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Steam Engine Traction
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[quote]QUOTE: <i>Originally posted by beamerd</i> <br /><br />I'm sorry , I should have clarified I'm talking about HO models, since Model Railroader started listing drawbar pulling power on models they test they have confirmed my beliefs that there is no comparison in pulling power between the two, although I am a steamer fan the smaller wheels on the diesels and geared steamers have lots more pulling power, even though the power is transferred pretty much the same in all models, the only significant difference I can see is wheel diameter. Any thoughts? <br />[/quote] <br /> <br />The smaller wheels probably have some advantage in leverage and the steam models have a tender that can be heavry also. The steam models use a gear box on one driver set and drive the rest of the drivers with side rods and all of the valve gear and piston rods. This extra mechanism requires power to move it. <br /> <br />The Lionel Challenger tender was extremely heavy, being cast in metal and had a weight in it in addition to the fact the unit was cast metal. Some of th tenders use a friction rub for electical pickup on the axles, and that causes drag also. <br />Most of the weight of an HO engine is on the drivers and not the lead and trailing trucks as on a real engine. In some cases, the lead truck has a firm spring to keep it on the track, and this also removes weight from the drivers. <br /> <br />Add it all up, and the diesel HO model has all its weight on the driving wheels and that allows it to pull more. In the case of the E series, the HO model drives all six axles instead of four like the prototype units, and like the real ones, you can add units and increase the effective trafic force greatly. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />
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