Found on the US newsgroup of all places
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Hornby Steam Photos
Sep 15, 2003
7 Replies
Neat! I assume those "organ pipes" are the whistle.
Too bad the front drivers are de-railed.
In message , Rob K writes
Yuck. I thought flangeless driving wheels were a thing of the past. And that third picture seems to show the loco partly off the rails.
odd (but serious) question, why the electric motor ? in case it runs out of steam ??
I don't think it has to run like that John, I think someone didn't look properly when setting up the loco for the picture.
I think you find it is to operate the reverser.
Martin
ahhh yes, thanks for that Martin.
Someone on the US newsgroup was speculating that the motor drove the valve gear. This makes a lot of sense.... speed control is hard to acheive on small scale steam. But, if you have an electric motor with smooth throttle response driving the steam valves... well, it makes sense to me that this could lead to good things and make small scale steam practical.
The photo has the motor driving a worm. One could imagine a single worm wheel drilled with suitable porting....
-dave
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