G scale locomotive.

[Tim A.]

Those pipes coming down the side of the boiler, are they for the sand? Lot of folks don't know that locomotives used sand on the rails for traction getting started sometimes.

Yeah. Wheel slipping has always been an issue. Especially on wet rails. I'm a nerd fan of the Union Pacific's restored #4014 "Big Boy". The largest operating steam locomotive in the world. It's home is in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Anyway on one of It's excursions a few yrs back a freight train broke down on the same track. The Big Boy was asked if it could assist in shoving the train. A video taken caught the Big Boy's driver's slipping pretty good. It's crazy to watch those huge driver wheels spinning free like that. Not something crew wants to happen alot!
One of my hats...