The Home Machinist!

...and radial tires. I noticed my boat trailer towed smoother with radials so I bought my trailer with radials. I carry a spare tire too. For prospective in size, this is my 6' x 14' trailer with three tracks installed. Hauling a locomotive you'd probably load that down the center. Depending on what...

I opted to stick with the 8' box and carrying the locomotive in the truck. This limited me to a regular cab in order to stay with a 1500. I have a pacific which will just fit into the 6.5' box so next time maybe an extended cab maybe not. I like the price point of the simpler equipped truck. If your...

Dave Phillips passed in 2017.

Hardware I like to buy ahead. It's cheaper than buying ones and twos at the local hardware. Plus for whatever reason it seems like 10-32 is an item they don't carry much of. Though it seems there is always something I don't have. I'd buy ahead but not sweat getting everything. Depending on where you...

In January I asked Dave what he had back in production and he said... I am trying to bring it all back... but so far have these items... Valves Fittings Junction boxes brake beams, hangers and shoes Glad hands Safety valves Blow down valves Economy injectors Steps Diffusers Some Mikado parts... Flex...

Looks like a product intended to get into a seam and plug it. What you have described is a hole in the tube. Doubtful it will do any good.

The post office isn't alone. I ordered replacement glass for a full view storm door. UPS picked it up at a warehouse in Illinois (200 miles away) and loaded it on a plane headed to Seattle. Then on a truck to Michigan. I have a FedEx package that left Colorado and went to Phoenix before heading east.

Martin Evans and Greenly say little about the smokebox itself other than it be tight fitting. They talk mostly about the stack and blast nozzle. Until the mid 1930's Purdue operated a locomotive test plant. A search of their library shows several articles on smokebox's and a dissertation from 1940 t...

...or any time one is suspicious of a plugged water gauge! Have at it. RussN That's a nice clean looking cap. I blow the glass down every time I steam up. Rolling along one day I had a sense where the water should be but it wasn't. Watching the glass for a moment the level was rock steady and it sh...

A leak at the tube sheet in itself isn't a disaster. When I did club boiler inspections it wasn't uncommon with rolled tubes. It might be as easy as touching it with a roller again. It doesn't take much. If corrosion has taken hold that's another situation.

It is unfortunate but quit the live steam hobby...certainly not. We brushed 3/4" K type copper flues with a stainless shotgun brush at the end of each day. One pass down and back by hand. After 12 years corrosion lead to a crack in one of the firebox side sheets but the tubes were fine. The sec...

What are experiences with quad rings vs o-rings?