General Discussion (Model Railroader)

http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/quadruplex/quadrapl.htm

How hard would it be to bash one of these, and how would you do it?  I thought about using some IHC 2-8-0 chassis as a starting point.

How many steam locos have you built from scratch or from a kit. It can be done but are tricky and take GREAT patience.

How ever, if you build one, I want to see the pics.

steemtrayn wrote:

Kinda reminds me of that two-headed llama from Dr. Dolittle...It could eat twice as much, but where would the used food go?

Why, you'd simply need two tails, with all the associated "accessories".

Wayne 

santafe347 wrote:

http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/quadruplex/quadrapl.htm How hard would it be to bash one of these, and how would you do it?  I thought about using some IHC 0-8-0 chassis as a starting point.

It could certainly be done, but after you've built one, I hope that we won't see a post from you wondering why it won't run on an 18" radius.

Wayne 

To be fully prototypical, you should figure out how to power all the drivers with a single small motor.  Then it could pull every car at the local club - for about three feet, before the magic smoke comes out.

These things were in the same patent application as the original Triplexes, designed by the same person.  If he ran true to form, these monsters would have had less grate area than a Y-class N&W Mallet - and 2.5 times as many cylinders.  The first, gigantic CHUFF in simple would have dropped the boiler pressure by about 40% - and that's just for openers.

If you do build it using a bunch of rather good 2-8-0 chassis, one thing will be certain.  Your model will be more successful than the prototype would have been if it had been built.

(Which leaves only one question.  Why not build a design that would have been a winner if built in 1:1 scale?  The Withuhn triple-expansion low-dynamic-augment 4-8-6 comes to mind.)

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

Hoo-HAH!  Santa Fe with a Cab-FORWARD?  Southern Pacific would have had a COW, LOL! 

Seriously, though, that's one interesting looking steamer, and leave it to good old 'experimental' Baldwin to even consider it (I have a real soft spot for Baldwin steam locos, BTW).  If you decide, let us know and post construction photos.  Frankly, I'd be FASCINATED! 

Tom

twhite wrote:

Hoo-HAH!  Santa Fe with a Cab-FORWARD?  Southern Pacific would have had a COW, LOL!  Seriously, though, that's one interesting looking steamer, and leave it to good old 'experimental' Baldwin to even consider it (I have a real soft spot for Baldwin steam locos, BTW).  If you decide, let us know and post construction photos.  Frankly, I'd be FASCINATED!  Tom

Worse, there would be DUAL cabs. That;s double the beatdown. I would love to see it modedled too. As to why building it, why not? It;s different. "What if" The Triplex succeeded?

There was a model I;ve seen of the Revvell Big Boy 4-8-8-8-4. it ididn;t move, so I don't know how he'd have moved the sucker, but if all your doing is asperimenting and showing it off, then you might look at those. And you might tray using the same motorsa and DCC each one to the same number. Pricey, but easier.

With those dinky tenders I will predict the same success for one of these beasts as I would predict for Virginian's 2-8-8-8-4 - which ignominously ran out of steam before it ran out of yard!

. . . . . . . . . . and, lest we forget Uncle John's experiments with articulation and jointed boilers circa 1910 . . . . . . . . . .

Now I've never made a locomotive befor buti think if you were to bulit using wheels and chasies from other loco's i would try geting two 2-8-0 and two 0-8-0 and try puting thoughs together some how, and (like i said I've never scartch bulit a loco befor) but try to use two motors and make the first and third sets powered and the second and forth sets unpowered free spining.

 just a thought.

Talk about high tractive effort and low speed!  I'd hate to think about the minimum track radius this monster would require.  (And why not use fuel oil and eliminate the rear cab.  If communication between fireman and engineer was bad on a Camelback, ....)   A more practical solution would be to take a Mikado and place an obsolete Consolidation frame under the tender, as pictured below ala Southern Rwy (USA).  Westside imported a few models of these some decades ago. 

Mark

While you don;t need the front and rear trucks, working with carbon copy boilers is far easier than hoping the 080 and 282 have same size boilers. What one might do is use the excess screw pags for the piloting truucks and drawbar them for stability of the mdel. As to the body, build a frame from the weigts that comes to a point. use a short screw to attach it to the boiler that is soldered together(?) but not come through the top of the model. Save the cabs. YardBird Trains sold pieces to make a Cab Froward, you might flip the leadengine around and use one of those to make the front cab. As to the breaking flexing point on the engine, use a trimming from a rubber hose?

All these are guesses. But I did try to design a Ruben Wells until situations took a turn.

Talking about a monster of a radius of curve! Probably be some thing like 32" then 9" straight, 32" then 9" straight,32" then 3 9" straight, 32" then 9" straight, 32" then 9" straight and anouther 32" then 9" straight. I think thats over kill.

I wounder how much space it would take up? 

The curve wouldn't be that harsh, whatever a Big Boy could manage since the boiler is hinged. My guess is (depending on how it's built) that a Quadruplex could handle a relatively tight 24" curve.

I've thought about how to go about 'bashing one of these myself. I have the original article in an issue of Trains & Locomotives from Kalmbach circa 1934, if I remember right.

What I would do, is place three engines under the boiler. The boiler would be made in two parts, connected by cloth or rubber tube. The lead section would be connected to the front of the second engine, and the trailing section connected to the other end of the engine, essentially making an articulated car. You could get creative with universal driveshafts and power the first and third engines. The tender would be mounted on a separate engine or two, depending on what you're building, and be powered itself.

Don't know how well it would turn out, but that's what I would try doing...