# Building the John Wilkes



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

At the NSS, Charles Bednarik and I discussed building the Lehigh Valley John Wilkes. I wasn't familiar with it so he subsequently sent me information on it and I decided that it would be a fun project to do jointly. 
The Lehigh Valley Railroad was incorporated in 1847 but it wasn't until the 1900's that it started doing heavy passenger service. It was in 1915 when the Black Diamond Express started. The John Wilkes went into service in the 30's and was a prominent part if the Art Deco movement.










We started with a drawing Charles did from photographs he got from the web. Dimensions were approximated from the various views taking the perspective into account. Dimensions were sketchy at best but finally we did get the basic wheelbase and wheel diameters along with a couple of overall dimensions. With these dimensions, I traced over his drawing and drew out my frame and boiler design. Charles' drawing is on top and mine on the bottom.









I gave my drawing to Dennis and he converted it to CAD and will machine out the frame from this.









We will be doing nine cars with interiors and people. I always look at a project to see what the most difficult part will be and then either make that part first or at least do a mock-up of it. The roofs of the cars are streamlined with a clerestory. The compound curves involved would be very difficult in metal. I could do a casting or 3D print of the ends but there would be an unsightly seam where they met. As some of the cars are 30" long a single casting or print was out of the question. Dennis came up with the simple solution of making the roof out of wood. I was afraid that even kiln dried hardwood that long could twist or warp so I decided that medium density fiberboard (MDF) would be the way to go. The mock-up here needs some revisions but I am confident that the job can be done right.









While we were on vacation for a month, My wife and I painted 210 people for the cars. 1/32 people are hard to find and the only seated ones I have found are these which have only seven different folks. I bought them unpainted so I could vary the clothes etc. Here are the first 100 with them lined up to show the various variations. The second 100 were done with different colors 









I am still looking for some chefs and porters but have struck out so far. If anyone has a lead on some at 1/32 I would be thankful for the info


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## Steve Ciambrone (Feb 25, 2014)

Grew up in Easton PA and always been a fan of the Lehigh Valley, the John Wilkes is one of my favorites will be following your build with great interest.

Steve


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

I always have had an artistic interest in steam locomotives and their trains. Particularly, streamlined units (Hiawatha, Dreyfus, Royal Blue, T1, many British locos, list goes on) with many tie-ins to art deco period. 

Otto Kuhler (also with Lowery and others) set the stage for revival of passenger service. Otto was an artist-engineer and was enthralled by grandeur, drama and beauty of the steam age. He applied his skills as an artist to his design-engineering profession with a broad sense of interpretation and dramatic application to trains.

His involvement with Lehigh Valley was among many of the railroads looking to keep ridership in the era of planes and cars. He found the LV to be like family from the President to the laborer. His design work was not restricted to the locomotive but was innovated in the matching exteriors of the coaches with beauty and style in the interiors.

A good read of his art/design and career: My Iron Journey, a life with steam and steel.

The John Wilkes along with the Black Diamond were to two crack passenger trains for the Lehigh Valley. The John Wilkes routes from Lehigh Valley PA to Newark NJ/NYC with a lot of time schedules to Cornell University events (a note to color choice on the train: Cornell Red defined as Carnelia). The new and improved motive power improved ridership up 3% during the years of 1938-41.
PHOTO LINK (CLICK BELOW):
John Wilkes Photos


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## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

Very interested in following this.

Larry


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

It's a fine locomotive. With all the ridge lines at the front of the locomotive, both above and below the bullet nose, it has always had my vote for "Most Likely Choice for a Klingon Streamlined Steamer." Even the black and red livery seems to shout "Klingon!"

Will be watching the build with interest.

Regards,
David Meashey


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Dave
For me more Buck Rogers (or Duck Dogers and the 24 1/2 Century)


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Very cool project! I will also be watching it with interest..
a few small historical corrections:



bille1906 said:


> The Lehigh Valley Railroad was incorporated in 1847 but it wasn't until the 1900's that it started doing heavy passenger service. It was in 1915 when the Black Diamond Express started. The John Wilkes went into service in the 30's and was a prominent part if the Art Deco movement.


The Black Diamond Express started in 1896.



Charles said:


> The John Wilkes along with the Black Diamond were to two crack passenger trains for the Lehigh Valley. The John Wilkes routes from Lehigh Valley PA to Newark NJ/NYC with a lot of time schedules to Cornell University events (a note to color choice on the train: Cornell Red defined as Carnelia).


The John Wilkes didnt run to Cornell University, but the Black Diamond did. (not always, some years it bypassed Ithaca, but it did serve Cornell for many years)

The LV had five streamlined Pacifics..Two for the John Wilkes, introduced in 1939, then three for the Black Diamond in 1940. The two John Wilkes engines had slightly different styling from the three Black Diamond engines. All five were pre-existing locomotives, the shrouds were designed by Kuhler and built and applied at the LV's home shops in Sayre PA. They ran in their shrouds until Spring 1948, when they were replaced in passenger service by the new Alco PA diesels, then they had their shrouds removed, and they carried on for another two or three years in freight service.

Scot


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Scot
Thanks for the addition information. Given your expertise on the LV any thing else you would like to offer is welcomed.


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## Tom Bowdler (Jan 3, 2008)

Beautiful locomotive!
Tom


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

> I am still looking for some chefs and porters but have struck out so far. If anyone has a lead on some at 1/32 I would be thankful for the info


Bill,
Take a look at the "54mm" models, which are 2.25" and purport to be 1/32nd scale. I bumped into them while looking for 7/8ths figures. They are mostly military, but some could be waiters or chefs.
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/54mm-figures
http://northstarmodels.com/product-category/figures/1-32-54mm/


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Pete
I didn't find what I was looking for there
Too bad the train wasn't and earlier model, I could have put Honest Abe waiving from the platform of the observation car
I may have to try to make my own.


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## steamermeister (Feb 20, 2013)

Check out Scale Humans (Shapeways prints) or search 1:32 on the Shapeways website

http://www.scalehumans.com/orderform?1-32


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I started on the cylinders this week
1" square stock is rounded off on one corner then bored and reamed to 5/8". Head mount holes are drilled to a .408 radius six hole pattern as well as the mounting holes and valve chest holes the slotted holes are the ports and the holes in the front center are the exhaust ports









I will be cross porting so I need to do a cross port plate. I start with the valve port side. Rather than starting with an end mill which tends to wander a bit at the start. I drill the holes first here I am centering them before drilling









I then cut the ports with a 1/16" end mill. The drilling first makes it just right as the two outside ports are only 1/16" wide









I then turn it over and do the cross port milling









I then drill out the valve cover. Note the brass strip on the right which keeps all of the pieces consistent









The plate is finish sanded on a glass sheet with 220, 320, 600, 1500 paper









Here is how it all lines up The cross porting plate is shown twice to show both sides.









The heads are turned from 1" stock here the front head is being parted off. Note the center drill hole which is for centering for the head bolt holes.









Then on the mill I center it for drilling









The rear head has a 1/8" hole for the piston rod. I chuck a 1/8" rod and use it to center the head.









So now I have the major pieces done.









I cut the D valve from 1/2" round bearing bronze to 5-10 thou longer than I need. I then make it square on the mill and trim it to length and cut the cavity starting from the center and moving left to right on the length and cavity, That way everything is perfectly centered and within .001" tolerance.










Here you can see the nice clean edge formed by the mill. It doesn't need to be very far down. Just enough so you can see it when doing the timing









I got the spoke pony wheels from Walsall and start by turning off the back till I get to the spokes, i then drill my axle hole.









I then mount it on an arbor and rough out the tread. I will do the finish tread with a plunge tool aat Dennis' house on the big lathe.


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## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

all i can say is WOW! that is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay past my skill level

bill(or charles), if you dont mind me asking, how much will the locomotive(not the cars) cost to build?

nate


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Nate
I don't mind you asking

The parts and supplies cost for an engine like this is about $500 - $1,500 depending on how much you do yourself. The brass, copper and stainless I get from a local metal supplier for $8 - $10 per pound. Wheels need to be cast and can run $200 and up for the rough castings. 
The cost of labor is the determining factor of the final value.
This one-of-a-kind engine will not be for sale. It is for Charles' personal use.

So I guess the value is "Priceless"


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Nate, As a rule of thumb you are 800-1000 per axle on a custom build. 

Bill, Were you making a master for casting in cast iron or doing your normal home cast centers? I recently drew up a 3D drawing for a driver to see how costs came out for a rough casting from Shapeways in the bronze steel. Was far from economical and similar machined drivers from Warsall were less than half the cost. Though I'm not sure if he would cast me the drivers I want if I supply a pattern. Issues are always low volume. Guessing that by NSS, will be a running model? You like that locomotive per year schedule.


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## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

bill, that is about what i was thinking. plus, dont forget how much the equipment cost to make the parts

some day i hope to have a live steam model of RGS 20 built (if it isnt produced before that), but that day is many years in the future.


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## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

J, we posted at the same time..

also do you mean that price per drive wheel axle? or are you also counting pony trucks and trailing tracks?


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Jay
Charles is having the drivers cast. Walsall had a Boxpox the right size but the pattern wasn't exactly correct.
yes, I am planning on having it built by NSS.
One per year is a nice leisurely pace but I am too antsy for that so I will probable try to fit something else in too.


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## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

Another great project and a great train, a real eye catcher, and running on a beautiful line. I wish we could get together all those fabulous gauge one streamliners: In Switzereland I know of one B&O Cincinatian by Werner, a Hiawatha, there are some T1 around,there should be very shortly the N&W J class 611, the C&O hudson, the daylight, I beleive that someone has converted to steam a NYC comodore Vanderbilt, the CP royal Hudson what a show!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I went as far as I can go on the cylinders today and started on the boiler

The valve body is drilled out and a guide is turned on the lathe the valve stem holes are chamfered. I will use Teflon tape as a valve packing. The 0-80 mounting holes are only .130" deep so they don't go through to the cavity.









The valve is checked for clearences and such









The two cylinders will be set aside awaiting the frame and wheels.









Here are the gaskets Dennis cut on the laser









I need to reduce the diameter by 1/4" which means I need to cut .785" from the diameter of this 2-1/2" pipe. Using the calipers, I mark the cut positions and the blade width so i don't cut on the wrong side of the line. I then set it on the table saw against the fence and clamp a brass bar on it which will ride on the top of the fence and keep the cut straight.

















I then set the blade height to 1/2 the diameter and measure the firebox length with the calipers and on the crosscut saw cut the firebox out.









Everything will be heated to a dull red to anneal it and then the boiler barrel wil be closed up and the firebox sides will be straightened out, The strip that I cut out will be used to fortify the seam and the short piece will make the smokebox.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I have been working on the boiler and cylinder drains and finished up this morning.
I take the long piece I cut out of the pipe and solder it in to the seam heating it from the outside to get the solder to flow towards the heat

















With a ceramic burner, the more tubes you have, the better it seems to work. I try to get as many in as possible without going much above the center of the boiler. the one on the top left is only 1/8" above the center line and gives me six small and one large tube so that is the one I will use









The front tube sheet, throat sheet and backhead are cut out.









A wood former is cut out and forced through the tube to make it cylindrical. Note the cutout for the seam reinforcement







.

The next step is to solder the tubes into the throat sheet. I cut rings if 1/32" solder and put one around each tube and then using a square, I position the throat sheet so that it is square both vertically and horizontally. I have already set the front tube sheet in place and secured it with wire to keep the tubes parallel.


















I then inspect it from the other side to make sure the solder flowed through around every tube,









I taper a couple of pieces of copper wire and drive them into holes at the top of the throat sheet to support the crown sheet and then solder the throat sheet in place. The front sheet is in position during this process to keep the tubes from moving.









Then the bronze bushings are soldered in.









A missed spot is found upon close examination and will be fixed in a subsequent soldering









I want the bottom of the sight glass to be even with the top of the crown sheet but if I go straight out, the fittings will hide it. So I made this dog leg fitting to drop it down.









In between solder jobs, I made the automatic cylinder drains similar to my other builds. I drill the bottom of the cylinder .100" from the end with a .040" bit through and then with a .093" bit .125 deep and tap it to 4-40 


















The threads don't always end up so that the drain is bottomed out at the right position so I try the drains in different holes to see which ones fit best in each of the four holes. I then set them with thread lock which seales them and keeps them in place,









The boiler is finished and cleaned up


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## Steve Shyvers (Jan 2, 2008)

Steam Bling. Superb work Thank you Bill.

Steve


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## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

What a primer on boiler building! Bill, you build something in less time than I spend thinking about it.

Larry


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## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

Bille You make it sound so easy... It is very good that you share with us all your talent and very educational. Thanks,
Simon


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Guys
By the way, here is a sketch and list of steps to make the cylinder drains


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks, Bill. I may have to try making some of those for our Coal fired K26. I really like that they blow out sideways instead of downward which splatters the underside of the loco with all kinds of dirt. Plus they are automatic! What size is the ball?


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Winn
I realized after I scanned the drawing that I left out the most important measurement and was going to note it in the thread but forgot. It is 2/32"
Also, the mounting thread will be whatever Accucraft uses. Is it 3 mm?
I also like that there is no drain lever to go down in the running position where it can get caught on switches.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I took a road trip with my two sons and grandson to Texas and stopped off in Vegas for a few days and was able to visit the Count Kustoms' auto museum and see some of the nicest paint work I have ever seen incliding a Riviera that had 2000 hours on the paint alone. I also stopped off and got some automotive urethane paint for the JW

Dennis cut out the frame rails on the CNC and here they are assembled.










I need swing clearance for the pony truck so the frame is stepped down with a 3/16" spacer









These round crossmembers are easy to turn on the lathe and keep everything perfectly true and sturdy









I start with a piece of 1/2" x 1" brass for the axle pump and cut it to just under the inside frame width. 1/8" holes are drilled for the water passages and then plugged with 1" rod which is soldered in. The exhaust is on the left. A passage is drilled across and then brought down so that both fittings are at the bottom so that the pump can be easily removed.









Then the plugs are sanded flush and the check ball holes are tapped to 10-32









A 5/32" ball is placed in the hole to get the cap measurement.









The ball seat was drilled out and then formed with a D bit. It was then burnished with this ball (and oil) which was soldered on to the shaft









The mounting base is soldered on and the caps are then set in thread lock by screwing them down and backing off a little more than 1/2 turn.The piston is not cut off yet and the long handle makes testing easy. If the pump is working right I should be able to stop the piston by covering the outlet with my finger and it should hold without leaking.










This is how it will mount in the frame









I tested the paint I got in Vegas and mixed it to specs. It is a two part black base coat with a two part clear coat. It went on very heavy and had some orange peel but laid down very nicely with great gloss. The reason I am trying this is that the spray cans I get here in California can take over a month to fully cure and you are never sure when they are ready for re-coat. The directions say 2 -7 days but I have had problems even after 7 days. This job will require several coats and decals which will need clear coats for protection.


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## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

Orange peel effect will happen when its above 70 Fahrenheit!


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Orange peel effect during painting can be cause by applying too heavy of a paint application, temperature (outside of range but 70 degree or more is not necessarily the cause), spraying too close, nozzle used and/or the angle of spray.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

It was from the mixture being too heavy although it was measured at 2:1 per the recommendations. The next test will be with a thinner mixture. The thing that is nice about the urethane is that even though it orange-peeled at first, it laid flat after a few minutes. and the effect was only on the base coat not the clear coat.
I used acrylic enamel with a urethane clear on a Mercedes I restored years ago and the clear was amazing to work with. This seems to be the same product. What I need to test is if it will be compatible with the water slide decals


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

More progress on the engine
From my scale drawing of the drive and side rods, Dennis did a cad drawing and then cut them out on the CNC









There is a pivot point in the side rods which allows the wheels to move up and down over uneven track. I start with a 1/4" SS rod and turn it down to 5 mm. Then with a cutting tool ground to .027" wide I cut the groove for a .025" wide e-clip.









I then check the clearance with a clip to make sure it is right. I need a snug fit so that the pin doesen't slide back and forth and possible hit other moving parts of the chassis. I then part it off for a .025 thick head.









And here is the assembly with the M 5x9 ball bearing in place









And the complete side setup









I didn't get many photos of making the pop off valves but I did get a shot of the tool I use. I don't know all of the exact principals of a pop off but it works something like this. A 1/8" ball seats on a 3/32" seat and is in a cylinder which is just large enough for the ball to slide into (.126"). This cylinder is 1/2 the ball diameter high (.063') and above that is a larger cylinder. 
When the steam pressure exceeds that of the spring, the ball is lifted off the seat but now, the ball is lifted faster because of the tight clearance between it and the .126 cylinder. It goes into the larger chamber and the spring now easily forces it back down and on the 3/32" seat.
The most critical measurements are the .126" diameter and the .063" height of the ball cylinder.
To make these consistent I made this D bit by turning the steps on the lathe on a piece of tool steel and then milling it in half to make the D portion and finally heat treating it. The steps are .092,.126, and .177 (the tap size for M 5










So the boiler is just about finished. The banjo fitting on the left will get the pressure gauge and the one on the right will get the tender water warmer and any misc thing I may need. The clack valve is on the right and the tube goes into the boiler past the crown sheet. The throttle picks up the steam from the dome in the center of the boiler.


















The superheater goes through the firebox and the large flue.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I finished and tested the ceramic burner yesterday. I needed to test it by lighting it through the stack as the will be no smokebox door. It lit just fine so I am good to go on that design.

This is a design I have used on other builds. The mixing box is made from .063" sides and .040 bottom for rigidity. .010" jets are used. The front is beveled to allow clearance for the rear drivers.


















The first test is at what should be a normal setting for the load it will be pulling. The color is medium orange. this could be reduced to a dull red for slower speeds or lighter loads.









It is then turned up to see the potential. Here it is glowing close to white hot


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## livesteam5629 (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,
please bring us up to date on where you are with this build.
Thanks
Noel


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Noel
I hadn't realized it had been so long since an update. I got a little waylaid with doing some early Christmas decorations and some repairs to my Koi pond

There are some fans that go in the clerestories on the cars. Dennis cut them out of acrylic on the laser using two different thickness sheets and I painted them different colors.


















I made a scotch yoke for the axle pump on the table cross cut sled









It is fitted to the ball bearing eccentric









And attached to the piston









And then checked in the frame. With the ball bearings on the wheels and axle pump, there will be no need for oiling the underside of the engine









I start making the rear truck by milling out the pivot plate. The stud on the left is just a 1/4" rod fitted into a scrap piece of flat stock.









The frame is cut out of 1/8" x 1/2" flat stock and bent and trimmed to fit









And here it is mounted in place. the bracket above it is the rear boiler mount.









Here is the front boiler mount









We are testing different materials for the passenger car window frames. Here is a plain one and the baggage car one with bars both cut from Mylar by Dennis









I will be hanging a lot of fairings and such from the boiler wrap so I decided on .032" thick material so I can screw directly into the wrap. I first cut the pattern out using the Fiberfrax insulation sheet. The holes are done with a step drill.









After it is annealed and rolled out, clamps are soldered on with Staybrite.


















We will turn the nose cone out of aluminum on Dennis' big lathe today. Here is the sketch of what we will be doing.


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## livesteam5629 (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,
What beautiful work. It is fun seeing how you do the work so fast. Please keep us posted.
Noel


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Last week I completed the most challenging and fun part of this project
With the help of Dennis and Henner we came up with the elliptical formula for the nose cone to turn it on the lathe.









We started by boring out the cone and then super glued a mandrel in it for turning purposes.
We then made cuts per the diagram above and then fine tuned the larger steps using Henner's formula. We then filed it till there was no more bluing showing.




































With the cone still in the mandrel, we drilled the four mounting holes and the slot for the top fin on the mill using the CNC




































I started the side fairing out of 1/32" material and silver soldered it as in the photo below but decided I wanted it out of 1/16" so i made them the same way but out of the thicker material.









I then made some mounting brackets from 1/16" stock and silver soldered them to the fairings. As both sides needed to be exactly the same height. I made the first mounting hole slotted and then lined everything up, tightened the screw and drilled the other bolt holes. The black lines are where the boiler straps go so that I don't put anything in the way.









The front fairing is made by cutting card stock to get the approximate shape and then bending an annealed piece if 1/16" material and finally trimming, filing and sanding it to shape. Ths lower portion is formed the same way and silver soldered on. The upper connection to the side fairing is aided by silver soldering a triangular piece in the gap.









There are three horizontal and one vertical fins on the front fairing. All of this was done by eye starting with the card stock and finishing up with the brass. the fins are interlocking which will make the two tone painting job more precise as the red vertical fin will be epoxied in place after the black is painted. Here I am milling the 1/16" slot in one of the fins.









The fins are soldered on and the vertical fin is set in place to check alignment. JB Weld is used to fill the gaps where the fins meet the side fairing. The joint is soldered but the thickness of the material needs to be feathered out.


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

A locomotive sculpture, work of art in the making!


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

It is starting to look like a space ship! Beautiful work, Bill


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## Steve Shyvers (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,

You should bring the loco to the CuriOdyssey STEAM event as a perfect example of art plus engineering plus practical shop methods.

Steve


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Yes
Either a space ship or a ray gun
Thanks


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The steps to forming the fins were
1. solder them on
2. fill in any gaps with JB Weld
3. skim coat with Bondo

The final coat could have been done with JB but it takes a lot longer to set up and is a little harder to sand. 









After sanding, a low spot is found, marked with a pencil and filled with bondo









The skyline casing was bent from .032" sheet with my homemade bender using a rounded bending blade to get the smooth radius. the vertical fin below the cone and the one at the top were (I believe) meant to appear as if they were going through the cone. These two will be red. They are just set into the notches I made for now and will be epoxied in place after they are painted.
The six other fins were soldered on starting from the middle and working out using spacers between the fins to keep them parallel. Finally, the outer fins are bondo'ed at the seam.


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## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

bill, this is by far one of, if the the best thread i have seen here. you are doing an excellent, excellent, job!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I started the cab by cutting out the sides on the table and band saw. The curvature at the top was made by making numerous bends on the vise to an annealed piece.









The front and back were again cut on the table saw and band saw. The window openings were done by drilling a 1/16" hole at the corners, cutting out with a jewelers saw and finishing with a file


















The rain gutter and arm rest are soldered on with Staybrite. In this out-of-focus photo, you can see the snippets of solder and the music wire clips holding them on.









The front and sides are soldered in place as since everything is flush any variation will show up later. The Staybrite makes this possible because of its easy flowing property. the roof is cut to shape and then trimmed to meet the sides. A small gap is left for clearance after it is painted.









The roof hinge is made from 1/16" music wire and 3/23" tubing. The wire needs to be bent prior the the assembly being soldered to the roof. Here it is ready for the end to be cut off.









This engine had a power reverser. It shows two rods or tubes going to the cab. I am not sure if it was steam, air, or manually activated from the cab but it is just for show as this will be servo activated from between the frame rails. I did show the cylinder and crosshead detail. the sand dome just protrudes above the skyline casing and the delivery pipes are covered on the side. the small gaps will be filled prior to painting.









https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/B...i6nhBuAZVAMEZ_CBy8_xpGj-TcwpLYf=w1304-h978-no

The cab roof has rain gutters, a hatch and a smoke deflector









The boiler & shell are almost complete. I still need to add the hand rails and a few more detail parts.
I also have a headlight and diamond shaped bezel which wil be added after the final painting


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Beautiful! I am a little surprised that with all the streamlining that they left the power reverser out in the open. I guess it would have been too hard to move it to a secluded place. However it does make a cool detail.


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## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

WOW!

Now i want one!

keep up the great work, 

nate H.


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## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

Great Bille keep it up this is fascinating.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

More progress. It seems like sometimes, the smallest details take the longest time
I wasn't happy with the steam pipe covers. I tried to do a quick make by cutting down a piece of round stock but the original was not round but with an asymmetrical curve and it was made from sheet metal welded together and hand formed. I did the replacement the same way and finished it off with a skim coat of bondo.









Most hand rails are straight so the stanchions can be screwed in and the rail fed through but this one curves down with a shorter stanchion at the front of the smokebox. this couldn't be screwed in as there would be no way to feed the rail through so I made short stanchions with longer threaded portions to go through the smokebox. As these had to be at the perfect angle and placement, I cut a stanchion off and holding it in place marked the position on the smokebox.









The end of the rail goes into the front fairing at a steep angle. I started by drilling a hole through and then carefully worked the drill back and forth to get the almost horizontal hole









Where the stanchion goes through the smokebox, there is not much room for the fingers so I force a scale 0-80 nut into a silicone tube and use it to start the nut. i then can tighten it with a nut driver.



























While I had the nose cone off, I wanted to show how it is mounted. The four 0-80 x 1" long socket head screws attach to the brass mount which is trimmed down so that the nose cone can br removed without taking anything apart. The hole is for the headlight wires,









The inside shows the mounting screws and the bottom hole for wires.









Here are the two tools I used for the long and short stanchions.









There appeared to be a whistle straddling the center fin. No one knows exactly what it was but I figure it must have been a dual tone with a chamber on either side of the fin. that's my story and I am sticking to it.


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## livesteam5629 (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,
What amazing work. I really enjoy reading about your solutions to complex problems such as the silicone tube to start nuts in impossible places.
Noel


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

As per my communication to Bill, it is now confirmed that the John Wilkes locomotive had the whistle mounted onto the center main fin. This photo clearly shows the aperture on the engineer side (yes I own the photo):


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## rwjenkins (Jan 2, 2008)

Probably a bit late to do anything about it now, but that whistle placement just cries out for a Bangham whistle. Just imagine the size of the resonator you could fit inside that nose cone!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

We are working on a number board design. Dennis printed this out in ABS for a trial. I made the lenses and numbers. The font will be changed and a finer detailed one ordered from Shapeways but the look will be the same.









I got the sides water jet cut last week









Tabs were bent in the vice









Bottoms were cut from MDF and lined up with the sides.









And screwed on
















Bottoms & Roofs were cut to size and beveled at 30 degrees


















The ends are beveled to 30 degrees and a rabbit is cut 









They are then clamped and glued together









The observation back is formed on the mill



























The Parlor car has a different roof. I glur two pieces together with the shorter piece cut at 20 degrees.









I then round it off. I don't have a router bit large enough so I do a series of cuts on the jointer changing the angle for each cut. I then finish it up with the palm sander and finally a block sander.









I round off the corner of the short piece and glue on a clerestory piece cut at 20 degrees.


















The MDF id heavy so I routed some out of the bottom. I am not sure how I will do the lighting but if I go with reflected light this will help.









Here is the assembled observation car









The baggage cargo doors are done on the mill









A lounge chair is formed from MDF. It will be filled in and painted and used to cast 40 more.









Nice and comfortable


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill
I for one and probably Ross can attest to the build process of cars and coaches that are very time consuming (e.g. trying to glue 3 panels in place to make a side). Yet, having seen the process you evoke there is strength, simplicity and a procedure that speaks will to "getting the job done!" Of course, combine that comment along with the finishing process one gets a high quality product.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Chuck
As you know, prior planning makes everything go together.

However sometimes the execution can be flawed. Last night we gave a demonstration to the local museum and I was casting seats and doors. The light was dim and I was holding up a beaker of resin to see the mixing lines and dropped it on my lap and then on the floor. Luckily it was hardwood and not an expensive rug but I did ruin a pair of pants.


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## livesteam5629 (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Bill
Hope you got out of your pants before the resin set up. How about some photo updates on the JOHN WILKES please
Thanks
Noel


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Hi Noel
No problem getting out of the pants.
I have a few working photos but it will be a while before I can do a complete interior as the outside will need to be painted and then the window frames and glazing done before the furniture and people can be put in.

Here is a window frame we are trying out for the barred and non barred versions. They will be painted a light grey and installed after the outer paint is done.









Here is the kitchen and pantry for the diner. The workers were made by gluing the top half of seated people to lower half's of standing people. I have cast some legs for other workers.









Here are some of the castings


















Painting the tables for the diner









144 coach benches are cut and sanded









Then primed and painted









The baggage car roof is finished with the vents and fans installed. As you can see it is getting tight on horizontal storage area as I have all nine cars in some stage of completion around the shop.


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,
Im not sure if you know this or not, and perhaps you dont care!  (if so, thats valid) But the John Wilkes train never had an "open observation" car of the type you are building..The LV only had one observation car of that type after the 1920's, the business car 353, but that wasn't used on regular passenger trains.

The last car on the John Wilkes would have been a coach or club car, with no observation.

Scot


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Scott
We did know this but we think it will look so nice with the observation car that we decided to make one. the observation car we are doing is from the Lehigh Valley Book.


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## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

bill, have you started on the tender and locomotive chassis? so far everyting is lookin' GREAT!!!!

nate


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Nate
The chassis work to date is at the top of this thread, probably page 1.
I am waiting for some special cast drivers so It is not complete yet. i haven't started the tender yet. I'll probably wait till the chassis is complete.


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Nate
A bit of patience and focus given Bill has 10 coaches to configure. All in good time.


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## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

charles, im not trying to "rush" bill. in fact, i cant beleive bill has gotten so much done so far,it is lookin' great!


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## livesteam5629 (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,
Thanks for the update. I cannot get enough of your work and how you do it,.
Noel


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Well, I started painting the cars this morning. I am now waiting for the black to dry so I can tape it off and do the red.
The other day, I did a test piece to make sure there wouldn't be any lifting of the paint or pull up when removing the tape. i also wanted to see how the striping tape and decals would handle the cleat coat. the decals did ok but the striping had a little crinkling so I will apply it after the clear coat.









Tail lights were made for the observation/business car and tested. They look a little yellow in the photo but they are a nice red.









Dennis cut these interior door frames on the laser and put a hole for the door knob. A 3/32" stainless ball finishes it off.









All of the interior parts are now made. I have about four boxes of parts like this one.


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill
Beautiful color grid of the paint to be applied. Wish you and your family a wonderful holiday!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

getting ready to cook the Christmas Eve ham and thought I would have time to post my progress

After painting the red, I thought I had somehow got the wrong color as it looked too dark but after applying the red stripes, It looked just like the sample.









The window frames are .015" mylar cut on Dennis' laser. They are slightly set in on the .032 thick sides. The glazing is a strip of 1/32" pollycarbonate glued to the inside of the car. After painting the frames, I spray them with spray adhesive and then carefully set them in place.









I then start the interiors of the Business and Parlor cars









The business/observation car...
Kitchen









Dining room









State rooms









Observation room









And finally, I do a test of the lighting and it looks like I hit it right on on the first try. It is the same as I used on my Garratt cars which is 12v LED warm white strips on a nine volt battery and aimed at the roof to get a warm reflected light.


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill
A wonderfully crafted set going together having a combination of rich colors and excellent design. Certainly a pleasure to look at during the holiday season.


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill, Try an acrylic clear coat. I had a similar issue on a clear and the laquer clear was attacking a decal. Only happened one time with one can of paint. Forget what paint now though as it was about 8-10 years ago. It was a gloss clear


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

thanks Jay
I have used acrylic and it works good. I think one of the things I may have had problems in the past was putting the decal over a flat finish. It seems to adhere much better to a gloss surface which can then be clear coated with flat.
In any event, the two part urethane clear coat doesn't seem to lift the decal and will be as tough as nails so i am happy with the results for now.


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Yes decals I always gloss clear apply and gloss clear again. then a matt or semi clear if needed a change in gloss. 

Looking good though Bill. Gonna be bored by spring!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I finished most of the interiors today. I still have some more people to paint and add to the coaches but the majority is done









I added some period magazines and NY Times newspapers







+


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Billy
Attention to detail, adding the little extras along with the well positioned customers speak well to your design purpose: making a realistic decor representing service and options on the train!

If you get a chance post one of the dining car with the "little extra" you added: impressive detail.


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## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

Nice!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Charles
I think this is the little extra you are thinking of


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## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

?confused?


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Nate
In Charles' prior post he asked for me to post the above photo of the place mats on the tables of the dining car


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

My preference is to call the photo that of place setting with the railroad china vs. place mat given the little bit extra presented by Bill in details of railroad plates and silverware.
Such is my enjoyment of having more than just plain interiors with the standard chairs, tables, people, etc. 
Bill has a great eye for detail and a wonderful imagination of what it would be like for those riding the rails.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Yes Charles
Place setting is the correct term
Here is progress to date.
Should get the couplers and finish up the bellows this week


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## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

amazing work! bill, what do you mean by bellows? and wont you have to cut out openings in the rear of the cars to intall doors and those rubber thingys that go around them?


Keep up the good work!


nate


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Tomahawk & Western RR said:


> amazing work! bill, what do you mean by bellows? and wont you have to cut out openings in the rear of the cars to intall doors and those rubber thingys that go around them?
> 
> 
> Keep up the good work!
> ...


Nate - Those rubber thingys that go around them [the doors] _are_ the bellows.

I suspect Bill didn't bother actually modeling the doors because they would never be seen anyway.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The bellows are the rubber things
I'll post the step by step procedure as I do them


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## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill, that closeup of the diner table settings also shows how perfect the paint and striping turned out. Were the stripes applied together in a scribed sheet, with the unwanted areas then removed? If not, what is your trick for keeping them straight and parallel?

I lived along the LV for 27 years, but long after the John Wilkes was running. Can't wait to see your miniature completed train running. (Sorry Charles and Ryan--I think of this as "Bill's train").

Larry


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Larry
The two stripes that are only 1/16" apart come that way and a film is removed afterwards.
On the others, I used masking tape to do the red stripes. I couldn't easily mark measured lines so I put snippets of tape along the path. the tape stays fairly straight so I only needed three reference points along the way. I then eye balled it looking down the side to make sure there were no waves.
After the red stripes were dry, The pin striping tape was applied to the borders of the red and black. 
For the two stripes in the lower red stripe, I cut some 1/4" short strips of paper and taped them under the top stripe as a guide and then again under the second stripe


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Dwight
I actually did model (cast) the doors. all 17 of them.
Thanks


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Amazing - wonderful job. Hope I get chance to see it run next summer.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The cars are now finished except for the couplers which will be delivered today
here are some shots of the people. Windows hadn't been cleaned yet.




































The outer frames of the bellows are made by gluing these two laser cut frames together with solvent cement.









The inner frame is on the left. It is cast in resin from a mold of a master I made from masonite and brass strips. the ribbon comes from Michaels and wraps all of the way around the two frames and is glued in with Quick Hold.



























The decals need to be protected with a clear spray. In the past, I have done OK with spray cans of acrylic clear but I was doing flat or low sheen which can be fogged on. The gloss needs to be applied wet and when I did some test coats, it crinkled the decals a bit. Minwax makes a product called polycrylic which is a water based polyurethane and acrylic coating which I have brushed on many times with success but never sprayed. I tested some in my air brush and it sprayed great with no thinning so that is what I did. I sprayed the entire length of the cars to get an even coat taping off at the white stripes.









The overhead lights are mounted in the car and the tail lights are in the roof. I didn't want to have to connect & disconect plugs to remove the roof so I came up with this setup.


















I added one more kitchen worker to the business car


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## Chris Scott (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill;
That last photo of the kitchen in the business car, before I read the caption I thought car 353 was a sleeper car and the figure with his back to the window was getting ready for bed and naked. Thank god it's a cook. For a moment there I was wondering just how far your realism was going to go.


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill
Always a builder's "hot tip" when reading your logs. This one; "Minwax makes a product called polycrylic which is a water based polyurethane and acrylic coating which I have brushed on many times with success but never sprayed. I tested some in my air brush and it sprayed great with no thinning so that is what I did. I sprayed the entire length of the cars to get an even coat taping off at the white stripes," is another for the "how to" notebook.

When we were attempting coach building we were introduced by Harlan Chinn to cloth tape along with a pattern for folding. A bit of work and practice to get precise. Here is your first attempt:

Coach end bellows
Our attempts there after resulted in tighter folds and less height.

I like your design much better as to application on bellows.


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow that is going to be a beautiful set. I hope we get too see a video of it running.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Shawn
I will try to get a nice video of it


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Bill... What a fantastic project!!!!!!! Such wonderful craftsmanship....


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Stan, your decals are top notch as usual and add the final touch to the project.

Well, I finished up the cars this week and boxed them up. there are nine cars so I went with three per box.
I uses 1/4" plywood with 1/2" ends. I used the 1/4" to keep the weight down although the boxes for the longer cars are over 30 pounds with the cars in them.
It is just a box with two dividers slipped into dado slots in the ends. The dividers drop down in the center so that after the shorter middle car is removed, the outer ones can be lifted from the bottom.









My wife used batting for her quilting. it is a strong cotton material about 1/8" thick that is very soft. I roll it up to get about four ply and then she sews it down the middle. I then cut strips for padding between the cars and the wood dividers and glue them in place.









The front of the engine has a small grill in it. I marked the outline of it on the bodywork and then cut it out with a jewelers saw. I traced the shape on paper and sent it to Dennis who put it into CAD and returned it to me. I was able to communicate with him via email as to the changes to be made by cutting out the paper and testing the fit









He was able to then machine it out on the CNC mill


















I annealed it and bent it to shape. As it leans back, I had to file the top and bottom to fit the opening so I had him make it .020" larger all of the way around.









Another example of Dennis' mastery on the mill is the skyline casing grill which is just ahead of the stack. It has a design that looks like the steps of a ladder. This was accomplished with a counter sink type bit on the CNC mill


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I received the printed number boards from Shapeways and made some lenses. Dennis has made the LED boards which will go in next week.









The fuel tank fittings are made. From top to bottom are: Accucraft filler valve, Riser top which is 1/8" thick to line up with the filler valve vent hole, filler valve riser and gas valve. The filler will be under the coal load and the gas valve stem will protrude through the rear decking. A round hatch will be the gas knob.









The gas tank and hand pump are mounted in the tender water bath basin. Fittings are 5 mm compression. 5 mm o-rings seal them where they go through the floor.









Underneath, you can see the routing. The two pressurized lines (fuel & pump water) are on the outside and the water return and water heater lines are in the middle. Floor sealing on them is silicone tubing.









The short tube is the steam line to warm the water and the higher one is the bypass water return.









The truck is mounted and clearances are checked.









I started painting the engine. here I am applying the clear coat to the lower fairing.









This photo shows various stages of completion. In the background is the tender which has been sanded, bead blasted, cleaned with acetone, primed with self etching primer and painted with the black base coat. Next is the boiler which receives the red stripe and is then clear coated, then the lower fairing which gets the white striping and red fin. and finaly the skyline casing which is just base black and clear coat.


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## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

iM CONFUSED. oN THE TOP SHROUDING ON BOILER, tHERE WAS A FIN IN THE MIDDLE WITH A wISHTLE, AND NOW iT ISTNT tHERE.


oops! sorry for all caps (caps lock was on)

PS nice lookin paint job!


I video of the coaches would be nice​


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill
Good to see that you are well enough (along with the weather clearing, thus not stressing about Mother Nature) to make progress on the tender and impress us with the paint scheme. The red choice is holding its own as to being attractive and making a statement.

Nate
I assume that the fin needs to be off to do the paint scheme on it. The fin is red and the whistle is brass with a bit of black behind the whistle where it connects.
BTW- you can use the editor to change/correct you post(s).


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## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

thanks charles! i cant wait to see it running (i am forcing you to take it at either PLS, CF, or ECLSTS once it is done and you get it.)


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## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

Bill, can you please take a pictue of just the tender? i cant see it well in other pics.

it is lookin GREAT!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Nate
I will when the paint is finished. I need to wait a day between coats and have two more to do


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I finished the paint on the engine and tender and put things together to see how they look. I will need to disassemble the engine when I get the drivers and hook up all of the steam fittings etc but it will look something like this.


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## OldNoob (Apr 30, 2016)

Beautiful!!


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## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

Fantastic! bill, may i make one sugestion: i think the engine sits a little too low. (the red stripes above the trailing truck should line up withe those on the tender and cars) however, i assume it is becase it was just sitting on blocks and has no chassis yet.
and arent there supposed to be stripes on the pilot? (as seen in the painting on the 1st page)
either way, it is BEUTIFUL!

BTW i thought you already had wheels, as seen on the first page?


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill
The Lehigh Valley letters for the locomotive are setup and going over to casting this week. (Like the old days of topping of a birthday cake with the candy lettering). 
Appreciate the wonderful view of work in process as such: Impressive standing still!

Nate 
The drivers shown earlier needed to have backing plates and tires put into place.


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow Bill!! Just wow!!! That is one gorgeous model!! Fantastic work!! Congratulations!!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks guys
This has been a challenging and rewarding project with the compound curves if the fairings and the paint scheme. Your positive comments make it totally worth the extra effort put into the small details.


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## StackTalk (May 16, 2014)

I'll add may appreciation to the chorus. Beautiful work!


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Really well built. Not my sort of locomotive but I know what goes into it. Really beautiful work. 

Bill, for foam look to foamfactory.com. been using them for years. Free shipping in 70.00 order. Great to have in varied thickness.


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## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

Well Bill,you made me start playing in the lottery again,that engine is a crown jewel!Super!


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Beautiful paint job on a fantastic locomotive.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Nate
The wheels you saw on the first page were the pony wheels
We are waiting for the castings of the drivers which will be hollow.
An outside as shown below is cast and a steel back is soldered to it. A steel tire is then attached and machined down


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I received the wheels from Justin this morning.
These wheels are special as they are several parts braised together to make the prototypical hollow boxpok wheel.
Here is the wheel after brazing and machining









I then bead blast it and get it ready for painting.


















And prime with self etching primer


















Got to get ready for a Super Bowl party now but I will try to paint and mount the drivers tomorrow


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

I have to add that this is the first time in gauge 1 that boxpak drivers have been produced with the true nature of a "hollow" structural format. A lot of work when into this design along with the effort to put together the parts involved. Thanks to the design, the excellent 3D molds, the fabulous casting process and the final staging work by Justin the product shows that it was worth the time/money invested.


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## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

pictures dont show up.


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

I can see them on Bill's last post.


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## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

now they are working.


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## livesteam5629 (Jan 2, 2008)

Picture update please Bill for those of us with a brain of a Goldfish.
Noel


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Noel
Do you see the photo of the primed wheels


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## livesteam5629 (Jan 2, 2008)

\Yes I did Bill. Beautiful. Hoping for more of the progress
BIG SNOW STORM HEADED OUR WAY FOR TOMORROW. UGH!!!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Good to hear, it seems Nate had a problem seeing them at first

Not good about the snow
My back yard was under a foot of water two days ago. Must have filled up an electrical junction box as it knocked out the power to my workshop and koi Pond. I was able to track it to the pond and bypass it with an extension cord so not much progress.
I think our drought is over


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Those picture are pretty large, so they could have taken some time to download.

When this happens, check your download speed with speedtest.net

Greg


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill, I posted a message to your PM. Thanks


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## livesteam5629 (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,
Can we see her with her new slippers on? Pictures please.
Noel


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

We had our BAGRS annual meeting yesterday and I took her down to display on our tables. I had the engine , tender, baggage car and two coaches lit up. I was going to bring my camera but forgot, but it looked nice and took up 2-1/2 tables to display

Here is a shot I took on friday to make sure the lines matched up









And one this morning after I wired the lights up









I have her apart and will be doing valve gear, steam and lube lines and RC this week so probably no more photos till next week


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill
Forgot the camera...just more opportunities as the finishing touches are put into place. The train is getting to be well known to many with the "show and tell" opportunities you have had.
How did the drivers work out?
Good to "see" that the shop is up and running.

The numbers are at the foundry.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks
The drivers worked great. The axle and crank holes were perfectly centered and everything worked freely with no adjustments needed. With the ball bearing journals, there is no clearance as in bushings so everything has to be within .001 to work right with Dennis doing the CNC on the frame and axle boxes and Justin doing the wheel machining my part of that job was a snap.

one thing that was challenging was that as the fairing was to scale and the prototype ran on large radii, the cylinders had to be closer together than we usually do to fit inside the fairing. This made for the crossheads and rods to be closer to the frame and with less clearance than usual but I ran the chassis around my 9.5' radius track with no interference and it actually may be able to negotiate the 7.5' track though the clearances are much tighter there.


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill
Glad the drivers, cylinders, pilot and fairing work out to allow for clearance on your track. Appreciate the updates and your photos so that we can follow the progress.


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## livesteam5629 (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks for the photo update Bill. She is one beautiful gal.
Noel


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## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

livesteam5629 said:


> Bill,
> Can we see her with her new slippers on? Pictures please.
> Noel


 
slippers? more like running shoes!!

Looks fantastic bill. keep up the great work.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Well, I got the valve gear and such done this week and was able to air test it. It does run like a dream. I was able to skim the paint off the tread and flanges while running it on air.

Here are the steam lines which will go into the smoke box. the front one is the exhaust and the rear is the steam line. The small tube going back is for the lubricator.









The axle pump tubes are run back.









The ball bearings are installed in the valve frame for the expansion links. Each link will have two bearings stacked together for rigidity and long life.









The reverse servo is positioned between the frames and will be accessible from under the loco









Here is the valve gear. The piston is in the rearmost position and is ready to come forward. The combination lever is at a sharp angle which is moving the valve forward to open it at just before rear center. 









now the piston is in mid travel and the eccentric crank on the wheel has taken over the work and the combination lever is now vertical causing no effect on the valve.









here is a close up of the lubricator adjuster. The tube comes up through the center of the lubricator and the fitting soldered on the end is finished off with a tapered edge which will seat in the nut to close the steam off. When the nut is backed off with a 2-56 nut driver (1/8"), the steam flows out the hole in the side of the nut.









Here is the complete assembly


















And a closeup of the valve gear


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## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Last Saturday Bill brought his chassis over to our weekly workshop and we ran it on air. My compressor is tiny (used for spray painting) but as the cylinders were virtually leak-free it did not have any problems running the chassis. Here he is seen scraping the paint off the wheel rims with Dennis looking on:


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill
I was away this past few days at Scranton for the Presidential weekend steamup (along with delivering a job to customer). During the past few days more weather related situation near you, son I hope all is well.
Great progress and exciting news to see the chassis running!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Chuck
They had evacuations a half mile or so from me yesterday but I am high enough where my house is safe. The only worry is the large trees that have the roots soaked. I hope one doesn't fall on the John Wilkes.
They are saying 60 mph winds for the next storm


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## livesteam5629 (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,
Thanks for the update. Wot a beauty.
We had very strong winds last week. No trees went down in my yard. My son was out a couple of days later in North Wilmington DE working to restore power. A real mess.
Noel


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## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

livesteam5629 said:


> Bill,
> Thanks for the update. Wot a beauty.
> We had very strong winds last week. No trees went down in my yard. My son was out a couple of days later in North Wilmington DE working to restore power. A real mess.
> Noel


nice seeing yall at scranton.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Well, the John Wilkes is finished except for the testing which will have to wait till things dry out in the back.
I finished the making the case today and am waiting for the finish to dry.

I permanently fixed the chassis to the boiler with the three socket head screws using my long T handle allen wrenches. I then at the back attached the lubricator and feedwater tubes and in the front, I removed the nose cone and attached the superheater and exhaust tubes.
I then insulated the smokebox and cover with 1/8" fiberfrax and a steel reflector shields.










These 2D photos don't show how awesome the running gear with all of the valve linkage looks being so close to the fairing but it gives you an idea.

















And here are a couple of photos of the completed loco.


















The completed backhead shows the throttle servo, the knob for the feedwater heater and the clack valve just below the knob with the lubricator to the right.


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## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

Bill, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! 
any chance of doing a bench test on some rollers or up on blocks


That engine sure is beutiful!!!!!


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill
I know I am bias in comments regarding the John Wilkes but I am sure that it is one of the most impressive locomotives to have on any track. Enjoy the many "test runs" on your layout. Seems that the weather and sunshine should dry out the landscape soon enough.
BTW- Think is looks go as it stands...just wait for the final application.

Nate
Not a good idea to test run an engine with active suspension on blocks. Need to do it on rollers.


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## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

Charles said:


> active suspension



what is that?


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

A sprung or equalized suspension allows the drive wheels to drop down when on blocks so that the timing geometry is changed to the extent that a test becomes faulty.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The case is done. Because of all of the tubing fittings and electrical wires going from the engine to the tender, The setup is made so that the engine and tender need not be taken apart.
In the front is the lower half which is used for carrying the loco at a steamup









The wood block holds the fastening gizzmos. The bent rod goes into the bracket at the bottom and through the tender buffer. The home made screw locks the engine down for transportation.









The screw fits into a recess underneath and protrudes through to fasten to a plate on the bottom of the loco frame.


















A removable ramp is stored in the two slots in the sides when not in use. It is positioned with two 1/8" pins. You can see one of the holes on the floor near the slot 



























The top is held on with six clamps. Note the front of the top (on the left) goes all of the way down to cover the exit portion of the lower half.


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## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

Bill, wasnt the spot above the drivers lettered leghingh valley? i assume you are planning on lttering it?


that cas is beautiful. I still need to make one for the #24


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

those are raised metal letters which Charles is having cast in nickle silver.
i will apply them when they are done. There is also a set on the tender to do.


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill
"The wood block holds the fastening gizzmos." Such well throughout gizmos to compliment your locomotive to the point of ensuring save travel accommodations.

I checked with the caster and the "bling" parts will be on the schedule as of Monday.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill, What a gorgeous locomotive!!! Very nice case to go with it. I really like roll-out cases, they make it so much easier to put a large loco on the track.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Winn


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill has been very patient with me in regards the finishing touch to the Lehigh Valley John Wilkes project. His skills and approach has made this venture a delight and worth the time and effort.

Engine lettering

Tender lettering

Congratulations, Bill on this achievement.


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## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill, what was used to adhere the cast letters to the paint? It is very neat, with no sign of excess adhesive.

Charles--I still can't wait to see this train in person!

Larry


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Hi Larry
I had a long time to ponder how I would attach the letters. I was really concerned about the spacing as an "I" needs different spacing than an "L" so first I typed the words out in MS Word and then kept increasing the font till i got the length I needed. I then copied and pasted several lines if it on the document, printed it out and with a paper cuter cut strips out which I taped in place on the engine and tender.
I felt I needed to use a strong clear glue that would give me enough time to work with the letters. I was thinking of a slow drying epoxy but it can get messy before it drys. My friend Dennis gave me a bottle of Canopy glue which is used in model airplanes. It is white but dries clear. I first tried a few letters on a sample piece that I used to test some of the paint colors. I then waited 24 hours and tested the hold which was surprisingly strong.

I laid the engine and tender on one side and did a side per day.

I spread a little glue on the table and then touched it with my finger to get an even film there. I then with a pair of fine tweezers I picked up each letter and touched it to my glue finger, inspected it for glue on the entire letter and then set in in place at the top of the strip exactly in the middle of the printed letter. After the glue set up (5 or 10 minutes), I carefully removed any visible gobs of glue with the needle sharp tips of my tweezers. It was rubbery then and easily came off


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Here is a video of the completed setup with nickel-silver letters and all
Enjoy


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## Steve Ciambrone (Feb 25, 2014)

Bill,
The glue you describe is very useful for our hobby also, it was called RC56 for years but goes by a similar name in hobby shops now , in craft stores it is called "Tacky Glue" and sold in a larger quantity container. I use it to attach figures, glue windows in place, hand rails on coaches, and attach things to painted parts, have not tried it in high heat areas since I doubt it would hold up.

Steve


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Steve
Before I put the letters on, I heated the test strip to 240 degrees as I figured the engine would never get that hot. The glue got rubbery but still held and then hardened up when it cooled down.


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill;

The video is wonderful. Such a pretty and elegant train. Models like yours serve as teaching tools, showing those too young to have experienced it the elegance of a bygone era. 

Kudos,
David Meashey


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## Steve Ciambrone (Feb 25, 2014)

bille1906 said:


> Steve
> Before I put the letters on, I heated the test strip to 240 degrees as I figured the engine would never get that hot. The glue got rubbery but still held and then hardened up when it cooled down.


Good to know, should be good for nameplates on my locos and other items.

thanks
Steve


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Probably everything but the smokebox which can get up to 400 degrees. Use JB Weld there


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill, What a beautiful train. You sure are busy! I noticed that you have the first 4 posts on this forum!


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill
Motion pictures are worth a thousand words.....thanks for the time and effort to post the video of a successful steamup with the John Wilkes.

BTW-
Another good glue is Loctite 325 Adhesive designed for severe environments and temperature range -65.0 degreeF - 350 degree F, Loctite 325 fixtures in 5 minute and 24 hours for full curing. Can withstand water, chemicals, etc. like what is would be exposed to with live steam


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Cool
Does that dry clear also ?


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill
Yes, it does dry clear.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I am sure there will be more and better videos but here are three short clips from the NSS

https://youtu.be/N6D0BlM_rHE?list=PLoJH8A6Y1YYJJtpmsLN2NOxuGq7AzbQHC


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## fkrutzke (Jan 24, 2008)

Standard "Slow Cure" JB weld will take 500 degrees F continuous and up to 600 F for short times. Although it is not clear. I used it to attach the builders plates to a Modified Frank S. That smokebox can get really hot and it is holding like a champ.

JB weld also has a High Temp adhesive. "J-B Weld™ ExtremeHeat™ is formulated to allow for repairs to iron, steel and metal in high temperature environments (2400°F / 1300°C)." This is quoted from their website. Expensive but a very good adhesive


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