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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by timz "Why couldn't the drivers support a wider firebox by extending outward the connecting rods between the driving axle in front of the firebox and the driving axle behind the firebox? That way you have more weight being supported by the drivers (e.g. more traction) instead of a non-driving trailing truck, while still maintaining the advantage of the larger firebox." Hmm... you're proposing the rear driver would be 20 or 30 feet behind the driver ahead of it, with 20-30-ft side rods? And a firebox that's less than 4 ft wide, and 20-30 feet long? Or is your firebox to be above the drivers, not between them? If it's above the drivers, why are the siderods a problem? [/quote] Hmmm. "20 or 30 feet"? I was thinking 8 to 9 square feet of firebox space, so with 6 foot drivers that's about 15 feet of side rod extended widthwise a few feet each side. By comparison, the main rod of a 4-8-4 with 80" drivers looks to be about 10 feet long. Would another 5 feet make such a 15' side rod untendable? I don't know. My guess is that it depends on the ultimate trade off - namely more weight on drivers for more tractive effort but with possibly unwieldy and too heavy side rods vs the larger fireboxes supported on trailing trucks for greater steaming but less weight on drivers. Note to Murphy - in my drawing I should have adapted the main rods from the cylinders running at a slight angle from the cylinder to the first driver, with the connecting pin replaced by a larger " half-pyramid" shaped connection, with a greater surface area of the drivers being the "base" of the half-pyramid (convex to the axle center) and the top of the half pyramid the side rod connection.
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