Forums - General Discussion (Trains.com) - Trains.com

Southern vs Walschaerts and Baker Valve Gear

Posted by Isambard

on Sun, Jan 8 2006 8:19 AM

What were the merits of the Southern valve gear vs the Walschaert and Baker valve gears and the Baker vs the Walschaerts?
Why was the Southern use so limited as compared to the commonly used Walschaerts?
[:)]

Isambard

Grizzly Northern history, Tales from the Grizzly and news on line at isambard5935.blogspot.com

Replies to this thread are ordered from "oldest to newest". To reverse this order, click here.
To learn about more about sorting options, visit our FAQ page.

Posted by ndbprr

on Mon, Jan 9 2006 11:14 AM

Several articles in Trains over the years have addressed this and I don't recall the advantages off the top of my head. Basically one has fewer moving parts. Southern was proprietary to the Southern railroad so others wouldn't use it and pay them royalties as there was a lot of pride involved.