Pennsy J1 Project

[chessie system fan]

There's been so many Pennsy projects started here lately I might as well officially start mine.

I've wanted to build a Pennsy J1 for a long time, even though I  have no need for it. I'm a B&O guy, but it's cool and I want one.  And brass is way out of my price range.  I like to play “musical projects,” so it remains to be seen how fast this will progress.  Some nagging wouldn't hurt either.  I'm not really a steam guy, nor a SPF, so I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions along the way.  I've had this idea in the back of my mind for a few years, but only recently figured out how I will do it.

The mechanism is from a LL berk,and the rest will be scratch built.  The goal will be to design it so I can make a few castings, since I'll be putting a whole lot of effort into it.  I might even make two J's. We'll see.

The LL berk is an excellent starting point.  The Pennsy 2-10-4 and the berk were both based on the C&O 2-10-4 design, so much of the details are the same or similar.

I will need to make:

A. the 2-10-4 mechanism using the LL berk as a base
B. a scratch built boiler and pilot.
C. a heavily modified LL cab, or maybe I'll scratch build it?
D. scratch built tender
E. tender trucks?

I've never done anything on this scale before, so this will be quite a learning experience.  I'm armed with a spare mechanism, plenty of brass tubing, styrene sheet, etching and casting knowledge, and plans from the Mainline Modeler steam book, so off I go!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

tHIS pennsy steam project I dig. The S is so unique, but the Js were used all over. I much prefer common stuff.

[Dave V]

I'd be in for one...  Only issue for me is they were not used east of Altoona.  Apparently they didn't fit through the duckunders at Rockville Bridge for Enola.

[superturbine]

Sweet!  Snowball effect.  If I have any parts you may need let me know.

Jason Smith

[CodyO]

Sweet sweet sweet.... Ill be following the Js where sweet!
Maybe even Jason's 2-10-2 casting can be used as a base!

[superturbine]

That could be done but the Mikado drivers are a little undersized.  What's the driver size on the berk?


Class   J1
Locobase ID   98
Railroad   Pennsylvania (PRR)
Whyte   2-10-4
Road Numbers   6150+, 6401+
Gauge   Std
Builder   Juniata
Year   1942
Valve Gear   Baker
Locomotive Length and Weight
Driver Wheelbase   24.33'
Engine Wheelbase   49.25'
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheebase    0.49
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender)   104.04'
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle)   76800 lbs
Weight on Drivers   377800 lbs
Engine Weight   572640 lbs
Tender Light Weight   411500 lbs
Total Engine and Tender Weight   984140 lbs
Tender Water Capacity   21000 gals
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal)   29.9 tons
Minimum weight of rail (calculated) on which locomotive could run   126 lb/yard
Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort
Driver Diameter   69"
Boiler Pressure   270 psi
Cylinders (dia x stroke)   29" x 34"
Tractive Effort   95106 lbs
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort)    3.97
Heating Ability
Firebox Area   575 sq. ft
Grate Area   121.70 sq. ft
Evaporative Heating Surface   6568 sq. ft
Superheating Surface   2930 sq. ft
Combined Heating Surface   9498 sq. ft
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume   252.69
Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information)
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation   32859
Same as above plus superheater percentage   43045
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area   203378
Power L1   42781
Power MT   1248.22
Photos

[chicken45]

I will be PMing you my checking and routing numbers.
Just take what you need.

[chessie system fan]

The LL berk has 69" drivers so that's the starting point.  As it turns out, the part of this project I thought would be the hardest turns out to be the easiest!  Instead of adding the driver onto the rear like in past 2-10-2 projects I've seen, just add it to the front.  There's even a mounting pad from where the steam chests were attached.  No cutting required!  I posted these in SNFF a few weeks ago.



The new addition is made from styrene bits.  I didn't have any plans, but I tried to make it as exact a replica of the front as possible.  It was all trial and error until it worked smoothly. 



The steam chests will be screwed on where that green dot is on the front.  Now the two metal pins need to be moved forward one driver space and the mechanism will be done.

[Cajonpassfan]

Great project! Stretching the berk should  provide good bones and right proportions for the mech. The berk boiler though is a bit skinny...You may look at the Bachmann Santa Fe 4-8-4 boiler as a starting point...?
Fun stuff!
Best, Otto K.

[kelticsylk]

Kind of ironic that it's a Chessie fan building a model of my favorite PRR locomotive and the least Pennsyesque. Go figure.

I've been thinking of trying this with a Bachmann 4-8-4 (the one I used for the phantom "R" class). but this has my interest. The fact that you don't have to cut the Berk mechanism up sounds good to me. Since I could use a couple of J's on the east slope I'll be paying close attention.

[mmagliaro]

The 2008 NTrak Steam Locomotive Book  Addendum has an article by Ron Kunkle where he makes a C&O
2-10-4 by placing a stretched LL Berkshire boiler onto a Con-Cor 2-10-2 mechanism, with altered
pilot and trailing trucks.  I think it looks pretty good, and might be helpful.

[chessie system fan]

Wow.  I didn't realize it's been this long since I've started this.    The project has been dormant, but I've slowly been working on it a little at a time.  I hit a roadblock about how to make the boiler, but I think I have that sorted out now. 

In the mean time, I've spent a great deal of effort working on the tender.  Here's the drawing, ready for the cutter.  It turned out to be much more challenging than I anticipated.



There are three different thicknesses shown.  The top is 0.005," the middle is 0.010" and the bottom is 0.020"

[chessie system fan]

One part that's still a mystery is where the water hatch goes.  Brass models show one version with two parallel to the car while others have only one perpendicular to it.  I've been unable to locate any roof shots either.  Anyone have better sources of info?

[Bob Bufkin]

Ed the Js were not used all over.  Didn't use them east of Altoona because of their size.  Between Altoona and Chicago they were a mainstay.

[mmagliaro]

"Pennsy Power" II, by Alvin Stauffer, page 55, shows a J1, #6492, at the top of the page where you can
just clearly make out that the tender has two water hatches that run parallel to the sides of the tender.

There were some ATSF 2-10-4's leased to the Pennsy, that had water hatches running across the top
of the tender.  But those weren't J1's.   I did find brass models with it either way.   They may have both existed.
The PRR had a lot of minor tender variations.