The Home Machinist!

Do you have a postable photo? I may be interested in 1 or 2.

I got started in 7 1/2" back in 1978 on Bruce Hamilton's private railroad. It's 1800 feet long on a hilly piece of ground bordering a state park. And it's gorgeous!. 4% grades and 60' minimum radius. Our club track in Baltimore is 7 1/2" and there are also at least 3 tracks in Pennsylvania...

Another nice looking track that's the wrong gauge for me! The write up in the current LIVE STEAM is the other. You have a right to be proud!!
My brother and I are kicking around the idea of building a track on our parents' 10 acres. Any body in northeastern Md? Southern Pa.?

I think my problem started when I left the tank full over night in Altoona. No problems until this past weekend. I'm concerned that a sheet glued in would not adhere too well and I am worried about coverage with the sloshing around method. The tank is relatively heavy as the bottom is 3/16" thi...

If you could scale down a Mountain Car flat, it might work for you. I have a set of prints for one of those. Precision Steel Car(?) has a nice looking car in 1 1/2 scale. Maybe it could be scaled down.

And a pickup bed doesn't twist?

I have a welded steel tender tank on my locomotive. I built welded it from hot rolled steel sheet before I really got going building the locomotive. Because, I wanted to be able to run without resorting to a flatcar and a bucket for my water. The tank was built in a shop that I worked in that used a...

You wouldn't remove the manifold itself. Just the units are removable. That's why there is a removable cover over the throttle assembly on smokebox throttle equipped locos. It makes for easy access to the bolts holding the superheater units and the throttle valves. On dome throttled locomotives; I b...

Full size locomotives use one pipe per unit. The pipe exits from the superheater header and goes down the given flue. Where it goes through what is known as a return bend. The pipe then returns to the smokebox and goes through another return bend. It then goes back to the firebox and goes through ye...

I got into this hobby because I think that it's in my blood. My grandfather was a mechanical engineering professor at Johns Hopkins University until the 1950's. My mom told us stories about him taking her and her sisters down to the old Maryland and Pennsylvania RR tracks to watch the steam engines ...

I'm sure you all have seen the picture on the Little Engies website.....Of the 3/4" scale engine (looks like a switcher) hauling the operator and the large man on the flatcar behind it. There was a guy like that in the club here in Baltimore years ago who had a Lil' Gasser. He complained about ...

I use aluminum bronze for anything that would take alot of wear. Like axle pump cylinders. It's tough but machines ok. Don't use tools ground for brass. They won't touch it! I happened to work in a machine shop several years ago that did alot of submarine work for the Navy and have a good supply of ...