Locomotive stand design

[RET]

Hi,

If you want to find the center of gravity for your locomotive, the easy way is to tip it over so it balances perfectly on one rail. Make sure you have sufficient leverage so you can control the locomotive. When it is in the balance position, a vertical line will go through the locomotive center of gravity. Tip it to the other side to get a second line. Where the two lines cross is the height of the center of gravity. If you are planning to use the stand for more than one locomotive, check the CG. height on each one. Because the heights will likely be different, you may have to take the average height.

I would also suggest that you do this tipping process fairly close to the floor in case the locomotive gets away from you. Small locomotives are OK, but the bigger ones need careful thought before you do anything.

The spring rigging on some locomotives may be captive, but all of this stuff needs to be checked. Don't assume.

Richard Trounce.

[Glenn Brooks]

Richard, This is a great suggestion. I actually have three locomotives where this would be very handy to know - particularly when transporting and Lifting.

Thanks

Glenn

[RET]

Hi Glenn,

I said "never assume," and then I assumed that everyone would realize that the vertical line is supposed to go through the rail the locomotive is balanced on. While most will probably interpret what i said that way,I am just as guilty of errors as the next guy!

Sorry about that.

Richard Trounce.

[rrtrax4501]

Amos Harting a long gone live steamer from St louis built his engines on a rotisserie type setup that he said he picked up from the English modelers. You might want to look to old model engineer mags.On my little tank 0-4-0 I can tip her up on the pilot beam and a wood spacer to the smoke box, and work on here under sides Small engine are great, try doing that on a 4-8-4

[super7b]

To rotate for building or to maintain a completed loco I use a home made stand as shown in the pictures. The end with the gearbox is bolted to a steel bench (that is plywood lined on the top). The column is hollow box section with a "nut" ie a block of steel that fits inside the hollow section and is threaded through. Fixed to the nut is a length of threaded bar. The top of the column has a cap fitted and a thrust washer and a head fitted to the threaded rod. Fitted to the head is a reversible ratchet spanner.
The loco is then wheeled up to the column and in this case the buffer heads are removed and a bolt passed through each head into a purpose made cross piece, then bolted up tight. At the opposite end of the loco another column, without a gearbox is positioned and bolted to the bench (I have 4 different sets of holes along the bench to suit different lengths) The loco is secured in a similar way.
The two spanners are now operated to raise the loco to the required height. The gearbox is part of a Rotork Actuator with a handle fitted opposite to where the motor would have been. The handle is turned and the loco can be rotated through 360 degs. As it is a worm drive box there is no need for any device to stop it rotating on its own. On a complete loco the C of G becomes apparent, but does not affect the operation. My locos are smaller then those that were mentioned in the original post, but the design can be sized up, mounted on the floor etc., etc. The principle is transferable to almost any size

[Bill Shields]

that is really cool!

as RET said, if you try to do that with a big engine, I would not only be concerned about the stand, but what would happen to the frames, being loaded in a place where they really are not intended to be loaded.

As strong as I make my locos, I would be very skeptical about putting the entire load on the beams and the bolts that secure them.

this would be especially true of a 'built up frame' as opposed to the nice strong plate frame you see here or a similar one-piece we see commonly on this side of the pond.

[Glenn Brooks]

Super7b- great design you show us! This is sort of exactly what I had in mind in the beginning, but hadn't thought out how exactly it might work.

For a larger engine, my loco is 12" ga for example, I think it's a simple matter of building a beefier frame. I use heavy 3" square box tubing for my existing fixed loco engine stand, built with wide box shaped bents at both ends for stability. I think one could build your frame with four legs rather than two - then mount the gear box assembly to raise and lower between two legs, with some kind of vertical lift - either a screw device such as yours, or a small electric winch to raise and lower. This would take care of any frame strength and stability issues that might arise from lifting larger engines.

Way cool idea. Thanks for presenting!

[super7b]

Went for a five mile test run yesterday that was uneventful apart from the need to get to the bottom of the boiler where a stud that helps to retain the grate had decided to fall out. So as an unplanned bit of maintenance the stand came into use again. This loco is almost 48" long over the buffers and weighs in at 342lbs. One the other loco had been removed this was rolled on lifted up and rotated. There was no need to go completely upside own, but I thought why not?

[Kimball McGinley]

Beautiful Job! The worm gear is brilliant. I wonder what US builders could find. A rack and pinion set-up would also not "back-drive" I think?

I am also impressed with your anti-gravity coal!

[super7b]

The anti-gravity coal is a board with coal glued to it and loose coal piled onto top, the loose stuff wasn't the anti-gravity type!!

[Steggy]

The worm gear is brilliant. I wonder what US builders could find. A rack and pinion set-up would also not "back-drive" I think?

Unlike a worm and gear drive with a single-start worm, a rack and pinion drive is reversible. If that weren't the case, any automobile with rack and pinion steering would not straighten out coming out of a curve without the driver putting input into the steering wheel.

[Glenn Brooks]

I found some gear driven electric motors recently in the on-line robotics world. Not sure how big they are, or how expensive it would be to lift and turn say a 1000# loco. But they were advertised as reversible - so could turn in both directions. To bad the mechanical world has faded away so completely here in the US...