Hello and welcome Stripes. I believe that engine is an experimental coal fired turbine. Not sure of the details or designation but around here, somebody'll chime in.
Left: The Chesapeake and Ohio Steam-Turbine Electric. Wach of the three built was 106 feet long and weighed no less than 856,000 pounds. They were intended for speeds of up to 100 mph. Note the exhaust coming from the rear due to the backward-mounted boiler. This loco is another steam-turbine/electric; one of only three built. They had conventional coal-fired fire-tube boilers mounted backwards behind the cab and stretching back towards the tender. Steam was generated at the high pressure of 310 psi and fed to the turbine-generator. Power output was 6000hp, transmitted through eight traction motors. There were five bogies in a 2-C1-2-C1-B arrangement. Only the first three axles on the eight-wheel bogies were powered. The trailing bogie was powered, (hence that B) but the leading bogie and the one in the middle were not; the middle four-wheel bogie simply supported the large firebox. Coal was stored in a large hopper at the front of the loco, covered by a very ugly "streamlined" cowl. Water was carried in the trailing tender. Number 500 was built in association with Baldwin and Westinghouse in 1947. Numbers 501 and 502 followed in early 1948. One of them appears to have also been called M-1, but quite what that's about I have yet to discover. Left: Inside the cab of the C&O Steam-Turbine Electric. We are looking back towards the rear of the loco, as the boiler was installed backwards compared with conventional practice. The big central wheel is presumably the regulator controlling the flow of steam to the turbine. The big hump at bottom centre is the mechanical stoker housing, with a pair of fire doors labelled "Butterfly" just above. The row of big white T-handles at the top of the boiler controlled various pumps. The electrical meter just to the right of the handwheel is almost certainly a pyrometer readout. One of the most important gauges would presumably be the turbine rpm meter, but it is not possible to identify it in this picture. These impressive but complicated locomotives were introduced with considerable fanfare, inluding an appearance at the Chicago Railroad Fair. The intention was that they would pull a planned Washington DC-Cincinnati streamliner passenger service called The Chessie, but this was cancelled before it ever ran. The Baltimore & Ohio railway got there first, with a service starting in February 1948, and the results of this convinced the C&O that the passenger market they were hoping to exploit just did not exist. This left three enormous locomotives that were too big for general use on the C&O system. However, the show-stopping problem was the sheer unreliability of this complex design. The locos spent much more time being repaired than working, and had far too many service failures. The C&O never once managed to get 500, 501 or 502 to go all the way from Washington to Cinncinatti; they always broke down. Particular problems were coal dust getting into the forward traction motors, and leaking water short-circuiting the motors on the other two power bogies. These problems might have been soluble with further development of the design, but it was all too clear that the locomotives were always going to be expensive and difficult to maintain. By 1949 all three locomotives were out of use, and they were quietly scrapped in 1950.
Steam/ Turbine Thank you for the historical info Keith! They are a very impresive looking style. I roughly model the C&O in the 40`s and would love to kitbash that! David
See here for more: http://www.steamlocomotive.com/turbine/ Have the same thing In 3 rail, from MTH. The thing is 39" long, and weighs in at about 13.5 POUNDS!
stripes2- Welcome to TrainBoard! Too bad one of these couldn't have been preserved. They might have been failures. But would be awesome to view in person. Boxab E50
I agree! I would be the first to buy one! Matter of fact I would camp out at their front door waiting for the release! Just like the world series!! :thumbs_up:
Well you stop to think about it, David, assembling the "Classic Structures" you make, is not too much of a stretch from taking your time, use parts from available engines, and make this engine in your spare time. This is, after all, a labor of love, a hobby, we don't always have the correct number of rivets, or correctly scaled wheel diameters, but we do what we can do with what we can find and cobble together. If it runs and we can paint it close enough to satisfy ourselves, then we have accomplished a project no one else has attempted, and we get the bragging rights: "I made it all by my lonesome!" So There! Think about it, I'll bet you can do it, and I would enjoy seeing photos as you go along too! Remember, when you first started to think about making Structures, you didn't give up, and now look where you are! Go for it!
I would have to study a side view before I could venture a guess. Keith presented the most I have seen on this engine, but I have not seen how the trucks are arranged, nor if all the wheels are the same diameter. It would have to be articulated of course, and maybe have two motors.
Am going to do more research, came up with this so far! http://www.skyrocket.de/locomotive/ http://www.chessieshop.com/gallery/ndbsearch.pl?start=1101&command=displayall 6-8-6 Would be almost imposible to build compared to the demand/cost! Your Thoughts? David
I wouldn't think so, maybe your budget isn't realistic? As near as I can determine, that engine is more like a 6-8-8-6 isn't it? "Only the 3 front axles of the two driving 'bogies' are powered", would make me think the front 6- is just a truck to carry the weight of coal, then a -8- bogie then another bogie -8- the the trailing -6 truck to carry the weight of the water? You would only have two frames to make, each pivoted like a Rivarossi Big Boy. I suspect the two tenders are hinged at each end of the engine's boiler, or the over-hang would prevent negotiating any switch or useful curve. Pick up some engines off eBay and maybe even use their frames, or make new ones to suit.
An interesting article on the demise of "The Chessie", with the turbine locomotives, appears at: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3943/is_200112/ai_n9017152 The author makes a convincing case that "The Chessie" was intended only as first-class transport to the C&O's Greenbriar resort. Thus, the need for top-of-the-line equipment. Also, that competitors who thought C&O planned for a "Cincinnati - Washington" run, and started plans to compete with them, found out the hard way what the C&O already knew - that there was not a large enough paasenger market for success. Great photo, and running run would indeed be great.
