The Home Machinist!

I expect to use my existing standard rail and slippers for the curves and this "road rail" for the straights, about 1200' of track. This partly because my track roller likes the original profile rail. So the stress on the joiners should be limited to the expansion and I can use aluminum fo...

Talking to myself here: Al Franke makes the Vise Grip tool.

I'm extending my track beyond what I've started with and am trying to use 2400' of rail I bought 8 years ago. I didn't really know to look for Pacific Coast profile and ended up with a bunch of rail that's fatter through the rail base (I think someone suggested that it was for high use sections of t...

PRR5406 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 03, 2022 3:31 pm Wilfred Brimley was a live steamer?

It's the mustache, right? At Train Mountain someone said something similar but no, I'm not WB.

I'm trying to identify the engine below for the newest owner. joes_loco.jpg Some of the castings have "LE" in them so I'm suspecting Little Engines but it's not like the current 0-6-0 switcher offering. It's from the late 70's and most recently was fired in Riverside (specifically it was c...

Nelson Reidel modified an existing MAR-1-2 Clippard regulator for steam use on his Heisler. If I recall correctly it was mostly a matter of replacing some o-rings with Viton o-rings. Unfortunately his web site is gone but you can find most of it at:

http://nelsonslocomotive.com/Shay/shay.htm

I'll toss in my hydraulic table, even though you're looking for non-hydraulic options. I considered various other lift options but all lists have their issues and in the end I went hydraulic for the speed. I made this from a surplus (bought for $400) 1000 pound lift table from Vestil. It's battery p...

Thank you for your reply, much appreciated. I was thinking that steel would be too heavy, thus the original choice of aluminum. What are the dimensions of your fabrication and what's the heaviest equipment you've run across it? A friend has one of the originals and it's held up pretty well even with...

Not really sure where to put this message, so Live Steam it is. I'm looking for someone in California going to the Triennial who can pick up an angle plate in Camarillo and take it up to the Triennial. I'll be there but it's a heck of a side trip to go to Camarillo. If someone can do this I'll buy y...

I'm finally finishing my loading equipment and I'm looking for a 'bridge' to connect my lift table with people's transports. I really liked the "equipment loading tray" from Big Boots & Western but it looks like they're not actively selling them anymore (I have an info request in) so I...

I'm finally putting my track together and one of the final decisions is just what sort of unloading facilities to provide. I don't expect many visitors as it's going to be a very small track, but I'd like to provide some space for loading/unloading. I've used everything from Train Mountain's stuff t...

Trucks seem OK on rails, but the proof will be when I have them under the hopper car and the car full of ballast. I have the bolster centers as well as what seems to be a UHMW washer to go between the center and the top of the bolster. I thought about machining the sway pads but I think that'll wait...