Steam railroading to return to Alaska!

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Dick_Morris
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Re: Steam railroading to return to Alaska!

Post by Dick_Morris »

Another photo from today by Terry Douglas captures both the engine and tender. The building is way too small to get a good side elevation.
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Dick_Morris
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Re: Steam railroading to return to Alaska!

Post by Dick_Morris »

I paid a visit to Wasilla today. Almost all of my volunteer work (book keeping, grant writing/fund raising, and publicity) is done from home. Avoiding covid, the 100 mile round trip, and some health issues have kept me away for about six months, I had to see what 557 looked like in person with the wheels on and the tender pushed up against her. Take my word for it, she looks awesome.
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Patio
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Re: Steam railroading to return to Alaska!

Post by Patio »

Like! Because there is no button. :)
Live for the moment!
Prepare for tomorrow!
Forgive the past!
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Dick_Morris
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Re: Steam railroading to return to Alaska!

Post by Dick_Morris »

The latest 557 status report is posted at https://www.alaskarails.org/pix/former- ... index.html
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NP317
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Re: Steam railroading to return to Alaska!

Post by NP317 »

Wonderful progress!
RussN
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Dick_Morris
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Re: Steam railroading to return to Alaska!

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A new monthly status report It has been posted at https://www.alaskarails.org/pix/former- ... index.html

While the rest on of the crew has been doing hands-on work on the locomotive, I have been working from home and my free time for my personal modeling was again commandeered for building full sized locomotive parts.

We needed three more 3" diameter Pyle National 32v DC electrical plugs for the cab and none could be found. Lacking a source for OEM items I decided to fabricate a few.

The originals are in the upper left and left of the photos. The original case is die cast aluminum, but the replacements were sand cast. I tried several times to use the original as a pattern, but the lack of draft prevented it. Then I made a 3D printed pattern, which did the job. I didn't see any future in bending the contacts from 1/16" brass as was done on the original so the new ones were 3D printed in castable resin and investment cast in bronze. The replica insulators were 3D printed using a resin that will withstand 320 degrees, higher than the original Bakelite.

I hadn't done single point threading on a lathe for a long time and I don't think I ever single point threaded an external or internal thread to a shoulder. It was a slow process, but no crashes, life is good! Being able to slow the lathe way down with a VFD made it a lot less stressful.

If I were to do it again, the cases would be 3D printed and investment cast . It would have been more work and cost more for supplies. but multiple set ups and a number of hours of machine work would have decreased to a single 1" - 14 tpi thread and two holes drilled and tapped 6-32.
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Last edited by Dick_Morris on Fri Jun 10, 2022 7:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Fender
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Re: Steam railroading to return to Alaska!

Post by Fender »

Speaking of Pyle National electrical covers, here’s what a friend repurposed as the tender water hatch on his live steam loco. 😁
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Dan Watson
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NP317
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Re: Steam railroading to return to Alaska!

Post by NP317 »

A good place to store those electrons...
RussN
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Dick_Morris
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Re: Steam railroading to return to Alaska!

Post by Dick_Morris »

Fender - did you open the hatch to make sure it it wasn't the charging port for an electric locomotive?
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Fender
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Re: Steam railroading to return to Alaska!

Post by Fender »

Dick_Morris wrote: Thu Jun 02, 2022 11:35 am Fender - did you open the hatch to make sure it it wasn't the charging port for an electric locomotive?
That’s what it looks like, but there’s only water in there!
Dan Watson
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Dick_Morris
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Re: Steam railroading to return to Alaska!

Post by Dick_Morris »

The most recent status report is posted at https://www.alaskarails.org/pix/former- ... index.html

Jack isn't the only one who uses CAD (cardboard assisted design.)
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Last edited by rmac on Fri Jul 01, 2022 7:46 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Undo Previous (Incorrect) Fix
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Dick_Morris
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Re: Steam railroading to return to Alaska!

Post by Dick_Morris »

The link to the July status report is posted at https://www.alaskarails.org/pix/former- ... index.html.

It's surprising that just when a need arises, the solution walks through the door. Last month a new visitor took the Engine House tour. When we learned he was a sheet metal craftsman we asked, and he agreed to help with fabricating the new jacket and other sheet metal parts. In the photo, Project Manager Patrick Durand does a trial fitting and measures for the door in the side of the newly made cylinder jacket.
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