# Live Steam Cog Loco Build



## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Guys,
I have not posted here for a very long time for different reasons. Currently I am working on a new project, a cog loco in 1:22.5. I chose this scale as I plan to return to Germany in a couple of years. The loco is a model of the first combined rack/adhesion narrow gauge engine built by a Swiss company. It was an industrial switcher and did not have the tilted cab as other rack locos. So I can run it on ordinary track and then branch out to the rack-equipped line. Most of the readers here are not very interested in builds if they are not American prototypes or BIG. So I am reluctant to post it here, though it is technically very challenging. It is small, with an unusual Gooch valve gear (designed using the Dockstader program and Alibre simulation) between the frames and the kinked side rods to get the cog wheel to clear the rails on switches. It was also pretty difficult to design a gear, which meshes with the LGB rack and also a pinion for speed reduction. Another challenge was to match the cog pitch diameter with the diameter of the driving wheels. A complete build thread is here (in German, but with lots of pictures) http://www.buntbahn.de/modellbau/viewtopic.php?t=13117
A set of drawings was found in an old brochure: https://books.google.com/books?id=q...v=onepage&q=zahnradlok wasseralfingen&f=false
The drawings are towards the end, so scroll down.
Currently the chassis runs on air, the boiler and burner/gas tank are finished and I am working on the boiler fittings/piping. If you guys are at all interested, I will post some of the progress here. So here is a picture:











Regards


----------



## fsts2k (Jan 13, 2009)

I am very interested.. I hope you post here as well. This looks really wonderful


----------



## steamermeister (Feb 20, 2013)

Where did you get those wheels?


----------



## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

steamermeister said:


> Where did you get those wheels?


 I designed the wheels in Alibre and then Dennis cut them on his CNC mill. The material is precision ground flat steel. By the way, I helped Dennis with the soft/hardware in modifying his mill, which took some time - one of the reasons for not posting here. Since then we (Bill Allen and me) are regulars in his workshop and extremely grateful for his help. Here is a view of the crammed chassis with the Gooch valve gear. Most joints have tiny ball bearings (about 0.04"(1mm) ID and about 1/8" (3mm)OD), to minimize lost motion.







Regards

.


----------



## Ray Cadd (Dec 30, 2008)

Wow- that is stunning. Please continue to post- would always rather see something like this than "same ol' same ol'"..


----------



## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

Been following your post on the "Buntbahn forum" ,i am impressed with your quality build loco! Bill,Henner and a couple more master builders always catch my attention ,its a "must read" issue!!!
Thanks for posting,
Manfred


----------



## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

May i ask who is carrying those mini bearings?
Manfred


----------



## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

lotsasteam said:


> May i ask who is carrying those mini bearings?
> Manfred


Manfred
I got them from Ebay e.g. https://www.ebay.com/itm/10pcs-681Z...h=item5b18cf5c71:g:up4AAOSwuTxV8j3z:rk:6:pf:0


----------



## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks,Henner! Order already placed!
Manfred


----------



## Nick Jr (Jan 2, 2008)

Henner, please continue to post your progress. LiG


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

*GUYS*

If you haven't gone to the Buntbahn link in the top posting, You should do that when you have a little time to examine the pure craftsmanship by Henner and Dennis.
I have been lucky enough to have seen the build from the start with the inventive ways they have approached every step. It is in German, but at least on my computer, there is a translation block the the top.


----------



## David Leech (Dec 9, 2008)

Henner,
So, what are you doing about the 'rack'?
I see something in the first picture, and it looks to be plastic.
Wonderful engineering.
Regards,
David Leech, Delta, Canada


----------



## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

David;

It appears to be a section of the rack rail LGB used with their rack locomotives. I don't know whether it is still made, but it was quite durable.

Regards,
David Meashey


----------



## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

@Bill,
thanks for the kind words. In fact, we are both part of a Saturday workshop. This informal get-together is a valuable source of information and knowledge exchange.
@David,
this is the rack I use:
https://www.onlytrains.com/model/tr...NuPPCHXn9Gn5t7BC_SUvQillZDXhh-khoCIz0QAvD_BwE
It seems to be quite durable (glass fiber reinforced?) and clips to any LGB track and even can be curved (R3 at least). Unfortunately the pitch is not to any standard, so we designed our own gears. Dennis had a program which allowed us to manipulate all the parameters of a gear. We then cut these with the laser out of acrylic and checked how they meshed. 

Regards


----------



## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

http://www.buntbahn.de/modellbau/viewforum.php?f=23

German version
English : let google translate


----------



## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Henner, It is great to see you back on this forum. Your project looks fantastic! Please keep posting and I will be looking forward to your progress.


----------



## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

Looks like another interesting project Henner!


----------



## John Allman (Jan 2, 2008)

yes, very interesting. 
I have no talent - except that I can recognize it in others. 
this is an amazing project.


----------



## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

Very impressive build Henner. Rack engines are much more complex and somewhat like clockwork. I was particularly impressed in the engines that Krauss Linz produced for Bosnian narrow gauge. Getting all of it inside those very narrow 76cm gauge frames is quite something. Just like in the case of your model. Congratulations.


----------



## roadranger (Jan 6, 2008)

In an early post, you said Swiss adhesion/rack engine. Does that mean this engine is capable of running on non-rack sections in between rack rail sections?
Ive been to Mt. Washington Cog RR and Pikes Peak Cog RR, and they both have racks installed on every inch of track.
I was wondering how the engine proceeded from non-rack rail onto the rack rail and get the gear in alignment with the rack?


----------



## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

If it's anything like the prototype, with a tremendous thud. 

Later,

K


----------



## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

roadranger said:


> In an early post, you said Swiss adhesion/rack engine. Does that mean this engine is capable of running on non-rack sections in between rack rail sections?
> Ive been to Mt. Washington Cog RR and Pikes Peak Cog RR, and they both have racks installed on every inch of track.
> I was wondering how the engine proceeded from non-rack rail onto the rack rail and get the gear in alignment with the rack?


They had (and still have today) a very sophisticated system to synchronize the gears when entering the rack section. First a hinged section at the beginning of the rack was set on springs in case the gear happened to sit on top of a tooth. Secondly the pitch of this section was slightly different from the pitch of the gear. This ensures that after a couple of feet the gear synchronized with the rack. Also sometimes the height of the teeth varies. Many Swiss rack systems today switch between adhesion and rack at fairly high speed using this method. See e.g. https://www.google.de/search?q=zahnstangeneinfahrt&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwih8KOGxc7gAhUPVK0KHVb3CR4Q_AUIDigB&biw=1536&bih=701&dpr=1.25.
The prototype of my loco ran without rack within the iron works and entered the rack section when climbing up a hill.
Regards


----------



## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

The boiler fittings (manifold/throttle/safety valve/dead-leg lubricator/water gauge) are done. It was pointed out to me (I should have known better), that the water gauge should not be tapped off the manifold, as opening the throttle will affect the reading. I will proceed with the remaining plumbing and then test the loco under steam. If the gauge really misreads, I will solder a separate bushing into the boiler. Yesterday we milled the reach rod out of 1/16" steel. Here how the loco looks like now:










The throttle handle is some black rosewood, donated by Dennis.
Regards


----------



## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

You don't have much room to work with! I guess you could turn off the throttle to read the gauge. I never have much luck reading site gauges on the run anyway. Good luck.


----------



## bonzo1953 (Dec 27, 2007)

I saw a Ruby with a sight glass fitted like yours. It would not run at all due to water being drawn off the bottom of the boiler through the sight glass and through the throttle valve. The cylinders would never clear.
Good luck, beautiful build so far.
Keep 'em Steamin'
John


----------



## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

The water glass my be a problem, maybe not...i am curious about how you are running the throttle...do you have some more photos showing that detail?


----------



## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Eric,
the throttle was a bit of a headache. In the real loco it is housed in the dome. I could not do that, as there is absolutely no space on the front end for a lubricator. So I put the throttle into the manifold, having to use a fairly long steam line (the Ruby has about the same length, so I might be OK). Here is a picture of the throttle proper (the M4 thread is not shown):












and the temporary routing of the steam lines:











Regards


----------



## clifforddward (Jan 2, 2008)

Very interesting project Henner...thank you for sharing your progress.

A small suggestion...you may want to consider insulating the steam line running from the manifold forward to the split "T" over the front of the boiler...The plastic tubing you have used would be an excellent insulator...even if you need to split it to get it to fit.

Alternatively if you can do a few bends and run the steam line from the manifold through the firetube you can do a great job of keeping the steam hot and avoid condensation....I hesitate to call it a superheater line, but it would act somewhat as one.

Otherwise, with no insulation you'll have a lot of heat loss in that copper tube between the manifold and the front.


----------



## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Cliff,
In the Ruby the steam line runs from the throttle via two bends through the lubricator and then uninsulated under the boiler to the fairly bulky reverser valve with a lot of surface. The line is longer and has more surface area than my pipe system. The Ruby design seems to work OK. Obviously the heat transfer between the fast moving steam and the wall of the pipe is not outrageously high. But I will definitely insulate the long pipe, as the prototype tube had a fairly large diameter. However I will first test the temporary piping to see, what happens.
Regards


----------



## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

Wow that is really neat! Good job on the throttle too, i couldnt qquite figure it o u t from the earlier photo..


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Henner
Maybe we could fill the boiler to the top of the sight glass and then run it on air and see what is going on with the clear tubing. Start, stop, etc.


----------



## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

The live steam piping is done. I had to go around the water filler valve on the dome. Dennis and I had two competing designs for this manifold, but Dennis' "won". It is a ring channel which will also minimize heat losses, as it is in contact with the dome. Everything is silver brazed, quite a tricky job, as the wall thickness of the brass donut is just 0.02". 











The next steps are the exhaust piping and adding RC. I decided on radio control, as this loco is not of the - fire up/let it run for 30min/watch it sitting in a lawn chair with a beer - variety. In fact it will run fairly short distances with frequent reversal.
Regards


----------



## Nick Jr (Jan 2, 2008)

Making beautiful progress, keep posting please. LiG


----------



## steamermeister (Feb 20, 2013)

Wow, doughnut routing. What a creative solution.


----------



## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

The functional part of the loco is done and I have run some tests.

- Burner/boiler generate enough steam to hold 30PSi.
- Frame and servos get lukewarm at best.
- The rulon slide valves seem to work well.
- Due to the short connection between jet holder and tank the gas tank gets just enough heat to keep the pressure.
- The fairly long steam line does not seem to be a problem, even without insulation.
- The dead leg lubricator also seems to work.
- So far the complicated valve gear has not shred itself to pieces .
- The location of the sight glass was indeed a problem as it worked as an ejector pump. I soldered a separate bushing into the boiler and shortened the manifold. 


Yesterday, after successfully running on rollers, I built a test track in my garden. The rack (cog) railway branches out of the main line with a portable switch and climbs directly up the hill, bypassing a line with two switch backs, which had to be abandoned due to termite damage on one of the bridges. The new track was simply laid on top of the old line:










Here the loco in its natural habitat. The tender contains the RC equipment and was used for this test only. Eventually the RC will go into the cab:










Finally a short video of the test run (my friend Dennis was the engineer at the throttle):








Regards


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Henner
It runs beautifully and the drive mechanism is mesmerizing.
You seem to have mastered the complex Gooch valve system for a smooth and powerful engine
Congrats.


----------



## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

That is really cool!


----------



## bonzo1953 (Dec 27, 2007)

Bravo! Well done. Congratulations.


----------



## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

As the loco seems to run, I can focus now on "detailing". The smokestack is one important feature of a loco, so I focused on that first. I made 2 attempts making the saddle, but was not happy with either. Dennis (Bill's and my CNC/laser guru) came up with a brilliant idea. The saddle was turned in one piece with an integrated skirt 0.02" thick at 30° degrees. This was annealed and then formed to match the boiler curvature. Here is the result:












Here the loco with the finished smokestack:












The cab is temporary and laser cut out of thin MDF. It is a mock-up to check the installation of the R/C components, as the loco is very small. The smokebox door was turned using coordinates and the hinges made in a fixture. If someone is interested, I can describe how I did it. Currently I am waiting for various hardware and R/C components.
Regards


----------



## Steve Ciambrone (Feb 25, 2014)

The smoke stack saddle is a brilliant solution for what seems to be a difficult part to machine.


Steve


----------



## llynrice (Jan 2, 2008)

Your stack base is a wonderful work-around. And, once figured out, it's wonderfully simple. Your finished piece looks great! Thanks for sharing your experience.


----------



## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

The loco now has a face. Smoke box door is riveted to the hinges, the front skirt is attached and the buffer/buffer beam mounted. This buffer beam is L-shaped and bent forward, no idea why they did this. This is the current look:











The rear buffer/buffer beam is also mounted. Currently I am working on the cab:











The outline of cab and skirt parts have been cut on Dennis' CNC mill, the rivets marked on the back side with a center drill also under CNC control and then punched with a NWSL punch/die. The rear wall of the cab needs to be bent and then it can be soldered.
Regards


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

looks wonderful Henner


----------



## Poys718 (Sep 5, 2019)

This is amazing. Hope to see more of it.


----------



## ScottB (Jan 8, 2010)

Henner, 
this is a work of art, Beautiful Craftsmanship! And yes please do tell how you machined the smokebox door.


----------



## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

ScottB said:


> Henner,
> this is a work of art, Beautiful Craftsmanship! And yes please do tell how you machined the smokebox door.


 Thanks for the kind words (Llyn, Bill, Poys and Scott). I start with a brass disk of oversize diameter/thickness and soft solder it to a brass bar. In the next step I turn it down to the correct diameter and length (thickness). I then use an Excel table, indexed by 0.002" (0.05mm) in x and start turning from the outside to a diameter (or travel) given by the table. Due to the setting of the x-axis you don't get lost in the table. Each cut only removes 0.002". You get very fine steps, which can be easily filed/sanded.This is how it looks like after turning:









Normally I use my radius attachment from Sherline for such an operation, but in this case the radius was far too big. Hope this helps.
This also works for a parabolic nose of a streamliner.


----------



## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

The cab is done with a lot of help from Dennis and Bill. They both are familiar with "Stay Brite" soft solder https://www.harrisproductsgroup.com/en/Products/Alloys/Soldering/Lead-Free-Solders/stay-brite-8.aspx
which I have not used before.









Next step detailing the cab.


----------



## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

It's been a while since I posted something on this forum. Well, last year I relocated back to my native Germany - getting older and wanting to be closer to family. It took some time to get my workshop back up running. But now everything is in place and I even purchased a nice CNC mill, small but very precise. My cog loco now has complete water/coal bunkers with lids, beads around the cab doors (sliced copper tubing courtesy of Bill Allen) and finally a fairly complicated dome:









The dome conceals a Goodall type feed valve and a doughnut shaped manifold to route the steam pipe around the filler valve. A screw-on cap keeps everything in place.
Regards


----------



## DetailsDetails (Jul 28, 2021)

Gorgeous little machine.
Wunderschoene Arbeit. Vielen Dank fuer die Bilder


----------



## Exador (Jan 24, 2020)

Any chance you have the boiler plans? I'd like to try one for no special reason.


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Looks awesome Henner
I especially like the way the steam pipe goes through the dome and then goes around the Goodall valve all inside the small confines of the dome


----------



## ferroequinologist (May 8, 2016)

Very Nice Henner, perhaps some video of it in action on the rack, it would be great to see it in action
Russell


----------



## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks guys for the kind words. In fact, we already video taped a test run on my Fremont/CA layout (Posted here on June 15th 2019), climbing a 30% grade.
About the boiler: It is a very simple design like a Ruby and yes, I have drawings.How to send them, as I don't see a an E-mail capability?
Regards


----------

