The Home Machinist!

For simplicity, Mr. Allen put the link lifter saddle pin on the link arc centerline. Because of this, the valve gear CAN NOT be adjusted for very short cut-offs. I spent 3 full days trying to time an ALLEN Ten Wheeler. Even notched the quadrant for short cut-offs, but anything shorter than about 50...

As to the 844 firebox she has had extensive Firebox repair/replacement just in the last 17 years. If you look at the before pics it is from poor water treatment. I kind of think they may have used Mig, but maybe not I have no knowledge and have not seen up close pics to tell. 844 was one of the sev...

The only difference between 6010 and 7010 is the 60xx signifies a minimum as welded tensile strength of 60,000 psi whereas the 70xx signifies a minimum as welded tensile strength of 70,000 psi.

LSB is a chelating boiler treatment that can be bought from any water treatment company for in-service descaling of boilers that have heavy scale build up from inadequate treatment. Once the scale is removed, proper treatment for the supply should be instated. There is no oxygen scavenger in LSB as ...

Right now it is fairly square, but a little more work is needed to get it to run well with the Johnson bar up close to center instead of in the corner. I spent a few days trying to square up an Allen ten-wheeler when notched up. Mr. Allen for simplicities sake did not offset the link support pin re...

Cylinder oil on a steam burn???
Been there, done that.
Works way better than a wet rag, at least until you can get to some anesthetic burn cream.

I have used DynamicDeScale and Rydlyme in 1000 gallon quantities. Both are equally effective if used in accordance with instructions and adequate concentrations. The magic formula for both is one gallon of product will dissolve 2 pounds of mineral scale. High velocity flow is critical. DynamicDeSca...

The maximum firing rate can be determined by the orifice size of the installed burners. The attached list is from industry standards for sizing output of hot water heating boilers and gas fired steam boilers. Surface area of the boiler is irrelevant if the amount of fuel is limited by the maximum s...

The problem is the choke effect from the boiler to the steam dome. Pressure drop in the dome creates a planar drop at the top of the boiler shell holes. This creates a high velocity directional flow aimed at the water surface directly under the steam dome. The opening between the boiler and dome sho...

Union Pacific RR Nozzle stats

The Grove Farm Homestead Museum locomotive collection:
Click on photo to visit Kauai Trains.Com