LDD WIP: 2-8-0

[xboxtravis7992]

I have just started a LDD build of my hometown steam engine, the Tooele Valley Railway #11 a 2-8-0. Some historical information on the prototype, the locomotive was built in 1910 for the Buffalo & Suesquhanna Railroad as #169 at the ALCO Brooks works in Dunkirk, New York. The B&S canceled the order before the engine was complete, and Brooks finished the engine and its 9 other sisters for stock. In 1912 #169 and sister engine #170 were sold to the Tooele Valley Railway were they became #11 and #12 respectfully. #12 was scrapped at the start of dieselization. #11 operated until May 1963 (50 years ago), becoming the last steam engine in freight service in Utah. The Tooele Valley Railway itself closed in the early 1980's long before I was born . #11 is currently preserved in Tooele Utah at the Tooele Valley Railroad Museum (and for those of you wondering Tooele is pronounced "Too-will-u." The pioneers were bad at spelling...).

The Prototype:

These are my reference pictures of the actual engine which I have taken at the museum:

The WIP:

I decided to start the LDD file of with building the frame of the locomotive. I used the design of the Emerald Night and the Constitution Train Chase as a point of reference, since I intend to follow a similar build style. From there I used the rear axle design of the Emerald Night as a design basis for my pilot. I have decided to link the front coupler/cowcatcher assembly to the stationary frame. The frame will connect to the tender similar to how the Constitution Train Chase does. I have also built the face-plate, which will connect to the finished boiler similar to the Emerald Night. The final boiler design will be based of the Emerald Night's with modifications to model the walkways using SNOT on the side of the engine. I want the engine to be a brick or two higher than the Night, and around 8 to 7 1/2 studs wide. Here is my current build:

Build Challenges:

• I would like to design so it can use Power Functions for motors and lights, however I do not want to use the setup the Emerald Night uses. Should I jam the motorization in the tender or the engine itself? Any advice on the best motor functions?
  
• The staircase leading from the walkway to the pilot sort of floats in midair. I was thinking neckbraces could be used here, however I am not sure of the stability.
  
• I don't know if making the pilot beam stationary like in the real engine will affect the locomotives ability to turn on Lego track.
  
• I am not sure how to make the pistons and valve gear in a way which looks right but does not affect the mobility of the locomotive.
  

So any advice Eurobricks can give me would be appreciated. While I do not have the money to Bricklink the finished locomotive anytime soon, I want to design a model which could be easily transferred into real bricks. I will probably also post the LDD file online once I am done, to help other AFOL's make similar models.

Lastly for laughs, here is a photo of my first attempt at this type of engine during my late Rainbow Warriors stage, and yes those are Bionicle spinners:

Edited October 5, 2015 by xboxtravis7992

[Spitfire2865]

All I can say about the PF inclusion is if youre powering the drivers, make the chassis extremely rigid and tough, you dont want loose gears or pressure points while running. One of my PF locos often works itself apart while running.

[zephyr1934]

Looks like a great prototype to start from.

It can be very tricky to build a good looking steam engine, it can also be very tricky to build a steam engine that runs well. It is really tricky to do both. All are doable, but it takes some trial and error. My biggest suggestion would be to start building mocups of the critical mechanical systems before you get too far. That way, if you have to add 2 studs to the frame, or figure out how to make the pilot bend, or... you don't have to then go back and figure out how to redesign your boiler, or ... on top of it. And to get it to run well, there will inevitably be some redesigning to the mechanicals. So if you take it from the most critical systems first then build out, it should go a lot smoother.

If you are starting with the EN as a jumping off point, you will inherit some of the problems with the EN too (see Railbricks or elsewhere in EB for articles about fixing some of these problems). From my perspective the biggest problem might be the fact that the drivers can be lifted off the rails by the pilot and trailing trucks. If you are running on a perfectly flat surface, no big deal, otherwise, I'd suggest either addressing that issue or do not use the drivers for propulsion (one nice thing about a 2-8-0, you don't have to worry about the trailing truck).

[xboxtravis7992]

I have not done much since my first post, although my pilot is set up now as I wanted it. I also put the face plate on a temporary build to gauge the dimensions of the finished build. While I have not set up pistons yet, I am considering using Technic braces as the pistons, similar to many AFOL builds I have seen online (particularly those of SavaTheAggie).

For PF I am debating two options, my preferred option would be to place a medium motor in the boiler, and then torque through gears in the firebox. I want to test this configuration in real life using before I use it in LDD. The other, and more simpler option would be to slam all the PF in the tender with a standard PF train motor on the bottom. However I don't like that the tender would be thrown out of scale if it used a PF motor on it.

Thanks for the advice so far, hopefully I can get more done on it soon.

[Luke_likes_Lego]

Hi there xboxtravis7992,

Will you be building a tender to permanently go with the engine?

If so you could consider motorising the tender car with a PF train motor, using the tender body to hold the battery and IR receiver.

This would save a lot of fiddling at the engine.

The catch is that you'd have to run a wire from tender to engine for the lights.

Cheers,

LLL

[harnbak]

Looking forward to this one.

[xboxtravis7992]

Hi there xboxtravis7992,

Will you be building a tender to permanently go with the engine?

If so you could consider motorising the tender car with a PF train motor, using the tender body to hold the battery and IR receiver.

This would save a lot of fiddling at the engine.

The catch is that you'd have to run a wire from tender to engine for the lights.

Cheers,

LLL

Thanks for your advice. I decided that I will go the tender route with the Power Functions. First I did a test with a medium motor and the gear combo I wanted, only to realize the M-motor could not carry the loads I wanted. Second I found some side photos of the engine, which showed the tender is about half the length of the engine, big enough to hold all the Power Functions I need. So tender it is!

Looking forward to this one.

Thanks. I have been busy this week, but hopefully I can find the free time to work on the build soon. I will keep Eurobricks updated as the build progresses.

[Hrw-Amen]

Looks OK so far. I have also found that powering the tender is a lot more satisfactory than powering the engine regardless of which motor you use.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Very nice start ...I'm waiting for your next move now!