Friends models hudson

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Bill Shields
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Re: Friends models hudson

Post by Bill Shields »

My Hudson's castings came from Jim Stuart

He had been given them in the 1950's by a Barney Barnfarther (excuse the bad spelling) who was never going to build it. I assume around the time of PVLS founding since Jim moved from the area shortly after that.

The castings we're (are) quite rough and required a lot of remedial work. Some could not be used and required fabrications as at the time the owner of Yankee shop was not delivering castings.

Advice on building

Combustion chamber in the boiler is impractical..eliminate it.

Working brakes are also useless. I built the brakes..including the assisting cylinder set...then locked them in place in a retracted position.
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
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Bill Shields
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Re: Friends models hudson

Post by Bill Shields »

all of which does not mean that a running loco cannot be built...just takes a bit longer.

These photos from early 1980, so they are scans of slides:

One thing: forget the rockers on the back of the trailing truck...all they do is fall out.

I put rollers in as you can see in the photo.
finished hudson002 small.jpg
rockers modified as rollers.jpg
finished hudson001-small.jpg
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Pontiacguy1
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Re: Friends models hudson

Post by Pontiacguy1 »

Dang, that's pretty. Almost looks like you knew what you were doing!
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Bill Shields
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Re: Friends models hudson

Post by Bill Shields »

There was a time...
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FKreider
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Re: Friends models hudson

Post by FKreider »

Very nice looking engine Bill.
-Frank K.
Jordanleeds
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Re: Friends models hudson

Post by Jordanleeds »

That's incredible they are very nice engines and bill yours looks ideal. I had already drawn that the Galloway tubes and thermic syphon are complications that are unneeded and fitting an arch plate in would be a much better solution to lengthen the flame path. I have to sit down and do the calculations for the boiler as the first job anyway as I have my suspicions that our rules over here may not work with the design . Has anyone got a scanned copy of the drawing at all ?

The brake cylinder is fitted and piped up but will.follow your advice .

Regards
Jordan
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gwrdriver
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Re: Friends models hudson

Post by gwrdriver »

My understanding is there are qualifications beyond the basic design which need to be met to have a certifiable boiler in the UK. If you haven't already, the first recommendation is always to contact the nearest club or model engineering society. Most clubs will have someone who will be up to date on the latest regulations or at least point you in the right direction. Surely one of our members in the UK will give us a better idea of what's required.
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Bill Shields
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Re: Friends models hudson

Post by Bill Shields »

As GWR driver said ..work to the specs.

Outer dimensions are all that is needed to fit the frame. Boiler is covered with so much stuff that it really matters not beyond fitting on the frame

My loco runs on propane...so the boiler geometry is very different than NYCRR design ...but you would never know it
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gwrdriver
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Re: Friends models hudson

Post by gwrdriver »

No, that's not what I said . . . I said seek information and guidance first before you do anything else. There are insurance-driven requirements for certifying UK boilers which are to be steamed in "public" and IIRC anything other than the privacy of your own back garden would be "public".

What Bill has implied, which I agree with, is that none of the UK requirements should prevent you ending up with a boiler which fits within the locomotive's boiler "envelope."
GWRdriver
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James Powell
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Re: Friends models hudson

Post by James Powell »

So, while we had a Hoffman Hudson, rather than a Friends one, the combustion chamber...

I have a Britannia with a commercially made boiler, with combustion chamber. It's a delight to fire. It will burn the best part of anything, and make steam with it. (Bishop's made the boiler, in 1979)

The Hudson had a huge firebox (22 sq inches, IIRC, 4x5" or so...). It would burn most things, but it really had too much grate area for the tube area. The fire would burn, but sluggish in places. I think a slightly smaller grate would have made a better steaming engine, but with the excess of grate area, it was a fantastic free steaming engine, because you didn't have to force the fire ever. Tube length is _critical_ to that though, as it had 9/16 OD tubes (I think...) rather than 1/2 OD tubes. L/D matters quite a lot more than it might seem it should with regards to free steaming. I suspect that a combustion chamber berift of any gizmo's in a model will work almost as well as one with syphons would- it's the reduction in L/D of the firetubes which matters most. (followed by the longer flame path).

So, if I was reverse engineering to have built or build a boiler for a Hudson, I'd be looking very hard at how long the tubes are.

Overall, I think that there is a lot less room for error in small boilers than in big ones, and in 3.5", a Hudson boiler is a fairly big boiler.

Are you thinking copper or steel?
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Bill Shields
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Re: Friends models hudson

Post by Bill Shields »

Actually ..building to private spec (or lack thereof) can come back and bite you in the future if you want to sell and the potential buyer sees something that he cannot run on a club track.

That and having a non spec boiler running in a private track and should someone get injured because of a boiler problem can cause no end of nightmares..at least in this country.

I would shudder at 9/16 tubes in a 3/4" or 1" loco

I personally have a lot of good experience with 7/16 OD tubes in that scale burning anthracite in 5x5 fireboxes

I would not recommend steel construction for this even though mine is steel. Not enough allowance for corrosion and water leg space.
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Berkman
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Re: Friends models hudson

Post by Berkman »

I can't imagine anything other than a 1.5 scale big boy or something would "need" a combustion chamber due to the l/d ratio.

I'd think basically everything else would top that as an influence on the steaming ability of the locomotive. Could be front end setup, air flow through ash pan/grates, etc
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