> Nope. The K5a tipoff is the Delta cast trailing truck. The K5 (20 locomotives, 2915-2934) was built as a pure USRA > design in 1918, with the USRA fabricated trailing truck. The K5a (10 locomotives, 2935-2944) was a K5 copy, built in > 1923, with the Delta cast trailing truck. The K5b was a single unique locomotive; one unique feature was the large > Vanderbilt tender. It had a cast Delta trailing truck. Randy is correct. But the 2960 did have other distinguishing characteristics, most of which you could not tell without a scorecard. > The trailing trucks never changed during any rebuildings. Also correct > The Vanderbilt tender went to K5 2918 fairly early on. Why? I don't know. But it didn't stay with 2918 exclusively. It was mated with some other locomotive from time to time. But then, it DID go back with 2918 afterwards. > Erie rebuilt all the K5as, three K5s and the K5b with cast engine beds. The rebuild moved the airpumps to the front > deck and incorporated a separate cast valve gear hanger. Not >>>ALL<<< were rebuilt with new engine beds. I know for sure that there were two that were not, one of which is 2944, and I'm not sure of the other one. That is why I said, " If it's a cast hanger, without rivets, it's a rebuild. If it's a fabricated hanger bolted together, it's a K5." I mistyped what I meant there, I meant to type that if it has a fabricated hanger bolted together, it's not (rebuilt). One reason I know this is that there are two K5 (or K5a) which are legitimate to model with the Max Gray K5 model, which comes with a full set of Box Pok drivers, but with the original valve gear hangers. And I have two of those, plus a Key K5 with full Box Poks, and a fabricated hanger. I can't have them all out at the same time, without a number conflict that only a very few people would know about if they would even notice. > Before, during and after the rebuilds, the railroad replaced spoked drivers, axle by axle, with the lighter, better balanced > BoxPok drivers -- a cast design with a hollow spoke with a box cross section. Some of the big 4-6-2s had one, two or all > three axles replaced at various times. That history is quite complicated; an accurate model would depend on a > photograph of the specific locomotive showing its configuration on the day you intend to model it. This is a little misleading, Randy. They didn't have a program to eventually replace all the drivers en toto. They had a certain number of replacement Box Pok driver sets, and when locomotives were serviced, they may, or may not, get back the same driver set they came into the shop with. There's evidence of some locomotives having various combinations of spoked and Box Pok over time. So, you are perfectly correct about having the photo to capture your prototype at the right time. > However, I venture to say that a model of 2960 with Box Pok drivers and the Vanderbilt tender would be totally inaccurate. That combination, you are probably correct. SGL > > Randy Brown > -------------------------------------------------------------- > K5 drivers were 79" > > The single K5b, 2960, was heavier than the basic K5. . . > > Summary, the K5b was slightly more powerful, but slipperier than the K5. > > Incidentally, Box Pok drivers do not correlate, as some think, with the rebuilding that made a K5 in to a K5a. the tip- > off to a K5a is the valve gear hanger. > SGL > > > The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List > http://EL-List.railfan.net/ > To Unsubscribe: http://Lists.Railfan.net/erielackunsub.html The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List http://EL-List.railfan.net/ To Unsubscribe: http://Lists.Railfan.net/erielackunsub.html ------------------------------
This HTML page is © 2000-2009 Blue Moon Online System and The Railfan Network
This page and the data contained therein may not be reproduced
for any form of commercial use without the explicit permission
of J. Henry Priebe Jr. or his duly authorized agent.