While I am waiting for various parts and the 2-10-2 to arrive and the difficulties with fixing a 2nd run Bachmann 4-8-4 I decided to use the last Bachmann 4-8-4 shell to kitbash a Santa Fe 4-6-4 Hudson. So you take one Bachmann 4-8-4 Northern shell and shorten it. Okay you need to do some other things but this will get you in the ballpark. The first picture shows the starting point - intact shell. The others show that I've made the first cuts and started tidying them up. Yes the shell is in 2 pieces and will be cut again before it's all glued back together. The mechanism will be done a bit later The next pictures show the cuts
I have now shortened the front of the boiler, as you can see it's now in 3 pieces. The appliances are wrong and will need to be corrected but that's about a week or so away and I'll have to get some parts so that takes a bit of time.
Probably my own custom one. Since it's ATSF and the drivers were 84 inches, the closest size is the Kato FEF-3. Not sure if they will fit a Bachmann Hudson. So probably a custom brass split frame mechanism. I should mention that the Bachmann Hudson has 73 inch drivers and the Kato FEF-3 has 78 inch drivers. I don't have any myself but others have posted the driver sizes.
I've now joined all 3 sections so the shell has basically correct dimensions. I do have scale diagrams from the Steam Locomotives of the Santa Fe a former shopmans scrapbook, so I've kind of gone overboard on Santa Fe Steam!! You can also see where I got carried away filing and wasn't paying enough attention to what I was doing. I'll be filling that gap. I thought you guys would appreciate a warts and all build. They have a motto at work "adapt and overcome". So that's my modelling philosophy.
Getting less sausage like Shot some primer over it to see where I needed to sand. Still quite a few high spots and some dips.
Are the large lines from the steam dome back toward the cab used to feed a single-pass super-heater? Most locomotive super-heaters I have seen pass saturated steam forward through the main steam pipe(s) inside the boiler, to a header in the smokebox. From there, the saturated steam is then sent through U shaped steam pipes inside enlarged flue pipes, back to the firebox and forward again, for two passes through the flue pipes to superheat the steam (adding more heat energy to the steam). See https://straction.wordpress.com/how-the-steam-engine-of-the-locomotive-works/ Maybe with such a long boiler, a single pass through enlarged flue pipes for the super-heater was enough?
The large pipes are prototypical for Santa Fe Prototype I don't know enough about the Super Heaters to answer your question, hopefully another Santa Fe modeller can answer your questions.
You would think it would be easy to find a short, definitive answer to what those large pipes (they call them "dry pipes") are for but I haven't been able to. I don't know if they are merely to supply the turret with steam or have something to do with superheating or what. Some Santa Fe expert HAS to know. Doug
The books I have don't say much about the pipes. The only thing I have read is that the pipes carry saturated steam from the box in front of the cab to the dome. Why - now that is a good question.
Before I go and add all the details and smooth the boiler out, I thought I'd mockup a mechanism. This is not the mechanism I will use but it will act as a guide for the brass one I will make. I've fitted the front and rear trucks to check length.
Hmmm... The steam dome's purpose is to collect steam from the highest point in the boiler, ensuring that, at any grade, boiler water will not enter the steam pipes. So, the steam dome is the source from where all steam is distributed. I suppose there are some cases where superheated steam could be recycled after it is used (cooled and/or expanded), but it would have to be injected (pumped) back into the steam dome/boiler.
As for those steam pipes, did this class have a booster on the rear truck? If it did, then these may be the feed to the booster throttle as it is only used while starting the train.
