Steam engines made with Lego use blind drivers for the same reason as standard Lego curved track has a very tight radius. So it’s neat to see this in the real world.

It'll blow a lot more of people minds when they realize that the taper does most of the work of keeping the train "centered" on the rails and turns the train

this just goes to show you how smart the people who designed and built these wonderful machines were.

It's really astonishing how much _movement_ there is in all that tonnage... quite a fine balance.

That underframe crank action is hypnotic. 🍺🍻

Genuinely it’s amazing how these big things slide along the rails, without the flange (which I always assumed was a part of it) you see how the pressure and force are used. It’s like watching a printing press drive through the mountains, only it’s a deck of cards they are printing. Applause.

I really like these Graphics you used in this video, it added a neat touch to this video Watching these locomotives run around the Museums is really fun, particularly seeing all the contributing parts work to make these mechanical steam powered beasts do the thing they were built to do so long ago is really cool!

I do know that the flangless wheels help locomotives go around the corner But it's always nice hearing you talking about it

This is awesome to see! I bet the men who engineered these trains could only dream of seeing them work this clearly

I love getting to see these locomotives from angles that were not previously filmed on other channels as far as I know. It's what makes your channel stand out from the rest. You also can't replace all the shenanigans with the other guys from the museum.

You should do a camera angle on 42 and 346 that focuses just on the Stephenson valve gear. Watching the eccentrics in action is the coolest part of this video imo.

Wow this channel has come along way Mark. I remember the first video of yours I ever watched was the original ES&D ep. 2 at premiere. Thank you for the hours of entertainment.

I think a lot of people who don’t pay attention to railway architecture and design don’t realize that there is more than what visible to outside, especially when it comes to value gear and wheel alignments. Thanks for showing us more in depth 🙏 Edit: I was confused about blind drivers when I first heard about them on the BR 9Fs 2-10-0s

I could watch steam locomotive driving mechanics spinning all day while learning about the locomotives in deep detail. Something satisfying and something educational. Loving these videos where we go into the wheels

Love the graphics that you added, it really helps clarify what is actually happening. Watching the eccentrics and the blind drivers is hypnotic. What a cool shot. Please keep the wonderful content coming!

i initially thought the graphic of the wheel indicator was some sort of artefact, or covering up some sort of metadata imposed on the video itself...... then i realized they were changing color along with each shot, along with you saying which wheel it was, and now it feels very clever

It's a common design feature on model locomotives as well, whether or not the actual prototype had them. The idea being to get through the tighter radius curves typically found in train sets and smaller layouts. A lot of newer models don't do this in effort to be more prototypical, but the tradeoff is in practicality, as they need wider curves and long smooth switches to operate properly.

Absolutely bloody fascinating. I once thought that there was something wrong with me for being interested in how the slippy dippy iron wheels ran on raised iron tracks, but seeing these videos I now know that I'm not the only one who has wondered how the wheels stayed on the tracks. Many thanks for your time in filming these beautiful beasts so that people like me can be like little boys once more.

The graphics upgrade with your channel is super super cool. I hope you keep the MSPaint for the 101s, but for more cleaned-up videos like this, it is awesome. Edit: That said, I haven't seen you do a 101 with the new editing. Maybe I don't know I want it.

Hyce....i gotta say bud. Every single video you get amaze me with how well you descibe, animate, and film the context and content. This is really fantastic stuff for train nerds. I love literally everything you do. Please never stop!

Hello my fellow hairy men

The physics is the same as that of a common belt sander. The sanders have rollers at each end that are crowned (larger diameter towards the center). It may be counterintuitive to some, but this is what causes the belt to stay centered. If the belt gets off center, the nature of the roller shape causes the belt to self-center. The same occurs with crowned pulleys and flat belts used in older machinery. For the regular flanged railroad wheels, the treads are tapered so that the two wheels work in tandem to produce a somewhat similar result. If the wheel set gets too off center, a larger diameter of one wheel will contact and a smaller diameter of the other wheel and this causes the wheel set to center. Theoretically, with good enough track, you wouldn't need flanges at all. And the taper of the wheel treads also helps provide a sort of "differential" effect on curves where the wheel set will shift so a larger diameter on the outer wheel and a smaller diameter on the inner wheel make contact to prevent either wheel from skidding on the rail.

Great view of the Stephenson valve gear in action. A real push rod engine!

I know nothing about trains and this is the most insane thing I learned about trains ever. Those blind sets freak me out..... Good video

Loving how your content is evolving! Graphics are crisp and narration is way smoother. Gotta say my favorite part of this was getting to see that valve gear in motion!

I've loved steam locomotives since I was a toddler. You are living my childhood dream, thank you so much for sharing your world. I've always wondered how these beautiful pieces of engineering genius worked from the boiler right down to the wheels. Great video!

I'd never thought 20 would have a blind driver being a smaller locomotive so it's neat to see how it works. Also love the evolution of the graphics and editing :)

In Newhalem, WA on the upper Skagit River, you can see “Old Number 6,” a 1928 Baldwin 2-6-2 that was used there until 1956 (later had a brief career on an excursion railroad which went bust). The center 30” drivers are “blind drivers” because they found the engine was binding on the sharp “Shovel Spur” turn, six miles below Newhalem, and they machined the flanges off so the sharp curve could be easily negotiated.

I remeber reading a memoir by possibly Robert Richardson, founder of the CRRM that when #20 was running towards the end of the RGS, her suspention and springing was so worn out for all intents, she was a 4-4-0, not a 4-6-0, as her blind drivers were very seldom in contact with the track. Kelly Anderson at Strasburg, that helped oversee her 10+ year overhaul stated that #20 was the most comprehesively worn-out locomotive that he ever saw.

This is so cool. Thank you! So cool to see how it prevents binding

I love these kinds of videos. These kinds of videos are the real money makers for the industry cause you're literally showing how things behave in motion. And when you know what happens in motion you can make better or Maintain things better when you know what happens on the rails.

Really loving these "how it works" videos! Please keep them coming and maybe even equipment tours showing off some museum rolling stock.

Another noteworthy locomotive that has a blind driver is Little River Railroad #110. And I believe this is a similar set up, the middle driver is blind as 110 was a logging engine in Tennessee! Awesome video!

A lot of work to put this together; fascinating to see it in practice. Theoretically, in this example, there must be wheel slippage because the driving wheels are mechanically connected and must rotate at exactly the same rotational velocity. Rounding a curve, the leading and trailing axles would naturally shift to the outside to maintain equal surface velocity of the inside and outside wheels - the contact circumferences remain equal. Any wheels between the leading and trailing wheels would have a different surface speed from the leading and trailing because their contact circumference has not changed. A difficult engineering problem to solve.

My hat to those who figured all that out back in the days without gopros. They must have had countless failures and arguments with a few eurêka moment. Great video and content Hyce!!!

I absolutely love the shots with the valve gear. Excellent video!

Such an interesting video! That was a lot of work you did and I appreciate it all. Watching the active dynamics is fascinating.

Awesome video, the graphics (and fewer wheels perhaps?) made this much easier to follow for me than the earlier videos on the 491. And BTW if you ever visit Norway (for some reason lol) you could visit the Urskog-Høland line, it's a 750mm narrow gauge railway which has a really neat collection of Hartmann-built 2-6-2 locomotives, one of which was donated to my uni (It still works and us mechanical engineering students drive it regularly!).

THAT was very interesting, Hyce. It would be nice to compare the diesel locomotives with these steam locomotives.

Very interesting. Great work. Seeing the science / physics work in the design as intended is awesome. You did a great job capturing it and narrating it.

Love the editing work Nick is putting in! Adds that last bit of perfecton to the content.

Fantastic, these fascinate me. So beautifully shot too Hyce

This reminds me of the British Railways "9F" 2-10-0. I believe that the driving wheels either side of the blind drivers on these have smaller flanges as well.

The flanges of the right or left wheels grind against the right or left rails because of centrifugal forces on left or right curves. On tight turns we sometimes hear the screeches and scrapes.

If you have events at your museum there should be a screen inside where your videos are playing. You are describing it sooo good. Thank you

It’s freaking me out to see those wheels not leave the track!! 😲😲

Well done! This explained something that I never really thought about - now it's part if my "tower of knowledge" - not exactly a skyscraper. Looks like I'll be watching many more of your videos.

Really, really, really GR8T video shots.. HQ and flat out wonderful. See, now I want my own engine. Thanks so much.

Things I've never really thought about, but very interesting to see... Thumbs Up for the video!

Right away, before watching the whole video - that was a super smooth, dynamic intro, and I loved it.

I love the wheel cam on the no2 driver because you can see the Stevenson valve gear and that looked cool.

This perspective was so cool, thanks for filming it 😀

Dang, mark. I am loving how far you have came along recently! Keep up the amazing work!!

Neophyte here, really enjoyed the mechanics here which I knew very little about. Thanks for educating all of us with cool stuff!.....

At the B&O Railroad Museum in the late 1980s, I saw a small standard gauge 4-6-0 (not all that much bigger than a 4-4-0) from the late 1800s that had both the 1st and 2nd drivers flangeless (presumably the lead bogie had no sideways freedom of movement, unlike here), but instead of the slight dual taper shown here, I could have sworn the profiles of both of these drivers were just plain flat.

this is so interesting to me, the video really shows how the train pushes through the rails, very cool!

That was terrific shooting of the flanged and unflanged wheels. Many thanks for showing it.

really cool videos as always. I enjoyed the part with the swing motion pilot. I have always wanted to see that, Thanks!

Thank you for this technical approach. This is a rare imaged explanation, or a visualised real investigation, allowed for ordinary people such as me. Thanks

Blind wheels were common in the mountain logging railroads. Number 110 with the little river lumber company in tn was built like that . Number 110 still runs today with the little river railroad in cold water Michigan.

I wanna go to the rail museum just to listen to Hyce talk about trains irl. I love steam locomotives

THANK YOU for this video. I have been wondering about why some of these locomotives don’t horribly screech around certain tight turns and are even able to navigate tight turns without getting stuck in the bend. This video, and the animations, are a thoroughly helpful explanation to this concept. I can sleep well tonight with this new information.

Wonderful. Never saw such a beatiful explanation.

This is so great to see after looking at the Class 48 with kAN. Thanks!

Nice, another fantastic video. Thanks for doing this. Nicely done!

I am LOVING IT :) AWESOME FOOTAGE !

Loving the new editing style I’m glad the footage turned out amazing

It is amazing to see 491 moving again, the first time I saw 491, she was on exhibit and not moving, I loved standing in the cab.

Very interesting topic and great illustrative shots as well! I never knew about blind wheels before seeing this :)

Very nicely put together video and very entertaining as well. Thanks for posting this.

Very informative video! Not to mention seeing the designs in use from a perspective that before was only in the minds of the engineers and in their drafting papers. 🙂👍

Having never gotten into locomotive info, I was surprised by how informative and I retesting this video was

Love learning stuff and your passion! Thank you!

Very interesting 🧐. Thank You. Merry Christmas 🎄

That was very interesting. This channel is very educating on trains.

An awesome bunch of info on a 4-6-0 for me to enjoy.

Hello, this is the first video of yours I’ve seen, and was pleased as punch to see the engine truck centering device in action. It’s one thing to see the drawings, another to see a video. Thanks for sharing - and I’ll now look through your library!

sprr pacific locomotive 1913 ran at the Oakland zoo for about 3 or 4 ish years. MacDermot the builder ran the 1913 with no front pilot truck because it couldn't manage the curves. in the short time it ran there it sharpened the #1 drive axle flange into a razor blade. during its restoration we swapped tires with the # 2 axle .

Is there somewhere I can read about the patchjobs that RGS did to keep the 20 running before its restoration?

didn't know any of this before or how it worked now i do Thanks HYCE!!

Awesome way of showing this and I like the animations

listing to this while making homework is perfect, the info is told in a way thats easy to digest, so im learing two things at a time.

Merry Christmas Grady hope you and your beautiful family are having great Christmas, happy new year .

getting a chance to film some big steam on Standard gauge would be awesome! my guess is that a standard gauge Consolidation 2-8-0 would behave nearly the same as 491 does on narrow gauge. but looking underneath a Pacific or Northern that have trailing trucks might be an eye opener!

I was playing with the camera angles in RO! while running the Glenbrook through a 30m right hand curve and noted the center Blind Set drivers were completely floating OFF the rails with them to the left of the wheel set. 30m radius is stupid sharp for a 2-6-0 like the Glenbrook but doable. For the record that was a test piece of track. I try to keep all my tight curves >36-37m radius otherwise rolling stock I noticed like to "Wallow" around in the grade. The Realistic physics settings in RO! are pretty close to real but need a lot more work. Especially if you have a perfectly strait, flat, and long stretch of tangent track, too much speed and rolling stock wants bounce out of it. Makes no sense.

What a great Video! Thank you! Visited the CRM back in the day when the running train had only a horse shoe track and not a complete circle..!

I like to see funiculars passing loops as some have fangs on both sides on one side but on the other side would be like this flat wheel

That Stephenson valve gear was mesmerizing

@Hyce I don't know a heck of a lot of train info, just know I have loved them because my step-dad did and we went to many places. He loved the steam trains and we use to have them at a place called Edaville railroad in Carver, MA. Eventually they got rid of them and used diesel like things to pull the cars. I digress. I had paused your video to try to guess why the middle wheel has a blindest and was right. I'm rather proud of myself since I don't really know much lol

I will randomly go on these little kicks of being fascinated with trains and god damn it’s hitting hard rn and I love it

Beautiful job Hyce.

i eliminated the middle wheel flanges of some of my locos on my Oe modelrailroad to negociate sharp curves.works realy great.that gave me the possibility to buid a very more spectacular railway.makes even more pleasure knowing it is like the real thing.thanks for your interesting video!

when I had a model railroad I loved to take a wheelset and let it coast down a grade for 30 or 40 feet and see how gracefully it would track and stay centered between the rails. When you consider that the contact point of a trainwheel is about the area of a dime, they really do glide over the track.

That is Very Interesting ! I had the privilege to ride a steam Locomotive in 1969. In Pennsylvania. I will never forget that experience.

Been waiting on this. Awesome

This is fascinating! I never knew there were such things as no flange! Which is a bit scary.

Hyce describing a train Me: train is train

Hyce i love these videos bro your a genius keep em comin man ur awesome!

Watching what the engine did when it slipped was very interesting

Love watching the valve gear run, considering it's near impossible to see in normal viewing!