Re: Baker at Work.

Kelly Anderson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What we can accomplish in the US these days is
> pretty pathetic compared to what that video shows,
> the preservation done in England, etc. Thanks for
> sharing just the same.
>
> Please share more about the locomotive. Driver
> diameter?


That's an NZR J type (Ja subtype specifically, different only in detail changes). Basic specifications are 18x26 cylinders, 54 inch drivers, 200 PSI boiler, about 26,500 pounds tractive effort by U.S. method of figure. Most sources will use commonwealth values for tractive effort that give somewhat lower numbers. The J appeared in the late 1930's as a medium-size engine that could slot in between the Ab pacific and heavy K 4-8-4's. They were successful and new J's were built as late as the mid 1950's. They ran on all the main routes and some of the branch lines but seem to have had particular association with South Island passenger service, in which use they remained active into the early 1970's, longer than steam elsewhere on NZR because the passenger trains used steam heat. They were very fast and smooth runners, certainly capable of 70 MPH with the usual claims of even higher speeds.

These engines are not to be confused with the much earlier X class 4-8-2, which was just about the world's first 4-8-2 type but which was very much a slow drag freight engine.