Oooooo! There's another good loco -- a heavy 2-10-2!
I think we are getting too specific about "just" the USRA delliveries. There
were many clones over the next many years. It would be cool to have a "basic"
loco that came with optional detail parts to make variations (short of cab and
tender changes).
This sure has all been fun to read!
Bill Winans
----- Original Message -----
From: Rollain Mercier
To: Bill Lane ; S Scale List
Sent: Saturday, October 21, 2006 9:34 PM
Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} AM vs. SHS vs. USRA vs. the K4
and he notes -
Technically Bill, there was only one railroad in the U. S. between
1917 and 1920 and under USRA control the Administration ordered 1930
steam locomotives and 100,000 freight cars. A distribution chart for
the locos can be found at:
http://www.steamlocomotive.com/misc/usra.shtml
The largest class was the light Mikado with 635. There were 233 heavy
Mikes too. Both used the same mechanism with the heavy Mikado being
fitted with a larger boiler. Oddly enough, a lot of PRR's L1 design
was carried over into the USRA version except for the Belpaire
Firebox. This may have been due in part to both Baldwin and ALCO
having these locomotives under construction at the time of the take
over and the Adminstration used their engineers to design the USRA versions.
Lionel notwithstanding, this would be my choice. Both light and heavy
Mikes used the same running gear so the expense would be in the
boiler. The cab's the same as is most of the appliances. With a small
amount of additional tooling, a Pennsy boiler could be made to fit.
AM's Souther RR Pacific is already a USRA type so a new mech and it
could pass for a light Mike - don't even need a new tender.
The Pennsy did receive 38 light Mikados but 33 of them were
reassigned to various roads shortly after delivery.
The biggest group going to the PRR was the 130 heavy 2-10-2s. (125
direct and 5 transferred in later). Again the USRA design was
essentially an N1 without the Belpaire firebox and all were rebuilt
in the 20s to N2 types. A photo of one can be found at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:PRR_N2sa.jpg
The next largest class built was the 0-6-0 with 255 built (PRR got
30). Interesting that these locos (B28s class) were never rebuilt. A
photo of one taken in 1940 appears here:
http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/prr8166a.jpg
So a radial boilered 0-6-0 would be at home on the PRR!
While fewer than 2,000 USRA locomotives were built, the designs were
used as late as WWII. As an example B&M P-4 4-6-2s (like the one
preserved at Steamtown) were essentially USRA Light Pacifics with
modern appliances. Their 0-8-0's were also USRA copes. And many roads
did the same (N&W was one).
It's conceivable that had the War (To End All Wars) lingered, the
Nation's Railroads would have become much more homogenized with a
Pacific on the Pacific looking like a Pacific on the Atlantic - (and
conversely, an Atlantic would look the same on the Pacific!) - a
sort of a pre Amtrak or Conrailization (to coin a term) of what we
knew as Class 1 railroads. It was an interesting era and except for a
very short (for our part) War it might have happened. Needless to
say, the diesel would have made an earlier appearance and most of the
steam I remember would have already been turned into toasters and flat
irons...
Raleigh in Maine where we expect sn-o-ow!
See my videos at http://www.emporiumpictures.com/
email me for new releases: Emporium Pictures <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
At 10:03 PM 10/21/2006, Bill Lane wrote:
>Hi All,
>
>I ask that you name ONE railroad that had 425 of ANY USRA light, medium,
>heavy, bantam, or feather weight anything! Better yet, add up 3
>railroads and you still could not get 425 of any single USRA class
>locomotive. The Mighty PRR had 425 of the best Pacific built.
>
>BTW, with the exception of the number of wheels and track gauge, the
>American Models alleged K4 and the K4 that I would want in plastic part
>company very quickly.
>
>Thank You,
>Bill Lane
>Modeling the Mighty Pennsy in S Scale in 1957
>See my finished models at:
><http://www.lanestrains.com>http://www.lanestrains.com
>
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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