The Home Machinist!

My loco has a power reverser and operates on water taken from a side sheet below the water line. Since the water is coming into the reverser under pressure from the boiler, I have not noticed "slow" motion of the reverser. The reverser does not get hot unless I put the reverser into forwar...

They little guys mud up everything. Look under my porch, on my porch, everywhere! I keep my green machine (ps4) in the dining room to protect it from the "damn mud daubers". It is safe under the dining room table! No kidding.

EVGEN, I sent you a pm. I hope it helps. Michael

Slightly off the main live steam topic. When the 611 is tucked in for a nights sleep, everything is done to let the boiler do a slow cool down. The fire is banked heavily, the boiler loaded up with water and the pops lift. Once all this is done a cap is placed on the stack to hold in the heat from a...

My Elesco feed water heater has no vent system. Is that a real big importance? I wanted to prevent temperature shock not corrosion issues. The boiler is made of 1/4" boiler steel. I have inspected the boiler and found no corrosion inside. I know that the water treatment is an issue, but corrosi...

Here is a photo I hope

On my Southern Ps4, it does preheat the water very efficiently. If a pause is made in pumping tender water into it the feed water heater, the feed water heater becomes far too hot to touch. I have a check valve between the pump and the feed water heater in case the feed water heater begins to reach ...

Do coils in the smoke box make it hard to clean the flues??

On my Elesco, the flues inside the heater accept exhaust steam from the cylinders and exhaust steam from the water and air pump. The flues are surrounded by water to be heated prior to going to the boiler. Also the water in the Elesco is heated via heat from the smoke box gasses contacting the base ...

My Elesco looks like a mini boiler inside....

I built a Southern ps4 Pacific with a working Elesco feedwater heater. It does not have the cylinder exhaust, but absorbs the heat from the smoke box. I do not have an axle water pump but use a hand pump in one of the water legs that surround the coal bunker. The hand pump can be used often to put w...

I have some experience with whistle chamber lengths
Class A and Y N&W hooter whistle has a 12" whistle chamber
N&W class J steam boat whistle is a HANCOCK three step with a 10" chamber, a 12 1/2" chamber and a 15 1/2" chamber. This whistle is also used by the UP big steam.