Re: C&S #47, an Sn3 C-16 conversion

Posted by John Greenly on Dec 07, 2020; 1:44am
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/C-S-30-a-C-16-conversion-tp15055p16113.html

Hi Jim,

#47's cab is bigger than the folio dimensions,  like the others I've looked at.  It's at least 5' 8" long, and just about 7'  height to the top of the roof peak above the top of the floor.  The rear roof overhang is about 2'6", and that does agree with the folio.  

You know, it seems to me that we should acknowledge that those folios were not made with model builders in mind!  We generally care only about outside dimensions of things, because that's what we build and see.  But what dimensions were of practical interest to the railroad?   Certainly the extreme height to the top of the stack, the total wheelbase and overall lengths would be indispensable for clearance considerations on the road, in engine houses, on turntables, etc.   The folio's cylinder dimensions, 15x18", are obviously inside dimensions, that's what the railroad needed to know for performance calculations.    Likewise, the basic spec for the boiler given to the builder would likely be the actual boiler diameter, not the outside of the lagging, and that bare diameter does appear to be what's indicated on the folio drawings.  Similarly, it seems to me that cab inside dimensions would be of practical interest in thinking about how things fit in there.  

NOTE ADDED:  see the posts below.  Measurements show that the 4-panel wood cabs in the 1890's-early 1900's time frame did have outside dimensions like the folios.  --John

Anyway,   I can say that based on this photo your model's cab is probably about right, if anything a bit too short.  And absolutely not 5' 2.5" as per the folio.

Cheers,
John