# Portable



## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi guys,
you might have wondered (or not even noticed - depending on your preferences) where my pestering reports about the progress of the Guinness brewery loco have gone. I took a break from this project and started with the restoration of a delightful little steam toy for a friend of mine. It is a Doll portable - basically a steam engine on wheels with some means of self-propelling; not yet as sophisticated as the later steam tractor. This little engine will later be used either as a load or for powering a business on Richards layout. As received it was in a pretty sorry state: All of the valve gear was missing, the fittings frozen solid and no burner. I intended to leave as much patina as possible, but get it back to live. First task was to remove water gauge, safety valve and whistle. After I broke one of the screws for the water gauge, I decided to drill all screws out and replace them with modern ones. The obsolete M2.3 thread luckily has the same pitch as M2.5, so I could just go through the old threads with a tap. But first I had to remove the broken screw:












The drive chain was also missing, but one ordered from SDP was a perfect fit:











I studied some of the valve gears on Doll engines pictured on the WWW, but none of them would fit the remnants of this one. From the holes in the steam chest I could design the valve and the throw of the eccentric. It turned out that the slip eccentric and the throw are identical with the modern Wilesco steam engines. The eccentics were machined from bronze, while the valve connecting rod was "stolen" from a Wilesco engine (leftover from our donkey project). I also opted for the rollers, which show up on some photos of Doll engines and reduce friction between valve and hold-down spring. Here pictures of the new parts:



















Dennis donated a surplus wooden handle for the whistle:











and later he brought out his fancy safety valve tester to set the safety valve:











The portable runs very well on air with about 10 PSi, so there is hope it will soon steam again. Next steps are nickel plating the new parts and starting with the burner (alcohol with 2..3 wicks). But now back to the Guinness







.
Regards


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## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Fantastic project Henner!


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## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

Now that's a neat project! That safety valve tester is pretty cool too!


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## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

Clever way to put in the slip eccentric. That will be a cutey to watch run.

I need to "formalize" a test manifold like you have. With an appropriate accessory kit. Could you describe yours a bit.


Thanks, Bob


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## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Amber, Rick,
thanks for the kind words. It is always encouraging to have some feedback. We scratch builders need that







.
Bob,
the test fixture was built by my friend Dennis. I will ask him to get in touch with you about how he built it. Most of the parts are commercial air fittings. He added a needle valve and a small air reservoir, so he can test the hysteresis of the safety -> slowly filling the reservoir, then safety opens and releases pressure faster then the needle valve can refill, safety closes and reservoir fills for the next cycle. 

I made the burner tray today from zinc plated steel (some odd roofing part). It slides onto the "firebox":










Before I forget: The chain was a donation from my friend Ron S., it was a leftover from a BAGRS - like loco. 

Regards


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## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Today I finished the burner. Well, tube and burner tubes are silver soldered (in case of an uncontrolled fire), lid and filler bushing are soft soldered. I intend to plate the burner with tinning solution to make it look like it was made of tinplate. But the brass also looks quite nice..











All missing parts are now done, next step is to nickel plate some of the new parts and make some gaskets. 
Regards


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## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Today I nickel plated all the new brass/bronze parts. I used the Caswell plating kit (I only ordered the wand and the solution). The small screws were dunked in the solution (see picture), the larger parts brushed with the wand:










The plating gave a dull gray slightly patchy color, which perfectly matches the original parts:










The difference between old and new is almost invisible (compare with the photo earlier in this thread). I also attached all the fittings which screw into the boiler using high temperature thread sealant. The only tasks left are making some gaskets and tinplate the burner. Next weekend we will probably be ready for a test run!
Regards


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## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

What kind of wicking do you use in the alcohol burner?


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## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

I am not quite sure. Usually I use 0000 grade steel wool from a home improvement store, but Dennis gave me some lamp cotton. I will try this first, though I think it will burn out when the flame is allowed to use up all the alcohol. In the good old days I had some asbestos, but this is seriously "frowned upon" these days. Some people use the soft ceramic as in ceramic burners. The Aster alcohol users may have an idea (if they read this thread about a toy







). I am open to suggestions!
Regards


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

I have read of the use of stainless mesh which should work too if fine enough mesh is used.


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## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Henner, did the power supply come with the kit?


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## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

I wonder if lamp oil would work in one of those burners with a lamp wick, or if that wouldn't produce enough heat?


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## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Eric,
stainless steel mesh should work, as even the steel wool holds up pretty well (>1year).
Rick,
as I already owned a power supply and cables, I only bought the wand and the chemical. The current was very low (


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

Amber-- I too have thought of using lamp oil or kerosene but there is probably a reason all those engines are spirit fired rather than lamp oil. I would think the lamp oil might be smokey which looks cool but makes a mess.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Henner 
Looks great 
Looking forward to the maiden run


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## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Burner and chain were tin plated and look quite nice. A tinning solution for printed circuit boards was used:











It even ran! Here the youtube clip as proof:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeJh42XsQVw&list=UUwFoht6mfYxyqUgaA6kbVww&index=1&feature=plcp



Eric will now paint/weather the burner tray and this completes the revival of the old steam toy. Regards


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## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By HMeinhold on 31 Mar 2012 06:58 PM 
Burner and chain were tin plated and look quite nice. A tinning solution for printed circuit boards was used:











It even ran! Here the youtube clip as proof:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeJh...ature=plcp 

Eric will now paint/weather the burner tray and this completes the revival of the old steam toy.
Regards


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## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Very sweet running machine


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## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By HMeinhold on 26 Mar 2012 09:16 PM 
I am not quite sure. Usually I use 0000 grade steel wool from a home improvement store, but Dennis gave me some lamp cotton. I will try this first, though I think it will burn out when the flame is allowed to use up all the alcohol. In the good old days I had some asbestos, but this is seriously "frowned upon" these days. Some people use the soft ceramic as in ceramic burners. The Aster alcohol users may have an idea (if they read this thread about a toy







). I am open to suggestions!
Regards




I use ordinary cotton candle wick. You can pack them in as tight or loose as your need. Trim to length, flare out the top. They don't crust over like fiberglass wicks do. Do not run out of fuel, or they are gone in an instant.

Great work on the portable Henner. As always. Thanks for putting the old timer back in service.

vr Bob


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## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Last Saturday the portable was delivered to its owner. We had a big party and the delivery was done in style (apart from the tie downs which were a last minute "safety" feature):



BTW, the Guinness pulled the pretty heavy consist without problems on Richards layout, even a curved trestle with a 1% grade was mastered. This concludes the thread about the portable.
Regards


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