# Uintah 2-6-6-2 build log



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The two Uintahs #50 and # 51 were built by Baldwin for the Uintah railroad in Utah in the '20s. They were the largest and most powerful narrow gauge locomotives ever built with 44,000 lbs. of tractive force.
LGB made several electric models which were very nice but not prototypical in dimensions. Bachman has a 2-6-6-2 which is smilar in looks but is not a Uintah.
Mine will be live steam and to the correct 1:20,3 scale.









Baldwin photo 








The full Walschaerts dimensions were ploted out on Dockstader's program available on the web The termilology is generic for all valve systems so the drawing above ties the various parts to the dimension input boxes
As I will be using 5/8" cylinders, it is important that they are as efficient as I can get them so much detail has gone into this design 

www.billp.org//*ValveGear*.htm


The cylinder and valve design is different from most. As I will be using piston valves, I will be able to have all of the porting in the valve body (per the original) this makes the valve assembly fully contained and attached to the cylinder with four screws. This makes the cylinder simpler and less massive.











1" square bar is rounded off on one corner on the router table with a 1/2" rounding over bit . Cuts are done 1/8" at a time at slow speed. 








Top shows radius
Here the cylinders are cut to length in the table saw cross cutting jig 









The cylinders are cut about .040" oversize and then faced off on the self centering four jaw chuck 








Cylinders are bored out. Boring tool is ground from an old end mill 








A piece of scrap wood is cut to 45 degrees and used to ser the cylinders in place where they are clamped in. 








A 1/16" end mill is used here to get a large volume oval port without going too far into the cylinder bore 








The port is then finished off on the top of the piston 








Holes are drilled for mounting the cylinder to the frame and for mounting the valve to the cylinder


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## seadawg (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill, so far, so good! Looks great. Does the boring bar give you a clean enough surface inside or will you need to hone it?


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## Ray Cadd (Dec 30, 2008)

Nice. How does that work with using a table saw to cut your stock? What sort of blade are you using?


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill
Will be following this build as with your others. This one in particular is of interest as it is a favorite narrow gauge locomotive..great project.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Dave 
The boring bar gives me a very nice finish. I grind it to a point then put a very small radius (2 or 3 thou) on the point which keeps it from having a threaded appearance. I make the last few cuts at only a couple of thou deep to make sure it comes out round with no taper and only cut on the in stroke with the automatic feed. A couple of swipes with 600 sandpaper wrapped around a dowel evens everything out. 
Ray 
This was done with an 80 tooth carbide tipped blade but any carbide blade of 50 or more teeth will work. It is amazing how much better the cut is than a that of a power band saw


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## pickleford75 (May 3, 2012)

looks good so far..... cant wait to see your progress


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## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

This looks like an interesting project to follow. 

Larry


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The valve will be a piston type spool valve with a SS spool and a bearing bronze sleeve. Per the prototype, the steam will enter from the side (inside face) and the exhaust will exit from the middle of the top face. The pipes will be attached with flanges.
The original had massive steam and exhaust pipeing which will allow me to ensure free breathing for the cylinders as I match the scale size of the piping.
I didn't get many shots of the valve machining but I will try to explain as I go through the photos 








The heart of the valve is the bronze sleeve which is turned out of 1/4" stock and then drilled out to just under 5mm in the lathe.
The ports are cut with a 1/16" end mill and using the DRO the distance between the outside edges of the ports is exactly.750". This is critical.
The sleeve is then rotated in the mill and the steam and exhaust ports are cut in the same manner. The holes in the valve body are 3/32" for steam and 7/64 for exhaust
The main hole in which the sleeve is pressed is drilled out with cobalt bits to keep it straight and true and finally reamed with a 1/4" reamer. This gives me a tight press fit.
After the sleeve is pressed in, it is cut with a 5mm H-7 reamer and finally lapped with a 5mm SS rod and metal polish (lapping compound is too coarse for this) 








The valve body is made from a 1/2" x 1" x 1.3" brass block. 
Mounting holes and countersink as well as all through holes are done on the mill using DRO








The valve and cylinder are nearly finished here. The hole in the center at the top is for exhaust and a flange will attach with bolts (holes not drilled yet)
The hole in the front connects the two exhaust ports (holes on the outside ) with the hole on top. They will all be plugged
The notch at the bottom of the sleeve is for registration to ensure the sleeve doesn't rotate while being pressed in. 
You can see where the cylinder will be mounted to the frame, I will be using SS spacers to reduce the heat transfer from the cylinders to the frame 








The piston is turned to a few thou oversize and parted off. Once it is attached to the rod, it is mounted in the chuck by the rod and turned to size








Here are the component parts, The bottom of the valve is shown with it's oversize porting. Rings are turned from Florogold a Rulon type material


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## Slipped Eccentric (Jan 2, 2008)

As always, excellent work. Can't wait to see how this shapes up.


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Pretty good project. I have intentions of buildng one for myself one day. I do have all the engineering drawings along with a 20.3 scaled elevation drawing I mocked up. Its a giant beast.


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Its a giant beast. 
And people wondered why Bachmann did the smaller, proposed-but-not-built articulated.  

I'll be watching this one as well. I've always wanted to see one in proper 1:20.3. 

Later, 

K


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Posted By bille1906 on 03 Nov 2012 05:38 PM
While I was working on the cylinders, I was also doing some frame work not necessarily in this order








The side rod holes are drilled out using the DRO to ensure the spacing is the same as the frame axle block spacing
The blanks are then set in the mill with a rod and a drill bit through the holes to keep them aligned. 








The jig with the pins in it is the same one I use to drill the holes. The rod is placed over the pin and the end mill is lowered and the rod id rotated to get the proper radius 








The edges are trimmed off on the band saw. The plywood piece is a stop that makes sure all of the slots are the same depth. 








The linging pin is turned out on the lathe 








Here is the outside and inside of the bars 








Here is the joint cut out on the band saw The cuts are made slightly oversize and then the saw marks are cleaned up with a file 








Here is a drawing of the prototype rear frame. as you can see it is two piece. My frame will be similar in design. I made a slight change to allow a little more room for the firebox 








Here is the frame joint using half-lap construction. In addition to the nine bolts, the pieces are JB'ed together 
















The axles are sprung with 1.6 lb. per wheel in the bottomed out position. This will run in the bottomed out position and there will be the 1.6 lbs. force on each wheel to keep them all down through any track condition








Here is the completed rear frame with the front frame in the background 








This gives you an idea of the size of the thing. There will be another inch or so added to the front and rear


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## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

The front truck is articulated,are you connecting the steam admission prototypical in the center of the swivel bolt? 

Manfred


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

Did you plate the side rods? the last photo they look steel but obviously brass in the earlier photos. If so, what did you use? 

What are you using for drivers? 

Well done on the frames too! looks like it will be an interesting project.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Manfred 
I haven't done that design yet 
It is very hard for me to determine just how the front piping is on the original. 
It looks like the exhaust comes out the top of each cylinder then "t"s at a swivel joint and then goes to the bottom center of the smoke box via a sliding joint 
It then looks like the admission line "T"s and goes down between the cylinders but none of my drawings show where it goes from there. I assume it makes a "U" turn at or near the pivot point which would be the best point to make my connection. 
I believe there will be enough room to install a dog-bone fitting and thus eliminate the need for flexible tubing. 
If you or anyone else has seen any more descriptive literature on this loco, I would appreciate the input.


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Amazing work!


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill

I know that the 3 ft. gauge Uintah 2-6-6-2T's were a design unto themselves so I don't know if the following will be of any use to you, but just in case.









Catskill Archive - Baldwin Locomotive Works - Mallet Articulated Locomotives[/b]


The Home Machinist - Live Steam Forum/Topic: Uintah Railway locomotives[/b]

Curtis_F - Posted Reply: Mon Jul 09, 2012 8:10 pm

Uintah_No. 20-21_BLW-Spec-Sheet (PDF 3.84MB)[/b]
Uintah_No. 50_BLW-Spec-Sheets (PDF 8.49MB)[/b]
Uintah_No. 51_BLW-Spec-Sheet (PDF 13.22MB)[/b]


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## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)




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## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

Here is some detailed info regarding piping and ......
http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/blwmal00.Html


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## rwjenkins (Jan 2, 2008)

The Uintah engines were simple articulateds, not true "Mallets" which were compounds as described in the diagram and article above. All four cylinders on the Uintah engines were the same size, and steam was only used once.


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Any idea what the completed weight might be? 

Dirk - DMS Ry.


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## Hugh Napier (Oct 10, 2012)

Now, as an ignorant 'Brit', I was never aware of experiments with flexible boilers!











Hugh


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## DKRickman (Mar 25, 2008)

I was never aware of experiments with flexible boilers! 

If you go back and read the section on Mallet articulated engines, it mentions that the boilers were built in two sections. The rear was the true boiler, and the front was a steam reheater/superheater/feedwater heater. The flexible boiler simply replaced the rigid joint between these two sections with a steel bellows arrangement. It didn't work very well, as stuff tended to collect in the bellows, but I'm sure it could have been made into a more viable system had the need been there. 

It would sure make a fascinating and unusual model!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks to all for your input 
My notes: 
1- It looks like the top pipe is the exhaust 
2 - The Uintah was not a true Mallet but an articulated simple (all cylinders were high pressure) 
3 - The drawings of the Mallet admission pipes is very close to what I thought the front engine pipes were like on the Uintah. These will be helpful 
4 - Speaking of flexible boilers, my Quadruplex build log in the "Informative threads" section shows how I built my flexible joint for the Quad 

Since everyone has been so helpful and the final design is not yet complete, perhaps I can get some input on the boiler 
I am pretty well resolved that a poker type boiler does not have enough heating surface for four 5/8" cylinders. 
The cab design will not accommodate coal firing. 
I would like to stay away from alcohol because of the stories I have heard. (burning eyes, forest fires, etc) 
I am now thinking of a locomotive style fire box with a gas fired ceramic burner. 
The scale size of the fire box is 3" x 5.5" which is fairly large but because the rear drivers are under it, it is quite shallow. 
As the sides of the firebox will not be very tall, I am thinking that there is not much benefit of having them wet and the radiant heat of the ceramic burner will me mainly directed toward the wet crown sheet. 
I'll post some sketches on my next posting tomorrow.


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## David Leech (Dec 9, 2008)

Bill, 
Why the join in the rear frame? 
Did you not have a long enough piece of brass, or just wanted to be prototypical? 
All the best, 
David Leech, Delta, Canada


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

David 
Just to be prototypical and I liked the look. Plus it was fun making the half lap joint 
Dirk 
I think somewhere in the 40 lb. range with the water and fuel, of which 80% -90% will be on the drivers


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Bill, so potentially your looking at something like 11.25 - 11.6 pounds of tractive effort! Not bad !! 2.8 pounds per wheel also...hope to see one of 'em run on My N.G. layout someday!! 

THX, 
Dirk - DMS Ry.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Scale drawings of the expansion link are glued to the tool steel blanks 








The holes are drilled using the DRO. All of the cutting will be done on the mill. The drawings are just to make sure a reading is not misread and for the final rounding off of the ends on the 1" belt sander 








A plate is made from 1/2" aluminum. A pin is turned on the lathe which is an interference fit in the rotary table center hole and it is then bolted down with the two screws.
A centering bit was used when the pin was turned and this is used for the center measurement. The radius rod is 2.588" so that is the radius used on the DRO shown at the bottom








I had a little trouble at the start and then switched to a carbide bit which did the trick. You can see where the link is bolted to the table with 2-56 screws which will be used in the final assembly








This is the inner plate made from brass as there is no friction on this piece 








There is a lot going on at the top of the rear cylinder cover. The two holes are for the crosshead. The one on the flat was done with an end mill to get a flat bottom. It is .080" deep as to not go through the cap. 










On the other side, the notch is for the steam to pass through unrestricted and the hole on the flange is for the top crosshead bar

T








The top shot shows a flat being milled on the cylinder cap where the crosshead rail will mount 
The bottom shot is the cross heads being drilled out









Slots are cut on the crosshead with an 1/8" mill








Slide bars are drilled out then tapped to 0-80 








Finished crosshead assembly. Both of the rails are the same with an 0-80 clearance hole at one end and the other end with a turned nipple 1/16" in diameter by .075" long
Brass slide bar is between the two rails attached with four 0-80 bolts. The bolt at the rear of the bottom rail is very close to the drive rod when it is at it's highest point so I will replace it with a flat head countersunk bolt


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## wigginsn (Jan 9, 2008)

Fantastic work Bill. 

I have the same question as Eric, are the rods and crosshead plated, or perhaps tinned? Wondering how you achieved the silver look. 

Cheers 
Neil


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Eric 
Sorry i didn't see your note on the rods 
Eric and Neil 
They are tin plated. The product is" Liquid Tin" and it is sold at large electronic stores. it is used to tin circuit boards prior to soldering them. You just dip the brass in the solution for 3 - 5 minutes and then rinse them off. 
The treatment seems to be very permanent. I used it on my Double Fairlie and it is two years old now and looks better now than when I first finished it. 
The drivers are from an Accucraft Cab Forward. The 42" Uintah drivers scale down to 2.06" and these are 2.0"


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## Slipped Eccentric (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By bille1906 on 05 Nov 2012 07:24 AM 
Thanks to all for your input 
My notes: 
1- It looks like the top pipe is the exhaust 
2 - The Uintah was not a true Mallet but an articulated simple (all cylinders were high pressure) 
3 - The drawings of the Mallet admission pipes is very close to what I thought the front engine pipes were like on the Uintah. These will be helpful 
4 - Speaking of flexible boilers, my Quadruplex build log in the "Informative threads" section shows how I built my flexible joint for the Quad 

Since everyone has been so helpful and the final design is not yet complete, perhaps I can get some input on the boiler 
I am pretty well resolved that a poker type boiler does not have enough heating surface for four 5/8" cylinders. 
The cab design will not accommodate coal firing. 
I would like to stay away from alcohol because of the stories I have heard. (burning eyes, forest fires, etc) 
I am now thinking of a locomotive style fire box with a gas fired ceramic burner. 
The scale size of the fire box is 3" x 5.5" which is fairly large but because the rear drivers are under it, it is quite shallow. 
As the sides of the firebox will not be very tall, I am thinking that there is not much benefit of having them wet and the radiant heat of the ceramic burner will me mainly directed toward the wet crown sheet. 
I'll post some sketches on my next posting tomorrow. 

If you take a look at the chaski message board there is a 3/4" scale big boy that has a poker burner aimed at a ceramic sheet that pretty much fills up the firebox. Food for thought.


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## pickleford75 (May 3, 2012)

you are doing a great job! first class!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Where would I find the chaski message board?


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By bille1906 on 08 Nov 2012 05:30 AM 
Where would I find the chaski message board? 

Chaski is the Home Shop Machinist board. http://www.chaski.org/homemachinist/ 

Id go for a ceramic burner, it will work very well on that boiler.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Here is my initial design for using a 3" x 5.5" ceramic burner. There are several challenges here, the main thing being that the rear driver is under the firebox and the frame does not widen out to accommodate the burner area
On the original, the ash pan flared out and was angled down to clear the drivers with a door at the bottom. It looks like the ash pan was relieved to clear the frame or was three separate units, one between the frame and two on the outside
On my design, what I call the mixing box (where the gas and air are diverted to the bottom of the burner) will resemble the prototype ash pan.
It is hard to read my own writing but the stays are round bronze 









The side view shows overall dimensions and the burner and mixing box position. As you can see the burner is very close to the flues. I would rather have a little more space between them but I think I will need to go with what I have here
I will have a nice large wet crown sheet which will get the direct rays from the radiant burner. Because of the size of the burner, I may need to use two jets rather than one but that should be determined by the bench teating 









Here is the mixing box with the cutout for the wheels showing and the center section which will go between the frames. I don't know if the "V" shaped section on the sides will help the distribution or hurt it but I can block it off or leave it depending on how it works on the bench.


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## HampshireCountyNarrowGage (Apr 4, 2012)

Allen, 

Have you thought about putting in an arch over the burner to direct the gases back toward the backhead and then up and redirected to the tube sheet. That's what the prototype did. Not sure if this will help or not as the small size of the boiler compared to a prototype boiler. Just a thought. 

Chester Louis SA #64 
Hampshire County Narrow Gauge


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Chester 
The backhead will be dry so I don't know if I want it getting too hot. Maybe I could put a SS sheet on the inside of the backhead to divert the heat toward the flues. 
The arch would also block some of the radiant rays from reaching the crown sheet and I don't know if I would gain that much. A stainless arch might glow red and create more radiant heat though???


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## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

My guess is that an arch will probably not be necessary on a properly working ceramic burner. Your heating surface is massive. If you can get the burner glowing bright yellow/white hot, like it is supposed to be, it may even be too big. Your sketch doesn't show any standoffs that hold the ceramic up above the bottom of the mixing tray. I guess you just omitted them for clarity? Regardless, you will need some small cylindrical standoffs to support the ceramic and provide the air gap under the ceramic media. These can also add turbulence to the gas air mixture under the ceramic and aid in distribution of the gasses to all corners of the mixing tray. In the burner for my steam tractor I have several standoffs that I placed in a hap-hazard way inside the tray to help disperse the gas air mixture.

Regards,


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Right Eric 
My thought is to set the standoffs in place with RTV and then move them as necessary for the proper disbursement of the gas


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## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,
I would also advise against using an arch. You really want the radiant heat to hit the firebox crown. I would also not be too concerned about the distance between the top of the burner and the first flue. With gas firing you don't have this fierce draft which would pull the flame into the upper tubes and letting the lower ones cool down. Also tube heat transfer is only about 30% of overall thermal input. These are just my 2 cents from an "expert" struggling to prevent his Guinness from suffering smokebox fires, his Betsy howling like a Banshee and the ceramic burner of his Climax refusing to glow. So gas firing also seems to be trial and error







. Some people swear on their solution which does not work at all in different locos. See you Saturday.
Regards


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

well than - how about a 'trial mock-up of just the needed parts and a few practice burns to see what it does..? 

thinking out loud, sorry!! 

Dirk - DMS Ry.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Dirk 
That is exactly what should be done. Lots of options on jets, air holes, standoffs etc., etc


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## Slipped Eccentric (Jan 2, 2008)

If you're worried that you're not getting enough heating surface you could try extending your crown stays into the firebox like porcupine quills as well.


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill, 

No need for standoffs to diffuse. Do you have the ceramic sheet for the burner? I tried a bunch and the only one is the wavy top one that works right. You are best to make a open box and extend the tube as far in as you can, about 3/8" from the end. 2 -1/4" air holes on the tube and center the jet in the middle of the hole. You will need a no 3 or a no5 jet. Als ogive yourself about 3/8 - 7/16 under the ceramic for gas space on the burner. The ceramic is 12mm thick to the burners are pretty thin. Took me 5 burners and a year of junk until I got one that worked. 

Also keep in mind that the burner might not need to be as large as it looks as you are sketching. I have a 2.5" vertical boiler and the burner is 1.5" and it is more then enough heat. 

Photos of mine here http://www.7-8ths.info/index.php?topic=16680074.60


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## rdamurphy (Jan 3, 2008)

Odd question maybe, but I'm not a live steam guy, but how much more complicated does it make the model having two steam domes? 

Robert


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Jason 
I have used the american burner material which is wavy on top with many small holes. It gives off a nice orange glow but seems to be touchy as far as the jet size goes. 
Henner has some material from across the pond which has larger peaks and valleys and bigger holes. 
He thinks he got it here. I will order it to see if it is better than what I have 

http://www.bustedbricks.com/ceramic-tile---132x92mm-137-p.asp 

I have never understood the jet numbers or letters. we usually make out own. Do you know how many thousands or millimeters the number 3 and 5 jets are? 
That makes sense to extend the tube and bounce it off the rear of the box. 
I have also found that the jet spray (if you would call it that) seems to act in a similar fashion to a blast pipe with a 3:1 cone and a 6:1 cone. In my experiments in the past, I got better burning by pulling the jet back from the air hole to get a better venturi affect but my tube was ending at the box and I don't think the cone was hitting the tube before it went into the box, if that makes sense. 
A long tube extending into the box could create the needed air draw. I don't know why I didn't think of that.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Still working on the chassis. As I arrive at the desired part fit and finish on the first chassis, I then make the parts for all of them. This slows things down a little but I am making the parts while the technique is fresh in my mind and I don't have four chassis taking up space









Here is the chassis before the Walschaerts gear is added









Closeup of the crosshead mounting bracket 









The valve id turned from precision ground SS rod. The ends of the spool are not touched by the lathe as to take advantage of the factory machining. 








Here is the expansion link and mounting bracket









The reverse arm, lifting link and reverse bracket are added. All pivit points are shoulder bolts turned on the lathe. Note the curvature of the radius rod where it attaches to the combination lever.
Upper combination lever pivots are yet to be made as well as valve guide cover. 









Top side view in forward gear
Copper tubes are temporary and to air test the chassis
because of the piston valve and per the prototype, the admission is on the side and the exhaust on the top of the cylinders 










Reverse gear 









Closeup of valve gear 









Expansion link pivot is SS and held in with an e-clip 









Expansion link closeup 









Reverse gear

Still to go are the reverse arm and servo installation, Axle pump and valve guides 
I air tested it over at Henner's on Saturday and it ran ok but seemed to have a lot of blowby.
I took out the Flourogold rings and replaced them with some made from Rulon. It now has zero blowby and seems to have plenty of torque.
It will pull it's self at 5 psi and goes like crazy at 40 psi.


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## DKRickman (Mar 25, 2008)

I saw the question has already been asked, but I cannot find the response, so... 

What are you using for your drivers? Also, will you be machining them to have spokes, or leaving them the Boxpok style?


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The drivers are from a Cab Forward. These were the original wheels that were removed by Alan Redeker in hisF lat Face Cab Forward project. I will be leaving them as is except for the finish which will be flat black


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Outstanding machine work!! That is going to be a most impressive loco when done.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Winn 
Someone asked about the three domes. If you look at the Baldwin build photo at the top of this thread, you will see that the third dome is missing. It was originally built with one steam dome in the center of the boiler but because of the steep grades traversed, the sight glass was showing empty on the down hill ride. The engine was downed for fear of a crown sheet blowing. The problem was fixed by lowering the crown sheet and installing another dome close to the firebox. I assume the center dome was then sealed off. 
I haven't found any accurate info on the dome that is now in the center but I assume it was a sand dome for the rear drivers. I believe the box on the front deck was originally a sand box for the front drivers. 
For my purposes, I will be using only the dome in the center of the boiler to draw steam.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Working on the remainder of the chassis parts 








The valve guides are turned out on the lathe and then mounted in the mill vise using a piece of 1/4" square stock as a sacrificial jaw 









A 3/8" end mill is used to cut the top of the guide off and form the radius 









Completed guide 









The reverse arm is pointing downward vs the usual upward position to accommodate the RC servo 









A nine gram micro servo just fits between the axle blocks 








The bottom side view shows the two brass blocks used for mounting one is cut out for the wire clearance. 









I start with the axle pump by turning down a piece of bronze in the 3 jaw. I could use the independent four jaw but I get the same result by shimming up one jaw to get the offset.
After the hole is drilled, I re-chuck it and cut out two eccentrics. 









The eccentric links are formed using a technique from Kozo with a slight variation that I like better. The rough shape is drawn out on the blank and then a small rectangle is cut out.









The rectangle I cut out is now too small to use so on the table saw, I cut out a replacement slightly larger than needed. The hole is roughed out on the band saw to save time boring later








Here is where I deviate from Kozo, he drills holes in the side to mount a block behind the link and then used the holes to attach to straps which will hold the unit together
I will soft solder them together and use two 0-80 bolts to secure both pieces together. Here is how I do it
The new rectangle is soft soldered in place and then again on the table saw, the excess is removed. The piece is then centered in the four jaw and the hole is bored out 









Before de-soldering I drill a tap hole for 0-80 through both pieces









The two pieces are de-soldered and cleaned up. The eccentric OD is 15/16" and the grove is 1/32" deep making a 7/8" diameter matching the bored hole in the link 
The hole in the eccentric groove is for a 4-40 set screw


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## RP3 (Jan 5, 2008)

Bill, I have been enjoying your craftsmanship and detail on the Uintah. I would suggest that, if you haven't already, make sure that the reverser servo you have installed between the frames is a metal gear servo with at least 60 oz. of torque. You won't need the torque or the metal gears to move the linkage, but the reverser mechanisms take a beating twice per wheel revolution as the motion and the load reverses against the servo gear train. In my experience, the reverser servos are the weak link in the RC system, so hopefully this will help you avoid servo failures. Ideally it would be better to avoid the servos all together in favor of a good old mechanical linkage, but I think your design is a practical and reasonable one and it avoids the need for a complicated linkage between the two engines. 

Good luck, 

Ross Schlabach


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Ross 
The nine gram servo is the largest I could fit in that space. I'm not sure how many ounces that would be. 
One thing in my favor is that a piston valve has very little resistance under steam as there is no steam pressure forcing the valve down as in a "D" valve. This reduces valve train wear significantly and also the related strain on the servo. In fact, the gear will remain in forward at top speed with the linkage disconnected and just the weight of the lifting arm holding it in place. I also used as large a lifting arm and link as I could and positioned the link as close to the expansion link as possible to reduce the up and down motion caused by the swing of the link. I worked the geometry out on the Dockstader program where you can watch the animation and see what changes will help smooth out the operation


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## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

what size boiler do yo use?Checking available sources the best i could come up with is: diameter is 70 mm by 26 1/2 inches in length! 

Manfred


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Manfred 
I will be making my own to scale 
The outside diameter will be 3-1/8" or 78 mm and about 16" long excluding the smoke box 
The total locomotive will be only 27-1/2" long


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Between Christmas decorations, a Thanksgiving trip to Tahoe and working on the design for a new BAGRS portable steam track, I was able to get a little work in on the Uintah.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to upload all of the photos here so i will try to explain the missing pieces









The key to the axle pump is check valves that seal. The valve seat is made from two concentric holes. The thought would be to drill a small hole then use that for the pilot for the large hole. That would be wrong.
The small bit is somewhat flexible and will wander if drilled any depth. The stiffer large bit will drill true and the holes will not be concentric so i always drill the large hole first then the small one.
The tool here is turned from drill rod on the lathe then ground on the side to make a "D" bit
The end is chamfered and the first step is a few thousands larger than the small hole and the second step is a few thousands larger than the large hole.
This gives me a square seat with perfectly centered holes. 









A square seat is good but a knife edge seat is better. This is done by kissing the seat with this tool which is ground at a 15 degree angle
The tool is made from water hardened drill rod and after the machining is done, it is heated cherry red and quenched in water. It is then heated to a straw color and quenched again to temper it
The final procedure is to use a sacrificial ball and with a small hammer and a brass drift, drive the ball into the seat to form it to the ball and discard the ball.









Here are some small banjo fittiogs using metric o-rings 









The axle pump with all of the component parts. The body was machined from 1/2" brass stock. The cylinder is 1/2" round stock 









The o-ring holder is screwed in to the cylinder before final reaming 









Here is the mounted pump. I don't like it. I'm afraid the fittings will interfere with the firebox. 









So I plug off the banjo hole with a threaded plug and high temp RTV (Silicone) and add straight tubes to the front and back. 










Top view of tubes 









I got my pony wheels from Sierra Valley and am ready to start on the truck. 1/8" brass strips are cut and drilled 









Missing some pictures here but the eyelash is cut into a separate piece of brass and then silver soldered on to the piece in the previous photo.
The shaping is done on the band saw 









You can see the mounting bracket on the inside of the frame near the pump plunger 









The axle box is cut from 1/8" stock and milled to accept the oil box which is cut at an angle from 3/8" square stock on the table saw (don't try this at home) 
The rivets are .040 shaft and 1/16" head from Micro Fasteners


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I finished up on the pilot and rear pony trucks and the front deck assembly this week








Pony plates are machined with the rotary table on the mill 









The axle pump doubles as the slide block and spring holder for the rear pony. Up and down movement is purposely restricted to maximize weight on the drivers and still support the cab and coal bunker. 









You can see the pump under the bolt on the left 









The front deck houses a sand box which services the front chassis The headlight mounts on the top so it does not tilt








So I figure the curved portion was used to load the sand and I attached it with a piano type hinge made from 1/16" tubing and a 1/32" music wire pin








The steps are wedge shaped. .032 brass was bent to shape and the wedge was cut and silver soldered in . All soldering was done with silver solder for strength.
All sheet was .032" 








Steps are soldered in place. You can see the different shape of the lower portion of the sand box. Grab rails are 1/16" brass. flattened out on the ends then drilled and bent








Hand rails are 3/32 brass. Original drawing is printed to scale








Substantial underside bracing ensures the pilot will withstand abuse








The sand pipes are 3/32" with two braces each










sand pipes and pilot truck shown








Ready for the headlight and paint








Front view


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Hey there Billy, really starting to look like a loco indeed. 

Your workmanship just keeps showing thru!! 

Dirk - DMS Ry.


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Billy

The progress is impressive and the technique beneficial in our future plans to do a Yellowstone: AC-9


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Fabulous work! This is going to be one very impressive loco.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks for the compliments
This is where the fun stuff begins.
I cut the boiler tubes today and will bring them over to Henner's tomorrow to anneal them with the big torch.
Next week I will form the firebox and start testing out ceramic burner designs.
This is one long boiler. It is 18-1/2" long with the fire box and smoke box.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Started on the Boilers Friday night. This will be a dry side and backhead locomotive type boiler using a ceramic gas burner.
I decided to go with dry legs as this boiler is very shallow and the wet legs wouldn't add that much water to heat and the wet sides would reduce the amount of flues I could use. 









3" copper pipe is cut to size. The radial cuts were done on the band saw and the longitudinal cuts on the table saw. 









Saturday at Henner's, I annealed them on the big propane torch. Then at home, I formed the sides of the firebox and cut them to size








A block of hardwood was cut to make a form tool for the firebox.








This is a simple boiler. The parts left to right are Backhead, crown sheet, firebox front and end plate. You can see four pins on the backhead and plate.
These will keep the crown sheet from slipping out of position during the solder job. They are 1/8" bronze rod threaded to 4-40 with only 1/8" of thread so they bottom out and stay secure.
The ones on the backhead will be soldered when the backhead is soldered on. 









The tubes are put into the firebox front shown here and the end plate not shown and the assembly is placed in the boiler shell so that everything will be true.
You can see that only the tubes are soldered at this time so that I can remove it and inspect the solder job 








Here is the bottom which was easy to get to and there are nice fillets around the tubes 








But you can see the back side didn't fare too well as I couldn't get the heat in the corners. Notice the one on the right bottom. Now that it is out in the open, I can easily make the seams perfect.
Silver solder flows toward the heat so just by heating it from this side the solder fille the crack. 
I also check the bottom side to make sure the silver solder flowed all the way through the joint 








The front end plate is ready to solder but I will wait till I can use Henner's torch








Here is the firebox. I think I will trim the ends of the tubes off so I can get to the joint between the crown sheet and the front plate when we solder it up.
Now I will need to make all of the bushings and mounting brackets before the final soldering.
I'll probably need about eight stays on the crown sheet.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Finished the boilers this morning. We did most of the soldering on Saturday so I did some prep and worked on the smoke boxes prior to that








The smoke box has a flat surface on the bottom which allows for needed clearances. The section was cut out with a dremmel and flats were silver soldered on and then trimmed off








Here it is set in place. You can see that I added some steps and a unhooking rod to the front deck








Bronze fittings are made ans set in place. note the feed-water tube extending to the center of the boiler and the copper stays.
This is probably more fittiogs than I will ever need but you can always plug one off but you can't add an additional one very easily 








The backhead is fitted and the firebox door is cut. I may not need this but it will be good for viewing the burner.










Many hands make light work. That's me on the left, Gary, Dennis and Ron. Henner is the photographer.








The large torch is propane and the smaller one is acetylene. The big one is used first to heat up the very large boiler. 
The copper turns black then starts to become shiny when it is close to the right temperature. 
Dennis then brings the small one into play and when the flux turns golden and liquid, it is ready for the solder.
At that point, I turn off the big torch and Dennis solders it up.
We did the bottom and inside of the fire box first, then the front cover and three dome fittings, then the backhead and rear fittings.
Pickling in citrus acid was done between each soldering.









The finished job was inspected and a final soldering was done to redo any questionable joints.








Back home, I cleaned the boilers up by a few hours in the pickle bath and plugged the fittings for testing.
Only because I have complete confidence in the solder job, I test my boilers with air pressure. If I had any doubt, I would hydraulic test them as it is safer.
I start with 10 PSI and go up from there. You can see the slightest leak this way and follow the bubble to pinpoint the leak








Two finished boilers








Set on the chassis








front view








The yellow ring on the front support bracket is flourigold which should reduce friction and insulate the boiler somewhat. The white rectangle is PTFE and is for insulation only
I left the stays long as I guess the common thought is that it helps transfer heat. It seems like they are now just part of the crown sheet so there may not be that much of an advantage here.
I am curious if anyone has any firsthand knowledge here.
Also since the ceramic burner is radiant, should the crown sheet be painted black to absorb more heat?


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## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,

no need to blacken the crown sheet. It will darken by itself and the absorption coefficient will get close to "1".

Regards


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## Alan in Adirondacks (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill, 

Love the thread. Great progress! 

Happy New Year, 

Alan


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

Great job so far Bill!!! 

did I miss something or are you building TWO of them? I see two boilers!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Eric 
Actually, I am building two Locomotives


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## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

looks like the front boiler bushing is stationary,should be movable laterally about a 1/4 inch and also be made self centering? 

Manfred


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## Nutz-n-Bolts (Aug 12, 2010)

Wow Bill, Every time you take on a new locomotive, they just tun out more detailed and precise. Excellent job so far. Thanks so much for sharing all your tips and tricks with us!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Manfred
You are correct.
An oversight which is easily corrected. 
Thanks


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## pickleford75 (May 3, 2012)

what kind of soldering flux are you useing?


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I get my solder and flux from a local welding supply. It is less than half what I have found on line. They will usually discount it for you. I paid $150 for 5 oz. last week and $38 for an oz. a a couple of months ago. If your local welding supply company doesn't carry silver solder, they can almost always order it in in a few days.
I use 45% silver for most jobs and 50% for stainless but 45% will still work on SS just not as easily.
My favorite flux is Handy Flux by Lucas but they were out last time and I got Stay-Silv by Harris which is what I used on the boilers. It looks and seems to work the same as the Handy Flux


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Well, I made my first boo-boo on the front articulation point. On the Garratt, Double Fairlie and Quadruplex all had articulation points on all engine chassis so I didn't give the Uintah much thought on the front pivot and just copied the general size and shape of the original one. What I overlooked was that the Uintah boiler is securely mounted to the rear frame meaning the front engine needs to pivot and slide in order to clear the curves and switches. Manfred noticed this from my boiler photos and caught what I had missed.
This morning I took the two chassis out and set them on the 7" radius curve and measured the swing I will need. It came out to just under 1/4". I then with a large compass scribed the arc from The center of the rear drivers to the pivot point, removed the mounting bracket and in the mill cut the slot for the slide.
I then made the centering mechanism 








The body is made from 3/8" square stock. It is milled out to an "L" shape to form the mounting flange on the left. The flange is then cut out to clear some other bolts.
The hole is .136 in diameter which is the tap size for the 8-32 plug at the bottom. The spring is 1/8" cut-to-fit compression spring 
The plunger is turned out of 1/4" round stock 









A look at the underside when mounted to the boiler. I had to do some milling of the bracket to clear the screw and washer but it is plenty strong as it was silver soldered on.








Here I am pulling against the spring pressure to check it out.









It is mounted in the chassis and checked out. The chassis and boiler mount are both 1" diameter so the chassis mount holds the centering pins in place and ensures the boiler will return to center every time.
Now I'll remove it and paint it


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Great adaption and retrofit. One great thing about posting a progressive build is constructive feedback


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

that sure should work! Do you think the centering springs are really necessary or even effective? ...I am sure Charles could tell us what Aster does. 

what about vertical motion?


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I think the centering springs here are a must as without them, there would be too much lateral motion between the two chassis. The springs also help guide the main frame into a curve. 
If you notice, the springs are held in place by a threaded plug. With this setup, the springs can be easily changed out and also micro-adjusted with the plug so I should be able to attain maximum performance. 
On the vertical motion, I assume you are referring to dips or changes in elevation. As all of the running gear is sprung, minor changes will be handled at the wheels. The mounting screw and washer will be machined so that there is a slight upward/downward pivot allowed . I could file the front and rear of the boiler mount to further allow this but because of the small surface area of the pivot wheel, I don't think that is necessary. 
It would be nice to see how Aster does it.


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## Mk (Jan 7, 2013)

That will be a lovely loco when it's finished








Wish I was as far in my build as you are









Kind regards 
Marinus


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I've been working on the ceramic burners this week and today Dennis, Henner and I did some testing.
The first thing I needed to do was make the firebox doors
I started with .032 sheet stock to make the frames. The pencil marks were cut out with a jewelers saw.
The viewing material is .004" Mica so a recess was cut on the back side in the mill.
The mica was cut to fit and the two pieces bolted together with 00-90 screws 








The doors were then mounted on the boilers








I had made some burners for the Quadruplex and wasn't happy with the performance.
It didn't seem like I was getting enough gas to produce the steam I needed. I tried different size jets but the one that worked the best was .008"
Since the larger jets produced no additional heat, I decided to shelve the project until I could spend the time to test things out.
The idea of using two sets of jets seemed like the way to go but I didn't want to redo the entire system until I was sure.
I purchased some material from Busted Bricks in England which had larger holes than the American stuff.
When I tried the test burner below with the larger holes and one jet, there wasn't enough gas to light the whole burner.
I then mounted the two jet holders as shown below . 








Here the burner is going with the gas valve turned way down








Here we are with full gas pressure. More than enough for this medium size burner and should be enough for the larger Uintah burner
The specs here are:
Jet size .008"
Air holes four 1/4" 
Jet tube inside diameter 5/16"
Center of air holes to end of jet tube 1.2" 








Here is the Uintah burner it is 2-5/8" x 3-5/8"








You can see the clearance for the rear driver as per the prototype. I still need to fabricate the ash pan and do the rivet detail to the firebox 








Here is a closeup of the burner in action









And as will be seen through the window. The small hole is for the superheater and will be sealed off after installation
The hole above it is a tube to run a blast pipe through but I don't thing I will need one 








The boiler holds 970 ML of water. We tested it with 790 ML in it and it boiled water in under 10 minutes. The heat produced seems to be close to what a coal burner would produce.
The mica door really gives it a nice look and will make it easy to check the flame etc.


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## BigRedOne (Dec 13, 2012)

It looks like you have a second shell around the boiler and a layer of insulation? 

Is that for something like avoiding heat to be lost to the atmosphere, or to reduce the risk of burns? 

This is a fascinating thread, and an amazing project. I can't wait to see your progress.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The insulation is mainly to keep the heat in but it does help prevent burns too.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Wow! A True Artist, I always look forward to your next creation. 
Beautiful work. 
Thanks for sharing. 
John


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill

You are certainly popular with train crew having designed the cab with a "fireplace" probably with two comfortable arm chairs in the cab along with hot chocolate. That design of the firebox door reminds me of the coal stove at home. We placed a some window onto the CP Hudson coal fired-nice effect!


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

Very nice Bill! They are not just engineering marvels but artworks as well! But it is not the next ones I look forward to seeing (yet) but these gems!


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## BigRedOne (Dec 13, 2012)

LOL, Charles!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I started the cabs by taping together the scale drawings from the front and side views. I then made a pattern out of 1/4" MDF and finally cut the pieces out on the router table










The door was also cut on the router. The panel groves were done on the mill with a counter sink bit. The bunker was also cut from the scale drawings








The rear of the bunker on the prototype was made in sections so I did the same.








The original had a complicated fire box and grate design so I decides to make the bottom with a separate piece and insulate the firebox.
Again, the scale drawing helped out 








I soldered the piece on to the boiler wrap. The seam is partially hidden bu the side tanks








Here is the ash pan lever per the drawing above








This engine had huge steam pipes which scale out to 3/8". here I have drilled the holes in the smoke box to receive the pipes.









The fitting on the left goes in the smoke box, next is the bottom of the flange with the o-ring and next is the top of the flange. The raised portion in the middle is to center the elbow for silver soldering.
The elbow is from Mc Master. it is made for sweating but I cut off the bell mouth ends to get a smooth transition to the pipe on the rt. 








Here is the top of the flange which is set in the hole in the smoke box








Here is the bottom of the flange inside the smoke box the thread is 5 mm.


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## Nutz-n-Bolts (Aug 12, 2010)

Every time I check back to this thread, I have to take a moment beforehand to tie my jaw securely shut so that it doesn't get bruised hitting the floor. Incredible.


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## BigRedOne (Dec 13, 2012)

Yes, this is such an inspiration. Thanks for posting the progress. 

It makes me think of how the original locomotives must have been built, one at a time by hand, and therefore how similar the model is, not only in appearance but in the thought and execution of each component.


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## seadawg (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill, where did you get the mica from, that's a nice touch!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Dave 
I got it from my friend Dennis who bought it on eBay. The mica was his idea


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## Mk (Jan 7, 2013)

Thank you Bill for adding where you downloaded that program of Charlie Dockstader's will help me alot!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Well, I have been working hard since my last posting

Here the elbow is silver soldered to the flange and the tempered copper tube 








The tube is bent to shape and the bottom section is soldered to the flange for the cylinder mounting. The connection elbow is left uncut as the original had a similar connection.
As this is the exhaust, I will soft solder the elbow in place to get perfect alignment. 








The front exhaust will tee off this connection. The o-ring is necessary only for alignment as once mounted, there will be no motion in the joint








The steam pressure fitting goes into the side of the valves and again the o-ring is just for alignment and to insure there is never any strain on the fitting








Here the exhaust tubes are mounted and you can see where the one on the left has been soldered in olace and the one on the right is yet to be done








Side view of the pipes. The right steam pipe feeds the front engine and the left one feeds the rear one








Steam pipe with silver soldered flange and elbow.








here are the components of the dog bone connection. I got these dimensions from Charles and modified them slightly for this application.
The tube at the top will go to the lubricator the bottom right fitting will be silver soldered to the pipe going to the cylinder 








Here the assembly shows the movement possible which is way more than it will ever see in use.








Now for the part I have been thinking about how to do for a long time. The side tanks
The exhaust pipes go down between the boiler and the tanks so there needs to be some relief for them on the inside of the tanks.
I took some K&S tubing and split it in two but it was too thin to work so I took some of the .032" material I used for the tanks and annealed it.
I then drew lines across it to keep it square and bent it around a dowel in the vise. 








I then silver soldered it to the tank side cutout and then on the table saw cut off table, I cut out the bridge piece.








Here are the inside and outside pieces ready to go together.








The right side tank has a step down which I silver soldered prior to tank assembly because I was afraid that the soldering of the tank might melt soft solder
The clip I use here is cut from coat hanger wire and works great, You can bend it to any shape or tension and use it over and over again. 








The tanks are soldered up. you can see the step on the top left.








The cab gets fitted for a roof and some side window and grab handle detail is added. Still need some detail on the front windows.








00-90 screws are almost too big but they do the job on the grab handles.








Here she is so far. Starting to look like the real thing.


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill

When we start in "G" gauge this was one of our favorite. Always want one in live steam but....you are building our dream and the reality is I doubt anyone else could reach the excellence you have put forth. Atleast we will get to see it in action at NSS!


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## ChaoticRambo (Nov 20, 2010)

What an awesome locomotive, and amazing building you do.

I have always wished Accucraft would manufacture this locomotive with either the saddle tank or tender versions available.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks for the compliments. 
This has been a challenging project and it is nice to see that others think it is worth the effort.


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## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

Had the plan to build the uintah as well,bought 3 Aristocraft live steamers to use the drive gear and various other parts ,i stalled when you started building the 2-6-6-2 (i needed to buy a lathe and a whole bunch of tools to continue on) so i enjoyed watching your buildup ,its a real joy to see all those technical difficulty's solved withe ease,the only problem i see are the servo activated valve gears,i think the aristo type activated valve gears would work more reliable ,of course they needed to be bashed so they work with regular RC control! (a poti and a couple resistors should take care of it) 

Great work,Bill 

Manfred


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Yes 
I noticed the Aristo's have what looks like a servo activated screw mechanism. Probably would be an upgrade. 
Why did you buy three?


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## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

I actually have 4 Aristo LV steamers /one as is/2 for the Uintah/# 4 bashed to a 20.3 scale 

The aristo set motors have internal down gearing and quite some torque ,those motors are commercially available and hacking 2 larger servos (need to be 12volt servos) (using the servo electronics with the new motors) will be perfect for setting the valves with RC Sliders! 

Manfred

i do have a set of 7 1/2 scale plans for building the uintah 2-6-6-2 ,if someone wants to build one e-mail me!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The next step is turning the stack and domes. For that I need to go to Dennis' where we can use his 15" lathe and heavy duty mill









The taper of 1.5 degrees is turned and the bore of 19/32" is drilled out








At home a wood dowel is turned to make a mandrel and the stack top detail is formed using a file and a scraper. The base is formed by cutting an .080 washer from a 1' bar
and then annealing and bending to the smoke box shape. 1/32" rivets will fill the holes 








The boring bar is set to the boiler wrap radius and the dome material is cut to fit, The steam domes are 1-3/4" and the sand dome is 1-1/2"








Here is the mill in action doing the finish cut








I made a curvature template from brass using photos and the scale drawings to get it right. Here Dennis is roughing it out with a small bull nose bit








Then the final curve is done with a file








Here are the three domes set on the boiler








The steam supply lines were completed this week.
It is hard to show the flow as it is mostly between the frames but here is a good shot of the dog bone.
Clamps have been added to both sides of the fitting to eliminate movement in the tubing which could cause cracks after a long time 








At the bottom on either side of the dog bone are the large tubes that come from the smoke box. 1/4"-40 fittings connect the 5/32" tubing which curves around to get the right orentation. 
The left tube feeds the rear (top of the photo) cylinders and the one on the right goes to the dog bone which goes to the front (articulated) engine








Here is a shot showing the fittings for the lubricator lines at the bottom of the photo as well as the rear engine supply line








Here are the components for a small and simple hand pump. This needs to be small as the side tank is only 1-1/2" wide.
There will be two check valves which are exactly the same. The only difference is where they will be connected. There is a hole about 1/2 of the way up which wasn't drilled in this photo.
The cap has a rod turned in it to keep the check ball in place. The gap there should be approximately 1/6 the ball diameter.
After the ball is seated, I put it in the valve body and with a depth gauge measure the distance down and cut the cap rod accordingly.
The cylinder is similar to the axle pump design 








Here is the assembly. You can see how the check valves are attached. The brass plate at the bottom will be soldered to the bottom of the side tank.
The tube fitting goes through the tank bottom and is secures on the other side with a thin nut. it is sealed with silicone. 








Here it is mounted in the side tank. It is removable by removing the four 2-56 SS screws and the one fitting.
This pump will be in series with the axle pump and will be able to prime the axle pump if the system runs dry 








Here is how the valves fit in. The barrier is just a baffle to keep water from sloshing around.


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## Mk (Jan 7, 2013)

Great work Bill


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## Nutz-n-Bolts (Aug 12, 2010)

You shoe horned your pump in nicely. I like you approach letting you only have to use one size ball. What about you smoke stack base? In the flat wouldn't an oval shape be needed or is the amount needed negligible? She just keeps looking better. Thanks for all the tips tricks and inspiration.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Randy 
There doesn't seem to be any noticeable variation on the outside however the inside hole needed to be filed out a little on the underside after bending


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Finished most of the smoke box covers. The flat bottom created a few challenges but it came out ok









I started with a piece if 1/4" brass. Cut it out on the band saw and drilled a 1/4" hole. I then mounted it on a face plate in the lathe with a 1/4" screw and super glue and cut it to size and cut the groove








I then checked the fit against the back side of the smoke box








I flipped it over and marked the cut with a pencil








I cut just shy of the line on my cross cut sled. this was done in several passes of about 1/2 the blade width as I was just holding it by hand








On the 1" belt sander I sanded the line out








And then cut the groove on the mill








I then re-mounted the plate on the lathe and cut the front detail and cut out the access hole.








I marked the rivet holes with a compass








Here I got a little lax and forgot to take any pictures but the smoke box door was turned using a mandrel and attached with a 4-40 screw which will be used for the number plate 
The hinge straps were milled out of 1/8" square stock and the hinge stays were milled out of 1/8" x 1/4" stock. The hinge pins are 0-80 SS round head screws which are threaded through both sides of the stays
As I want the door to open, the bolted stays are decorative only and are silver soldered to the door. Screws are 00-90 
To align the hinges, I first super glued them in place, then drilled the rivet holes; broke the glue joint; cleaned it up;inserted the rivets and silver soldered in place
Dennis is doing the graphics for the number plate and hopefully we will do the etching at Henner's on Saturday


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## Mk (Jan 7, 2013)

That looks great Bill


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Working on a few things this week
I Started with the fuel tank which is a box design which will fit in the coal bunker behind the cab 









Silver solder is strong enough for a but joint, but I decided to make rabbit joints to more easily hold the pieces in place while soldering them









a 1/32' x 1/16" groove is cut in the 1/16" thick brass sheet on the table saw using a 1/16" blade from a stacked dado set which has a perfectly square profile
A 2 x 4 which has been planned true is clamped to the fence as a guide 








The finished piece








The bend is made in my home made break. A square is used for alignment








The fitted joints are now ready for soldering
.











The completed tanks with the filler valve on the left and the gas valve on the right. You can just barely make out the six stays on the sides. They are 1/8" brass rod
If you look at the top plate, you can see how nice the rabbited joint is








The coal load will cover the tank 









The steam pipes are painted with low gloss engine paint








The exhaust pipe is attached to the front engine. The steam pipe is under it 









The cylinder covers have a round inspection cover on them so I made an embossing tool with male and female parts for the job








Embossed covers








Cylinder covers and exhaust pipe installed








The superheater is made from a piece of 3/16" thin wall SS tubing with a 1/4" - 40 threaded fitting at the smoke box end.
Here the line T's off to the two engines. This is the t box for that purpose. 








This shows the T box mounted ready to be attached to the superheater tube








On the back head end an L shaped fitting is silversoldered to the tube which connects to the valve. The valve is of similar design to Accucraft narrow gauge models 









A 1/4" hole in the firebox allows the superheater tube to be removed but since the tube is only 3/16", I made a bushing to seal out any flames or heat which could cause problems in the cab










I started on the banjo fittings. I am not a fan of metal to metal banjo fittings as I am always afraid of breaking the hollow screw.
I have found this design to be fairly easy to make and a good sealer.
This is made from 5/16" (.312) stock and drilled out to 1/4"
Then with a small boring tool cut from an end mill, I cut the grove .030" wide and .028" deep. Approximate is close enough 
I use a 6mm o-ring which is just under 1/4" and only .040" wide.
With this setup, I get a nice crush on the o-ring and the brass portion bottoms out making a sturdy connection
The hole in this one is for 1/8' tube. I drill a 3/32" clear through and then the 1/8" just shy which gives a nice fit for soldering.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

More great stuff! I love it. I'll probably never build another live steamer but your work inspires me to do some mods on the ones I have. Thanks for posting.


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

I like that idea for the banjo fitting! looks simple and effective!


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill progress is looking good. Really coming together into a great model. I'm sure you have been thinking of your next model already. Any ideas public yet?


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Hi Jason 
I have a list of several large Honey-do's which will probably tie me over to the NSS 
A friend mentioned a live steam Thomas which might be cool and fairly easy to do.


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## iceclimber (Aug 8, 2010)

Very impressive.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Got a new mill this week
it is a German made Prazi
It has DRO and a stepper motor for the Z axis
I added this dial indicator for when I lock the Z colum I can then still get micro adjustments through the drilling handle
It has a great chuck and collets 


















Here are the clack valve components








The throtle and pressure gauge are fitted to the cab








Generator is turned on the lathe and the flat and riveting done on the mill








The whistle dome, generator and fitting box are set on the boiler but something doesn't look right








I have no top side photos but in reviewing all of the side photos I have, I see that the box has hinges on both sides so I change the design and plug the handle holes with JB








Two sisters








Top view


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## Mk (Jan 7, 2013)

That looks great Bill 
Are you going to add a water gauge?
Do you have safety valves on his loco, haven't seen it.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Yes 
The sight glass will be made next week. I am using 6 mm glass tube so had to order some larger hex for the nuts but I have it now 
There will be two safety valves. one underneath each steam dome


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## Alan in Adirondacks (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill, 

Looks fantastic (as usual)! Keep up the good work. 

Best regards, 

Alan


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## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

http://users.tpg.com.au/agnet/microdro.html

Quick add on DRO unit for small jobs!

Manfred


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## ChaoticRambo (Nov 20, 2010)

Wow, absolutely amazing work.

I didn't realize you were building two (spent more time looking at the photos than reading apparently).


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Manfred 
Cool link 
I sent it to some friends


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## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

Beautiful craftsmanship,Bill ! 

Some thoughts:" thinking like steam i would be okay with a steady pressure when the water level covers the crown sheet,but here might be a little problem when the water level at the "crown sheet" is low(sheet not covered),the sloshing of the water hitting the really hot crown sheet leads to a rapid increase of steam pressure which will affect the steady run of the loco( a kind of spurt followed by a slow down when the pressure levels out till the sloshing hits the sheet again and so on... 
I had the experience with a gas fired Jane when the water in the pot boiler ed jane was at 1/3 rd and going around a curve when the sloshing water hit the sides of the boiler (the gas burner creates a kind of v-shaped burn pattern through the draft which heats up the sides of the boiler more than the bottom ) which looks like a runaway attempt! On the other hand 4 cylinders might just consume the short high pressure affect without notice! Manfred


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Manfred 
I am not sure what you mean. 
Are you referring to the fact that the boiler is so long that water will slosh around or that this is an effect that happens to all boilers on turns


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## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

No Bill, i am referring to the bottom of the firebox,the crown sheet directly above the burner unit which will get really hot if the water level is right at height with the crown sheet,! 

Manfred


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Right 
I guess this is a concern with any locomotive type boiler especially with coal fired ones. 
I am hoping that the axle pump will keep the water level above the crown sheet but I have the hand pump also. 
Thanks


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## Garratt (Sep 15, 2012)

What can I say? Awesome work guys. Fantastic! 

Andrew


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Haven't been working on the Uintah much lately as we are building a new portable steam track for the club and I am redoing the back yard but I did manage to get some plumbing work done










Here is a pop off Dennis made for me. each engine will have two one at 65 and one at 70 psi. the o-ring at the bottom of the base holds the dome on which covers the pop off








I need some micro-valves inside the cab the needle valve has a 2-56 thread








Usually I just silver solder the valve to a tube but this time I decided to git them into a manifold which is the pieces on the left








Here is the completed valve and manifold setup. These valves are for low pressure output so silicone hose will attach to the bottom








Here is the completed backhead. the new valves will service the generator, blow down and blast pipe (if needed)








The feed water return valve sets just under the cab








Here is the superheater "T" which goes in the smokebox








Here is the exhaust collector the two curved pipes pick up the exhaust from the big pipes on the top of the smokebox and the hole on the bottom picks up the exhaust from the front engine.
There is also a drain hole which wasn't done at this time. The stack pipe is opposite the hole shown 








Here it is all hooked up The stack screws in th the collector. the tubes in the back are from the superheater


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## Mk (Jan 7, 2013)

You are really doing a great job on that two locos Bill


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

I enjoy seeing your progress! these two engines look first rate!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Well, I finished some projects around the house and we also finished the BAGRS portable track so i started back on the Uintah this week.








A piece of round brass is bored out tp accept the aluminum reflector for the 6v bulb (not shown) there is a space behind the reflector for routing the wire down through the mounting plate. The lens is pollycarbonate. The angled number plate was not used









After studing the prototype, I found than it had a flat recessed number plate which is made on the mill 









The completed headlight with the incandescent amber bulb








The two air tanks are to be used as lubricators. I block them off to make a smaller lubricator. A Track Side Detail valve body will be used in making the valve








The TSD valve is drilled out and a 2-56 needle valve is silver soldered in place. The knob is home made








The original had a series of four cooling pipes per tank. I used 1/16" brass rod with 3/32 tubing for the detail and set them with JB Weld.
Notches were machined into the mounting brackets every .200" with a 1/16" end mill to keep everything aligned. Notice how the back side of the bracket is angled away from the side tank








Here it is freshly painted. The gloss should tone down in a few days 









As you can see the tanks are mounted between the side tanks and the boiler, thus the offset angled brackets.








Now the assembly and final plumbing is started.








Everything is set in place here. Still needs the bell and the RC and fuel tank and jets set up.








Another view.


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Billie

Enjoying the progress towards bring my favorite narrow gauge engine to life. Hope to see it under steam at NSS.


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## BigRedOne (Dec 13, 2012)

Wow! Really coming along, it looks ready to take to the rails.


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## Mk (Jan 7, 2013)

That looks great Bill  When do you start making kitshttp://www.mylargescale.com/Communi...ft/126370/aff/11/javascript:emoticon(':lol:')


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks guys 
Hoping to get a test run in, in a week or two


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## ChaoticRambo (Nov 20, 2010)

Awesome locomotives.


Would love to see some comparison photos with a K class locomotive in terms of size.


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## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Now you need some nice builder's plates







.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill, Absolutly fabulous locomotive!!! I have really enjoyed watching you progress and the final product is amazing. Also enjoyed seeing all your fabrication techniques. Thanks for taking the time to post.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Bill, I had kind of forgotten this build until I ran into it today. It was before I built my Nacionales de Mexico 291 which is now my icon photo. I am particularly interested because the N de M had locos #361 - 370 which were very similar but with tenders rather than side tanks and built by Alco-Schenectady. I forget which line they served on in the US before being sold to Mexico. I'd love to have one but that will not happen and they probably would not be able to run on my RR. I really love seeing you work again and glad to see the photos are still here. Thanks, Winn


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Winn
They may be the same locos. 50 & 51 were sold to an Oregon lumber company and the side tanks were removed and tenders added. I think they were renumbered to 250 & 251 and later soled to a Mexican company and eventually scrapped


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