2-8-2 - THE BUILD

[doctorwayne]

OK...I got the mounting pin all right, but the side opposite the hose seems to be something like a housing of sorts.

If you mean the pointy bit at the left, I suspect it would be, on the real one, an adjusting mechanism: the input pressure has to be great enough to overcome the pressure in the boiler. I don’t have my reference books at hand, so am unsure.

An injector will have several pipes connected to it: a water pipe from the tender, a water pipe to the check valve, an overflow pipe (usually to the track), a steam line (from the turret), and an operating rod(s) (to the cab).

Wayne

[Sumpter250]

The object in your photo, a boiler check valve, mounts to the boiler, with the pipe pointing down. That pipe runs to the output of the injector.
As DrWayne stated, "If the attached pipe is too short, the easiest way to lengthen it is to remove it completely, then drill the valve’s input end to accept a suitably-sized wire." the other end of that wire attaches to the injector.
In this picture of my 2-4-2 project, you can see the boiler check valve above the #1 driver. The pipe runs from it back to the cab, to the injector on the fireman's side. There is an identical valve, and injector on the engineer's side.
Also notice that the water pipe to the check valve, makes a 90 degree bend up, into the bottom of the valve.
   

The lifting injector, has 4 connections. 1. top, steam. 2. front, water to boiler. 3, and 4. bottom, the pipe at the bottom front is the overflow ( and goes straight down almost to the height of the rail head ), the bottom rear, is the water supply from the tender. The upper rear of the injector ( straight back from the water outlet ) is the operating valve.
On the check valve, the small pointy thing,on top, in line with the input pipe, is an adjustment screw, that balances the force of the water, to the boiler pressure. ( it's the inertia of the moving water that actually opens the check valve, the boiler pressure is the same as the steam pressure that gets the water moving )

[Steamtrains]

OK....Just to clarify...This is my set-up...

On the fireman's side of boiler
1. CW from tender to CW pump-steam provided to pump from turret
2. CW from pump to FWH (hidden in cladding)
3. HW from FWH to HW pump
4. HW to boiler via top mounted check valve


On Engineer's side...
1. Side mounted injector-steam provided from turret
2. Injector brings CW from tender
3. CW injected to boiler via side mounted check valve

It's this last check valve that is at issue here. As I understand Dr. Wayne's & Sumpter's explanations, the housing opposite the intake hose on the top mounted check valve contains the pressure regulating mechanism...So no water feed possible there. This would be the case as well for the side mounted CV. So aren't the two check valves the same..?? Which was my initial question....

[Steamtrains]

A couple of pics to illustrate the above....

[doctorwayne]

The pressure regulator on a top-mounted check valve is usually to the front or rear of the valve. Where the top-mounted check valve is a single feed, the side opposite the supply pipe would be plain. A top-mounted valve looks somewhat different from a side-mounted type. Below is a dual-feed top mounted valve, with both sides fed by lifting injectors:





Side-mounted check valves could be fed vertically, as Pete mentioned, or horizontally,as shown below:


Here’s an Elesco fwh-equipped loco with the hot water fed to the boiler via a side-mounted check valve:




Wayne

[Steamtrains]

Gotta love those locos.....

Being a newbie to this aspect of the hobby and not familiar with the hardware, I guess the question I need an answer to is whether the check valve I have is a dual-feed, or just a single feed.

[Steamtrains]

Progress....After being held up waiting on the FINAL (I hope....) lot of pieces and paint, I got down to do some serious work....

Here's a quick view of what I've been up to....

[Steamtrains]

So' more...

That's all folks....

Just gotta do the other sand pipes, and the overflow from the injector. This last one won't be placed until the final assembly stage (after painting), as I'm sure I'd be knocking it off with all the handling going on....

P.D. - Hope you don't notice the pic sequence is backasswards.... :oops:

[Steamtrains]

I'm in the process of installing the handrails that go up from the cowcatcher to the boiler, but have noticed on some of my other locos that this handrail is of a "heftier" gauge than that used on the side-mounted handrails. My question is...Are these front-mounted handrails in fact handrails, or is their function more structural than mere convenience. I'm thinking they may serve as supports for the cowcatcher, and used as handrails in the bargain.

I'd like some input on this before I go shooting myself in the foot....

[cn nutbar]

Hello Gus---great work on your locomotive so far,it's going to be a beauty when you're finished.Here's a front end shot of a Canadian National Mike.As well as the handrails,there are also a couple of bars from the bottom of the smokebox to the pilot deck---I'm not sure if they were for additional support---hopefully someone else has an explanation



Here's another shot---this is a locomotive that Doctor Wayne custom built .As you can see,it has the same features as the Mike

[Steamtrains]

Thanks for the info....and the drooling fit that ensued....
I've often remarked that Doc Wayne's locos have what seems to be a cast line/number plate hanging off the headlight bracket - and I believe I've also seen builder's plates as well....How in Heaven's name does he do this..??

[doctorwayne]

The heavier "handrails" are actually smokebox braces (as seen in the 6th and 7th photos down), although I'm unsure whether they're actually bracing the smokebox or the pilot.

The number plates used on many of Mister Nutbar's Canadian National locomotives are discussed HERE, while photo-etched builders' plates are available from Precision Scale.

Wayne

[Steamtrains]

Well...It's been sometime since the last update...but now...

...THIS BABY IS READY FOR PAINTING...!!!

So..here's the last pics before she comes back in all her steamin' glory..!!



Sorry...left off the cowcatcher...But that'll be a surprise for when she's all assembled....







Just ONE last question....How much pre-assembly should be done before painting, and what should be left for post-painting assembly..?? I'm particularly concerned with the handrails & posts. Of course, the frame/drivers will be painted separately.

BTW...The tender shown was picked off eBay, and will be painted and lettered for the LC&P. I decided to use a short tender instead of the kit's long-haul one. There aren't any "long hauls" on my RR....

[doctorwayne]

Are you spraying (aerosol cans), airbrushing, or brush-painting? I like to combine airbrushing with brush painting, and can post my procedure for painting steam locos if you're interested. It's not the only way to do it, of course, but it works for me.

Wayne

[Steamtrains]

Hi Doc...

I'll be airbrushing it. I've got Floquil's Engine Black and Weathered Black, and I'll be using pastels for rusting and 'highlights". At least, that's the plan...
So go ahead and post your method....

What about the pre-assembly end of things..??