ValveGear Constructor

[VGC]

Dear members,

most model engineers aim to own a model steam locomotive. For me it's a little different as I am passionately focused on two demanding fields of steam locomotive technologies, one of which is the design and optimization of steam locomotive valve gears.

After doing this for many months in MS Excel, years ago I decided to start from new and build an online program that not simply returns diagram data of manually calculated valve gear dimensions but that optimizes the detailed dimensions itself and that still allows to override each optimized geometry to simulate any given real non-optimal valve gear too.

So when designing a new valve gear using the program, you get near-optimal results within minutes, and when modeling an existing valve gear with some effort using the program's abilities, you easily can see what to change to optimize it.

In the last years, I finally could work on the more detailed program features and make it a more and more comfortable tool.

For more advantages, please watch the scrolling text on the main program website www.constructor.valvegear.de/en/ .

Best regards
VGC

[VGC]

Thanks to all likers! And concerning "0 comments" - let me see it as "no comments - no haters" ;-) ;-) ;-)

But seriously: I would like to add a link to an embedded running valve gear on a steam train club website. The original program is embedded below a cover site that controls the actions of the program. Perhaps this is also a good starting point for future tutorials as such a cover site also could change valve gear dimensions and to some other stuff. A lean replacement for a tutorial video - let's see by time.

bruenig-dampfbahn.ch/lok_1068

Click on the English flag right on top of the program window, and then click "Auto" ;-)

And there are some more options - move your mouse over the different areas on the left and see!

[VGC]

Hello,

today I would like to update the official introduction post for "ValveGear Constructor".

Since I published the program more than 15 years ago, I offered access for free and later on noted the possibility of voluntary donation which always was without any consequence for the user. Only last year I ended the free phase and offered access for a rather small price, related to the small group of users.
The price was related to the gauge of the locos.

Today I decided to deactivate the price categories below 10 1/4" gauge, so the lowest price for garden railroaders will be that of 10 1/4" gauge.

This decision is based on the main decision to focus on park railroads (program access and design service if necessary) and original narrow gauge and standard gauge locos (design services).

The fact that I made this current decision today is based on bad experiences with some customers in Switzerland some time ago and impolite behaviour of interested persons in Germany and Great Britain this year, although recent prices really were not impolite. Instead I had very good experiences with users in park railroad size and above (who paid a lot more and were happy with that, as one of them said).

The above pricing change will take place in May 1, 2023. Whoever would like to have an access in this year for the current pricing (in Steps up to "G" gauge, 3 1/2" gauge, 5" gauge, 7 1/4" [US: up to 7 1/2"] gauge, 10 1/4" gauge) may order and pay until then, so he can choose the activation time within this year.

Contact me via PM or use the contact info on the program website.

Best regards
VGC

[weary]

I have found your website difficult to navigate (& to understand). Where are the prices please?

Regards,
Phil

[VGC]

There are no prices on the website yet as I do not want to attract semi-criminal German lawyers ("Abmahnanwälte") which mostly rather try to raid commercial than private website owners.
But when the next big update will be done and some other data are updated, there will probably be a link to the price list on the website.
Normally I send the pricing info as a reply on access requests.

What is difficult to understand? Until now, I thought that the sections are divided rather simple on the main page...
If Google Translate returns complicated sentence structures on the docu pages, That is something I cannot influence.

[doubletop]

VGC

Hopefully you read this as feedback and not criticism.

I see that you have noted that you have '0'comments I think that is because people are finding it difficult to reconcile what they understand with what your website and software offer. This probably is not helped by Google translate not converting the German terminology for valve gear components into the generally accepted English names for them.

I would imagine that the majority of model engineers would be taking an existing design, generally from years ago, when computer modelling wasn’t available, and hoping to improve on that design before cutting metal. That is exactly what the late Don Ashton, the recognised UK expert in this field, did for me when he redesigned the valve gear for my Martin Evans designed “Dart” locomotive. Don did this with the Dockstader model. The ability for your software to automatically optimise an existing design rather than empirical “fiddling” with parameters does seem rather attractive. Once you can model Stephenson’s valve gear it would be interesting to compare Don’s optimisation with your modelling.

I was trying to understand how a user would interpret the information provided by the software, particularly when most are familiar with indicator diagrams, which have a direct correlation to power output. All I could find was this

“The output in the form of a slide chart was chosen because this clearly shows all the information required for assessing the rod quality, is not dependent on any "speculations" (such as an indicator chart when only geometry data is entered) and is much easier to understand than, for example, a Zeuner Diagram. Even for beginners with a minimum of technical understanding, it is largely self-explanatory if you can observe it in the program”

Maybe a better high-level description, with screenshots, of how data is entered, in the two modes of use “new design” or “existing controls”, what happens with “recalculate” and an explanation of the diagrams and their interpretation would help provide you with more feedback?

Pete

[VGC]

Thanks for your feedback.
As commonly asked questions were taken into the manual and FAQs, the remaining questions were only asked once each, and they were lots of different questions.
Also your questions had not been asked once more before, but I mostly answer questions coming from users of the program.
If I would answer all single questions in the manual, probably people would tend to rather ask me again instead of searching themselves.

The valve event diagram is described in the FAQs, but I will think about moving it into the manual, although it is not a program specific thing. Thanks again for mentioning.

[VGC]

Meanwhile I added a short description of the valve event diagram in the manual, and a link to a more detailed description in the FAQs is added. I think that this is a practical solution.

Thanks again for mentioning.

Regardless of the possibility of direct program access, I'd like to take this opportunity to add my current offering of valve gear troubleshooting as a service:

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How valve gear troubleshooting "by diagram" can be applied remote:

• A valve event diagram is taken by the operating crew moving the steam locomotive step by step and measuring the piston position and according valve piston position for each step at certain degrees of cylinder filling.
• I check whether the diagrams look good or the valve gear should be modified.
• If the diagrams look good, the reason for bad valve events must be looked for in the valve piston environment or setting. (a)
• If the diagrams do not look good, the valve events are compared to an optimized version of the valve gear with ideal valve events. This comparison shows which parts of the valve gear to modify and how. For this, some parts or (only if necessary) all parts are measured.

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How valve gear troubleshooting "by geometry" can be applied remote:

This version needs some more effort for measurement by the operating crew, but this gives the opportunity to widely lower and more exactly predict their costs for our contribution.

• A valve event diagram is created by our software, based on valve gear dimensions measured and entered by the operating crew.
• I check whether the diagrams look good or the valve gear should be modified.
• If the diagrams look good, the reason for bad valve events must be looked for in the valve piston environment or setting. (a)
• If the diagrams do not look good, the valve events are compared to an optimized version of the valve gear with ideal valve events that is created by our software. This comparison shows which parts of the valve gear to modify and how.

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