Southern RR steam

[learmoia]

....are we sure these aren't photoshops?..

Are there any in service photos? 

~Ian

[Point353]

....are we sure these aren't photoshops?..

That might depend upon whether or not the information in the book Perfecting the American Steam Locomotive by J. Parker Lamb is valid.

Are there any in service photos? 

Apparently the locos were built for service over Saluda grade and existed in the duplex configuration from about 1915 to 1926.
Were there likely to be many railfans with cameras in that area during that time period?

[learmoia]

The reason I ask, we have a steam historian at work who used to work for Southern.. and he thought the locomotives were theorized as an idea but never built.

~Ian

[Point353]

The reason I ask, we have a steam historian at work who used to work for Southern.. and he thought the locomotives were theorized as an idea but never built.

Lamb's book mentions that the duplex locos were about 30% more powerful than ones without the added "tender-tractor" and that the experiment was deemed to be only modestly successful.

[learmoia]

Disregard, he couldn't open the attachments earlier and thought I was talking about something else.. 

Once he saw the pics he knew what I was talking about.. Apparently Tractor nickname stuck.. (that's what he called them..)

Now I'm curious what he THOUGHT I was talking about.

[davefoxx]

Disregard, he couldn't open the attachments earlier and thought I was talking about something else.. 

Once he saw the pics he knew what I was talking about.. Apparently Tractor nickname stuck.. (that's what he called them..)

Now I'm curious what he THOUGHT I was talking about.

/>

[dem34]

Looks like a poorly executed kitbash - if a modeler raised the tender that much he'd be laughed outta the room.

Here's a sister unit - I think these are really good looking steamers:

https://www.steamlocomotive.com/whyte/2-10-2/USA/photos/sou5047-laws.jpg

Mark

Seems like something that would be at home on the Gorre and Daphetid.

[nkalanaga]

The main reason they didn't catch on for mainline use was lack of boiler capacity, the same problem the Triplexes had.  At low speeds they worked fine, but they couldn't make steam fast enough to supply both engines at mainline speeds.

As helpers, they didn't need speed, just tractive effort, so they would have worked fine.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Here you go.  It appears there may have been at least two: Nos. 4537 and 4576:

http://southern.railfan.net/images/archive/southern/steam/282/sou4537.html

http://southern.railfan.net/images/archive/southern/steam/282/sou4576.html

Hope this helps,
DFF

P.S. Anything you can do to reduce the size of the photo in your signature in each post?  While it is a nice photo, it's huge and can be distracting in the midst of other posts.

What. The. F***?

Note the engine under the tender has slide valves, no less.

Serious WTF.

[Iain]

What. The. F***?

Note the engine under the tender has slide valves, no less.

Serious WTF.

D valves, not slide.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

They would have looked something like that, though smaller.

[Iain]

But, as to why D valves over piston valves?  They used an old locomotive and stripped off the boiler and cab and related bits and stuck a tender body on the frame.

[C855B]

But, as to why D valves over piston valves?  They used an old locomotive and stripped off the boiler and cab and related bits and stuck a tender body on the frame.

Yep. Sorta like a redneck trailer built out of an old pickup truck bed. It was the Southern, after all. 

[Chris333]

Erie: Am I a joke to you.

[davefoxx]

Virginian: "Hey, Erie!  Two words: axle count." 

[Point353]

Virginian: "Hey, Erie!  Two words: axle count." 

See your axle count and raise: