Larger Engines than Big Boys

[Anonymous]

Yeah you should know me from somewhere i'm sittin right next to you

[Anonymous]

Hey, I know you from somewhere. I think I do anyway. You have told me I couldn't build this engine because I was not a good enough designer and because it had never existed.

[Anonymous]

You can't build this engine because it's never existed so why try to buuild it

[Anonymous]

Terry,
Thanks for the vote of confidence. I hope to have it complete within the next few months, but this is the first engine I have tried to build and I don't know how tall the drive wheels are of the size of the other wheels. I could use a tid-bit of help. I really want to get my hands on a Big Boy so that I can see just what I need to build.
Thanks,
Kenneth

[Anonymous]

Dan,
Good to heat from someone who doesn't think about the realistic view. I just want to design this for fun and I hope to see some of the things you scratch build in the future. As for a name, I was thinking "GARGANTUA" How is that.

[Anonymous]

I would like to see this when it's done! I have enough fun just trying to build kits that are on the market. I see all of these great scratch-built things and I am in awe at the detail! Good luck and post pictures.

[Anonymous]

It sounds fastenating. I once ran accross a picture of an old ERIE locomotive that had more wheels than I could count. My memory is falty but I think it was a 4-8-8-8. I rememeber it having another set of drivers under the tender! As for the 4-10-10-4, I cannot wait to see it. What are you going to name it? I would suggest the "BIG BROTHER". Hope it turns out well.

[thirdrail1]

Baldwin and Santa Fe never built the locomotives with four or more sets of drivers because they could not design a boiler big enough to supply the steam. Santa Fe had some 2-10-10-2's that were converted to 2-10-2's for exactly that reason. The boiler could not supply the steam. Boiler tubes can only be made so long or they won't provide draft (or heat) and the boiler diameter is limited by the clearances of the railroad loading gauge. The "Big Boy' pushed every limit!

[Anonymous]

Ed,
Thanks for the tip. By the way, I'm working in HO gauge. I only want to create this engine to see if I can do it. I plan on designing my whole layout to accomidate this engine so I don't think turning radii will be a big factor.

[Anonymous]

Gregg,
I believe what I believe, and I believe that if you don't take chances and make mistakes then how will you ever know if the design will work. Isn't that what life's about "taking chances and making mistakes". You learn from mistakes and they may not have made such a large engine because they were too doubtful about how it would run. Like you said Baldwinn and Santa Fe had designs to create engines with four of five sets of drivers so how do you know that this design will not work. Thanks for the tip though.

[thirdrail1]

The Union Pacific had 4-12-2's with three cylinders of the 9000-series. The Soviets built a 4-14-4 but found they didn't have an engine terminal that it could enter without derailing! Baldwinn locomotive works and Santa fe proposed locomotives with four and five sets of drivers (Erie and Virginian already had locomotives with three sets). Most of us try to model something that actually existed or close to something that actually existed, so unless you know more about the enmgineering characteristics of steam boilers and drives that almost everyone still alive, it would be very difficult to create a credible engine larger than the "Big Boys". If something bigger would have worked, don't you think it would have been built?

[Anonymous]

Kenneth,

What scale are you considering for this project?

You need to be careful on this one because there are limits to how many drivers you may include in a group. The most I have ever heard of were dodecapods, (2-12-0 I think) built after 1900. The problem is that the wheels used for drivers must all line up (can't be articulated within their length) because of the side rods which must also be straight. The number of wheels and the diameter will restrict the minimum curve the locomotive may negotiate. You may want to check into what radii are recommended for a 4-8-8-4 in your scale.

I personally don't have any intrest in building an unique engine, although I may certainly paint one for a never existing combination.

Good Luck. - Ed

[Anonymous]

By the way has anyone else ever thought about creating an unique engine.

[Anonymous]

I have been thinking for some time about building an engine that is larger than the largest(Big Boy 4-8-8-4). I have designed a 4-10-10-4 engine that I plan to start building within the next month. I have one question is it a good idea to try to create such a large engine?