Close up of BoxPox drivers and valve gear components

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Close up of BoxPox drivers and valve gear components

Steam Locomotive

No need to identify the owner of those sleek rods and nighty drivers. Her principal specifications are as follows: class, S-1b; cylinders, 25x32 in.; drivers, 79. in.; pressure, 275 lbs.; tractive effort, 62,500 lbs.; weight, 471,000 lbs.; and builder, Alco in 1946. Though they are by no means the largest of their type ever built (the Santa Fe's 2900 class tipped the scales at 510, 150 lbs.), or the most powerful (the N&W's 70-inch-drivered Js developed a tractive effort of 85, 800 lbs. with booster), the S-1s were the unquestioned leaders of the Central's steam fleet in all important categories - modern design, steaming and boiler capacity, horsepower, riding qualities, speed, and sheer power. The most unfortunate feature of the S-1s was not mechanical at all, but rather a simple matter of timing; they came too late in the era of steam. They were still practically new engines when the inroads of dieselization relegated them to secondary runs, where their great abilities could not be fully utilized or appreciated.

Jeremy Taylor

Jeremy Taylor

2-1/4x3-1/4 neg

8/1956

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4-8-4

432

S-1b

#6015

Alco-Schen

Shelby St., Indianapolis, IN