Vauclain Compound

[bob turner]

I recently acquired what looks a lot like a copy of the SP 4-8-0 mechanism - frame, drivers, some sheet metal cylinders, and one Stevenson link. It all came with a boiler off a Sunset Russian Decapod, which itself is now under the care of SW.

I have often thought of a Vauclain Compound SP Consolidation - we have photos of such locomotives before they were converted to simple.

So I am going to do a freelance Mastodon Vauclain Compound. I have the cylinder set mostly soldered together, and am thinking about the crosshead guide area. Photos will be forthcoming. But for now, I stole this from Wikipedia (which is ok, because it is for educational purposes, and anyway the AI that now heads all Google searches already stole it. There is more to it, of course - just Google Vauclain Compound and read the whole thing. Or just check this out, and anxiously await photos of my efforts.

The high- and low-pressure cylinders were mounted in vertical line with each other, with the piston rods in parallel. Usually the low-pressure cylinder was on the bottom, but clearance issues sometimes caused it to be put on the top. In the former case, the valve cylinder was mounted directly inboard from the high-pressure cylinder; in the latter case, the valves were also placed inboard, but at a level between the two power cylinders. The placement of the valves necessitated an inside-connected valve gear, and the Stephenson pattern was used (being the dominant type of the era anyway)

Mine will have the high pressure cylinders on the bottom, and the valve chamber will be roughly at the junction of the two cylinders. I will machine the valve chambers and fabricate the boiler saddle this week.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Photos will be forthcoming.

Looking forward to seeing them!

[up148]

Ditto on the photos. Sounds like a great project.