WW&F No. 11 - Official Work Thread

[Mike Fox]

[Mike Fox]

[Mike Fox]

[Jeff Schumaker]

What is the machine that Zach and Earl are working at?

Jeff

[Earl Leavitt]

Jeff,
        It's an old school threading machine with pump feed for the cutting oil. I'm threading a piece of 3/4 inch rod that will become part of the tumbling spring assembly on No.11. Zack is helping by keeping the oil flowing where needed. This assembly connects to the tumbling shaft and equalizes the weight of the valve gear in order to make operating the reversing/cut-off lever a manageable task.

One more No.11 part done!

Earl

[Jeff Schumaker]

Thanks for the description, Earl. How old is the machine?

Jeff

[Earl Leavitt]

Oh gosh Jeff, the threader could date from the 1930's but it was a design followed by several companies right up through the late '50's at least.

  Heavy duty geared drive that's near impossible to kill. Toledo, Beaver and Oster were the big three long before Rigid made it's mark in the biz.
Suspect this one is a pre-WW2 Toledo because of the patented safety fork that kicks the chuck wrench clear if you forget to remove it. Now you've got me curious! Will wipe off the eons of shop crud tomorrow and see what I can find for a Mfg's plate. 

[Ed Lecuyer]

Build 11: January 2026 Update

For our January 2026 Update we are thrilled to announce that an anonymous donor (with close ties to the 2 ft community) has AGAIN challenged the friends, followers, and members of the WW&F to raise $60,000 to Build Locomotive 11. He will MATCH up to $60,000 in 2026 so that progress continues “Pushing Forward.”

Below, please see the progress made during our most recent Build 11 work session, which was held on Wednesday through Friday, December 10-12, 2025.

Quentin Bethune brought up bolts he fabricated for the valve gear. He formed the acorn heads and threads on his home shop CNC lathe. Earl Leavitt will turn the final diameter to achieve a fitted joint once the mating parts have been fabricated.



Joe Monty joined us on Wednesday and performed some machining on the rear coupler draft gear components.



Joe also worked on the front coupler as well.



Harold Downey, Gordon Cook and Rick Sisson spent the day Wednesday and Thursday morning scuffing and preparing the primer coat; see all the gray/black pieces in the photo.



Thursday afternoon we covered nearly everything in a two part polyurethane marine coating from Epifanes. The Epifanes folks were able to color match our sample of Baldwin Olive Green. Notice the change in the evening’s photo.



There are a few components left to finish – notably one driving wheelset. We plan to coat these items before our January work session, when we plan to apply the second, and final, color coat.



Because the polyurethane coating produces noxious fumes, your Build 11 team was outfitted with respirators. When we were done for the day, we removed the respirators and rushed out of the shop.







Earl was working on components for the tumbling shaft counterbalance spring assembly on Thursday morning.



On Thursday morning Quentin was turning some threaded rod for our Coach 9 buddies. Earl was turning more parts for the tumbling shaft counterbalance spring assembly.



And here’s the whole locomotive as of the end of 2025!



Please keep us “Pushing Forward” in 2026 with a (matched!) contribution at www.build11.org
…and thank YOU for giving more than 125% to this project! When the 2025 campaign closed, our friends and followers have donated an absolutely astounding $149,755 towards Build 11 – 125% of our $120,000 goal (for 2025.) Thank YOU for helping to put no. 11 on the rails as quickly as possible.

Learn more and contribute at www.build11.org

[Mike Fox]

[Ed Lecuyer]

Build 11: February 2026 Update

Our latest Build 11 work session was held on Monday through Wednesday, January 12-14.Your Build 11 team took some time to consider our approaches to “wheeling the locomotive”. Lowering the frame onto the wheelsets eventually won over raising the wheelsets into the frame. We’ve decided to use 2 pneumatic jacks to lower the rear frame and an overhead crane to lower the cylinder saddle. Because our overhead shop cranes are not rated for this lift we retrieved the mobile gantry crane from the garage. Here we see Bryce Weeks pulling one of the support legs inboard to reduce the overall span.



Joe Monty joined us and is seen working on the front coupler assembly.



Harold Downey was machining the driving box cellars.



Harold and Quentin Bethune were fitting the cellars into the driving boxes which had been machined and returned to us by Mountain Machine Works.



Some filing and fitting was required.



And finally, Harold, Quentin, Gordon Cook and Rick Sisson completed applying the second coat of Baldwin Olive Green to the locomotive components. There was a lot to paint and it took some time, so we’ll present to you a photo gallery…








We recently received laser cut components designed by Gordon that will be used in the driver brake assemblies.



Meanwhile, Earl reports on the valve gear work completed and underway since the last report: Tumbling shaft counterbalance assembly is complete, all machine work finished. Bushings for all the pins have been sized and installed in the hangars, reverse lever arm and tumbling shaft spring arm. Valve gear pin retaining washers are made and the final machining of the valve gear pins is now underway. Locations of the tumbling shaft and rocker boxes have been laid out and referenced on the frame for final assembly. Rocker box castings have arrived and preliminary machining set-up is underway.

Meanwhile our 2026 fundraising is off to a good start with $17,044.50 raised. Remember, every dollar donated will be MATCHED by an anonymous donor (up to $60,000) and will help us keep construction of the locomotive “Pushing Forward”.

Learn more and contribute at www.build11.org