Scott - Dispatcher, Norfolk Southern
QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith Hello Railroading Brit, I could tell you the truth about the "Big Joe", but then I'd have to kill you.....[;)] I think you might be correct about the Beyer-Garret's, but I beleive the largest were used in South Africa and in size, wieght and power they could give a Big Boy a run for its money. Any idea's of where to find out who had the largest Beyer-Garret ?
QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith I'm resurrecting this topic cause of a recent development... Previously thought lost forever information has come to my attention and I have been able to reconstruct a schematic drawing of the legendary "Big Joe" Yes! it turns out the Big Joe was a 4-12-12-4 + 4-12-12-4 Garret arraingment. This is based on sketches I recently uncovered in an old tattered book of Russian railroads that recently came to light at a train auction I attended earlier this summer. I only got a short look at the book and immediatly knew what it was. I was very excited at my find when the book was taken away from me by an ugly character who said in an eastern accent, "You no look at book, bad for you!" I was rather miffed but when it came up to auction I lost out to a grissled old man and his surly partner who I have met earlier who outbid everyone in the room! The box and book were then immediatly whisked away in a convoy of black SUV's....[;)] Well I got a good enough look at those scetches that I have now managed a reasonable reconstruction..I will try to post an image of it here if I can. Its a beauty! .[8D][;)]
Have fun with your trains
QUOTE: Originally posted by Sperandeo Is a poll the right way to determine which was the biggest steam engine? It's not a matter of opinion, after all, but one of measurement. At a football game they check for first downs with a chain, not by asking what the fans think. In MODEL RAILROADER we usually cite the Big Boy as the biggest steam engine, because it is (almost). If you add up its length, width, and height you get a bigger number than for any other locomotive (except one). This doesn't take weight into account – that would be the "heaviest" instead of the biggest – or drawbar pull or horsepower – that would be the "most powerful." "Big" has a specific meaning related to size, and editors usually like to be careful with the meanings of words. But there is one engine that beats the Big Boy! It's not one of those listed in the poll either. The Pennsylvania RR SI duplex-drive 6-4-4-6 adds up to be bigger than the Big Boy when you take the measurements over its streamlined shrouding into account. Most folks don't recognize this fact about the S1, maybe because the shrouding, particularly at the rear of the tender, can be seen as just so much cosmetic dressing, whereas the Big Boy is all locomotive. There's also the point that the S1 was an experiment not found successful enough to warrant duplication, while the Big Boy was built in at least a small quantity and re-ordered after being in use. But those are matters of opinion or functionality, not sheer size. Like it or not, the biggest locomotive was really the S1. So long, Andy
QUOTE: Originally posted by Williamv QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith Hello Railroading Brit, I could tell you the truth about the "Big Joe", but then I'd have to kill you.....[;)] I think you might be correct about the Beyer-Garret's, but I beleive the largest were used in South Africa and in size, wieght and power they could give a Big Boy a run for its money. Any idea's of where to find out who had the largest Beyer-Garret ? The New ZeaLand Rail Garretts were 85 feet long over the buffers with 51,580 pounds at only 75% boiler pressure. They were six cylinder models and arranged so that 3 cylinders drove each engine unit. They were 4-8-8-4's. NZR gauge is 3' 6". That same as South Africa and some States of Australia. CAN ANYONE PLEASE TELL ME WHERE I CAN OBTAIN AN 'ho' GAUGE MODEL OF A BEYER GARRETT?