Steam & Excursion > Whose Am I? The Coin!

At CPR_4000's suggestion - and a personal curiosity, for those who
had not taken notice of LTCerny's post below:

Steam locomotive main driver on new $10 US coin
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?10,3703511

CPR_4000 Wrote:
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> This would make a great "Whose am I?" Where's
> Mitch Goldman?

Whose am I?  Though it could be fictitious, I'm betting it's not.  Question
is; Is it specific to one engine and if not, then which railroad /series?

/Mitch

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I think it's a composite . . .  the rods and crank look kind of large compared to the wheel. It's not an NS Berk or an SP cab forward. Also, the counterweight looks too small for a main driver.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/15 20:31 by CPR_4000.

CPR_4000 Wrote:
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> I think it's a composite . . .  the rods and
> crank look kind of large compared to the wheel.
> It's not an NS Berk.

You would think someone would simply grab a screen shot or a page
from a book and simply copy the design.  I doubt, short of perhaps
a wheel as unique as one from a streamlined NYC Hudson, any one
wheel would have it's own still protected trademark or copyright. 

Some time back, was there not a US postage stamp that used the
turntable from Steamtown as it's face?  'Course that is a government
agency.

/Mitch

The Wikipedia page of the fellow who did the coin design, Joel Iskowitz, contains this quote: "His philatelic (stamp) designs, he once said, 'must be super accurate and well documented, for if you get so much as an animal's tuft of fur out of place on a philatelic design you will hear from someone critical of your design.'"  Assuming his standards haven't slipped, there presumably really is an answer to "whose am I?"  

I'm thinking it's an artist's misconception.

Baldwin Disk Center.  Santa Fe 3751?

Bob Callahan
Monticello, IN

The counterweight is rather small for a main driver,
but fairly close to an SP GS-4, isn't it? Note how it's
cocked slightly counterclockwise-- as if the engine
were cross-balanced and had left-hand lead.

To me the cwt looks smaller than on a GS4 main; also, the main rod doesn't match.

Sure, it's clearly not a GS-4-- I just meant the counterweight
on the coin wasn't way too small. But yeah, a NY Central J3
would illustrate that better.

Hmm, yes, a 6-couple engine would have a smaller cwt, wouldn't it . . . still, to me the rods look out of proportion to the wheel. Too big and heavy. Guess we'll never know! ;-)

CPR_4000 Wrote:
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> Hmm, yes, a 6-couple engine would have a smaller
> cwt, wouldn't it . . .

Please explain that.

The main rod would be lighter on a Hudson than a 4-8-4, since it would be driving one less axle, and therefore the counterweight would be smaller than on a 4-8-4, I would think. Compare the main driver counterweight on a Hudson to that on a Northern.

I don't think this is the exact artwork that will appear on the coin.  It is an artists rendering of the artwork, which will be much more precise.

Rick Rowlands
Hubbard, OH
Youngstown Steel Heritage