[dodger]

Don't know if there are any train fans in here but have a look at this beauty, go to full screen it's in high def.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XA_EZipfi4" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XA_EZipfi4</a>

[andecorp]

That's awesome. So menacing! I'd love to see it at high speed.

[dodger]

110mph now that would be something to see............

The first J's had 275 psi boilers, 70-inch (1,778 mm) driving wheels, and roller bearings on all wheels and rods; after about 1945 boiler pressure was raised to 300 psi. Calculated tractive effort was 80,000 pounds – the most powerful 4-8-4 without a booster. The 70 inch drivers were small for a locomotive that was to pull trains at over 100 mph. To overcome this, the wheelbase was made extremely rigid, lightweight rods were used, and the counterbalancing was precise. As delivered, the Js had duplex (two) connecting rods between the primary (second) and third drivers, but in the 1950s Norfolk and Western's engineers elected they could do without these. 611 and at least one other Class J were rebuilt with a single connecting rod. The negative effect of the J's highly engineered powertrain was that it made the locomotives sensitive to substandard track. Its counterbalancing and precision mechanics were so modern that it was joked that the J's top speed is only limited by the nerves of the engineer. Judging by their performance in hauling a 15-car 1050-ton train at speeds in excess of 110 mph over Pennsylvania Railroad's "racetrack", the Fort Wayne Division, while on loan, it is hard to dispute that claim.[1]

[Tiger]

110mph now that would be something to see............

I love steam power it is living machinery.

[a.taylor]

I saw the technical drawings for a boiler of an old engine that was being restored a couple of years back. I'd never truly appreciated how complicated and involved they were, a remarkable feat of engineering and fabrication.

[Fil-Ski]

Yet trains in Australia struggle to hit 100km/h

[Tiger]

I saw the technical drawings for a boiler of an old engine that was being restored a couple of years back. I'd never truly appreciated how complicated and involved they were, a remarkable feat of engineering and fabrication.

Super heated boiler are very cool cold lap joints on the tubes also. I have a few small steamers and my outlaw has a few 7:25" scale that are a work of art.   

[dodger]

Super heated boiler are very cool cold lap joints on the tubes also. I have a few small steamers and my outlaw has a few 7:25" scale that are a work of art.

I had a fair bit of LGB but sold it all recently as I'm moving house and the kids are grown up now, hadn't used it for 10 years.

[Tiger]

I had a fair bit of LGB but sold it all recently as I'm moving house and the kids are grown up now, hadn't used it for 10 years.

One day if I can get one out of the UK without heritage listed BS I will buy a full size traction engine, my workshop floor was made with this in mind. A Fowler with good history is well over £200K

[dodger]

One day if I can get one out of the UK without heritage listed BS I will buy a full size traction engine, my workshop floor was made with this in mind. A Fowler with good history is well over £200K

That would be epic .....