Steam & Excursion > What Makes These 2 Engines Standing At The Ready So Famous?!

In a scene repeated countless time during the age of steam motive power we see 2 powerful locomotives on the ready tracks of a roundhouse being prepared for their next run.  However, these are not just any 2 locomotives.

At the time of this photo the famous engine in this shot was the engine in the foreground.  She is Southern Pacific #4458, one of only 2 of the GS-5 Class Daylight engines produced.  What made #4458 and her sister engine a GS-5 was the roller bearings she was equipped with at Lima when she was built in June 1942.  #4458 shown here received Timken roller bearings and her sister #4459 received SKF roller bearings as part of this experiment conducted by SP.  This one small change added $27,000 to the purchase price of each engine.

And what about the engine in the background made her famous at the time of this photo?  Nothing really.  But her number would later gain some fame.  She is Southern Pacific #4449.

Martin



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 02/19/17 03:52 by LoggerHogger.

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Martin, your collection is fabulous. Thank you for sharing it.

What is the purpose of the approximately 1" galvanized pipe that is jointed into the engine over the cylinders?  It appears to be leaking steam.  Would that be house steam to keep the engine warm between trips?
Thanks,
Doug

611Doug Wrote:
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> What is the purpose of the approximately 1"
> galvanized pipe that is jointed into the engine
> over the cylinders?  It appears to be leaking
> steam.  Would that be house steam to keep the
> engine warm between trips?
> Thanks,
> Doug

Not quite. That steam is piped into the external atomizer supply line, so that a small spot fire can be maintained without using any steam/water from the boiler.

They look fast just sitting there, great composition of a great subject (and a wonderful story too).

About mid-locomotive are other overhead pipes passing over and with connections available to each locomotive. Certainly a steam pipe is among them, but what else is available? I would expect compressed air and water but there were more than 3 pipes at most roundhouses.

HotWater Wrote:
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> 611Doug Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > What is the purpose of the approximately 1"
> > galvanized pipe that is jointed into the engine
> > over the cylinders?  It appears to be leaking
> > steam.  Would that be house steam to keep the
> > engine warm between trips?
> > Thanks,
> > Doug
>
> Not quite. That steam is piped into the external
> atomizer supply line, so that a small spot fire
> can be maintained without using any steam/water
> from the boiler.

We used that connection with compressed air to fire up SP3420.
Chris

Any idea where this is? Those two smoke stacks look like Los Angeles shops.
 

I'm guessing that is the roller bearing engine had been preserved in Portland vs. 4449, the crew that saved her might be a bit more grateful.  The story I heard as that 4449 was first in line at a dead line, and the roller bearing engine was next, but no one thought of it at SP.

coach Wrote:

> The story I heard as that 4449 was first in line at a
> dead line, and the roller bearing engine was next,
> but no one thought of it at SP.

Hotwater related a more-detailed-than-usual version of the story in this old thread:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?10,3556149,3556341#msg-3556341