steam turbine on rails

a picture of PRR S-2 class{the only one}No. 6200. built by Baldwin 1944. operated by the PRR until 1949 and scrapped 1953. by all accounts a reliable and powerful{5900HP}locomotive at high speed it fell down woefully at low speeds.
at high speed the 6200 was smooth and powerful. efficient as well. but much of a locomotive's life is spent at low speed and just sitting around idling. the characteristics of the turbine were such that at low and idling speeds it used immense amounts of fuel, let steam pressure drop considerably and sometimes overheated the firebox. an interesting conception the 6200 was gear driven on the center two axles which then powered the fore and aft axles by the side rods. with no reciprocating parts it was a very smooth locomotive indeed and much kinder to the rails than the reciprocating type. it's expensive low speed habits however, led to 6200's demise.