It may seem like I am beating a dead (iron) horse but I feel I need to pursue this point to avoid rewriting history, although it may be too late. Someone may already have read the passage from a previous post I quoted and now believes that not all the Erie K5a locomotives were rebuilt to the more modern appearance with the air pumps up front and the cast engine bed. That person may, at some time, retell this to someone else, and so the mistake will profilerate. The fact is that all the K5a class were rebuilt with the cast engine bed. This includes 2944. See Biernacki, p. 29-32; photos at p.51, 74, and rear cover. Also see "Erie Memories", by Ed Crist, text and picture: p.31. And "The Erie Railroad Story" by Paul Carleton, photo: p.131. See also Locomotive Quarterly, vol. 11, #2, and "Eastern Steam Pictorial", p.209. And Railway Mechanical Engineer magazine, Simmons-Boardman, June, 1942, p.218. The written evidence might be contested (except for the announcement in RME), but the pictures are irrefutable. The confusion may arise from the several sets of improvement applied to the K5 and K5a classes during thier lifetimes, some of which have been referred to in various sources as "rebuildings". The first and probably most obvious was the addition of the Elesco feedwater heater -- yet all the K5s and K5a's and the K5b got them. Another area could be the tender modifications (raised coal b.oards) or replacements. In any event, some regretable confusion has happened. I hope it is now cleared up. Randy Brown - -------------------------------------------------------------- Look, Randy, say what you want. I have discussed this with Dan at some extreme length. SGL > -----Original Message----- > From: Janet & Randy Brown [mailto:jananran_@_mymailstation.com] > Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 9:46 AM > To: erielack_@_lists.railfan.net > Subject: (erielack) Erie K5, K5a [was PSC Erie K5b] > > SGL said, "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. . ." > > Biernacki says, "In the spring of 1940, Erie initiated a major rebuild program that would include all 10 K5a and the lone > K5b . . . only three of the original K5 group were rebuilt . . ." > > Since pictures abound of 2944 as rebuilt, I'll stick with Dan on this one: > > All ten K5a and the K5b (and three K5) were rebuilt. > > Randy Brown > The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List http://EL-List.railfan.net/ To Unsubscribe: http://Lists.Railfan.net/erielackunsub.html ------------------------------
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