Pennsy 4-8-4

First,Pennsylvania Railroad tried a Norfolk and Western Northern Type J-Class 603 on the line to Chicago and then turned down the 4-8-4 any info why Pennsy decided to turn down the 4-8-4.

I have always assumed that the problem was tat PRR's top people had fallen in love with the duplex design. And maybe the N&W J didn't impress them as much as it has impressed many people. I know the N&W engine was capable of high speeds despite its comparatively low drivers, but N&W's routes suggest that it didn't, in service, have to do as much sustained high-speed running as a passenger engine on PRR's Fort Wayne division would have had to.
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Of course, the PRR did have a 4-8-4: the R-1. (Grin!)

The upper management in PRR's mechanical Dept. frowned on the higher machinery speeds connected with the N&W J's 70 inchers. Other than that, many Pennsy folks thought quite highly of the Roanoke product. Then too, PRR was pretty far along with the T1 production order machines by the time they tested and digested the Class J.