Cooper

Well I came across another reference to the above, so the first post has been edited to include a few more photos. I think part of the issue is that not many people were aware of the cab forwards. Before this building contest began and I started really digging for something to build, I wasn't aware of the cab forwards either and the last one is only a couple hours away from me. They are beautiful engines though.

My main issue with the cheese slope boilers is all of the internal structure, which makes power functions incorporation extremely difficult. I do really like the way they look though. The cheese slopes do have the advantage of being a bit more flexible to localized texture changes. The curved sections I used are only available in 4L, so the design has to work around that spacing. Thanks. I thought I remembered seeing clarification at one point that multiple photos were ok, but only the first photo would be used for voting purposes, but I can't find that now that I went looking for it. The first post has been edited.

exactly.

I wasn't aware of the existence of cab forwards until a couple weeks ago. From the research I've done since then, it seems that while there were a couple other examples of cab forwards elsewhere in the world, the Southern Pacific Railroad (in California) was the only railroad to use cab forwards in significant numbers. I live in Northern California, so this engine also has a nice historical tie to the area. Again, from the research I've done on this, the boilers were fed from the front. Thus the use of oil and not coal as the fuel. Good thing too, because the walk to the back of the engine to get another shovel of coal would have been a real pain.

ENTERED The Lone Survivor The very first cab-forward locomotive was delivered to the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1910. While the configuration certainly improved visibility for the crew, the main advantage of the cab relocation was in preventing the crew from becoming asphyxiated by the exhaust fumes while going through long tunnels and snow sheds. The cab-forwards were primarily used in the Sierra Nevada range, but also saw use in other parts of California on the SP lines. Baldwin would eventually build 256 of the cab-forwards for the Southern Pacific. SP4294 was one of the final cab-forwards and one of the final steam engines acquired by Southern Pacific (part of the AC-12 series). While articulated, SP4294 was not a true Mallet. Of the 256 Cab Forward locomotives Baldwin built for the Southern Pacific Railroad, SP4294 is the lone survivor. Today SP4294 resides in Sacramento at the California State Railroad Museum. Oil Burner Since the firebox was located at the front of the engine, the cab-forwards were oil burners. The oil reservoir in the tender was air tight and would be slightly pressurized in order to assure the flow of oil on uphill grades. Stack Splitter Due to the high stack velocities of the large cab-forwards, stack splitters were installed to prevent the roofing from being blown off of snow sheds. The Monkey Deck Another feature of the SP cab-forwards was the platform at the rear of the engine, just before the tender. Due to it's location, this platform would not be a pleasant place to hitch a ride, and as a result was referred to as the Monkey Deck. AC-12 Series Drivers: 63\" Tractive Effort: 124,300 lbs 6000 HP Power Functions Two XL Power Functions motors are used, one to power each set of drivers. The battery box and IR sensor are also contained in the body of the locomotive. Higher Res Photos & Video on my flickr

Thanks. Fitting all of that stuff in there and getting it to work was a bit of a challenge. Yes, they are. The engine above uses the Large Drivers and Small Train Wheels. Ref: for anyone wanting more info on the wheels: Big Ben Bricks.

This steam engine is a WIP, using two Medium PF motors, the IR Sensor, and two switches (one to reverse the 2nd motor, the other as an extension chord from the PF IR Receiver to the PF Rechargeable Battery in the tender) The PF features power the BBB Large Drivers. If anyone has thoughts on improving the traction of the BBB Large Drivers to put more power down I'd love to hear ideas. The engine runs pretty well with the tender. It is also able to pull a couple of longer coaches (but that is about is).

Very nice. If that's the "proof of concept" I can only imagine what the full blown version will be like. Very cool. I love the position of the figs too.

I shudder to think what a derailment might look like.

The rods actually are holding the car in place. The chains are just for added effect. They don't actually tie the car down.

Here's my most recent flatbed along with the power miners hot rod I built a while back.

Unfortunately, no. I honestly am struggling with having an elegant way to get a brick built door to slide open. Feel free to borrow it, the drive rod technique using half plates is pretty common actually. BTW, for anyone that may not know yet, the wheels on the 0-6-0T are Big Ben Brick's Medium Drivers. Ben has some building hints on his site too http://www.bigbenbricks.com/applications.html I honestly had never heard of After Eight until this thread. If they are imported into the U.S. I haven't noticed them yet. I'll have to keep an eye out.

Some photos of my new Mint & Chocolate Boxcar (ice cream on the mind tonight) The boxcar with my earlier PRR 0-6-0T Tank Engine more and higher res photos on my flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/35638655@N07/...57621630156085/

Cyclone Breezerider: The pistons work fine with no binding. Captain Zuloo: I'm not much of a sticker guy, but I was thinking it might be time to sticker this one too. Brickster: Wow. Thanks for the blog entry. I'm flattered. I love your coal hopper idea too.

My build of the PRR B8a 0-6-0T more and higher res photos on my flickr

Based on just placing a 3rd wheel in that position, a 3rd PF wheel will rub with the adjacent wheels. So that doesn't seem very viable. My recollection (from what I've read on the internet so it must be true right? ) is that this side piece for 9v will cover that hole, but that it isn't compatible (for whatever reason) with the PF set-up (for what reason, I don't recall. CAVEAT: I do not have this part, nor have I used 9v before, so take that compatibility statement with a grain of salt).

Thanks for the welcome Brickster. I created a new thread featuring the power functions boxcar Also, I updated the first post to include a new boxcar that goes with the locomotive in the first post.

First, credit to swoofty for some earlier work with brick built trucks using the medium motor. What follows (to my knowledge) is the first complete incorporation of the new rechargeable battery, IR sensor, and PF Train Motor. In addition to those three items, this boxcar also has one brick built geared truck. The PF train motor is geared a little higher than the brick built truck. That said, the two still seem to run well when operated in tandem. Also, FWIW, the exterior of the boxcar is ~90% from the PaB wall. The geared truck in on the right in this photo. At the time the left truck was unpowered. It has now been replaced with the PF train motor (see later photo). The underside of the geared truck. This is the boxcar as it stands today. In the photo above the geared truck is on the left, the PF train motor is on the right. The 2x2 square hole in the roof just to the right of center is where the IR Sensor pokes through. The 1x1 hole in the roof to the right side is an access port to turn the battery on and off without opening the boxcar.

While this is the first time I have seen the new EN PF battery and IR sensor incorporated into the boxcar design, as I mention on my flickr, credit to swoofty for some earlier pathfinding regarding the consolidation of PF features into one self contained unit.

I tucked all of the PF hardware into a boxcar. Since the time of the photo above I have updated the boxcar to include the PF Train Motor for the rear truck (in addition to the geared front truck). More photo of the PF boxcar on flickr

Sedona 4-6-2 Special thanks to SavaTheAggie for posting his creations. Studying his work has certainly been helpful as reference in addressing the special challenges that curves and switches pose for steam engines. UPDATE 6/8/2009 New boxcar to complement the locomotive Everything together with a minor update to the front end of the engine. Higher Res versions available on my flickr

I'm still working on this a bit to get a fit with the rails that I like. I'm afraid I'm going to need to cut down a set of the longer rails to get it to look right.

Using two 10194 Emerald Night sets I modified them to create a 4-8-4 engine and tender. The engine and tender both utilize Power Functions. This was my first 4-8-4 engine ever, and as such presented challenges in order to be able to get it to run around corners and switches smoothly.

I ordered the Collection and received everything (train + PF + flexible track) with the exception of the remote, which my invoice says is backordered.

I loved this when it popped up on flickr. Very nicely done