One thing that I started thinking about after reading these posts is that the ERIE had another very unusual engine nicknamed the Angus. It was an 0-8-8-0 camelback later converted I think to a 2-8-8-2 rear cab Mallet.
Anyway, if reports on the Triplex are positive then I'm in and I'd also be in for an Angus. However, my first choice would still be some more standard type ERIE steam including a Berkshire and K5 Pacific with the Elesco heater. I'd also like to be able to obtain some ERIE style Van Der Bilt tenders. I also have to believe that these would be more marketable in general(though I'm certainly no marketing expert). My goal is to create the general feel of the ERIE and have fun so hence my preference.
I wonder what your thoughts are relative to this. Which unusual engines did your road have that you'd like to see and what would be your preference? Unusual or standard types??
Thanks,
Mark
http://www.webusers.warwick.net/~u1015590/
This thread has been floating around long enough to collect a few odd barnacles!
When starting, compound locomotives are operated simple - boiler steam is fed directly to the low pressure cylinders. Since the Triplex cylinders were all the same size, all of them could handle the same pressure. As soon as the steam consumption exceeded the boiler's steam generating capacity (or sooner) the low pressure cylinders would start getting exhaust steam from the high pressure cylinders. For the Baldwin monsters, that speed was a slow walk. (Mallet compounds had to have a reducing valve to cut the pressure of boiler steam to the LP cylinders when starting simple, since the LP pistons had twice the surface area of the HP pistons. N&W got the crossover speed up to 10mph with the Y6b.) More than a few triple-expansion marine engines had four cylinders, three having the same diameter.
Granted that there were only four triplexes built for prototype railroads, have other modelers ever imagineered a triplex with a different wheel arrangement? (I keep thinking about kitbashing some junk dockside mechanisms into a 2-4-4-4-4T and wrapping it around a 200mm radius curve.)
The prototype I follow carried locomotive standardization to extremes. With only a few exceptions, once a design was accepted it was built in the hundreds. One of the exceptions, which I would love to have a HOj model of, was the E10 class 2-10-4T. Only five were built, for use as dedicated pushers on a grade that was electrified a few years after they entered service. The E10 was the only class of modern Japanese locomotive that was built without elephant ears.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
MTH should just dump the virginian lettered version and stay correct.
I'll keep my eye out for the brass version, unless MTH tries for the correct VGN also.
A never-out-of-the-box Westside Models Virginian (2-8-8-8-4) in HO scale is presently listed on ebay. Three motors power the three sets of drivers. I'd expect it to sell at $1,500 to $2,500. Present bid is under $600, but the reserve amount hasn't been reached yet.