O Scale Trains Magazine Online

A Working Water Scoop
Harry Hieke, Jr.
Water scoops were used on larger Northeastern roads. There
is a good write-up, along with a photo and diagram, in Kalmbach’s
Steam Locomotive Cyclopedia Vol. 1 (Page 21). Page 230
shows a good photograph of an NYC-style scoop. It has been
documented that NYC Hudsons and Niagaras could scoop water
at 80 mph (up to 4000 gallons at a time) using the PT-4 and PT-
5 pedestal tenders. The scoop actuator must have lowered and
retracted very quickly, as the fireboy had 17 seconds to drop the
scoop, scoop the water, then raise it again. Most railroads using
trackpans had either blue or lunar-white lights at the beginning
and end of the pans. I can’t imagine the damage that could be
caused by lowering the scoop too quickly or raising the scoop
too late. (A ramp was usually built at each end to minimize fouling;
they are an interesting detail to add to your trackage –ed).
There were at least two different types of scoops used. The
PRR, Reading, and CNJ used one type, most closely represented
by a Precision Scale part (#4166). The NYC used the type closely
represented by a different Precision casting (#40419). Precision
Scale also makes a water scoop control (Part #4766), which is
normally located on the forward edge of the water leg of the tender
on the engineer’s side, usually protected by a shield.
Although the Precision Scale part layout shows an NYC
PT-type tender, actual NYC prints show a much different piping
arrangement. I would assume the water scoop system had
its own reservoir, tapped into the engine air and located in the
tender. Scoops usually had an air cylinder, located next to the
scoop assembly itself, which controlled the scoop through a
series of levers and reversing rods located inside the tender.
For the purpose of this article, I’m going to start with the PSC
#4166. A much simpler assembly than the NYC-style scoop, it
lends itself more readily to kitbashing. The most difficult part
of this assembly is not the scoop modification or the cylinder
modification, but the actual linkage, fulcrum rod, bellcrank and
reversing rod assembly.
Photo 1 shows a #4166 as it comes from PSC. There are two
main pieces, the scoop assembly and the control rod assembly.
The photo also shows the cylinder assemblies we’ll be using
(Precision Scale #1276 or Back Shop #BC 324, basically a 9” to
12” cylinder which can be floor mounted).
Photos 2 and 3 shows the completed mechanisms installed in
a PRR S2 long-distance tender. You can see the actuator mechanism
inside the tender, and the scoop and cylinder on the tender
2
3
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• O Scale Trains - July/Aug ’06
bottom. The first step is to actually (and carefully) “dis-articulate”
the scoop and control arm mechanisms from their cast-in-place
position into the various components.
Photo 4 shows the various tools required to cut the side