SOUTHPASS's little loco.

[6491]

Harold......Thanks mate.
Seeing as I have been having my say I thought it would be appropriate to show my little box of sparks
This photo shows me doing what I like most, that is pulling a carriage load of happy passengers. The 3rd. Sunday of the month you will see me here.
This loco was built to give me a project to do as I am learning to use my metalworking equipment consisting of a 9x20 lathe, pedestal drill stand and my mill which is a hacksaw and a handfull of files.
More intense projects are definitely on the drawing board ( what garbage, I have never used plans in my life. I design as I build ).

[Harold_V]

Harold......Thanks mate.

My pleasure, southpass!

Seeing as I have been having my say I thought it would be appropriate to show my little box of sparks

Very nice! Must feel good to be able to share it without worry!


I firmly believe that readers will be well served to have this new forum. It became obvious to me that there were many that had things to discuss but were hesitant, and rightly so. Our dedicated steam people have enjoyed the Steam Forum for a long time, and have put it to exceptionally good use. To have cluttered their forum with unwanted posts wouldn't be fair to them, nor was it fair that those that wanted to discuss their engines that weren't steam couldn't. Administration and I feel that this is the best of all worlds. If things don't work out and we need to make some adjustments, that's what we're here for.

I ask all readers to give this forum a go and see how it works for you. If you find anything is less than acceptable, please let me know, either by posting, or by PM. I'll do my best to get it changed so it is more useful.

Thanks to all for your patience and cooperation.

Harold

edit: corrected wording

[6491]

G,day....Just a couple of photo's of the critter early on in its construction. Design is based on the early internal combustion loso's used the local sugar cane industry. They were a mixture of diesel and petrol. Like a lot of these units mine has been built from found material When I found a 5inch section of billet I made the wheels from this, so the cast wheels have been saved for a future project.

[Bill Shields]

Very nice and functional.

Wouldn't consider it 'clutter'.

It's RR'ing and you are enjoying yourself, as evidenced by your smile.

[Benjamin Maggi]

Boy, in some of those "under construction" pictures you can really see the rust and dirt on your engine. I scanned it quickkly and thought it was pictures of the real thing in a museum or something! Now I see it was your model being built.

It is a nice engine. It kind of reminds me of one that MaxiTrak (spelling?) make. Nice and simple with clean lines. Is your engine one of their kits or scratchbuilt? Either way, it looks nice and it looks like everyone on the train in your first picture is having a party!

[6491]

Good morning....Yes some of the steel does look a bit grungy . The fact is, I was given a piece of eigth inch steel plate about 22 years ago. It sat for about 2 years when I thought maybe I should build a loco. At this stage I had only hand tools and the steel was cut out with a hacksaw. Well after a short while interest was lost and the frame was left in the back yard.
Fast forward 18 years and I bought a small lathe and needing an excuse to make something the loco idea was resurrected. So what you see is tha last 2 years work. The design is totally design as I go. About to head down to the track for our monthly running day, I will post more photo's tonight.
We are only a couple of hundred meters from the Pacific so anything left outside for a short period shows rust.

[6491]

Well just got back from the track, yet to unpack and start charging batteries.
OK...These next couple of photo's were taken about 12 months ago, you can see the steelwork has been cleaned up a bit.
Front and rear axles can be swapped to change drive ratios, hence the extra sprocket on front axle. Also note that at this stage I had not finished turning wheel flanges.





In lower photo loco frame has 2 motors attached, next to it is start of driving wagon frame. As you can see I don't follow convention with my frame and suspension designs

[6491]

Another day and another 5 minutes spare to spend here.
Box on dashtop is brightness control for light, this will be made more compact when time permits. Vacant spot on right hand floor is for compressor and brake control, straight air brakes, thats more than most older cane trains had.
Modern cane trains have remote controlled brake wagons. There is no brakes on the cane wagons themselves and a train now consist of loco, 100/130 cane wagons and brake wagon ( sometime 2, depending on terrain ).



The matt black finish is just undercoat for now, I wanted to see if the loco would work before spending too much time on finish.

[steamin10]

John, I am so impressed with your pics here, I went out and started to count the parts of my critter stock.

I have seen the 'suspension' design before and it works famously if your load is not to heavy. Only bad thing is they can bend if you pound the ties a few times.

Still I try to reuse and recycle whenever I can, I am trying to collect enough conveyor bearings to do the same thing. They have the side slots, and if you cut the loop from the top you have room for two springs either from the supply house or from an engine valve. It is not much to cut a slot in a plate and give it a go.

Keep up the views please , I enjoy them a lot.

[Harold_V]

I'm curious where the work is being done. The shop surely has never made a chip!

In all my years, I'm not sure I've seen such a clean and orderly work space. Very nice, John.

Harold

[steamin10]

(chuckle) I make no comments on clean freaks here, having worked in steel making operations and foundries, with piles of sand , smoke , slag, and molten Iron slopping around. Having a clean shop is nice. Being able to find the perfect tool for the job in hand is right too. I can do neither. I think I am a pilot. Everything is piled hither and thither, as I jump from one disaster to another repair. (sigh) Someday I may have another shot at my pole building, so I can spread out and oganize my STUFF, and be proud of mynow rusting tools. See new post in Welding.

[6491]

Harold, if I turned around and took a photo at the other wall it would be a different story. In that end is where the dirty work is done. There is my steel supply,14inch cutoff wheel,stick welder and various grinders.
Dave, I know those bearing blocks you are talking about, but I wanted to learn some of this turning business and these axle box's were my first go at boring. Plus the fact I had this length of inch by inch bar laying there, main change on next project would be outside frames as wheels have to be pressed off to replace bearings.
Weight wise this little jigger would only come in at about 60/70 kilograms max. Having the springing nice and soft seems to keep the wheels firmly on track. We have deliberately put a half inch stick on one rail and driven over it with no problems. Uprights on suspension are high tensile DynaBolts, hopefully it won't spend time caressing the ballast.