A TR at last

I can't believe my kid, Spasso. I was just going through some of my old magazines and ran across a British mag from 1934 that had an article about the Macchi-Costoldi record holder seaplane that won the Schneider Cup race in 1933. It had a FIAT engine, a V-24, that was essentially two FIAT V-12's joined end to end that produced 3200 horsepower ! ! The airplane set a record of 447 miles per hour in 1933 ! The Italians have produced some awesome machines and I have read that the Macchi 220/221 was as good as anything else that flew in WW2 when it was powered by a DB601. By the way, all that bronze colored skin on the wings were brass radiators with hundreds of tiny brass tubes in them. The pontoons had the same. Would you believe wooden wings !

 

It is. Fun to share common interests, fine automobiles of all types, airplanes and steam powered locomotives.

The picture of your daughter Allison reminds me very much of tagging around to all of the NW airshows in the L-3 when I was 11 and 12 years old. (circa 1967/68) Abbotsford BC stands out as a biggie.

I got to meet some VERY interesting and unique people for a couple of summers.

 

You know, You talk like you were right there...........................

 

See ya.

 

Actually, the picture of the first "spaghetti" fighter is a Macchi 205 Orione. Here is a builders photo. Originally powered by an Alfa Romeo inverted 12. They say it was among the best in WWII

Cool looking A/P, definately has an Italian look to it.

I bet it is just as small inside as their cars. My head would probably stick up a foot above the canopy.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I think we need to change the title of this thread to "Sparky's Cafe".

A good place to meet and tell "tall" tales.......................................

 

Didn't the Italians also make a really cool looking JET aircraft right after the war? Seems like I remember seeing a photo of one in a museum. It reminded me of a P-80.
And did Spasso mention steam locomotives? There is one wasting away right here in Little Rock off the beaten path if you know where to look. It was originally put on display at the local zoo beside an F-86 jet. MANY years later, when zoos became more "animal oriented" and less "amusement park", all the old artifacts disappeared from the zoo and a local park. A friend found the train years later near an old truck storage place. It is still there even after the land was sold. The owner of the train retained a 5 year option to retain ownership of the train if he can get it moved.

The F-86 at the zoo, and a T-33 at the local park, disappeared. I spent about 2 days worth of phone calls trying to find out whatever happened to them. Finally tracked down the old mayor's secretary who informed me that they had taken BIDS to PAY the lowest bidder to have them hauled off. Who knows if they actually got scrapped. They COULD be in some farmer's barn somewhere. I think that I could fit an F-86 on my 16 foot car hauling trailer.

Here's an interesting link about surviving locomotives that are "projects" just waiting for the right offer.
http://www.pernet.net/~james1/texas/

 

Horsefly, That Italian " jet" was essentially a ducted fan that was driven by a reciprocating engine. It acted like a jet without the fire. I believe that it was a Caproni. I should look that up to jog my ol' memory.

 

Okay, I looked it up and I was incorrect. It did have fire but the combustion elements were outside of the " jet engine" and only heated the air that was being propelled aft by the Alfs Romeo engine driving the fan.

 

Hi Arlie,
Here are some pics of some Macchi A7 trainers, much like a P-80 from the 50's and 60's.

Actually better looking than the P-80.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Yes Bob, I WAS thinking of the Caproni. I did a Google search and that was the plane.
As I was typing my last post, a fellow co-worker walked in and tried to up the anty on my weekend flea market find of a B-17G technical manual.
He went to an estate sale this morning and picked up this one. It's a small handbook filled with pictures describing the entire Army Air Corp. It was printed later during the war with quite a few combat theater photos. My favorite was the gunner standing ankle deep in .50 caliber casings. He must have seen a Porsche driver while flying over Berlin.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

More Macchi. Also known as MB 326 by the RAAF.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Stipa- Caproni tubular fuselage.
This is fun.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Okay, okay, I think this is the Caproni these guys are talking about.

Campini's thermojet. It is, in effect, to be considered more as a hybrid than as a jet engine proper. An internal combustion engine characterized by reciprocating motion of pistons in its cylinder - in our case, a 900 hp Isotta Fraschini L. 121/R.C. 40 engine - drove a compressor incorporating 2 ducted propellers and a propeller designed to direct the flow and minimize the breakdown of the smooth airflow. A ring of injectors (i.e. the burners) introduced kerosine, whose combustion increased the volume of the thermojet and the exhaust velocity.

Campini-Caproni CC2
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Looks like they figured out a way to deliver giant culvert pipes across country.

 

WOW, you have a lot of old locomotives in your neck of the woods.

The following 3 pictures are of Southern Pacific's 4449.

A 4-8-4 capable of doing over 100 MPH.

The drive wheels are 81" high (over 6 feet)

My dad and I went on a day trip behind this monster in 1999 I think. We went up the Columbia gorge to Wishram, had a BBQ and came back down to Portland in the afternoon.

Look at the third picture closely. Those are grown men standing next to the engine. This thing is BIG.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Shoot hell, lets swallow them.

 

Sparky, it could be the same big locomotive that passed through Little Rock about 2 years ago. It was parked overnight at the rail yard in North Little Rock. We drove over there after dark on our lunch break and looked it over. It was BIG. Like a gigantic ghost from another time. I can't remember it's number but it is well known. The also have another BIG locomotive down in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. It was built down there in the 1940s, and a bunch of guys have been re-restoring it for several years. You gotta have some hefty tools to move that stuff around.

 

You guys need some more train info.

Here's the one in Pine Bluff, Arkansas
http://users.aristotle.net/~russjohn/819.html

And here's a few more in Arkansas
http://parkengines.railfan.net/AR/

And a few more BIG projects.
http://lostengines.railfan.net/

And more around the country.
http://parkengines.railfan.net/

 

If you did see a 4-8-8-4 could it have been a medium sized Mallet? They were used for logging and the like. If this thing was REALLY big then it could have been Union Pacific Big Boy. As far as I know none are running but I heard rumors years ago that 4018 was going to be rebuilt for a movie but it never happened. At last check 4018 was in Texas.

Info from another site about 4018,
***********************************************
BigBoy 4018 currently resides at the Age of Steam Museum in Dallas Texas. Back in 1999, a plan was set forward to refurbish the locomotive back to operational status. Apparently, the locomotive was to be featured in a movie entitled "BigBoy", which was to be produced by HighBall Films upon completion of 4018's restoration. It had been estimated that the restoration would cost anywhere in between 3 to 7 million dollars. Unfortunately, apart from the initial overview of the locomotive, nothing more ever came of the restoration promises. It seems HighBall Films backed out of the deal, making promises they could not keep and budgets they could not secure, typical of 99% of Hollywood deals. Therefore at this point, the locomotive still resides at the Age of Steam Museum, untouched.

Will we ever see a BigBoy brought back into operational status again? The question still remains: if the locomotive was to be restored, who would operate it and where will it run? Steve Lee, head of the Union Pacific Steam Program, says no where...... According to him, the railroad is no longer equipped to handle the behemoth. Presently, they run Challenger #3985 (4-6-6-4) and Northern #844 (4-8-4) on steam excursions. The Challenger is short enough to be turned on the few remaining turntables and wyes in Wyoming and the surrounding states, those facilities just couldn't handle the extra 12 to 14 feet of the BigBoy. In addition, the Union Pacific isn't too keen on running a coal fired locomotive at this point (both Challenger 3985 and Northern 844 are oil fired). Back in the late 40s and early 50s, BigBoy #4005 was briefly converted to burn oil, it was unsuccessful. Then again, can Union Pacific actually turn down the offer if a fully operational 4000 was delivered to their doorstep one morning? I've got my money on NO! Unfortunately though, we will no have the opportunity to see if I am correct or not in the foreseeable future.
**********************************************

ARE YOU SURE YOU SAW A Big Boy 4-8-8-4? If so I am on a plane tomorrow. An experience of a life time.

Here is a link to 4004 in 1958.(pic too big to post from work) Probably her last run. In very bad shape but kicking ASS. Look how small the engineer is. The engine and tender are 131 feet long!

http://www.trainweb.org/jlsrr/bigboy/historical-
pictures/full-pictures/4004.JPG


Here is a shot of 4019 at rest. Check out the engineer standing next to it. This engine was designed to pull a 3700 TON train! Can you say TORQUE?

http://www.trainweb.org/jlsrr/bigboy/historical-pictures/full-pictures/4019profile.jpg

Check out these doubleheaded Big Boys. The train was 7 miles long!
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

This sounds like the 4-6-6-4 Challenger. It is really big. A monster.

Another could have been the 4-8-4 Northern too. They run excursions and tours almost every year.