I'm just curious, did any company ever build a steam loco with the drive wheels completely covered, i.e. no moving parts exposed? It seems like something they would have tried in the streamlining era.
Julian
Modeling Pre-WP merger UP (1974-81)
Duetsche Reichsbahn (Germany) built three DRG 05 class 2C2 models (4-6-4) in the mid-1930s.
i think the German's had one in the 1930's, but North American designs featured the drive wheels, rods, and gear, often as the only mechanical parts visible.
edit: posted almost simultaneously with the above.
That is one cool looking loco.
And you wouldn't even know it was a steam engine on the cab forward version. Not as pretty, IMO.
I think the British had one way back in the dawn of railroads era, a "bicycle" or "Crampton" type steam locomotive (4-2-0) with eight foot drivers that were covered with grillwork, the lower quarter of the wheels exposed.
Shrouding driving wheels and rods, etc, was not a very popular practice in the U.S. It made servicing very difficult in terms of oiling and greasing.
Indeed. A great example of that was the Pennsy T1 which had minimal shrouding of some moving parts on the first few test locomotives but then had that removed on the production models.
Another example was the first NYC streamlining effort of a Hudson with the Commodore Vanderbilt locomotive that covered some moving parts.mos subsequent streamlining endeavors for the 20th Century Limited and Enoire State Express locomotives, all moving parts were out in the open and easily accessible for maintenance.
The Mallard type Pacifics in the U.K had shrouds, but the lower part of the wheels were exposed.
DRG 05 002
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
Some of the US "steam dummy" locos might have at least partly hidden the wheels and rods with the false streetcar body. The theory I gather was that horses were less scared by what looked like a self propelled horse car than they were by a small street railroad steam locomotive with moving parts and such. I would have thought the noise would be the scary part for horses but I guess I don't think like a horse does (insert obvious joke here).
Dave Nelson
schlimm DRG 05 002
ugly with a capital U
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Yeah, definately not one of the German's better design efforts, at least as far as streamlining goes.
Looks like it can't decide whether it wants to be a locomotive or a U-Boat.
DR class 18 (from the former DDR)
The DR class 18 was built in 1962- The excursion train I was on was pulled by it from Halle to Dresden in 2009. A beautiful machine!
schlimm DR class 18 (from the former DDR)
Who'd a thunk them Commies could come up with somethin' so cool-lookin'?
The South Manchuria Railway had a fully shrouded 4-4-4T (Class DB-2 IIRC) that was designed by Raymond Loewy. The shrouds extended below the rods, so only the very bottoms of the wheels showed.
They might have been influenced by the styling of the GG1, but actually looked more like an EMD BL-2 .
Chuck
tomikawaTTThe South Manchuria Railway had a fully shrouded 4-4-4T ... might have been influenced by the styling of the GG1, but actually looked more like an EMD BL-2 Ick!.
Picture is worth a thousand words
I'm surprised no one has brought up the Henschel-Wegmann-Zug tank engines (here is one example:)
or the adorable Berlin-Lubeck 'Mickey Mouse' 2-4-2s that I think were the real prototype for the Manchurian locomotives:
I am trying to find out if the MAV 242 class of 4-4-4s was originally built with the low shrouding. The preserved one has the skirting cut back below the cylinders, and the earliest picture I can find shows it removed to almost the extent that the aforementioned class 05 Hudsons showed in the '50s.
Bet we have someone who can determine the extent of the original 1937 streamlined treatment.
"A picture is worth a thousand words" indeed! I think you just discovered the inspiration for those rather odd-looking steam locomotives on some inexpensive Chinese made import toy train sets showing up at train shows!
It's a locomotive AND a U-Boat! :) Those wacky and war adventurous Germans.
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