# NP Z3 Compound Mallet



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The Z3 ran in the Northwest servicing the areas around Couer d' Alenes lake in Idaho in the fifties. This area produced wealth in silver and gold exceeding the famed Comstock Lode of Nevada.
I love doing these standard gauge compounds. Although they can be tricky, when they are running correctly, they are a thing of beauty and awesome power.
The photo below shows the size of the low pressure cylinder on the Z3









And here is the whole engine in operation









The only drawing I was able to find is this from the NW Historical Society which doesn't show much detail so I will need to rely on photos for most of my detail. There were a couple of HO models of the engine and they are usually pretty good about detail but if they had to go by the same info I have there could some discrepancies.

I have the wheels on order and Dennis is cutting out the frame rails on the CNC mill. So I start with the cylinders.
A trip to the metal yard gets me started on the job.









The cylinder is machined from square stock. The bores will be .750" and 1". The LP cylinder used slide valves so the valve ports are in the cylinder block Wood wedges are cut to hold the block at the right angle while the ports are drilled out. The drill bit shows the path the drill will take. Note the wide valve ports needed for the LP cylinder









The LP cyl has a piston rod extension. I duplicate a non-functioning one and make a cylinder cover that covers the cylinder head.









The HP cylinders had piston valves. I am using slide valves with a cross port plate. To duplicate the piston valve appearance, I first make my cylinder and valve covers from aluminum stock. The cylinder cover fits over the cylinder head which is 1" in diameter. I then cut a 1" hole in a .032" brass sheet with a step drill and spray it with layout dye. I place it over the head and scribe the outline.








And on the band saw and 1" belt sander I trim it to fit and cut and shape on the belt sander Poplar strips which are taped on for fitting.









Finally, a side cover is rivet embossed, annealed, and bent to shape and soldered on to the front sheet. 


















And here are the two engines as they will appear on the frames.


----------



## Treeman (Jan 6, 2008)

Looks like great progress. How much time invested to this point?


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks
A little more time involved in the planning as there are no real plans available. The good news is that some of the parts are similar to the N&W Y6 which helped on the cylinders.
I have about 9 days so far in the actually machining and another week in drafting which I am still working on.


----------



## rwjenkins (Jan 2, 2008)

The tender for the Z-3 is the same design (class 22E) that was paired with most of the W-3 Mikados. I have those plans if you're interested.


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Richard
The closest thing I found was this 35E which gives the general dimensions but not much more









Also, I didn't get the drawing of the Z3 posted in the previous thread


----------



## rwjenkins (Jan 2, 2008)

PM sent with the drawings.


----------



## justme igor (Aug 9, 2020)

Really looking forward to this build.
I was reading your previous threads again and i noticed that a lot of photo's are gone.
Especially your early builds that you posted: Quadruplex, Garratt, Uiutah 2-6-6-2 and the eerie triplex.
I wish i saved some of those pictures.
You are a big inspiration to me, keep up the good work please, dreams do come true for sure.
Thanks for sharing your mind blowing work, effort and time that you put in and to show details.

With best regards Igor from the Netherlands EU.


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks
many of the photos were lost when they converted to the new design
I use them myself to see how I did something back then. Now is is like reinventing the wheel

If you go to the informative threads index at the top of the forums, there are PDF copies of some of my builds. You need to scowl down a bit but I just looked and The Quad build is there with photos.


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I got some real nice drawings from Richard
Bruce brought over some goodies yesterday A calendar from his welding shop in Idaho, an HO model of # 4023 and a spike from the railroad he found while hiking along the route.


















I am machining the wheels today


----------



## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Don't get distracted by that calendar.


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I was wondering when someone would notice it
I also like the name of his shop


----------



## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

It gives nitwits a good name!


----------



## justme igor (Aug 9, 2020)

@ Billy,
I have more questions than answers and i would like to follow up and walk in your shade(if possible! but hey: if you dont do anything, nothing will happen).
I hope it wont bother you that i am going to put some questions in now and then.
As stated earlier, i am going to follow this one with a lot of interested.

You let the wheels cast in cast iron, or is it a special alloy?
I was thinking to cast mine of a hardened aluminium alloy sinds i can cast up to 1400c/2550f, i should be able to do cast iron, but this would need some tricks and perhaps a extra oven.
The alu alloy i have in mind is the same alloy that they use for rims on car wheels and "sweeting/harding" it up with some copper zinc or just use plain zamac.
I think solid brass hardened with extra zinc will wear my (alu) rails very quick

Sorry that my technical English is not top notch.
Thanks in advance, with best regards Igor


----------



## OldNoob (Apr 30, 2016)

Beautiful Build!
How do you cut your brass sheets?
I tried cutting 1/16 brass sheet on my scroll saw and it was just annoying and messy.


----------



## justme igor (Aug 9, 2020)

@ OldNoob.
I thought Billy used a band saw and a table saw to cut his own metals
You wont get away with a regular wood saw blade, not even a with very fine teeth.
You must have a saw blade with teeth that are special made to cut those kind of metals= non ferro metals, but dont cut lead or inox with it, both need different saw blades.
You can also try to adjust the speed, it is thin stuff, you pushing slower and the machine at max speed.
Option one
Clamp it between to thin sheets of wood, could also help against the up and down.
Option two
Or strap some wood to your fingers to push the piece down on the table half a inch to a quarter of an inch away from the blade.
I dont know your skills that is why i said two pieces of wood.( i can trim my nails with a mature table saw, but i am on a different level )
Option three
The hole in the table must be as tiny as possible, take a piece of wood and just run it over your table, to cut a line in it.
this piece of wood you can screw (from above) with help of two other pieces of wood to clamp it on the table, those two pieces will act with help of the screws as a c clamp.

This is all i can think about atm to assist you, hope this was of any help.

With best regards


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks for the questions
I don't cast my cast iron wheels. I get them from Walsall in GB. You can get them as bare castings or finished wheels. I get the castings, attach the counterweights with JB Weld, paint and quarter them. I will be posting something on that later.
On the Four Cylinder Heisler I did, we cast the wheels on Zamac 3 as the spoke design wasn't available. They came out pretty good but it was a lot of work.









Cutting brass sheet isn't as hard as one would think.
Most of the sheet I use is .020" or thicker, This can be cut on a band saw or table saw. Any carbide tipped table saw blade will work but I use the attached blade as it gives a finer cut and can be used for mild steel also.


https://www.amazon.com/IRWIN-Metal-Cutting-Circular-Blade-4935560/dp/B0030XMFHK/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=irwin+steel+blade&qid=1605971598&sr=8-1


The throat plate on table saws has a wide slot to allow for tilting the blade. I made an insert out of MDF and then raised the running blade to make a zero clearance slot. This prevents the sheet from bending down during the cut. On very thin sheet, I sometimes lay it on top of a piece of plywood and cut through both at the same time. I use the band saw for curved cuts.
Here is my old crosscut sled which has been replaced with an aluminum one and the zero clearance throat


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The rough castings require several machining steps. Here are the wheels during the machining process. The wheels in the front have the tread roughed in and still need the hub turned and the final tread plunge cut. The ones in the rear have only the face done and are in the process of receiving the tread cuts.









The tread then gets its final cut, counterweights are CNC cut and JB'ed on and they receive a coat of low sheen paint.
Here you can see the three different counterweight sizes









The pilot has an interesting bracket with vertical slots to, I assume, allows it to be raised or lowered somewhat.
I cut the slots on the mill with a 1/16" end mill. I don't have any drewings of it so I just eyeball it and scribe the vertical lines with my calipers and freehand scribe the curves. I then cut it out on the 1/8" band saw blade and finish up with the 1" belt sander









The headlight is made by boring out a piece of 3/4" round to 5/8". A concave is made in a 5/8" aluminum bar with a drill bit in the lathe. it is smoother out with 600 and up to 2000 and finally polished with SemiChrome. The glazing is 1/16" polycarbonate and the bezel is turned from 7/8" aluminum stock.









It is hard to tell from this photo but to make the curvature of the number boards, I did something new to me. I usually use a fly cutter to cut large radii or an end mill for small ones but here one was too big and the other too small. In the past, I would use the drum sander which got it close but not perfect. It finally dawned on my that as my end mills only go up to 1/2", why not use a router bit. So here is a 3/4" carbide tipped router bit doing the job nicely








So here is the front deck to date. I haven't explained everything here so, please ask any questions you like


----------



## rwjenkins (Jan 2, 2008)

Looks great so far, Bill! One relatively minor nitpick though, NP had a pretty distinctive style of headlight with a lighted forward-facing number board on top, with the top tapering down to the rear of the headlight body. They used this style on all of their road locomotives in the electric headlight era. Here's a close-up of the headlight on NP 328 as an example...


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thank you
I don't know how I missed that but it was there


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Do you mean like this?


----------



## rwjenkins (Jan 2, 2008)

bille1906 said:


> Do you mean like this?


Perfect!


----------



## justme igor (Aug 9, 2020)

WOW It is starting to get shape! Well done and good looking!

To bad that the thread: four cylinder Heisler was not stored in pdf form, photos are lost.
About the cylinders and the power of steam:
Do you use or imply formulas to calculate the size and stroke, the free swing(the back pressure of "old steam") ect or just copy the real life size and scale it down?
Perhaps i am over complicating.

I don't think it is doable to buy for every project different sized reamers.
What is your tolerance between the piston and cylinder walls?
And why dont you use ?gasket/gaschecks? around your pistons

It seems to me also that you have a solid "recipe" for the cylinder and valve sizes.
Your valve, the steam regulator on top of the cylinder is also a very tight fit, or you have a blade spring mounted on top of it?
Probably you wrote a thread on it, i did not have a lot of time lately to read all of your fine threads.

A bold question:
Do you have by chance of this built some pictures of the "fresh steam supply/connection" to the cylinders?

I fully understand the technical working principle of real live steam engines, per part and the whole machine, but i must work on my technical English for this subject, all my study books are in my native language sorry i hope you understand what i am trying to translate
Scale models are a bit different than there real life working counterparts.

Thanks in advance, Best Igor


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Igor
Live Steam & Outdoor Railroading have a multi part series covering the Four Cylinder Heisler build starting next issue.
I usually scale down the actual cylinder size unless it doesn't make sense. Compound engines used very high pressures (300psi) and mine will be operating at 50 psi most of the time do the 2:1 diameter ratio needs to be reduced in our engines. This one is 3/4" HP and 1" LP which is the same as I used on the Y6 engines I built.
I have reamers up to 5/8" so I just rely on my boring tool to get a nice finish. I usually finish off with a piece of 600 sand paper wrapped around a wood dowel.
Piston clearance isn't critical. I use 0-rings on the pistons and fit them for a smooth sliding fit. I have used rulon rings in the past but prefer Viton o-rings
Not sure what you mean about piston gaskets. I use gaskets on the cylinder end caps.
Because the engine is outside admission, the steam pressure holds the valve down.
I will show the steam connections later in the build.


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I finished the two chassis yesterday and tested them on air. They run great individually and in compound mode,
Here are some photos of them.








Front engine

























Rear engine


----------



## justme igor (Aug 9, 2020)

Love your work, fine eye for detail, my compliments, really amazing!
To order a magazine from the internet, i would like but due to some nasty experience i would not like to order from the internet anymore.
Your cylinder built, you made a single tread about it? or am i wrong, sorry did not have time enough to read all your work(own company, end of the year ect)
I think(almost sure) we are giving different names to the same parts, my incompetence of technical English sorry.
Monday i will have some time on my hands and make a picture of which part i was referring to.
Thanks for the detailed pictures!
If it is not to much trouble, can i ask you to post some pictures from underneath the front engine?
Where the steam enters the cylinders, many thanks in advance....many!
I am not going to question your experience, but from my point of view, the "fresh steam supply" to the rear engine, is that pipe not a bit to small in diameter?
And is that steam heated again by running a pipe thru a "flame pipe" or is the steam still hot enough to power up those cylinders?
Or you just use super dry/heated steam to power them all, so the "cold used steam" from the front engine is still hot enough to make the rear cylinder to work?

Thanks in advance, Best Igor


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks for your feedback
The standard pipe size used by most manufactures is 3 mm which is 2 mm (.078") inside for a cross section of .00485"
I use 5/32" which has a 1/8" (.125") inside for a cross section of .01228"
This gives me over 2.5 times the cross section of what is normally used.
The tubes probably look small because the cylinders are so big.
In the full scale locos, the steam piping is usually insulated and there is a small pipe surrounded with insulation and then covered with larger piping
The steam will be superheated by running the pipe through a flue in the boiler.


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Here are a couple of photos of the steam lines, The black tubing on the steam line is just for testing on air and it will be hooked up to a copper tube from the boiler.


----------



## justme igor (Aug 9, 2020)




----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I have finished most of the boiler and the construction is similar to that of the Skookums where there is also a video of the soldering.
The smokebox is a little different from those I have done in the past,
Normally the inside diameter of brass pipe is the same as the outside diameter of copper pipe which makes for a great press fit between the two. My local metal supplier is shutting down his operation this summer so he has stopped carrying copper pipe. I have been going to plumbing supply houses and checking out their remnates. I was able to get a 2-1/2" by 32" piece for $30 cash

The stack is two pieces a base and the stack tube.
The base needs to fit the curvature of the smokebox which is 2.75" so I set my fly citter to 1.375" and machine the 1" bar to that radius.









I then turn the shape of the base and part it off. The stack is turned from 3/4" stock. The through hole is 1/2" and it is bored out to 5/8" at the top. It is trimmed to 9/16" where it goes through the smokebox.
The attachment was with some weird looking studs which I duplicated and then drilled holes in the base and silver soldered everything together.









The front cover is flat with 50 rivets. The hole in the center for turning on the arbor is usually cut out for the smokebox door but because of the air pumps, the door is located below the center line so I covered it up with the air pump mounting bracket.
The rivet holes are drilled on the mill with the DRO circle function











Number 4025 had several changes and we are doing the 1950 version with the steam generator behind the stack and two number boards in font of it. The generator as in most of my builds will be non functional but will emit steam through a valve in the cab.
The following photos show the boiler set on blocks at the correct height above the chassis. You can also make out the man door below the Accucraft air pumps.


----------



## justme igor (Aug 9, 2020)

I am amazed again, such an eye for detail.
To bad you did not post the boiler build, i will read on your suggestion to see if i can get my answers...
You make it look simple(from my point of view), there must be a catch somewhere.
great job, big thumb up

With best regards Igor.


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The steam take off is through a steam dome near the center of the boiler. The scale position is used. The bronze bushing is threaded to 7/16 -32 and the working steam dome is turned with an o-ring grove which will hold the scale dome.

















The boiler cover will have a wagon top section which is flat at the bottom and tapered at the top. In order to support it, tapered wood strips are glued in place and then fiberfrax is wrapped around it. Then straight wood strips are used for the rear of the cover.









.032 brass sheet is then annealed and bent to shape to form the wrap. the dome goes on top of the sloped section so the bottom is formed in a similar way the the stack pieces but with the bar held at an angle to compensate for the slope.









There are two oval shaped sand domes on the rear of the boiler. I have found that the easiest way to do these id to first make a wood form. this can be cut on the band saw and sanded to shape and fit.









I can then wrap card stock around it and trim it with an exacto knife









I then transfer the shape to brass sheet









And cut it out, anneal it and silver solder it together. A 1/8" thick top is cut to fit and soldered on.

















I don't have a source for 1/32 whistles so I have to make my own. The contraption behind the whistle, I am told, is a centrifugal blowdown.


----------



## OldNoob (Apr 30, 2016)

Such a beautiful build!!


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks
Here is a photo that I didn't post last time
View attachment 60795


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

photo didn't take


----------



## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Looks great Bill, Im sure it will be done long before July, though July NSS doesnt look promising for the state to open to larger indoor events in time. Waiting to hear back from the guys on their decision.


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Jay
We in the Bay Area are hoping the vaccinations will have things close to normal by then. CA is stepping up the cycle using dentist and pharmacists to do the injections now


----------



## zephyra (Jan 2, 2008)

bille1906 said:


> photo didn't take
> View attachment 60805


Bill, super impressive as always. What soldering technique do you use to connect parts to the boiler casing and how do you hold the parts in place.. My attempts to solder small parts to large brass surfaces always go horribly wrong. I am currently trying to build a new cab roof for an Aster K4 and it has been a comedy or errors. Any hints and tips much appreciated!

Robert


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Robert
For soft soldering...
First off, I use nothing but Staybrite solder and flux. It seems to flow much better than others I have used.
Next always direct the heat to the largest piece (mass) and gradually move towards the smaller one.
Place a snippet of solder in the joint away from where you are heating and this will let you know when things are hot enough to solder.
The biggest mistake most make is trying to heat the solder and not the base metal.


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Also, on holding the things in place, I sometimes spend more time making jigs for soldering than making the part. I have a bunch of soft foundry bricks and use music wire pins to keep things together and I also have u shaped clips I have made from music wire and coat hanger wire. These work for things from 1/16" to 5" or 6 " 
Soldering things on to a cab roof should be fairly easy using the clips. They can be bent to shape with pliers to get the needed shape and tension. On the right is one of the pins.


----------



## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

bille1906 said:


> I sometimes spend more time making jigs for soldering than making the part.


Nothing like having the right tools to do the job.


----------



## justme igor (Aug 9, 2020)

Pete Thornton said:


> Nothing like having the right tools to do the job.


fully agree and a time spent on a jig is mostly the best time spend and time saver.

Excellent piece of work, cant wait to see it drive.
With best regards, Igor


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I finished up most of the piping and the power reverser this week and painted it Thursday night
Here are some shots


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

This week I made the dual injectors, the one cylinder auger motor and the cab & roof
Sometimes Dennis CNC mills the cab front but this one is fairly simple so I decided to do it myself.
The thing about cutting the windows out on the mill is that they come out to scale and in the right place.
The front windows are not rectangular so the inside cut needs to be done at an angle which I cant to on the mill.
I can however do all of the other cuts.
On the cad program, I draw out the cutout and then plot the coordinates for milling. I am using a 1/16" endmill so I need to offset the readings by .0325" (1/32)









Then on the mill I cut out the outline









I then cut the angled line with a jeweler's saw









And clean things up with a needle file









I then cut out the scribed lines with the 1/8" band saw blade and clean up with the drum and belt sanders.









I cut out the sides on the mill with a 1/8" end mill. Everything is pretty straight forward but this is the first time I am making the window frames on the mill. I start with a CAD drawing.









I had some questions about soldering so I took some photos of the cab soldering. The horseshoe clips hold the sides together while the music wire pins keep it square .









Here is a shot of the injector and auger motor. The lever is for the axle pump bypass.









And the cab in place with the five vent roof.


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Working on the small but complex tender now
I start by doing the rivet embossing on the mill








Then I use my home made bender for the ends

















The ends and top are spldered on, note the high front.









more to come later today


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Ok, I'm back online
This transition piece connects the top of the coal load with the doors in the front









The next piece is tricky as the shape changes as it is bent down. I first cut it from card stock and the glued it on to a brass sheet as shown below. it came out close but not good enough to solder. So I added some masking tape to fill the gaps and used it for the second try.









It is then soldered on. As you can see there are only a few small gaps which will be filled with JB Weld









Then the vertical pieces are cut to shape and soldered on and the two curved pieces are cut after getting the correct shape by trimming card stock to fit.









I lay the doghouse out in CAD. The wood slats need to be carved with a V end mill and I will be using the cad drawing for the measurements.









After the sides are cut, I cut a bottom to the inside dimensions. This helps to keep it square and from falling apart like a house of cards during the solder process. I have four small snippets of 1/32" staybrite on the bottom and four with hooks bent hanging from the corners.










I heat the corners from the outside starting at he bottom and move up till the solder flows. the bottom snippets will melt on their own.









This trick I learned from the HO model It is an easy to make snap holder for the roof










So here is the finished product. I still have frames for the side windows coming from Dennis


----------



## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Very nice work! I like your home made bender, I may have to try that. What are the openings on either side of the coal doors? It looks like the coal would be falling out.


----------



## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

As usual, WOW!

Always nice to read your build logs!

Greg


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I don't like to have the gas valve sticking out the front of the tender. It is hard to conceal it and usually it is hard to get to.
I like to use a vertical valve and make a round hatch that can be used for the knob.
On this tender, there is not enough room for a standard valve so I make one with all of the piping on the inside.
The trick to making it work is to have the inlet pipe bend up so it is taking gas from the top of the tank









The frame on the prototype was a C channel
I cut out the center on the table saw using my steel cutting blade which has a hacksaw type kerf and makes a flat cut. I can't mill it without removing my vice and clamping it to the bed. if I were to clamp it in the 4" mill vise, the ends would bend down ruining the job.









Dennis cut out the truck frames on the CNC mill and I made the little turnbuckle out of 1/8" hex









The axle boxes are tapered down on the outside. I cut the angle first out of 3/8" square stock and then cut them to length.

















I then drill out the axle hole on the four jaw









The prototype is held together with two big bolts on each side. After everything is soldered together, i drill out the holes for this on the mill using the DRO for accurate spacing.









So here is the assembly soldered together









And bead blasted for painting









And the frame painted.


----------



## justme igor (Aug 9, 2020)

A festivity for the eyes!
Just being curios if you dont mind, what would be your next project?
With best regards Igor


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks
I still need to make a carrying case and test it out, and correct any flaws, so I haven't thought much about the next one yet


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I am just about finished now. I just need to hook up the tubing and the link between the engine and tender.
I decaled everything last week and Dennis milled out the tender steps for me.









They now need to be curved on the outer profile. Because they are so small, I soft solder them to a brass strip.









Then I can cut them on the band saw









And clean them up on the spindle sander









I goofed and painted the frame before I got the steps so cant solder them on so I use a 0-80 socket head screw and JB Weld.


















While I have the JB mixed, I will attach the builder plates. But first I need to bend them to the smokebox shape. I select a piece of pipe 1/2" smaller and clamp one end down with a piece of oak and then pull the other side down with another piece of oak, both with small vice grips








I'm limited to 10 photos here so here are a few shots of the decaled engine& tender


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The Z is officially finished
I gave it a good steam test this morning and took some photo's and vids.
It was a good day for photographing as it was overcast but fairly bright.
Two photos and two videos


----------



## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

A gorgeous locomotive and a great runner too. Looks like it makes plenty of steam. Can't wait for the next adventure!


----------



## steamermeister (Feb 20, 2013)

Very pretty. This one might be my favorite.


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Winn
Yes it makes plenty of steam. The ceramic burner was only at about 1/3 capacity and I turned it down for the rest of the run.


----------



## ferroequinologist (May 8, 2016)

Good build Bill, it looks like that was a very heavy load it was pulling with all those real logs. Just curious, what pressure do you think goes to the low pressure cylinders after being used in the HP ones and does the exhaust blast still have some strength left to it. Judging by the exhaust steam plume it looks like the exhaust still has some oomph. 
Russell


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Russel
They say that the pressure going from the HP to the LP is about 1/3
Most of the G scale manufactures set their compound's boilers to pop off at 80 psi. they say that the compounds need more pressure but My engines are very happy at 50 psi. this keeps the boiler temperature a little cooler. This engine is set to pop off at 60 and 65 psi so the pressure under a heavy load would be between 15 and 20 psi but the volume would be much greater because if the expansion. As far as I know compounds never had a draft problem except for the Triplex, but that was because they only drafted half of the steam. The rest went out the rear exhaust on the back of the tender.
As you probably know, my ceramic burners don't need or use a draft.


----------



## justme igor (Aug 9, 2020)

Perfectly done.


----------



## bobrstrong (Mar 25, 2013)

bille1906 said:


> Thanks Winn
> Yes it makes plenty of steam. The ceramic burner was only at about 1/3 capacity and I turned it down for the rest of the run.


Beautiful Loco and build Bill. Yeah I noticed your safety going off quite a bit. since the weather isn't that hot now, I'd say you've got plenty of that from that burner. Tell me it has good distribution considering the size of that boiler. Hope I get to see it soon.
Bob A.


----------



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Bob
Not sure what you mean about "good distribution considering the size of the boiler" Did you mean tell me or to me


----------



## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks again for the wonderful journey, just re-read the thread from start to finish, thanks for sharing this with us!

Greg


----------



## bobrstrong (Mar 25, 2013)

bille1906 said:


> Thanks Bob
> Not sure what you mean about "good distribution considering the size of the boiler" Did you mean tell me or to me


Sorry Bill, I didn't proof read before posting. It was suppose to read "That tells me it has good distribution.." I meant the heat is distributed through that very large boiler evenly and cylinders are fairly evenly steamed. No cold spots it seems. I know the Garratt's made by Aster had a problem with getting hot steam to the cylinders evenly. 
Now I see I missed a few words in my post. I'll try to do better.


----------



## bobrstrong (Mar 25, 2013)

BTW there is an HO scale Model of this Loco on TRAINZ.COM in brass for sale now if anyone is interested.


----------

