The 2-6-6-2 has arrived … having been under reconstruction since 2008! The sound system needs some programming/tuning and there are still things like details and decals to add, but it’s still something you don’t see every day!
Matthew (OV)
(Incidentally, anyone who knows how to get the above to embed, please feel free.)
Heck of a smack on that spray water bottle. NEVER lean out the cab window when obstructions may be present!
Nice articulation.
TOC
Any pictures of the mods? I love watching my 2-6-6-2 run!
Once I get everything together, I’m going to do a whole big writeup … photos, videos, etc. I’ve kept everything, all along the way…
As to the spray bottle, yeah … gotta watch those close clearances!
Joe,
That’s a nice video.
Not a fan of prototypical chuff rates, but sounds good none the less… and a pretty cool run.
Well, the above should link you to the other video. I pasted exactly what Joe’s post shows, and it’s still not working for me. This one’s a trackside view.
I’m convinced it’s me … but I still don’t know how to fix it.
Matthew (OV)
Oh, and JD, somehow I managed to delete this from the above … one of the things that needs to be reprogrammed on the Phoenix is that the chuff doubler is apparently accidentally on. This gives me TWICE the prototypical chuff rate, at 8 beats per revolution of the wheel. This function was designed to make geared engines, notably the Bachmann Shay with single chuff triggers on each cylinder give you the prototypical 6 beats per revolution without adding more triggers. Somehow, in transit, the Phoenix “forgot” several of its settings, and this was among them.
I have a Phoenix programmer, but it’s outlived the computer that supported it; I’ll have a new one shortly that will work with my current machine. This will allow me to turn the doubler OFF, and dial in several other functions like the turbo, the brakes, etc so that the engine will do what I want it to, and when. I can also shut off the auto-whistles which have managed to turn themselves on. (I have another engine with Phoenix that has done this in the past… I guess once they get here and “settle in” it doesn’t happen as much! 
)
So, at some point, the noise you hear will make sense with the valve action you see.
One other interesting feature … BOTH the front and rear engines have chuff triggers on them. As this is a compound mallet, normally you’d only hear the standard four beats per revolution like any other steam locomotive, as the rear exhaust goes to the front intakes, and not up the stack … but just like the prototype, there’s a means to “simple” the engine in case of a mechanical problem or certain other situations … and once the doubled beat is fixed, when I turn on the “simple” funtion, you’ll be able to hear the phase in/phase out of the dual exhausts.
Also note that in addition to the cab and tender, the big change on this engine is the articulation … the motor on the front engine assembly has been moved to the back of the truck, the rear engine is fixed in place, and the front engine has a sliding mechanism up front. This does away with some of the capability to take tight curves, but mine are plenty large, and I really like the new geometry. The eccentric rods are also newly fabricated, and the connection to the sliding link (common to Walshaerts gear) is adjusted to make the movement of the link more equal and vertical than the original design… there was a lot of discussion about this back when the engine was released, and having read it, I decided to see what could be done to make it happen.
I should note also that all of this is way beyond my modelling and machining skills … but I know a guy … and while he doesn’t really want to be spotlighted in all of this, it’s worth noting that none of this would have been possible without him.
Matthew (OV)
Well, even if he doesn’t want to be spotlighted, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind having his work shown off… how about some nice pictures to go with teh videos?
Count on it! Work is crazy lately… but we’ll have photos ASAP, and eventually a before, process, after article.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/uUxt4V0pM8Y[/youtube]
Just an FYI…under the right side of the video is a line with “About”, “Share” and “Add To”, if you click on the share it’ll bring up the code to use to embed the video…[ youtube ] xxx code xxx [ /youtube ]
Thanks Ken. I actually know about that, but for whatever reason, when I do that all I get is a big blank space. I believe it has to do with the fact that You Tube uses two different formats of “share” addresses, and I’m not sure how to convert from one to the other. Thanks for helping!
Matthew (OV)
Matt,
I didn’t read enough to see this was yours, but I thought it sure looked like your work. Thanks to Joe and Ken for posting and you for providing. That layout is so cool.
In the video I liked when the headlight was lighting the way and you could see the shadows of the loco on the canyon walls. pretty cool.
I’m not a bad project manager … but the heavy lifting on this project depended on people like my expert, who figured out how to do all the things I wanted to do, including the re-hinging of the front engine and locking up of the rear one, splicing the new cab and working out the draft gear … and the power system … another favorite machinist who made things like the new eccentric rods and the custom trailing truck. While I bought the engine shortly after the initial press and reviews hit the web, it never actually saw its home rails for nearly five years as these and other issues were worked out. My end was primarily research and design, and engineering collaboration…
It’s amazing how much has changed both on the engine and on its home railroad in that time!
I like the headlight too … one of the side perks of the conversion. I had considered moving it from the top of the boiler down to the top of the sand box, so that as we went around curves, the headlight would be more in line with the direction of travel … but it would have required a lot of mod work for a minimal functional change.
The lighting in the canyon with the silhouette of the train on the walls is one of my more favorite effects … there’s another spot where it appears on the wall, too. I’m really looking forward to having enough scenery done to do a better looking runby … and it occurs to me that a “Parade of Power” might someday be in order.