# Rudy Kouhoupt Copperhead Steam Roller



## olympic (Jan 3, 2014)

Hi, All,

I'm kinda new to this site, but I have a real interest in model engineering and have built a Rudy beam engine and restored a Rudy Case traction engine wannabe. What I'd like to do now is build a Rudy "Copperhead" steam roller, but I can't find the plans anywhere.

Can someone direct me to a source for these plans?

Thanks.


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## Tin Falcon (Jan 3, 2014)

Good question. It is my understanding Village Press the publisher of home shop machinist as well as a couple other metal working magazines owners the copy rights for most if not all of Rudy,s plans. so you may need to inquire with them or on the Home SHop machinist forum.

You may also want to contact Bay.com the folks there also collaborated with Rudy on his videos. They may be able to provide plans or at least tell you who can.

And please post an introduction in the welcome area. 
Tin


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## Walltoddj (Jan 3, 2014)

Go to villagepress.com Live Steam in the Metalworking, on the second page of books about half way
Down on the right $24.95


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## olympic (Jan 4, 2014)

Thanks, Tin Falcon and walltoddj, for the information. I was told that the Village Press published this, but I'd neer been able to find it....


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## Walltoddj (Jan 4, 2014)

olympic said:


> Thanks, Tin Falcon and walltoddj, for the information. I was told that the Village Press published this, but I'd neer been able to find it....



Sorry my mistake I so use to goggle it and go it's  https://secure.villagepress.com/store/items/list/group/130   If you have a problem try to call Questions? Call *1-800-447-7367* or *231-946-3712   *they are great to deal with. Yes it kind of a pain to find them because I keep getting a different site.

Todd


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## olympic (Feb 23, 2019)

Still looking for plans. Can anyone help?


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## olympic (Jan 22, 2021)

Bumping this one up.

Still looking for the plans. Even contacted the Craftsmanship Museum in California, who have a lot of Rudy's stuff. No luck there, either.

Again, has anyone run across the plans for this?


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## olympic (Apr 22, 2021)

Still, and always, looking for these plans.

Hasn't anyone at all seen these?


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## James Barker (Apr 23, 2021)

I understand you are looking for the Coffeepot road roller of Rudy Kouhoupt design. I can not help with locating that drawing set, but does it have to be that particular model? There is a set of plans for a road roller that looks very similar to Rudy's model and could be modified easily to appear like his in case you are merely wanting a road rollerer project.

BC1
Jim`


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## olympic (Apr 23, 2021)

Thanks for your reply, Jim.

I am, however, looking for the Copperhead roller specifically, as the Kouhoupt design appeals to me.

If you ever do run across it (and no, Village Press does not have it) please let me know.


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## Richard Carlstedt (Apr 23, 2021)

I was a good friend of Rudy and that steam roller sat on his coffee table, while most of his model engines were in a cupboard .
He was very proud of it and it was inspired by a full size roller he found  near his home in Bridgewater NJ. 
I don't recall any conversation about plans for it , but Rudy was a recorder of information, so they may exist somewhere. Have you done any searches in early Live Steam or Modeltec magazines ?
Rich


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## olympic (Apr 23, 2021)

Thanks, Rich.

I've looked all over on the Internet and even the Craftsmanship Museum in 
California was unable to help. I will check Live Steam and Modeltec, though.

I don't know if the plans for this we're ever made public, but I would certainly like to find them. I have made Rudy's beam engine, and have found and refurbished a Rudy traction engine, so a Copperhead roller would be important to me.

If anyone else who reads this can help, I'd appreciate it.


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## KellisRJ (Apr 24, 2021)

Ops, my bad.


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## olympic (Apr 24, 2021)

Wow, KellisRJ! It came right back to me.

Help, help, help! This must be one of the most elusive plans I've ever heard of!


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## KellisRJ (Apr 24, 2021)

olympic said:


> Wow, KellisRJ! It came right back to me.
> 
> Help, help, help! This must be one of the most elusive plans I've ever heard of!


No, my bad, this was a silly loop right back here. I popped into the middle and didn't realize this thread had started in 2014. See flat forehead. Given the lack of plans and the prominent place it had in his home, I suspect he did it as a personal project and any plans were in his personal papers. 

Rob


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## olympic (Apr 24, 2021)

I still like to think that there must be drawings out there somewhere....


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## KellisRJ (Apr 24, 2021)

olympic said:


> I still like to think that there must be drawings out there somewhere....


Maybe Richard knows what the family did with his files . . .  Or who to ask.

R


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## Richard Carlstedt (Aug 15, 2021)

Just happened to revisit this thread, missed it after all this time .
Rudy's daughter or niece  gave most all his stuff to the Craftsmanship Museum as far as I know
it's possible that someone in the New Jersey Live Steamers may know, but i don't know any of those fellows.
I was able to find the Modeltec Index and nothing .
Then I remembered that Rudy did all his stuff in Live Steam and Village Press publications
, but have no index to those magazines, which started about 1968 or so ??
Rich


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## olympic (Aug 15, 2021)

Thanks, Rich, but I have long since checked with both the Craftsmanship Museum and the Village Press. No one seems to know much about this, though the Craftsmanship Museum has one of these rollers in its collection.

I'd love to build one of these, but no one at all seems to have a line on the plans.


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## Richard Carlstedt (Aug 15, 2021)

Too bad they are lost or whatever. Rudy and I talked about so many things, and I never thought about his drawings and their preservation. Rudy lived in a very small house and did all his drawings on a small ( 30" x 48" ?) table  in the kitchen.  I don't  recall seeing where he stored them  . I do know he worked closely with Joe Rice on his drawings as he would mention Joe , but I never had the pleasure of meeting Mr Rice who was then an editor for Village Press during the 1990's.
I mentioned the NJLS link earlier because Rudy had a good friend there, who may know more details, but I do not remember his name .
Rich
I'll try and see if i have something in my history files


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## olympic (Aug 16, 2021)

Thank you, Rich. I've also sent off a query to the Jersey Boys.


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## Ratshooter (Aug 16, 2021)

For what it's worth...... I've heard that Rudy had articles and plans published in Popular Mechanics magazine. (possibly popular science) As the magazine was evolving into what it is now, demand for machine work articles was dwindling. About that same time, Rudy moved to Live Steam Magazine, and also had many submissions to Home Shop Machinist as the years went by.

At some point, Popular Mechanics passed the copyrights for plans they had published back to him. When I met him at the Village Press table at the old PRIME shows, he was selling drawings of some of the old articles. I'm pretty sure he told me that none of these drawings appeared in any Village Press publications.

At this point it's anybody's guess what happened to any remaining drawings. It's a safe bet that lots of guys died with them. I have no idea if he had drawings for all of his PM articles, or not. Popular Mechanics back issues might be the next place to look, Good Luck!


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## olympic (Aug 17, 2021)

Still working on this. No luck with Live Steam, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, Mechanix Illustrated, HSM, you name it.

The Jersey Boys came up with a suggestion that I was looking for a Birk Petersen roller, but that's not it, nor is it a Bill Harris roller.

This really has to be one of the most elusive things out there, but I live in hope....


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## Richard Carlstedt (Oct 19, 2021)

Back again
Yes, it was Popular Mechanics magazine as Ratshooter said , that Rudy worked with.
And I know for sure it was not a Bill Harris design . I looked in some of my files
and found this picture which was taken in Rudy's backyard during one of my visits.
I am going to guess it was taken 25 years ago , and the picture of him running his steam Tractor 
during a NAMES show is 20 years ago , just a few years before he passed away
I'll keep looking
Rich
I


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## MIKE4444 (Oct 19, 2021)

Hi  well  done , good to see  all these models  going, myself , to muh other work, but working on my project slowly , go well and be safe to ALL,    MIKE


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## olympic (Oct 19, 2021)

Thanks for that, Rich. It would be nice if something were to turn up.

And the design is definitely not the Harris one; I have one of those rollers.

If I were capable of using FreeCad or one of those programs, I'd take a shot at creating some drawings from the two photos that I have; alas, the learning curve there is awfully steep.

As (and if) I learn more, I'll keep this thread updated.


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## Richard Carlstedt (Oct 19, 2021)

Do you have this book ?
*Classic American Steamrollers *





						Classic American Steamrollers 1871-1935: 1871-1935 Photo Archive | Ebook Unlimited
					

Thrilling photos of the great steam-powered machines that shaped America's highways and other paved spaces. For the first time read about all 30 recognized makes of steamrollers built in North America. Fans of Baker, Birdsall, Buffalo-Pitts, Case, Enright, Geiser, Gorton, Heilman, Huber, Kelly...




					ni.readpdfonline.xyz
				




I didn't trust the website to look at it 

Rich


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## olympic (Oct 19, 2021)

I went to the site, but like you I didn't trust it. Besides, the little I saw suggested that the book deals with full-sized rollers, and I just want Rudy's little model.


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## Richard Carlstedt (Oct 19, 2021)

Rudy told me he scaled it from a prototype parked in his town so i thought the book might have the name of the Roller. There is another possibility ( for Proto Info ) and that is to call Bridgewater NJ and see if they have a historical society , and if so, perhaps someone has info...never hurts to ask !
Rich 
Finding the Prototype name, leads to the location where it was built and that leads to museums or society that records town info and sometimes they have drawings.. but not scaled of course.


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## sarel (Oct 20, 2021)

There is plans for a roller similar to Rudy's Copperhead steamroller by Julius de Waal, see link.



			https://modelengineeringwebsite.com/Coffee_pot_roller_2.html


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## olympic (Oct 20, 2021)

Thanks, Rich. I'll check out Bridgewater.

And as for the de Waal roller, sarel, it looks remarkably like the Bill Harris model.


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## a41capt (Oct 21, 2021)

I’m currently on the road, but it sure seems like I had plans for the copperhead somewhere. Beyond my abilities or patience, but I kept them anyway, because, well…. All things mechanical, right?

John W


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## olympic (Oct 21, 2021)

a41capt said:


> I’m currently on the road, but it sure seems like I had plans for the copperhead somewhere. Beyond my abilities or patience, but I kept them anyway, because, well…. All things mechanical, right?
> 
> John W



Hey! That's terrific--if you still have them, of course....

How can I obtain them from you?


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## comstock-friend (Oct 21, 2021)

olympic said:


> And as for the de Waal roller, sarel, it looks remarkably like the Bill Harris model.



The de Waal drawings do indicate that they are based on the Bill Harris design. I'm a member of a group that has about a dozen Bill Harris rollers stalled at about the assembly stage. We were all in the same town, now scattered in several states. I have most of the tanks and boxes made...


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## olympic (Oct 21, 2021)

Beautiful work. Should make excellent steam rollers.

Oh. Here's my Harris roller:


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## a41capt (Oct 24, 2021)

olympic said:


> Hey! That's terrific--if you still have them, of course....
> 
> How can I obtain them from you?


Sorry, no love so far.  I still have a bunch of archived files on DVDs to check, but it wasn’t in my library or computer hard drive.

I’ll dig into those DVDs this week after my company leaves.

John W


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## olympic (Oct 24, 2021)

a41capt said:


> Sorry, no love so far. I still have a bunch of archived files on DVDs to check, but it wasn’t in my library or computer hard drive.
> 
> I’ll dig into those DVDs this week after my company leaves.
> 
> John W



Thank you for taking the trouble, John. I'm keeping my fingers crossed....


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## a41capt (Oct 25, 2021)

olympic said:


> Thank you for taking the trouble, John. I'm keeping my fingers crossed....


Sorry Pard, no luck.  If I had them, they’re long gone I’m afraid, perhaps I got it confused with my Rudy construction books with the traction engine.  I’ll keep looking through the rest of my library, but the common places have proven to be a dry hole.

Good luck with your search, and if I happen across anything at all, I’ll drop you a line.

John W


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## olympic (Oct 25, 2021)

Darn!

You know, this is something that may never surface again, and that's a shame, because that roller deserves to be built.

Thanks again for looking, and if it ever does turn up, please let me know.


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## a41capt (Oct 25, 2021)

olympic said:


> Darn!
> 
> You know, this is something that may never surface again, and that's a shame, because that roller deserves to be built.
> 
> Thanks again for looking, and if it ever does turn up, please let me know.


You bet!


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## olympic (Oct 25, 2021)

Again thanks, John.

Still no Kouhoupt steam roller plans. Are they out there?


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## Richard Carlstedt (Nov 4, 2021)

Well, I checked my picture file and can post photos of the Roller here as Scans .
I tried to get it sharper, but the photos were taken in 1984 with a old camera
and Rudy did not have many lights on .
I miss that guy !
Rich


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## olympic (Nov 5, 2021)

That's great, Rich! Many thanks. I can download these and take some useful measurements from them.

If I were able to use one of those fancy CAD drafting programs, I could probably draw up a set of plans for it, but I think I can make do with this, though I'll still keep looking for plans.


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## Richard Carlstedt (Nov 5, 2021)

There was a free photo evaluation program available years ago--maybe 19 or so, that
could give you an idea of lengths when you entered a reference dimension .
I have long forgot the name but a fellow who did HO railroading showed it to me .
Maybe someone here can recall the name ?

Rich


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## Richard Carlstedt (Nov 5, 2021)

I think I found the Prototype !

It's a Buffalo Roller ( Buffalo NY ?)  or Buffalo-Springfield Roller



and a video here


Rich


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## olympic (Nov 5, 2021)

Well, if that isn't it, it'll sure do till something better comes along!

Thank you, Rich, for all your time and trouble. I think I have a winter project here....


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## Richard Carlstedt (Nov 5, 2021)

Just One request- Please keep us posted on your progress
Do not wait for it to be finished ,
Your endeavor will inspire others to do the same and keeping
a record --even with models (!) of our industrial past
is paramount to our society and mechanical history 
Been a pleasure ... and Rudy would be proud of your desire  !
Rich


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## olympic (Nov 22, 2021)

I've been pondering this, and have concluded that, since Rudy and Birk Petersen (whose "Live Steam" construction series I have) both used what looks like the same model of steam roller as inspiration, I can use both of their models in designing my version of Rudy's roller.

In determining overall dimensions, I have decided to make something 60% of the size of the Petersen roller, not least because the channel frame rails I have just cut come from a piece of 3/4" square aluminum tube that I have lying around here. Of course, that's not the only consideration: I have a nice copper tube of about the right size for the boiler, and the overall length of Rudy's model seems to be about 60% of the Petersen roller's length.

The finished model will be more Kouhoupt than Petersen. It all looks feasible right now, and I'll plod along this winter. 

My most serious concern, though, is the engine. I can see little of Rudy's engine in the photos I have, and the Petersen engine looks to be beyond my capabilities, so if anyone can suggest a rather basic little twin-cylinder horizontal slide-valve engine I'd appreciate a hand here; otherwise, I may just try something of my own devising....


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## JULIUS DE WAAL (Dec 21, 2021)

I have made a set of drawings of this machine which I made a few years ago
If any one wish to have a set of drawings please contact me by e-mail : [email protected]

kind regards

Julius


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## JULIUS DE WAAL (Dec 22, 2021)

Gentlemen

Attached are the plans of the roller called "the Coffee Pot"
I hope these are the drawings your were looking for

Kind regards

Julius


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## JULIUS DE WAAL (Dec 22, 2021)

Gentlemen one more


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## Richard Carlstedt (Dec 23, 2021)

Julius, you are one amazing person, and a supreme supporter of our hobby.
Words do not express the pleasure you bring to all steam engine enthusiasts 
with your devotion to graphic plans and their free distribution.
May i say Thank You from the bottom of my heart !
Rich


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## Richard Carlstedt (Jan 25, 2022)

Just accidentally ran across some information about a Buffalo Springfield Roller
Apparently they have one in Jacktown Pennsylvania
at the Blue Mountain Antique Gas and Steam Engine Assn 








						Blue Mountain Antique Gas and Steam Engine Association
					

Swap Meet  May 20-21  2023 July Show  July 14,15,16  2023 Fall Show  October 21-22  2023




					www.jacktown.org
				



Didn't see a picture of it  at the above website, but didn't do a in depth search either.

I am a member of the *Society for Industrial Archeology*  (SIA)  and some members
saw the engine last year and specifically  mentioned it in our most recent newsletter 

Rich


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## olympic (Jan 25, 2022)

Great, Richard!

Still plodding along with making a Kouhoupt roller. Not much done, as I am trying to get a Morita Stirling fan to work, and and am having all kinds of trouble that I'd be ashamed to document.

The roller is still on my mind, though.


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## Richard Carlstedt (Apr 14, 2022)

Found another Roller pic on the net  but not sure of origin

Rich
https://imagearchive.com/proxy.php?image=http:%2F%2Fi11.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fa188%2FOldDog2%2F83136021_p5GfEG5r_BurtonIMGP4443.jpg&hash=0f6fb827e12c294ce46a9da9adeca342


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