# Accucraft Walscherts Valve Gear



## fkrutzke (Jan 24, 2008)

The major complaint with the Accucraft Walscherts valve geared locomotives is the inaccurate geometry of the radius rod being at the top of the link when in forward gear.

This can be VERY EASILY remidied *WITHOUT CROSS PORTING* and still have proper movement of the johnson bar for the direction of travel.

See me at Diamondhead, I'll have it running on my coal fired K-27.

Torry


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## D&RGW 461 (Jun 4, 2009)

Torry, Looking forward to seeing what you did on yours so that I can correct that problem on my K-27 also. Do I need to bring any certain tools and/or materials ( brass stock ect.) with me to Diamondhead , or is it a little more to it than that ??? Thanks, See ya at DH. Chris Sortina SA # 20


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By fkrutzke on 05 Jan 2010 09:38 PM 
The major complaint with the Accucraft Walscherts valve geared locomotives is the inaccurate geometry of the radius rod being at the top of the link when in forward gear.

This can be VERY EASILY remidied *WITHOUT CROSS PORTING* and still have proper movement of the johnson bar for the direction of travel.

See me at Diamondhead, I'll have it running on my coal fired K-27.

Torry

Dear Mr Torry - It would be great if you could post details of this fix for those of us for whom a trip to DH is about as likely as a visit to Atlantis.

Although most of us over here seem to be happy with the latest British outline loco from AccuCraft - the excellent 'Countess/Earl', it is obvious to anybody who has seen the real thing that the valve gear is back-to-front, and looks very odd. 

Although I am not going to lie awake at nights fretting it, it would be great if you could share your expertise with those of us with less skill than you have.

tac
www.ovgrs.org


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## rodblakeman (Jan 2, 2008)

Terry, 
Torry has already discussed this with me and sent me the drawings for the rework of the reverser stand. There is some work involved to make the Johnson bar work in the correct orientation. If Torry has no objection I will pass on the drawings. I'll talk to him about it next week. 

Rod.


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## scottemcdonald (Jan 11, 2008)

Although I am not going to lie awake at nights fretting it, it would be great if you could share your expertise with those of us with less skill than you have. 

Sounds like a Steam in the Garden article to me! ;-) 

Scott


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## Steve S. (Jan 2, 2008)

Gosh,.............. if this is true, I won't have anything to pick on Accucraft about anymore.


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## seadawg (Jan 2, 2008)

I'd like to take a peek! See you next week.


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By rodblakeman on 06 Jan 2010 03:55 AM 
Terry, 
Torry has already discussed this with me and sent me the drawings for the rework of the reverser stand. There is some work involved to make the Johnson bar work in the correct orientation. If Torry has no objection I will pass on the drawings. I'll talk to him about it next week. 

Rod. 
Evenin', Rod - as I don't actually have the loco to paw just yet, it might seem a bit previous to ask about the work needed to make it look right. However, after more than thirty years of looking at the real thing it just creases me up to see it running forwards when it should be running backwards...as soon as I have it I'll pass it to you to correct, if that's OK.

Best

tac
www.ovgrs.org


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By Steve S. on 06 Jan 2010 08:10 AM 
Gosh,.............. if this is true, I won't have anything to pick on Accucraft about anymore. 

Now, now, Steve - take a minute or so to look at this and then tell me what is to complain about....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pQuLIoGmkU









tac
www.ovgrs.org


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## Taperpin (Jan 6, 2008)

Heads up for K-36 owners..just doing our first predelivery and the tender derailed almost immediately.. the trucks are sprung and there are 2 screws [2mm] located in the top edge of the truck side frames on the inside..these where loose on both trucks and the axles fell ut of the boxes..also one wheelset was 2mm under gauge, rpobably from the derailment.worth checking before the first run.

Gordon.


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## jfrank (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Taperpin on 06 Jan 2010 06:10 PM 
Heads up for K-36 owners..just doing our first predelivery and the tender derailed almost immediately.. the trucks are sprung and there are 2 screws [2mm] located in the top edge of the truck side frames on the inside..these where loose on both trucks and the axles fell ut of the boxes..also one wheelset was 2mm under gauge, rpobably from the derailment.worth checking before the first run.

Gordon. 



Thanks Gordon. Have heard that from two others also although mine did not have that problem. May depend on which engine you ordered. Both the others were the 483. I have the 488. Sort of standard procedure for any new locomotive is to check all the fasteners to make sure nothing is loose and check the wheel gauge.


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## Charles M (Jan 2, 2008)

Rod, 

Is there any update on sharing the drawings about the rework of the reverser stamd ? I would like to try this fix on my Accucraft " Earl " as I have already changed the valve timing so that it is correct. Just need to have the reverse lever in the correct position for going forward now. 

Thanks 

Charles M SA#74


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Charles - Pretty simple if you look at the reverser all you need to do is reverse the pivot point vs where the linkage ties in. 

Very similar to what I did on my Ruby after reversing the timimg.


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## rodblakeman (Jan 2, 2008)

Charles, the Drawings are not available, if you need more information you will have to ask Torry, or you can do the rework as Jason suggests above.


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## Chris Scott (Jan 2, 2008)

osted By Kovacjr on 12 Jan 2010 06:51 AM 
Charles - Pretty simple if you look at the reverser all you need to do is reverse the pivot point vs where the linkage ties in. 

Very similar to what I did on my Ruby after reversing the timimg.








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Jason:
Talking this topic around with some gear-heads; thinking is there is more to Torry's approach. Some speculation, now we're waiting to see what's what. Comments when Torry performs his reveal should be interesting.


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Yes Chris but my response was to Charles about his Accucraft Earl, which is a piston reverser and when he reversed the timing his Jbar was reversed. 

As for the Walscherts its pretty much the same, you are rotating the eccentrics 180deg, and retiming. It makes reverse foward and foward reverse. Kinda the same as the piston valve locos. To fix the johnson bar you still have the same theroy, you need to pick up a new pivot point by modifying there or how its connected. The Mason is supposed to be this way as it is how it was built when I ran it before it went to have the axlepump fitted back in China.


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## Chris Scott (Jan 2, 2008)

Oh.


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## Charles M (Jan 2, 2008)

Guys, 
I need to clear something up , the Earl has Walscherts valve gear ,and it is equipped with slide valves and doesn't use a " piston reverser" . The eccentric crank has to be rotated to "trail " the crank pin when in forward motion on this model as per the prototype. Having just set the motion work on a brand new K-36 that was running on one side only , I am familiar with the procedure. There is more to the rework on the reverser stand than it would appear at first glance. I have an idea how to do it , just wanted some feedback before cutting on a $ 2200.00 locomotive that is one of only 10 in the country. 

I also got to run the Mason before it went back , and the valve timing is set backwards to the way the prototype was built. The K-36 is backwards also. It runs great as is , it just looks wrong doing so. 

Charles M SA#74


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Charles, whan you mentioned that yuou reversed the timimg I though yoiu meant it was piston reverser.


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## wslogger15 (Jul 14, 2008)

Hello Everyone,

I just ran my new Accucraft NG15 and it also has the valve gear reversed. Can anyone tell me how to re-time it so it runs correctly. Also, it will hardly run in reverse but is ok when running forward. Is this a timing issue also? 

Thanks for any help,
Chuck Collins


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Chuck
"Also, it will hardly run in reverse but is ok when running forward. Is this a timing issue also?" based on this statement along with the stock setup if you were to reverse the situation it would run badly in forward without dealing with a timing issue.


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## wslogger15 (Jul 14, 2008)

Charles, 

That makes sense. So how does one adjust the timing? 

Chuck


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## David BaileyK27 (Jan 2, 2008)

I have a sheet on converting the W&L Earl to correct Valve Gear, including modifying the Combination Lever to operate correctly and alter the reversing Lever to operate in the correct direction, The basics would apply to all other types as well. 
I also have a NG15 for which I have in production a two tone resonator whistle, details on our website at www.djbengineering.co.uk, I intend to alter it to coal firing and correct the valve gear sometime soon. 
David Bailey DJB Engineering.co.uk


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## Charles M (Jan 2, 2008)

Dave , 
How would one obtain the "sheet" of information on converting the reverse lever to correct operation you mention and the cost for this ? The " Earl " conversion to coal looks great , wish I could do it . 

Thanks in advance 

Charles M SA#74


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## wslogger15 (Jul 14, 2008)

David, 

Please let me know how you correct the valve gear on your NG15. I had mine out for a spin yesterday and got most of the bugs worked out. The problem with running in reverse was solved by adjusting the throw of the radius rods in the expansion links. Accucraft had set full movement in the forward position (radius rod at top of expansion link) but very restricted throw in the reverse position (radius rod at the bottom of the expansion link). I had to enlarge the opening where the reserving rod goes through the cab to allow more movement in the down position. Oh course the down position should be forward but Accucraft has the timing reversed as we have discussed. After allowing the radius rod to drop farther down on the expansion link, good performance was obtained in both froward and reverse directions. Now all I have to do is figure out how to reverse the timing so it will run forward when the radius rod is in the down position and in reverse when in the up position. 

Regards, 
Chuck Collins


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Chuck
In order to properly do what your desire, one would have to cross port the cylinders. There is the "cheap and dirty" way by doing a of the eccentrics but then it would be trailing in forward when it should be leading as per direction. Then there is the functional combination levers, "d" valve upgrade, etc.


This process would be similar to the conversion we have done on Accucraft GS4, CF, F4/F5:


 Cross porting Combination levers


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## wslogger15 (Jul 14, 2008)

Charles, 

WOW, that is intense modification. That one is way beyond my skills. I am interested in seeing what David Bailey comes up with on his NG15. (David, please keep us informed). For now I guess I will live with the reversed valve gear. 

Regards, 
Chuck Collins


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