WW&F No. 11 - Official Work Thread

[Jeff Schumaker]

They look great.

Jeff

[John Kokas]

What is the planned activities for Build 11 from Wednesday through the weekend?  I need to plan on proper clothing for the jobs required.

[Ed Lecuyer]

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.

[Bill Reidy]

Harold Downey machining components for No. 11's lead truck today.

[Ed Lecuyer]

[Mod Note - I forgot to post this on 11/11/2023.]

BUILD LOCOMOTIVE 11 – NOVEMBER UPDATE!
Again, a great deal of progress was made during our October 25-27 work session and we are grateful for the skills and talents brought to the project by our dedicated volunteers. The Build 11 team focused on fitting the cylinder castings to the forward frame. We began by identifying a 0.002” space between the castings and frame rail – we needed this space to disappear. Noah MacAdam led the effort to precisely fit the cylinder castings to the forward frame during which we identified fit interferences, hoisted the cylinder castings clear of the frame, filed high spots in the frame and then lowered the castings. This evolution was repeated several times until we were satisfied the fit was perfect; and our effort consumed a whole day in the shop. Noah’s skills and expertise were crucial to obtaining a perfect fit.

Quentin Bethune spent this work session preparing axle stock for the rear truck. He was able to true up each axle and machine them to length, and has started to machine the finished contour on the first axle. Quentin has a lot of machining experience which is accelerating our progress.


Noah and Gordon working on the frame fit.


Quentin machining our rear truck axles – Harold’s consulting.


Gordon and Quentin machining fitted bolts and rear truck axles.


Rick Sisson and Harold Downey reamed and reverse spot faced each of the eight holes to receive fitted bolts joining the cylinder castings to the forward frame. Our Fein mag drill, which is much lighter than our Milwaukee, works much better in this application. We were working in a confined area of the castings with little clearance for the drill.


Noah supplied us with eight fitted bolts which he machined at home...


...And Gordon Cook turned each one to the correct diameter as measured for each hole, which is a time consuming process. And Gordon also drove each of the fitted bolts – no easy task underneath the locomotive.


Rick match drilled the lead truck cross tie to receive fitted bolts joining it to the forward frame. Rick also match drilled holes in the pilot backer plate which will receive bolts fastening the front pilot beam to the locomotive.
     

At the end of the day we test fit the pilot deck. It looks pretty good!


Harold continued to machine the rear truck transoms.


While he wasn’t helping the rest of the team, Harold was busy test fitting the rear truck components. These are all pieces which Harold had previously machined in our shop. The Build 11 team will work toward assembling the rear truck in the near future.

Our 2023 fundraising is proceeding well. To date we have received a total of $44,214 (88% of the $50,000 goal for 2023.) Only $5,786 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:
http://www.build11.org/

[Jeff Schumaker]

Thanks for the photo update, Ed.

Jeff

[Gordon Cook]

Due to the holidays and busy schedules, we won't be having a formal No 11 work session in December. However, there will be ongoing work in the machine shop on the front and rear truck assemblies. Members are machining parts in their home workshops for those too.
A complete 3D model of the running gear is coming along that will be animated to confirm that the relationship between all the parts is correct. (And is also fun to watch.)
The drive wheel centers and main cranks are being cast soon, and we will be sending those along to be machined.
The remaining castings are being readied to send out for bid.
With everyone's help, we hope to be able to get wheels under the frame next year, which will be a major milestone.