The Home Machinist!

OK, I'll demonstrate my ignorance of British loco practice. Is the driver's seat on the right side of the cab or the left?

Is that copper sheet "new old stock"? In addition to the cost, I would think that would be pretty hard to find nowadays.

Bill,
Looks like a lot of fun! How fast did they run?
That's an attire you won't see often on a locomotive in the colonies, bib overalls and a tie!

Agreed that some people won't have a blueprint shop nearby. I did (fortunately) and took my 30" X 72" loco drawings to be copied, which cost about $5 each. What a bargain! And if the scale isn't right, they were willing to experiment with different reduction/enlargement at a different perc...

Mark,
Looks great! (And the right brand of beer, too.) I'm always intrigued by locomotives that started off life as a different wheel arrangement. Once I saw a L.E. 0-4-0 that was converted to a 2-10-0! The owner wanted a bigger locomotive.

Benjamin, I would suggest you find a blueprint shop (which is oriented to architectural plans) to make your copies. They will be much cheaper than one of the ubiquitous copy shops (Kinkos, etc.) for large originals. Of course, they don't really make "blue" prints anymore; it's done using t...

I used loctite to put the driver wheels on my loco but didn't have a shoulder to push against (bad planning on my part :oops: ). So I made up a couple of two-piece wooden collars which clamp onto the axle. That way I could adjust the positions of the collars until I had the correct back-to-back gaug...

Terry, Your question seems to be not with reference to a particular prototype. I think the general answer is to place the trucks as close to each end of the tender as possible without fouling the steps, footboards or drawbar on the front end, as Bill says. The reason is that the further from the end...

Another theatrical film series worth seeing is the "Hazards of Helen" episodes. Rare scenes of AT&SF steam from the mid-teens, including a 2-10-10-2.

I see the description says the lowest spindle speed is 80 rpm: I think they mean 180. My 8520 belts slip at that speed, anyone else have that trouble?

kapullen wrote:Ben,
Check out the logging railroad in the redwoods near Santa Cruz

Roaring Camp and Big Trees at Felton, great ride behind a narrow-gauge shay or heisler through a grove of enormous coastal redwoods. Felton is roughly 10-15 miles northeast of Santa Cruz.

Glenn, Very nice job that turned out well. Did you have any problems with hard spots in the backplate casting? I had a similar project to make a backplate for a 10" Bison 4-jaw chuck. Everything went OK until I bolted the chuck onto the backplate, mounted the chuck on the spindle, and turned on...

The steady rest I use on my Atlas 12 X 36 was actually made for a 10" lathe. I just made a spacer 1" thick to go under it. Obviously it is easier to adapt a steady that is too small for your lathe than one that is too large.