# Lifelong Dream: Live Steam



## jack.39 (Dec 29, 2009)

I grew up around trains, as the main line of the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy (now BNSF) divided our community west of Chicago in half north-to-south, all 3 tracks of it! It was unusual to drive somewhere, and needing to cross those tracks, to not be stopped by a train, freight or passenger, half the time. Diesels were already in general use- (I'm not THAT old!)-, but steamers were common enough to be seen around 1950 or so, especially doing switching service in the small yards near my Grandma's house in Chicago, to which yards my Dad often took me walking of a still-light summer evening. The RR men did not seem to mind our presence, though technically we were trespassing, a fact lost to me, of course, as a kid.

So, while a senior in high school, the Burlington offered a steam excursion trip early in September, 1959, and my friends convinced me it would be a neat thing to do; I was still "chicken" yet, even though new stuff like girls were amazingly interesting-looking! A couple of the guys were older, had taken earlier trips, and got us to "hole up" in the first car behind the second locomotive (there were 2, a "double-header"), a Railway Express Agency (later REA) baggage car, with big square doors open, with 2X6s nailed across the openings, we were still able to hang out over them!

The head loco was a big Texas 2-10-4, No. 6315, the second a Northern 4-8-4, No. 5632. The trip was great, until everything ground to a halt; 6315 had broken it's eccentric rod, on the right side. This is the rod which drives the valve mechanism. I distinctly recall standing right next to the broken dangling pieces, astounded that the rod was easily as fat as my forearm! With much wheel-spinning and effort, 5632 managed to get 6315, ahead of it, to move forward, as it pushed the disabled beast to the nearest siding, where it was uncoupled, and left behind. The remainder of the trip went fine, with 5632 doing the work most easily.

The pic below was taken by some fan and wound up found by me in a book about Burlington locomotives which I bought many years later. As I think about it now, it seems almost impossible that as that picture was taken in September, 1959, I was IN the baggage car which can be seen behind the 2nd. locomotive!








Also years later, I discovered the original ticket I had bought for the trip, tucked away in papers my Mother had saved and stored away; I wished I could thank her, but she was gone by then...if the dates are legible, note the book's author's accuracy, as they match! It was after that trip that I knew, someday, I would attempt to build a live steam locomotive, large enough to allow me to ride behind it on a car it pulled. I knew it would have to be a model of 5632! Thanks for reading; I will have more coming up. jack


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## black85vette (Dec 29, 2009)

More than an interesting build. This is a really cool story.


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## jack.39 (Dec 30, 2009)

black85vette  said:
			
		

> More than an interesting build. This is a really cool story.



Thank you! It will get a little hairier. BTW, I'll bet there is a story behind that black 'Vette, too!  

jack


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## jack.39 (Dec 30, 2009)

1970s, living in Nevada on my wife's meager income, attending UNLV full-time, having lost ownership of a service station due to 1972 Arab Oil Embargo, I bought a few railroading books; one was "Steam Locomotives of the Burlington Route", by Corbin & Kerka. The pic in yesterday's post is from that book, which I read and re-read over the years.

Skip ahead to 2002, having survived my life's biggest set-back, lay-off from my job in Phoenix, living up in the woods of Northern Arizona, 1983, for a year, jobless, turned-down for foodstamps (wrong skin color, Mr. Sandoval said!); I held several new jobs until finally, the breaking point of disgust with the Clinton Administration gave us the courage to sell, in 1999, the custom home we had built in the Phoenix Area, and "_drop out_" of the rat-race system. My wife found the place we wound up at, in the hills of the Ozarks, big piece of very-rural land, we lived off the "nest-egg", carefully, not seeking to re-enter the madness. Summer, 2002, local high school Principal sought me out, had heard I possessed college education, implored me to consider teaching Math starting in 2 weeks; his Math teacher of 15 years had quit suddenly. We needed the dough, my wife encouraged me, so I accepted the offer. The school did not seem at all concerned that I had never taught, was not a teacher, and had no teaching certificate! They were, I thought, desperate! 

The teaching income prompted me to decide, on Thanksgiving Day, 2002, to begin planning the steam loco "build"! The following 2 line drawings, from the book above, were all I had available to work with, relating to Engine 5632. I began making up needed drawings, using dimensions off the prints, scaling sizes of important parts not dimensioned on them. I started with the frames, after securing a copy of Joe Nelson's book, "So You Want to Build a Live Steam Locomotive", which provides a wealth of info, but in generalities. I knew this would take ingenuity and skill that I did not possess! So, I laid down in writing some rules I would follow:

I could not afford to buy a kit, or castings, to machine and assemble. Therefore, no castings would be used (actually, there IS 1, the front coupler).
Prototype appearance duplication would be as best I could do, given the lack of original detail drawings. Thousands of cosmetic details would no doubt be missing; those itty-bitty rivets, endless lines of piping, etc., would be awful hard to duplicate. I wanted a _running_ locomotive above a cosmetic museum-piece!
All moving parts would be supported and run in, low-friction bearings. Turns out, even the crossheads and valve guides are mounted in ball bearings, as is the entire Baker Valve Gear. 
It would be 1-1/2" scale, as the biggest parts to be made requiring machining were within reason for my 12-inch lathe and Bridgeport milling machine.
Though I knew saving weight was not a plus, as weight keeps wheels from slipping, as much of the machine, within reason, as possible, would be fabricated of aluminum alloy, mainly to conserve my meager supply of cutting tools! All wheels, axles, crankpins, and threaded fasteners (screws) would be steel, some being stainless steel.
No metal would be cut using state-of-the-art techniques, out of necessity; water-jet, laser, EDM-wire, etc. methods would remain outside my work domain. After all, I hadn't the dough, and those beautiful steam locomotives were built years ago by traditioned methods, right? (not a fan of CAD/CAM, either!).

So, the battle lines were drawn. I am hoping my effort here will "grease the skids" of some viewers, who would share the dream, and get them moving! Thanks for taking the time to look! jack


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## Seanol (Dec 30, 2009)

Jack,
What a Kick Ass build!

Awesome story to go with it and a good display backer when it is built! I know you will run it but you need to take at least one perfect pic with the article and ticket framed behind it!

Regards,
Sean


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## PhillyVa (Dec 30, 2009)

I will tip my hat to you, Jack. What a wonderful story...brings back some memories of my own.

Regards

Philly


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## 1hand (Dec 30, 2009)

You got my attention!!!!! I grew up in Minnesota right next to a BNSF railway. I fact my bedroom window was a mere 250 feet from the tracks. And the sand box that I played in 125 feet. Mainly was coal trains going back in forth from Canada. We did the typical kid stuff, like smashing penny's and such on the tracks. I still can remember if I would lay real still in bed, I could feel it shake when they came through.

Matt


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## ozzie46 (Dec 30, 2009)

Jack, 

  Since you didn't use castings, I'm very interested in how you machined the drive wheels and the open areas of the drive wheels. My guess is a rotary table and a lot of repetitive work on the mill. 

 Great story by the way. Close to mine. I started over a couple of times myself.

  Ron


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## kvom (Dec 30, 2009)

I saw the picture in the intro thread. Is the engine running now, or still "under construction". Looks like a heck of a project.


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## zeeprogrammer (Dec 30, 2009)

Fantastic Fantastic.

No castings! Wow. That does give me hope.

Southern Missouri Ozarks?
I call Springfield my home town.
Spent a lot of time in Branson too.


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## jack.39 (Dec 30, 2009)

ozzie46  said:
			
		

> Jack,
> 
> Since you didn't use castings, I'm very interested in how you machined the drive wheels and the open areas of the drive wheels. My guess is a rotary table and a lot of repetitive work on the mill.
> 
> ...



You are right on! The conical face of "Box-Pok", or Box-Spoke, depending on which expert is relating it, would be a natural facing job in the lathe, except my compound feed is limited to only a couple of inches travel; overlapping cutting would take a looong time! I'll post a pic eventually of the wheel set-up in the vertical mill. jack


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## jack.39 (Dec 30, 2009)

kvom  said:
			
		

> I saw the picture in the intro thread. Is the engine running now, or still "under construction". Looks like a heck of a project.



My track layout has a grade steeper than I thought from "eyeball" elevation taking, and I felt the loco just was not pulling hard enough. Set up a pressure gauge in the smokebox, right at the cylinder feed, found with boiler pressure around 100, wheels running up on blocks, I was getting 60 psi up front. Big drop between the steam dome and the throttle valve, so tore into it last week. Winter job, anyhow. I removed the smokebox superheat coils, am close to re-testing. 

So, it ran, I loved it (!), I'm a perfectionist (sometimes), not satisfied, so it's not running right now. Doggone it! jack


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## jack.39 (Dec 30, 2009)

Again, for those viewing who share the dream and are hesitant, my experiences doing this thing *prove* that others can, too! Please do not hesitate to ask about it, PM me anytime; if I can help in any way, I will be glad to do so! As evidence, I would cite my inability to effectively use the computer. Making parts out of metal *will* require experience for the intricate, difficult ones. Still, other parts needed, sheet metal for example, cuts with big scissors, bends to shape. To make parts mainly of a round nature, a metal-cutting lathe is a necessity. Most others, unusually shaped, or rectangular, etc., bring about the need for a milling machine. First-time build, smaller scales are probably indicated, especially for beginning machinists. I would personally lean toward 3/4-inch per foot scale, big enough to pull a car carrying an adult, but no huge parts to be machined. In the final analysis, my guess is very few complete "dorks" ever even think about building/operating live steam, so every one of the interested probably have some degree of mechanical and/or technical ability. Put that part of you to work!!

I'm lucky, in that in my youth, I somehow just *had* to know how things were put together, so I took 'em apart! Started with the Bendix "coaster brake" on my bike when I was 7. My Dad, a Tool & Die Maker, added incentive to learn about things mechanical, but he was quite unhappy after explaining to me that I need a lathe to make many of the parts I wanted, and I of course *had* to have one then! I ordered (with my Mother's help) the 12" Sears Craftsman lathe, made by Atlas Press Co., in Kalamazoo, when I was 15. It cost $275, and I skipped the quick-change gear kit, for lack of funds. That lathe is still the only one I have, over 50 years later! Having designed and built production machinery for various employers, I knew that a Bridgeport milling machine would eventually be needed to pursue the dream; I bought a used one while still living in Phoenix, about 1993, and wound up lugging the thing all the way to Missouri! Gosh, are those things heavy! I have in addition to those 2 needed machines, a 7X12 inch metal cutting horizontal band saw, ala ENCO Co., a pedestal tool bit grinder, and the usual hand power tools- drill motors, etc. That's it! Nothing fancy. But, I am fortunate to have become proficient over the years using my lathe, building all kinds of parts for the cars I raced. I never operated a milling machine before I bought the Bridgeport, but much of the "feel" of running a lathe spills over to the other machine. The two differ only in the fact that a lathe spins the workpiece and uses a fixed cutting tool, and the mill does just the opposite!

The Burlington Railroad Northerns! The road bought their first 8 of them from Baldwin Locomotive Works, all in 1930, classifying them as 0-5, and numbering them beginning with 5600. In 1936, the "Q", as the road was affectionately known, began building more of these beasts themselves, in their own shops in West Burlington, Iowa, buying only the boilers from Baldwin. Three were completed in 1936, and 10 more during 1937! Such ability on the part of a railroad numbs my mind! By October, 1940, they had built a total of 28 Northern 4-8-4s in addition to the first 8 purchased from Baldwin! The "home-built locos were classified as 0-5-A. Among them, number 5632 "my locomotive", was completed in August, 1940, two years before I was born!

The eventual demise of 5632 was submitted to me as an interesting story by one of the gentlemen who worked in the West Burlington shops. I will go into that later; someone shake my cage if I forget; remembering things is a process which slips away with old age!

The photo here of 5632 was taken, according to it's date, when the machine was only 3 months old; note the man, if it shows up, climbing up into the cab....I promise more pics tomorry, showing parts of my effort as I made them in my shop. Thanks again for all the kind words, you are spoilin' me! jack


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## hammers-n-nails (Dec 30, 2009)

have you been to the museum of transportation in kirkwood(st. louis)? if not i would highly recomend it. http://transportmuseumassociation.org/ lots of locos to look at.


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## jack.39 (Dec 31, 2009)

hammers-n-nails  said:
			
		

> have you been to the museum of transportation in kirkwood(st. louis)? if not i would highly recomend it. http://transportmuseumassociation.org/ lots of locos to look at.



Appreciate this tip! I heard a bit about it, briefly, but have not followed up. Thanks for the "push"!! jack


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## black85vette (Dec 31, 2009)

jack.39  said:
			
		

> Thanks again for all the kind words, you are spoilin' me! jack



Jack I don't think I'm alone in saying it is you who is spoiling us!

What park of the Ozarks are you in?  We make frequent trips to Eureka Springs and Springfield. Just spent a week in Harrison Arkansas and have canoed down the 11 point River from Alton, MO.  Love it in that area.  I can understand landing there.


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## jack.39 (Dec 31, 2009)

First, here's a shot showing how I get this thing in & out of the shop/garage. 'Course, I had to try the first curved bit of track I ever made up & laid, by pushing the hulk in and out a few times! The radius of curvature is 50 feet. I got this by driving a big steel pin in the ground 50 feet out from where I wanted the track, used a thin wire looped around it and stretched to the track line, moved the wire while taut with one hand, and sprayed paint blobs on the ground with the other, thereby getting a series of spots to follow with the sections of rail fastened to ties, 10-foot lengths at a time. There is a foot-long removable section of track which allows the overhead door to close normally against the concrete floor. I considered channelling the concrete to place the track permanently below the floor surface, and decided, that would truly be insanity of modelling effort!




Correct me here if wrong thinking prevails, but if I describe in minute detail the machining work, it will bore most people here, and be of minimal value to the rest, no? So, unless advised otherwise, I will mostly give general ideas of what I'm doing. Below, one 9-inch-plus drive wheel is mounted on my rotary table, bolted down to my milling machine work surface. To the left is the vise which I hate to loosen & move; doing so requires closely re-positioning it accurately. The light-blue part visible beneath the wheel is a thin-walled curved parallel which holds the wheel up off the table, thereby allowing through-drilling, milling without hitting the table. Since the various holes in the Box-Pok, or whatever they're called, drivers, are equally-spaced around the circumference, they are easily located angularly by rotating the table the correct angle amount, and drilling at the correct distance from the center. The wheel is mounted on a center pin, indicated to be "true" with the machine spindle above, and held down by a bolt in the center. The wheel may then be removed, another "blank" plopped down, and work resumed. Some holes are round, some are rather oblong, keyhole shaped more or less, which required a bit more maneuvering using smaller end mills to cut out their shape. 






Below shows how I tilted the mill's head sidewise a bit, and using a big endmill, cut away the face of the wheel to make it's surface conical, higher in the center, with an indented step along the wheel's outer edge. I did this after the holes were all done, as drilling against an angled surface "don't work" too well. 'Course, all those holes then had "flash" and super-sharp edges remaining; you know what that means, eh?






Looking at the line drawing somewhere above in this miasma of tripe, you will see that the engine's cylinder head, or front cover, between the cross-slide and cylinder block, is _curved_! Figgerin' this ought to be duplicated, the pic below shows how I made the entire front surface of each head curved, by fastening them to a strong angle-plate bolted to the rotary table at the appropriate radial distance from center, and using a long endmill to slowly cut away the meat to get the curved face. It could be done in a lathe, perhaps more easily, but the radius was too big to allow my lathe to do it. Boy, I need a BIGGER lathe!


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## jack.39 (Dec 31, 2009)

black85vette  said:
			
		

> Jack I don't think I'm alone in saying it is you who is spoiling us!
> 
> What park of the Ozarks are you in? We make frequent trips to Eureka Springs and Springfield. Just spent a week in Harrison Arkansas and have canoed down the 11 point River from Alton, MO. Love it in that area. I can understand landing there.



This much I know: we are 200 miles from Harrison, AR! We drove down there in summer last year, bought an SUV, and drove it back here. Actually, we're about mid-way between Rolla and Poplar Bluff; the latter you may need a map for, unless familiar with this area. One cannot drive due east-west, or north-south, in the Ozarks! 

Where do you roost, considering your travels here? jack


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## black85vette (Dec 31, 2009)

jack.39  said:
			
		

> Where do you roost, considering your travels here? jack



We are near Oklahoma City but try to escape the flatlands as often as possible. ;D  Also been through Rolla a number of times driving up and down Rt 66.  I have also spent some time in Northern Arizona. My dad owned a motel in Ashfork right on old Rt 66.


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## cobra428 (Dec 31, 2009)

jack.39,
Very Nice Jack. I'm a steam loco fan myself. But the urge only hits me around Christmas. I have my Ho's of 30 years of collecting. Had a layout till the fire in the house right above the layout. The firemen really thorn it up and I need to rebuild, someday. Got my Lionel's from my childhood and my dad's Lionel's from his (1925 vintage).

That's a beauty you have there, I wish I lived closer to visit.

Tony


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## jack.39 (Dec 31, 2009)

black85vette  said:
			
		

> I have also spent some time in Northern Arizona. My dad owned a motel in Ashfork right on old Rt 66......



You don't say! My wife & I did 20 years outside of Phoenix prior to moving to the Ozarks. During the early part of that time, laid-off from work during the Reagan REcession, no job available, we lived for a year near Show Low, at 6700' altitude, up in the woods with no electric power or water. Best experience of my life! My nephew has lived in Flagstaff since mid-80s, worked at NAU, now counsels at Coconino Community College. My very first trip through that area, I-40 was incomplete, 1960s, and I recall passing through Ashfork, Seligman, Valentine, Peach Springs, I believe it was, following old Rt. 66 to Kingman- a most beautiful part of our country!

I fully understand the desire to again be amongst mountains and _real_ scenery! jack


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## jack.39 (Dec 31, 2009)

cobra428  said:
			
		

> .... Got my Lionel's from my childhood and my dad's Lionel's from his (1925 vintage).
> 
> That's a beauty you have there, I wish I lived closer to visit.
> 
> Tony



Thank you, kindly! It's only as far as you wish to travel....
My first Lionel set was a black steamer, 2-6-0, I think, maybe 4 cars, a little track, no accessories, maybe 1949 or so. A bit later, the new Santa Fe red & silver diesel came out, the folks got me that one for Christmas, then one accessory each important date: birthday, Christmas again. Over a span of years I managed to fill the basement with a fairly big permanent layout, about 12X18 feet as I recall, automatic switches, etc. The kid on the end of the block, Doctor's son, had EVERY accessory, coal loaders, log loaders, milk cans, how I lusted after his stuff and envied him; he NEVER even played with the damn things, and could not learn how to connect anything to make it work. Thay say money brings privilege, but now I see it was I who was privileged then, as I can truthfully say those Lionels taught me many of the basics of Electricity, gave me enough interest to secure as an adult, a degree in Electrical Engineering.


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## ozzie46 (Dec 31, 2009)

Very nice info on the drive wheels. Thanks. This is going to be a thread to watch.

 Ron


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## cobra428 (Dec 31, 2009)

jack.39, 
I know what you mean. My basic electrical knowage came from those trains. I knew how to hook them up when I was 6. Just wanted to play. I think it was a conspiracy by Mom and Dad to make me learn. No computers back then, that was the only game in town. I have boxes of Lionel's mark in pencil with the date of purchase, while I was still in the oven (got to love Dad's). I think I have the same set you have 2-6-2 and many other cars. I always asked Santa to bring me a car or loco for Christmas. Now my HO's have sound and digital control (NCE and Sound Trax) they cuff and you can hear the fireman shoveling the coal. boiler creek and the blow down. 

Good to have you here Jack! I'm an airplane guy but still a Trains Planes ans automobile guy!

Happy New Year to ya!

Tony


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## jack.39 (Dec 31, 2009)

Please understand that when I started this engine, we had no: computer, digital camera, and little current knowledge of the technology. Blackberries were still something we picked growing wild near our house; yum, they are good! So, all the pics posted so far, were taken with throw-away 35mm cameras, and I scanned my prints, then sized them for forum presentation, and enhanced them so they would show detail better. We did get a D. C. about 2 years ago, cheapie, which would not get in close-up; it fell off the kitchen counter about 3 months ago, and then started turning off whenever it wanted to! So, now we have a pretty good one; all future pics will be taken using the new one. However, I must apologize for the poor quality of some of the early pics, but at least you can imagine my end of this harangue- our location allows only dial-up internet service, through the local phone co. Satellite we have decided is just not within our meager budget. And, it seems, it isn't really all that fast; Hughes only GUARANTEES 108kb/sec, hell, our modem rates at half that, runs at 1/4 of that, and Hughes would cost 5 times as much! Now that you-all are bored so much the following will be ignored................

Here is a pic of the drive wheels mounted in the frames, with the side rods attached. Originally, I thought steel ground-stock would be appropriate, until it came to buying it..., I wound up using 3/8"X4" wide 6061-T651 aluminum, reasonably strong stuff, and those 2 slats are kept properly separated and aligned by 1" thick cross pieces, guess they call them "spreaders"? They are dowelled in location and later I elected to add 1/2" thick top plates which are close-fitted between the rails and spreaders, and screwed to both from the outside and through the spreaders. Sorry, I have no pics of just the frame. As stated, when this part of the project was built, I did not yet know what an Internet forum WAS, much less that I would be sticking pictures into one!

The "hornblocks" and axle boxes can be seen here. The boxes slide up & down confined within the horns by a 1/2" wide groove. I elected to use Martin Evans" suspension scheme, neglecting to incorporate equalization of springing, using individually-adjustable springs to secure even loading on drivers, thinking I could lay track good enough to get by with this. Well, it works, but sometimes rather "iffy". One's first attempt includes little knowledge of who's "expert opinion" is of true value....If someone wants to know how I "quartered" the wheels, please ask! 





Below is a main rod being "fluted" (made to look like an I-beam cross-sectioned piece). It is bolted to a post driven into the rotary table's tapered center-hole, at it's "big end", and supported out above the vise, note the feeler-gauge stack supporting it to give rigidity for milling. This scheme allowed me to move the rod angularly by rotating the table a bit, which helps, since the rod tapers in width along it's length. This saved fastening it down, loosening, moving, locating, refastening, etc.




Here's a shot which shows fairly well, before painting, the Baker Valve Gear, and other associated parts. One of the ball bearings which support and guide the valve stem can be seen peeking through the window in the guide. Those were difficult to make, one of the most intricate parts, actually, in the whole damn locomotive! Hey, if anybody is interested, please ask about drawings, I'll be glad to post my prints of any of these parts. Beware, though, I started out gung-ho and made blue-print quality reproducibles, but toward the end, there is a stack of 8-1/2X11 sketches, even of things like the steam pump!

The crosshead consists of a hunk of 6061, also fairly involved, having 4 ball bearings, you can see the 4 hex-head screws which retain the pins they ride on, out near the corners of the head. The 4 bearings ride all in a plane, in grooves 3/16" deep in the 2 bars which are seen above and below the head. So far, after some few zillions of cycles, there is not discernible play in those bearing grooves, even though they are soft. The combination lever, and the other attached to it, whatever it's called, ride also on little ball bearings.

The "dog-leg" in the eccentric rod is....sh!t, don't ask, please! (miscalculation "fix").







And, finally, the *ultimate* scrounge! Needed a small metal box, leak-tight, for oil reservoir. Sought out wife. Request made regarding maybe a spice-can? Just right! Imported Hungarian red pepper, still packaged like in the old days! Wonder WTH "SZEGED" means in Hungarian? It fastened down on top of the valve guide by little ears soldered to it's base. The cap is a flip-up plastic affair with a small hole just right for filling with a small funnel, the top actually being mostly concealed beneath the "catwalk" which ain't there yet, in the photo. The little tube feeding into the side of the smokebox carries cylinder oil to the pistons and valves. A whole story of imponderable impact lies behind the oil feed. Remind me, if I forget! For me now, it's "na ucho" after a nice cold bottle of homemade beer! See you tomorrow! jack


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## ozzie46 (Jan 1, 2010)

What is "quartering" and how is it done? The Drawings would most certainly be appreciated. Although I probably won't build in this size, it will give me an idea of what's in store for me when/if I finally give it a shot. 
  It appears that something like loco building is a long term project, even in smaller sizes, say half the size of yours.


  Ron


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## jack.39 (Jan 1, 2010)

ozzie46  said:
			
		

> What is "quartering" and how is it done? The Drawings would most certainly be appreciated. Although I probably won't build in this size, it will give me an idea of what's in store for me when/if I finally give it a shot.
> It appears that something like loco building is a long term project, even in smaller sizes, say half the size of yours.... Ron....



Ron, drive wheels on a typical steam locomotive are each rigidly fastened to their axle; this means a pair on a given axle rotate together along with their axle, always "fixed" in relation to each other with respect to angular location. In simpler words, a point on one wheel remains exactly in line with a point on the other, as they rotate together. One pair has the crankpins to which rotational force is applied by the main rods connected to the pistons in the cylinders. When a wheel is located rotation-wise such that a straight line may be drawn through the center of the main rod passing through the center of the wheel, it is termed to be on "dead center", dead meaning no matter how hard the rod pushes in either direction, it can't turn the wheel.

Now, if the 2 crankpins on opposite sides of the driven pair of wheels are in line, or 180 degrees out of line, with each other, no amount of force applied to either or both main rods could make the wheels begin to turn. If you can visualize this condition, then it will be clear that if the wheels are locked onto their axle in such position that the crankpins are 90 degrees apart rotationally from each other, the wheels are said to be "quartered". Such a condition allows that one or the other of the 2 cranks will ALWAYS be able to exert turning force to it's wheel, thereby making the wheel/crank system together "self-starting".

Quartering must be done accurately, in the case of multiple drive wheels, which virtually ALL locos have, in order that the side connecting rods be able to rotate freely as the whole bunch of wheels turn. If quartering is imperfect, the rods will "bind" and lock-up as rotation is attempted.

Yes, this type of modelling is long-term in nature, especially if the work involves not only assembly of parts, but the making of them, as well. Now, there are literally hundreds of drawings involved, which I can't possibly spend my remaining time here waiting on my computer to do it's thing, so, if you will be good enough to indicate which part(s) you might want to see drawings of, I will be glad to dig into the heap! I would say the scale chosen does not greatly affect the time involved in building; all the parts are similar, just different sizes. If the desire to be involved in this work is felt to be nagging at you inside, you're ready! jack


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## jack.39 (Jan 1, 2010)

*WARNING!* Controversial post! May provoke severe criticism.

Heavy-wall, strong steel pipe big enough for a 1/8 scale boiler was needed, but I had no clue where to "scrounge" that item! Then it dawned on me: what commonly-encountered item was actually almost perfect for this job?


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## ozzie46 (Jan 1, 2010)

Thanks for the "quartering info. That makes sense.

 Regards the drawings, didn't realize there were that many. Fair enough, when I see something that I'd like to see more of in the way a drawing I'll let you know. 

 Thanks again

 Ron


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## Powder keg (Jan 1, 2010)

Thanks for all the pictures Jack. I'll be watching the boiler build. I scrounge to.


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## jack.39 (Jan 2, 2010)

It was asked if the loco has been run yet. Yes, trial runs only, but the fact that it pulled itself along the tracks right "out of the box" was rewarding in itself! I had run it on boilers-full of air previously; those trials revealed the need for greater lateral movement capability in the drive wheels, as 50-foot curve radius proved to allow the lead wheels to "climb" the rail now and then, resulting in derailing. A story in itself, that "fix" has remedied the problem. 

I had no idea my wife took some pics from across the road, where our house sits. The next time I went to use our computer, the pic below appeared as our desktop scene, a rather pleasant surprise! I was using a bottle of propane sitting behind me on the tender as a fuel source. This of course will not be the case later on. jack


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## vlmarshall (Jan 2, 2010)

Beautiful.


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## jack.39 (Jan 2, 2010)

Vernon  said:
			
		

> Beautiful.



Aw, shucks! It stays nice here much longer than where I grew up, outside Chicago, even though we're only about 300 miles further south. The pic with steam billowing was shot in late October.

Seriously, thank you, kindly! (if you mean the loco!   ) jack


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## black85vette (Jan 2, 2010)

Most of us get really excited when our little engines puff along on our work bench. Must be a real thrill for it to pull you along behind it!

Lets see..... all I need is:

1. Some more land
2. Lots more skill and experience in the shop
3. A bunch of books and learning about locomotives and steam
4. A ton of motivation
5. A vision of the completed project
6. Persistance
7. A wife who will put up with me building a locomotive engine in the spot where she used to park.

I am sure I left something out but I know I am a long way from a project like this.


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## jack.39 (Jan 2, 2010)

*Is not an option!* Seriously, I found that if one dreams the dream long enough, somehow things can suddenly "click" together. Having been mostly a "city boy" all my life, I perceived that a chunk of land of decent size was to be forever beyond my reach. How wrong that was, took a lifetime to find out. My wife, bless her, loved Southern Missouri as a kid, visiting her Grandfolks each summer (from Indiana), so it was a natural for her to start searching the 'net for places there when I announced we had enough of the rat race.

277 acres, about 90% forested with oak, pine, sycamore, big hills locals call "mountains", crystal-clear year-round creek flowing across it, no zoning law (no building permits, regulations of any type), population density (this county) about 7 persons per square mile, the old farmhouse the wife always wanted, a pond full of fish, real secure feeling regarding crime (hardly any), property taxes *$1.00 per acre per year!* Real rural.

Downside: Got electric power (goes out often), telephone, no DSL or high-speed available, actually dial-up was not available until after we had been here about a year, no cell phone signal for a 15-mile radius. If willing to cope with this paragraph to have the one above, come join us! jack


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## hammers-n-nails (Jan 2, 2010)

jack you may find this mans videos interesting, ive watched almost if not all of them, some are better than others, and you may already know everything he talks about but may be worth having a look at. http://www.youtube.com/user/trainman4602


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## jack.39 (Jan 3, 2010)

hammers, I certainly do appreciate your input. However, I have to tell you that viewing vids is almost impossible with our dial-up service. I did try the first one; after five minutes, all I had on the screen was the opening frame showing the title, so I gave up. 

This bugs me no end, but our only alternatives would be to move, or try satellite internet. Neither of these fits our meager budget.

jack


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## hammers-n-nails (Jan 3, 2010)

oh yeah, forgot about the dial up.


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## jack.39 (Jan 3, 2010)

I quit trying to get a decent shot of the layout, with the old camera. My wife surprised me with this long shot, which at least shows the variety of curves, if not the entire thing; it's about 750 feet around.

She got a satellite view of it, not too bad, but found the software will not allow one to transport the image elsewhere. If anyone knows how to do that, please advise; I'll show it here.

Thanks for your interest. jack


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## dsquire (Jan 4, 2010)

Jack

Nice picture of your layout. If you have a satellite view then when you get it on the computer screen you can do a screen capture and save it as a .jpg file then you can handle it like any other photo file. If you need help with a screen capture let us know and either I or someone else on here can help you out.

In Windows XP this may work

1. Have image you want on screen
2. Press <Ctrl> -<Print Screen>
3.Go to blank page in word processor press <Ctrl> - <V> this will insert the image on the page. Now save the page.

Cheers 

Don
edit - Changed to ctrl V


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## AlasdairM (Jan 4, 2010)

dsquire  said:
			
		

> 1. Have image you want on screen
> 2. Press <Ctrl> -<Print Screen>
> 3.Go to blank page in word processor press <Crel> - <C> this will insert the image on the page. Now save the page.
> 
> ...



Shouldn't no. 3 perhaps be Ctrl + V and not Ctrl + C ?


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## black85vette (Jan 4, 2010)

AlasdairM  said:
			
		

> Shouldn't no. 3 perhaps be Ctrl + V and not Ctrl + C ?



Correct. Cntl + V is paste. Also you can use Paint, or other image editors to do this and then save it as a .jpg.  Oddly, there is also a way to do this in PowerPoint.


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## dsquire (Jan 4, 2010)

AlasdairM 

Your right, it should be Ctrl C V. That's what happens when you post when you should be sleeping! That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Cheers 

Don

Some days I just can't win. I hope that it now says Ctrl-V. You guys are supposed to jump all aver me when I mess up like that , especially twice on the same letter! :big: :big:


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## GWRdriver (Jan 4, 2010)

On my IBM-style keyboard there is a key on the upper right (next to Scroll Lock) marked *Print Screen*. To save a screen as a jpg I hit the Print Screen key, then I open my photo editor and do an "Insert" or "Paste" command and the screen image pops up. Then I edit and save as usual.


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## jack.39 (Jan 4, 2010)

As no one seemed upset by the pic of a big, blue, pressure cylinder being sliced into by my bandsaw, (it was a Nitrous Oxide cylinder), here's what I did with the pieces of it.

Below, the short section which resides above the firebox, on the left, and the firebox/rear tube sheet (with threaded plugs in holes). I built in sections, as this thing, remember, is a bit over 9 inches inside diameter, and the wall just under 1/4-inch thick; the parts are _heavy_! Always wondered how thick those cylinders were, I thought close to 1/2" (wrong), and what the inside surface looked like- pretty rough. Still wonder how they make them. The stuff welded real nice.









Here we have the pieces above being joined at the hip-- sitting atop my old "buzz-box", the little arc welder I have had all my working life, bought in 1964 new for $92.00, it's been overheated innumerable times till the windings smelled bad, still works, only welding machine I had up until I got a MIG welder only about 15 years ago, the yellow Trindl then was about 30!







The back face view showing the "firehole". Still wonder if it's big enough to feed coal through.......







Here's the whole gizmo hanging from the chain hoist, showing also the inside view of the firebox, which is attached to the front of the boiler shell itself. The silvery thing inside is the "pettycoat" assembly, a 2-piece set of venturis which hang down from the smokestack above, and through which blower steam or exhaust steam exit at high speed, creating a vacuum which draws the heat and combustion products through the boiler tubes from the firebox in back, up and out through the stack. The boiler is too heavy for 2 guys to pick up comfortably: herniaville visited!! Thanks for looking at my drivel! jack


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## jack.39 (Jan 9, 2010)

Forgive me for the lull in my sequence of construction, as well as the rather poor picture quality; these were from back when only 35mm action was in my repertoire.

First, the cylinder block parts, partially assembled. This consists of 9 parts in total, excluding the valve and cylinder liners. These 9 are of 6061-T651 aluminum, The plate on the right, with 2 big and 2 smaller holes, there are 2 of these, pressed onto the ends of the cylinder and valve sleeves, seen to the left, with the other plate already in place, at the bottom of the stack. In addition to the press fit, the plates are securely screwed to a wide block, about 1" thick by 3" wide. This block contains the passage which carries the exhaust steam to the center, between the cylinders, and exits upward through the exhaust nozzle stand, which screws down to the top of the block from within the smokebox. 2 smaller blocks may be seen which are screwed to the inside vertical edge of the plates, and the cross-block at top. These smaller blocks straddle the engine frames, being screwed to them from the the inside by 1/4-20 socket head capscrews.






The next view shows one of the plates being made up in the Bridgeport mill. Wherever possible, I try to design parts in such a way, given their size allows, that they may be held in the machine's vise, rather than clamped down as a workpiece often must be.






The valve and cylinder liners, of bronze, are seen in the last pic. They were at that point incomplete, as the steam ports and passages still had to be made. Again, my apologies, at the time of this work, I was still very "green", and had no idea what a forum was, or much less, it's need for good, descriptive illustrations. Thank you for your interest! In the event I missed some pertinent point, or any other questions should arise, I am always happy to answer! jack


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## Powder keg (Jan 9, 2010)

You might like this Jack?

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzVogfVxXPc[/ame]


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## Powder keg (Jan 9, 2010)

This one is worth a look also.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAgSU6BCpsY[/ame]


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## jack.39 (Jan 9, 2010)

Wes, I surely am interested in these vids! My dial-up failed to bring them up. I promise to view them when I can get to a public terminal. 

No high-speed anything here where we live, exceptin' maybe when I grab a beer............   jack


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## compressor man (May 14, 2010)

Anybody know what happened to this fellow? I was enjoying his build of one of my favorite locomotives: the mighty 4-8-4!


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## Maryak (May 14, 2010)

Chris,

There was a parting of the ways some time ago.

Best Regards
Bob


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## jack.39 (Apr 10, 2014)

compressor man said:


> Anybody know what happened to this fellow? I was enjoying his build of one of my favorite locomotives: the mighty 4-8-4!



 Jiminy Christmas! My life changed in so many ways, the forum was somehow displaced and forgotten! Our PC was destroyed in a home break-in while we wintered in a warmer clime. Evidently, the new computer stuff had no reference to this particular forum.

 I'll try to pick up where I left off! I was alerted today, by chance, of a PM written here, to me: it came from Admin!

 jack


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