David, I don't mean to disparage your post data, but that 126 mph, esp on a just-overhauled loco that had not run in years, is pretty hard to believe. On the PRR tests in which 610 got up to 111 mph, the machinery speed was some incredible figure ( which, of course, I can't now recall ), so 126 mph from 70" drivers is really difficult to imagine, even with the J's cross- and counter-balancing. Can any of you confirm the 126 figure? BTW, that is almost exactly the usually-recognized "official" fastest steam timing ever, by the British "Mallard."
Elsewhere in this thread, someone mentioned the ballast gravel as being a factor in super high speed running. TRAINS ran a piece yrs ago in which the author - DPM? - described a ride on the diesel-powered Hiawatha from the Twin Cities to Chicago. Several times the author mentioned the gravel hitting the underside of the car, with speeds in the 90's, north of Milwaukee, in the vicinity of the Wisconsin Dells.
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