The Home Machinist!

Continuing along with my "Freelance, TLAR" concept I am modifying a set of RMI Sand Domes to be my steam and sand domes. I machined the sand valve ears off the base today and am playing with where I am going to use the two bases. I am working from photos that show the steam dome higher tha...

I did decide to use the new dome for the sand dome. and move the first one back to the steam dome.

But I also decided to remove the ears for the sand valves, as they are rough. I also turned the diameter

The second sand dome I ordered from RMI came in today. It turned out they had made a change to the base casting in the time between my first one and the one I just received. DSC_6513.jpg DSC_6515.jpg DSC_6516.jpg This new base will require moving the large ears from the outside and the large additio...

Mean time back at MSLS this week the Miss Ann performed beautify. Ended up putting ten miles on it with out a derail. This because of a large amount of work by the club members over the last three months. One of the things I had lightly mentioned during the early running, was that the engine was con...

I was able to reach RMI today and the extra sand dome castings are on the way.

As I work out the bugs and eccentrics of running a Forney, I have also started working on the small details. I am trying to make an improvement before every run. This weeks project has been the bell and the sand dome. Bell.jpg The Bell is a set I purchased from Mike Venezia a number of years ago. Be...

Small amount of work completed on the side frames today. Hoping for more time tomorrow night.

I found a piece of pipe yesterday. Jeff Dute at Loco Parts has found me a 36 inch piece of certified pipe at a good price.

The Saga Continues Having repaired the damage to the valve gear, incurred during the last derail. I took the engine to the annual Night Run at MSLS on the 6th of August. Had a great time although I over did it in the heat. Getting too old for this. Getting home at almost one in the morning is tough....

As I say I have been delayed on the frame due to family and getting ready for the last two runs of the club with the Forney. I did get one lesson on the rising price of steel pipe though. I asked my local supplier to find me a piece of eight inch, seamless pipe for the boiler. the quote came back at...

I live in the UK and would like to build a Shay loco. I have emailed to try a find out if the castings and drawings are still available and if it was possible to have an idea how much shipping would cost me. I was also wondering what people thought was the most difficult part of building the 20 ton...