MOC: Camelback Steam Locomotive

[dr_spock]

Greetings. Presenting my 0-4-0 Camelback, aka Mother Hubbard, toy steam locomotive.

Camelbacks were not designed for crew comfort but to burn cheap anthracite coal waste (culm) in the eastern U.S.A. That required a wider larger firebox and moving the cab forward for the engineer to see. Being next to the boiler didn't leave much room for the engineer. The fireman was in the rear exposed to the weather. The camelbacks provided big fuel cost savings. Thus, they were popular with the eastern U.S.A. railroads with thousands built.

Camelback Steam Locomotive by dr_spock_888, on Flickr

This is my first LEGO Powered UP MOC. The PUP train motor is in the engine and the PUP hub is in the tender.

Our fireman is really hoping for good weather. 

I made the cab cramped for the engineer like the prototypes. 

Engine shakedown:

For this MOC, I experimented with 3D printing my own drivers. The bigger the driver on the PUP train motor, the faster it goes.  It can be way too fast for speed level 1...

It was fun build for my LUG's train contest. 

 

[Murdoch17]

Awesome work! Looks very nice, and really accurate to the real deal as seen below!

(not my picture, gotten from Facebook for reference purposes... it's a very old picture from maybe the 1960's)

I might just copy this design to build my own version, as one of the only two surviving B&O 1880's 4-8-0 camel-backs is in my local St. Louis Museum of Transportation, currently being cosmetically restored. Would you mind if I copied, modified it to have a four axle lead truck and gave you credit for the original design?

Edited March 27, 2019 by Murdoch17

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Lovely design and great work on those printed wheels!

Thanks for sharing the video 

[Asper]

Very special prototype. Great MOC!

[zephyr1934]

What a great MOC, all the detail in such a small package, looks like something Bill Peet might have drawn (I say as a high complement). It is also interesting to see just how unstable it becomes at high speeds on the dynanometer table as it shakes so much (presumably due to the inherent nature of lego steam engines rather than this particular build). Just a small quibble, the engineer should be poking out the right side window rather than the left.

[Man with a hat]

Nice. It looks a bit shaky . No problems with the drive mechanism as it is not perfectly horizontally aligned?

But really great work. And nice to see!

[Toastie]

Really nice ...

… as usual. Seeing a post with your avatar - across this entire board - is always fun, inspiring and/or stunning.

Very well done.

Best,
Thorsten

[dr_spock]

On 3/26/2019 at 10:36 PM, Murdoch17 said:

Awesome work! Looks very nice, and really accurate to the real deal as seen below!

(not my picture, gotten from Facebook for reference purposes... it's a very old picture from maybe the 1960's)

I might just copy this design to build my own version, as one of the only two surviving B&O 1880's 4-8-0 camel-backs is in my local St. Louis Museum of Transportation, currently being cosmetically restored. Would you mind if I copied, modified it to have a four axle lead truck and gave you credit for the original design?

Thanks. Sure, you can reverse engineer it.  I don't have instructions.

On 3/26/2019 at 11:26 PM, LEGO Train 12 Volts said:

Lovely design and great work on those printed wheels!

Thanks for sharing the video 

Thanks.  It's fun experimenting. 

On 3/27/2019 at 1:38 AM, Asper said:

Very special prototype. Great MOC!

Thanks.  It's a unique North American style.

On 3/27/2019 at 1:50 AM, zephyr1934 said:

What a great MOC, all the detail in such a small package, looks like something Bill Peet might have drawn (I say as a high complement). It is also interesting to see just how unstable it becomes at high speeds on the dynanometer table as it shakes so much (presumably due to the inherent nature of lego steam engines rather than this particular build). Just a small quibble, the engineer should be poking out the right side window rather than the left.

Thanks.  That's true.  I put the engineer on the left since we run our trains clockwise on the layout so kids can see the figs.

On 3/28/2019 at 3:37 AM, Man with a hat said:

Nice. It looks a bit shaky . No problems with the drive mechanism as it is not perfectly horizontally aligned?

But really great work. And nice to see!

Thanks. It probably had too much coffee in the morning.    It may need some counterbalancing to smooth it out. 

On 3/28/2019 at 7:17 PM, Toastie said:

Really nice ...

… as usual. Seeing a post with your avatar - across this entire board - is always fun, inspiring and/or stunning.

Very well done.

Best,
Thorsten

Thanks.