Thank you for sharing these many Baldwin images over the years.
While one might scoff at this single unit, unlike several ill-fated coal-gas turbine locomotives tested by C&O, UP, etc., this Class S2 locomotive showed promise. Using familiar locomotive technologies for the tender and boiler, it used turbines found on ships. On this side we can see the larger forward-driving turbine as well as smaller driving wheels balanced for geared rather than reciprocating motion and able to roll at passenger train speeds. On the other side was located the smaller reversing turbine. The locomotive ran reasonably well generating good power and fuel economy at higher speeds but not so much at lower speeds. Operating until the early 1950's, it and the famous T1's were soon eclipsed by the more reliable and economical E7 units. The following website has a lot of interesting information including the turbine gearing and numerous links. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Railroad_class_S2#Design_specification
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Thank you for this great shot. It is too bad it was a failure. I had a Lionel steam turbine,and years later a O scale Sunset Models version of it.
Thanks for the memories.
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| Posted by mmi16 on October 15, 2025 | |
Amazing how much 'tractive weight' is removed from the drivers with the 6 wheel leading and trailing trucks.
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Nice photo and thanks for sharing. She was a nice looking machine and she also has the typical Pennsy features like a Belpaire firebox along with the classic PRR front end look. I wonder how the tractive force was calculated? Two of the variables in the typical tractive force equation uses the diameter of the piston and the length of the stroke of the piston. The S-2 had neither of these features because it was a steam turbine. Must have been some other rocket science tractive force calculation.
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