90-Ton 2-8-2 Build, 1.5"/ft. Scale, 7.5" Gauge

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all10wheels
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Joined: Tue Jul 16, 2019 10:19 pm
Location: Ridgefield, WA

Re: 90-Ton 2-8-2 Build, 1.5"/ft. Scale, 7.5" Gauge

Post by all10wheels »

Absolutely stunning work Russ!
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NP317
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Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2014 2:57 pm
Location: Northern Oregon, USA

Re: 90-Ton 2-8-2 Build, 1.5"/ft. Scale, 7.5" Gauge

Post by NP317 »

Thank you, all10wheels.
A very rewarding project.
And Thank you to the other craftsmen here who have spurred me on.
RussN
Brian Hilgert
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Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2013 8:35 am
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: 90-Ton 2-8-2 Build, 1.5"/ft. Scale, 7.5" Gauge

Post by Brian Hilgert »

BEAUTIFUL!
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Greg_Lewis
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Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2003 2:44 pm
Location: Fresno, CA

Re: 90-Ton 2-8-2 Build, 1.5"/ft. Scale, 7.5" Gauge

Post by Greg_Lewis »

​​​​​​​! ! !

Gorgeous!
Greg Lewis, Prop.
Eyeball Engineering — Home of the dull toolbit.
Our motto: "That looks about right."
Celebrating 35 years of turning perfectly good metal into bits of useless scrap.
rkcarguy
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Location: Wa State

Re: 90-Ton 2-8-2 Build, 1.5"/ft. Scale, 7.5" Gauge

Post by rkcarguy »

It looks great Russ! Can't wait to see some video when you can finally get out and stretch her legs a bit.
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NP317
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Location: Northern Oregon, USA

Re: 90-Ton 2-8-2 Build, 1.5"/ft. Scale, 7.5" Gauge

Post by NP317 »

Thanks All for your compliments and inspiration.
I also look forward to operations. Little legs with steel tires though. I want to try hauling some serious loads!
For the sharp-eyed observers: Yes, I still have some non-functional plumbing to add.
I'll get to that.
RussN
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NP317
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Re: 90-Ton 2-8-2 Build, 1.5"/ft. Scale, 7.5" Gauge

Post by NP317 »

Another detail: A place to park my butt!

I could not use my Butt Cushion from my Ten wheeler on this Mikado, because the oil bunker presents a whole new set of circumstances.
So I built a raised Dias to put the cushion on, which straddles the oil bunker and its details.

I used 3/8" thick furniture grade plywood, 1" x 1" x 1/8" aluminum angle, SS bolts, glue and some drywall screws.
Made two sides and secured them well to the top seat. Even I won't be able to collapse them...
Added 4 indexing pins through the top seat to keep the seat pad (which has a plywood bottom) from sliding off.
Those high speed curves can play havoc with the Engineer's Butt Security.
Pics to illustrate the final results.

I'm looking forward to sitting on it (securely) and engineering my Mikado.
RussN
Seat 1 sml.JPG
Seat 2 sml.JPG
Seat 3 sml.JPG
Berkman
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Re: 90-Ton 2-8-2 Build, 1.5"/ft. Scale, 7.5" Gauge

Post by Berkman »

looks great! So what's the next engine you are going to build?
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NP317
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Location: Northern Oregon, USA

Re: 90-Ton 2-8-2 Build, 1.5"/ft. Scale, 7.5" Gauge

Post by NP317 »

Funny Berkman! Thanks, tho.

I do not have another locomotive on my task list.
A promise I made to myself 6 years ago: Do not acquire additional projects to do. Work on what I already have.

So with that in mind, I have a small 2-cylinder compound steam marine engine to build, capable of moving a small (<20 ft.) boat.
It (Reeve's Commander) requires some design changes to make it actually functional. An interesting story discovered by others who built it "to the prints."

And a very detailed scale R/C Sopwith Camel kit, rare and no longer available.

So who knows what I will actually do.
Our steam launch is ready for tests in the water, when the local marina reopens.
The new Mikado #90 is beckoning for track rights as soon as possible. And I have some more cosmetic detailing to do on it.
And I want to rebuild the valve gear of my Ten Wheeler, after 15 years of delightful running.

Plenty more to do. I turned 70 last week and feel it.
RussN
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NP317
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Location: Northern Oregon, USA

Re: 90-Ton 2-8-2 Build, 1.5"/ft. Scale, 7.5" Gauge

Post by NP317 »

Time to begin the last major detail for my Mikado: Sander valves to mount on the sand domes.

RWilliams graciously sent me photos of the prototypes he has access to. Thank you Robert!
Most of those photos have a tape measure in appropriate positions so I can scale the valves nicely.

They are interchangeable pneumatic valves used on many makes of small locomotives, and can be found on most surviving logging locomotives.
In the pics below you can see that they are two castings: One to mount to the dome and the other that bolts to the first one, and can be turned around for mounting right or left, as needed. They may be "King" brand valves. Please educate me if you can.
SanderV 1 sml.JPG
SanderV 5 sml.JPG
Sanders 4 sml.JPG
In my ideal world I would get someone to make CAD drawings of these so they can be printed and/or cast. But that has not panned out and I am not set up to do CAD work, both mentally and computerly. :roll:

So I plan on fabricating reasonable non-working facsimiles of the valves. "Stand-off" scale, not Boderman scale. (sigh)
More to follow.
RussN
Last edited by NP317 on Mon May 18, 2020 12:51 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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NP317
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Re: 90-Ton 2-8-2 Build, 1.5"/ft. Scale, 7.5" Gauge

Post by NP317 »

To begin fabricating the sander valves I decided to make them from one piece and not two bolt-together parts per prototype.

First question:
Do any of you readers know of 1.5" scale castings for these valves? There are other types of cast sander valves available but not these designs.

So I started by scaling some sketches to work from.
Then milled up a bar of brass 1/2" x 1/4" from which to fabricate the 4 main bodies.
Sander build 1 sml.jpg
Them I drilled and tapped the mounting holes in the sand domes. Because I could not remove the finished hand rails, I had a challenge using the tap. A quick fabrication of a finger-wrench, and it all worked perfectly.
Sander build 4 sml.jpg
The valve bodies are held by just one bolt (3 on the prototype) which is fine on the model. The milled curved angled mating surface causes the valve to register in just one, correct position.
Sander build 5 sml.jpg
To make the bolted-on "lids" (replaceable in full size when they wear from the flowing sand) I milled another rectangular brass bar, milled 1/8" slots in both sides, and silver-brazed both rods into the slots to simulate the cast bolt location.
Sander build 2 sml.jpg
To hold both rods in the slots while brazing them I cleaned and fluxed everything, placed some thin wire silver solder into the top crevices of the rods, and wedged them together between two fire bricks. This held it all together while I heated the parts from below. It worked nicely, drawing the silver down through the slots. That brazed assembly is pickling right now.
Sander build 3 smll.jpg
I intend to sculpt 4 of the "lid" assemblies and soft solder them to the main body parts already made.
That's coming next. Sometime...
RussN
Rwilliams
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Location: Central California

Re: 90-Ton 2-8-2 Build, 1.5"/ft. Scale, 7.5" Gauge

Post by Rwilliams »

Russ,

Looking very nice. I wondered when we were going to see the sander valve presentation appear.

This is an area of detail often neglected and one that really kicks up the final presentation.

Robert
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