Trains.com

Raymond Loewy

15153 views
63 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    October 2006
  • From: Blacksburg, Virginia
  • 44 posts
Posted by ShortCircuit on Friday, December 16, 2016 1:13 PM

A little more information about Raymond Loewy and his gallery at the O. Winston Link Museum in Roanoke, VA can be found at URL:
http://roanokehistory.org/?p=241

  • Member since
    November 2005
  • 4,190 posts
Posted by wanswheel on Friday, December 16, 2016 6:42 PM

Miningman

Terrific items Wanswheel! Wow never knew those stories behind Raymond Loewy. Made my day...felt I was right there on top of the Equitable Buiding..easy to imagine. Thanks again. 

Miningman, thanks for commenting. The Equitable company moved their headquarters to the Equitable Life Assurance Society Building, across 7th Ave. from Penn Station, across 32nd St. from the Hotel Pennsylvania.

  • Member since
    October 2006
  • From: Allentown, PA
  • 9,810 posts
Posted by Paul_D_North_Jr on Friday, December 16, 2016 8:38 PM

ShortCircuit
A little more information about Raymond Loewy and his gallery at the O. Winston Link Museum in Roanoke, VA can be found at URL:
http://roanokehistory.org/?p=241 

Thanks !  Bow I wasn't sure if it was permanent - appears to be, or nearly so.  I'm glad to know its still there, so I can make up for that omission.  Gotta get my rear in gear and do that soon ! 

- Paul North.

"This Fascinating Railroad Business" (title of 1943 book by Robert Selph Henry of the AAR)
RME
  • Member since
    March 2016
  • 2,073 posts
Posted by RME on Saturday, December 17, 2016 3:13 PM

samfp1943
There are other stories of the S1 reaching or exceeding 140 miles per hour (230 km/h). In the German trade press and literature from 1945 there was a report of a record run of the S1, citing railroad officials that a speed of 141 mph (227 km/h) had been reached. Its high speed capability was such that many have claimed that the S1 exceeded on multiple occasions the 126 mph (203 km/h) record steam locomotive speed set in 1938 by the LNER locomotive Mallard. The locomotive was claimed to have exceeded 156 mph (251 km/h) on the Fort Wayne-Chicago run, as it was reported that the PRR received a fine for the feat.

It is probable that the S1 could exceed 125mph as designed, but there is no known record with documentation, dynamometer car or otherwise.

The "141 mph" claim originates with Arnold Haas (who was otherwise known for exaggerating in-service locomotive speeds) and is almost certainly a metric number revised into an English speed.  I heard this story as having been achieved on a run of the Trail Blazer in 1947, but I'm sure there are other versions.  The business about a "fine" is a common element in these tales, as though the ICC had a police arm that issued government penalties to railroads that exceeded 'safe speed limits' -- as happens, I have researched both the ICC and FRA files and found nothing that substantiates any such event with any such train for any such reason.

The "156" is another of those fine metric number things that creep in, perhaps this time perhaps stemming from one of the finest pieces of BS ever, a report on the top speed of a GG1 electric from a docent (at a well-recognized railroad museum) who really should have known better.  I doubt any reciprocating steam locomotive would remain stable up to that speed; I have seen several studies that prove properly-designed engines could develop enough power to reach and sustain that speed (with a nominal, small train) but -- as with a Porsche 911 converted to a Chevy 350 -- there are other considerations than sheer horsepower involved in high-speed running.

Keep in mind that the S1 had standard, if lightweight, Walschaerts gear and piston valves.  That would make her capable of effective running up to her speedometer maximum of 110mph, but likely showing very rapid falloff of developed horsepower at higher speeds (I expect the T1 Trust modeling to include this engine, within a couple of years, and we'll have a much better idea of the physics then).  With the mass flow and compression involved, I suspect either poppet valves/drop valves or some system of double valves separating admission from exhaust would be needed for effective working much above 120mph ... which isn't as fast as most people think when they consider the S1.

Join our Community!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

Search the Community

Newsletter Sign-Up

By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy