Why does Frisco #1522 have boxpok drivers on the second axle? Looking at pics of other 1500-class engines (#1526 and #1527, mostly), they had spoked drivers on the second axle just like the other three axles.
??? [%-)]
Mixing of Boxpok and spoked drivers on engines wasn’t that uncommon.
It was common practice in the latter years of steam to replace the spoked main driver on a steam locomotive with a disc or boxpok drive. The main driver takes the brunt of the piston thrust and it was not uncommon for spokes to break on the main drivers. A boxpok/disc driver is stronger and more resistant to breakage.
Southern Pacific replaced the spoked main drivers on most of its 4-8-2’s, and virtually all of its 2-10-2’s. Santa Fe did the same with most, if not all of its 3800 class 2-10-2’s. Likewise, UP with its 4-8-2’s, 2-10-2’s and a sizeable numbers of its 2-8-2’s.
Shoot, Cotton Belt had some 4-6-0’s where ALL the drivers were replaced with Scullin disc drivers.
Andre
I’d sure like to see a photo of a 4-6-0 with Scullin disc drivers–kind of makes them the hi-tech models of their class–sort of.
Ed
Page 347 of Guide to North American Steam Locomotives has a picture of Cotton belt 4-6-0 #665 with Scullin disc drivers.
What I’d really like to see – and hear – is the 1522 in steam again. Now that was a whistle!
Dave Nelson
Jason
Thanks for the info. I found a picture in a borrowed Cotton Belt book of one of these engines. While Scullin disks look really nice on a Hudson, I don’t think they work visually on a ten wheeler. I will admit, though, that if I modeled SSW, I would definitely want one of these on my roster.
Ed
Even some of those nifty little Moffat Road 2-6-6-0’s built in the ealry decades of the 1900’s ended up with Scullin drivers on the main rod wheels. Sure gave them a distinctive look, by golly.
Andre: Question? When did Southern Pacific start installing disc drivers on their MT’ main drivers? Just curious, understand, all of my 4 HO scale MT"s have spoked drivers, even the MT-4 and MT-5 with the WWII skyline casings. It would almost be worth replacing a wheelset. [:P]
Tom
Get a Soundtraxx Tsunami large steam decoder–they recorded 1522 for the sounds.
http://www.frisco.org/vb/showthread.php?t=2295
Alex, are you trying to set up your Bachmann USRA 4-8-2 as a Frisco 1500 class mountain? I recommend you join frisco.org (if you haven’t already). Here’s a thread from someone trying the same thing:
Every photo I’ve ever seen of 4300 with disc mains has been a post WWII photo. My guess is that SP started doing it in the mid-1940’s.
The problem with replacing driver set is that you probably would have to replace all of them. The replacement driver would not only have to have the exact same diameter as the original, but would also have to have the same distance from the axle center to the center of the crankpin hole.
I checked Greenway Products, but they don’t seem to have any drivers that model the General Steel Castings disc drivers that SP commonly used to replace spoked mains. http://www.greenwayproducts.com/a_drivers.shtml
Andre
I wonder if that would be Scullin as in “Scullin Steel co.” located in St. Louis Mo.? The company is long gone but was a some what large co. back in it’s day.
[%-)]
Lee
“Cotton Belt Locomotives” by Joe Strapach. Page 90. #667 has a complete set of Scullin discdrivers. On page 93, #666 (how’s that for an engine number?) has a complete set of Baldwin disc drivers.
Andre