A small start....

[mooseman]

Hi gents,

Been a while since I've posted here, but I've been a frequent lurker....I've been familiarising myself with basic operations in my little modified unimat 4, so I'm at least au fait with facing, turning, parting off etc.....

My first opportunity arose when I picked up this little Bowman (ca 1930) steam loco, missing its pistons and cylinders.

I decided to try and use the lathe to knock out the missing parts....first I made the cylinders by silver soldering a brass cap onto a piece of tube, and then I turned two pistons to fit - these pistons have two oil groooves, as per standard Bowman pistons. I also cut a portface block.

and after a bit of soft soldering I had

(solder still to be tidied up in this pic)

Drilled the ports using the milling slide:

and to my delight, when I mounted everything to the loc, it came to life! See this little movie:
http://s114.photobucket.com/albums/n242/odilonmarcenaro/265/?action=view&current=MVI_0817.flv

Now I know this is all extremely simple stuff, but it's my very first attempt at doing something like this, and I'm incredibly pleased it all went right first time....right now I feel pretty good about myself, what a nice feeling! Thanks to this place for giving me the courage to even start! ;D

 

[CrewCab]

Now I know this is all extremely simple stuff

No it's not, it's dam good stuff, you've bought life to inanimate lumps of metal, so it's a good thing ;D

Congratulations on a job well done :bow:

CC

 

[Brass_Machine]

It is a great feeling isn't it? I remember when my first steamer fired to life on real steam. Knocked my socks off.

Looking great! Congrats

Eric

 

[Tin Falcon]

Good going we all have to start some place.
the pistons and cylinders you have made remind me of the engine designs in the Stan Bray Book Making Simple Model Steam engines.

Walmart.com
Has it for $28 it lists for $45 it is also available used.
Happy steaming
Tin

 

[Cedge]

Moose...
No small start when it all works out like you wanted it to. Feels rather good when it does... eh?

Steve

 

[wareagle]

Well, I say that you did great. :bow: Job well done!

Trust me, what you did is not an easy accomplishment. There will be a day that something similar will come up, and you'll miss the mark. But don't fret, everyone of us makes those learning experiences (they're not mistakes). Just stop, take the deep breath, and give 'er another go.

 

[bentprop]

I think you're allowed to be proud of yourself,Mooseman.It's great to see an old object being brought back to life,rather than stuck back on the shelf,as so often happens.
It's not immediately obvious,but what size is your loco?I'm not familiar with the name.From the pics I'm guessing about gauge1.
Having done that job,you shouldn't have much trouble with engines.
Well done,that man

 

[dparker]

Mooseman: You done good!!! Reverse engineering is a art unto itself. Taking some vintage toys and rebuilding them to working order is something to be proud of. You have restored someones history and I'm sure they would be appreciative that somebody thought enough of their "toys" to bring them back into working condition.
Very nice rebuild and I am glad you took the time to show us, it was a very interesting post. Keep us posted on any more projects you find and fix up.
don

 

[mooseman]

Thanks for all those kind words gents! Like I said, if it weren't for this forum I'd never plucked up the courage to start in the first place.

Bentprop, the loco's overscale 0 gauge...kind of a gauge 1 frame on an 0 gauge chassis. Bowman made 4 locos and a range of simple stationary engines between '28 and '35. This is the 265, the second largest. I also have the large 234 (4-4-0) and the 300 (0-4-0) which is true O gauge. I'm still looking for the tiny 410, which is driven by a single oscillating engine in the cab, but they're very hard to find.

 

[Maryak]

Mooseman,

Great work

Even down to the LMS livery, was my local rail, when I was a kid in the UK, before British Rail.

Regards
Bob

 

[malcolmt]

Hey Mooseman
That's chuffing marvelous. Very well done indeed. That's a sweet little loco.

:bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:

Kind regards

Malcolm

 

[steamboatmodel]

Hi Mooseman
Great work on the train. At the end of the video you can see a model boat in the background, can you show some shots of it?
Regards,
Gerald

 

[mooseman]

Hi Mooseman
Great work on the train. At the end of the video you can see a model boat in the background, can you show some shots of it?
Regards,
Gerald

Thanks Gerald!

There are a couple of pictures in this thread:
http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=2918.msg26673#msg26673

 

[steamboatmodel]

Thanks Gerald!

There are a couple of pictures in this thread:
http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=2918.msg26673#msg26673

Thanks, found the link to your site very enjoyable.
With the Midwest Boiler I found that the Safety Valves from Wilesco fit the Filler fitting(Which is identical to a lamp shade retainer nut).
Regards,
Gerald

 

[Tin Falcon]

Mooseman :
Sorry when I posted on suggesting the Stan Bray book I did not realize you are in whales. so here is a more useful link for you and others in the UK
Stan Bray Book There price is 13.93 GBPs
You may already have a good source for books and this one should not be hard to find but may save some searching

BTW here is a Linkto a review I did on the book many moons ago.
Tin

 

[mooseman]

Gerald, thank you! On the Midwest a standard mamod SV does the trick as well.

Tin, thank you! Stan Bray's books are easily available here, in fact I have his "Model Marine Steam" book. "Simple Model Steam Engines" is on my Christmas list