What was the most beautiful?

No, they predated the use of quill drives in the US.

Yes, and they were acknowleged as being hard on the track

Reply to
Mark Newton
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Hi All

Also Shays, Climaxes and heislers.

I have a Spectrum On30 Shay with no markings

My Website:

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Reply to
Anthony

I agree with that. I sure can't call them 'pretty', but I consider them among the most impressive locos, especiallyin their time frame. For some reason, I've always liked large locos with LOTS of small wheels. Nothing meets that description better than a MILW Bipolar.

In steam, A VGN AE 2-10+10-2 comes close. Ugly, but impressive and effective!

For better looking but still impressive steamers, I'd pick a GN R2

2-8+8-2, or a PRR Q2 4-4-6-4. The Q2's were 'slighly streamlined', but not excessively so. Iron range 'Yellowstones' and B&O EM-1's were good looking too.

I've never cared much for highly streamlined steam locos. The PRR T-1 and N&W "J" were about the best of that lot, IMHO.

Cab-forwards are NEAT, but I don't consider them 'good' looking.

It's all VERY subjective!

Dan Mitchell ============

Reply to
Daniel A. Mitchell

An R2, Yes. An M2 or N3, No. I like 'em all, but pretty the "M" & "N" were NOT, regardless of paint scheme. The older "L's looked decent though.

Dan Mitchell ============

Reply to
Daniel A. Mitchell

Yes, the Bipolars had a LOT of unsprung weight, and were hard on the track. They also tracked poorly at high speeds. They were designed for high flexibility on sharp curves at moderate speeds. They were designed for the hilly and curvy 'coast' division in the Cascade mountains of Washington state. There, they were superb. When that operation was de-electrified, they were sent back to the flatter and faster-running Rocky Mountain division where they were less successful. Still, they lasted nearly to the end of the MILW electrification.

There were only five of the MILW version built, by GE, and one survives, at the RR museum in St, Louis. Sadly, in a fit of incredibly bad taste, the MILW shop forces 'streamlined' them in their later years. This destroyed much of these loco's unique 'character'. They were never 'pretty', but were VERY impressive, as built. After the conversion, they were mis-shapen and ugly.

As stated, they were gearless, with the armatures (many poles) mounted on the axles. The entire armature moved up and down between the two fixed FIELD poles. Each huge field pole (except the endmost ones) served two adjacent axles, with a 'pole' on each side (hence "bi-polar"). The faces of the field poles were parallel and flat, not curved as in most normal electric motors. Thus the field pole 'gap' (in which the armature sat) had a constant width (vertically), allowing the armature to move freely up and down inside (following track irregularities).

It was all VERY simple, no gears, no 'quills', and very effective.

In addition to the MILW bipolars (1-B+D+D+B-1) the smaller NYC "S" class electrics (2-D-2) were also bipolars. These were VERY successful, and long lived. I think there may have been a few others as well, perhaps overseas.

Dan Mitchell ============

Reply to
Daniel A. Mitchell

http://205.214.89.196/discus/messages/5/96.html?1096684291http://205.214.89.196/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi?pg=next&topic=4&page=216

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Reply to
me

GS-4:

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LNER Class A-4 4-6-2

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Reply to
me

Well, if we're going to talk traction, some of the very early trolleys, and even the earlier horsecars, had woodwork and paint to drool ovr :-).

Reply to
Larry Blanchard

OK, so there are two "field" poles, but how many "armature" poles?

We modellers think in terms of the number of armature poles 3, 5, 7, 9 etc. (notice the odd numbers) A motor with two field poles and two armature poles tends to lock every 180 degrees.

Reply to
Gregory Procter

Americans

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N&W 2-8-8-2

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D&RGW C-16

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RGS #20
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V&T # 26
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V&T # 27
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Reply to
me

Their speed of service would be the more important factor! After all, a cast iron hot air balloon is going to remain servicable much longer than one constructed from fabric!

Reply to
Gregory Procter

MT class 4-8-2

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AC-7
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more cab forwards
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Reply to
me

No idea, none of the literature I have on them mentions it.

Obviously the armatures had more than two poles, since there is no mention of them behaving in this manner.

Reply to
Mark Newton

GE reckoned that they were capable of 90mph, but the Milwaukee limited them in service to 60mph.

They were intended for service on the steeply-graded, sharply-curved Coast Division, where high speed was not the primary requirement.

Reply to
Mark Newton

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Reply to
me

Pennsy L-1s

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me

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me

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Reply to
me

Man, you've really got links!

thanks for those - they are brilliant

Steve

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Reply to
mindesign

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