I am curious to know, would it be possible to create a diesel locomotive that looked like a steam locomotive - i.e. with all the running gear, drivers, piston rods, etc. - yet operated like a diesel with the traction motors, fuel, etc.? It would be an interesting concept if it could be done! Tell me what you think!
D-Man
Modelers do it all the time… think, “Lionel”.
Then there are the ride-on scales where people have done it, including some narrow gauge park engines. And I know that several museums have put a Diesel in the tender of a non economically repairable, but towable steamer to run on the museum tracks. Looks neat but sounds all wrong.
But for full sized… lots of extra weight and additional pounding wear and tear on the track only to make it look interesting (not that I do not like to watch valve gear on a steam locomotive) but for no USEFUL purpose.
If you mean having the effort going to each wheel via rods and pistons, yeah, it was tried, even with electric locomotives, but not too successful. I think too much was lost through the mechanical hook up while an electric motor on any given axle was more direct and more effective. I do remember PRR locomotives…was it the DD’s?..with rods and I saw a Plymouth switcher once, too at a tannery in PA.
GE 45-tonners had only one axle-mounted traction motor on each truck with the link to the other axle provided by a chain drive or side rods.
A fair number of early electrics used jackshafts and side rods: DD-1, FF-1 and L-5 on PRR; LC-1’s and LC-2’s on N&W’s Elkhorn Tunnel electrification; VGN squareheads; a few experimentals on NH and maybe some others.
I think you might be a few years too late!
http://www.aqpl43.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/upturb/upturb.htm
I am not sure what you are asking. Why do you think it would be an interesting concept? Connecting rods can, and have been combined with motor drive, but what would be the point of pistons?
Didn’t Sultzer try a direct drive diesel locomotive about 95 years ago? That would be a direct reversing diesel like that used on ships.
A lot of similar drives were tried…ok for tractive effort in small doses but with heavier loads and at higher speeds it did not perform satisfactorily in bringing efficiency to the driving wheels…too much was lost in the mechanical transfer. Thus putting power into a motor on an axle was found to be more efficient and controllable.
See this link about 2/3 of the way down the webpage for some photos and drawings of the DD-1’s, including one with the cab removed and showing the ‘guts’ - i.e., the motors, jackshaft, and rods:
http://www.tycoforums.com/tyco/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7008
See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PRR_DD1.jpg
Links to photos (not mine) of GE 45-ton switchers with side rods:
http://www.jeff-z.com/wks/locoroster/7258/7258.html
See also this photo (not mine) of the Swiss “Krokodil”:
http://www.railpictures.net/images/d1/3/9/0/7390.1151780400.jpg
I suppose you could also mount such a giant motor or a pair to directly drive each axle of the ersatz steam locomotive - such as was done with the Milwaukee Road’s ‘Bi-Polar’ electrics - see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee_Road_class_EP-2 , 2nd paragraph under “Design”, or the EP-3’s - see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MILW_Quill_half_with_motors.jpg - or the twin motors on the PRR’s GG1 electrics, etc. - see: http://www.steamlocomotive.com/GG1/quill.shtml - and then connect those axles with rods and a fake piston, etc. to obtain the effect you seek.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom has done exaclty that, built a diesel in steam’s clothing for their train ride.
