Author Topic: WW&F No. 11 - Official Work Thread  (Read 417963 times)

Jason M Lamontagne

  • Operating Volunteers
  • Supervisor
  • ******
  • Posts: 1,850
    • View Profile
Re: WW&F No. 11 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #615 on: March 13, 2024, 10:53:12 PM »
The round column which Bruce referred to is the lead truck bushing.  This is actually the final component which makes the lead truck useful.  This bushing is constrained by the locomotive frame and in turn it puts a lateral force on the frame when the truck is off-center.  The lateral force is developed from the swing links being forced out of plumb- they want to self-center and in so trying exert the lateral force on the frame which is the entire point of the truck.  The locomotive frame does not put any weight on the truck at this location; instead the locomotive rests on the lead truck equalizer, which hangs from the lead truck pin, which is supported by the lead truck bushing, in turn putting its weight on the center casting.  The center casting is hung from the lead truck frame via the swing links. 

You know, the knee bone connected to the leg bone kind of thing.

Hope that helps,
Jason

Bruce L. Colburn

  • Museum Member
  • Hobo
  • Posts: 3
    • View Profile
Re: WW&F No. 11 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #616 on: March 15, 2024, 11:00:29 PM »
Thank you Jason.  Your description helps a great deal.  I don't know all the names of the many parts of the lead truck and your reference to them sent me back to study the computer generated illustrations.  I suspected the four "swing links" played a major part in explaining how this ingenious design works.  Now I'm wondering if a nifty animated computer illustration could be made available showing the lateral movement of the lead truck's parts.

Joe Fox

  • Museum Member
  • Inspector
  • ******
  • Posts: 1,279
    • View Profile
Re: WW&F No. 11 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #617 on: April 09, 2024, 01:05:35 PM »
Last week a small crew of guys from the WW&F consisting of Nick Simoneau, Tom Ross, Dante’ Lakin, Dan Malkowski, and myself went to the EBT to do some track work. However we got rained out, and ended up doing some various shop work instead which was equally enjoyable.

In the process of driving down, we brought an oval Railroad Crossing sign down that is more traditional to the PA area, including the EBT. The East Broad Top was kind enough to donate two vacuum pots that they had on hand, as well as one additional vacuum pot that was donated from someone who wishes to remain anonymous. The vacuum pots will be rebuilt, and used on #11 in the near future.

I would like to thank the East Broad Top, and our anonymous donor, for their generosity and kind donation to the project.

Mike Fox

  • Museum Member
  • Empire Builder
  • ********
  • Posts: 5,705
    • View Profile
Re: WW&F No. 11 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #618 on: April 09, 2024, 01:23:24 PM »




« Last Edit: April 09, 2024, 02:05:34 PM by Mike Fox »
Mike
Doing way too much to list...

Gordon Cook

  • Museum Member
  • Engineer
  • ****
  • Posts: 512
  • Board Member 2009-2015
    • View Profile
Re: WW&F No. 11 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #619 on: April 11, 2024, 11:06:11 AM »
Many thanks, guys. And also thanks to the EBT and donor for the vacuum pots.

I have been working for the past couple of weeks on finalizing the design of the driver brakes for No. 11. As you can see in the builders photo, No. 7 had a very funky vacuum brake design with the vacuum pots facing backwards under the cab and pulling on the brake rigging with outside links running around the ashpan and under the frame. 
Also note the round vacuum brake "muffler" on top of the cab. This quiets the noise from the escaping steam from the brake ejector when the brakes are applied.  We will be replicating all these 'features' of the original.
Having the actual pots that we will be using lets me accurately design the parts so we can create and add the supporting components to the frame while we have good access.



In the next couple of weeks I hope to finish this and publish a note on the final design and the reasons for its unorthodox configuration.
« Last Edit: April 11, 2024, 11:08:11 AM by Gordon Cook »
Gawdon

Ed Lecuyer

  • Administrator
  • Superintendent
  • *****
  • Posts: 4,488
    • View Profile
    • wwfry.org
Re: WW&F No. 11 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #620 on: April 11, 2024, 08:04:19 PM »
BUILD LOCOMOTIVE 11 – APRIL UPDATE!

A springtime snowstorm did not slow down our progress this month; an abbreviated Build 11 team was back for our April 3-5 work session. Between sessions Harold Downey continued assembly of the rear truck frame.



Gordon Cook spent part of the day Wednesday working on locomotive 9’s injector with Roger Whitney and Jason Lamontagne. Later Gordon worked on machining one of the sleeves for the rear truck axles. Gordon tried to return on Thursday but was unable to reach the museum during the snow storm due to fallen trees blocking route 218!

Rick Sisson spent the day Wednesday completing the anvils that will be used as tooling to form the main spring staples, equalizer pedestals and main spring hangers:



Thursday Rick was able to fillet the driving axle jaws in the forward frame. The jaws have to be rounded to accommodate the inside corners of the driving box shoes and wedges. We were able to borrow a 30 degree plate beveling machine from our friend Brian Fanslau of Maine Locomotive and Machine Works in Alna, Maine. Using this tool, we were able to remove most of the material in two passes, as shown in the drawing. We then removed the remaining material with a hand grinder and finished the surface with a file.



Brian’s plate beveling machine saved us an enormous amount of time; we used to remove all the material with a great number of passes with the hand grinder.

Below is a photo of the frame as received:



And here you can see the first pass completed on the outside faces with the plate beveling machine:



And a photo of the completed work – all ready to fit shoes and wedges!



The plate beveling machine we borrowed from Brian:

 

On Friday morning Rick fabricated the bosses for the lead truck frame:



Here we have test fit the lead truck boss, pedestals and lower radius bar:



The boss will be welded to the lower radius bar when fitting up the pedestals and journal boxes.


On Friday afternoon, Jason and Rick completed forming the lead truck spring hangers. When formed in our flanging machine during the last session, the legs sprung back as we anticipated. We were able to reheat the corners and square up the hangers in the bench vise while holding the pin holes in alignment with a shoulder bolt. Below we see before (left) and after (right) examples:



We look forward to seeing everyone at our next work session scheduled during our Spring Work Weekend, April 26-28. We invite you to stop by, say “hello” to the Build 11 team and let us show you what we’re up to!

Our 2024 fundraising is continuing! To date we have received $15,161 (30% of the $50,000 goal for 2024) – which includes a $2000 anonymous donation made today! Remember, you can still donate directly by check to the museum (which is preferred for large donations), use a credit card to donate through the gift shop, PayPal, or you can go to: build11.org
Ed Lecuyer
Moderator, WW&F Forum

John Kokas

  • Museum Member
  • Supervisor
  • ******
  • Posts: 1,751
    • View Profile
Re: WW&F No. 11 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #621 on: April 29, 2024, 08:49:44 AM »
When are the May and June build #11 work session dates?
Moxie Bootlegger

Ed Lecuyer

  • Administrator
  • Superintendent
  • *****
  • Posts: 4,488
    • View Profile
    • wwfry.org
Re: WW&F No. 11 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #622 on: May 11, 2024, 08:17:27 PM »
BUILD LOCOMOTIVE 11 – MAY 2024 UPDATE!
Our last Build 11 work session was held April 25 – 28 during our Spring Work Weekend. Between sessions Harold Downey has continued working on the rear truck frame – the arch bars and journal boxes have been bolted in. We plan to prime all the components before final assembly.

Quentin Bethune brought back the lead truck center casting he machined at home. He did a great job and those bolts he made are exceptional!



 

Harold, Bill Steussy, Joe Monty and Rick Sisson used our flanger to hot form the main spring staples. We eventually settled on three heats and squeezes in the flanger to form the correct shape in three orthogonal planes. Joe was able to fashion a sort of enclosure using ceramic fiber blankets which accelerated our torch heating – very clever! Once again, this was a learning process for us - the first staple took us between 4 and 5 hours to get right; the remaining three staples took about an hour to complete. This is becoming a recurring theme for your Build 11 team. Below we see the completed staples; the critical surfaces will be machined in a future work session.



We used a keeper as before to ensure a flat top on each staple:



 

We turned our attention next to hot forming the equalizer pedestals. We used the same processes to form these as the main spring staples. Here we see Harold reheating one of the pedestals prior to final forming:



And here we can see the equalizer pedestals test fit on forward frame:



Since we were on a roll, we continued to form the brackets that support the driving box wedge bolts. Jason Lamontagne had built a set of dies (used for locomotives 9 and 10) that we used to hot form our brackets. We were able to heat our material in our propane forge. Before and after photos are shown below:



We had some hand work to do after pressing our material to straighten the ends.

 

Harold was able to pour babbitt into the bronze truck bearings that we had cast for us. Babbitt is a lead, tin and antimony alloy that provides an anti-galling bearing surface.



Harold was able to complete 20 bearings. Harold will machine these to print in our shop.




In an earlier Build 11 work session we attempted to press the rear truck wheels onto their axles, machined by Quentin. Because the wheel bores lacked lead-in, or an entrance taper, both the axles and wheels were scored when we pressed the wheels on. We disassembled the wheelsets, diagnosed the root cause, and developed a corrective action plan. Our solution entails reducing the axle diameter, increasing the wheel bore diameter and fitting a sleeve between the axle and wheel. Gordon Cook and new volunteer Gorham Rowell turned the inside of the sleeves to the prescribed diameter; Quentin then turned the axles to provide a 0.005” interference fit to each sleeve.

Gordon was able to heat two sleeves in the WW&F Ry barbeque (one at a time) to expand the sleeve so that each sleeve could be dropped over the corresponding axle. Because the barbeque was used by the kitchen crew during our Spring Work Weekend we had to wait until lunch was served. Soaking each sleeve at a temperature between 400 and 500 degrees Fahrenheit allowed an easy slip onto the axle as shown below:



Finally, we want to thank our great friends at the East Broad Top Railroad for donating two original Eames vacuum pots to us. The crews of the EBT discovered these extremely rare objects in their lumber shed! These likely came from some of the earliest EBT locomotives before conversion to air brakes. While the WW&F Ry is constructing new vacuum pots for our rolling stock, these unique pieces will be a historic addition to our #11. Gordon is measuring these vacuum pots so that he can design mounting brackets specifically for these pieces. We’ll be posting an update on these when they get attached to the frame.




Our 2024 fundraising is continuing! To date we have received $21,026 (42% of the $50,000 goal for 2024). Remember, you can still donate directly by check to the museum, use a credit card to donate through the gift shop, PayPal, or you can go to: www.build11.org
Ed Lecuyer
Moderator, WW&F Forum

Ed Lecuyer

  • Administrator
  • Superintendent
  • *****
  • Posts: 4,488
    • View Profile
    • wwfry.org
Re: WW&F No. 11 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #623 on: June 11, 2024, 08:17:50 PM »
Build 11 - The Squeeze is ON!
June 2024 Preview

The team building locomotive 11 have been hard at work over the last several days, so a formal work update will be coming soon. Here's a sneak preview of the accomplishments this month - a video showing one of the tender truck wheels being fitted to its axle!
https://youtu.be/VypgyNvxCZo


Learn more and contribute at www.build11.org

Ed Lecuyer
Moderator, WW&F Forum

Mike Fox

  • Museum Member
  • Empire Builder
  • ********
  • Posts: 5,705
    • View Profile
Re: WW&F No. 11 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #624 on: June 22, 2024, 05:36:19 PM »
Rear truck is starting to come together

Mike
Doing way too much to list...

Bill Reidy

  • Museum Member
  • Inspector
  • ******
  • Posts: 1,455
  • Life member. Ack.
    • View Profile
Re: WW&F No. 11 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #625 on: June 30, 2024, 06:10:38 PM »
A photo taken yesterday (June 29th) showing progress on the rear truck.

What–me worry?

Ed Lecuyer

  • Administrator
  • Superintendent
  • *****
  • Posts: 4,488
    • View Profile
    • wwfry.org
Re: WW&F No. 11 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #626 on: July 11, 2024, 07:25:23 PM »
Build Locomotive 11: July VIDEO Update

Build 11 team members Gordon and Rick were working on the locomotive today, so instead of a detailed written progress report, see for yourself how the project is progressing!

Learn more and contribute at www.build11.org

Video posted at: https://youtu.be/zR5I1Tcb0gg
Ed Lecuyer
Moderator, WW&F Forum

Dante Lakin

  • Museum Member
  • Flagman
  • *
  • Posts: 44
    • View Profile
Re: WW&F No. 11 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #627 on: July 31, 2024, 02:44:03 PM »
I was just reading through the Baldwin spec sheet for WW&F 7 and noticed something peculiar, it states the engine had no water gauge glass! Same thing with the Kennebec Central #1. This couldn't have been true, right? If it is, then was one ever added to either engine?

John McNamara

  • Operating Volunteers
  • Supervisor
  • ******
  • Posts: 1,620
    • View Profile
Re: WW&F No. 11 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #628 on: July 31, 2024, 04:14:37 PM »
I was just reading through the Baldwin spec sheet for WW&F 7 and noticed something peculiar, it states the engine had no water gauge glass! Same thing with the Kennebec Central #1. This couldn't have been true, right? If it is, then was one ever added to either engine?
While the phrase "bells and whistles" suggests superfluous items custom-ordered by each railroad, water gauges would not be superfluous, so evidently their style varied from railroad to railroad. More interesting research on "bells and whistles" is plainly needed. :D

Jason M Lamontagne

  • Operating Volunteers
  • Supervisor
  • ******
  • Posts: 1,850
    • View Profile
Re: WW&F No. 11 - Official Work Thread
« Reply #629 on: July 31, 2024, 05:52:41 PM »
It was common in the 1800s to run boilers on try cocks alone.  Water gauge glasses were an extravagant expense.  Loco 9 was also built this way, as I suspect all PoCo locos and most BLW ME 2 foot locos before SR&RL 10 or so. 

Blow up enough boilers by misreading try cocks, and they make laws requiring water glasses.  100 years later we assume life was always that way, but remember they also blew boilers up by sitting on levers of sprung-lever safety valves.  Good times.  Well, not for everyone I suppose.

See ya
Jason