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Hi all,
I uploaded pics of my 4-6-4 Hudson steam engine and tender this afternoon.
They can be found at:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=22292
A couple of points about the engine:
(1) For once, I can recount the exact date of conception for the project! I
started working on the design for this on April 29th of this year.
Interestingly, this *exactly* coincides with John Neal's post about his son
Ross's amazing 4-6-2 Pacific engine:
(http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=16328). I was inspired by the
amazing detail on that engine to try another design of my own.
(2) This engine features two (2!) pairs of working pistons; both the drive
pistons and the valve pistons reciprocate in the cylinders. Additionally, the
two pistons have different accelerations, and slightly different phases, a
feature which is accomplished using a levered linkage. The actual mechanism
for regulating the valve pistons is much more complicated than what I depicted,
but I felt that the compromise still offerred a pleasingly aesthetic
representation. I included a number of 15-second movie clips that demonstrate
the working of the pistons as the engine is moving along the track.
(3) The drive wheels actually ride on top of the rail, as is the case with
Ross's design. This provides for the use of some interesting driver wheel
choices. The driver wheels on each side are geared together with 24-tooth
gears in order to maintain alignment, and prevent binding with the linkages.
In order to pull this off, 5 24-tooth gears were needed for each side: one
attached to each wheel, and then two idler gears. As a further challenge, the
idler gears had to make use of 1/4 stud offsets to maintain the correct
spacing. The three driver wheels on each side are furthermore on separate
axles as the wheels on the other side, so that the two sides can rotate at
different rates as the train rounds curves.
(4) In addition to the shining headlight, the coal furnace actually works! I
used four of the old style 1x2 bricks with a light on top to achieve this
effect. With all of them oriented to blink mode, the varying frequencies
produces a nice "flickering" effect. Mounted behind a wall of 1x1 trans-red
plates, and a number of trans-orange flame pieces, the furnace appears to have
a rich red flame. Both the head lamp and the furnace are powered from a 9V
battery box hidden in the tender. The switch is hidden under the coal in the
tender's bed. I included a few 15-second movie clips that show the effect;
unfortunately, in movie mode, my camera insists on continual auto-focus, so the
overall clarity isn't great (What with the changing lighting conditions), but
you should be able to get the effect.
(5) The cowcatcher! After a thorough search that didn't uncover any designs
which emulates the look I was going for, I came up with this design. I also
produced a 6-wide version, which I'm hoping to see on a steam engine sometime
soon: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=21720. In any case, I'm
pleased with this design.
(6) Oh yeah ... under the heading "best laid plans of mice and men oft go
awry" comes the fact that the engine comes is 10 wide. I intended it to be 8
wide, but when the walkways were added on each side, and all of the linkage
pieces, the predominant width is definitely 10 studs. However, at the pistons,
the width actually creeps up to about 12 studs.
(7) Unlike my usual fanatacism for collecting entire tomes of source material,
I built this design from one image:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=217960. I found several others
in looking around, but none that captured the details I really wanted to
include. In the end, this is the only one I referred to.
(8) It does go around curves, switches, and crossings. The only wheels that
actually run in the tracks are the four leading wheels and the four trailing
wheels, all of which are actual LEGO train wheels (the forward ones being the
old style, the trailing ones being the contemporary design). The driver
wheels, as mentioned above, actually wide on top of the rails, and therefore
can pass over any layout. That being said, it's still a heavy steam engine.
When it starts to get some distance from the power source, it tends to slow
down and *gasp* stop. Ahh well.
Hmm, I guess that's about it. Thanks for looking!
-s
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In lugnet.trains, Shaun Sullivan writes:
>
> Hi all,
>
> I uploaded pics of my 4-6-4 Hudson steam engine and tender this afternoon.
> They can be found at:
>
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=22292
<snipped great text descriptions of Shaun's Hudson>
Shaun,
Thanks for taking the time to post descriptions and photos of the fine
detailed workings of your excellent Hudson.
This model was beautiful to see in person at BrickFest. Well-deserving of
the BrickFest 2002 "Best Train MOC".
later,
James Mathis
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In lugnet.trains, James Mathis writes:
> In lugnet.trains, Shaun Sullivan writes:
> >
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I uploaded pics of my 4-6-4 Hudson steam engine and tender this afternoon.
> > They can be found at:
> >
> > http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=22292
>
> <snipped great text descriptions of Shaun's Hudson>
>
> Shaun,
>
> Thanks for taking the time to post descriptions and photos of the fine
> detailed workings of your excellent Hudson.
>
> This model was beautiful to see in person at BrickFest. Well-deserving of
> the BrickFest 2002 "Best Train MOC".
Hi James,
Thanks for the comments. I have to say again, it was an honor meeting you at
Brickfest. I've been mulling over some of the things we talked about, and I
have some promising thought on how I can incorporate some of your ideas into an
upcoming project.
Thanks again!
-s
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WOW, that looks NICE, my dad though it was a model, not lego! If i had the
time i'd build like that
Josh
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In lugnet.trains, Josh Baakko writes:
> WOW, that looks NICE, my dad though it was a model, not lego! If i had the
> time i'd build like that
> Josh
Thanks, Josh!
(and Josh's father)
-s
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Hi Shaun,
> I uploaded pics of my 4-6-4 Hudson steam engine and tender this afternoon.
That's absolutely incredible. The outline is just right, with a fantastic
sense of power and presence, particularly in the low-angle pictures. And
then all the details. Ah, the details. Wonderful.
> (4) In addition to the shining headlight, the coal furnace actually works!
<snip excellent implementation details>
I'm really tempted to add such a feature to my Shay, especially since
you've described it so thoroughly. Many thanks.
A couple of parts questions:
* Where did you find so many black 1x1 plates? I've spent the last few days
searching all over my collection (which I thought was reasonably
representative of basic parts), and they seem like gold dust.
* It looks like you used black droid bodies for the cylinders mounted
under the walkway. Is that what they are? If so, where did you find
them in that colour?
Many thanks in advance,
Will
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In lugnet.trains, Will Vale writes:
>
> > (4) In addition to the shining headlight, the coal furnace actually works!
>
> <snip excellent implementation details>
>
> I'm really tempted to add such a feature to my Shay, especially since
> you've described it so thoroughly. Many thanks.
I spent several hours at work today drooling over your Shay. Any chance we'll
get to see a little movie clip of the mechanism working?
I'll reply more to your Shay in another post :)
> A couple of parts questions:
>
> * Where did you find so many black 1x1 plates? I've spent the last few days
> searching all over my collection (which I thought was reasonably
> representative of basic parts), and they seem like gold dust.
Luckily, the mosaic set is pure bullion for 1x1s. For $30 (I think), you can
get over 2000 pieces in white, black, and greys, and you get to choose the
distribution.
> * It looks like you used black droid bodies for the cylinders mounted
> under the walkway. Is that what they are? If so, where did you find
> them in that colour?
There a great little Mission Deep Sea Alpha Team set, #4791, Sub Surface
Scooter. It comes with two Droid Bodies in black, two dark grey harpoon guns,
two black 2x4 wing pieces, two black 2x2 domes, a dark grey 2x4 (?) winch, and
a handful of other great pieces, all for $7.00. It's one of my favorite piece
sets in the current product line!
Thanks for the kind comments, Will.
-s
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> I spent several hours at work today drooling over your Shay.
Glad to be of service!
> Any chance we'll get to see a little movie clip of the
> mechanism working?
Good idea, although it'll be a digicam clip so not a very
good framerate. Sadly the valve pistons are more for looks
than authenticity - I couldn't find a way to get them to
reciprocate in the opposite direction to the drive pistons.
> I'll reply more to your Shay in another post :)
Look forward to it.
> Luckily, the mosaic set is pure bullion for 1x1s. For $30
> (I think), you can get over 2000 pieces in white, black,
> and greys, and you get to choose the distribution.
So that's it. I'd been under the (understandably mistaken)
impression that the mosaic set used tiles, not plates. I'll
have to get one of those.
> There a great little Mission Deep Sea Alpha Team set, #4791,
I seem to remember another post talking about this - thanks
for the tip. Good news about the 2x4 wings - I was looking
for these because the Bachmann Shay cylinders have a triangular
plate flat against the cylinder - I think the extended corner
supports part of the valve gear. But I didn't have any - soon
to be corrected.
Cheers for all the help.
Will
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In lugnet.trains, Shaun Sullivan writes:
>
> Hi all,
>
> I uploaded pics of my 4-6-4 Hudson steam engine and tender this afternoon.
> They can be found at:
>
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=22292
>
> A couple of points about the engine:
>
> (1) For once, I can recount the exact date of conception for the project! I
> started working on the design for this on April 29th of this year.
> Interestingly, this *exactly* coincides with John Neal's post about his son
> Ross's amazing 4-6-2 Pacific engine:
> (http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=16328). I was inspired by the
> amazing detail on that engine to try another design of my own.
Wow, Shaun, you have outdone even yourself here! You have raised the bar so
high that it will be extremely difficult to top. Your double piston rod design
is nothing short of amazing; Ross was extremely impressed! (a higher compliment
I can't imagine:-)
Interestingly, I was about to post Ross' latest MOC, which was in part inspired
by *you*, but I think I'll hold off a bit and let you and Will bask in your
well-deserved glory.
Well done!
-John
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In lugnet.trains, Shaun Sullivan writes:
>
> Hi all,
>
> I uploaded pics of my 4-6-4 Hudson steam engine and tender this afternoon.
> They can be found at:
>
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=22292
<snip>
Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that in the
BrickFest 2002 general competition (I don't know about the
Town/Train room's own competition, someone can maybe fill me
in?) Shaun's 4-6-4 Hudson took the award for "Best Train."
Given the incredible talent in the train room that's quite a
feat--the working parts of the model (and that furnace!) really
made it stand out.
I still love this locomotive. Now all we need is better power
on the track! :) Again, wonderful work.
best
LFB
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In lugnet.trains, Shaun Sullivan writes:
> I uploaded pics of my 4-6-4 Hudson steam engine and tender this afternoon.
Fantastic work Shaun!
You really have created a Master Model. All the small detailing parts makes
it look so good. Good use of the 'string parts' (or what they now are
called) from the Camel set. Beautiful and very inventive cowcatcher of
course. I wish I could see your engine in real life. I must try to make a
copy if you don't mind.
> (3) The drive wheels actually ride on top of the rail, as is the case with
> Ross's design. This provides for the use of some interesting driver wheel
> choices. The driver wheels on each side are geared together with 24-tooth
> gears in order to maintain alignment, and prevent binding with the linkages.
> In order to pull this off, 5 24-tooth gears were needed for each side: one
> attached to each wheel, and then two idler gears. As a further challenge, the
> idler gears had to make use of 1/4 stud offsets to maintain the correct
> spacing. The three driver wheels on each side are furthermore on separate
> axles as the wheels on the other side, so that the two sides can rotate at
> different rates as the train rounds curves.
This must have been a tricky construction problem to get room for all the
wheel mechanism parts. I would have liked to see a picture showing the
underside. What is the width between the wheels?
I have found a website which can be of good use as reference material. It is
Fine Arts Models if you haven't seen it before the URL is:
http://www.fineartmodels.com/models.htm
Once again a very inspiring model
Mattias
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In lugnet.trains, Mattias Martensson writes:
> In lugnet.trains, Shaun Sullivan writes:
>
> > I uploaded pics of my 4-6-4 Hudson steam engine and tender this afternoon.
>
> Fantastic work Shaun!
>
> You really have created a Master Model. All the small detailing parts makes
> it look so good. Good use of the 'string parts' (or what they now are
> called) from the Camel set. Beautiful and very inventive cowcatcher of
> course. I wish I could see your engine in real life. I must try to make a
> copy if you don't mind.
Thanks, Mattias.
> > (3) The drive wheels actually ride on top of the rail, as is the case with
> > Ross's design. This provides for the use of some interesting driver wheel
> > choices. The driver wheels on each side are geared together with 24-tooth
> > gears in order to maintain alignment, and prevent binding with the linkages.
> > In order to pull this off, 5 24-tooth gears were needed for each side: one
> > attached to each wheel, and then two idler gears. As a further challenge,
> > the idler gears had to make use of 1/4 stud offsets to maintain the correct
> > spacing. The three driver wheels on each side are furthermore on separate
> > axles as the wheels on the other side, so that the two sides can rotate at
> > different rates as the train rounds curves.
>
> This must have been a tricky construction problem to get room for all the
> wheel mechanism parts. I would have liked to see a picture showing the
> underside. What is the width between the wheels?
I'll try and take some pictures within the next week or so. Sadly,
everything's been tucked in neat little boxes for the past two weeks, since we
just moved into a new house and the setup of the LEGO room (yay!) is considered
one of the lowest priorities (boo!).
> I have found a website which can be of good use as reference material. It is
> Fine Arts Models if you haven't seen it before the URL is:
>
> http://www.fineartmodels.com/models.htm
Great pictures! Thanks again for the comments ...
-s
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