WW&F No. 11 - Official Work Thread

[Dylan Lambert]

You know what might not be a bad idea? See if WPI or one of the other technical schools in the region would be willing to make some mini replicas of No. 11's number plates on their CNC machine... Sell them to raise funds for the project and give out some flyers describing the endeavor with them...

[Bernie Perch]

Dave,

Is there any possibility of sending me the scale drawings?  I could start getting my mind prepared, I also can generally guess at the shrinkage rate which wouldn't be that much.  Also I could compare yours and Jason's.  When I was working on the bolster patterns, it would have been nice to see the scale drawings.

Bernie

[Dave Crow]

Bernie, I'm at a conference in San Antonio this week, but I will look on my desk at work next Monday to see if I still have copies of the individual parts.  I believe I showed you copies of them last fall when I first drew them up.  I have since sent Jason a second set, and I'm not sure if I kept copies of all the drawings or not.

I do have PDFs of Baldwin's rear frame and rear truck drawings; I can send them to you.  You wouold have to enlarge them when you print them out.  Or I can bring you an 11x17 of each at the Fall work weekend.

I think the shrinkage is about 3%, or is that the draft angle?  I'm not exactly sure how much steel shrinks when cast...

Dave

[Bernie Perch]

Dave,

It will be two to three months before I finish the intermediate body bolster pattern, so there is no rush to get the plans to me.  If it is necessary, I will ask Jason for them.  I believe the locomotive should be built from the rails up.  It would be great to see the trailing truck finished early.  We have to convince Jason to use the spoked wheel center pattern which we already have.

It would be fine for you to give me the drawings during the work weekend if you can get them ready.

The shrinkage is about 1/8" per foot.  The draft angle is 3 degrees.  I would have to check.  I put more than enough on a pattern to allow for shrinkage and machining.

Bernie

[Alan Downey]

Enjoy the weather while you're down in my neck of the woods, Dave! We turned the heat down a notch for September.

I am as excited as the next person to start seeing parts cast and assemblies come together for #11. But I think that there would be real value in us producing a pattern for solid wheels for the rear truck. The historical appearance is certainly a big part of that. But also, as we look into the future of the museum, it's operation, and equipment upkeep and possible construction, we only have so many sets of 2ft wheels. While there is a real and appreciable cost to getting wheels cast, and axles purchased/machined, it would be good for us to have that option, than be held strictly to the wheels we have on hand. A wheel pattern could end up being one which the museum (and maybe even others) would get a lot of use out of. I'd be curious to hear others' thoughts.

Now that I am up at school, I'm working on patterns less, but I'm laying the groundwork so that I can finish a couple of core boxes, and produce 3-6 more patterns over the winter break. I've started working on the eccentrics, but haven't fully committed to any others yet. The eccentric straps, cylinder heads, and pistons were all candidates on my list pending communication with Jason, but I'd be happy to take a swing at the rear wheels if that would be of help. We might could even make the core for the axle the same as for the pilot wheels to save time in that department.

[Dave Crow]

Hi Alan,

I agree with the desire to have a pattern for a non-spoked wheel.  The pattern could be used for more than #11, as wheelsets tended to be shuffled between freight cars, passenger cars, and tender trucks - most of the railroads swapped axle sets between equipment to save money.

We certainly have a need for wheels. I can think of 20 wheels needed within the 5-year time frame or sooner: 8 wheels for a set of freight car trucks, 8 wheels for rebuilding the spare set of passenger car trucks, and 4 wheels for #11.  Shucks, if we wanted better (namely, round) wheels under the creamery car, there would be another 8...

I did get a price quote from a well-known (and friendly to the preservation industry) manufacturer in Pennsylvania; if we were to purchase 20 wheels, the cost would be $2000 per wheel.  The price went up to about $2200 for smaller quantities.  Monetary donations are welcome from the readers out there in internet land.

Jason, I believe, would like to have a pattern created for the Portland Co. freight car wheel; he was going to look through the museum archives for a copy of the wheel drawing.  Give him a shout, or we'll see if he sees this thread and responds!  And, yes, it would be great if the core for the axle could be re-used to save time.

Dave Crow

[Alan Downey]

Things have still been chugging away in the #11 patterns department. I don't know what the tally is for certain, I think we have about 20 or so patterns completed, or underway. I'm finding it really exciting to see whole component groups of patterns be completed, such as the set of bolsters that Bernie has been working on. Here's an idea of where things have come since the last update from Bernie and myself.

Bernie just sent these to me a week ago- this being the last of the three bolster patterns which were to be made. He always reminds me that patterns don't need to look nice, and that aesthetics are not generally a concern of his except for eye-catching patterns like the wheel centers-yet his work always looks really sweet. My hat's off to you, Bernie. I'll be looking forward to seeing your next project.










Since my last photographic update, I've gotten quite a bit done. The journal boxes and for the lead truck, and the main wheels have been mostly finished. From left to right- first there is the journal box and oil cellar for the drive axles. Then there is the frame for the lead truck leaning against the wall, and the trough-like box in front of it is the core box to produce the negative space beneath the arches. Next is the front and back halves of the eccentrics. Finally, closest to the camera is the lead truck journal box and oil cellar.









None of these patterns are done yet. They all still need some filleting, each journal box needs a core, and the lead truck frame needs some dimensional tweaking.  The larger eccentric half is still very rough on the interior. I'm trying to get some machine shop experience at school by producing a template for my router to follow with an endmill. This should get everything dimensioned and smooth. Ill then add draft by hand.

Over the winter break between semesters, I hope to finish all the fabrication work left for the patterns I've started, and also add some combination of the pistons, cross head, or valve chest to the list. We're holding off on a wheel for now, to allow for some more research. One step at a time.

Alan

[Steve Smith]

Four cheer for Alan and Bernie! So exciting to see the work coming along this well.

[John McNamara]

Wow!

-John

[Ira Schreiber]

Absolutely amazing.

'nuff said.

Ira

[Bernie Perch]

Alan,

Thanx for posting the photos.  You have to email me the steps for posting photos so I can add that to my limited computer skills.  I always try to keep in mind how the patterns will be stored so that they can remain relatively intact for future use should another locomotive be constructed.  You saw how carelessly the patterns have been stored for CNJ 113 and I found that disheartening.  I enjoy comparing our different styles of construction.  I am waiting for the next set of plans.

Bernie

[Mike Fox]

I for one would like to see these displayed, exhibit style if you will, when the room becomes available. I don't mean in the station, but when the house gets revamped there is talk of having a whole floor as a museum. These would be great pieces to display there, not only to show how it was done, but how it is still done. You guys are doing fabulous.

[John Kokas]

I think that by the time we're all done with all the patterns, we'll need a whole building just to display patterns!!!!  Not that I would complain in the least bit 

[Alan Downey]

Thanks everyone for the very kind words.

Mike, I completely agree with you. Part of the value in us building #11 as close to how it was originally done as is reasonably and practicably possible, is in providing a way for the public to see how how it was done. If/when space becomes available for more interpretive exhibits, I think it would be really cool if there were displays regarding processes/features like the Russia Iron, patterns and castings, or any of the many things that go on at the museum which are really unique, but that the public might not see on a regular weekend visit. For now, I'm glad that we have the forum to use as a record and a view into how so many of the projects at the museum are made possible.

[John McNamara]

Hi Alan,

I'd like to propose that someone write a couple of articles for the WW&F Newsletter about some of these things. That would also be a record and a view into how so many of the projects at the museum are made possible. The newsletter has over 1100 readers, so between the forum and the newsletter, this information would reach a lot of people (admittedly with some duplication).

Who might that "someone" be? My crystal ball is cloudy, but I think I see a first letter "A" and maybe a first ;letter "D." 

-John