The Home Machinist!

I traded some rolling stock for this 2-4-0 in pieces. What I was told about it was that it spent several decades as a window decoration for a junk dealer. Someone spotted it and bought it, and sold it to the gentleman I got it from. Most of the major pieces are there, the running gear has been run on air, and the boiler has been hydro'd.
It's rough, and I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I have a steamer. I don't think it has been run on rails, there's no wear on the drivers and wheels. I had the thought last night that this one was saved from becoming razor blades by sheer luck. You have to wonder how many orphans like this have disappeared, without someone who understood what they were and how much work went into them.

There is a member of the Rocky Mountain Rails that rescued a Little Engines 4-4-0 that had been window decoration for a barbershop (I think). He has spent quite a bit of time getting it running, but seems to have enjoyed the rebuilding process. I hope you find the same satisfaction.

It looks like a double sized Raritan.

I know of at least three double sized Raritans that have been built. I have heard that some people multiplied by 2.143 to get everything to come out right in 7 1/2" gauge, and then others said that they just doubled everything and then added 1/2" to the width of items like the frame, axles, center to center on the cylinders, etc... At one point, Rogers-Cooke locomotive works or someone like that actually sold wheel castings and maybe some other parts to build a 7 1/2" gauge Raritan. They were apparently very popular to build as a starter locomotive in the 70's and 80's.

Seem to recall that they were all pretty good performers. It is in rough shape right now, but with a little bit of work and some TLC, she can be a very fine locomotive. Looks like it has the full Stevenson valve gear, which is a plus. I've seen them built with slip eccentric valve gear just like the 3/4" scale Raritan has. It might be a good idea for you to get the Bill Morewood book on the Raritan just for a reference.

I have a box with about 20 pounds of drawings in it, along with a bunch of pictures. It is near identical looking to the Virginia and Truckee J W Bowker. That's what I am going to shoot for when all is said and done. I had a brief moment where I thought about turning it into a Maine 2 foot gauge, but I thought the proportions wouldn't look right.

Good choice!
"Make it so."
~RN

good luck! you will need plenty and patience.

You mentioned how many engines have disappeared. I remember a nice 3/4' Reading 2-8-0 that used to ply the rails. As Al on Happy Days used to say....." Yea..yea...yea...yea!"

Made the first replacement parts today, first chance I've had to do more than just look at it. The valve train seems to work okay, it had some missing bushings along with a few other parts. The engineer's side rear driver was missing the spacer between the rods, and after a bit of measuring I found out that a standard 1/2" I D bushing would fit perfectly, it just had to be cut to length.
The fireman's side valve rod was also missing the forward bushing, and I turned that one out of a bronze sprue I dug out of the remelt bucket. Turned out pretty good, and almost no slop in that connection now.
Now I have to fabricate a missing slide for the fireman's side crosshead and a manifold to hook up an air compressor to, to see if it will work on air. The old manifold was made with compression fittings, something tells me that won't fly with steam. I've also noticed a few peculiarities with how this thing was made that will have to be addressed, I'll share those as I get to them. I'm cautiously optimistic, however, that this loco might not need much more than plumbing and a LOT of cosmetic work. Oh, and figuring out how to attach an axle pump, at the moment the only way to put water into the boiler is with a hand pump. If I can scrape up the dough, I'd like to add an injector at some point.

The fireman's side crosshead is complete again, made a new slide piece for the top and a new bushing for the pin. There is hardly any slop in the drive system now.

I was comparing compression and flare fittings on McMaster Carr a couple of weeks ago. The standard brass flare fittings had no mention of being good for steam service, in fact the max working temp was below 400 degrees if I recall.

The standard brass compression fittings were rated for steam service and had a higher max working temp.

I thought that a little odd, as Allen and others have spec’d brass flare fittings in the smokebox for decades.

I can dig up the actual info if anyone cares.
Brian

Huh. Interesting. Bought some flare fittings (big box store), not sure if the assembled pieces will fit, so it might have to be compression fittings.