I remember one of these in my high school days in the early 1970s, in the physics class. How many here remember them as well? How many would like one today, perhaps using it as part of a locomotive course?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=dgQ ... =endscreen

I think they have one of these at the RRMoPA, or one similar to it. It's in the side room with all the children-oriented activities - which, btw is excellent.

I have a 9 year old and a 3 year old with mild autism. Both are girls. They really, really enjoyed that room. So for those of you running museums looking at how to captivate the little ones, take a look at what they've done there.

--
Daniel J. Kelly

I use a sectioned duplex pump that is moveable to show how it works.

Check out this one;

http://www.carters.com.au/index.cfm/ite ... entice-tr/

I saw one of these models once in long hallway in a museum that had an Omni theatre. The hallway was used as the waiting line for the theater, so I had time to look the plaque mounted model over very well. It used 1.5" scale livesteamer castings and parts and had perfect Walschaerts valve gear, and a Johnson bar to control the valve gear. The driver diameter must have been about 6"- 7". The crank handle, that was an extension of the main crank pin, was what you used to turn the engine. The handle had two sealed ball bearings in it, so you could crank it over really fast if you wanted. The model was mounted on a 1" thick stained and urethaned Oak board that measured about 12" x 30". It was really a beautifully built piece

About 6-months later, I contacted the museum's curator, offering to buy it from them. He said he had never seen it and had no idea what I was talking about. It never appeared in the museum again. Someone must have taken it off the wall and made for the door with it.

I should have called them sooner!

EDIT;

It looked much like this one;

http://thierry.stora.free.fr/pics/Basic ... haerts.jpg

Someone was just discussing what might be the 'ultimate' version of this -- the display of C&EI Atlantic 222's running gear in Chicago.

Many railroads had these as training tools. I remember reading a story about one of these (was it a Bulleid design) where the person cranking it suddenly realized he was turning it the wrong way -- and was hushed up : 'keep turning - they'll never notice'. And they didn't!

Found a new photo of a well designed steam locomotive and valve gear demo model, drawn in a CAD program;

http://steamcad.railfan.net/logo5.jpg