The Home Machinist!

Maybe 25 years ago Miles Snyder told me he was considering a bunch of small coal cars using a lot of plastic to pull behind his Yellowstone(?). I'm a little vague on the conversation, but I seem to remember that he was considering plastic for side frames/journals and maybe even wheels. I don't know if he ever made any and don't remember the scale. Maybe someone from Illinois can remember more details.

NO need to learn how to measure accurately.
NO need for any machine tools.
NO need to learn how to read plans.
NO need to buy tooling at yard sales or online.
NO need to figure out how to hold a casting to your milling table.
NO sharp swarf in your fingers.
NO need to tap a million holes.
NO more rivets to set.
NO reason to learn how to coppersmith a boiler.
NO need to learn how to silver solder pieces together.
NO copper lines to plumb.
NO sandblasting, priming and painting pieces, all of them satin black.
NO hours of fitting and assembly.
NO test runs on compressed air to see all the little bits you made move in organized unison.
NO steam up or blowdown.
NO setting the valves again and again to get it just right.
NO burnt fingers.
NO long tracks with grades and curves out of sight from where you sit.
NO warm smoke in your nose.
NO cinders in your eyes.
NO need to even have a track or a club with all its hassles if you upgrade to VR. Stay home and "steam online" with like-minded friends you've never met in person.
NO point to this at all really. Not for me at least.

All I would respectfully ask is please do not call this alternative pastime part of the live steam hobby. In the passage of just one generation that would be accepted as fact.

tsph6500 wrote:NO need to learn how to measure accurately.
NO need for any machine tools.
NO need to learn how to read plans.
NO need to buy tooling at yard sales or online.
NO need to figure out how to hold a casting to your milling table.
NO sharp swarf in your fingers.
NO need to tap a million holes.
NO more rivets to set.
NO reason to learn how to coppersmith a boiler.
NO need to learn how to silver solder pieces together.
NO copper lines to plumb.
NO sandblasting, priming and painting pieces, all of them satin black.
NO hours of fitting and assembly.
NO test runs on compressed air to see all the little bits you made move in organized unison.
NO steam up or blowdown.
NO setting the valves again and again to get it just right.
NO burnt fingers.
NO long tracks with grades and curves out of sight from where you sit.
NO warm smoke in your nose.
NO cinders in your eyes.
NO need to even have a track or a club with all its hassles if you upgrade to VR. Stay home and "steam online" with like-minded friends you've never met in person.
NO point to this at all really. Not for me at least.

All I would respectfully ask is please do not call this alternative pastime part of the live steam hobby. In the passage of just one generation that would be accepted as fact.

I am not following you, you still need a 3/4” locomotive to install the FPV camera and servos. Either you buy a locomotive, or build one. You are talking about “train simulator”. Who cares if your riding behind the loco and controlling it, vs doing it from a different position?


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Plastic for cars? Plastic for wheels? It can't be done! Not On this planet. Got to go. Message coming in from the big giant head!

Hello Guys,
funny,same Thread on the german live steam board.
I think we're talking about that video


https://youtu.be/z5gBHUCQSCM


Not the way i want to move my locos , so i can play(!)
with gauge one.....less work and less fun.


Regards
Chris

I agree! Especially the first person controls angle! That sounds really cool.
-Mike

(1) Their track-work is really impressive! Looks like steel rails, and it all seems very straight and nice, put down and maintained well. Wonder what size of rail they are using, and where they got it.
(2) That is an impressive model and it's impressive that you can run it by remote like that. I wonder how often he has to stop and check it, such as adjusting the fire or adding water, or if he can do it on the fly? Maybe it's totally remote control for all functions, or maybe he has to stop it every 3 or 4 minutes to add water or make adjustments. Either way, it's an impressive feat. Also nice that at least from a run-by, you don't see a bunch of servos and wiring all over it.
(3) It did look very neat seeing the locomotive out there running by itself pulling a nice train
(4) Still goes against the grain for me personally... I'm sure the guy probably rides behind it sometimes, and for me that's the thing... I wouldn't build anything larger than 1/2" scale 2 1/2" gauge, max, if I wasn't intending to ride on it. Yes, I know that you can ride on 1/2" scale, and i have some 1/2" scale 2 1/2" gauge project stuff which will be ride-on, but also about half of the people building and operating in that scale/gauge are strictly scenic and not intended to haul passengers. To me, that's as large as I would want to fool with if I couldn't ride on it and be the engineer myself, well, maybe F scale with a scale of 1:20.3 and a gauge of 2.781", which is still quite a bit smaller than 3/4" scale, and was intended from the get-go to be a scenic scale/gauge.
(5) looks like he pretty much has that track to himself when he's out there running it that way. I don't know if I would want someone running around with me if I was going to operate like that. Person in front could stop and you might not see them.

Just my personal thoughts.

Dick_Morris wrote: ↑Mon Feb 12, 2018 9:30 pm Maybe 25 years ago Miles Snyder told me he was considering a bunch of small coal cars using a lot of plastic to pull behind his Yellowstone(?). I'm a little vague on the conversation, but I seem to remember that he was considering plastic for side frames/journals and maybe even wheels. I don't know if he ever made any and don't remember the scale. Maybe someone from Illinois can remember more details.

...and here you go Dick. Photo take during the ILS 40th Annual meet back in 2007. Miles's son, Steve, is running the 1" scale Yellowstone. He was the only one able to keep a fire and make steam in the big articulated loco. The "ore jennies" I believe had plastic wheels (that's one way to cut down on train weight). Didn't know the cars were made of plastic. Never went over for a closer look.

Believe the loco is down right now with "engine" problems. Loco and/or cars don't see the light of day very often. Enjoy. Carl B.

The thing that stood out on the video, was the look of boredom and indifference on the faces of the riders. They couldn't be any less interested in trains. Why were they there? not for the trains. What did the video have to do with 3/4" scale?
I have partially built a steam engine in 1" scale, but gave up due to lack of funds. The past 10 years, I have been building 1-1/2" scale locomotives, not steam, but electric and diesel. Recently, I've switched to 3/4" scale because I'm running out of room. I've run the gamut from N scale to 1-1/2" scale and finally settled on 3/4" scale as being the perfect size, at least for me. The size allows me to make parts with normal size tools, not a watch makers lathe. It is a size that I can accommodate on my property and others can also accommodate on their properties. You don't need 10+ acres for a small railroad. One acre or even smaller is adequate to fulfill the dreams of many wanna-be model railroaders. Although this is a live steam forum, I believe electric and diesel have their place on any railroad. The models I build are powered by electric motors and the engine is large enough to carry the batteries needed. They are designed for R/C although I have not gotten around to it yet. I do love steam locomotives, but to each his own.
Although 3/4" scale is regarded a "riding" scale, it is not practical. I think it looks ridiculous for a grown man astride a steamer. To me it takes away from the real object, the locomotive itself. R/C of the locomotive would preserve the image; the engineer could ride in a car behind.

Thinking about it, once the firing is automated, and manual control simply reduced to forward and backwards, it’s probably as much fun as watching a 3d printer.


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