An American in England

[Jeff Schumaker]

Thanks, Jeff and Mick.


Jeff - no idea yet for a new project. Probably as fancy takes me!

That's the best way. It happens to me a lot. Unfortunately, I'm not always finished with the current project, when it strikes.

Jeff S.

[tedp]

To round it off, here is a video of the completed loco on a Southern Railway train, descending the line from Inverlochan to Dunalistair.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH0G5PEqcPM

Have fun!

[Jeff Schumaker]

Excellent video, Ted.

Jeff S.

[rod335]

Ted, as I understand it, the Great Western locos fitted with frame stays like this did NOT have continuous frames, there being sub assemblies fore and aft of and bolted to the cylinders. Of course, Baldwins tended to cast their frames in handed units including the cylinder and half the smokebox saddle for that side. So you may be right in this connection. But then we can look at Talyllyn and Dlogoch and of course the Festiniog England engines where the boiler WAS the 'backbone' of the loco and everything else, within reason, was bolted to it. That has always made me wonder in the case of the Padarn Horlock locos, which, built like this, had NO frames as such unless I am mistaken, how did the side rods cope with the expansion of the boiler?

[tedp]

The Great Western locos having separate frame units would account for additional strengthening to be needed. Would that be the triangular frames on top of the footplate? These look like being fitted to the cylinder block, not the smokebox. Or perhaps I'm looking at the wrong loco.

I never looked in detail at the 1860s narrow gauge engines - I saw the frames of Welsh Pony at Boston Lodge this spring. These were plate frames, but that was one they rebuilt or even newly constructed in the 1880s. I must have a look at the cross section of an early England engine in Boyd.

I suppose that was a very common construction method in early engines even in Britain. After all, 'Rocket' was built the same way.

Expansion in the boiler must have led to binding in the coupling rods of the Horlocks, with their long wheelbase!

Back to the frames of American engines, in the early 4-4-0s there was a single bar each side, extending forward to the cylinders from the frame supporting the driving wheels. This was supported by brackets to the boiler in intervals. You wouldn't believe it if you saw it, so flimsy they were. I heard these frames flexed on the lumpy track they made in those days, to improve the ride. The drivers themselves were on an equalising beam. Evidently it was a success since they kept this feature for decades.

Nice doing some research, don't you think?