Franco-Crosti Quadruplex No. 2096

[jtlan]

Greetings Train Tech,

Here is my model of No. 2096, the first Franco-Crosti locomotive. The idea behind the Franco-Crosti boiler system was to use the exhaust gases from the locomotive to preheat the water, thereby recapturing some energy that would otherwise be lost and improving efficiency. Although the concept originated in Italy, No. 2096 was actually built in Tubize, Belgium in 1932.

As you can see, it's absurdly large. The wheel arrangement is 0-6-2 + 2-4-2-4-2 + 2-6-0 (UIC: C1'+1'B1B1'+1'C). It's a quadruplex!

This project initially began as a joking suggestion for a way to use up all my spare large drivers. I decided to do some preliminary scaling for fun, then downloaded LDD to try to do some mockups … the entire thing quickly spiraled out of control (I wound up buying new wheels, defeating the point of the original suggestion). The end result clocks in at 80 studs magnet-to-magnet, at roughly 1:48 scale (155mm/plate, or 15in/stud).

I got all my reference information from here. As all the photos were black and white, I had to take my best guess with regards to the paint scheme; I wound up choosing the Belgian Railways livery used at the time (if my research is correct). I had been somewhat uncertain how well the green would turn out, but I'm quite pleased with the result. As a nice bonus, it matches 10015 Passenger Wagon quite nicely.

2096 is my first foray into Power Functions -powered locomotives. In the past, I've always pushed my steamers using some rolling stock with 9V motors, but I was worried about the stability of such a long locomotive when being pushed. Initially I had been planning to have the locomotive powered by four of the old 9V motors (one for each set of drivers), but quickly realized it was going to be too difficult to fit the motors, receiver, and wiring inside the locomotive. Luckily, I came across a good solution for mounting two PF Medium motors inside the center unit, so I switched to those (which also eliminated the need for PF converter cables). As was the prototype, the model is nearly rotationally symmetrical, and runs equally well in both directions. It drives through switches and any sort of curve arrangement, although I haven't yet tested against flex track…

Full Brickshelf gallery here (once moderation finishes). Thanks for reading!

Edited May 19, 2014 by jtlan

[Barduck]

Really nice one. I've had pictures of this on my pc some time, pondering if I should give it a shot. Only one thing, the Belgian green used on locomotives in that era was quite a bit darker so dark green would have made it look better.

Oh well, guess there's no more point in designing my own, this one allready looks spot on and would be very hard to get better

[garethjellis]

This is a great project and model . good work.

[jtlan]

Really nice one. I've had pictures of this on my pc some time, pondering if I should give it a shot. Only one thing, the Belgian green used on locomotives in that era was quite a bit darker so dark green would have made it look better.

Oh well, guess there's no more point in designing my own, this one allready looks spot on and would be very hard to get better

Thanks! I had been wondering about the color; in particular, it was hard to tell from photos whether dark green or normal green would look better (infuriatingly, the official Lego name for this color is "dark green", and what we think of as dark green is "earth green"...). However, a number of parts I wanted to use weren't available in dark green (such as the arched roof, and the curved 1x4).

[Barduck]

http://users.skynet.be/billieth/verzameling.htm

site (in dutch) with pictures of HO scale trains in the color used by the Belgian traincompagny

[dr_spock]

Nice work. It's an interesting locomotive.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

WOW what a complex (and fantastic) design!

The whole train looks nicely done!

I love to see this beauty running on the rails! ;-)

[Pizzareno]

This is really nice, though when I first saw it I was like, oh this good. But when I saw it running it brought a large smile to my face and to me it looks so much better!

I love watching all the running gear moving. It makes the whole loco come alive! Very good. I like it lots now

[zephyr1934]

Wow, great build and to see it run, all I can say is that it is also an impressive work of engineering.

[ust60]

Hello alias jtlan

What a "monster". 0-6-2 + 2-4-2-4-2 + 2-6-0 unbelievable. All the better as it travels over the railroad tracks to the switch.

Congratulations

Best regards Udo

[legoman666]

Awesome. Any plans for adding driving rods?

[jtlan]

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I'm hoping to be able to run it on a club layout soon -- the small loops I own are just too cramped for this monster!

Awesome. Any plans for adding driving rods?

No plans currently. Since there's not much space between the drivers and the idlers either the width of the model or the shape/positioning of the pistons would suffer, and I felt those were more important (I did try to get it to work though). That said, if I come up with a good mechanism for doing so….

Edited May 20, 2014 by jtlan

[BricksMcgee]

Great model - looks like it runs very smoothly!

[patje]

very beautifel model. I must say, I do not know this model. we are still learning

Edited May 24, 2014 by patje