Second Reconstruction of the Mongrel 2-6-0 "Emma"

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JBodenmann
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Location: Tehachapi, California

Re: Second Reconstruction of the Mongrel 2-6-0 "Emma"

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
What Andy had here is the classic "Can O' Worms"...rust never sleeps.
Jack
Berkman
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Re: Second Reconstruction of the Mongrel 2-6-0 "Emma"

Post by Berkman »

It would be sort of like what the N&W did with their M class and W class locomotives.
I'm surprised no one has built an N&W M or M2 4-8-0. A very unique locomotive.


Great work on the tender though! Would be hard to make a welded SS tank insert with that shape of tender.
Pontiacguy1
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Re: Second Reconstruction of the Mongrel 2-6-0 "Emma"

Post by Pontiacguy1 »

I'm surprised no one has built an N&W M or M2 4-8-0. A very unique locomotive.
I believe that someone up in the Ohio region has done so, although I've never seen one myself. I am also planning a future 4-8-0 build. It will look a lot like the N&W 4-8-0 M-class, but won't be an exact model. I intend to use a set of cylinder that I have that were originally designed to be like the Miller Backyard Railroad 4-4-0 cylinders, and they are large and have the piston valve inboard of the main cylinder bore, like the M-class did. That's what I hope to build, although the saddle will have to be dummied up some to make it look more correct. My buddy has made drawings for the M class drivers and lead truck wheels from drawings that I got from the N&W preservation group, I just need to get patterns cut and/or printed, and some drivers cast. Was going to use these same drivers for the consolidation that I talked about earlier.

Bringing it back around: Now that I look closely, those drive wheels do look different, especially the front and rear axle where the counterweights are pretty small. The center one is pretty close to the LE 0-4-0/0-6-0 light counterweight driver, with 13 spokes, but those end ones are definitely unique. I like it a lot. I do wish that people would preserve patterns better... probably most get tossed out by people who don't know what they are or how much work went into making them.
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NP317
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Re: Second Reconstruction of the Mongrel 2-6-0 "Emma"

Post by NP317 »

There is a 4-8-0 under construction in the Portland, OR, area, based on the Allen 4-6-0.
It will be pretty nice! It is being designed and constructed by a very talented builder.
I'm not sure where this new locomotive is sequenced in his shop full of locos.
RussN
Andy R
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A few changes to "Emma" - First reconstruction

Post by Andy R »

As mentioned in an earlier post, brakes were repaired on the tender, and a means of actuating them was sought.
I found a number of helpful posts and followed the schematic of "Phil's Real Brakes System" which used Clippard fittings.
An air tank and the Clippard valves fit inside the tool boxes that Dutch had included on the Vanderbilt tender.
I bought Barry Hague's air compressor setup with valves that he had used to demonstrate his proposed bell ringer, and set it up so that a conductor in a following car (a gondola later purchased) could actuate. ( It really worked well. )

I also changed Dutch's headlight for another, that included a 12V lamp that Gordon had intended to add.
6V marker lamps filled in the rest of the bow modifications:
IMG_1473.jpg
And i added a backup lamp at the stern of the tender:
IMG_1615.jpg
Unfortunately i pushed backward on the seat and busted it off!
Andy R
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Ready for hydrotesting and steamup ... after 15+ years

Post by Andy R »

Here's what Emma looked like ready for hydrotesting and steamup ... after 15+ years of disassembly:
IMG_1620.jpg
She looks substantially like she did out of Dutch's shop, with the exception of the items previously described.

Eagle eyes might notice that the locomotive stand has since been substantially reinforced.
Andy R
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First steamup (in my back yard)

Post by Andy R »

Well, the expectations were high.
The hydrotest (using the hand pump) appeared to be successful, but it was a cool and (uncharacteristically for So, Calif.) drizzly day.
Upon steamup, a leak was found on the steam dome:
IMG_1622.jpg
Dutch fabricated the steam dome from standard pipe fittings, and the threaded nipple was emitting a whisp of steam.

Drat.

I did not want to have to disassemble the locomotive again.

Luckily MikeyG (see his Falk in Live Steam Magazine) volunteered to weld the dome, so into the truck went Emma, and Mike welded it all around, with the boiler enveloped in wet blankets to absorb any spatter. As i recall (dimly) he used 6010 or 6011 rod for filler.

Time to try it on the track.
Andy R
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First Run of First Reconstruction of the Mongrel 2-6-0 "Emma"

Post by Andy R »

On a day that nobody else was at the track, MikeyG and I trucked Emma to the steaming bays, hydrotested her (again) and steamed up.
I was smiling - Really!
IMG_1632.jpg
On the track it seemed like the axle pump was not working properly.

Mike ran her while i walked next to her - there was an overtightened (as it turned out) brass fitting on the delivery side, so the fire was dropped and we congratulated ourselves on the successful shakedown cruise.

That axle pump was a source of vexation over the next few years, about which I will eventually write.
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JBodenmann
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Re: Second Reconstruction of the Mongrel 2-6-0 "Emma"

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
Nice job Andy. Has it been 15 years? Time does slip away doesn't it.
Jack
Andy R
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Axle pump was a problem

Post by Andy R »

Hi Jack, Yes, Emma was out of service for 15 years … and more later as you so well know.

I mentioned in an earlier post that that axle pump on Emma was a source of vexation over the next few years, and it certainly was.

I was so used to running with just an axle pump (on my 3.5-inch gauge steamers) that it was a pleasure to run Emma on just the axle pump too. Dutch made an axle pump that had a larger ram than the Allen Models locos, and it provided much more water than needed. I ran with the bypass cracked open and still had too much water sometimes. It seemed very reliable, but during a meet, it seized up solid. The loco would not roll. I was on the ground trying to drive out a pin to allow the loco to be rolled to a siding with a club member (diesel owner) screaming at me to clear the track. Oh what fun memories! I restored the pump to operation to fail, once again, during another meet. Enough was enough, and I removed it and acquired one of Barry Hague's Superscale economy injectors. At the same time I removed the handpump (hidden in the cab) - just wishful thinking when operating it to put water in the boiler anyway.

The Superscale injector mounted on the port side worked flawlessly - just like the Ohlencamp injector mounted on the port side. Both injectors will pick up at 40psi - a real treat. When running with just two ways to get water in the boiler, the reliability of those was comforting.
Berkman
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Re: Second Reconstruction of the Mongrel 2-6-0 "Emma"

Post by Berkman »

I've had mixed experiences with axles pumps, I've been around some engines that have had issues then others that have operated since the 70s with zero axle pump problems.

Axles pumps are nice for guest engineers such as a friend or family member that isn't as versed at injector operation. Then of course some have put in smokebox preheater loops as a simple FWH using axle and/or steam water pump.
Andy R
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Joined: Wed Sep 26, 2007 2:18 pm
Location: So. Calif.

More about axle pump

Post by Andy R »

The Ohlencamp injector is mounted on the starboard side...if i could only read what I type.

Berkman, Thanks for your comment. The failures were likely caused by an out-of-plane eccentricity - not noticed until disassembled. The eccentric itself was well worn, and a flange was broken (again - unnoticed) on the eccentric, possibly during a long ago derailment. I also suspect that the attachment of the body of the pump to the smokebox base was not sufficiently rigid. I've since given the eccentric follower and the pump to a friend who is building a Gene Allen American.
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