# N&W - Y6a Build Log



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I ordered the wheels last week and started on the cylinders. Dennis is milling the frame on the CNC mill
This will be a true compound. I am using the scale high pressure (HP) cylinder bore which computes to 3/4" but a slightly smaller low pressure (LP) cylinder - 1" to get the 1.7 ratio between the HP & LP cylinder areas

I machine the cylinders out as in prior builds except that they are bigger
I also have enlarged the ports to 3/32"x 3/16"









The cross porting plates are also enlarged with 3/32' x 3/32" channels and longer timing ports









Dennis cut the gaskets on the laser









I have a micrometer type centering tool for the mill but it meeds too much head room so when I raise the mill head to accommodate it, the short drill won't reach the work. My drill has a round column so moving it up and down changes the setting. To center the cylinders for drilling the cover holes, I made these two tools on the lathe from 3/4 and 1" bar cut to 3/8" to fit the chuck.









Now I just center it on the cylinder and make sure the gap, if any, is consistent all of the way around and I am within a thou or so of true center.









One of the distinctive features of the Y is the large HP cylinder and the cylinder and valve covers.
I start by turning the shape on the lathe and then on the large (1-1/2") cover, I mark of the distance between holes with a compass. I clamp a parallel in the mill vice as a depth stop and center spot then drill the holes.









On the smaller covers, I drill the holes using the bolt hole program on the DRO
the number of holes are LP cyl - 32 Hp cyl - 24 LP valve - 12 HP valve 10









I first tried 00-90 bolts but they were too big and did not look good so I went with 1/16" head rivets









I started on the cylinder covers this morning. They are going to be interesting for sure.


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## livesteam5629 (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,
You are amazing ! But we knew that. You have too much fun.
NOEL


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## pickleford75 (May 3, 2012)

Looking good Bill


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I finished the first part of the cylinder cover for the LP cylinder
This telephoto shot of the cylinders doesn't exactly give you the full picture of the cylinder size and the difference between the LP & HP cylinders but it is a great shot of the cover shape and construction.









I start by cutting out the shape I want on a piece of card stock. I then scribe the outline on a piece of .040 brass sheet stock. and cut it out on the 12" band saw with a 1/8" blade









The inside is cleaned up on the spindle sander









And the outside on the 1" belt sander.









It is fitted to the cylinder head.









And the head covers are set on and checked for size and looks.









1/8" thick oak sheet is cut out for spacers and insulation on the front of the cylinders.


















.020" brass strips are cut and annealed, bent around the sides and soldered to the front side. This makes the cover so that it can be removed by removing one screw and sliding it forward off the cylinder.









The valve covers are attached and phase one is completed. Next up is the bypass valve and the steam manifold which will go on after the cylinders are mounted on the frame.










But, I still have to do the same to the smaller HP cylinders.


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## RP3 (Jan 5, 2008)

Bill, I am bowled over by not only your skill but your productivity. But I have a question. In the prototype photo at the beginning of the thread, the LP cylinders have a vertical outer face to the cylinder cover but yours are canted outboard. Is there some technical reason for the difference?

Ross Schlabach


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Ross
The outer edge of the valve cover is actually 1/16" further out than vertical but it looks like more because the top of the cover slopes down so much. This slope is to accommodate the huge steam manifold as shown below
I had to clear the top of the valve chest and still keep the proper curvature thus the bit wider at the top.
I may try moving the valve head in a bit and see what it looks like.
Thanks for the observation.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I had a few projects that took me away from the build but started back on it this week
The HP cylinders and covers have been completed and are shown below.









Dennis cut the main frame rails on the CNC mill and I made the rear rails and stretchers. 


















The rear rails are set in for clearance of the pony truck. they are bolted together with eight 0-80 screws and then soft soldered.









Finally, they are bead blasted and painted.









At the same time, the cylinder parts are painted.









The LP cylinder is so big that a cylinder drain below it would would be dangerously close to the ties and switches. the prototype had one coming out of the cylinder head so I used this form of drain.
It is similar to my automatic drains with the drain body in the cylinder wall. You can just make out the 3/32" stainless ball in the large hole and the very small hole in the cylinder bore going to it.
There is a 1/16" hole matching up to it in the head that completes the drain mechanism.









The extra hole in the head is the drain valve seat. It is a 1/16" hole on the cylinder side and is tapped out to 2-56 on the outside to accommodate the tube which will direct the water through the cylinder cover.









Finally, a decorative spout is added which will direct the water to the side and downward.









The Walsall castings have been machined and are ready for the tread profile to be cut on Dennis' big lathe. This requires a plunge cut and my 7" lathe is not sturdy enough for that task.


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill;

You scared me. I only counted 15 drive wheels, but then I realized the wheel in the upper left corner of the box was actually a pair.

When I see how quickly you build, all I can say is "WOW!!"

Best wishes,
David Meashey


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The most distinctive part of the Y6a is the large LP cylinders being joined by a massive exhaust manifold.









First, I hook up the actual steam piping. The admission is the top one and it is sealed with o-rings. The lower one is the exhaust and a snug slip fit is sufficient as there is no pressure here










I start by cutting some Styrofoam to the shape I want.










I then cut a piece of 1/2" x 1" brass the same size.









I mark the shape with a pencil and then on the mill with the fly cutter, I cut to the pencil lines.









The curvature of the cylinder covers is not circular so I match the curve by sanding and checking till I get a good fit.


















The riser pipes are flanged at the bottom. They scale out to 1/2" diameter so I bore a 1/2" recess in the flange to keep things centered. and then drill 12 mounting holes.









I will be using 1/16" head rivets for looks but on two of the holes I have 00-90 screws for mounting.









Here is where a tilting mill would come in handy but since I don't, I use my parallels to get a 1/8" soap over the 1/2" cut.









I anneal a 1/8" brass rod and run it through the holes drilled in the wedges and then bend it to the curvature I need to keep everything centered during the soldering process.


















Up until now, everything has been silver soldered. I can now soft solder the main pipe pieces together and solder the riser pipes to it. the solder job is done with the pieces in place on top of the cylinders. The rivets are then added to the flanges.









The plate below the big pipe is prototypical and covers the steam piping.









And finally, the assembly is secured to the cylinder covers with a 0-80 socket head screw on each side.


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

Don't your fingers get hot when sanding brass?


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The headlight mounts on top of the manifold. the reflector is turned from aluminum bar and polished, The lens is from 1/2" clear acrylic bar and has a slight crown. the bulb is a warm white LED


















The buffer is cut per the photo and the cow catcher is from the photo and a N&W drawing. the five bars scale out to a .150 spacing on the vertical strap and .165 on the center support.
3.32" copper tubing is used. They are bent cold to maintain the tempering. 
they are soldered one at a time and held in place with music wire clamps. a small snippet of solder is placed above each joint and it is heated till it just flows.









After the bars are soldered on, the center strap is added,









The steps and pole pockets are added


















The hand rails are a tricky proposition. They need to be strong so silver soldering is a must but that will soften brass. I decided to use .078" music wire.
As it is a box design, the hardest part is the first leg between the two sides.
Here I have the sides and the first cross bar held in place with numerous music wire pins ready to solder the cross piece. you can see the white flux where it will be soldered.










Threaded brass feet are added for mounting.


















Everything is mounted and checked out. The cylinders will be disasembled later and the covers will be repainted where the brass is showing through . Things will be set aside for the paint to cure for now,


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## RP3 (Jan 5, 2008)

Wow Bill, you never cease to amaze. As an N&W fan, I have been sorely disappointed at the lack of interest on the part of our hobby manufacturers to tackle the N&W articulateds. But now to see you create this iconic locomotive with such skill and speed is a real joy. It will be particularly interesting to see how you execute the reverse linkage between the two engines. I remember tackling this on an Aster Challenger and had to do away with the pivot point between the two chassis to avoid creating unwanted play in the system.

Please keep the thread coming. It is a real inspiration!

Ross Schlabach


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## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

Wow Bill, as the N&W and the AT&SF were my alternate choices for a prototype when I decided to model PRR, I am following this thread very closely too. You have done a fine job with the intricate front end of the Y 6 B. I just love all this LP piping it looks a bit like a photo I saw of the front end of one of De Caso's hudsons 2-3-2 R, S and U1 which also sported HP and LP cylinders. 
One of my only suggestion would be to perhaps enlarge the LP exhaust pipe diameter (the real one) so as to not throtle the steam comming out of those big chunky cylinders, this is straight Chapelon theory, but he had a great deal of respect for those N & W Y6 class locos. But then it was a slow moving brute any ways. 

I have made some progress on my De Caso mikado tank, thanks to your series, encouraging me to pick it up where I left off. The crossheads are now operational as well as their guides and I should machine the main rods any day now. But don't know how top post photos on this forum. Keep up this great saga!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Ross, Simon
Thanks for the encouragement
It is an "a" not a "b"
I originally was going to do the b but found out that it is the "a" that has the weird Worthington heater 
It is also an "a" that is on display in the museum
The reverse may be RC, in which case, I will have a servo in each chassis. If I go with manual, the easiest and most foolproof way is to connect two rods at the pivot points with a short length of automotive choke cable secured with substantial clamps at both ends. I did this on my Quadruplex and it works great.

Simon
The piping you see coming out of the cylinder is actually 3/16" but it looks small compared to the large cylinders. This is the largest I was able to use as there is a restriction on the exhaust port where it comes through the cylinder wall. I will have a larger pipe going to the smokebox and will use oversize piping wherever I have any length of travel.

Posting photos is tough since they changed the format
I notice that some guys use Flicker and post a link which works.
Also, i think you can paste a photo from your hard drive and it will show as thumbnail which can be expanded 

But to do it the way I do, you need to do the following:
1. Copy your photos to some cloud program like Google+ and share them publicly
2. Open the photos in Google and one by one, rt click and press "open image in new tab" they will then appear across the top of the screen
3. Open the first tab photo and rt click and then select "copy image address"
4. In MLS hit the camera icon and in the popup box, paste the photo and hit OK.
5. A bunch of code will then appear in your message
6. at the bottom hit review to see if the photo has taken.

Once you get the knack of it you can go through the photos pretty fast in Google setting up the new tabs and then open MLS to start your post.

I hope you and others can get this to work as it seems like there have been a lot less build postings since they made the change.


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## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

Hi Bill:
Yes I am not too familiar with all the variations on these fascinating engines from the ones that the USRA ones were paterned after, to the Y 6 Bs which I think was the ultimate version. Those Worthington heaters are an impressive appliance indeed, the other day I was looking at some videos of the Y6 engines and they have a plume of steam comming out under it, rather nice. I will probably have to make some if life gives me time enought to make a Hypo. A budy of mine, live steamer too, here was working for a firm controlled by Worthington in France.
The more I think about it, getting the steam out of the cylinders fast was really a problem with high speed engines, more than on slow speed drag engines; And this certainly was the summum of drag engines world class.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I got a lot of CNC cut parts from Dennis and started on the chassis.
First the counterweights are cleaned up and JB'ed on









Then the wheels are painted, the axle pump eccentric is made and the wheels are assembled and quartered.









Here is a photo of the parts Dennis did on the CNC mill









I will have an adjustable bypass moving a minuscule amount of steam from the HP to the LP pipe. I did this on the Triplex which was also compound and it worked great. It should only need to be adjusted once so a screwdriver slot is all it needs.
This small amount of superheated steam will seep into the LP cylinder with the throttle cracked at steamup thus warming them and preventing lockup at the start. Once the engine is under way, the compound action takes over.










The valve sits just over the Right cylinder









So, here is the piping for the HP cylinder.
Superheated steam flows separately to each cylinder as in the prototype. Below the two inlets, you can see the LP pipe and on the left the bypass valve shows connected to both pipes.
Behind the HP pipes are two lubricator lines which T into one.









here are the two chassis with the boiler tube in the background.


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## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

Wow Bill those big LP cylinders up front are really impressive. And your solution for the "starting valve" or "booster" as the N & W men called it most interesting.


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## OldNoob (Apr 30, 2016)

So impressive!!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The front and rear pony trucks appear to be the same with the exception of the front one being shorter on the rear to clear the cylinders.
I have a good photo of the front truck but not the rear. the drawing I have shows them to be the same.

I start with the outside frame and spring pockets.
A piece of 3/16" stock is cut out on the table and band saw and then drilled in the mill









Axle blocks are made to fit the 1/8" x 3/8" bearings and to slide up and down in the frame.









The frame is milled out to match the prototype and the box frame is completed.









The bearing caps are sloaped in the belt sander and then parted off in the lathe. The little protrusion from the parting is used to center it in the plate and hold it in place while it is soldered.
You can see this on the rt.









After the cap is soldered on, the rivets are attached with 680 Loctite They are dipped in with a pair of fine tweezers









The part is compared to the photo.









Here are all of the parts









Here you can see where thr front truck is shorter in the back for clearance 









The rear truck is painted and mounted.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

the boiler scales out to about 3-1/4" which is just about perfect for 3" copper pipe which is 3-1/8" outside and will go to 3-1/4" with the wrap.
I start by designing the tubes.
I try to get as many tubes as I can without going much above the center-line of the boiler. 
The tubes are 11.5" long so I am using 1/2" od tubes and a 5/8" tube for the superheater.
Here is the design I will use.









I pick up a 3" pipe at the local plumbing supply and order the flue tubes from McMaster
The pipe is 3.125" outside so I set the saw blade at 1.5625 high and crosscut it at 5.5" for the fire box. Then with a strip of paper, I mark the ends of the cut and make a mark in the middle for the longitudinal cut.



























I now set my fence 1.5625 from the center of the blade.









I clamp a bar which will slide on the top of the fence to ensure the doesn't rotate during the cut









And place a stop block to prevent over shooting the mark,









I cut out a piece of a 4x4 to the shape of the firebox. I then anneal the sides and straighten them out and form them around the block in the vice and finally with a dead blow hammer.









I now cut out the pattern and glue it to the front sheet. I cut the circle out on the band saw and clean it up on the sander. i then pin punch the center of the flue holes.









I clamp the front sheet to the throat sheet and drill the center holes out.


















The holes are drilled out with a step drill which leaves them slightly under sized. i then ream them out to size. The tubes are a thou or two oversize so I carefully open them up to a slip fit with a tapered drill.
the tubes are placed in the throat sheet and front sheet. Only the throat sheet will be soldered now.









The solder joints are inspected 









The throat sheet and tube assembly are soldered in place and then the crown sheet and backhead are done.
Snippets and circles of solder are placed in the seams and as they melt in, a little more solder is added to make sure everything is filled.


















Bronze bushings are turned on the lathe









Finally, the rest of the joints are soldered in and it is tested. On this build I was lucky to have no leaks the first time around.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I suspect part of that "luck" is excellent craftsmanship! 

Greg - 780


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Greg


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

You make such beautiful boilers! Congratulations on no leaks.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I meant to show this on the last post
Here is the setup I use for pickling in citric acid
The long box is lined with a HD garbage bag doubled over. It is for boilers
When I am done, I funnel the acid into the water bottles in the rear. to the left is a jar of acid and a plastic dish for small pieces.









The smokebox front has the door offset above the center-line
I drill two holes one for turning the front and cutting a recess for the smokebox and the other for the door protrusion.


















The smokebox has a flat spot on the bottom for clearance. I cut this out on the band saw. I clamp a piece of brass with a vice-grip to keep it straight during the cut.









I then cut the front to match the box and mark my rivet holes.









I clamp a parallel in the vice for a stop and drill at the pencil marks.









I then clamp it in the vice and drill the double rivet holes









The stack flange is made in two pieces. First I take a brass bar and form the curvature on the drum sander.









Then on the lathe, I bore out the center, form the profile and part it off.









A disk is turned from a larger bar, bored out and on the mill drilled out for the rivets. it is then annealed and bent to shape.









Trackside Details doesn't have marker lights small enough so I make them on the lathe









The door dogs are machined to shape and then cut out with the slitting saw on the mill. they are then held in place with music wire pins for the silver solder job.









There is a hand rail that goes over the smokebox that also houses the marker light wires. I hold that assembly and the marker lights in position with straight pins for painting









The steam piping goes to each cylinder from the side of the smokebox. here you can see the setup I am using. The narrow nut which goes inside the smokebox is rounded off on one side on the lathe before it is parted off so it will fit on the inside of the box. The fitting nut will attach the pipe from the superheater inside the box.










A "Y" fitting is made which will connect to the 3/16" thin wall stainless superheater.









There is a pipe that goes from the exhaust pipe in the smokebox through the box front and down the left side to the feedwater heater. I have duplicated it but it is nonworking as the feedwater heater will be a dummy.









And the finished smokebox


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

bille1906 said:


> I meant to show this on the last post
> Here is the setup I use for pickling in citric acid
> The long box is lined with a HD garbage bag doubled over.


Been meaning to ask for a long time... what proportions do you use for your citric acid mix (like how many cups of acid powder to a gallon of water)? Thanks.


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Bill;

Was at the Virginia Museum of Transportation yesterday. Here are two photos of the last existing Y class, Y6a 2156. Probably not much use for reference, but the front view really shows how large those low pressure cylinders are. The view taken closer to the cab really points out the size of the power reverse cylinder.


















Really enjoying this thread,

Best wishes,
David Meashey


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

*Dwight*
It is really a trial and error thing. Usually as much as can be absorbed by the water. I would say about 2/3 cup per gallon for a strong solution. 
I usually mix the small portion stronger to get a cleaning in an hour or so. The big mix, i usually leave overnight.
If you mix too much, it will just stay in powder form.
*Dave*
great shot of the reverser, thanks
The 2156 is the one I am building
Wish I could have been there with you


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The boiler is finished and all of the fittings have been tested
The ceramic burner was constructed in similar fashion to my prior builds. One thing I haven't shown in the past is the burner tube dimensions. The .355 dimension is the size hole my step drill does at the 3/8" step so I turn the bar to that size. The outside dimensions are not that critical.

Everything else is a critical part of the burner as any variation from it will negatively affect the performance.










Here is the backhead with a tube coming out of the throttle which will be used today to test some turbine jets and air motors on steam


















This manifold is to be used for several things.

The hex fitting on the bottom will be for the 1/8" whistle supply tube.
The three valves are offset to accommodate fat fingers, They are stainless which will reduce heat transfer but they also have slots for adjusting with a small screw driver. They will be used for low pressure tubes like steam generator plume, blow down, and water heater
The small tube is for the pressure gauge.










It is not a good idea to have the clack valve emptying directly on to the crown sheet so this one has a long tube that goes an inch or two past it. The fitting has a viton o-ring which allows the valve to be positioned for final hookup.









The bottom view shows the burner and boiler mounts. A third mounting bracket will be added to the rear of the burner box


















The front tube sheet with two mounting holes for the smokebox and the 3/16" superheater tube










I am off on vacation Monday for three weeks where Virginia and I will be painting 300 people for my next project.


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## RP3 (Jan 5, 2008)

Bill, your comprehensive and yet very compact backhead layout is something I wish was on all my bigger locomotives. Out of curiosity, what size glass have you used for your gauge glass and has it been successful in giving you reliable readings?

As a serious fan of N&W, I eagerly look forward to your upcoming installments on this build. Don't want to build a second one, do you?

Ross Schlabach


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Hi Ross
The sight glass is 6 mm. It works better than the 5mm ones on most engines. Still, it is not perfect. The best one is on the Frank S where a glass porthole is in the back of the boiler. maybe I will try one like that some day.

The idea of my builds is to have each one of them be "one-of-a-kind" so sorry but this is the last one

Here is the diagram of the site glass


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The crosshead and Baker gear mounting brackets were cut on the CNC mill by Dennis and he brought them over yesterday
They are cut from 3/16" brass plate


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Did you bead blast the "inside" to give a cast look?

Just beautiful... 

Greg - 729


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Actually, Dennis did that with the wire wheel
There are still some parts to be silver soldered on and the final tweaking for perfect alignment. then the entire assembly will be bead blasted before painting and then mounting on the frame
Yes, Dennis did beautiful work on this


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Yes, he got that finish all the way into the far "corner" in that picture. Really looks like the real thing.

Greg - 726


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## livesteam5629 (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,Why don't my valve gear brackets on the 05 look like those for the Y6?
Noel


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Good one Noel
For one thing, the O5 had a Baker Long Frame Gear and the Y6a had a Baker Triangular Frame Gear so the valve gear brackets were different and since N&W did a lot of their own building, the crosshead guide brackets may have been unique to their engines
However the quality of the brackets Dennis made here is better than anything we have done in the past.


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## RP3 (Jan 5, 2008)

Yes Bill, those newest parts are works of art — actually IMHO better than most of the still very nice parts in Aster kits. Can't wait to see what other parts on the Y get this special treatment!

Ross Schlabach


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## livesteam5629 (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,
How far are you from the fires ?? Bad situation to say the least


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Noel
Thanks for the concern
I am about 3,000 miles away...in Maui 
My house is a good 80 miles away but still in the red zone.
I will be home Monday night and hoping things are under control by then
Not that I'm concerned about the house burning down, but what about the trains.
We have a lot of friends in the Santa Rosa area so we have our fingers crossed for them.


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## livesteam5629 (Jan 2, 2008)

hey Bill,Hope all turns out well for you and family. You riding the LAHANINA KAANAPAli and PACIFIC RR.
I rode it when I was stationed at Tripler AMC in 1970.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Unfortunately, It is out of commission. They had a problem with the trestle and some track and don't have the funds to fix them. The say they will run a Christmas special for a month but only a two mile run.
Only one of the steam engines is working.
I used to go over the shop every year and see what they were working on. They did everything there.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I was on vacation for three weeks so the Y had to wait but I am back in the swing of things now.
One of the things that attracted me to the Y6a was the Worthington water heater









It is made up of seven different pieces and still has a couple of fittings to add later. Everything is silver soldered together


















The firebox cover on the Y6a was very large and bulbous. In the photo below thwer are two a's. The as run photo shows a large firebox and one air tank in front of it while the museum one has a smaller box and two tanks. I want to use the air tanks for whistles so I am going with two plus the large firebox.









The firebox cover was formed from .020 brass annealed and bent to shape. The ends were formed from copper plate as it bends easier. I made a former from a stub of 1-1/4" brass bar which was rounded off in the lathe to the radius I needed for the end. They were then silver soldered on.









The boiler is set on the chassis and various shims are used to get the desired height.









The front cylinder covers are slipped on to check the swing clearance.









The front and rear height are checked.









The center mount for the front truck is made by scribing the radius from the center between the wheels of the two chassis and then the slot was done on the mill









The upper mount has a hat shaped stud and a screw and a hat shaped washer on which the lower mount will slide. This washer was later remade to accommodate a rulon washer which was added for an easy slide. 









In addition to the sliding mount, I added a link between the two chassis. I used snippets of silicone tubing to account for expansion and such.









Since the engine has three weight bearing mounts, distribution of the weight is tricky. The height of the center mount determines the amount of weight on the font chassis mount.
I have made this adjustable by using a very strong spring to raise the boiler up and a screw which pulls it back down to the desired front engine traction. Once it is set, there is a locking screw on the opposite side which will set it in place.









Here is the front mount with the rulon washer









And with the chassis in full turn position









I took it out to the track this morning and after a few adjustments, it was able to run on the 7.5' track.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Dennis is finishing up the Baker parts on the CNC so in the mean time, I took to making some boiler parts and started the cab

From the Archive drawing, I drew out the cab parts and then cut them out on the band saw. The windows were cut on the mill. they were then soldered with staybrite









Wedges were cut into some 3/8" copper tubing for the bends in the water heater pipe.









And it was then soldered together









I wanted a low tone to the whistles so i decided to make the lower one longer and have it go into the firebox cover.









Here are the two 5/32" steam tubes coming from the superheater in the smokebox









They are wrapped with twine impregnated with Fiberfrax glue









Then short pieces of 13/32" and 7/16" K&S tubing are slipped over and glued together with JB Weld









And painted









While I was waiting for something, I turned these nubs on the crosshead guides where they fit into the holes drilled in the cylinder heads









Here is the lubricator I am using for the short fat air tank on the rt side. The screw on the rught is the adjuster.









I had to make some piping on the rt side which had very small spacing between them. I had to go back to my Quadruplex build to see how I made the brackets last time,
I mill 3/32" wide grooves in two pieces of 1/2" x 1/8" bar. One is .063 deep and the other only .010 deep to hold the 1/16" pieces of rod in place. I use 1/32" wide strip so the 3/32" groove is just right.




































I find it hard to drill through two pieces of thin strap as the drill usually catches and twists them up. I cut a 1/8" wide groove in a piece of hardwood on the table saw and then centered the mill up so I could reproduce perfect holes.









Here is the power reverser I made from the photos I have.









And the right side accessories


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## StackTalk (May 16, 2014)

Bill,

Your work never ceases to amaze.

I have run out of superlatives . . . 

~Joe


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## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

Wow bill great work and fascinating techniques for us to emulate. I would love to see a drawing (or a sketch with dimensions) of that deep two tone whistle, I am contemplating making one for the T1 there is also some space under the valance where I might be able to slip one in. You are making a real classic there.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Great details, Bill. I will have to file your method of making pipe supports. I too would like to see details on how you make that whistle. Thanks. Your oiler looks a lot like the one on my C16. I had to add a pipe inside which curves up toward the top to keep it from putting out too much oil. Your valve is probably a better solution. One problem I have is that the oil tends to bubble up when I am filling due to the small opening.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Hi Win
Yes, I had the same problems with my C16. I think the opening is 1/4" or smaller. this one here is 5/16" which is a lot better.
I really don't like air tank lubricators as the long surface area of the tanks makes for irregular lubrication unless you have a valve. This tank is short and fat which is better than the one on the C16
I will try to do something on the whistles this week.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I now have most of the boiler & cab detail finished and painted
I added a cowling around the safeties









The steam generator has a working steam pipe which is controlled by a valve in the cab. It will produce a nice plume while running and can be used for a blowdown.









Rt side view


















The cab roof is a weird design and took a while to bend to match the prototype. The side opening hinge is made by scribing lines where the cab intersects the top when in place. The 1/16" music wire has to be bent after sliding it into the 3/32" tube. Then the tube is soft soldered to the roof.









The chassis are placed on with the engine covers just slid on to check for final appearance.



























The whistle valve dimensions are sketched out and it is made from the sketch.









And mounted under the floor board









There is a lot going on under the floor. Starting at the top of the photo is the dummy coal stoker motor. Under it is a copper tube which is attached to a silicone steam tube, The tube goes between the two cylinders and has two orfaces which will emit steam to give it a realistic look (hopefully)
The copper tube next to it is the feedwater tube which will hook up to the bypass valve on the chassis. Also is the bare silicone tube which is now the blowdown but can be converted to a tender water heater later,
Next down are the burner jets and below that the Whistle valve
The open space in the middle will house two servos which are on order



















There is a 1/4" silicone tube going to the stack for the LP exhaust. This fitting will allow the needed smokebox ventilation.









The inside of the smokebox is covered with fiberfrax









And then a stainless steel sleeve.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Well, the chassis are finished and the boiler is almost done
I hooked up the marker lights and am waiting for the front number plate









Dennis finished cutting out the Baker parts and I pinned them all together. As you can see there isn't much clearance between them so I cut a small chamfer in the holes and peened the pins over to get a flush fit where needed.




































The gear is mounted and timed. The mounting bolts have since been replaced with something more prototypical.









Here is a shot of the underneath showing the LP steam line and reverse servo









The backhead is complete. The servos are mounted under the cab floor. The servo on the right is for the whistle valve which can just be seen at the lower right corner









Coumpound engins normally need more steam pressure than usual as the low pressure engine receives about 1/3 the pressure of the high one. G scale ones usually run at around 80 psi. I was very happy to see this one run at only 5 psi which means the front engine was running on one to two psi. You will note that on all of the videos, the front engine runs slower as the lower pressure on the larger pistons causes this but because of the large bore, the torque is similar to the HP engine.


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## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

Wow Bill! what a beautiful engine.
With steam you should have better performance of the front engine because steam will still be expanding at these low pressures which compressed air doesn't do.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I have the engine just about finished and am starting on the tender
here are some shots I haven't shared yet

The main crank pin showing the ball bearings and return crank etc.









I actually had to make new drain valves as they had to be longer because of the cyl covers










And here is a series of photos from different angles


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## pickleford75 (May 3, 2012)

As always Bill she's a beauty!!!


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Another fantastic beauty from the Bill Allen Locomotive Works. I have loved following the amazing progress. Thanks for posting.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The Tender has Buckeye trucks which are nice but something I hadn't done before.
I downloaded a drawing but it was confusing because of the many parts to the truck. My main concern was the side frames so I highlighted them to give me an idea of what I needed to do










Using the drawing as a guide, I computed the coordinates I would need on the mill and cut out the center holes.









And filed out the things I couldn't mill out









Then on the Mill, I drilled out the hole for the axle bearing journal









I then pasted copies of the drawing on using the holes as a guide and cut them out on the band saw.


















I then lined everything out to check the clearances 









The center link was tricky. I cut a single piece, drilling the holes out in the mill with the DRO and then with a jewelers saw cut them in half. I used a piece of 1/8" stainless flat bar to raise one half while I soldered them on to the journal.










Per the drawing, the two outer frames are bent 1/2 the offset of the center link or 1/16" the bend is at the spring opening.









You can see here how the equalization works. One wheel is raised and the other five remain on the table









The center support and end bars are made and it is tested on the track.









Finally, the springs arrive and the two trucks are painted and the springs are installed.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I have been working on the tender for a couple of weeks now and am getting ready to paint it

I started by doing some rivet embossing on the sides. I didn't go overboard as I will need to do some decalling and I want that to go well. I then bend the ends. form the floor to fit and solder it in. I then square it up and solder the rear panel in. Here The shell is on end and the clamps are holding the pieces together just above is a square sheet which is clamped on the sides and will keep it positioned while soldering.









I make the riser pipe for the fuel tank filler. the accucraft valve has a groove with a vent hole in it which should be below the threads as shown here,









And here is the gas valve









The tank is set in place to check before mounting.









The front bulkhead is soldered on and the shell is completed.









The tank and axle pump are mounted 









The top of the sides gets a beading which is made by splitting a 1/16" copper tube on the table saw and then annealing is and bending to fit. It almost clamps on but I affix it with JB Weld. There is also a technique for doing this in the mill by Mark Horovitz in a Steam in the Garden issue a few months back









The problem with three axle trucks is that you cant put the pivot point in the center without dissembling it because the center axle is in the way. I decided to make the mounting post pivoting and then mount the trucks with two axle straddling screws









A notch is milled in the bottom to limit the rotation of the truck









The ladder was made by drawing the profile from the tender plans and then sketching it out on a piece of .040" sheet brass. The rung holes were then drilled on the mill using the DRO









Then the straight portion was cut on the table saw to get a clean and straight cut. The curved portion was then finished up on the band saw and cleaned up on the sander and with files.









The hand pump feed is high pressure so polyurethane tubing is used. It is not too flexible so I set up this "S" to give it the forward/back movement needed. The quick disconnect is from Jason.


















The tubing is soldered into the bulkhead. Left to right are the bypass return, gas line, and tank warmer. The hand pump handle is held in place ready for action. The switch is for the RC & lights










The tank filler valve is accessible under the coal load and the valve knob is a round water hatch









https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/B...Hs9UR2TBpU9Z9wIGhsMA5HBL44Qxqwo=w1223-h917-no










The battery and receiver are behind the dummy doors which can be removed with four screws, All of the wires and tubes including the battery charge wire come out the bottom. They are tucked in now for the tender painting.









The backup light will be installed after painting


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## RP3 (Jan 5, 2008)

Bill, are you one person or a whole team of machinists? I'm blown about by how much you accomplish in such a short time - with excellent quality along the way. It is inspiring (and exhausting) to watch. Can't wait to see a video of this beast running.

Ross Schlabach


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Ross


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## Skeeterweazel (Feb 11, 2014)

Everything looks awesome. Paint on loco looks great. Those front cylinders are huge! Tender trucks came out great. Love following your projects.
Marty


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I have taken a few videos of the Y but I was waiting till I got the number plates for the final vid.
I got them last week and then lost one of the little ones that go on the cylinder covers.
I did get the smokebox number on and went over to Roberts yesterday to do some videos .
He had his Big Boy out so we were able to compare the two.
The big Boy is quit a bit longer but the boiler is a little smaller diameter.
And naturally, the cylinders are much larger










They both had no problem pulling the load but it seemed to me that the BB slowed down a little more at the grade than the Y

As usual my video skills were lacking and now the video editor in Youtube doesn't have the merge feature any more so all I have is a bunch of 20 second videos. Some ay my house and some at Robert's
Enjoy


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill
That is an impressive locomotive in the same way the real one was both on idle and running the rails!


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Billy, It sure runs well! Congratulations on another beautiful locomotive. By the way I am enjoying the reprise of the Triplex in Steam in the Garden. Thanks for all your work documenting your projects.


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## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

Its a real beauty Bill and it seems to work as good as it looks, congratulations!


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

Wow that is quite the beast! Very impressive work Bill


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