As part of its program of experimentation with steam locomotive design in the 1930s, the Delaware & Hudson equipped two P-1 Pacific type engines, including No. 653, with the Dabeg rotary poppet valve gear. As built in 1929 by the railroad's Colonie Shops, these 4-6-2s exerted 41,027 pounds of tractive effort, having 73-inch drivers, a boiler pressure of 260 p.s.i., and 22x28-inch cylinders. They weighed 300,000 pounds, and their wide firebox — designed to burn anthracite coal —had a grate area of 87 square feet. As rebuilt, No. 653 boasted a very high 325-pound boiler pressure, 3200 square feet of evaporative heating surface and 1500 square feet of superheater surface. The locomotive was exhibiteded at the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago in 1934, as shown on this post card I found in an antique shop. She displays the clean lines and uncluttered appearance favored by Delaware & Hudson president Leonor F. Loree, who admired the British "look" in steam engines. My father may have seen this locomotive during a visit to the Exposition in September, 1934.