# One truck heisler build log



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Many of you have probably seen the attached photo before.
I saw this in a Heisler book and thought it would be a fun project.
Some of the challenging things about it are:

The exhaust stack comes out of the cab rather than out the smoke box
There is a crankshaft between the two axles that appears to drive them.
There are no dimensions for it and we don't even know what gauge track it was built for

Looking at the amount of setback the wheels seem to have from the cab, it looks to me to possibly be standard gauge. Since we don't have any dimensions though, I will just make things in proportion to the drawing










We had a workshop on Saturday and I brought some drawings to have Henner and Dennis look at the boiler design. All three of us had different ideas on how to do it, so I decided that mine would be the first I would try
Here is the sketch I came up with








So the idea is to have a conventional design boiler with a smokebox but rather than having the stack at the top of the smokebox, route the exhaust back to the rear of the boiler and have it come out there. The exhaust pipe will have a hole directed at the return stack to aid the draft.

Here is a drawing of the side view









I want to make this a simple project so I will be using Ruby valves and scratch built cylinders. The front drawing is the final one I came up with. Note how short the cylinders are and how long the bottom covers are. This is to make them sort of semi-crossheads. Because of the short connecting (drive) rods, I am afraid I will come up with piston rod bushing wear without some sort of crosshead support.









So Monday morning I started on the boiler

I first squared up a piece of 2-1/2" copper pipe on the disk sander by clamping a 2x4 to the table









I rotate the pipe while sanding it









I then cut it on the band saw by rotating it in the reverse direction of the blade travel. It usually takes four or five revolutions to cut through and the cut is perfectly square.









The rest of the boiler making is similar to my prior projects except for the internal exhaust pipe. This fixture is called a picture framing jig. You can see how it is put together. By using the left and right sides for each cut, you always get a 90 degree joint as if one side is 44 degrees, the other will be 46 degrees









The elbow is now silver soldered together.









The boiler was soldered together and pickled overnight and I cleaned it up this morning. Here it is with the pieces for the smoke box.









The smokebox hinges and number plate are installed.


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## BigRedOne (Dec 13, 2012)

Did you decide on a scale? It looked like you moved the wheels in - to make the resulting model larger?


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I think my drawing is in scale to the photo, although, the photo is taken at a bias so I had to account for the perspective changes when I measured it up. My drawing doesn't show the crankshaft between the drivers which may be causing it to look off.
I have no idea what scale it is as I don't even have one original dimension to start with.


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## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

If you were to guesstimate the height of the cab based on other small engines, you might be able to work from there on other dimensions.


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## Belpaire (Feb 15, 2008)

Very cool little locomotive.

It don't know if is helpful but you might want to check this page out. It is translated from Japanese. http://translate.google.com/transla...ura.ne.jp/heisler/page1.html&biw=1030&bih=831


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Amber
At this time the only important thing to me is that all of the components are in a scale relationship to each other. 
Belpaire
Yes this is helpful. This is more of a freelance model vs a reproduction of the original but how he approached the engine mounting and gearing is interesting. I noted he had some binding with the crank and drive wheels which is my main concern with the crank setup.


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## rwjenkins (Jan 2, 2008)

The prototype has what appears to be a marine-style return-flue "Scotch" boiler. The smokebox is in the cab, above the firebox door. There wouldn't be a door on the front end, except for maybe a small inspection hatch (steam-tight of course, since the forward end of the boiler is part of the pressure vessel). From that end, the locomotive would likely have resembled a fireless engine. 

Anyway, great work as always, I'm looking forward to watching this one progress.


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## boilingwater (Jan 27, 2010)

Bill,
Another neat project. You make it look so easy...You need to write a book with some of your techniques, templates, jigs,etc...Of course, you're having too much fun to do that for the beginners in that phase of the hobby, like me.. I appreciate your posts.

Thanks!
Sam


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Yes, it could have been a variation of the Scotch boiler. Can't see the front of it to see if there is a door


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## Eric M. (Jan 3, 2008)

Bill, I think the general consensus is that the single truck Heisler was not standard gauge but 3' gauge instead, in which case it should be 1:20.3 scale. I'm not sure where that information comes from but I have heard people insist that's what gauge it was in previous discussions. If it were my project that is probably the scale I would choose, but I am biased because all of my G gauge equipment is 1:20.3

Great choice for a build BTW.

Regards,


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Yes Eric, i too have heard 36" or even 30" but these were all guesstimates.
The only thing that makes me think it is standard is how close the width of the cab appears to be to the width of the wheels. It makes it hard to tell as it looks like the photo may have been taken with a wide angle lens (if they had those in the 20's)
Alas, we will never know for sure as it was a one-off that the measurements of, were never documented.and according to the little information we do have, it was built to move material around plants or job sites and was never a success as it didn't justify the cost of laying the track. So, I guess it could have been any gauge

My model will be 8-1/4" long which would be 14' long in 1:20.3 and 22' long as a standard gauge at 1:32 so I guess it will be considered narrow gauge


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I started on the engine and took a little time to photograph some if the use of my woodworking tools. keep in mind that most of these procedures are two handed operations but I had to take a hand off to take the photo.

The 3/8 round over bit is set to just under the bottom of the 3/4" square stock









A feather board holds the stock against the fence and the white and black ugly thing is a push tool to keep id againdt the table while it is pushed through. Three passes are made moving the fence closer at each pass. The router is set at 1/2 speed









The stock is finished and ready to cut to length for each cylinder and bore out in the four jaw chuck. Note the small flat between the two 1/4 round machinings which will line up with the four jaw chuck









The cylinders need to be mounted exactly 90 degrees from each other to get the correct timing from a single eccentric and they need to be offset from each other for connecting rod clearance. I take two pieces of 1/8 x 3/4 flat bar, clamp them at 90 degrees and drill two holes for pins to keep them in place while silver soldering









I then cut the bottom where the crankshaft will go on my 45 degree jig.









A piece of 1/4" square stock is milled out and drilled for 2-56 mounting bolts. It is then attached with JB Quick and the holes are drilled into the bracket and tapped out. The piece is easily removed as the JB isn't full set up. It is then cleaned up, attached with the mounting bolts and the crankshaft bearing hole is drilled.









The cylinders will mount to the bracket by the lower cover bolts going through a mounting plate. This plate again needs to be square with everything so a 1/16" slot is cut on the mill where the 1/16" plate will be silver soldered/









Using the DRO on the mill,holes are drilled in the mounting plate matching the cylinder pattern. A slot will be cut to the center hole for cylinder removal









I need to clamp the bottom cover securly for the drilling of the four mounting holes so I drilled a 1/4" hole in this flat bar and secured the cover with the gland nut threads.









Holes are then drilled.









The cylinders are mounted and everything looks ok. The two rods meet right at the crank bushing and there is the proper offset.









Because the stroke is short and I don't want the cylinders sticking out in a non prototypical manner, I need to cut the Ruby valves down. It is not safe to leave a short pice free at the end of a table saw operation as it could catch on the blade and cause all kinds of problems. This is a little too close to hold so I use the erasure as a sacrificial finger. The right side is held by hand.









New mounting holes are drilled in the valve body and a crankshaft is made from stainless steel silver soldered together


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Well, my computer crashed and I lost some photos but I have a new one and have some to post now.
Here are the Ruby valves with the tubing soldered on. a dollar bill is used to make the gaskets









The cylinder assembly with the top and bottom end caps









The eccentric follower will work both cylinders as the two straps are 90 degrees apart. The one on the right is silver soldered on and the one on the left pivots. With this design, only one eccentric is needed to work both cylinders.









Here you can see the eccentric installed and the bevel gears which will drive the jack shaft









Fittings are soldered on to the Ruby reverser valve









Piping is bent to shape and installed









Cab plate work is done









Boiler mounting is done. Note the curved support in the front which mounts to the smoke box









A Ruby type lubricator is used. The outside diameter is the same as a Ruby but K&S tubing is used so the inside diameter is larger doubling the capacity.









The lubricator cap has an extension built in for easy removal when the cab is installed.









The reverse lever is on the right. The site glass is installed and the steam manifold spans the exhaust stack. the throttle is on the left and the tube on the right is a blow down.









Part of the charm of this engine is how the headlight, bell and dome are fitted into such a small space. This is the first bell I made from scratch but I don't have ant pictures of making it. It was turned on the lathe and the yokes were cut on the band saw with a 1/8" blade. The headlight was also scratch built.









Here is what it looks like so far. The wheels are temporary plastic. We cast metal wheels yesterday and I finished them off except the tread this morning. Monday we will turn the tread on Dennis' lathe
I still need to make the gas tank and the rear skirt and step as well as buffers


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## Skeeterweazel (Feb 11, 2014)

B-E-A-Utiful! Can't wait to see it run.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Fantastic!! That is a very nice little loco. I still can't get over the fact that you use a table saw to cut little brass parts. That would scare the **** out of me!


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## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

Very nice work Bill. Another masterpiece. I see you use the router table to shape brass. What RPM is "half speed"? I have a big Porter Cable variable speed router. Half speed on that is still fairly high.

Router bits look like they do a great job. They should work in the mill too.

Two months to Sacramento.

Bob


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Bob
I don't know what the RPMs are. The speeds are 1 -6 and I used #3 on the first cylinder I ever did. It worked fine so that's the speed I use. I'm sure your Porter Cable is the same top speed.
I have used the router bits in the mill with success also but for this procedure, the router is actually more rigid than the mill. The router motor is 3-1/2 hp and the router table is made by removing the side wing and mounting the wood table onto the wing mounting bolts making it part of the 200 pound saw. I would be leery about doing this on a ten pound Home Depot table

The router is also great for cutting out window and door openings. The arched window openings on this were cut on the router
It looks like we will both have new 0-4-0's to run at Sac


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I finished the model up this week and brought it to the Maker Faire in San Mateo
This is only one of four held in the world where people who make things gather once a year,
They get 250,000 people over the two day weekend and our club has had a track there for several years. I wanted to leave it brass for the faire but will probably paint it now.

The jack shaft is at a higher level than the axles so the side bar has to exactly match the holes in the frame. I did this with the DRO on the mill but if I didn't have DRO, I could have clamped the side bars to the frame rails and drilled them together.









Next the rear skirt and step are made and mounted









Here is a shot of the underneath with everything hooked up.









A couple of different shots

























And with the front step installed.









I took a couple of short videos but I can't remember how to post from YouTube to here but here are links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_videoeditor&v=o8o8WISFSCg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_videoeditor&v=Yy2f9BgHMI4


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

That is a really neat little project Bill! Wow!!!


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## rklopp (May 19, 2014)

Bill,
I saw your engine running at Maker Faire today, and was inspired to find and join this site. Your engine is beautiful! I noticed the smokebox door was ajar. Was that intentional?

Is there any chance drawings are available?

I have built an O-gauge Cracker live steamer, and am currently building two O-gauge (16 mm scale) DeWinton 'Idris' live steamers from Dave Watkins' plans. I am a well-trained machinist with access to a machine shop, so your clever use of woodworking tools to make metal parts was very noticeable to me.

Regards,

RKlopp


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## Skeeterweazel (Feb 11, 2014)

Great job! Would love to see more pix and video as you progress.

Marty


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## Joe Johnson (Jan 2, 2008)

I'm a sucker for three types of engines; live steam, geared locos and cute little ones.

This one has all three. Congratulations on a beautiful creation.!!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

RKLOPP


Yes the smoke box door was ajar on purpose
This boiler looks weird but it is really not much different from a Ruby boiler in design.
It uses a Ruby poker burner.
On a Ruby, there has to be enough of a hole in the bottom of the smoke box to vent it and keep the burner from going out when the door is closed.
When I built this one, I started with a hole just large enough for the exhaust tube to go through and figured I could always make it larger but smaller would be difficult.
Everything was fine on my first run at home but in San Mateo with the wind, I lost my flame a couple of times. I left the door ajar to see of it needed more air into the smokebox and that did the trick.
When I take it apart to paint it, I will enlarge the hole.
Running with the smoke box closed should increase the boiler efficiency as the return tube will add heat to the boiler, although it ran fine with the door open. It was maintaining 40 psi pulling eight Accucraft 20.3 cars at less than 1/2 throttle


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## Belpaire (Feb 15, 2008)

That's great, congratulations.


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow that is sweet looking. I wish I had that talent. Very impresive little engine.


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## Chris Scott (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill; I hope your planning on showing it off at the Summer Steamup.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Chris
It will definitely be there with its big brother
I painted it today...it looks pretty good


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I cut some windows in the cab front and made a #7 number plate and painted everything
Here are some shots of the finished project
I think the red buffers add to the look and was thinking of a red roof like West Side Lumber but I think it may be too much with the large and complex roof









http://www.wegmuller.org/gallery/va...-Heisler/Image081-2100260520.jpg?m=1400698804


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow that really looks good. I want one ;-)


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## Charles M (Jan 2, 2008)

That model looks great , very nice job on the build. If they offered that for sale , I would want one too!

Charles M SA#74


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## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

Great job Bill. How is the draft through the boiler? Does there appear to be any obstructions to the heat flow? Gas burner should push heat through OK.

Bob


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Hi Bob
The draft is unrestricted but the boiler is so short that the flame wants to go out to the smoke box which is ok as it will just continue through the return flue and continue to heat the boiler but I am just not comfortable with fire in the smokebox so I have been running it at the lowest gas setting and had some trouble with it going out last weekend. I opened up the hole at the bottom of the smokebox and it seems to stay lit now but I may try different pokers. I am using an old Ruby poker and was thinking last night that that was one I rejected for the CP Huntington as being erratic. I may try the CPH burner in it today to see if it preforms better or just make a new one. The CPH poker is one of those with a V shaped shield and screen setup


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Is astonished, do want!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Here is a video I took a little while ago. I am off to a four week vacation tomorrow morning and Stan has the decals in the mail so I will install them when I return and then off to Sac


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## Skeeterweazel (Feb 11, 2014)

Love it! So strange to see the steam come from the cab.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

That is really great. I love how you packed all the mechanisms into such a small space. Glad to see how well it runs.


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## BigRedOne (Dec 13, 2012)

Neat! Looks like it's pulling a lot of weight, the log cars appear loaded.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks for the compliments
Yes, it seems to pull well. I tested it with a pull meter and it looks like it pulls between 2.2 and 2.5 pounds


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## Accucraft UK (Sep 16, 2013)

As ever, in awe of your inventiveness!

Graham.


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

I wish someone would produce one of these or even better wish I had the skills to build one myself. I think Im in love..............


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