Elesco pump drawings

This forum is dedicated to the Live Steam Hobbyist Community.

Moderators: cbrew, Harold_V

User avatar
Bill Shields
Posts: 10460
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2007 4:57 am
Location: 39.367, -75.765
Contact:

Re: Elesco pump drawings

Post by Bill Shields »

A lot of work..

Not to be the wet towel...

Just getting it to run off the assembly table and then stay running are very big challenges.

How many people would want to pay $3000 or more for a pump?

What did Moe's charge for their compound pump? -> very few of which remained running for very long.
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
amadlinger
Posts: 174
Joined: Sat Jun 23, 2007 8:18 pm
Location: Central NJ

Re: Elesco pump drawings

Post by amadlinger »

Hi Bill,

That's all part of the fun for me, and part of what makes this hobby great: we get to experience the entire spectrum of what steam locomotives were about. Their design nuances, all the work (fun) to build them, and all the work (fun) to maintain them. Running them on the track is just a small fraction of the enjoyment for me, albeit the rewarding payoff/icing on the cake part.

Sincerely,
Adam
User avatar
Bill Shields
Posts: 10460
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2007 4:57 am
Location: 39.367, -75.765
Contact:

Re: Elesco pump drawings

Post by Bill Shields »

I completely agree with you about the fun...but very few people understand or appreciate the effort that must go into a project like this...let alone appreciate the $ of building a running model in small scale.

I have had people ask how I can justify $500 for a small BvB pump.

Unfortunately, my usual answer is "you build one for $500".

Yes .you probably can...but if someone is going to build to sell. Stand back. Stay tuned...

My standard comment is "everything is easy for the person who does not have to do it themselves".

There is a very good reason why we generally speaking do not see these pumps on the market for sale.
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
Berkman
Posts: 679
Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2017 7:55 pm

Re: Elesco pump drawings

Post by Berkman »

It still seems like the approachable way to build one would be to use the internals from a keim or BVB style pump then essentially make a body that looks a bit more like the elesco.
User avatar
Bill Shields
Posts: 10460
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2007 4:57 am
Location: 39.367, -75.765
Contact:

Re: Elesco pump drawings

Post by Bill Shields »

Nah...not realistic. Elesco valves are internally driven with a shuttle on top of each piston.

BvB pumps generally have side mounted slide valves for steam and ball checks on the front or back of the water end.

There are a couple of BvB models with top valves but they look nothing like an elesco..

Have you noticed that the BvB pumps are all simple and the elesco is compound?

Compound pumps tend to sieze up when running at low pressures because the low pressure steam end tries to run on water...

If you want something that looks like an elesco then the best bet is to get someone to make you a set of dummy castings.
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
amadlinger
Posts: 174
Joined: Sat Jun 23, 2007 8:18 pm
Location: Central NJ

Re: Elesco pump drawings

Post by amadlinger »

Hi Bill,

The Elesco CF-1 is actually not compound, in fact the two sides are completely independent and the equivalent of two separate pumps next to each other, just in the same body. This was an advertised design feature for Elesco, for reliability purposes: if one side stalls, the other side is unaffected. Their other advertised feature was using the top works (steam valve) from Westinghouse single lung pumps for ease of maintenance.

They did offer a version where the two sides were connected for purposes of the steam valve (akin to the BvB design but done with shuttle valves instead of mechanical linkage) but again they were two simplex pumps, not a compound.

Having built and rebuilt a few BvB pumps over the years, I absolutely agree with you that pumps are wayyyyy more complicated than some folks realize, which makes what Brian Keim and other pump guys in the hobby (such as yourself) have done even more impressive in my book.

Sincerely,
Adam
JohnHudak
Posts: 1140
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 2:18 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: Elesco pump drawings

Post by JohnHudak »

Looks to me like two single cylinder pumps acting independently from each other would work packed side by side in a casting that has the look of an Elesco?
Berkman
Posts: 679
Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2017 7:55 pm

Re: Elesco pump drawings

Post by Berkman »

isn't that basically what Keim's duplex pump is ?
User avatar
Bill Shields
Posts: 10460
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2007 4:57 am
Location: 39.367, -75.765
Contact:

Re: Elesco pump drawings

Post by Bill Shields »

Kevin's duplex is a twin pump...left side drives right...right drives left.

Did not realize elesco was just two independent pumps sharing a common casting...ah well that makes it doubly annoying to build.. since each pump can stall independent of the other
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
JohnHudak
Posts: 1140
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 2:18 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: Elesco pump drawings

Post by JohnHudak »

Berkman wrote: Tue Mar 08, 2022 9:19 am isn't that basically what Keim's duplex pump is ?
I didn’t know Brian offered anything that looked like an Elesco?
Berkman
Posts: 679
Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2017 7:55 pm

Re: Elesco pump drawings

Post by Berkman »

I think his is loosely based on it. But I meant the internals with two independent pumps sharing a common body. But perhaps I'm wrong.
User avatar
Bill Shields
Posts: 10460
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2007 4:57 am
Location: 39.367, -75.765
Contact:

Re: Elesco pump drawings

Post by Bill Shields »

Most of his pumps appear to be derivatives of BvB designs...some of which are devived from British designs
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
Post Reply