Ed,
I understand completely! I have had 5 of the DJH kits for years and managed to get one 3/4 assembled. The Roco is awesome! It runs very smoothly and the sound and details are great. It has a tender drive! Very fine piece of equipment.
I also saw the Ft. Eustis engines and used to spend weekends running and riding the 1702 at the Reader RR in Arkansas so the S-160's are special to me.
The S-160's were very good and basic steamers. Several are still running in the UK on different tourist railways.
Roger Huber
Deer Creek Locomotive Works
For those of you who don't know the S160's, here's a shot:
So. Those drivers look pretty big for a 2-8-0, right? Probably a bit bigger than 63", right? Maybe 67"? Nope. 57". Those were, and are, little locos. The squat stack and combined sand and steam dome prompt me to think of the NYC Niagaras, for some reason.
Also interesting: one of the ones at Fort Eustis had been fitted with poppet valve gear--rotary or linear, I don't recall.
Ed
Didn't know any US Locomotives had those shock absorber things on them??
Gary
gdelmoro Didn't know any US Locomotives had those shock absorber things on them??
That fella is most likely in a country far, far away. Where such things are considered necessary.
Here's a shot of one in the US:
Note that it doesn't have the shock absorber thingys. And it has a real cross-compound air compressor on the deck. Which, again, shows how little these guys are. And it has a bell, a high mounted headlight, and, oh yes, a REAL coupler. Instead of chain from the hardware store.
The correct term would be ''buffers''. They would be needed for any US Locomotive to be compatible with the Euro style coupling system...obiviously knuckle couplers would not work Eh?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffers_and_chain_coupler
Take Care!
Frank
The S-160 you refer to was the 2628. It was converted to a Franklin rotary poppet valve gear system rather than the Walschaerts. When released from the factory it was tested on the Maryland & Pennsylvania RR and ran for around 18 months between Baltimore, MD and York, PA. The story is that the railroad liked the engine a lot and the system worked well. However it was expensive and there really wasn't a need for more of them to be converted.
The 2628, later renumbered as 611, spent her last years running at Ft. Eustis on their training railroad. It was sold to a couple other groups going to Texas and either TN or NC and is now in western Maryland. Supposedly the new owner wants to make it operational again. We can only hope!