1” 4-6-2 mystery eng

[Glenn Brooks]

Friend of mine in Hawaii is looking identify who provided the castings and also seeking builder plans for this nice little 1” 4 3/4” ga Pacific. The original builder/owner passed away several years ago and no one seems to know who sold him the castings, or where we might be able to come up with a set of plans to finish the engine. Mostly all it needs is the plumbing, and injectors.

Iam thinking it might be an early little engines design, but really don’t know much about 1” scale castings. The side rods etc are Aluminium, and there is some interesting detail around the trailing truck and air tank?? Mounted under the smoke box up front.

Also the boiler (never fired) is tapered, e.g. flares out from 6 1/2” or so, to a little over 7” OD over the drivers. Very nicely done.

Also, the current owner would like to convert to propane. Any suggestions about how to design a burner for the firebox - roughly 7” x 7 1/2” grates presently in the loco.

Hoping this will look familiar to someone in the group. Also, anyone have drawings they could share??

Thanks much for any info you could provide.

Glenn

[randallg]

It is little engines , most have little engine cast in front of cylinder block , behind the tank that is on the pilot deck .
Loco parts can set him up with propane burners I have them in mind and work good.

[jcbrock]

Agree it is LE. The pilot air tank is not standard. I would bet the boiler is not actually tapered, but the jacket is wrappered out. My original boiler was, anyway. I suspect the pipe in photos 7 & 8 on the right side is the feedwater line to an axle pump. On mine the pump outlet goes to the left side with the feed running to one of the two boiler fittings and the bypass going back to the tender, but I am not seeing them here. I'm also not seeing any kind of mechanical lubricator. Looks like a pretty nice engine, wish I had that headlight mounting bracket, I'm going to have to make one.

As long as we are talking 1" LE Pacifics, does anyone know if the petticoat is threaded to the stack or is it a slip/press fit?

[Glenn Brooks]

Thanks guys, I’ll pass along your suggestions. Indeed, yes, this loco is very nicely detailed. Unfortunately very few live steamer affectinodois in Hawaii. And no clubs. So info sometimes hard to come by. The Chaski crew is a big help!

The engine is not quite complete, as the prior owner passed away before he could complete it. Sam wants to finish it up, and the final plumbing is still a bit of a mystery. Hopefully the new owner at Little Engines will have a lubricator and or pump and injector on hand.

Glenn

[jcbrock]

I would suggest the small LocoParts lubricator and the Eccentric Engineer small scale injectors. Those are both good and available.

[Mike Green]

Just a thought after looking at the pipe shown in the open smoke box door and what appears to be a shielded passage down to the mystery tank. Check the pipes to it on the right side if they come from the axle pump then the tank could be a feed water heater. Drains or unfinished connections on the left and an exhaust steam feed from the exhaust stand.

Mike Green