What's That on the Steam Loco?

Model Railroader Prototype information for the modeler
1

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/tr_cnj832.jpg

I was wondering if someone could tell me what that horizontal tube above the front of the boiler is on some steam locos.

Could someone tell me what it’s function is and if possible, any manufacturers of these as addon parts for HO scale steamers? If anyone could tell me some details on how exactly to install it on a bachmann 2-8-0 that would be great.

Thanks for any info you can give! :slight_smile:

2

That is a feedwater heater, presumably by Elesco… they are/were available in HO from Yardbird…

3

Gidday, here’s a link to the feedwater heaters purpose.

http://www.steamlocomotive.com/appliances/feedwaterheaters.php

and a link to another source of HO detail parts.

http://www.bowserorders.com/.sc/ms/cat/HO%20Cal%20Scale

and a link to the site mentioned by Graffen.

http://www.yardbirdtrains.com/YBDetailParts.htm

Sorry can’t help with a how-to.

Cheers, the Bear.

4

Yup, Elesco feedwater heater.

–Randy

5

That’s an Elesco feedwater heater installed overhanging the smokebox door of a short smokebox.

A more common installation would see it in the same position, but imbedded in the top of a longer smokebox. In bad water country, Elesco heaters were sometimes installed on the pilot beam, where they were easily accessed for de-scaling.

The JNR installed Elesco feedwater heaters on all of their modern steam, sometimes in unusual places. Aftermarket' installations were put on the pilot beam or across the top of the smokebox behind the stack. The first series of D51 class 2-8-2s had the Elesco heater lengthwise on top of the boiler forward of the sandbox under a canoe-shaped fairing. (The three later series had it in the more normal crosswise ahead of the stack’ position, but the earlier ones were never rebuilt to that configuration.)

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

6

The part to which you’re referring is the heater bundle of an Elesco feedwater heater system, and there are a few other parts associated with it, some of which are shown in the two photos below:

Most of the parts are available from Cal-Scale or Cary (Bowser) or PSC (Precision Scale), although you’ll need to form most of the piping from brass wire.

Wayne

7

Thanks guys,
I have always wanted to learn more about their function, & you have answered many of my questions!

Great Thread!

8

Here are two photos of a Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 Consolidation modified to incorporate an Elesco feedwater heater using CalScale parts, and for comparison an unmodified 2-8-0.

I elected to partailly submerge the heater bundle in the smokebox to simplify my task, by having the exhaust pipes from the cylinders to the bundle concealed inside the smoke box (in theory but not replicated). This was my first attempt at customizing a locomotive and in retrospect the results are rather crude, particularly when compared to Doc Wayne’s work…

I have yet to have another go by installing an Elesco systemon a Russian Decapod.

9

Rio Grande was a large user of Elesco’s on their standard-gauge steam locomotives. They had 3 areas of placement for the ‘bundle’–the pilot decks of their 2-10-2 and 1700 series 4-8-4 locomotives, on the boiler top just in front of the stack on their 1600 3-cylinder 4-8-2’s, and hung over the boiler front ‘eyebrow’ style on their L-105 4-6-6-4 and L-131 2-8-8-2 articulateds. Here’s some photos of placement on my Rio Grande models:

Eyebrow:

Deck and smokebox top (deck on 1st loco, smokebox top on 2nd)

Tom