The Home Machinist!

Never did connect compressed air to the throttle valve or that pipe. I simply used a piece of brass pipe above the throttle so that the inlet collected steam about 1" or so below the top of the dome so that there wouldn't be as much water getting into it. There are two vertical holes in the blo...

The Allen mogul boiler sits on TOP of the frame, not down in between the frame. The only thing you have to worry about with it is to make sure that the boiler will have enough clearance for the backs of your drive wheels, so they won't rub it. I don't know what your setup is like, so maybe your boil...

Yes. The block you see down there is a 1"x1" steel block. it is drilled offset so that there is more material on the top side for more threads for the throttle. It is drilled from each end, but they are separated from each other, sort of like having two elbows back-to-back. Forward is the ...

My solution: 20200725_115859b.jpg 20200801_081202b.jpg 20200412_180730b.jpg Simple, and you can still get in there and get the valve removed if you ever need to. Only need the arm, a 1/4" brake clevis and stainless pin, and 1/4" stainless rod. This works with the Nibco brand large-body bal...

I'm with Matt: I've used a Nibco brand bronze body (standard) ball valve with Teflon seats and a stainless ball on many boilers I've built or rebuilt. I made a sketch for a rod for that which I had several cut using a water jet and 0.100" thick stainless steel. It actually uses the stop on the ...

Yeah, sounds like this group was after those specific pieces, knew what they were, where they were located, and how many people it would take to move them. They had to be familiar with it in some ways. Like GWRdriver said: most likely they had a buyer lined up before they took this on. In the US, mo...

Most of the time It is added to the outside of the wheel. Makes that tire a little bit thicker so that it won't drop in behind the rail on a sharp curve. I have also seen them a bit larger on both sides. The longer the rigid wheelbase and the sharper the curve, the more the tire will move across the...

Or they have been dumped in the bottom of a lake somewhere. In the US, not too many people steal the actual trains. Most of the time they are after the trailer that the trains reside in, and the thieves only want to rid themselves of something that they see as the biggest potential of getting them c...

I believe this boiler was built by the late Paul F. Brien from Nashville many, many years ago. He was a tremendous machinist and boiler builder. It had not been fired and had been in storage for a long time.

Also, from what I understand, the Miller 4-4-0 was available Many years before Allen Models, or Harpur Locomotive works, even existed. I believe the Miller stuff stretches back into the 1950s. The Allen 4-4-0 was not available until the late 1980s (1987 or 1988, I believe). There were relatively few...

Love those trucks. Side frames look nice.

That one looks like it was set up with the original 'weed burner' firing method. My understanding is that there were 3 ways this Miller locomotive could be configured: (1) locomotive runs on air, boiler is simply a large air tank, gas motor and compressor inside of the tender to provide air pressure...