Bill Van Brocklin
Bill Van Brocklin Jr. is best known for his steam pump designs.
The cover photo of the July-August 1950 edition of "The Live Steamer" features a detailed view of the well known 3/4 inch scale Boston & Maine Atlantic type locomotive built by William (Bill) Van Brocklin Jr of Roslindale, Mass., and it is shown with the builder at the 1949 N.E.L.S. annual Live Steam Meet at Danvers.
A beautiful Illinois Central 4-4-0 "Fire Queen" built by Bill Van Brocklin and owned by Elmer Roth as of 1995. It feaures a coal fired copper boiler, 2 injectors, 2 cyl. steam water pump, 2 injectors, mech. oiler, whistle,hand pump and hydraulic brakes on the tender. She was rebuilt in 1995 by Elmer. Photo by James W. Leggett. From TrainNet.org.
Steam Pump
One of Bill Van Brocklin's steam pumps was listed on eBay in December 2013. Here is the description, along with photos.
- This little pump will scale properly in both 1" or a smaller 1.5" scale engine. Steam bore is 13/16" and water bore is 1/2". Stroke is approximately 1-1/8".
Advertisement found in The North American Live Steamer, March 1956
Bibliography
- "Handy Gadgets", Construction article for dual check valves, "The Miniature Locomotive", Jan-Feb 1953, page 26
External Links
- Van Brocklin simplex and duplex pump castings, Friends Models
- Bill Shields redesign on the Van Brocklin duplex pumps
- Construction photos of 3/4" Van Brocklin pumps
- Additional information on Bill Shield's Van Brocklin pump heads
- Machining Van Brocklin pumps
- "Some thoughts on building a pump" (PDF), Tom Artzberger, GGLS