Photo taken May, 2000.
Steam chests have been removed to make
installing the smokebox easier.
4/9/00 Work slowly continues....I moved my lathe from my condo to the Southern California Live Steamers several months ago. I am slowly putting it back together so I
can start making parts again.
Some angle iron was aquired and attached to the top of the old
aquarim stand (see entry for 12/20/99).
The angle iron was FREE! I hacksawed it out of an old bed frame someone was throwing out. The locomotive has
been moved off the kitchen table and now is on the stand.
Now I just need to find some wheels so the stand can be
rolled out to my pick-up truck!
6/17/00 Finally got the lathe back together! Drilled
a small hole in the center of the smokebox door so the number
plate can be attached.
7/4/00 Tried drilling and tapping a hole in the back
of the number plate but ended up breaking a tap. So I cut off
the stem on the back of the number plate and made a new stem
out of a small piece of brass bar stock. I still need to tap it
before it is soldered onto the back of the number plate.
7/29/00 Completed number plate and mounted it on the smokebox door. The stem on the back of the
number plate has been taped and soldered on. The number on
the front of the plate looked like a capital letter I, so
I milled off a corner of the character so it would look like
the number 1.
1/26/01 After learning of my two unsuccessful attempts
at making the "T" that carries the exhaust steam from the two
cylinders to the exhaust nozzle, my friend Ben machined
one for me. I had trouble getting the passages drilled and
tapped straight. Ben had all the proper tools and was able
to machine it correctly.
7/5/02 Finished machining the exhaust nozzle.
7/6/02 Removed the cylinder mounting plate on the left side of the locomotive so I can drill and tap the holes that will allow me to connect the exhaust pipes to the left side.
7/14/02 Removed right cylinder (this cylinder has the mounting plate
and the cylinder together as one casting).
8/17/02 Finished drilling and tapping the screw holes in the cylinder
mounting plates and the flanges of the exhaust pipes.
9/1/02 Left side cylinder is now back in place.
8/23/03 Both cylinders are now back in place and the exhaust pipe and
nozzle have been installed. The steam chests are in place but not bolted down
yet and the valve gear has been reconnected. The smoke box door has been added
to the smoke box front. The the casting that holds the stack to the smoke
box is now in place. Materials have been purchased to construct a second
crosshead pump. Castors have been added to the locomotive stand which was
formerly an aquarium stand.
Late Fall 2008 It has been a long time since this page was last updated. What has happened
during this time? Almost nothing. Work and some night classes took up my time and the club needed
the space in the caboose back. The lathe was disassembled and moved back to my condo. Recently some
relatives of mine offered me some space in their garage in exchange for watching their home.
The lathe was moved again and reassembled. I started where I had left off - working on the second
crosshead pump. It has been a bit of a struggle so far. I've lost some of my machining skills and
some of the places I relied on for tools and materials have gone out of business.
1/25/09 Second crosshead pump has been completed except for seating the check
valves and adding some packing material. Two mounting brackets have also been made.
My father, after acquiring a larger drill press, cleaned up the old one and gave it to me.
It has been moved and is now ready to be used. Now if I could just find a good cheap milling
machine. The milling attachment for the lathe is only good for small parts and difficult to use.
Only light cuts can be made and it is easily knock out of alignment.
4/26/09 Found that the crosshead pumps didn't line up with the mounting bracket as planned, so
I soldered a 1/8" thick spacer on to each pump body. The pump on the engineer's side of the locomotive is
now in place and the crosshead and crosshead guides for that side will be reassembled next.
Rear cylinder head covers have been completed and installed on both sides.
5/30/09 Both crosshead pumps are now in place and the crosshead and guides have been reassembled.
Pumps were tested by placing a small cup of water underneath and turning the driving wheel by hand.
I was pleasantly surprised when the water was pushed out of the top of the pump.
7/5/09 Rear cylinder head covers have been machined and installed. The front covers I had acquired all ready
machined. They just needed to be polished the outside plus a little bit was shaved off on the inside before installing.
Steam chests were put back into place and the valves were re-timed. With some temporary pipes and hoses installed
I took the engine down to the club to run it on compressed air. It ran better than I had expected. I even rode on it
- as far as the compressed air hose would allow - by sitting on a board placed on the back end of the locomotive frame.
A few small problems were identified and will be corrected before moving on to the next step. The pipes and fittings to
take the steam from the boiler to the cylinders have been purchased.
