SR class Ps-4
| Southern Railway Ps-4 | |
|---|---|
 The Ps-4 SR № 1396 produced in 1926 in use for the Crescent train
|
|
| Numbering: | SR # 1375-1409 AGS # 6684-6690 CNO & TP # 6471-6482 |
| Number: | 64 |
| Manufacturer: |
ALCo Schenectady (1923) ALCo Richmond (1926) Baldwin Locomotive Works (1928) |
| Year of construction (s): | 1923-1928 |
| Retirement: | 1950 |
| Axis formula : | 2'C1 '( Pacific ) |
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) |
| Length: | 28.03 m |
| Height: | 4.55 m |
| Width: | 3.10 m |
| Total wheelbase: | 3,962 m |
| Empty mass: | 137.892 t |
| Friction mass: | 82.554 t 182,000 lb f (809.6 kN ) |
| Continuous tensile force: | 211.3 kN |
| Driving wheel diameter: | 1850 mm |
| Number of cylinders: | 2 |
| Piston stroke: | 711 mm |
| Boiler overpressure: | 200 psi (1380 kPa ) 210 lb / in² |
| Tender: |
Tender 2'2 ' (1923 + 1928) 3'3' (1926) |
| Water supply: | 37.85 m³ (1923) 64 m³ (1926) 55 m³ (1928) |
| Fuel supply: | 16.3 t (16 tn. L. ) |
| Control: |
Baker (1923 + 1926) Walschaerts (1928) |
The class Ps-4 of the US-American Southern Railway (SOU or SR) is a steam locomotive with the wheel arrangement 2'C1 '( Pacific ) and a two-cylinder engine . The 64 copies produced between 1923 and 1928 were also used by SR subsidiaries Alabama Great Southern Railroad (AGS) and Cincinnati, New Orleans, and Texas Pacific Railway (CNO & TP) and were known for their dark green and gold paintwork. Nowadays, the SR № 1401 is only one of the locomotives left in the series, which is on permanent display in the National Museum of American History . John H. White, Jr. (* 1933), former curator of the Smithsonian Institution , judged that the Ps-4 class was "among the most celebrated passenger locomotives in the United States".
development
In 1923, the Southern Railway gave orders for new locomotives with 2'C1 ' - wheel arrangement in order, who should be able to both 14 to passenger cars to pull over moderate slopes and top speeds of up to 130 kilometers per hour (80 mph ) to reach. Production of the first margin was carried out in the same year in the workshops of the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in Schenectady in the State of New York ; 26 locomotives (№ 1366–1392) were delivered to the SR, five to the CNO & TP (№ 6471–6475) and four to the AGS (№ 6684–6687). They were based on the USRA "Light Pacific" design standard, but were modified to meet the needs and requirements of the Southern Railway. For example, at 1850 mm, they had a smaller drive wheel diameter than the 2006.6 mm of the standard and more spacious brakeman's cabs . In addition, they had a single-module feed water heater of the type 3-B Worthington under the left footboard .
Two years later, SR President Fairfax Harrison traveled to the United Kingdom in 1925 and admired the green paint scheme used by the British Southern Railway of the same name for its steam locomotives. Harrison's impressions inspired the appearance of the second line of production of the Ps-4, which ALCo had manufactured in its facility in Richmond , Virginia . It was delivered in 1926 and the machines were mostly painted green, but the color was more like that used on the London and North Eastern Railway . The moldings and parts of the cladding were also given a gold paint and the smoke chamber a silver paint. Of the 22 locomotives in this order, the SR received eleven (№ 1393–1404), the CNO & TP seven (№ 6476–6482) and the AGS four (№ 6688–6691) copies. Apart from the color scheme, which was soon adopted for all SR passenger locomotives, this second series had other notable differences to the first. The new feed water heater from Elesco was placed directly across the front end of the smoke chamber between the signal bell and the chimney. The tender also received an additional axle, which significantly increased the capacity of the water box and made the train ready for longer long-distance journeys.
The last production series of the Ps-4 followed in 1928, this time by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Eddystone , Pennsylvania . It consisted of only five locomotives, all of which were delivered to the SR (№ 1405–1409). The tenders were made smaller again, but still offered a larger water reservoir than in the first series from 1923. Another significant change was the change from the previous Baker to a Walschaert control . The last built locomotive of the class Ps-4, the SR № 1409, also had an extended smoke chamber with an experimental disguised feed water heater above the headlights. This was later exchanged for a Worthington model from the first series.
commitment
The locomotives of the class Ps-4 were assigned, along with many other trains, to the "flagships" of the Southern Railway - the Crescent , the Piedmont Limited , the Aiken-Augusta Special and the Birmingham Special . The CNO & TP used them for the trains Royal Palm , Ponce de Leon , Queen & Crescent and Florida Sunbeam . In 1941 SR began to decommission the series in favor of diesel locomotives . However, when the United States entered World War II, the company was unable to acquire additional diesel locomotives, which is why it was decided to continue using the Ps-4 class for the duration of the war. After the end of the war, the gradual abolition was continued and in 1948 the 64 locomotives were largely out of service. Between 1949 and 1953, all but one were scrapped.
Whereabouts
The last existing specimen of the Ps-4 class is the SR № 1401 from the 1926 production margin. It gained fame for being one of the locomotives that returned in 1945 to the body of Franklin D. Roosevelt from Warm Springs , Georgia , where he died Washington, DC . In 1951, after the class was decommissioned , war veteran and non-professional legal advisor Graham Claytor advocated the preservation of the locomotive and convinced then-SR President Harry deButts to donate it to the Smithsonian Institution . It was then restored and stored by the Southern Railway before being placed in the National Museum of American History in 1961 , which opened three years later.
Claytor himself later rose to the position of president of the railway company and in the mid-1960s tried to rent the SR № 1401 from its new owner to use it in the SR steam locomotive excursion program. However, the Smithsonian Institution refused to hand it over for this purpose and Claytor leased the older SR 4501, an original 1'D1 ' wheel arrangement , instead , and had it painted in the Ps-4 color scheme.
literature
- King, Ed: Whence the Ps-4, Really? . In: Ties . 16 (1), Southern Railway Historical Association, January 2002, pp. 3-9.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Profile of the SR class Ps-4 , on steamlocomotive.info . Retrieved December 9, 2013.
- ↑ Detailed description of the SR class Ps-4 , on amhistory.si.edu (National Museum of American History). Retrieved December 9, 2013.