3/4" Scale J1e

[JBodenmann]

Hello My Friends
Here is what was done today on the little Hudson. The castings for the cut lever supports were on hand so they were fitted to the pilot beam and the cut lever was made up. As this engine has a drop coupler the cut lever has to drop with it. But when the coupler is in the raised position the cut lever must have something to keep it in the raise position also. On the full size J1e the pilot beam is hollow and is cast steel. They welded some guides inside the pilot beam for a steel plate that they could reach in and lift out of the way so the cut lever could drop down. Well, this couldn't be done here as the pilot isn't hollow. Some pockets were machined in the pilot beam for the cut lever to enter and a 7/32" hole was drilled for a brass plug with a slot in it to work up and down in. The bottom lower part of the plug is square and passes through a plate with a square hole in it. In the top photo the cut lever is being held in the raised position by the plug. In the second photo the giant finger is preparing to press the square part of the plug upward. The third photo shows the cut lever passing through the slot in the plug in the lowered position. The last photo shows the coupler and cut lever in the lowered position. This little arrangement had me scratching my coconut for a while. At first I thought the whole plug needed to be square to maintain the alignment of the slot with the cut lever. This would have required a broached through hole through the pilot beam with the top plugged off. Then it dawned on me that only the lower bit had to be square, and a plate with a square hole holding it in place. Now the full size engine didn't have the square bit sticking down, but I can live with that as it only visible when the coupler is in the raised position, which it rarely is. This is what I often call one of them delightful little puzzles. Too much fun!
Jack

[Sandiapaul]

Big thumbs up! That diamond plate looks great. Will you be casting that diamond plate?

[JBodenmann]

Hello My Friends
I won't be making cast diamond tread but I do plan on having some photo engraved. I'll have some extra sheets made. One I know how much is needed for the entire engine I can select the size of sheets.
Jack

[Fender]

Hello My Friends
I won't be making cast diamond tread but I do plan on having some photo engraved. I'll have some extra sheets made. One I know how much is needed for the entire engine I can select the size of sheets.
Jack

How can you photo engrave tread that has pyramid-shaped points?

[JBodenmann]

Hello My Friends
Fender is correct you can't photo engrave diamond tread like we have here on the Hudson. I should have been more specific. I will be having regular tread material photo engraved. It will be like the material available in 1-1/2" scale only half the size.
Jack

[JBodenmann]

Hello My Friends
Here are a couple snappies taken recently. In the top photo we have a master for one of the lifting brackets that fit to the upper side of the smoke box. There are two, one on each side of the auxiliary stack. This is the last of a batch of master for now. This includes four different handrail stanchions, main smoke stack, auxiliary stack, headlamp mount, smokebox door dogs and pilot step. The molds are all made and the waxes will get sent to the foundry today. The second photo is just a general view of the front of the engine. The smokebox front has had the mounting studs and nuts fitted around the perimeter. There are only four that actually hold the front in position. The studs and nuts are #0-80. The door hinges, and markers from Brian Keim are also fitted up. As soon as the castings come back from the foundry I can stick all the little baloney on the engine. I would like to start the air compressor mounts and shields but need some dimensional info concerning the air compressors. Another thing I am looking for is some info on the heavy octagonal section piping ells. There are a couple of these for the water piping to and from the feed water heater. They are in a prominent location and I would like to make castings of them. These were used quite a bit on steam locomotives and I think they may be useful.
Having fun here.
Jack

[Bill Shields]

Jack:

if you are getting some tread plate etching done and are open to adding to the order, I would be interested in some. Although my project is 1", the 3/4" scale tread patter will be just fine for my 'one of a kind' modelling.

[JBodenmann]

Hello My Friends
Here is a bit of progress on the Hudson. The superheater access covers going together. In the top photo we have a drawing for what was called the liner. On the full size engine there was an inner and outer liner. They were riveted and then welded around the edges. The inner liner is not being made, and these will not be welded. The second photo shows the precision lay out job, with our old friend the fine point sharpie. The center punch marks with a circle drawn around them will be chamfered , flush riveted and metal finished on the outside. Photos 3 and 4 show the recess for the bell. At this point things were just temporarily stuck together with #0-80 flathead screws. In the last photo the liner has been riveted down and #0-80 studs and the dogs are going in.

[JBodenmann]

Here is some more. Lots of little studs and dogs. I just love making fiddley little baloney like this. There is a lot going on all over this smoke box. For now there is a wax stack and auxiliary stack in place just for lookin'. In front of the main stack there will be a sheet metal cover over the Coffin feed water heater. The auxiliary stack sits on it. This cover wraps around just down past the boiler centerline and the feed water heater hangs down a bit. This is where the exhaust steam lines from the cylinders go. Also the cold water enters on the engineer's side and the hot water exits on the fireman's side. All this feedwater baloney will be just for looks and not functional. There will also be the two blower valves that were on top of the smoke box. A rod went from each blower valve down the boiler to the engineer and fireman. These will be functional. Then there are some clean outs and lots of bolt heads that supported things inside like smoke box netting and the throttle valve and superheaters. 3/4" scale is such a fun size to build. Nothing is big and heavy, it's easy to move around and there is not a lot of material involved.
See you in the funny pages...
Jack

[Asteamhead]

Hello Jack,
Locking so nice and perfect, hats off !
Some of those parts I'm knowing so well when I built my class A

Asteamhead

[Sandiapaul]

It all looks great, these little details make all the difference in recreating the prototype.

[JBodenmann]

Hello My Friends
Thanks Sandipaul and Steamhead.
Jack