The Home Machinist!

Well I came up to MSLS spring this past weekend and it was a success in my book. I want to say thanks to Scott and everyone else that was there and gave me advice and helped get it out on the tracks.

It was my first time ever running any kind of locomotive so there is definitely a learning curve for me. I made a loop and a half with just a few stops to get the fire back and pressure back up. The glass for the oil reservoir developed a water leak and in an attempt to fix, the glass broke. So that kinda made the Huntington dead on the rails.

But all in all I think they day went well. And I will definitely be back and more prepared.

That's a good looking engine you have, I wish I could have seen it up close and not just from a runby. Glad you had a successful day!
Steamin

That locomotive is better looking in-person than it is in the pictures! Absolutely gorgeous locomotive and superb craftsmanship.

It sounds like you had a VERY successful outing!
For the future I would suggest that you pick up a few spares of the glass tubes used on the lubricator and water glass. This way should an accident happen, and they do from time to time, you can get running. It also never hurts to have some spare graphited string packing and “O” rings of the sizes used on your engine.
Keith

Sounds like somebody has accidentally whacked a glass with a shovel or poker...

Big trick is getting in to shut off the feeds when the water glass lets go. Need asbestos gloves

I don’t think I hit the glass. On the second run I noticed I lost a lot of water quickly then saw water pouring out the bottom of this glass. Went to take about to check the rubber o rings and it shattered. I took some measurements best I could with a caliper and ordered a 12” piece of glass and a cutter to try to replace. ID and OD both matter because it has a brass “plunger” to push the oil under steam pressure. Hope I got the right size

I was taking a jab at Keith...not you

All of us smaller scale folks have been through the broken glass brigade..

Cutting and getting glass to a specific length. And square can take some learning..I usually cut then end up chucking into a drill press or lathe chuck and running against emery cloth to square up.

And in fact....yes, the old shovel into the gauge glass gremlin had bitten me!


Keith

Oooh the drill press might be a good trick! Thanks for that info

Pontiacguy1 wrote: ↑Tue May 04, 2021 11:19 am That locomotive is better looking in-person than it is in the pictures! Absolutely gorgeous locomotive and superb craftsmanship.20210501_112628b.jpg

Thanks Scott! You were a huge help that day. I need to make some more practice runs and get the grades under my belt. I didn’t notice the section coming into the yard was downgrade and started coming in too fast haha.

Mjordan wrote: ↑Tue May 04, 2021 6:34 pm Oooh the drill press might be a good trick! Thanks for that info

I wrap the glass in masking tape and lightly chuck.

Piece of wood under emery cloth and lightly push down.

After square and to length...hit with a torch to finish it off...like a glass blower.

A caution on pressure gauge glasses, used for water or hydrostatic oilers like yours:
They erode with age and use and require periodic replacement!
I consider this replacement to be Scheduled Periodic Maintenance, especially for the safety of the operators.
It is also considered REQUIRED maintenance for regulated steam operations in the USA.

As a result, last year I replaced the gauge glasses and seals in several steam machines (mine and in a local museum) as preventative maintenance.
And the water gauge in my Ten wheeler really needed servicing: The Viton o-ring seals had become hard and leaky.
Now they are all tight and renewed, including the glasses themselves which had tiny crazing marks in their surfaces. Careful inspections revealed this damage.

I recommend this servicing to be expected with any steam machines we acquire.
Always replace the gauge glasses and seals with new ones before your first steam up.
RussN