P2 Locomotive Company and related matters

Certainly seems to be coming together faster than Tornado. Speaking of which '163 set the precedent, so no doubt more folk were prepared to put up the cash for the next loco the A1 Boys suggested.

To be honest and I've said as much to their sales team when they've been to an NYMR Gala; I was sceptical about the project. As how many times through the seventies and eighties did various "groups" pop up saying we're going to build an..............[insert your favorite extinct engine] don't worry we've got all the plans etc, etc, etc. Only to almost as quickly disappear into the ether again, after having a few features here and there in the magazines. Case in point in more recent times being the group who announced, at the same time as the announcement that London had "won" the 2012 Olympics that they were going to build a North Eastern [LNER Class] C7 Altantic and it would up and running in time for the said London 2012 Olympics. Here we are 4 years on and no Atlantic.......

 

Nice to see the P2 get it's face the rate of progress is rather astonishing, reminds me of the saying 'miracles we can achieve, the impossible takes a little longer'

 

God, that is one sexy machine.

 

Indeed it is
Pity that this form isn't particularly effective as a 'Smoke deflector'. Modifications have been suggested earlier in the thread, wonder if any will be taken up....

 

No problems deflecting the exhaust with the sharper blast of poppet valves. It was the piston valve variants that had the drifting exhaust problems.

 

Or perhaps the sharper exhaust simply didn't require Smoke deflectors and therefore they were/ are very much for show...Don't we have Mr Bulleid to thank for this striking Visage - Seem to remember that his reputation as a designer of effective smoke deflectors was less than impressive.
One of the unresolved issues concerning this Locomotive is how to manage the 'too sharp' exhaust of the originals but I do believe that the chosen valve gear, allows some scope here... as do the dimensions of the Kylchap.
Softening the blast however...

 

IIRC the problem with the exhaust was not the overall sharpness of the blast but having to have stepped cams so the loco would often be worked on a longer cut off than required.

 

Indeed. Must have been tricky to drive on the Heavy trains it was designed for - too short and the momentum is lost, - too long and the fire starts to fly up the chimney.

 

Is it possible yet to 3D print steam loco parts? Most things seem printable now, including human organs! 3D isn't getting much publicity so far but, a quiet revolution may be under way in manufacturing in general. Perhaps whole new build locos will become possible, it would cut the time taken by years. Existing engineering companies won't suffer, if they take it up themselves. In the future, it may be that those who don't will be left behind. Replacing parts on existing locos as well.

 

Indeed this is done in the aero industry but the kit to do it costs millions.

Dave

 

I think - BICBW - that someone is doing an inverse of this process, in that they are 3-D printing the moulds for castings. One of the new builds, I'm sure...

Ah - here we go, it's Hengist!
https://www.theclanproject.org/news/200-exhaust-steam-spider-mould

 

It would be very, very cool to do 3-d printed locomotive models that you can assemble. It would be educational for kids interested into railways.

 

Presumably they'd paint all the numbered parts prior to assembly, and then find a huge tube of polystyrene cement...

 

A pity that Dapol moved away from Llangollen, otherwise the Patriot and 4709 would be long-since finished; quick jog up the road, ask for a 1:1 scale crank axle, or boiler/firebox/smokebox (left hand side), or a replacement Part 32A because you've lost one in the carpet in the machine shop...

Imagine if people started kit-bashing GWR locomotives, though.

 

It would be a type of educational model you can take apart and re-assemble. Maybe also include a book of information about the particular loco the model represents.
However, it depends on the scale the model is. (Maybe close to 1/350 or 1/72?)

 

Struck me the other day that the P2 doesn't have Oval Buffers... shouldn't it have had them on account of its length...?

 

No, the original P2 s didn't

 

Is this a silly question? But why do some loco's have oval buffers and some circular? Or square if you count 68's?

 

Although it was a large design, I gather there's a comparatively short overbite from the front end in this case so maybe not necessary?

 

It's to avoid buffer locking on sharp curves. A Pacific with a long overhang in front of the driving wheels such as a Duchess has a big throw over of curves hence the oval buffers. A more compact designs such as a Southern Bulleid doesn't need them. The P2 only has a pony truck ahead of the driving wheels