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.

[Ed Lecuyer]

WW&F Build 11: December Update
We have more progress to report during our November 13-15 work session. Click on the photos for details. We accomplished quite a lot during this work session and we’re taking a break in December to enjoy the holidays. But we’ll be back at it in January. Stay tuned for our next update.

But first.... WE DID IT!!

Our 2023 fundraising has exceeded our target, thanks to supporters like you! To date we have received a total of $57,587 (115% of the $50,000 goal for 2023.) 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: build11.org

We’ll have a report on 2024’s fundraising campaign on Jan. 11, 2023 - which will include our target, and a really (wheeley?) snappy new name.



During our November 13-15 work session, the Build 11 team focused on fabricating the lead truck radius bar cross tie. This is composed of 8 pieces of bar stock drilled, reamed and riveted together. Here we see Gordon Cook laying out and drilling some of the required holes.



Here, Harold Downey and Quentin Bethune are positioning our Hanna riveter to drive one of four rivets in the assembly.



And, finally, the lead truck radius bar cross tie assembly being set up to drill the last hole for the retaining pin.



During the last work session, the lead truck cross tie was prepared by match drilling the cross tie to the frame. Gordon is completing the job by tapping these holes and the installation is now complete.



Quentin continued turning the rear truck axles – here we see the second axle in progress and completed. Quentin plans to grind the axles to improve the finish during the next work session.



Meanwhile, Noah MacAdam stepped up to bore the rear truck swing links.



Jerry and Carlos Steinke assisted Harold in forming (bending) arch bars for the rear truck. Jerry and Carlos have quite a lot of experience using our flanging machine to form arch bars for our passenger trucks. Harold had made plywood templates to ensure the correct bend angles were obtained.



And, finally, Harold has completed machining the pilot brackets.

THANK YOU to all our friends, followers, and funders for finishing 2023 strong. We'll be announcing the 2024 campaign on Jan., 11 - and it will be wheely exciting!

[John Kokas]

The plan is to get more castings up to Alna right after New Year's.  Cattail has been backed up but as soon as things break free, I'll be bringing stuff up unless someone is in the area and going to Alna anyway.

[Benjamin Richards]

"lead truck radius bar cross tie" is a hell of a noun stack.   

[Dave Crow]

Great progress on No. 11!  Is there a photo that better shows the cross-tie assembly in its installed position?

Dave Crow

[Gordon Cook]

We are planning on installing that assembly during the January work session.
Holes will to be drilled and tapped in the frame to hold it in place.
Here's a view of the cross tie assembly in the 3D model:


Please note that this model leaves out some of the pins and bolts.
As you can see, the front suspension gets a bit complicated up in the front. Part of the complication was that we made the
front frames deeper in front of the lead drivers, as the original design was not strong enough there for the calculated stresses. This
lowered the crosstie, which caused the lead truck equalizer (the gray-blue piece) to interfere with the cross tie. The cross tie had to move
up vertically to give the equalizer clearance to pivot up and down with the suspension.

[Dave Crow]

Gordon,
Thanks for the explanation and great 3-D view of the front end.  I was asking my question because the description provided with one of the photos stated the cross tie assembly installation was now complete.
Happy Holidays!
Dave Crow

[Ed Lecuyer]

BUILD LOCOMOTIVE 11 – JANUARY UPDATE!

The Build 11 team, after enjoying a holiday break, was back at it again during our January 2-4 work session. Quentin Bethune completed polishing the first rear truck axle journal bearing surfaces using a tool post grinder generously donated by Noah MacAdam.


Finish grinding the axle journal bearing surface.



The completed axle journal bearing surface – it looks great!


Meanwhile, Gordon Cook, Rick Sisson and Jason Lamontagne completed installation of the lead truck radius bar cross tie. This effort included drilling the through hole for the radius bar retaining pin, drilling and tapping 4 holes in the underside of the forward frame to mount the cross tie, and finally countersinking the through hole to receive the retaining pin. This work alone took us almost two days to complete.


Gordon is countersinking the pin hole in the lead truck radius bar cross tie.
 

Harold Downey assisted us in cold flanging the 7/8” thick radius bar. This component looks like a gigantic hairpin and required four bends, which came out rather well. We used a purpose built anvil placed in our flanging machine to form these bends. We start the bend and remove the work piece when we judge the bend to be close to the desired angle. Then we use a plywood template to quantify the achieved bend angle, reinsert the work piece in the press, and repeat the process a number of times until the proper bend angle has been formed. On occasion when we have over bent the work piece, we’ll have to remove the work piece, flip it over, and try to bend it back to the correct angle.


Harold is evaluating the lead truck radius bar bend angle prior to further bending.


The lead truck radius bar is sitting on the floor; the hole matches the hole in the lead truck cross tie mounted to the forward frame above.


We need to form four lead truck pedestals – these are C-shaped components formed from 1” by 3” bar stock, about 2 feet long. We have to heat these with an oxygen – propane mixture until the area is glowing (orange), move them carefully (the work piece gets really hot) to the anvil and begin the bending process as described above. We were able to form the first bend on each of the 4 pedestals during this work session; we’ll form the remaining bends during our next work session.

Noah has started to machine the rear cylinder heads in his home shop. This is the first step in installing the crosshead guides on the locomotive.


Rear cylinder head in the lathe.
 

Noah has also completed the lead truck bearing boxes – the boxes have been bored and machined to accept the bearing retainers.


Lead truck bearing box.


Gordon has machined the lead truck spring hanger pivots and pins in his home shop and brought them to Sheepscot.


Lead truck spring hanger pivots and pins. (drawings)


Quentin has brought home the lead truck swing links, where he will machine the holes, insert the bushings and drill oil holes:


Lead truck swing links. (drawings)


Here's an illustration of the components we’ve worked on this session.

Work session components.


2024 FUNDRAISING GOAL ANNOUNCED!
With 2023's goal surpassed with $64,111 raised, we are moving forward with a $50,000 goal in 2024 to make "Wheel Progress". Learn more, and contribute, at build11.org

[Ed Lecuyer]

We made the news!!

See this article published TODAY by The Lincoln County News - https://lcnme.com/currentnews/decades-of-dreams-at-work-rebuilding-alna-locomotive/