The Home Machinist!

Actually this is common practice to test any pressure vessel. Unless the inspector uses the "Ball" end of the hammer there should be no damage to the shell. John B. Please take in consideration that a standard boiler must be calculated to withstand up to four times the rated preasure with...

Hello (not to rivet counters exclusively), A friend of mine just started construction of those Franklin automatic wedges for his project of a big SAR class 25 NC for 7.25 " gauge. We gathered and studied all the information we could press out of "Locomotive Cyclopedia issue 1947" in a...

Hello John,

Thank you for posting that interesting link!
I enjoyed some new photos of GSC-frames to be used by the Juniata works for the J class of PRR, great stuff!

Best regards from
Asteamhead

Thank you for posting this excellent documentation from out of the past! I like best the demanding foundry and smithy work of those scilled veterans, unknown to most of the people these days. Sometimes we try to follow the old ways when constructing our models which I think is a lot of fun. Let' s c...

Jim,
extraordinary fine work (and parts), as usual!
The pitty is that nearly nobody will ever see and admire this fine construction again, once the locomotive stands on the rails. What about a mirror underneath one of the shed rails?

Best regards from asteamhead

Agree by 100 %! Built a DB class 44 some 30 years ago with needle bearings for the axles and ball bearings instead of friction bearings for the running gear throughout, including the crossheads. Almost no trouble, no oiling around but just one lubricating service once a year. Thus my present project...

Hello all, Please don't forget that with our miniature models most of the theory is of miniature effect, too! For example, typical rated steam consumption per HP-hour is about 30 to 50 due to low pressure and temperature, much higher condensation and lots of steam leakage. Over all effiency? just 1 ...

Thanks to all (who are building fine models by themselves, too!) Here are ome photos of the variable cutoff advice I forgot to post. The device is hidden in / under the massive rear boiler saddle. All joints are equipt with stainless ball bearings of size 3x8x4 mm (out of electronic blowers from sur...

RONALD, Your're absolutely right! They offer lots of materials, viewable on a comfortable website. What a wealth of material for true modelers and enthusiasts! Postage is handled easily, quality of (scaned) drawings is fine as prices are reasonable. I' m using already some 50 of N&WHS's drawings...

Some more photos of building the A

Asteamhead

Hello all, Some new photos of my A after some hours of hard work. This week I enjoyed to have the boiler settled down on the frames for the first time. To achive this I felt the demand for a comfortable crane. It is able to lift 1,000 pounds of load and can be rolled on an even floor (of my living r...

Chris already sent the best link! Just the most modern single air pump KT 1 with a sophisticated steam driven valve gear is missing. This type had been used by DB exclusively since the 50s due to it's performance and low cost of repairs. Output was 2.800 L / minute at 132 strokes / min. - same as th...