Motive Power for a 1905 Era Layout

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

We have an article on locomotives for the 1905 era at:

http://www.minkystrains.org/loco_page/

Thank you if you visit
Harold

2

Good stuff, Harold.

I bookmarked the page and will returning often, lots of great tips there.

Your efforts are appreciated.

3

Thanks Harold , it’s great to see you adding new stuff to your web page . i’m especially interested since i’m also modelling 1905

ernie

4

Thanks a bunch. Glad to see you got the web site problem resolved.
What wheel sets did you use for your Bach tender pickup upgrade? I want to do that to mine, but can’t find the correct wheels.

5

G’day Harold,

Just had a quick look at your new site, very nice it is too.

You make a comment in the caption for the Bachmann 2-10-0 about European locos having large domes.

These 2-10-0s were originally built for the Russian railway, which as you may know had 5’ gauge track. But at that time the Russian loading gauge was also much larger than that of the USA . The maximum height over the rail was something like 17 1/2 feet. So this allowed tall smokestacks and domes.

Having a tall steam dome in the days before front-end throttles meant that the throttle valve assembly could be mounted well above the maximum water level in the boiler, which would minimise the risk of water carry-over and priming.

Likewise, for those locos having dome-mounted check valves, the extra height made it easier to fit splash trays of adequate size.

The tall smokestack gave good draughting without the need for a deep petticoat, which in turn freed up
space inside the smokebox for the spark arrester.

Cheers,

Mark.

6

Thanks Mark

Harold

7

mn:
An extreme example, maybe, being the Golsdorf locos with the external steam-pipe running forward from the steam dome. Uggggly.

hminky: Great site. I love that early-1900s steam. Just like you say, the lines are clean and elegant (except for the times when the locos look like an awkward overinflation of an 1880s engine on stilts). Some other locos that might fit into the early 1900s with some backdating are the Bowser “Casey Jones”, the MDC 4-4-2s, 4-6-0s, 0-6-0, and 2-6-2s, and some of the AHM line. There’s really a lot of stuff out there, though not as much as for later steam

(That is perhaps debatable. Most of our later steam models are the big famous engines like 4-8-4s which weren’t produced in huge numbers. For every Northern there’d be handfuls of Mikes or Pacifics, and many RRs had unique, interesting designs. The only RR for which there is a really good cross-section of non-brass models for this utilitarian, everyday steam is the PRR! I suppose steam is destined to be a haven for kitbashers and scratchbuilders.)

8

That caused me a bit of head scratching, AP. Are you referring to the pipe between the domes, or the pipe from the dome down to the valve chests?

The pipe between the domes is, as you suggested, a steam drier.

As to whether it’s ugly, that’s a subject to discuss another day…

Sorry about using CSD engines as examples, but good clear photos of kkStB engines seem to be rather thin on the ground in cyberspace! But while I was searching I found these, you might find them of interest.

http://www.pospichal.net/lokstatistik/00043-fotos-yu1.htm

Cheers,

Mark.

9

Thank you for continuing to be an inspiration. I am modeling SP in northern California in 1909 and closely follow all the great projects and tips that you so generously share with us.

Peter Smith, Memphis

10

mn:

The one between the domes. I confess that I never noticed the other one, having only seen the loco in question (one of the compound passenger types, in one of Brian Hollingsworth’s books) in a small photo, which may have been from the other side. As for ugly, that is indeed in the eye of the beholder, and the engines shown are actually quite handsome in that businesslike Teutonic way. Definitely not engines for guuuulie men. But this beholder just sees that steam pipe and thinks “hey, a Paul Bunyan-sized carrying handle!”

So it’s a steam dryer? How does that work up there? I always assumed such elements needed to be surrounded by hot combustion gases or perhaps highly superheated steam as a heat source. Some sort of mechanical droplet separation going on? Those crazy Austrians.

There is just so much variety in steam from country to country, era to era, and railroad to railroad. You could read about it all your life and never run out of new things to learn.