End of the line

[rogertra]

A sad sight but not untypical of 1958.  Scene not complete as locos need decals and a little more weathering.

Not sure of the origins of the locos as they were picked up a flea markets as non-runners.  Unnumbered engine may have been a Bachmann 2-8-0 as it originally had a wide firebox and ash pan but I removed it and added regular firebox sides and ashpan.  GER engines never had wide fireboxes.

[J3a-614]

Sad, but common at the end of steam (and occasionally before, as older locomotives were replaced, 4-4-0s going away as Pacifics came in, 2-8-0s going to scrap as 2-8-4s started hauling the hotshots).

Unlettered engine looks very much like an old Bachmann Reading I-10 2-8-0; the other one is a Model Die Casting-Roundhouse 2-8-0 loosely based on a Southern Pacific prototype.  Don't know about the tender with it, though; looks like a switcher tender from Life-Like (now Walthers), but I can't imagine such a pricey tender being with this older model.  The tender with the Reading engine is still in production and shows up with some of the 0-6-0 models.

Too bad the dies broke or were otherwise damaged for the I-10; it would have been a nice engine to be upgraded to the current standard line, the die work was always quite good on it (and it kept the tradition of big Reading 2-8-0s alive in HO; the prototypes were once offered in HO by Varney and Mantua).  Unfortunately, they also had the horrible mechanisms of Bachmann at the time, including a coffee-grinding pancake motor driving through spur gears--ugh!

[rogertra]

Sad, but common at the end of steam (and occasionally before, as older locomotives were replaced, 4-4-0s going away as Pacifics came in, 2-8-0s going to scrap as 2-8-4s started hauling the hotshots).

Unlettered engine looks very much like an old Bachmann Reading I-10 2-8-0; the other one is a Model Die Casting-Roundhouse 2-8-0 loosely based on a Southern Pacific prototype.  Don't know about the tender with it, though; looks like a switcher tender from Life-Like (now Walthers), but I can't imagine such a pricey tender being with this older model.  The tender with the Reading engine is still in production and shows up with some of the 0-6-0 models.

Too bad the dies broke or were otherwise damaged for the I-10; it would have been a nice engine to be upgraded to the current standard line, the die work was always quite good on it (and it kept the tradition of big Reading 2-8-0s alive in HO; the prototypes were once offered in HO by Varney and Mantua).  Unfortunately, they also had the horrible mechanisms of Bachmann at the time, including a coffee-grinding pancake motor driving through spur gears--ugh!

Yes, I thought that was the Bachmann I-10 2-8-0.  And yes it did have the Botchmann pancake motor which was dumped and the engine now free wheels.  The MDC engine's tender is just an unlettered spare P2K tender, I have more tenders than engines as I tend to have various tenders behind the same class of engine depending on their assignments, just as the prototype did.

My Spectrum 2-8-0 fleet has the stock Spectrum tender behind a couple of engines for regular freight service, two have the Spectrum tender shortened by four scale feet for use on a branch line with a short turntable and at least one has a P2K switcher tender, as shown behind the MDC 2-8-0 in the photos, for use in mainline way freight service.  

The tender in the photo is scheduled to be reassigned to yet another Spectrum 2-8-0 for main line way freight service, as soon as I can get around to it.

[Joe Baldwin]

I have vivid memories of seeing Santa Fe freight trains racing across the plains pulled by a string of F units.  Tucked in the endless string of cars would be 2 or 3 or maybe 4 or 5 steam locomotives without side gear rolling to the scrap yard.   

Thanks for sharing your work and provoking some old memories.

Joe

[rogertra]

Joe.

I have a couple more non runners that have had the gearing removed so that they free wheel.  They will have their rods removed and strapped to the running boards and, once in a while, they will either be way billed into the west bound way freight for a final trip to Montreal for cutting up or, perhaps, an extra will be called and they will be formed into a train, with spacer freight cars, for hauling away for scrapping.

All very sad late 1950 sights, as you mention.

[Doneldon]

These sights continued long after 1950. Heck, the Santa Fe was still operating quite a bit of steam through most of the decade. And some of the forlorn dead engines were still sitting on otherwise abandoned sidings until at least 1969. I ran between Chicago and the west coast that year and there were lots of the old locos sitting around, especially between Chicago and Joliet.

                                                                                -- D

[RAM]

They usually just removed the main rod.

[rogertra]

They usually just removed the main rod.

Not unusual to see the coupling rods up on the running board as well.

[RAM]

What is the coupling rods? 

[rogertra]

What is the coupling rods? 

Coupling rods or side rods are the ones that link the driving wheels together.  They transfer the power from the main driving wheel to the other driving wheels.

The main rod or driving rod is the one from the piston to the driving wheel what converts the back and forward motion of the piston rod into the circular motion of the wheel.

All very simple. 

[Doneldon]

The main rod or driving rod is the one from the piston to the driving wheel what converts the back and forward motion of the piston rod into the circular motion of the wheel.

All very simple. 

Roger-

It's just a little more complicated than that. The connecting rod cannot do its work without the eccentric crank which turns the axle to which it is connected into a crankshaft.
                                                                                         -- D

[rogertra]

The main rod or driving rod is the one from the piston to the driving wheel what converts the back and forward motion of the piston rod into the circular motion of the wheel.

All very simple.  

Roger-

It's just a little more complicated than that. The connecting rod cannot do its work without the eccentric crank which turns the axle to which it is connected into a crankshaft.
                                                                                        -- D

Sorry but you are mistaken.

The "eccentric crank" connects to the valve motion via the eccentric rod which in turn connects to the valves via other parts to the valve stem.  The eccentric crank has nothing to do with actually turning the wheels, it does not power the wheels at all, it goes along for the ride.  Powering the wheels is done via the conrod and connecting rods.   The eccentric crank and eccentric rod job is to operate the piston valves or slide valves in older engine.  They are there as part of the mechanism that adjusts the position of the valves so as to let more or less steam into the cylinders.  They are not part of the actually driving mechanism that provides power to the wheels.  They are part of the motion that controls the valve settings.

You do not need any of the eccentrics to actually power the wheels.  Stationary engine manage quite well without any valve gear.  In a simple steam engine, all you need is a piston, a conrod and a wheel with the main pin offset from the centre of the driving wheel.  Perhaps it's that offset that you are referring to as the "eccentric rod"?

See diagram of Baker gear for a full explanation of the various motion parts: -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baker_valve_gear

[Doneldon]

Roger-

Look again. Try to imagine how the connecting rod can turn the wheels without its eccentric pin/crank turning the axle into a crankshaft. You can't use a different point on the driver because you would then have a nasty conflict with the side rods.
                   -- D

[rogertra]

Roger-

Look again. Try to imagine how the connecting rod can turn the wheels without its eccentric pin/crank turning the axle into a crankshaft. You can't use a different point on the driver because you would then have a nasty conflict with the side rods.
                  -- D

Sorry Donald but you need to look again.  The eccentric rod turns nothing, it is pushed back and forward by the rotation of the driving wheel.  Its purpose is to control the amount of steam admitted to the cylinders, it provides no direct motive power.

If you notice, the eccentric rod is NOT connected to the piston rod, where the power from the cylinders comes from.  The eccentric is ONLY connected to the valves which provide NO power themselves.  Besides, an eccentric and an eccentric rod that small would buckle under the enormous pressures provided by the piston rod, to which they are not connected anyway.  The wheel itself is, if you will, a crank.  That is why the main pin, where the piston rod connects to the driving wheel,  is offset from the centre of the wheel.  That provides the crank action.  

In a previous life, I've worked on prototype steam so have some understanding of how they work.  :-)

I've been both a fireman and an engineer, which in itself doesn't make me an expert but I do know how they work.  

[WoundedBear]

I'm neither a fireman nor an engineer, but I do have an excellent mechanical background.

After looking at that drawing, I have to agree with Roger's explanation.

Sid