BUILD LOCOMOTIVE 11 - OCTOBER UPDATE!Exciting news! Our cylinder castings have arrived. We absolutely wish to thank our friends at Mountain Machine Works in Auburn, Maine for doing an outstanding job machining our cylinder castings. Here we see (left to right) Sean, Joe and Greg proudly standing with their work:
Additionally, a great deal of progress was made during our October 4-6 work session. Harold Downey had machined the rear truck side bearings during the interval between work sessions and Noah MacAdam machined new fitted bolts in his home shop to be used to join the cylinder half-saddles.
On Wednesday Gordon Cook completed machining the rear frame fitted bolts and Rick Sisson ground and filed a fillet on each side of the forward frame to receive the cylinder castings.
Thursday Harold and Rick reamed the cylinder castings to receive eight fitted bolts which were individually fit and driven home by Noah; these rigidly tie the left and right halves of the cylinder assembly together. At the same time Gordon was completing installation of the rear frame fitted bolts. Gordon and Noah were able to use the Monarch and Victor lathes simultaneously to complete machining the fitted bolts; this demonstrates the value of having two lathes in service for busy Build 11 days. At the same time, Harold was using the horizontal mill to machine the lead truck equalizer pedestal.
At the end of the day, the Build 11 crew, aided by Bill Steussy and Ken Steeves, hoisted the cylinder assembly, turned it over and placed it upside down on blocking in preparation for further work. Meanwhile, Jason Lamontagne designed and fabricated a fixture to hold our riveting buck in place so that we could finish riveting the gusset plates to the rear frame.
Friday morning the entire crew supplemented by Jeff Schumaker, Bob Longo and Brendan Barry was able to successfully drive the remaining rivets in the rear frame gussets. New this session, we preheated the material that would receive the rivet; this change to our process worked out quite well as each rivet cooled more slowly than before providing us more time to form the rivet head.. The setup worked so well we proceeded to drive the remaining rivets tying the forward frame to the front bunter brackets. Gordon drilled and tapped the bottom of the cylinder casting to receive the lead truck equalizer pedestal while Harold was finishing up machining the same pedestal. Gordon also drilled and tapped a number of holes which will provide live- and exhaust-steam passage drains. The cylinder assembly was next flipped right-side-up, raised by overhead cranes and set in place on the forward frame.
Our 2023 fundraising is proceeding well. Over $4,600 has been contributed in memory of former Build 11 team member G. Wayne Laepple. To date we have received a total of $ 42,978 (86% of the $50,000 goal for 2023.) Only $7,022 left to go! Remember, every dollar counts, and we need your help to keep up the momentum. You can donate directly by check to the museum, use a credit card to donate through the gift shop, PayPal, or you can go to:
https://www.build11.org/
Factory fresh fitted bolts – machined by Noah McAdam in his home shop.
Harold and Rick reaming the cylinder casting for fitted bolts.
Gordon driving the last rear frame fitted bolt.
Noah driving the last cylinder casting fitted bolt.
The Build 11 crew turning the frame upside-down.
Jason driving the remaining rear frame gusset rivets.
Gordon tapping the cylinder castings for the lead truck equalizer pedestal.
The completed cylinder assembly – the last time we’ll ever have this view!
Mating the cylinder assembly to the forward frame.
Machining the lead truck equalizer pedestal.
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