# Oregon Pony build log



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I saw this photo in a MLS thread which was titled the worlds ugliest locos. 
I thought it would be an interesting project so I researched the history and found that my friend Henner had actually visited the museum in Oregon and taken some photos of it. Another friend had some drawings of it from an old magazine.
This project has so far has, and will continue to present some challenges.
This is a very small standard gauge engine. which will fit in the palm of my hand. The crank lever is between the wheels and the frame making a very tight area for the Stephenson valving and the boiler tube will be 1-1/8" in diameter and 2-1/4" long


















Here is my cylinder drawing









I didn't get photos of turning the cylinders on the lathe but it was straight forward. The bore was done with a 1/4" reamer and then finished off with 600 sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. here I am cutting the radius in the valve block with a 5/16" end mill









The valve block is then machined for the mounting on the frame









Cylinders ready to be silver soldered. I didn't mention before that the cylinder bore was drilled out to .242 prior to silver soldering and then reamed out afterwards.









Cyl is mounted on the frame rail









A 1/32" end mill is used to make the valve ports









The same tool is used to start thr angled ports in the cylinder. a .050 drill is used to finish it up.









The crankshaft ie set up with the drive gear, the eccentrics and the cranks.









The 1/32" mill is used to make these very small D valves









Here I am setting up the valve rod length. The cylinder is just set in place with one bolt and you can see between the expansion slot on the far link where I have marked the pivot position to be with a back dot.









The rod is then cut to length and the end is silver soldered on. Note the stainless collar around the 0-80 stainless screw









And the completed valve body. What appears to be very large holes are 1/16". 
Cap screws are 00-90









The easy way to seal the piston would have been with a 1/4" OD o-ring but because of the scale, I only had .040" or so for the ring groove so I turned a rough PTFE 1/4" rod to a true .250" and bored it out to 5 mm and then sliced off two rings.I then cut a 45 degree slit in the rings with a new razor blade which allows them to expand and contract. The angled cut keeps the ring from leaking and allows it to expand past the cylinder bore size without seizing up. I then cut a groove in the pistons .042 by .125 in diameter. This combo gives the 1 mm thick o-ring .003" of crush which keeps the ring sealed without causing a lot of drag.


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## livesteam53 (Jan 4, 2008)

Bill,
Looks like your off to a great start.
Keep us posted.


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## HampshireCountyNarrowGage (Apr 4, 2012)

Here are a couple of great LS builds, yours Bill, and Cliff Wards 7/8's 4-4-0. 

Thanks.


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

Small is beautiful! Very fun!


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Leave it to Bill to find another quirky locomotive to build. Looks like it will be an interesting one. to see unfold.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I got this running on air at Henner's on Saturday
It ran ok but not great
I used some valve linkage off an old Bachman electric shay which fit in the space i needed. it had a little play in the pins but I thought it would be ok but on further review, I found it to be excessive 
It had .039 pins and .046 holes. I made some rivets out of .046 rod and it now has no play. I also made new eccentrics with .005 more throw in each direction to make up for the natural throw loss in the Stevenson linkage. I now have exactly the throw I had planned on.
I ran it on air this morning and the results were amazing

Bolow is the Bachman setup where I used the original eccentric straps and and attached new ends with Stay-Bright and an 00-90 cap screw. On the top are new straps with new pins of the correct size.









These are the prototypical crossheads which are critical because of the closeness of the crank to the cylinder which creates a very sharp angle as you will see in the video. They will get another bracket attached in the middle which will accommodate the crosshead pump.









This underneath shot shows the Bachman reverse arm and links which will work just fine in this position.









And the top view









And finally the video


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## cocobear1313 (Apr 27, 2012)

Bill, that is very cool. Thank you for sharing all of your toys!

dave


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## livesteam5629 (Jan 2, 2008)

I cannot believe the speed and torque of that little jewel. WOW !!!
Noel


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks guys
I can't wait to get it on the track
I started looking at the boiler design today
It will need to have everything non-standard withe newly designed valves burner etc.
I cut the main pipe and it is only 2-1/4" long and 1-1/4 in diameter


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Yesterday I added the reduction gears and the axles and started on the boiler

The main drive gear is easily set in place with a flat milled on the shaft and a 2-56 set screw









The large driven gear is another story. i don't have a tap long enough and if I did, i would probably break it. So, I milled these slots










And then with a 1/16" hole drilled in the shaft, a piece of music wire does the trick. It is close to the edge so you can see it but it goes in to the middle of the gear.
The axle stand height was determined by setting the axle on brass strips and feeler gauges until the right backlash was achieved.









These wheels are 3-D printed and were used to make the casting molds. I am using them here to check clearances.









The brass sleeves on the axle will keep the gear centered. You can see where the cranks go between the frame and the wheels. There is actually less clearance than in the photo. the plastic wheels must have slipped out a little









Here are the pieces for the boiler. The idea is to have the poker burner go in the rear and the flue tube will exit where the smokebox normally is but this will be a sealed chamber which will be a heating surface for the boiler and will then route the hot gas through the right angle tube out the stack in the rear of the boiler.









And here is what I have so far









I should have put my penny here so you could get a better idea of the size. The burner is just over 1" long and 1/4" in diameter.
I tried several types of burners using drilled hole patterns and in the vice in the open air, the slotted burner wouldn't even light. I fooled around with different patterns and number of drilled holes and finally came up with six holes which wasn't very robust but the best I could get. I started to silver solder it together and thought I had better check to see if I could light it while it was in the tube. I lit up out the front with a lazy blue flame but when I turned it down, instead of popping back, it just went out. Then I tried the slotted burner and it lit right away and the burn was intense.


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## clifforddward (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill:

I like your "seat of the pants" design style with this burner...particularly your discovery of operation "in tube"...I'm constantly amazed how much differently things function in place vs. on the bench.

Nice model...I'm enjoying following your build. (makes me think my project is huge!).


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

We cast the wheels Saturday and when i got them home, i measured them and found that the tread diameter was off by .030. 
That wouldn't normally be a problem but it made it .020 smaller than the large gear on the axle which would then hit a switch when going over it.
So today, I went to Dennis' house and we turned a set of steel tires for it.

Here is the wheel turned down and ready for the tire. You can get an idea of the size here.









And its new tire









Four wheels ready for painting









Everything has to go on the dome. So, rather than making bronze bushings, because the dome is so small, I made the top of the dome a bronze bushing. here is a small filler plug with a super small Goodall fitting.









Here it is held in place. the popoff will go on the other side of the dome top and the throttle will go between the dome and the stack









There is only .300 between the stack and the dome so not much room for a throttle valve. The prototype looks to have had a rotary valve so that is what I am going for here. I changed from 1/16 holes everywhere to .040 where the valve face is









The 0-80 stud will be set with loctite after the valve is soldered on to the dome. The idea of a spring was improved upon by Dennis and a silicone o-ring now will hold the valve down.
The washer was made from 1/4" stock and relieved with a 3/16" end mill. and finally everything will be held in place with double nutted scale 0-80 nuts









And the completed valve. I have some small metric o-rings coming and will then set up the pipe fittings. the bronze nipple will be silver soldered to the dome.


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## BigRedOne (Dec 13, 2012)

Wow, this is really small!

Those cast wheels look great.

Is it going to have steam oil? I studied the drawing up top, but can't make out if the prototype had cylinder lubrication.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Yes it will have steam oil
If you look at the prototype throttle valve between the dome and the stack, it looks like there are two small tubes coming down from it which I think one was for lube.
In my valve body drawing, three photos up, you can see the drilled port for the lube at the bottom. I don't know where the prototype lubricator was but I am thinking of putting a dead leg lubricator in the bunker


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

This weeks progress

Dennis made this super small pop off valve using a 1/16" stainless ball. The thread is 3 mm

















The wheels are painted, quartered and installed









The prototype's buffer assembly was all wood. I used purple heart which is a very hard and strong wood, for this 









The boiler mounts are made. The dome is fitted with the new pop off but is just set on the boiler for now as I am still fooling around with the boiler design and if I have to make a new boiler tube, I will not need to do anything with the dome. the bunker is made and mounted. It will house the gas tank, lubricator and maybe a pressure gauge









Both G gauge. Really???


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

well, I got the little guy running yesterday but it took a long time to figure out how to run it. It steams up in less than a minute as the boiler capacity is only 35 ML but it can also run out of steam just as fast. It just about needs a couple of squirts from The Goodall bottle each trip around the track. I am not used to running without a pressure gauge or water site glass so it took a while to figure everything out. As expected, it has a ton of power and will spin the wheels if you are not careful. As you will see in the video, it has a mind of its own as far as speed is concerned.

The fuel tank and lubricator are housed in the bunker









The steam lines are connected to the throttle valve with a plate and o-ring fitting. The exhaust tubes are merged into the stack in the rear of it as there is no smokebox in the rear of the boiler









Here is a close up of the fittings. the stack connector is leaning in the photo but will be vertical in operation. The fitting was made by turning it off center with the independent four jaw chuck and then making the holes for the tubed on the mill eith a 3/32 end mill and drilling through with a .078 drill bit.









The roof was formed with 1/8" square brass for the rafters and .021 brass sheet for the roof. There are six supports, four on the bunker and two on the side of the dome. The upper stack is soldered to the roof and slips over the lower stack.









Side view


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## livesteam5629 (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,
When I try to play the video it comes up " This video is private". Rats! I want to see this little beauty run.
Noel


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill;

I am getting the same message that Noel noted. I believe that you need to change a setting on YouTube.

The photos are very impressive, and I am looking forward to seeing this locomotive run.

Regards,
David Meashey


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Video is now public
Try now


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Amazing!


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## cocobear1313 (Apr 27, 2012)

Bill, that is really cool! How long does a run last? Your work keeps me inspired.

Dave


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## grabnet (Feb 24, 2009)

*What a Beast*

That little guy sure is strong. Nice work.
Doc Tom


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Dave
The gas lasts pretty long but I haven't timed it yet.
The small amount of water will only last a few minutes but I keep it up with a Goodall bottle
It is kind of like a coal burner where you need to attend to it throughout the run
If I just put a prototypical consist on it and ran it at prototypical speeds, it would probably go quite a bit longer but here I wanted to test its pulling power.


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## livesteam5629 (Jan 2, 2008)

Holy Cow! That little sucker really moves. Give a slowww video so we can watch the mechanism and enjoy the motion.
Thanks for the FAST video
Noel


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## BigRedOne (Dec 13, 2012)

Looks like an express service! 

Bill,

Do you have an estimate for the amount of hours you have in your projects?

Here's an unusual prototype to try:

http://loco.skyrocket.de/img/thuile__1.jpg


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I don't really keep track of the hours on my projects. I am retired now and this is a hobby so I enjoy the challenges of designing and building the models. I probably average 5 days a week and 8 hours per day on this. This project took three weeks so I guess 120 hours or so. On this one, I probably spent more time staring at it trying to figure out how to design or make a part than I spent making the part. I have started to keep diagrams of the parts I make so I won't have to re-invent the same part next year when I need it again.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I painted the Pony over the weekend. Because of the return flue design, the smokebox door gets really hot. I was afraid the engine enamel I usually use wouldn't hold up and I could only find the VHT exhaust manifold paint in flat black so I picked up Rust-oleum bar-b-que paint in simi-gloss.
They recommenced no primer so that is what I did. So far it seems to be working out great as I have been handling it and have no scratches or chips.

The bell on the prototype is very small and scales out to only 1/4" wide. So, here is my version of it.









The mounting screws will be 00-90 but even these are too large for this. The height of these hex screws in, in my opinion, is not proportional to the flat so I tapped out a piece of hex rod and screwed the screw in to turn it on the lathe.









This should be less obtrusive.









Here is the painted model with the Johnson Bar added









And the canvas applied to the roof. the smokebox door is left open till the paint fully cures.


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

That is really neat Bill! I enjoy seeing your unique projects.


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

What an amazing piece, Bill!!!!! 

It's wonderful to see what a craftsman can do with a "pile" of brass and steel... 

Just great...


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks guys
After I posted the final photos, I noticed that the original photo of the prototype shows a grossly oversize bell and the attached photo is showing the somewhat undersized bell
I guess either would work but I like the small one better.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

This pic supports your smaller bell.
Where did the engineer sit?
I always enjoy your creations.
John


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

John
THE ONLY THING I CAN FIGURE OUT IS THAT HE MUST HAVE SAT ON THE BUNKER COVER. I WAS EVEN THINKING OF PUTTING A SEAT ON TOP OF MINE.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I did some boiler making on my Byers this week and decided to make a new boiler for the Pony while I was in the boiler making mood
As you saw in the video, it runs great. The problem was that it didn't run very long. The scale boiler didn't have enough capacity and without a sight glass or pressure gauge, I was really flying blind. If I filled the little guy to 80% capacity, it would lose pressure after a few feet of running. Lowering the water level did the trick but at it's first steamup, I let it run out of water and burned the paint on the boiler. Since I had to take the boiler off to paint it, I decided to give it a new barrel, I replaced the 1-1/4" with a 1-1/2" barrel which increases the capacity by over 80%. I was able to reuse the dome and smokebox door. I also added a 1/2" pressure gauge
Here is the new boiler mounted in the frame with the original one in the front.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill, That is an amazing little loco!!! Your machining abilities continue to a to amaze me. To see that tiny critter pulling those big cars so well is beyond belief! Thanks for posting our great work.


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill your thumb really shows the size of the loco! The Regner Rocket is 1/32 and has a tiny boiler also at just 20ml of water with a tiny godall valve in M5. Pony looks great. I think you built it too fast and now need to make another project.

How about one of those old compressed air locos. Always thought that would be interesting to make one and have a air tank on it. Need to fill up at least 120psi do decent run time if a few mins id guess depending on the cylinders.


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## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Kovacjr said:


> Bill your thumb really shows the size of the loco! The Regner Rocket is 1/32 and has a tiny boiler also at just 20ml of water with a tiny godall valve in M5. Pony looks great. I think you built it too fast and now need to make another project.
> 
> How about one of those old compressed air locos. Always thought that would be interesting to make one and have a air tank on it. Need to fill up at least 120psi do decent run time if a few mins id guess depending on the cylinders.


Jason,
we have thought about building such a compressed air loco. Unfortunately it seems almost impossible. 120PSi would give you probably just a couple of seconds of run time (120PSi expanded to say 12PSi = 10 times the volume of the boiler). Even 1200PSi would not cut it.
We also thought about dry ice (CO2), but here you run into two problems: Either the sublimation rate is too low or if the loco sits for a while, it creates dangerously high pressures. There have been attempts to sell dry ice powered locos, but they disappeared rapidly from the market...
Regards


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Henner what about using the cans from a paintball gun? Of course refilling is the issue then.


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## Dan Pantages (Jan 2, 2008)

Real fireless engines were charged with steam. Unlike compressed air, as it was used it would still expand. The exhaust was reused, I don't know how. Most of them were small 0-4-0's and would run a full 8 hour shift and have enough pressure to make it back to their "charging" station. Many years ago there was one in Ft. Steel, BC that still ran, it's doesn't now.


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## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

We should not hijack Bill's thread. We could open a new one.
A fireless loco charged with steam would not work due to the rapid heat loss in a model. A paint ball tank might work. I just made a quick calculation and the range would be close to a mile (67cubic inches at about 3000PSi -> 6700 cubic inches at 30PSi). But you need to integrate the tank into a loco and also find space for the pressure regulators (probably two step). And then of course refilling the tanks.
Regards


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## Rob55 (Jan 4, 2017)

*Awesome work*



Totalwrecker said:


> This pic supports your smaller bell.
> Where did the engineer sit?
> I always enjoy your creations.
> John


Bill your Oregon Pony is amazing. I want to model an O gauge electric. You said you had some line drawings from a magazine. I'd love to see them if you can still find them. If not do you remember the true outside diameter of the horizontal and vertical boiler sections as well as the height of both above the rails. The width of the engine is stated to be 5', but it seems wider the the 5 gauge track in photos. The original was wood fired. I think the "bunker was totally used as a water tank and wood was stacked on top. Your detail on the bunker is fantastic. You could make a water tank that looked like cord wood and put it on top of your oil bunker. I think the engineer stood the whole time. The Pony had at least two sister engines that did away with the gearing and directly linked vertical cylinders to drive wheels. The Pony worked both sides of the Cascades and went back to California to work for a paving company. I have NO machinist, tool making or sheet metal experience. Aside from this and a couple of other modeling sites can you recommend references that show one how it's done? I only have a couple of hand drills. W ht do I need th start building a chassi similar to yours in O gauge? Thanks. Rob.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Rob
I do have the page with drawings.
The gauge was 5' but most of the engine was much narrower.
I got my dimensions by using ratio and proportion using the gauge as the constant.
send me a personal message with your email and I will send you the full size scan.
Now, the bad news
Everything here was scratch built in brass and copper. You would need a mill and lathe plus casting ability for the wheels to do it in metal. 
Being electric, you could do it in plastic and resin and possibly get it done with your tools. If you could find a close power truck, it would make the job doable.


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

Amazing work as always. Love the smaller steam trains.


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## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

Bille:
As now I am convinced that you enjoy building extreme steam loco prototypes, and that your profisciency in doing so is absolutely amazing, may I make a suggestion?
This suggestion would be an extraordinary chalenge because not only of it's mechanical complexity but also because it's function needs to be analysed and understood fully before building. I am talking about the misterious Russian opposed piston steam engine known as: *THE OR23-01 OPPOSED-PISTON STEAM LOCOMOTIVE. 1949*

or better its steam-diesel pedescessor, known as: *TEPLOPAROVOZ! THE 8000 2-8-2 OPPOSED-PISTON STEAM-DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE: 1939 *

Both of these engines are visible at the following site and there is a video of one of them too:


http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/russ/russrefr.htm
Here is a link to an old Russian propaganda film which actually shows this incredible beastie doing a dfew yards under its own steam: 



 Now don't ask me how the darn thing could actually work....


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks
I have looked at these before
http://www.aqpl43.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/russ/russrefr.htm
And will probably do one someday but for now i have a couple of candidates including the S1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRR_S1
The biggest challenge with this is to get it to run on a 10' radius track. The original on couldn't negotiate the standard long haul radius of 717' which scales down to 22' 
I have a couple if ideas to try which are just in my head and will need to be put to paper some day.


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## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

Wow Bille the S1 is surely a more fantastic engine and especially more conventional. Although it was too big to handle even on the Pennsy, its performances were astonishing a famous french steam historian which I had the chance to meet: Lucien Maurice Vilain claimed that it was designed to hustle a thousand metric tons at over a 100 miles an hour, and that on tests with a special authority from the ICC, it acheived a hundred and forty miles per hour which would of course be the real international speed record for steam and there is also question of it acheiving in unspecified test conditions the speed of 150 miles per hour! 
The TGV without catenary and way back in 1939!
The Russian idea was just because you seemd to like oddballs, but it is a bit over the top. Especially since there is probably no one around who could explain the principle behind its design any more. But it wasn't the only steam-diesel, there was a famous small one in England I beleive.
Boy I will be eager to see what come of this S1 project I really like those pennsy Duplexes. By the way Paul Huntington did build a pennsy Q2. I don't know it's wereabouts today, perhaps he still owns it.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

You seem to know a lot about the S1
Do you know what color it was. I saw a color poster of it being red and was wondering if it may have been that color for the World's fair or just an artiest getting fancy.


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## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

Well I am member of the PRRT&H society and have been fascinated by Pennsy in the last 7 years. As far as I know it would be dark green locomotive enamel. I will have to look into that, I never heard of it beying painted bright red. Perhaps Tuscan red although that seems quite unlikely at the time. There were a few K4 painted Tuscan at that time which were, this made me think of it. I seem to remember a painting on the cover of the PRRT&HS Keystone with a streamlined engine in Tuscan red but I think it was of the streamlined K4 also done by Loewy and very similiar to the S1 casing (seen from the front). Let me check with some more knowledgeable members of the society. There has also been a rendering of the streamlined Chapelon pacific which never existed in red. So you never know.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

This is what I saw in Wikipedia
It was an album cover


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## Britstrains (Feb 24, 2008)

S1 was in fact standard PRR DGLE. Not sure where the red came from. Just a rendering I suppose.


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## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

Yeah I would say it is artistic license. Besides it din't keep its streamlined cassing very long. As soon as it was in regular service parts of the casing started to disapear! This has always been the main conflict between the elegant work of designers and shop crews and it was world wide alas. 
It didn't only plague streamlined designs. I found an amusing example on AT&SF 2-10-2 with wolf compound cylinders, in which the front HP cylinder had to be removed before reaching the rear HP gland box and the front LP gland box a 20 hour job! The solution was to fix an articulated gantry to the smokebox side with a winch which permited to lift off conveniently the HP cylinder to service both gland boxes. Effectively reducing the work load to 9 hours! But it was a weird looking gadget.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Yes
I was a truck mechanic before going into management, both city and long haul. I must admit I left a few beauty parts in the dumpster from time to time.
Those experiences have made me build every loco with maintenance in mind. It sometimes requires additional time on the build but pays off in the long run.


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

Bill, i just came acroos your quadruplex build log. all i can say is WOW! have you ever done a pull test with it?


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Nate
I have done several upgrades to it since the original build but have not done a pull test.
I would assume it can out pull anything else except maybe the Triplex.


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