Posted November 25, 201311 yr Hello there Train Tech! Today I'd like to present to you my newest steam engine, a little 2-8-0 from Flagstaff Arizona. I've actually wanted to build this engine for a while, and when I decided I was going to model it I had a very special goal in mind: it had to have working, internal valve gear that was 100% purist. Some of you may remember that my last engine had this feature. It was a little tricky adapting it for this engine, as it uses the Med BBB drivers instead of Large Drivers, and this engine is powered through the tender meaning the mechanism cannot have any friction that would hinder the fluid motion of the rods. Tricky, but it works like a charm now. This slope-backed tender was really fun to build, and luckily enough is just barely big enough that I could fit ALL the PF gear inside. With only one PF motor and not a whole lot of weight in the tender (Even with the AAA Battery Box), it doesn't have an incredible amount of power or traction, but it can pull a few EN couches and runs smoothly too. Having a PF train motor is nice though, since it will make it easy to put a powered coach behind and have their speeds match. The wheels on the front truck are actually two of those tiny LEGO train wheels turned around backwards, acting as blind wheels. This not only helped me get the right size of wheel, but also let me avoid screwing up the proportions of the loco's front trying to articulate it. I tried to get a nice white rim but, sadly, these small wheels are harder to get right. I may try it again later, but in motion it's impossible to tell. Each side of the engine is actually very different, not even the running boards match! In this picture you can also see the undercarriage detail, which really is mostly just the springs. Zephyr's custom rods really do add that perfect finishing touch. And finally.... it's time to put that snow plow to good use: You can also visit my Flickr page, where you can see more pictures plus a short but terrible video of the valve gear in motion. Hopefully soon I can get a better video! http://www.flickr.co...s/90900478@N08/ Thanks for reading!
November 27, 201311 yr That picture where it's facing the right, it really looks like the actual thing! I've never actually stopped to see the engine but I've seen it multiple times.
November 28, 201311 yr Wow, what a fantastic build with lots of great detailing (you didn't show any shots of the details of the valve gear though, sad clown). Looking at the flickr page, I like how you even got the shape of the backhead of the boiler. Oh, I must add that the white tires look great too!
November 29, 201311 yr great.Excellent build, very detailed. It has quite an interesting looking tender.thank you
November 29, 201311 yr As always, your steam engines look awesome. I like the idea of placing it in the snow
November 29, 201311 yr Looks great! I like how you used the car tyres as a chimney, and also the white rims on the drivers and the front truck.
December 1, 201311 yr Author Thanks much everybody! I'm very glad to hear you all think the snow photos turned out well, as they were a lot of fun to do (Especially the one where it's plowing through!) Wow, what a fantastic build with lots of great detailing (you didn't show any shots of the details of the valve gear though, sad clown). Looking at the flickr page, I like how you even got the shape of the backhead of the boiler. Oh, I must add that the white tires look great too! Sad Clown indeed! I wasn't sure whether to get too much into the mechanism here or post a topic about it some other time, but once I get back home from Thanksgiving vacation I'll take pictures of it either way. And thanks about the wheels. I do wish the small wheels had turned out better, but I seem to be too shaky-handed to get them perfect!
December 4, 201311 yr Author Very nice train ...I see some solution from Anthony Sava. Great work! Thanks LEGO Train 12 Volts! To be honest, I have spent a lot of time (Perhaps more than I care to admit) staring at pictures of train MOCs that just blow me away, and indeed Sava's steamers are among my favorites. I will freely say that I have taken a ton of inspiration from Anthony Sava, Cale Leiphart, and yourself; as you were the one who got me on this big valve gear craze that led to me creating this internal mechanism. So it is no surprise to me that you will recognize things like Cale's bell design (A truly perfect design I could not hope to improve!), or see the influence Tony has had on my build style, or even the crazy little "how-on-earth-did-he-make-that-actually-work" mechanisms like you tend to do. I am very thankful to be part of such a creative and inspiring community, and can only hope that I can bring fun new things to the table as you guys have.
December 4, 201311 yr Oh your train is amazing and to be honest I'm a big fan of Anthony Sava's work (and other masters)! Like you I've spent a lot of time to see how other people work to make their locomotives ...and you're right when you say "a truly perfect is (quite ) impossible to improve!" ....so brick on! P.S. The white circles on your tires is a great touch!
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