evaluation of the new cylinder cock design from "The Backshop"

[cbrew]

Fellow live steamers,
I had the opportunity to test and evaluate a new cylinder cock design from The Backshop.
Anyone that owns a short-legged steam engine know the issues that come when the cocks are just inches from the rail head, let alone the steam piping.
Mike at The Backshop, redesigned a tried-and-true design with the intent to help with rail head clearance.
I installed the cocks with the piping connected from the back using 45-degree ells to raise the piping up that much higher.
The cocks performed very well. All in all, this is a win for short and long legged locomotives.
Please reach out to Mike directly for product questions and ordering by emailing Mike at highiron@aol.com.

[NP317]

Looks like a good improvement.
RussN

[Bill Shields]

[10KPete]

It seems to me that this universal problem could be better solved by placing the drain ports tangentially to the bottom of the cylinder bore and having the whole valve way above the usual position. This would require a change in the cylinder castings to provide the necessary bosses for the drain ports. Shouldn't be too tough....

Pete @ just thinking...

[Bill Shields]

Putting the valve higher makes it a trap..

Or am i missing something?

[Highiron]

Bill what is it that I'm too busy doing to bother listing them I'm confused

[Bill Shields]

Life and locos. How are you?

[10KPete]

Bill, I'm suggesting that the valve passage in the cylinder be tangential to the bore at the bottom with the valve at the same level. Higher wouldn't work but if the passages could be made "level" with the bottom of the cylinder bore....

I wish I knew how to post a sketch...

Pete

[Bill Shields]

Ah ..well..now that I understand...hydraulically it will work but becomes a casting and manufacturing headache.

Even with innovative clearance designs like offered here, I have learned to carry spares as well as threaded plugs.

In one case (decades ago) the fix was wooden plugs driven into the holes to let me keep running for the day (a derail on a turnout sheared off 3 drain cocks).

Who carries 3 spare drain cocks?

[10 Wheeler Rob]

An easy way to post a sketch is take a picture of it with phone, resize the number of pixles with an app called "resize photo" and just add the photo file to your post.

Rob

[10KPete]

Don't have a fancy phone or the like, but I think Bill has the idea. Yeah, it would have to start with the pattern; adding the necessary bulges and bosses so the appropriate hole could be drilled in each end of the cylinder casting. But I guess tradition will be the way. I admit that such placement would not be 'prototypical', just for models....
Random thoughts...
Pete

[cbrew]

Don't have a fancy phone or the like, but I think Bill has the idea. Yeah, it would have to start with the pattern; adding the necessary bulges and bosses so the appropriate hole could be drilled in each end of the cylinder casting. But I guess tradition will be the way. I admit that such placement would not be 'prototypical', just for models....
Random thoughts...
Pete

nothing wrong with the idea and it has merit, but it is outside the intent of this thread.