Re: T-12 Cylinder Cant

Kelly Anderson Wrote:
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> Photos of #168 show that the cylinder block is
> level. After the very early days of steam
> locomotives, canted cylinders were quite rare,
> usually limited to the low pressure cylinders of
> mallet locomotives to gain ground clearance.
> Canted cylinders are way more difficult and
> expensive to make and set up, so were to be
> avoided.
>
> Also, canted cylinders cause to engine to "walk"
> more severely under heavy load, by adding more
> downward thrust to the main driver on the back
> stroke (and unloading the other than main drivers
> at the same time).
>
> I would speculate that the drawing you included
> was drawn in error, unless the T-12's were built
> that way. In that case, Rio Grande replaced them
> (and possibly the frames as well?) whenever heavy
> work was done.

Thanks, Kelly. I've pored over all the photos I have of #168, can't discern a cant in any of them. I'm going to get a chance to inspect and photograph the locomotive soon, and that's on my punch list. Not including such would greatly reduce the complexity of the build for a newbie like me. Here's the frame outline I have currently posited, was really struggling with how to lay out a single cylinder block/boiler saddle that accommodated such...