The Road Locomotive

SteveHarlow

Howdy.

I started makin' this stupid thing to get used to blender 2.8 by force, and it's sort of grown wildly out of hand already.

I found this image of a traction engine with full independent suspension, albiet primitive swing arm based on the camber of the rear wheel. And that got my mind jogging on what a 'modern' traction engine would look like had they continued development up through the 60's.

This is the blockout so far, plus the finished hub. 13-1/2' high, and 10' wide, which is the maximum height for semi trucks in the US, allowing for road use. (though i suspect the axle load will be wildly over allowance) I've taken little more from the initial image than the four wheel independent suspension and frame shape itself. Everything else is just me with my thinking cap on.

Here's the nearly finished hub/wheel and the silly amount of rigging i had to do just for the blockout alone. But hey, it's got ideal suspension geometry with zero bump steer. Most cars today can't make that claim. Shove those McPherson struts where the sun don't shine.

https://youtu.be/NsN_gPwlAYw

I'm starting with the drivline as everything else revolve around it, particularly the two symmetrical suspension/diff subframes. Everything will be as 'modern' steam, such as long stroke piston valves, compounded engine, belpaire firebox, superheated steam all appliances, feedwater heater, a gas producing combustion system, lempor exhaust and so on.

Everything's also being built with the tech and methods available and used circa 1959, as that was the year that the last fires were dropped for steam in the US. Which has left me dreaming of all sorts of glitzy marketing names for all the parts, from that wild era where a mundane smallblock chevy was the "All new, All modern Turbo-Fire V8!". So I've settled on the working name of "The HydraFire 10." The largest in the line of All new, All modern, Futuramic Steam power for today's industrial needs.

Oh boy, here we go again.

rexo12

Well this looks absolutely ludicrous, really looking forward to how this comes out. Good luck!

CybranM

Looks like a great start! I've been thinking of learning blender, this pushed me a bit further in that direction haha.
I'm looking forward to seeing where this project goes

SteveHarlow

https://youtu.be/s1A5wVVD0rM

Got the driveshafts figured out. At the most extreme possible angle the bolts do clip a little, but i can't imagine a condition where it would be turning hard under power at full suspension extension unless it was about to roll over, but at that point i imagine some gouged half shafts are the least of one's problems.

Capping the travel to 14" total keeps it from crashing, which is plenty of shimmy for something like this.

Next challenge is to figure out the control arms and how to spring it. I was going to put two damper coils between each wishbone on either side of the driveshaft, taking the place of shock aborbers. But that leaves still less room for the leaf packs, compounding the limit imposed by the firebox on the rear.

I certainly want the damper coils, as even industrial kit was getting cushy by the late 50's, but that's the only spot i can imagine putting the leaf packs right now.

Not sure.

SteveHarlow

Been plugging away with other projects recently, but i went and cranked out the boiler and most of it's bits and bobs.

Ain't gonna do the insides, so no gussets, dry pipe etc.

It's got circulators, Porta's GPCS overfire vents, superheater company superheater and a hancock 3 chime on there. Still some junk to polish off but it's basically there. Next I gotta do the turret, injector/check valve, throttle rod and the math for the Lempor ejector, which is just all kinds of fun.