GS-1, finishing up the hard way

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littleevan99
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Re: GS-1, finishing up the hard way

Post by littleevan99 »

I hope so too, it is looking great!
1.5" scale CliShay
1.5" scale 2-10-2T
2.5" 36 Ton Shay under construction
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765nkp
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Re: GS-1, finishing up the hard way

Post by 765nkp »

Looking great! Can you tell me what the 2 parts are in the 2nd to last picture? They look like manifolds?
Thanks Tim
GS14403
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Re: GS-1, finishing up the hard way

Post by GS14403 »

Hi guys,

Thanks for the great comments.
There ought to be a law against people that build such perfect models...... :D

John B
Thankfully this model is far from perfect so any such law would not apply to me or my engine, but thanks for the thought, it made my day.
Looking great! Can you tell me what the 2 parts are in the 2nd to last picture? They look like manifolds?
Thanks Tim
They are the boiler blowdown spreaders. See the attached photograph of the ones on the 2467 in the CSRM and on the SP 4405. Tried them out today, need to add an additional side plate to the inside to keep the steam off the drivers and rods when blowing down. Very SP looking and another detail that has been on the back burner for too many years. Even the wife commented on them, they do stand out.

Anyway, steamed the engine today, had to fix some fittings and re-solder a couple of lines. My new injector is not working properly. May be the boiler check valve. Going to install an inline check valve tomorrow, August 16th., at the track and see what happens. That is what my dad had to do the the Mikado he is building so we will see if that is the cure. Speaking of the WP Mikado they are taking it out tomorrow as well to give it a much needed test run.
I hope she's ready for the SVLS Fall Meet because I CANT WAIT to see it in person!

- Anthony
I live for the meets so making the fall meet is a high priority.
WOW! She's really coming together beautifully. Cab lettering is beautiful. You've got to be getting excited to get her back under steam.

Todd
Yeah, having a vinyl plotter helps. Weeding the very small numbers is quite the challenge. I have found an outline slightly larger than the letter or number makes weeding a bit easier. Still these are at the limit of what the machine can cut, any smaller, fuggetaboutit. At least on my machine. Excited and sore, been pushing myself pretty hard for the last week or so and after tomorrow I will probably take a week or two off from this project.

Donald

Edited, added to my comment about the proposed law. Hopefully I modified it enough to show my appreciation for the thought. It is this kind of feedback that encourages me to continue posting.

DPY
Attachments
2467 Blowdown Spreader.jpg
4405 Blowdown spreader.jpg
GS14403
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Re: GS-1, finishing up the hard way

Post by GS14403 »

The reason for pushing to get the engine on the track was we had a surprise 80th birthday party for my dad. With both engines in attendance the arrival of out of town relatives went unnoticed until the cake was brought out.

Meanwhile water supply problems continue to plague my poor engine. The ultra reliable right side check valve would not seat and I cannot get the injector to work. Nothing wrong with the injector as a working one from another engine was tried with the same results, Water overflowing but not going into the boiler. I have the supply valve attached to the turret but I think it will be moved to the top of the boiler. An inline commercial check valve was tried with no change in the results. Gear clamps were added to the scale clamps on the water inlet hose in case it was drawing in air. All of the lines are larger than the minimum specs. Currently at my wits end and a week or two break from this project should produce a clearer head for dealing with these difficulties.

The engine was run several hundred feet down the track and that part seemed to go well. The larger exhaust nozzle cut down on the bark but the engine seems to glide smoother, less exhaust back pressure. The forward shifted lead truck gave no problems and the addition of the coil spring to the lead truck mount has made the engine less slippery on curves. So a lot of good has been accomplished. The additional detail parts has filled in many plain and blank areas on the engine and it is starting to look like a more finished engine. Gee whiz, I have only been working on this project since 1985.

Added one gallon cooking oil to about 8 gallons diesel and noticed no difference in the fire and the exhaust smells the same. Looks like I can save a few dollars mixing the cooking oil with the $4.00 a gallon diesel, which my engine burns about 2 gallons an hour.

Robert Williams took a couple of pictures which I will share here. later I will post a couple I took. Robert, thanks for sharing, although posting a photo of myself may scare away the weak at heart.

The blow-downs worked well except additional covers on the inside are needed to keep the steam, debris and water off the drivers.

Donald
Attachments
The blow down in action. Photo courtesy Robert Williams.
The blow down in action. Photo courtesy Robert Williams.
Photo courtesy Robert Williams.
Photo courtesy Robert Williams.
GS14403
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Re: GS-1, finishing up the hard way

Post by GS14403 »

A couple of pics without oversize monsters standing next to it.

Donald
Attachments
R-GS-1 A346.jpg
R-GS-1 A353.jpg
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Stuie
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Re: GS-1, finishing up the hard way

Post by Stuie »

Great looking photos!! If that tree on the very right wasnt in the first picture, I would say that it looked exactly like a real photo! Everything else seems to have scaled very well, was that the intention with the photo? If not, it definitely came out looking like it!
3/4" scale LBSC Bantam Cock
3/4" scale B4 project (re-designed LBSC Juliet)
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kenrinc
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Re: GS-1, finishing up the hard way

Post by kenrinc »

Don,

Looks stunning. Hope to see it at the fall meet. I will be there.

Ken-
jcbrock
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Re: GS-1, finishing up the hard way

Post by jcbrock »

Fantastic Donald, and I hope the birthday party was a big success. Can we see a picture of the WP Mikado?
John Brock
GS14403
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Re: GS-1, finishing up the hard way

Post by GS14403 »

Great looking photos!! If that tree on the very right wasn't in the first picture, I would say that it looked exactly like a real photo! Everything else seems to have scaled very well, was that the intention with the photo? If not, it definitely came out looking like it!
This particular photo was actually a spur of the moment from the shade side since the shadows from the sun side were a bit harsh. I have problems kneeling so I set the camera on the toe of my shoe, leveled it best possible and took the shot. I set the camera to overexpose by a full stop and added additional exposure and shadow recovery in post processing. I also darkened the sky and foreground tracks. From such a low vantage point the engine can hide a lot of distracting background items and I try to take photos of the trains from as low as possible. Were the photo taken from a normal standing position the steaming bays, fences and lampposts would become quite apparent in the photograph. My actual intention of this, and all the photo's from that day, were to try and showcase the changes made to the engine over the last year or so and post them here. Thanks for the comments.
Looks stunning. Hope to see it at the fall meet. I will be there.

Ken-
I am going to take a week or so off from working on the engine to catch up on other things and to get back on the exercise regimen. Then I will try to solve the water delivery problems and have the engine ready for the fall meet. That's the plan anyway. Thanks for the kind words.
Fantastic Donald, and I hope the birthday party was a big success. Can we see a picture of the WP Mikado?
The surprise went well, dad was so preoccupied with the Mike that he did not notice how odd it was for my youngest sister and her family to be at the track from 200 miles away. Sorry, but I did not take any pictures of the Mike. Maybe Robert has some, I will ask him in my next e-mail to him.

The Mike was started by the late Art Brune and given to my dad when Art became too ill to continue working on it. Apparently no one noticed a pair of Allen bolts in the main frame just behind the trailing truck pivot. These bolts severely limited the swing of the trailing truck and caused the engine to derail on curves and made it almost impossible to re-rail it. When the engine was brought back into the steaming bay I had them put the engine so just the lead truck and then the engine to the rear drivers were on the steaming bay and then used the turntable to test the travel. That is when we discovered the trailing truck had almost no lateral travel. From there it was fairly easy to find the real problem and hopefully the Mike is ready to make a successful trip around the track. They may take the engine out in Sept. to make sure this is the last kink to work out for the fall meet.

Donald
SilverSanJuan
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Re: GS-1, finishing up the hard way

Post by SilverSanJuan »

She looks beautiful, Donald. Hope you get the water issue sorted soon.

Todd
GS14403
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Re: GS-1, finishing up the hard way

Post by GS14403 »

She looks beautiful, Donald. Hope you get the water issue sorted soon.

Todd
Thanks Todd, will get back to her sometime next week. It worked very well for 20 years so there is surely a minor problem somewhere that has yet to be discovered.

As requested here are a couple of pictures of the WP Mikado. Robert Williams was smart enough to get a couple of pictures and gracious enough to share them with us.

Donald
Attachments
Ed Yungling, black hat, Fidel and Maria preparing the engine to run.
Ed Yungling, black hat, Fidel and Maria preparing the engine to run.
Looks like Fidel is getting ready to back the Mike out onto the turntable.
Looks like Fidel is getting ready to back the Mike out onto the turntable.
GS14403
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Re: GS-1, finishing up the hard way

Post by GS14403 »

Well...... This project has taken an unexpected turn for the worse. I believe I am the first and only person in the entire world that cannot get an economy injector to work. The steam line that originally had the valve on the turret has been re-routed directly from the top of the boiler and the valve mounted down by the injector. The union in the delivery line was removed and a straight piece of pipe was silver soldered in. The boiler check had the internal valve removed and an inline valve was installed at the injector, that is what it took to get the injector to work on the WP Mike. A waterline was attached directly to the injector and fed directly from a bucket of water eliminating the entire tender water supply circuit. I have run out of ideas and frankly have lost patience with this project.

Meanwhile the check valves for the axle pump were replaced after they started leaking again. A pair of brand new stainless bodied valves were ordered and installed.

The steam supply to the cylinder drain cocks tests good but the valves do not close.

Even with the 56% Silver Solder I could net get a good solder joint for the boiler check bodies and ended up returning to brass for the bodies.

Donald
Attachments
3/8" OD copper tubing connected to the boiler through a 90 degree compression fitting. A commercial inline check valve in the injector outlet line. The exact same valve used on the WP Mike that works.
3/8" OD copper tubing connected to the boiler through a 90 degree compression fitting. A commercial inline check valve in the injector outlet line. The exact same valve used on the WP Mike that works.
R-GS-1 A367.jpg
R-GS-1 A368.jpg
R-GS-1 A369.jpg
R-GS-1 A370.jpg
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