The Home Machinist!

Since the technology known as the computer has killed off various magazines and the need for a physical brotherhood secretary, lets use it for good purposes. The books known as the "Wandering Locomotive Books" was started when paper, pens and a Kodak was the only way, other than going to a...

Here are some pictures of the box cars I am making with rivets punched in and the tender for my Hudson.
Info on the box cars can be had under the old posting 3/4" box cars.

Here are some pictures of the tool set up in the drill press. The drill press is only used to "press" the rivets in.

Many moons ago, my chum Berkeley made me a rivet punch. The piece that fits in the vise on the drill press has four legs on it. Each leg has two rivet indents with each leg having slightly different spacings. The hardened punch fits in the chuck. You line up the punch so it will push into one of the...

I think it was my chum Berkeley that told me the reason that these locos had the front truck in that position is that the route they were assigned to had tight curves and the truck would bind on the cylinders. Thus, they moved them out front to fix that problem. They were like an A1 but with the pil...

Here is a picture of Ben Nixon's loco at the PVLS meet in 1964

Here is a 3/4" Hielan Lassie built by my chum Berkeley Gilbert of Stoney Creek. The thin guy is me driving the engine at the COALS OMLET around 1991. I have gained alot of weight since then. Funny thing is that the clothes still fit, it's just my hat that seems to be really tight. Berk sold the...

Here is a picture of Sid Copelands loco at the old COALS track in 1983.

If you look at Joe Rice's DVD on the Pennsylvania Live Steamers, there is a scene or two with what could be Mr Nixon's Scot trying to be fired up. In one shot, it looks like they have more fire under the grate than above. I have some 8 mm stuff a chum of mine shot at PVLS in around 1964 that shos th...

Speaking from first hand experience, plastic is ONLY good for table top trains. It has no place in the live steam hobby. David I can't agree with plastic having no place in the live steam hobby. I know of two tenders where the external, visible part of the tender has all the details on it but intern...

The idea of the plastic truck was not to transport large caboose's around the track. With all the weight i'm packin' I may have to built myself a schable car to ride around on. What I want is a low cost truck so I can make freight cars to pull around the track. Are the trucks on the 1" freight ...

With all the talk recently about trying to bring back 3/4" scale, would there be any interest in someone coming out with ready to run freight car trucks for 3/4". I always thought that a sprung truck design similar to what HO freight car models have would do the trick. I wouldn't need to c...