Lee was absolutely correct. That is what the loco was made for. Whether it is absolutely a prototype or not. The founder told me what he had in mind. He was following some NYC or a New England loco style.
His switcher was somewhat PRR. Modeling in S (manufacturing) was a bit loose in those days. It was before the rivet ,and bolt thread counters were not as passionet as they are today. John Armstrong ----- Original Message ----- From: Talmadge C 'TC' Carr To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, April 07, 2013 10:50 PM Subject: Re: What's a Suburban? Re: {S-Scale List} Re: Ebay 130880725205 Lee I beg to differ; A Suburban is a tank engine with very specific attributes. 1) Double Ended for ROAD service, this means having full pilots at both ends 2) Fast, Able to do high speed quickly 3) High fuel water capacity hence the 4 wheel truck REAR truck. Only 3 designs I know of; a 2-4-4, several 4-6-4 and the biggest a 4-6-6. All the suburban types but the one were 4-6-0 types modified with a 4 or 6 wheel "rear" truck to hold the tanks. The other was a 2-4-0 so modified, which was the prototype for the Rexx engine. I believe you are referring to what is called a tank switcher usually with a 2 wheel 'trailing' truck. Porter and others also made a "plantation" engine. A 4 wheel rear truck as on a Suburban but low drivered for pull not speed. There were some narrow gauge tank engines also double ended, in fact advertised as such so as not needing turntables, but not built for speed and usually with a trailing truck not a rear truck. Hope this clears things, TCC:} BTW: The closest to a double engined 2 facer (44, 45 tonner et al) in a steam engine would be a Farley:) On Apr 7, 2013, at 10:35 AM, [email protected] wrote: A Suburban is not a double ended engine like a 44 tonner, but a usually smaller engine with the coal and water bunker being a part of the back of the engine and supported by the back truck. By the way, the Rex engine bearing this configuration has been called a Suburban for over forty years that I know of, right or wrong. Another "by the way", a Rex Suburban is a 2-4-4, not a 4-4-2. Lee McCarty Talmadge C 'TC' Carr Sn42 and Hn42 somewhere in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest [email protected]
