]

Wow, so much history here! I'm fascinated by the "nose" on the engine. I wonder if it were intentionally designed to look "sharkish"? It's amazing. Thank you for posting this vid.

[dupester1954]

The styling was a Baldwin Locomotive Works feature. They used the same stying on their cab unit diesels as well.

[bebuks]

The Pennsy freight yard was at 63rd street between Damen and Western Avenues. I grew up in the area and 'played' in or near this yard in my 'younger' dayz...and I have the 'salt shoot' wounds to prove it.....

[DJGENEX71]

Awesome and Classic! I've never seen those type steam engines before...5*****!

[420glass]

yeah can you believe this vid is banned in Germany  WTF

[Marta7350]

Wonder why they'd do that?  Very strange, huh.

[420glass]

I think is because of the copyright laws on the music. LOL I just think it sounds cool that it was banned in Germ.

[DJGENEX71]

It's the music copyrights...not the footage.

[420glass]

yeah I know. they could have put an add for the music on the vid like some of my other vids. I just think its funny that a country known for making sex-ed potty training movies is so hung up on copy rights LOL

[BL0CKD0C]

That slip caught my eye too! I had heard engineers didn't like it because it slipped at high speeds. Could you imagine trying to control two sets of drivers, one slips you've got to look maybe to see which one and then react. BlowoutBob2 needs to interview his buddy, get some details.

[BlowoutBob2]

Hey, Just woundering do you have any idea where this was filmed? An old engineer friend I know engineered the Penny T1. Awesome videos.

[DASCO2136]

I would guess around Chicago area like close to Union Station and Englewood and places near there.

[molallatrain3751]

3751 say thank you, it was a long time ago,i love steam later 3751

[lecoupbilly]

Could cry out tears !!!

[boilerbob7]

That last scene at Englewood station really brought back memories. I frequently saw the Broadway and the Century leaving side by side, although too late to see it with steam.

[KilleTheHedgehog8492]

nice steam engen i wonder why they retired it?

[SteamingObe]

2:53 EPIC FAIL!!!  LoL, that's awesome.

[420glass]

Good eye LOL

[musthavejava]

This is incredible footage. Made me feel like I'd stepped back in time and was actually there. Great job! 5/5 & favorited for sure.

[5thegranary]

Well, I'm British and back home we just built a new A1 class Pacific (for $3 million raised from railfans over many years). Why not build a T1?

[420glass]

Thats awesome I would love to see some vid of

and It would be a great day to see a T1 live

I got ten bucks to put in

[DASCO2136]

That would be awsome but what about putting money into three steam engine classes that havent survived in addition to the T1....Pennsy J1 2-10-4s, New York Central 4-8-4 niagras and 4-6-4 J class Hudsons?

[marblehamburger]

@5thegranary your Tornado is a sexy piece of equipment, but the thing with these duplex locos is that they where scraped because of running issues. they just were not practical

[deloreanman14]

@marblehamburger - I read that the wheel spin problems they suffered from were simply due to the fact that they had so much power and the engineers weren't used to it.

[OmegaDallen]

@5thegranary Well It'd hard since the Company that built them no longer exists and there isn't any wealthy rail fan willing to put up the cash even to fix a Big boy.

[raysteam1]

@5thegranary For all their beauty and power, the T1s were technical failures, being prone to high maintenance costs, highspeed wheelslip, and overall low availibility (the PRR could only use them in certain places). The A1s, on the other hand, were beautiful machines that were easy to maintain and run and could go anywhere. If we built a classic steam locomotive, we could do better than a T1.

[5thegranary]

This is a particularly interesting collection of films. The T1s might be one of the few locomotives with the potential to break the world speed steam record held by the British engine Mallard at 126 mph. What a tragedy that none was preserved.

[420glass]

I know

hey I got an Idea

lets build one LOL

[EDDONLEY]

I have an awesome set of tools

[kleetus92]

I wonder what the S2 could have done? I know that was a powerful unit, great at high speed, but at low speeds you couldn't feed it fast enough. 5or 6000 HP if I remember right...

[pattar4]

TRAINS ALL SUCK

[420glass]

yeah and your COOL

[longlakeshore]

Nicely done!  Like the music... I'll never go in the water again :). Monster tenders, too.

[CSXer]

Cool vid! Nothing like Pennsy steam set to Tull!

[Trekkerjon]

The actual sound would probably cause goosebumps.

[Bill0254]

I love the video. Thanks for putting it up! The Pennsy used to double head K-4's and the T-1 was supposed to stop that. The K-4's outlasted the T-1's. The Pennsy spent a bunch of money in those days trying to see if they could come up with a steam locomotive that could be cheaper to run than diesel. Some say at speed the T-1 was the most powerful steam locomotive of all. Armchair Railroading .....Isn't it great? Thanks again for taking the time to put the video up!

[DASCO2136]

I actually read somewhere that the Q2 frieght engines were rated at a whopping 8,000 horsepower. The only engine known to be more powerful than that is the Union Pacific 3 unit gas super turbines in the 50s. I wouldn't be surprised that a Q2 had the potential to pull a 4 mile long fully loaded drag frieght and still make 30 miles an hour

[boazrg]

The T-1 Was rushed through because of the pressure of WWII traffic. The usual Pennsy practice of running prototypes in revenue service was not followed. The wrong type of poppet valve gear was used, even though it was known to PRR not to be reliable. Sad that more R & D time was not spent on the T-1 and Q2.

[Desdemona202]

LOL

[choirboyfromhell1]

2:55 Sadly, that's why they were not successful

[rboffill]

um thats not the q1.thats the q2.the q1 was 4-6-4-4.the q2 was 4-4-6-4.but anyways nice vid.

[fritz43]

In fact, the T-1 was a maintenance *nightmare*, one more example of a good idea (on paper) gone horribly wrong.

Many thanks for the clip, though, priceless!

[04Ranger4x4]

bad comcept but a powerful and fast locomotive

[thomas251061]

I love steamtrains. So it was nice to see this video.

[micahthatrocks]

i could have lived without the beginging

[hrvideo]

Streamlining is one word, not two. Who shot the film? Why don't you give them credit?

[420glass]

Not sure who shot the film, found three reels of film in my Papap's home movies they got put on a vhs copy that was made from the 8mm film

I'm sure he did not film it. I don't have the original reels and spell check says streamlining is one word ;)

[Detoyato]

The S1 And the T1's werent overtly slippery. Some statments made by their drivers on the net (not sure where I saw them) Statedthat attentsion must be given to the engines when starting and accelerating it. Like instead of full throttle low cutoff at high speed running they use partial throttle and higher cutoff

[ibook133]

Yep, thats why big pax steam didnt last long as i said... Out west you had big boy & challenger though for freight & they were very successful. The S1, T1, and other large duplex locos usd for passenger hauls were extremely prone to wheel slip as in the video & it was actually quite common and indeed lead to damage of the more complex valve system they used. Today's locos use various slip control technologies & are quite tame in comparison.

[NickRatnieks]

The preserved steam engine 60532 Blue Peter got into an uncontrolled slip some years ago. It was calculated it was equivalent to running at about 130 mph. It effectively destroyed its valve gear and ground deep troughs in the track where the drivers rotated. All in all it was a very expensive bit of driver error. It happened at York station in the UK back in the 1990s.

[balddanny72]

3:00-drivers are at different speeds

[ibook133]

That is called surging. It is a reason why big pax steam didnt last long. big freight steam on the other hand.... :)

Trains today have fancy traction control, and while surging still does happen, the difference is more like 1% or less of tractive force.

[tprdfh51]

Even today all the computerized traction control systems in the world don't mean jack shit if there is no sand in the sandbox - funny how some things never change!!!

[ibook133]

Well, surging isn't related to sand, the sand just helps it get moving. Surging on a duplex might look neat, but it is very bad for safety and the condition of the driving equipment. Had a LOT of power, and nothing to hit the brakes if too much power was sent. Surging is basically out of control random wheel slip, and it was a huge flaw innate to all of the duplex engines and they had no real way to solve the issue.

[tprdfh51]

Sand provides traction (adhesion) - the more, the better. Surging on a steam locomotive is like a runaway chemical reaction - it just keeps going faster and faster until the machine (on a steam engine the valvegear and rods) selfdestructs. Remember, the faster a steam engine reciprocates the more power it produces - a diesal produces the most power (tractive effort) at low speeds. Surging causes slack to run in and when the engine gains traction the slack gets pulled out and you break a knuckle.

[tprdfh51]

You have put together a unique video of some of the most amazing steam locomotives ever built - imagine being at the throttle of such machines!!!

[420glass]

I worked for a year a The Strasburg RR it was GREAT  LOVED TO RIP ON THE WHISTLE

[clickingclock]

i wish i could one of these engines role again! that would be soo cool..btw whats the name of the song?

[Driverman2008]

The songs are the Jaws Theme song and "Locomotive Breath" by Jethro Tull.

[A10PANG]

NIIIIICEEE!!!

[pennsyr1]

There's just something inherently cool about Pennsy steamers.

[ronthecyborg]

I love how the steam seems to "Travel" with the S1, like it's some exquisite coat.

Nice vid. Love the shot of the T1 slipping.

[tanner93]

2be honest i think that locos without stream lined casing are more beautiful than engines with it

great vid about a classic steam engine

[roslundb]

Great video on the PRR. 5 Stars!

[georei]

Good video on the Pennsy's duplexes. Did you know they had 6 Y3 compound mallets brought up from Norfolk and Western (which they partially owned) later classified as HH1 and another compound mallet classified as CC2. I have a book called Pennsy Power II. You should look for it. A lot of great info.

[thehibtones]

Very nice footage...super 8?

[420glass]

regular 8 then converted to vhs then I converted it one more time to dvd

[BarryManilowFan4eva]

I love th T1, & the bullet nose engine (round face)!

My dad neva liked them.

They are B-E-AUTIFUL!!

Wow, idk they weighed 1 mill lbs!

[Acela4000]

are there any surviviors out there?

[Driverman2008]

Nope, they're all tuna cans now, lol.

[Driverman2008]

Well, actually, now that I think about it, there's a locomotive in Australia that was inspired by the PRR T1s. It looks very much like it. But no original PRR T1s survive today.:(

[BarryManilowFan4eva]

No sad no1 saved any of those beauties. :(

They got some of the other ugly engines, like the duddle bug enigne.

But no T's

[ConrailSD70MAC]

The T1 was a very slippery engine. It didn't venture past Crestline OH due to the grades to Pittsburgh. It's domain was on the Chicago to Crestline section.

[flare40x]

Pretty good! The Jethro Tull piece was a real bonus! Thanks. One error... your "Q1" is a "Q2"... the original and only Q1 was a 4-6-4-4 with the rear cylinders under the cab.

[420glass]

Thanks I'll have to check my research better in the future

[BenAliGtor]

I liked the shot of the T-1's drivers slipping. And that poppet valve gear-awesome.

[monty5329]

haha Aqualung. No wait Locomotive Breath. Oh yeah that makes more sense