E. T. Harley

Written by the Pennsylvania Railroad's last chief mechanical engineer, this book describes in detail the Pennsylvania Railroad's doomed last effort in freight-hauling steam power, numbering 27 extremely powerful and unique locomotives of classes Q1 (1 prototype) and Q2 (1 prototype, 25 production).

The book goes beyond the locomotives themselves into the thinking that spawned them and the Pennsylvania's other duplex-drive experiments, the design process, specifications, drawings, and analysis of their performance in service. It's as in-depth a look at these locomotives as we're ever likely to get, and reminds this reader of the more hard-headed and technical British publications of this nature.

Extensively illustrated with black-and-white photographs, copious line drawings, and with a center fold-out containing a color HO-scale technical illustration, as well as general arrangement drawings at the same size. Color photography is confined to the front color.

Recommended for PRR enthusiasts, of course, but also more generally to those interested in the technical details of the final experiments in railroad steam locomotives in North America, and those fascinated with railroad oddities of all types.… (más)