4-8-8-2 SP Cab Forward Steam Locomotive

One of the two Cab Forwards that I have coming arrived yesterday evening. 36 hours after the seller sent it, not 36 days.

I had asked him if he could send it FedEx instead of USPS. The other one sent a week before via USPS went south instead of north and is now sitting in Baltimore.

Nice engine, with the box and instructions.








Brass means detail and price.



Introduced around 1909 engineers expressed a fear that they would hit something like a gasoline tanker at a crossing and go up in smoke. In 46 years of operation that never happened. Visibility was the key.

Great models. Does it run OK?

rsv1cox wrote:
In the 1920's, the Southern Pacific had a need for powerful locomotives,
but found that the new articulated 2-8-8-2's did not work well for them.  
They were a hazard to the crews when traveling through the long tunnels
and snow sheds on their system. The exhaust fumes were capable of blinding and suffocating crew members,
so to resolve this problem, the Southern Pacific decided to run in reverse.  
The next articulated engines from Baldwin were built with the cabs in the forward position.  
The SP went on to build many classes of these "Cab-Forwards".

How they managed to drive through tunnels before:






Bob, any tunnel projects planned on your layout?

When looking at your display cabinets, I didn't see a Heisler.

No Heisler Lieven, but I have ridden behind (actually in front of) a Shay when we visited Cass mountain RR in central West Virginia.  Would like to add one or both to my layout, but they can be expensive.






No tunnels on my RR, built one on my first layout out of wet paper and plaster.  My present layout is geared to just running mostly old broken down but repaired diesel and steam locomotives.  Maybe one day I will get around to landscaping it, folks over on the Model Train Forum call it boring.   But people there keep asking me for drawings.  Me draw?  Ha, I made it up as I went along.  I couldn't draw a straight line with a ruler.  I send them closeup pictures.  

Got my second Cab Forward today after a detour South but mostly on-time, the PO is improving.  

Not as nice as the mint first one but a runner.  Dusty and a modification to illuminate the tenders backup light and a couple of small pieces fell off it during transit.  But it has a one digit off ID number, which I like.  

2 nice locomotives Bob, and some great shots of the Shay. Do you know if there are makes that sell Shay or Climax locos? Rivarossi makes or made a 2 truck and a 3 truck Heisler.

My 2 truck Heisler pulling 3 bottle cars filled with liquid iron:

I lightened up your picture a bit Lieven to see detail.



Like the Shay, amazing engineering.



Like the Shay there are many models made by different manufacturers, the Japanese made many in brass and are quite beautiful.  I have never owned one, but you have my motor running.

Shay's





Heisler's

 


Popular with model railroaders as many incorporate logging themes into their layouts.

Good to hear the train got there unlike the Baltimore one ? Nice looking trains i like the style they put into them back then.

getback wrote:Good to hear the train got there unlike the Baltimore one ? Nice looking trains i like the style they put into them back then.

The Baltimore distribution center (where my packages go to die) Cab Forward locomotive arrived ok despite it's Southern diversion. Not as nice as the first one though.

Curiosity got the better of me Lieven. A new Heisler showed up on ebay with a great BIN price, didn't even try to talk him down, unusual for me. Not the one pictured above with the crumpled red ribbon. Couldn't have that. Just have to see that gearing in action.




One problem, it's from a distributor in California, thousands of miles from WV. Asked them to ship UPS or FedEx instead of USPS.

Time to buying this stuff. Spring is coming.

That's fast action Bob. I think you wont regret that purchase. The working bottom end of the steam engine very well done. I haven't got the red ribbon box neither. It's the cardboard box with cracked plastic insert (and tissue paper!) and the original document. The box is dated inside with pencil: 30.08.'83. A few years ago, I allmost bought the 3 truck version but that one arrived at my place in bits so I sent it back and got a refund.

One day, I'd like to make a small switching layout for the Heisler and the bottle cars. I know these locos were mainly used to transport wood with their good amount of power and the ability to negociate tight curves. But it will be the steel industry for me. After all, a switching layout is not very "prototypical" as they say.



Here's one running on the rolling road:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p_kyeS1rwY

Not much you can do about those cracked plastic trays, but I use three spring binder interleaves cut to shape to replace the broken cellophane windows. A monokote iron irons out wrinkles in the carboard box.

I've done some box reconditionning as well. The problem with the cardboard is that from opening and closing, the ends fall off and also it can damage the polystyrene from pulling it out of the carton. So I have a different method. I transform my cardboard box into a lid that goes onto the poystyrene.

This is how it's done. I used a knife instead of scissors:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxfoNfkchMA

For my Wagons Lits coaches, I didn't have the polystyrene base but only the cardboard, so I made them myself out of sheet. Due to the thickness of the sheet, the coaches are stored upright and not on their sides. The lids are made as in the video. I did four of them, but I will do some more in the future.

Pretty nifty Lieven,

My one year of high school French didn't help me much but the teacher Ms. Cloutier was a knock-out, I almost signed up for a second year. Good thing a picture/video is worth a thousand words. My all-time favorite singer is Mireille Mathieu posted here previously on the music vids thread to not much applause. Allstate Insurance features her voice (or maybe Edith Piaf) in their commercials.

You did that much quicker than I could, I liked the red vinyl tape accents. Looks like European couplers on your rolling stock.

Ever see the movie "The Train?"

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=the+train+movie&docid=608051130789135387&mid=43330988EB0C74D5DF9143330988EB0C74D5DF91&view=detail&FORM=VIREHT

HO something or other, 2-6-? similar to their "Pacific Flyer" switcher set loco but has leading and trailing (missing on these) trucks.

Bought these a few years ago as junk locomotives and put them away. Both had jammed valve gears, one missing both pilot and trailing trucks, I forget, maybe ten bucks for the pair. Bottom of the line Bachmann's, no Spectrum, no DCC but both have smoke capability. I should have been more respectful, got on line and saw what these are going for.

Rivets missing from the enhanced valve gear on these, and I couldn't get the threaded hex machine screw to come out so I just cut it off with a Dremel. Fooled around with the drive mechanism a bit, lubed it and put it on the track. Amazed, it ran and ran pretty well. The other one is a work in progress.









Ch




Cheap little things, the cylinders are pressed on to a bolster and the bottom frames posts keep the wheels from falling off when off the track. Remove the bottom and the wheel just flop out if not restrained. But running on the track it's a winner. Repaired the little New One Tokyo Japan in the background yesterday. Die cast it's about three time the weight of the Bachmann and is heavier than my newly acquired Rivarossi Cab Forward.

Reposted from the Model Train Forum.

Nothing like using up Jacobs bandwidth.

rsv1cox wrote:Pretty nifty Lieven,

My one year of high school French didn't help me much but the teacher Ms. Cloutier was a knock-out, I almost signed up for a second year.  Good thing a picture/video is worth a thousand words.  My all-time favorite singer is Mireille Mathieu posted here previously on the music vids thread to not much applause.  Allstate Insurance features her voice (or maybe Edith Piaf) in their commercials.  

You did that much quicker than I could, I liked the red vinyl tape accents.  Looks like European couplers on your rolling stock.  

Ever see the movie "The Train?"

I've seen some parts of the movie in the past but forgot about it. I like Burt Lancaster movies. I tried to find on Google maps if there was anything left of the yard in Vaires where the bombing was but everything seems to have changed since the 60's.

The couplings are considered as the "standard" couplings for ho trains. That was established in the mid-late sixties. Depending on the manufacturer, they can be slightly different but can be coupled without probs.

The ones I got from L to R:    GéGé (F), Lima (I), Jouef (F), Hornby Acho (F)





The Brits had to come up with something different, what else would you expect?

From L to R:  Tri-ang Mk2 coupling,  Tri-ang Mk3 coupling, Lima export UK




Before this so to say standard was achieved, every make had its own idea. Below a picture of an early Jouef. We're talking about undetailed plastic fantastic kiddy's toy trains. A spring loaded hook on one side and an eye on the other.





The disadvantage is that these devices work with an up and down movement. The KDee couplings work sideways and are much easier to undo, are smaller and look like the real thing.

This website discribes the evolution of the couplings over here, just scroll down a bit.

http://trainsdefrancois.free.fr/hornbyhist.php

Yes, couplers can be crazy.  In the HO world L/R  what we call Mantua, your European, NMRA, (National Model Railroad Association) and Kadee.





I have some Jouef passenger cars



Going a little crazy here myself. UPS has done it again, delivering my locomotive to another house. "left at front door" ya right, some body else's front door. Hours on the phone and internet trying to get it resolved.

BTW, I got those two junk Bachmann's running perfectly, although missing some parts like the right side valve gears and front and trailing trucks.  Also found the correct hook/post style tenders for them tucked away in a box.  Simple, just slide the tenders hook up under the recess in the locomotive.  Like them so much I bought a couple of new ones, partly to get the smoke capsule.

Did I sell you those Bob? I had the exact same ones. Canadian National and UP. The CN was sent to my son from my mother in Canada. I can’t recall, but glad they are working.

Cribbs74 wrote:Did I sell you those Bob? I had the exact same ones. Canadian National and UP. The CN was sent to my son from my mother in Canada. I can’t recall, but glad they are working.

Duh!  That's why I can't find them on my ebay history.  Thanks Ron, you have solved a mystery.  You must have, there is no other explanation.  In my defense, I have a couple of hundred of these locomotives now and they tend to blend in origin wise after awhile.  

I had just put them away knowing that they would require some concentrated attention.  Those valve gears are a pain to reattach, and it turned out one side on each could not be saved so I cut them off, the locomotive doesn't know the difference.

But, I'm telling you, I love them.  Smooth and silent they are perfect runners on my track and I can't stop playing with and improving the things.  Means a lot more when you have overhaul skin in the game.  

Notice both of the new ones I bought are Canadian National.  Not cheap!!!

One of the new locomotives is DCC, I may have to upgrade yet.

Bob