Gary Shrader

Essay 29

AT&SF Class 5001

Cylinder Lubrication System - Trailing Trucks

Gents,

I am currently working on the frames of the 2-10-4s, having taken care of the sander piping in the last episode. The piping just below the drifting valves on top of the cylinders is pretty crude on the original model. I do not know what this piping actually does, whether it is part of the drifting valves or part of the cylinder lubrication system, but it needs to be improved in appearance. Also, the solder joint along the bottom of the drifting valves is a bit messy, so it needs to be cleaned up and smoothed out. See photos "Cylinder Piping-1, 2 and 3" for how the piping originally looked and the finished product.

piping 1 ⤵

piping 2 ⤵

piping 3 ⤵

If anyone knows for sure what that piping is for, I would be interested in being educated on it.

The trailing truck sideframes are fairly decent coinings, but the various dimples should be open holes. I drilled them all out so you can see right through them. The elongated holes along the top were more time consuming. I had to drill small holes at each end, then use a small burr in my Dremel to connect the holes. Not the most fun job, but the final effect is worth it. The Hart rockers on the rear of the truck were not modeled. I had to cut down some PSC castings and solder them in place, as the sideframes had no recess for the rockers as existed on the real thing. (Yes, I could have milled recesses into them and mounted the full castings, but I decided the appearance would not be improved enough to be worth all the work. After painting, it will be hard to notice one way or the other.)

After installing the Hart rockers, I discovered that they would not clear the frame on curves due to the way the frame was cast. A short trip to the milling machine cured that problem as shown in the photos on the trailing trucks "Trailing Trk-2 thru 6".

trailing truck 2 ⤵

trailing truck 3 ⤵

trailing truck 4 ⤵

trailing truck 5 ⤵

trailing truck 6 ⤵

As you can see in photo 6, The trailing trucks benefitted quite a lot from drilling out the holes and adding the rockers.

These 2-10-4s are going back on the shelf again for a short stay. I have to get ready for O Scale West. I have tasks to perform for the meet as well as being open on the layout tours, so I will have to wait until after the meet to finish these engines. Hope to see some of you at OSW.

Gary