1949 Reading Steam Freight Locomotive

[PATCH3198]

Bret I know what you mean by taking a short cut I did that once and ended up getting married

[Handyjack]

Looking good.
At this moment I bet you are glad you are not making a 'Mallet', but then again with a production line system it would not take much longer to "turn" out twice as many wheels.

My preferred scale is 12" = 1 foot.

[bj383ss]

Wow Patch what was the none shortcut!

Well made a few more parts today. The wife is recovering from back surgery she had Wednesday so I am on Family patrol. Still got to work about 3 hours in the shop today in between chores and request.

I made the side rods for the left side.
Attachment 208995
Rear and front go on first and then the middle rod.
Attachment 208996Attachment 208997

Then I made the piston rod and the washers that go between the rods.The piston rod goes on the #2 driver which has the bigger counter weight.
Attachment 208998Attachment 208999

I also made the cylinder valve chest for the left side. Using a dado blade for the groove, router to roundover and then cut it out on the bandsaw.
Attachment 209000Attachment 209001Attachment 209002

I found some really cool phot0s of of engine #2100, #2124, & #2124. There are only 4 of these beast in existence today. This model is pretty accurate I think
Attachment 209003Attachment 209004Attachment 209004

Attachment 209005Attachment 209006Attachment 209007

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Bret

[bobman 58]

hi bret thats going to look pretty impressive when finished

[bj383ss]

Handyjack,

I looked up a mallet train. Good God they are twice as long as this train. The one I was looking was a 4-10-10-4. Thats alot of wheels and side rods to make! I have a really cool train book and it has the Union Pacifics "Big Boy" which was the longest steam train in the world. 133ft. If I built that in "O" gauge it would be almost 7ft long!

Bret

[bj383ss]

Worked on the train for about 3 hours today here is what I got done.

I made all the parts for Chest/Slide/Crosshead for both sides.

Attachment 209608

Slide and crosshead glued up
Attachment 209609Attachment 209610
Attachment 209611Attachment 209615

The assembly mocked up on the train. Yeah everything lines up!
Attachment 209612Attachment 209613Attachment 209614

I also remade all of the cab parts except the sides. Ran out of time. The new cab looks much better though its hard to tell any difference in the phots. The roof is in line with the steam turret cover like it is suppose to be.
Attachment 209616Attachment 209617
Attachment 209618Attachment 209619

Here is a photo of the old roof you can see it is sitting about a 1/4" lower and where the cab windows have real bad tearout.
Attachment 209620

I also started a little experiment thanks to Jim.
Attachment 209621Attachment 209622

Thats it for now.

Bret

[bj383ss]

Made a bunch of parts for the boiler wanted to make them all but ran out of time. Was a nice quite evening in the shop the boys are staying overnight with Grandma and Poppa. I still miss them though.

Stack and Dome
Attachment 209718

Steam Generator, Check Valve and Breather
Attachment 209719

The top is getting busy with parts.
Attachment 209720Attachment 209721Attachment 209722

Next up the hand rails and the front of the boiler.

Bret

P.S. sorry for the crappy photos had to use my Iphone. Some borrowed the camera.

[crowie]

Made a bunch of parts for the boiler wanted to make them all but ran out of time. Was a nice quite evening in the shop the boys are staying overnight with Grandma and Poppa. I still miss them though.

Stack and Dome
Attachment 209718

Steam Generator, Check Valve and Breather
Attachment 209719

The top is getting busy with parts.
Attachment 209720Attachment 209721Attachment 209722

Next up the hand rails and the front of the boiler.

Bret

P.S. sorry for the crappy photos had to use my Iphone. Some borrowed the camera.

Yes Bret so much down to my standard now.....the photos that is.....lol...
The photos are okay, they show what you're doing and how it all fits together.
THANK YOU.....and well done, keep up the good work.
Cheers, crowie

[bobman 58]

its really taking shape now bret i just wondered how many carriages will you be making will you be making the three additional carriages

[bj383ss]

Thanks Crowie. Had fun with that one huh.

Bob I do want to make the train cars. The gondola and caboose from Gatto. But I don't want to make the passenger car too many seats to make. Instead I want to buid a boxcar from scratch. This will be at a later date though. As soon as I am done with the train I am going to start on a 32 deuce Hot rod built from scratch.

Bret

[crowie]

Thanks Crowie. Had fun with that one huh.

Bob I do want to make the train cars. The gondola and caboose from Gatto. But I don't want to make the passenger car too many seats to make. Instead I want to buid a boxcar from scratch. This will be at a later date though. As soon as I am done with the train I am going to start on a 32 deuce Hot rod built from scratch.

Bret

Just wanting to remind all that this toymaking is for fun and relaxation.....Enjoy....
I just love the detailed notes & photos, thank you..

[Hermit]

Hey Bret. I'm along for the ride too, now.
Been so busy checking out cars that I hadn't visited this thread before.
What a massive task.
You're doing well. Keep up the good work.

Let us know how your ebonising tests go, too. (What timbers?)

[bj383ss]

Thank You Steve. Haven't done anything with the ebonizing yet. But I plan to use Walnut. I want to use it on the tires for the 32' deuce

Only worked about an hour today. The boys wanted to go see their Grandad (and Grandmother). I made the front boiler plate, the rivets, the light and the number plate.

My dad gave me some new 1/4" tooling HSS stock for my lathe. He also showed me the correct way to grind and what reliefs should look like. He has been a machinist (manual lathes) for the past 40+ years. He also showed me how to adjust my crossvise. I have been getting about a 10/1000th in. taper over a length of 3" when trying to make doweling. It is now only 2/1000th in. tolerance which is more acceptable.
Attachment 209965Attachment 209966

Boiler plate
Attachment 209960

Mocked up on the front.
Attachment 209961Attachment 209962Attachment 209964

Bret

[crowie]

Thank You Steve. Haven't done anything with the ebonizing yet. But I plan to use Walnut. I want to use it on the tires for the 32' deuce

Only worked about an hour today. The boys wanted to go see their Grandad (and Grandmother). I made the front boiler plate, the rivets, the light and the number plate.

My dad gave me some new 1/4" tooling HSS stock for my lathe. He also showed me the correct way to grind and what reliefs should look like. He has been a machinist (manual lathes) for the past 40+ years. He also showed me how to adjust my crossvise. I have been getting about a 10/1000th in. taper over a length of 3" when trying to make doweling. It is now only 2/1000th in. tolerance which is more acceptable.
Attachment 209965Attachment 209966

Boiler plate
Attachment 209960

Mocked up on the front.
Attachment 209961Attachment 209962Attachment 209964

Bret

G'Day Bret, Wow it's certainly coming along.
You brought back some awful memories of having to shape & sharpen all manner of tool steel while doing my navy artificer-ship....yuk.
Cheers, crowie

[Hermit]

Thank You Steve. Haven't done anything with the ebonizing yet. But I plan to use Walnut. I want to use it on the tires for the 32' deuce

Loving this build.

Just wanted to say, with regard to ebonising, when you have the shade you want, it's a good idea to moisten or wet with baking soda solution and let it soak in to neutralise the acid, then a rinse off with tap water.
To reduce the grain lifting, wipe with a sponge after sanding but before ebonising, to lift the grain, then sand lightly again and into the solution. Like with stain, you can sand lightly afterwards, but not too heavily, so get things as good as possible first, to minimise the risk of sanding through.

Keep up the great work.