Design of the MÁV Class 327 steam locomotive model

#1 Part

General considerations

To design a locomotive model we need original drawings, photos, but the most useful is an access to an existing prototype.

Drawings

There are no detail design drawings available for the Class 327 locos. I found two Class overview drawings. One in the MÁV Motive Power Album, this is rather detailled, but shows the loco in a longitudinal cut view. This means, you can nicely see the fire tubes inside the boiler and the firebox internal structure, but the drawing does not show the visible surface of the boiler and the cab. Front and back views are not presented.

The other drawing was published in an old magazine. This is less detailled thus less usable, also without front and back views. Both drawings show the rods as simple lines, neither their thickness nor their fluting is indicated.

Photos

I have managed to collect a few photos about these engines. I have put a few on this homepage. These all are old ones not protected by Copyright any more. These pictures delivered many important pieces of information which were not visible neither on the drawings nor on the prototype. Such details were the cross section shape of the cylinder block, the size of the yoke and the form of the rod heads. These photos also helped to find out what was the difference between the first and later production series. Of course the pictures taken after WW2. are less valuable as the locomotives were reconstructed during major overhauls.

The existing prototype

There is only one single prototype available, all others were scrapped and used for steel recycling. This engine, the 327,141 was in the Istvántelek workshop yard, in 2007 steam enthusiasts and local workshop people pushed it into the shed. I visited this loco both outside and inside and made many photos about it. Unfortunately this loco was used after its withdrawal from the active service as movable boiler, most boiler assemblies and the cylinder block were removed and scrapped. The boiler backhead shows only the patches on the former taps and tube mountings. I could reconstruct the backhead using pictures about the Class 301 engine. That loco was designed just one year before the Class 327 for similar service, thus its boiler is very similar.

The Tender

I had access to a detailed drawing of the R-type tender that was regularly used with the Class 327. I've found, however, subtle differences between the drawing and the photos. Probably the drawing was made for the prototypes and the series locos were equipped with a changed design. I made a CAD drawing with details modified after the photos.

The prototype tender in the Workshop shed also shows well the shape, although many small details were removed since the active service. Especially the back part lacks many small components, grab irons and hatches.

The CAD Drawings

Using all above drawings and photos I made CAD drawings about the loco and tender model. These drawings were already made in H0 scale and they contain all parts and details that are necessary to build the model. Most important components were copied out of the overall design to stand-alone sheets, and most dimensioning was also made on these separate component sheets.

Forward to the second part of the Class 327 design

Forward to the Class 327 building pages

Back to the Class 327 main page