B & O's Adams "Wind Splitter" streamliner, 1899.

badlandnp Jan 25, 2023

  1. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    Found these views in a coffee table book, pictured below. I had never heard of this train before, but it is amazing! Does anybody else know more?
    PIC_0185.JPG PIC_0186.JPG PIC_0184.JPG PIC_0183.JPG
     
  2. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    I had never before heard or read of this equipment.
     
  3. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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  4. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

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    I heard of it, once, a long time ago. Apparently it really did reduce wind resistance. But it didn't reduce customer resistance, so it was considered a failed experiment.
     
  5. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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  6. Mr. Trainiac

    Mr. Trainiac TrainBoard Member

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    Could this be the first example of a boat-tail observation car? The McKeen motor car had a pointed front and a rounded end, but this Adams design has a lot more in common with later streamlined cars of the 30's.
     
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  7. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Sixty six years later, Frederic Upham Adams may have inspired the NYC. :LOL:

    [​IMG]
     
  8. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

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    I think NYC Engineering Department was playing "what if" trying to reduce the Century's New York/Chicago time from 16 hours. They were envisioning speeds accomplished by the French TGV, but too far ahead of its time, like the Adams Wind Splitter. The M-497 Black Beetle was clocked at 183.85 MPH (295,9 KPH) which was amazing in 1966. The TGV didn't achieve 554,3 KPH (344.4 MPH) until 2007.
     
  9. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    I can picture an NYC crew assembling at the yard office that morning and asking one another, "Does anyone know what this Extra M-497 we're marked up for is?" o_O :D
     
    Last edited: Jan 26, 2023
  10. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    And they step out the door to hear jet engines idling!!!
     
  11. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

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    [​IMG]
     
  12. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    :ROFLMAO::LOL::D:eek:! Ahead warp factor 1 .....
     
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  13. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

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    Captain, are you sure you want to engage Warp Drive? SP has excellent track maintenance, but still.....
     
  14. Mike C

    Mike C TrainBoard Member

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    Now that's a High Speed loco !
     
  15. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Nice way to turn a piece of junk into something worth while. :ROFLMAO:
     
  16. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    An illustration from the 1930s found in a book I'm reading. :LOL:

    2024-02-12 Streamlined Steam Locomotive - for upload to TB.jpg
     
  17. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

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    A view inside the Lackawanna shop.

    [​IMG]
     
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