WW&F No. 11 - Official Work Thread

[Dana Deering]

Hey Bernie,

     I spend as much time as I can spare doing grunt work at Sheepscot and I stand in awe of your work and that of Bruce, and the many other extremely talented artists "from away" who are doing yeoman's work for the WW&F.  I am grateful for the contributions from you and your pattern work, Wayne L. and all of the "stuff" he locates and donates to the museum, to Stewart when he lived away, to the Mass contingent, to Steve H. our master of the photographic canvas, and to all of the members from far away who give 100% of the time they can spare either at home or on site, to make our mutual dream come true.  The thing I like most about all of you/us is that we seem to hold that common dream of restoring a Maine two footer and we don't lose sight of the dream even with all of the personalities and egos involved (and we all have one of each!). We seem to have a real band of kindred spirits in this organization. As one whose talents are limited to pounding spikes and shoveling ballast and a bit of dabbling in a few other areas, I count us lucky to have each and every one of you and I take off my virtual hat to all of you and say:  Thanks a million for helping make MY dream come true with all of your fantastic work!  No one takes you for granted.

[Mike Fox]

Bernie,
  The only thing I'd like to see more than your pattern rolling across a floor is seeing the actual wheels turning on #11. Looks beautiful. We are going to have to display all these great patterns when the loco is complete. Thanks for all the work you put into them.

[Bernie Perch]

Dana,

I really appreciate your comments.  Whenever you post something like this, it represents a lot of deep perception and insight into the volunteer situation at the WW&F.  Whenever I came there for the work weekends I have felt perfectly at home and right from the first visit became involved with #11/railcar projects.  I don't know if the work weekend sessions are unique to the WW&F or not, but I do not see any references to any others on the few forums I read. I hope the situation stays the same.  By unique I mean that everybody is welcome to work, not just members.  I am familiar with the sessions at the EBT and the C&TS.

I know that display space is extremely limited, but it would be nice if ALL the patterns and parts for #11 could be currently displayed.  It would be a little more impressive and show that there is a deep commitment to the project already.  I know that the WW&F is not pushing getting money for this project yet, but if there are any of those people out there who keep talking about building new locomotives would contribute a little toward getting turning stock, Bruce could be "turning" out many more parts.  I have personally supplied all the plywood, materials and tools for my patterns and Wayne and I paid for the bell bracket, and Stephen purchased the plates, and this has added up to many hundreds of dollars toward the project already (I don't keep a record as it would probably scare me).

Bernie

[Win Nowell]

Bernie, these patterns belong in an Art Gallery, not buried in a sand box.

As a suggestion, how about setting up a site where photos of all the patterns and parts could be displayed as they are completed.
We certainly don't have enough space to display them properly on the property at the present time. That may be an enducement to some to contribute to a #11 fund although this shouldn't draw funds away from the current hot projects but obviously money is being funnelled to #11 by those in the know and those who are interested.

Win Nowell

[Stephen Hussar]

Here's another picture (with Bernie in it!) that shows the scale of this pattern!!

[Pete "Cosmo" Barrington]

Incredible!
   I have to seriously reign in my own excitement when I see photos like the above, otherwise I'd be all "giggly and jiggly" like a schoolgirl! 
   That being said, I don't think it's possible to overstate the importance of this project to the world of preservation at large, railroading or otherwise. The implication is that not only can we build a locomotive from the railhead up, we could, if necessary, duplicate any part necessary (ie: a cracked drive-wheel core) to keep the existing ones running.
   I understand that the museum and it's BOD have chosen to handle the #11 project with discretion at this time and I understand why, but that only makes me look forward that much more to the day when WW&FRR makes  "The Big Announcement" to the world about #11. I can only imagine the jaw-dropping and eye bugging that will occur later.
   To date, there have only been three "from scratch" steam locomotives built in recent history (that have gotten any serious attention, at least.) The A-1 "Peppercorn," the "CPRR Leviathan," and the 3' ga. 2-4-4 (whose name is on the tip of my tongue right now.) There may have been others (possibly Welsh 2'?) and I do not mean to take away from them as such, but I think we all can agree that such projects are indeed rare.
   The possibilities of what projects could follow this one are even more staggering! Weather from or for WW&F or another such group, the idea that a 2' locomotive can be built from scratch invites us to beleive it possible for us to someday see SR&RL engines like #10 or #24 one-day roam the backwoods again.
Who knows what will follow? Nobody can ever say for certain, but those of us who dream of such things can now feel a certain sense of validation for our dreaming.
I will go as far as saying that I'm willing to be the first to contribute to a #11 fund if and when it is established, even so far as to earmark a donation as such in order to make it so. I may even attempt to do so this weekend.
In the meantime, I look forward to seeing the results of Bernie's fine work gracing the shop-floor in person, hopefully before this time next year.
Thank you Bernie and Bruce for giving life to our dreams.

[Stephen Hussar]

Absolutely beautiful -completed counterweight drive wheel center patterns from Bernie's shop... I've got some stills and video of Bernie working on these, which I hope to edit and post soon! Thanks, Bernie!!

[Bernie Perch]

Thanx Stephen for posting these photos.  The work on these actually started before the plain spoked driver center patterns were finished, so it has been a long haul.  What I look forward to is seeing #9 finished and running and getting the #11 project off the back burner.  There are several of us just chomping at the bit to get this project moving along.  I am working on the core box for these patterns, and the next are the cranks.  I hope they can be cast in 2012 and the machining can start.

Bernie

[Dave Crow]

Is the core box used to make the counterweight portion hollow?

Will the journal boxes be cast?

Your patterns all look too pretty to use!

Dave Crow

[Bernie Perch]

Dave,

The counterweights on the driver center will be cast solid.  The faces on the counterweights are thicker on the pattern and the castings will be machine faced to adjust somewhat the balancing forces.  I haven't fully discussed the cranks with Jason, but at least the ones on the main drivers will be cored hollow to pour in lead to adjust the counterbalancing.  I do not know if the cranks on the lead drivers will be hollow or cast solid at this time.  If you saw the pattern for the lead driver centers, there was no counterbalance on them at all.  I will be starting the patterns for the cranks in a month or so.

The core box I am making now is for the axle holes.  The core print is the nub in the center of the pattern.  This is usually painted yellow or orange to indicate a core.  For display purposes I chose not to do this to keep the patterns "pretty".  It will probably be painted by someone up there before it goes to the foundry, along with the inside of the core box.  I did paint the core prints and core box for the bell bracket.

Jason will have to answer the journal question.  At the Strasburg RR shops, they have made journal boxes out of solid slabs.  The crown brass is machined from hollow round stock rather than from a casting.  I visited the shops recently and saw some blanks for the crown brasses on the floor.  This eliminates hitting air pockets in a casting.

Bernie

[Stephen Hussar]

Behind the scenes, a couple of months ago in Bernie's shop...

[Stephen Hussar]

[Bruce Mowbray]

Journal boxes in the 2 foot gauge size could easily be made from bar stock. If they were going to be cast, I would make them of cast steel. This gives the shop folks the opportunity easily to weld them up if they break or get worn. Even wheel centers and truck frame parts should be made from steel castings for the same reason - ease of repair and rebuild when necessary. In the journal boxes I repaired for the 0-6-0 I am working on, I chose to use continuous cast bronze tube for the crown brasses. With the aid of a CAD drawing, I figure out the ID and OD of the material so that I can get 2 brasses out of a round tube. This cuts the material cost by 1/3 since the brasses go a little more than 1/2 way around the axle.

Bruce

Bernie, Beautiful pattern work!! It was nice to see you up at ST. Wish I had more time to chat with you. Maybe next time.

[Stephen Hussar]

All, more phenomenal pattern work by Bernie Perch. Bernie brought this one up last month, but I think everyone was so blown away by "the whistle"   that this gorgeous pattern slipped under most people's radar. Since this one's got the counterweight, I decided to bring it into the shop and set it next to No 9's drivers. And with No 9 coming back together, we're actually getting close to casting these!

[Bernie Perch]

Stephen,

Thanx for posting the picture of the comparison of the drivers.  Except for when we blew the whistle for the first time, I generally kept a low profile even though most of the time of the work weekend I was walking a foot off the ground.  The wood for the cranks arrived and I plan to start them shortly.  I am looking forward to when the #11 project physically starts.  It's been a long wait for me (since Oct. 2006) when I first talked to Jason about the project, and longer for those who were working on the drawings.

To start enticing those who may be supporting the project moneywise, maybe you should show a photo of all the patterns (3 wheel centers, bell bracket) and all the parts which have been made (lead truck wheels and axle, machine work by Bruce, bell and cradle, and plates) or accumulated (headlight and ?) to show that we are really serious about this project.

Bernie