Engine for steep grades

[Anonymous]

Two or three years ago I saw a garden railway going from a house to a swimming pool that was a good 10 to 15 foot drop in elevation over a fairly short distance.  It was a G scale, modern looking European type diesel.  It made it up the steep grade because the track had a gear rack running between the rails and the engine had a corresponding gear underneath it that engaged the rack.

Does anyone know what brand of train that might have been and if they still make the engine and track?

Thanks, 

Jim 

[Curmudgeon]

LGB makes (or made) a rack system.

I have aluminum track, not cleaned in over 15 years, and in dry weather, ONE Shay, unassisted, pulls 28-34 loads at once with no wheel slip up 150' of 4% grade.

 

Of course, the usual disclaimers, someday I'll actually buy a locomotive and lay some track, right?

[Anonymous]

If you mean like Pike's Peak type of clog railway than yes I have drawings.

[DannyS]

Clogs are worn in Holland, railways use Cogs to climb steeply graded lines.

[kstrong]

With the LGB stuff, you're limited in your choice of locos--essentially a European boxy electric loco or a European 0-6-0. I thought at one point there was talk of them doing the Mt. Washington or Pike's Peak locos, but I don't believe anything came of that. (And with LGB's current troubles, I wouldn't hold my breath, either.) If that works for you, then go for it.

Danny, a "clog" railway is what you call the industrial railroads that serve the shoe factories in Holland. Either that, or it's what you get when you have a derailment on a busy single-track mainline.

Later,

K

[Snoq. Pass RR]

If your are the more building type, then buy the engine you would like and add a cog to it.  I am not sure how though .  I guess you would add it to one of the axels???  I would double check that before anyone tries this.

[S&G Rute of the Silver River]

Snoq. Pass,  Its rather simple, find a gear that fits onto the powered axle of one of your locos, and find a track (thats the flat pice with the teeth that the gear uses) that fits, eazest place  to find a good amount would be an indrestral supply. Large tools use them all the time and shuld be more than adiquete.

 

Disclamer: to do this you need to cut a large slot in the bottom of each of your locos, and if the gears are too large it'll derail, and too small it'll go as far as it can and just spin on the hill. Otherwise maening be careful or your gonna have problems.

[cabbage]

Well.... My Father looked at this and here are his comments:

"Starting out from first principles a locomotive for steep inclines should be completely tractive i.e. all the wheels are driven. The configuration should be an 0-4-0 or 0-6-0. The axles should be sprung with some form of compensation lever between them (especially with an 0-6-0 configuration). For sustained effort an articulated is the obvious answer."

So, according to my father if you want modern traction then a B0-B0 or C0-C0 diesel is your choice. For steam you have the choises of:

A geared steam locomotive Shay, Heisler, Climax, Dunkirk -are the favourite US sourced ones.
An articulated would be a Meyer or a Garrett.

regards

H.W.S Brades and R.M.Brades

[Anonymous]

http://www.cograilway.com/history.htm

Leased I got my point across when I could not spell cog........geesh ya'll mean

[FJ and G]

In addition to cogs, many cable pulley type incline railways have been built, even here in the U.S. The Honesdale, Pa., system comes to mind, a predacessor of the D&H RR.

 

Without getting elaborate and putting cogs in, you could have a winch system installed with a pulley attached to a cable. The pulley would pull up the locomotive. On curves, the pulley would simply be routed by simple rollers. Don't know why this hasn't yet been tried. It's on my long list of to-do's. 

[piercedan]

2 weeks ago I saw an Americanized cog unit.

Looked like someone had bashed the LGB unit into an american looking cog engine.

 

 

[cabbage]

Without getting elaborate and putting cogs in, you could have a winch system installed with a pulley attached to a cable. The pulley would pull up the locomotive. On curves, the pulley would simply be routed by simple rollers. Don't know why this hasn't yet been tried.

Actually several times!!!

The Cromford and High Peak railway had a towing Mill Engine at the summit of Middleton to haul locomotives and wagons up the 1 in 17 slope.



The tow rope was fed via a central feed on a continuous loop and the loops often slipped and ran in straight lines across the corners -thus being quite a hazard to anyone at the sides of the track!!!

regards

ralph