# Erie Triplex build log



## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Well, I am heading off for a months vacation and was going to wait till I got back to start the log as I just started making chips last week.

]http://www.wegmuller.org/gallery/var/resizes/Large-Scale-Models/Triplex/left side.jpg?m=1442093078

I have actually been planning this for quite a while now. My friends Henner and Dennis have been working with me on the Baker valve gear and we have finally come up with a design that will be prototypical and will work. There are several challenges to making a model of this loco (which didn't work). The problem with the original was low steam production due to no draft. As I will be using a ceramic burner, the draft won't be a problem yet there is still a concern with the firebox being over the drivers.

Dennis has his mill on CNC now and a new laser cutter tied into the same CAD software. We have been laying out the cylinders, frame and valve gear on his computer. i will do most of the standard machining and he will do the funny looking stuff.


I started with 12 lbs. of Brass from my local metal yard and cut everything to length









This will be a compound as the original was. To prevent cylinder lockup from excessive water at start up, I decided to go with slide valves vs piston valves. The D valve will lift up to allow release if the cylinder is full of water. I will have automatic cylinder drains but this will be an extra fail-safe. Here I am making a cross porting plate to keep the valve gear prototypical.









The Baker gear does not accomadate long valve travel so I need to keep that to my standard settings but because of the large cylinder diameter, the ports are made longer. Here it is compared to my Garratt which has 5/8" cylinders.









The valve body is cut out on the mill









I am using a 1/8" exhaust port which needs to be drilled at a 10 degree angle to clear the cylinder bore. I cut a block at 10 degrees on the table saw to use as a guide









I start the hole with an end mill and finish with a drill









I then cut a 3/16" hole with an end mill for mounting a fitting


















The two 1/8" holes will line up with the cross porting and the slot with the exhaust port


















Here are the pieces. There are two of the cross porting plates in this photo to show both sides. The two holes in the cylinder head are to receive the crosshead bars. The gaskets are cut on the laser cutter









This photo gives you an idea of the scale. on the right is a 3/8" ruby cylinder, then a 5/8" cylinder from the Garratt, then the 3/4" Low Pressure and finally the 7/8" high pressure cylinder


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## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,
a gorgeous start. But isn't the 7/8" the low pressure cylinder?
Regards


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

No Henner.
The single high pressure cylinder on each side feeds two low pressure cylinders on the front and rear. The originals had a few different sizes but the one I patterned it after had them all at 36" bore. As mine will have considerably lower steam pressure, I decided to go with a lower ratio (1:1.5) Thus the smaller LP cylinders.

Here are some specs I found online

Boiler pressure: 210 psi
HP cylinders: 36" diam x 32" stroke (two, in center)
LP cylinders: 36" diam x 32" stroke (four, two each end)
Weight in service: 853,050 lbs
Adhesion weight: 761,000 lbs

Boiler diameter: 7' 10"
Tractive force: 160,000 lbs
Wheel diameter: 5' 3"
Grate area: 90 sq ft
Total wheelbase: 90' 0"

And an excerpt from some JvR notes I used on my Heisler

The four Aster/Fulgurex engines all have a ratio of 1:1.7.
This was very carefully calculated and is a consequence of using
a low and safe boiler pressure (essential in commercial models).
In real practice, this sort of ratio was used with a boiler pressure
around 170 lbs. It went steadily up with rising boiler pressure,
to around 1:2.5 with 285 lbs (and superheat). In a model you
cannot copy the ratio, still less the actual dimensions, of the
prototype. If you do, the LP cylinders will be virtually useless.

Based on all of this, I guessed that the pressure drop from 210 to 60 would dictate a smaller LP cylinder. Another consideration is that the rear engine will have tractive issues with the huge overhang of the tender being supported by the pony truck and the front engines on Mallets always tending to slip as the rear engine tries to pop a wheelie and relieves weight from the front..

This is a bit of forging new frontiers and I may need to make some changes later on but I think this is a good place to start.


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## Steve Shyvers (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,

You are always exploring new frontiers. No need to apologize in advance for the need to experiment along the way. Enjoy your vacation.

Steve Shyvers


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow Bill cylinders look good. Will be a beast of a loco. Plan to be done for NSS? Cant wait to see.


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## JoelB (Jan 3, 2008)

Bill,

Great work, many thanks for sharing the individual machining steps, this clears a lot of things up on how it's done.

One detail I didn't see was how you machined the rounded (outside) profile of the cylinder blocks. Apologies if this was explained and I missed it.


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## NeilK (Jun 17, 2013)

Bill:
Nice job on the cylinders! Like Henner, I too thought the high pressure cylinder would be the smaller, but I've learned something new about the Triplex thanks to your description. Please keep us posted on your progress!

Neil


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## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

Gonna pull up a chair and watch this one Bill. It will be another great one!!!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks guys
I am in Hawaii and fooling around with concepts and have a question for anyone who may have looked at this before
The prototype had the rear exhaust venting through a heat exchanger in the tender heating up the feed water. I will use the same concept but don't want to get the water too hot as the fuel tank will be in it.
Does anyone know the temperature of exhaust steam and to go one step further, what the temperature of the double expanded steam from a compound engine would be.
My goal would be to keep the tank at 70 - 80 degrees under all operating conditions.


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## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,
I think the temperature of the exhaust steam is not very important, as most of the energy is released when the steam condenses, which occurs at the boiling temperature of water. You probably need to limit the amount of steam through your condenser as this determines how much energy is transferred into the feed/butane heater water.
Regards


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## BigRedOne (Dec 13, 2012)

Another neat project! 

Some heat should conduct though the chassis and bodywork from the cylinders, too. I think that will warm the water tank more than exhaust steam?


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Henner
Not enough room to run a bypass line so the limiting will need to be by the amount and length of the tubes which I can do
Hope this makes sense


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

While I was sunning myself in Hawaii, Dennis was hard at work slaving over the CNC mill.
What usually takes me forever to do and in several operations, he cut out the axle box slots to perfect precision









The Baker gear is made up of many small levers which must be exactly the same shape and the Triplex has intricate crossheads for the cylinder and valve rods. all done on the CNC









I did manage to finish up a scale drawing which I pinned on the shop wall and will use to check measurements during the build.


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow even when your playing it gets don't fast! Looking good.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I spent several hours doing the grunt work of cleaning up the CNC parts. The mill is set so it cuts all but a few thousands which keeps everything in place and is then cleaned up by hand.
I then put together one Baker valve gear. Because of the nature of the gear, there is very close tolerances between the links and especially at the pins. I used 3/32" stainless for the pins and used a press fit on one side and a slip fit on the other of each joint. For some reason, my 3/32" drill bits provide a tight press fit and a #41 a slip fit. I also peened over the ends of both sides and then filed them to within a few thousands if the link to keep them from sliding out. I threaded all of the pins on the outside frame to accommodate future maintenance
Here it is in the forward position. The brass spacer at the top will eventually be replaced with a connector for the reverse reach bar









And reverse









Now I check it against my drawing at the firebox area where the tightest clearance is


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I just got an email saying the three photos didn't come through but when I go in they are there.
I did them the same wat I always do.
Does anyone know what may have happened or did they come through for anyone ????


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

Looks like you might have linked to photos on your google account. Are you sure they're public?


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I am not sure how to make them public. This is the first time I used Google and I put them in the Pictures section of my email. I did see something that may work so I will post a photo to see if it works. If not, I would sure appreciate any suggestions how to make it work or another site I can use
Thanks


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## BigRedOne (Dec 13, 2012)

I've had good success posting photos (large, not the "thumbnail" size that have to be individually opened) by loading the image to Flikr, then copying the code to a MLS post.

Having pictures off a forum also gives a high resolution gallery for anyone who wants to see more detail, and keeps them safe, in case a forum deletes its history or goes out of business.


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## John 842 (Oct 1, 2015)

Yes - but one of the most annoying and often seen notifications of deleted pictures is from 'Photobucket' saying "this image has been moved or deleted"

It would be very useful if someone could indicate the safest way to store photos posted in threads.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Ok
One more try on Google
Please tell me you can see it


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## David Leech (Dec 9, 2008)

John 842 said:


> Yes - but one of the most annoying and often seen notifications of deleted pictures is from 'Photobucket' saying "this image has been moved or deleted"
> 
> It would be very useful if someone could indicate the safest way to store photos posted in threads.


I find using the 'photo gallery' on this forum works well for me.
I know that unlike Photobucket etc. that this is the only place that you can see them, but then this is the only forum that I use so that's not an issue for me!
Cheers,
David Leech, Delta, Canada


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## David Leech (Dec 9, 2008)

bille1906 said:


> Ok
> One more try on Google
> Please tell me you can see it


That's a negative Bill!!
Cheers,
David Leech, Delta, Canada


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## John 842 (Oct 1, 2015)

Negative here too Bill - but please don't give up - this was shaping up to be an excellent thread.

BTW - to preserve the flow, perhaps we or the mods should delete these picture posting comments once the problem is resolved.


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## riderdan (Jan 2, 2014)

Funny thing is, if you right click the little "missing image" icon and select "Open in new Tab" you can see the image. But copy and pasting that link into a message doesn't work. Something is funky with Google permissions, I'm guessing, since it's an https:// rather than http:// prefix.

I did mange to get it to post up "opening" the image, then right-clicking "Copy image address" then pasting it it. You might try that, Bill.










Sweet work, BTW


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## Beddhist (Dec 17, 2013)

John 842 said:


> Yes - but one of the most annoying and often seen notifications of deleted pictures is from 'Photobucket' saying "this image has been moved or deleted"
> 
> It would be very useful if someone could indicate the safest way to store photos posted in threads.


You get that msg if the owner has moved or deleted a file. Once you link to it you should never touch it again.

The safest way would be a site where you pay for storage, as that will guarantee they want to keep you and your files. Dropbox and its brethren fit that bill, plus you can un-delete files if you delete them accidentally. It's also super-easy to use, as you just pop the files into folders on your hard disk.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

How about this one?


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## BigRedOne (Dec 13, 2012)

I can see the latest post (# 27.)


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Ok
Still not sure why it worked this time but here are the other two photos of it in forward and reverse.


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

John 842 said:


> YIt would be very useful if someone could indicate the safest way to store photos posted in threads.


Web space was added to 1st Class Membership over a decade ago to address just this issue. Photos are stored in a 1st Class Member's web space and can easily be linked to, and the photo will stay there indefinitely - unless the member either deletes it himself or allows his 1st Class Membership to lapse.


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill try copy (right click) and pasting the image when you make the post. I use Google and that's how I insert images. Always ok.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Jason
I must have something screwed up. 
I have been copying the url and pasting in in the icon that looks like a camera icon
I just tried to rt click and copy and then paste in this reply and nothing happened. I have gone into Google + and made everything public and it still doesn't work.
I think I have run out of things to try


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## redbeard (Jan 2, 2008)

*pictures*

Hey Bill,
FWIW all of the pictures that do not show up are shown in "view image info" as PNG files and all that do show up are JPG files........maybe a problem with PNG pictures? Larry


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

OK
My friend David figured it out for me
And for the info of other Google users here is how it works.
1. Create a shareable link.
2. Copy paste that link into a new browser tab.
3. Right click on the picture in this new tab and use that address (URL) in MyLargeScale.com

If you rt click on the image, there is a "open link in new tab" option which will take care of 1 & 2


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Looks like that didn't work either, and if I copy the URL of your last image and paste it into my browser's URL window, it takes me to Google's "Sign In" page.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I guess that is because David and I are both on Google so that is why we could see each other's photo
Can you see either of the photos here?
http://forums.mylargescale.com/31-forum-bugs-testing/57778-testing-images-google-photo.html


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## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

I can see David's but not yours. David's are jpegs and yours pngs as Redbeard noted.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I think this should work
I got a shareable link and pasted it in a new tab then rt clicked and used open link in new tab and then got the URL there
That is a lot of work for one picture


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Ok so I think I have this figured out

Here is a photo of the axle box and the side rod
I am using bronze bushings in the side rods and ball bearings in the axle boxes.
I haven't cleaned them up yet. The side rods will be tin plated


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## Alan in Adirondacks (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,

Beautiful work (as usual!!)

Best regards,

Alan


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill here is a test of the photo on my Google account. public permission

Right click on image/copy Paste into the reply box


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I wanted to see how the cylinder covers and lagging would look and check clearances and had some dead time yesterday so I made the lagging out of oak and turned out two front covers. I then fitted the side wraparound sheeting and cut the front sheet. I soldered them together so that the cover slides on from the front. Here it is with a photo of the prototype in the background.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I have some more photos to post

Here are the wheel castings I got from Walsal









First I mount the wheel on the lathe and drill and ream the axle hole and turn the back to get to the back of the spokes. This time I am using a tapered reamer to get a press fit on the axle.









I can now mount it in my arbor and turn the rim down. I cut the tread close to the finished dimension. The final tread will be done on Dennis' larger lathe.









I can't turn the hub on the arbor so now I mount it in the external jaws of the three jaw and turn the hub.









I clamp a square brass piece with a 5 mm shaft that the axle hole will slide over, center my mill on that piece and then move the mill over .500" which is half my stroke. I can now drill all of the wheels the same.


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## StackTalk (May 16, 2014)

Ahhhhhhh . . .

These are the first photos I have been able to see.

Your threads are inspirational, Bill.

Joe


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Dennis has been busy on the CNC mill
Here he cut the counterweights for the wheels
One interesting thing about the trip is that all of the small counterweights are the same size









You can see how nicely they fit into the wheels.









All of the counterweights are now attached with JB Weld and will be left to dry before painting the wheels tomorrow.









Here are the steps Dennis did on his big lathe after I had done the rough finishing of the tread.
Here is the mandrel he made the pin goes through the spokes and gives it a good grip for the plunge cut by the tread cutting tool.









This tool is profiled with a dremmel tool mounted in a vice. It has the proper tread angle and radius of the tread/flange intersection and the proper scale flange size


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Well, I just about finished the coaches for the Garratt and started back on the Triplex

While waiting for some Baker parts from Dennis, I started on the automatic drains. There will be 14 total, two on each cylinder and two between the HP and LP cylinders
I start by trimming some 3/16" brass rod down to .170 and then part it off to .300" long. The nub sticking out will be trimmed off later. Then in the mill vise, I center drill and then drill a 3/32 hole









Now, from a 1/8" brass rod, I turn one end down to 3/32 and thread the other to 4-40. The threaded end will go in the cylinder.









I cut some slots in a foundry brick to hold the bodies in place while soldering. there is one put together on the left front. This joint must be silver soldered 









Now I am jumping around a little because I have my Baker parts. The six Baker gears will have dozens of pins and close to a hundred spacers. I make my spacers from 360 brass ror. I drill it out in the lathe and then part it off. On these small spacers, i stick a piece of wire inside so it will not fly off after the cut off










I find it hard to part off small diameter stainless rod so I usually cut it to length with a hack saw, I take a piece of scrap brass, drill a hole to the desired depth and cut flush with the brass block,









In setting the pivot pins in the Baker links, I cut a slight counter sink and then with a small ball peen hammer peen the pin over 









The main drive rod gets a 5 x 9 x 2 ball bearing









This is the first edition of the rear crosshead bracket. note the small hole for the valve crosshead. The bracket is bent then drilled out for accuracy









There is very little room for error on the valve stem length because of the tight quarters so the stem is placed in the crosshead and then measured and cut to the exact length before installing the piston









Here is the first pass at the completed valve gear assembly. I still need to do a few revisions but the look will be the same. You can see the valve crosshead here. The crosshead slides on the square bar and the round bar just above it works the valve, the crosshead is moved by the rod from the combination lever which is attached to the bottom crosshead screw.


















This has been the most challenging chassis I have done yet. One of the main problems is the location of the combination lever which is where I have never seen on any other engine. It makes for very close tolerances and multiple links.

here is a front view showing the pistons. Pretty big


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I painted the chassis this week and added the reverse linkage









Here is a close up of the completed valve linkage









Now that the HP chassis is complete and tested, I can start on the two LP chassis









Here is a front view showing the cylinder and head covers as well as the piping for air testing. The making of the right angle piping and fittings is posted on my "making parts" thread.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Triplex video


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Very cool Bill. Though the video I can only see on my phone. Not the PC with IE or Firefox. Maybe ad the direct link too?


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Jay
How do I do that


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## StackTalk (May 16, 2014)

I too am enjoying this thread.

Just an FYI. I am having no problem viewing the video using Firefox on my Windows 7 Pro system and I do employ blockers:

Ghostery
Disconnect

. . . and I run Vipre and Malwarebytes Pro (the active version.)

Cheers,

Joe


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## redbeard (Jan 2, 2008)

video plays fine for me Wind 7 using Firefox and Fedora using Firefox

Larry


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

bille1906 said:


> Jay
> How do I do that


Usually paste the www...... from the YouTube page. 

Odd though as now the video shows up. Before it was just a black window that wouldn't do anything. Nothing changed as I am even still on the same IE window as before.


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## Beddhist (Dec 17, 2013)

The video works on my Firefox. Do you have the latest version?

It looks as if the rear wheels are binding in one spot.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

On the rear wheels binding, the chassis is only running at less than 1/3 of the pressure of the front one (about 12 psi) and is only receiving the exhaust from one cylinder and the other HP cylinder is exhausting to atmosphere so there is an unbalance on the system till I get the front engine hooked up to the other cylinder. Also, this is the first run on that engine so it is still a little tight. Prior to this test, I ran it on straight air and it was pretty smooth. I probably should have run it at high speed for a few minutes before doing the compound test. Here I was really just looking to see what kind of torque it would put out which seems to be fine.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Well
The site I have been using to transfer photos has crashed again, maybe this time for good so I will try Google again. I got it to work last time but forget how so I will try one photo till I get it right.










Let me know if you don't get the image


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## redbeard (Jan 2, 2008)

Looks good to me!
Larry


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

OK
The LP cylinders will be operating at low pressure so they need large tubing. Here I am making 3/16" thin wall brass "T" s 
I start by cutting a grove in the end of a tube with the sander or grinding wheel.









Then I hold it to another piece with a music wire clip and silver solder them together. I then drill through the piece I notched to create the "T"









The 3/16" tubing slips over the 5/32 nipples I had secured to the cylinders and is sealed with hi-temp silicone which will allow for cylinder removal if necessary.









The photo in my previous post shows the front deck.Note the double box frame buffer
I start by soldering a spacer in the middle of the plate and steps to properly center everything









I cut the step risers on the band saw and solder the deck and steps on









The pilot truck is pretty simple









The finished deck is shown with the Baldwin scale drawing in the background









Buffer detail. The flag pole and link pin are polished 303 stainless steel


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill, I did the same with the steam T on my K28 when I rebuilt it. As you know Accucraft chests are soldered to each other. I made a Oring packing and nut so I can remove as needed without major surgery.

Looking like good progress.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I have been working on the pony truck this week. The prototype had a very complex truck which if duplicated would probably require a 25' 30' radius track in our gauge. Because the truck was so distinctive and a key part to the look of the model, I copied as many of the components as I could and still leave a reasonable track radius (7')
To do this, I had to cut wheel wells in the frame and allow the leaf springs to move with the truck. The working spring is a coil spring between the frames,

I start by cutting strips of .020 brass sheet to 1/4" wide and then to length with each set 1/8" shorter than the next. I could have used K&S 1/4" x .020 strips but it was faster to cut them than a trip to the hobby shop.
The blue is layout dye that was on the sheets when I bought them.









I then bend them to the same curvature, stack them, and wrap a strap around them, Then I solder them at the strap with Staybrite








I cut card stock to get the proper clearances









And use that as a pattern for plate








The front sides are silver soldered on









A 1/8" x 1/2" strap is annealed and bent in a horse shoe shape and then the sides are cut to length. It is then silver soldered to the front section. The axle boxes will bolt on to it which will allow for the wheel removal








The springs, saddle block and hangers are then soldered on









The finished spring section








And the rear chassis
[I









So now I have the three working chassis. I still need to do the reverse servos and piping before I start on the boiler. hopefully next week


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## pickleford75 (May 3, 2012)

Not seeing any of those last pictures


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Still having trouble with Google photos
Sometimes it works and other it doesn't
Try this


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## StackTalk (May 16, 2014)

I am seeing bits of a xylophone or possibly a vibraphone - obviously not yet fully assembled.

  ,s

Joe


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## ConrailRay (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Bill,
I saw all the photos right after you posted them last night, however some point later in the evening they flipped to the "minus" sign. Maybe permissions?

The photo you just posted today of the parts of the leaf spring is displaying fine.

Absolutely incredible work!!

-Ray


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I went back and edited the previous post. where the photos were not showing
Most of the photos are showing on my iPhone now
Check it out


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## StackTalk (May 16, 2014)

The work looks beautiful, Bill,

I believe I am seeing all of the photographs now.

No mistaking those fine leaf springs for miniature xylophone parts. 

Cheers,

Joe


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

axle pump components









soldered together









mounted with ball bearing eccentric and reverse linkage clearance









Steam reservoir with hole for drain valve









Front chassis with reservoir and semi-soft silicone tubing









Center chassis. HP cylinder is on the left with rear chassis and cylinder on the rt. reservour is mounted low to allow room for the firebox mixing box which will go between the frame rails


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Doesn't steam just tend to condense in the reservoir? I would think that at least some insulation would be in order.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Winn
A lot of this is new for me so I may be off on some things but from what I have read, many compound engines had reservoirs which equalized the steam pressure coming from the HP cylinders. As the Triplex has only one cylinder feeding two LP cylinders, I felt the need to do the same thing. 
I also thought that water coming from the HP cylinder (like when it squirts out the stack of a regular engine) could be ejected from the reservoir drain valve before it got to the LP cylinders. I also have cylinder drains on all cylinders and D valves which should prevent lockup on startup.

It is hard to see in the photos but all of the brass and copper tubing is encased in black silicone tubing for insulation. The HP tubing will be covered with ceramic insulation and will be superheated.
I haven't figured out yet how to insulate the reservoirs. I was thinking I could build a form around them and spray the expanding urethane foam they use in houses or maybe an automotive undercoating material.
Thanks for responding


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

I'm not really sure how much good it does but I insulate things with fiberglass high temperature electrical tape. I cut it into strips about 1/4 inch wide and put at least 2 layers around steam lines, oilers, etc.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Winn
Which one do you use. I see where there are plenty available. Most are only 7 - 9 mil thick
I wonder how well they insulate
I have been using string impregnated with Fiberfrax (ceramic) glue which seems to work well and looks nice on the tubing. The tape might be a good thing for the reservoirs.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

A friend is going to make some boiler bushings for the first time and that is what I did yesterday so i thought i would post the procedure

These will be 5 mm threads which is the standard for most small mountings
I start with 5/16" easy to machine bronze stock(.312') and center drill it in the lathe
Because the brass reflects the light, the photos are somewhat blurry










Then I drill it out with a # 16 bit (.177)









Then, I back off on the tail stock till the chuck is free and holding the chuck in my hand, I feed the 5 mm tap into the hole. I can easily feel when the tap hits bottom and it will just spin in my hand if I don't







.

Then I cut a bevel with a countersink which will hold the o-ring in place









The boiler shell is .080 thick. I don't want the bushing protruding much below the inside of the tube or it will act like a straw and suck up water at whatever height it is protruding to. Because of the curvature of the boiler, I will go slightly more (.090) to reach the bottom. I have decided on .060 for the part that will be on the outside of the boiler but that can be any height.
Here I am using the parting tool to make a 1/4" step and also to part it off. so the two steps are .060 in and .032 deep and then another .090 and cut off









I make the hole in the boiler with a step drill as it does a better job through thin material than a regular bit. I can also cut the chamfer which aids the silver soldering job by kissing it with the next larger step.









And here it is ready for soldering.


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## Skeeterweazel (Feb 11, 2014)

Thx for sharing that.
I don't think i've asked you, but what lathe do you have?
thx.
Marty


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Marty
It's a Microlux 7x14
It's ok for most of the small stuff we do but bigger is always better


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill, The tape I use is 3M Scotch 27. I get it at the local electronic parts store. It is only .007 thick but I put on several layers, 2 on small steam pipes more on larger parts. I wrap it on a diagonal so the seams of the different layers cross at a diagonal and don't line up with each other. If you can't find any I can send some to you.

The photo showing the step on the bushing looks like it focused on the chips behind the part you are working on.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Winn
You are right about the camera focusing. I will have to figure a way to focus on the small parts. maybe use the super macro setting. I have always had that problem on my lathe shots, probably because I can't get close enough. I always thought it was the light reflecting off the brass but the shinny chips look fine.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

You might try putting a piece of paper or cardboard behind the part you are photographing.


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## BigRedOne (Dec 13, 2012)

Autofocus picks up on the contrast in the scene. Your camera could easily be focusing off the bright chips on the dark catch tray. The image using the parting-off tool suggest this is what happened (foreground subject is blurred, while the background is sharp.)

For these close-in, detailed images I'd put the camera on a tripod and focus manually. (It's great if your camera allows zooming in to its view screen while focusing.)

Set a smaller aperture. This gives greater depth of field, so more of the picture is in focus. The smaller you go, however, the more light you'll need.

I use the 105 mm 2.8 macro lens for my assembly photos, and I need to stop down all the way to about f 20 for many of them. At that point I need to use the flash unit. Having an off-camera flash you can bounce off the ceiling would likely work well here.

Matthew


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I have been using a small Nikon camera which has a nice macro setting and works well for most photos but only has auto focus. I have a digital SLR but no macro lens which I will try on my next lathe shot. I should be able to manual focus and then crop the picture to get the right result.
Thanks for the tips


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

We had a work party at my house Saturday and finished the boiler soldering. Working inside the firebox can be hard by yourself but a helping hand or two makes it much easier
I spent most of last week getting everything ready
The scale size of the boiler is .275 ID. I took 3" pipe and on the table saw, I ripped 3/4" off the length which reduced the diameter by 1/4". I then used the piece I cut out to strengthen the seam









I soldered the tubes to the throat plat and then checked the back side to make sure the solder went all the way through around every tube









The backhead is cut out and the firebox window, regulator and superheater hole are set up









Crown sheet is cut, bushings are soldered in and stay holes are drilled.









The front tube sheet is held in place during the solder job with three copper pins which are made from electrical ground wire, tapered with a file on the lathe and driven into a 1/16" hole they will be soldered during the final solder job. note the well nut at the bottom of the photo for the smokebox mounting.









The slot in the throat sheet will be level with the top of the crown sheet for water flow. the ridge above the slot is to keep the steam tube from dropping down below the dome. Again, I am using electrical wire to make two studs threaded to 2-56 for the crown sheet to rest on during the soldering process. There is another one on the backhead.









Firebox is now ready to solder.









The turbo torch heats the boiler pretty fast but Bill is assisting with the Mapp torch









Bill turns his torch off and I get everything evenly hot.









Then Dennis takes over with the Acetylene torch while I keep the heat on the lower portion of the boiler for a few minutes. I then grab the scratcher and help with the soldering job.









The boiler is tested under water with air pressure. I start with five pounds which is safe but still shows up most leaks. A few were found and repaired and then the test was repeated with increasing pressures up to 80 psi. The boiler was then pickled overnight and cleaned up for this final test at 125 psi. It will be water tested at 160 psi after the hand pump is built.









And the finished boiler


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

nice looking boiler!


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Hey Bill, Looking good. Boiler looks so small for such a long engine. I'm sure its deceiving. What size tit were you using on the turbo torch, I have a 1" and 1.25" tip. Its like 40K and 55k BTU. Curious as I've only soldered gas tanks so far. Does it not get enough heat for a larger boiler you had to switch to acetylene? Or is it just easier that way?

On schedule for July it looks. Ray must be itching to see it run


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

HI jay
The boiler is scale to the prototype. It is 16" long and will be 18" with the smokebox
Not sure on the size of the turbo tip. I'll measure it later but I think it is over 1-1/4
I think it is enough to do the boiler but with the acetylene/air torch you can concentrate on the area being soldered and not worry about melting something that has already been done.
I did the bushings in the boiler shell and the tube assembly with the turbo alone but with the whole assembly it is almost 7 pounds of copper to be heated. The more torches just makes it heat up faster.
If I were to do the front tube sheet with just the turbo, I would have put rings of 1/32" solder around each tube and around the boiler tube/tube sheet joint and use the scratcher to make sure all of the joints were filled That is how Kozo does it and how I did the tubes on the throat sheet


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Jay
The tip is 1-14"
The boiler is 16.5" and it will be 19.25" with the smokebox.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

More work on the boiler
The superheater passes through the firebox and out the backhead
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/e...A0J5XYjz7e7VIIX05iciSA0kxM7dP0MO=w858-h643-no


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Please check to see if this image is coming through


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## StackTalk (May 16, 2014)

I see it in both posts.

I am enjoying this thread!

Regards,

Joe


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Great
Thanks
More to come this afternoon


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The superheater tube is 3/16" thin wall stainless with a 1/4-40 fitting silver soldered on which will pass through the backhead. In order to make the superheater removable, it must pass through a hole at least 1/4" on diameter but I can't have flames from the firebox leaking out the hole in the backhead so I drill out and tap the hole to 5/16" x 20 and screw in this bushing from the back side.









And here it is on the other side









The ceramic burner needs to have this jet holder/mixing box which goes between the frames.









The two tubes show here. Standoffs and baffles will be added to get an even burn









The burner is tested on the bench. Here it is with .0135 jets. I later tested it in the boiler and decided on .012 jets.









The burner box is also the rear boiler mount so it is fitted in the center chassis.









The front boiler mount will allow the chassis to rotate and slide to the side. The slot is cut at the radius which provides the best clearance on tight turns









The nature of the Triplex is that the exhaust for compounding the front and rear chassis is evenly split between them so they will at best have 50% of the torque of the center chassis. Because of this, I need to be able to adjust the weight in the front chassis drivers. To do this, I have a middle boiler mount with a spring which has a six pound lift when compressed. This leaves almost no weight on thr front mount with a dry boiler. The weight can then be increased by pulling the mount down with the nylock screw to get equal traction on the first two chassis.









The smokebox was made similar to the boiler. A tube was cut down and then soldered to get the desired diameter, The front was then cut from a piece of 1/4" brass bar. A recess is cut in the back which fits the ID of the smokebox









Then the front profile is cut with a bull-nose lathe bit









The smokebox is not a perfect circle but the front is. I force the front on and then use a radiator hose clamp to apply pressure and then tap it all around the clamp with a plastic hammer shown at the bottom. The material forms easily as it was annealed when it was silver soldered.







https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ilKBlhjPBSy-M1BP-06q9SKw1Fi-I6Aq3Fd-vG17pOuV-6jxGF7Kb

The bottom of both pieces is cut off to provide clearance for the front deck. I went a little more than the prototype because of our more challenging track layouts.
[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ilKBlhjPBSy-M1BP-06q9SKw1Fi-I6Aq3Fd-vG17pOuV-6jxGF7Kb17_7EDEA4iFo1v6vC5VOFnbYLWoEe2gyj4XbxL2chgRKHX27NHsJdBF8-L2NKg7hkJ8CjCLKxY4ElwNtyXf-AHYa688amcr8XCPvJNlQUXe_Wce1f5LID0HT2njM7cdEBnOm71GRCOTDMztwxePaMWc9ARqK-etE34FrgMUk644EPlKCDhXQqTvLqxAEOkqlwa1nAtvIelhmTUm5kLvdGyYu0-fVqOciyEWV-y9vZyfHedt2ZznwQIZfCWBqk2v7oG77nhnC7uUcecSxBgA0EX5He61s_glDM0jUxDDw-oAa4R7vruUnlN0D8vfUdNJZwbxGXiNJhqp0mX1PjIKcIt7fQiOYV4eL5vYa1g3s0lt1DSI3_8If3rRCrwVQBzYUuPBw-Wes-TwM1pGUZkI5A12AaPq9iqFh3iI-acKT7MXjRD6FgJstYnSPCoHlKnK8E5nnVcyN05Pq7lw2maWsjYQFhahwllVZJvmFRgB4iQ-aCZmpGtsx_XI8LoyHuuIFk1qPfEtLoU9By12=w858-h643-no
The rivets are just for show but I put an 00-90 bolt on each side to hold the front on.









I had a Trackside Detail door which was the right size and shape so I went with that rather than make another. The hinge was lining up right at the curved portion so I cut 1 1/8" slot on the mill to get a correct fit.









The large ceramic burners need an unrestricted smokebox so I have an oversize exhaust tube hole.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I finished up the backhead and smokebox this week
I made a manifold block and added from right to left - banjo fitting for pressure gauge to be fitted later, 
Large sight glass with 6 mm tube, spare location, needle valves (2) for boiler blow off and tender heater tube, 
Below that is the throttle regulator with the tube going to the superhearer
The hose on the left is an air hose for testing for leaks.









The needle valve and knob are made from SS to decrease the heat transfer I would get from brass
The thread is 4-40









The 3/16" SS superheater tube is silver soldered to the piece of hex material which gives me the correct angles for the two 5/32" tubes which will go through the smokebox and to each cylinder.









Everything is then mounted. The copper elbows on the outside of the smokebox are small plumbing elbows made for sweating with soft solder. I cut the bell mouth off and then silver solder the tube and through fitting. This assembly is then attached to the smokebox with the hex nut to the same threaded nipple the tube is attached to. You can see on the right how the hex nut is rounded off at the bottom to conform to the smokebox radius









Two pop off safety valves are made and as this will be a compound engine, they are set at 80 and 85 PSI


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## pickleford75 (May 3, 2012)

Great build.... would like to see some drawings of those safety valves


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

This weeks progress

First I wanted to show the steam elbow fitting as I wasn't sure if I explained it properly.









The boiler wrap is three pieces. The first is straight with a 1/8" fiberfrax insulation. The next is a cone which I use tapered pieces of oak to form it. It has a taper at the top but not the bottom so the wedges reduce in taper on the way down.









strips are run all the way back and down the sides for the firebox flair.









insulation is added between the strips









and brass sheets are soldered together









The feed water fitting needs a curved and tapered washer. I form the profile on the drum sander holding the bar at the angle I need and check it on the boiler. I then cut the washer off on the lathe.









I don't want to do a clack valve with the ball seat on the top so I made a goodall valve which is inside the boiler









The sand domes are side by side and have a weird curved base. Over at Dennis' house, we use the boring bar to cut the curvature. The front and rear have different radii as the boiler is wider in the rear.









As all four domes have the same dome shape Dennis made a lathe tool to form them ensuring that they will all be the same.









Using a compass I draw a border around the bases on card stock and then cut it out and paste it to a brass sheet.









The washers are rivet embossed and pipe bases and hinges are added









The domes are attached with JB Weld. the running boards are attached with brackets and 0-80 screws. Note the fitting on the steam line for the lubricator line.









Next is the dual air pump which I will use as dual dead leg lubricators. here is the top portion with the inlet pipe and a .013" hole.


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## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

Wow Bille: Great work and most instructive tutorial for all of us who want to tackle a live steam engine. And impressive speed of your progress. I am particularly interested in your technique for making tapered boiler wraps for live steam as I plan to make a PRR I 1 someday.
I was also glad to see that we Frenchies aren't the only ones to tackle compounds in gauge one. Keep up this fantastic series.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Ingenious method of constructing the tapered boiler jacket. That would have been an easier way to do the one on my Mason Bogie. Is it removable?


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Winn
I hope I don't ever have to remove it but yes it is. By removing four clamping screws on the bottom,the steam dome and safeties, it can be slid out the front of the boiler. The smokebox is attached with a couple of screws and the steam and exhaust tubes would need to come off before removing the smokebox but probably a 15 - 30 minute job.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I painted the boiler last night and liked it so much I just had to share the photos.
Here is a simple jig I made for drilling stanchions. I just make a divot in a piece of scrap brass with a 1.8" ball end mill or a drill bit will work. I super glue it to my vise and once centered, I can drill them all in production style. The making of the stanchions is described in my Streamlined Garratt thread.

















The steam generator will have a plume and will double as a boiler blow down









Apiece of card stock is cut to the bell profile I want and the bell is turned with a bull nose bit and finished with files.









And the painted boiler




































https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/E...NKUeMFtTYIxevjSgEZDRCEtroA4ps9=w2151-h1613-no


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

Very cool! I'm sure it will pull stumps too!


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## StackTalk (May 16, 2014)

WOW!

I realize that my comment is not very helpful, but what else can I add?

  ,s

Joe


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

What a gorgeous machine! You will have to keep it in a safe so some museum doesn't steal it!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks guys
Joe
Your comment is helpful to me as sometimes I wonder if anyone is following the thread and it is comforting to know it is read and appreciated.


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## Alan in Adirondacks (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Bill,

I'm always following your threads, even if I don't comment. Looks great!

Best regards,

Alan


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## rwjenkins (Jan 2, 2008)

bille1906 said:


> Thanks guys
> Joe
> Your comment is helpful to me as sometimes I wonder if anyone is following the thread and it is comforting to know it is read and appreciated.


I always learned that it's rude to interrupt the teacher, and man you are taking us all to school with this fine work you're doing! Your posts, more than pretty much any others lately, are what keep me coming back here regularly.


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill simply incredible! Didnt think it would go this fast. Details and a tender body and plumbing and its off to the track! I bet Ray is dreaming of a possible Triplex running on his track. I know I cant wait to see my new loco when it finally gets here. I already pulled out my Unitah Railway drawings to see about some rollingstock.


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## NeilK (Jun 17, 2013)

Bill
You've done a great job on your Triplex build! Thanks for sharing. I always appreciate a few photos showing how an onerous machining problem can be undertaken. Perhaps the biggest help is from descriptions of how a seemingly complex piece can be made from simpler components or operations. That you have done very nicely. Maybe I could entice you to submit a photo or two for publication in LSOR?


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## ConrailRay (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Bill,
This beast is absolutely phenomenal !!
Over 9k views in a little over 4 months... People are def watching!

I go back and re-read and study the pics on a lot of your builds. Trying to learn not only the tricks, but the basics for that matter! And to collect all the tooling and such to start machining some chips in the basement!

-Ray


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I completed the front half this week (I think)

The Cab was cut out on the mill in similar fashion to my Streamlined Garratt thread and then soldered with staybrite. I made channels for a sliding four panel window that I saw in one Triplex photo.



























Next up is the tubing and servo wiring. My design ceramic burners like a lot of air in the smokebox so I make a large hole in the bottom. The exhaust from the front engine is transmitted via a large silicone tube. This will be low pressure and temp. I don't want to restrict the flow so for now I am just using a straight 1/4" tube which will screw in to this fitting. I can add a nozzle or different tube later if needed.









Underside view









Here is a view of the underside of the front two chassis with the tubing , servos, and wiring finished. I will probably paint the wires black as they show a little between the wheels.









Here you can see the rear chassis snuggled under the cab, the smokebox front, headlight and firebox riveted detail. The tender in the back is from my Quad and ia used to set the servos.









And with the cab roof and window in place. 









And the throttle servo and pressure gauge.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow! that is one complicated piece of machinery! I can't believe the short period of time it has taken you to accomplish all that.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I have the tender almost finished now and will be bringing it to our BAGRS annual meeting to display so I made up a temporary carry case for it

The tender starts with a warming chamber where the rear exhaust travels through the water bath. This also rests on the frame and is secured with screws through the two tabs.









The hand pump stand and cylinder is silver soldered together









The hand pump goes through the axle pump so high pressure fittings are in order. The fitting on the left will go on the axle pump and on the right is the setup which will go through the floor an o-ring seats in the groove if the washer and the thin nut holds it in place. the floor will be between the shoulder of the fitting and the o-ring

















And here it is attached to the floor where the flare nut from the hand pump connects







]


I'm kind of jumping around as I missed some photos but I wanted to show the Fuel tank bushing. The tank is constructed similar to a boiler. The accucraft filler valve has a vent hole half way down the threads. If you make the bushing too long, you will cover the hole and it will slow down the filling process.









So here you can see the fuel tank and hand pump in position. The tube on the top is fuel. Below that is the hand pump outlet and at the bottom is the return from the axle pump, the bypass valve and output to the boiler









The round hatch is the fuel valve. The removable pump handle is in place with it's holder in the background. the bypass valve will protrude through the coal load.










Here it is with the coal load in place.











The temporary carry case needs to be substantial so I have the loco secured at the articulation point with a screw going through the plywood base. In addition to that The front coupler holder fits in to a fitted recess









And the rear fits into a similar holder. I havent finished the rear buffer yet.









And her it is ready to travel which is what I did this morning as the house id being fumigated


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

What an amazing machine!!! I am in awe of your machining talents.


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## Skeeterweazel (Feb 11, 2014)

Can't wait to see it run!


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## Joe Johnson (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks again for sharing all of your work. That is one very lovely engine.


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow bill, I cant believe how fast this build went. Look forward to seeing it run on steam. Maybe NSS?


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Well, I am ready for a test this afternoon. Dennis is coming over at 1:00 and I have mt fingers crossed.
I finished some cosmetic items this week starting with the tender ladder
I am using 1/16" brass rod for the rungs. I have a problem parting off 1/16" stock on the lathe so I take a piece of scrap brass and drill a .068 hole .470 long which will give me a scale 14" between the rails. Then I just cut them off with a jewelers saw.









Then, on the lathe, I trim the ends down to .052 


















I lay out the rail shape I need and cut the straight portion on the table saw and then finish up in the band saw with a 1/8" blade. Because the straight portion is cut on the table saw, it is true enough for me to mount in the mill visa and with the DRO, drill .053 holes every .375"









Then everything is silver soldered together after painstakingly fitting it together.









And here is the mounted ladder as well as the rear buffer and steps.









The prototype had a valve box in front of the cab which looks like it was an afterthought and wasn't very professional looking so i dolled mine up a bit









So, here it is ready to move out to the track


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## ConrailRay (Jan 2, 2008)

I only have one word for that... sha-wing! or is that two words?


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I wasn't happy with the startup of the engine the other day, In fact I had to push it about 5 feet to get it going. I know, this is not uncommon on compound engines but it is not acceptable to me.
The Triplex design, to me, wasn't always ideal but I wanted to keep it prototypical. The curious thing about it is that one cylinder feeds two where as in a Mallett two feed two larger ones. So the four LP Triplex cylinders are receiving the same amount of steam and thus the same power potential as two Mallett cylinders. The difference in the Triplex was the very large HP cylinder size. The drawback which I found out after testing was that the limited amount of steam allotted to the LP cylinders caused them to under perform. I could install a diverter/simpling valve for startup but still wouldn't have the performance I wanted. So I decided to use a bypass valve to send a small amount of HP steam to the LP cylinder feeds which would assist startup and then could be left open to enhance the running
here is what I came up with
The 5/32" inside tubes are the HP lines. The 3/32" tubing goes from each one to the valve on the side and then to the large LP tubing.
In testing it, it seems like the boiler has more than enough steam to run with them open all of the time and all three chassis seem to have the same traction now. I did a quick pull test at 60 psi and it topped out at 11 pounds the only limitation is the weight of the engine as I had to throttle it back to keep all 24 wheels from breaking loose.
I took these photos before I redid the insulation and paint

















I still have a few minor things to correct but so far it looks like a success.


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## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

Hello Bill: Have you considered re superheat between the HP and the LP cylinders? I have a friend in England who did this to his Chapelon and it transformed it. Also Chapelon did this on his 1-6-0 A 1 prototype laboratory freight loco and said it did a lot of good. Just a thought and a suggestion. Fantastic job you have done in any case.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Yes, I have thought about that especially on the rear engine where the exhaust is very wet but I am not sure how I could do it. I still have a lot of testing to do. I haven't run it with any sizable load which should warm things up and get the compounding working properly. The rear exhaust, like the prototype, goes through the tender water bath warming that up but at the same time cooling the exhaust.


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill, is there space to loop a ring of stainless pipe in the firebox from the one cylinder before it goes to the rear loco? That seems to be the easiest to keep hot.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Jason
Thanks for the suggestion.

Because of the size of the cylinders and the compound, the tube is 1/4" and I doubt if there would even be room for an 1/8" tube in the firebox. The engine seems to run fine and I just ran it for a little bit this morning and the tender water got up to 95 degrees. I really don't want it getting much hotter than that. Keep in mind that the small bypass tubes mix superheated steam with the LP steam so it is already hotter than normal.
I will just keep running it to see what works and what doesn't.
Having a steamup at the house Sat if it doesn't rain so I should get in some good runs and maybe a video or two.


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## John Allman (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill =insulate all the HP lines, if not the LP lines. It makes a large difference for compounding. I wrapped mine with kitchen string and CA'ed it to hold in place.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Hi John
The HP and LP lines are insulated. The HP in a double wrapper of string impregnated with carborundum glue (Fiberfrax) and the LP with split silicone tubing wrapped over the copper and brass tubing
You can see the insulation on the right of the last photo where I cut it away to do the silver soldering of the new lines. I took the photo before I re-insulated things to show the tubing routing.
It is actually running quite nicely now.
You are right about the insulation, I can lay my finger on the insulated superheated line and it barely feels warm.
I was a little concerned about the tender water getting up to 115 degrees but checked last night and see that butane only gets up to 40 psi at that temp so no danger of a tank problem as it is the same construction as the boiler.
With the compound exhaust being routed through the tender bath, I was thinking it wouldn't warm things up much but I was wrong about that, It is very efficient.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Had a small steamup today. Couldn't do it this Sat as the forecast is for rain every day for the next two weeks. Took some videos but the quality isn't the greatest.
I don't have any 1:32 freight cars so I had to use my French coaches. They are all steel and quite heavy so they gave it a good test. The engine ran fine but the coaches had a problem with one section of the track and were uncoupling. But we still had a good run. The ceramic burner works so nice. It has more steam production, is perfectly quiet and can be adjusted bu looking at the glow through the firebox window.
The first Video is the cold startup. Dennis messed the first foot or so where the cylinder drains were visibly squirting water out. You can see how it is somewhat jerky for a few feet till the cylinders warm up and dispel all of the water.


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## rbednarik (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill,

Fantastic! You managed to pull off a successful model of a fairly unsuccessful prototype and that is something to be proud of. 

Even starting from cold is smoother than I would have anticipated given your cylinder sizes relative to the pipe passages. Perhaps larger is truly better to help ease the inevitable hydrolocking that comes with cold startup in a compound. 

Great idea on the booster valves to feed some HP steam into the LP cylinders, keeping everything nice and warm is key for the compounding, even when the pipe runs are short. The N&W used this concept to good success in 1:1 on the Y6 classes to aid in getting maximum power out of their engines when starting.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Ryan
Steve came over and we added some cars to it. Here it is on a warm start.


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## Skeeterweazel (Feb 11, 2014)

Phenomenal loco. There's a 2nd smoke stack on the back of the tender?


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

WOW! Just plain WOW!


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Yes, It is the exhaust from the rear engine. It also goes through the tender bath preheating the feedwater and keeping the butane tank warm.


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## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

Aaaaaaamacing! Fantastic!


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## John Allman (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill - awesome work. Congratulations


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## HampshireCountyNarrowGage (Apr 4, 2012)

Beautiful, just Beautiful. Now if a couple of modelers can do something like this in what, six months, why does it take a manufacture over a year? Yeah, yeah I know. Just saying.
Still a beautiful job Bille.


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## steamtom1 (Jan 2, 2008)

*Utterly Fantastic doesn't even come close to describing your work, Bill.

There was a triplex @ DH back in ought five. It looked real nice, but I never did see it run, or even sitting on track, for that matter. Don't know who built it*.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Tom
I saw the photo before
Nice work. Looks like a kitbash of several locos
Roundhouse???


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill, That is simply beyond anything I could imagine! It would have blown Mr. Mason's (of Mason Bogie fame) mind! Fantastic job!


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## Joe Johnson (Jan 2, 2008)

Awesome!!! Just plain awesome!


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

bille1906 said:


> {snip}
> The first Video is the cold startup. Dennis messed the first foot or so where the cylinder drains were visibly squirting water out. You can see how it is somewhat jerky for a few feet till the cylinders warm up and dispel all of the water.
> 
> https://youtu.be/RvHn6SBuGaw


When I was a kid, I slept in an upstairs bedroom (remodeled attic!) and since we didn't have air-conditioning, in the summer time the dormer window had to be open. About a mile and a half to the south was a small rail yard. Many, many times about the time I went to bed they were assembling a train in that yard using a steam locomotive and it was pleasant to hear it working hard to start the cars to move them to the next track to couple to the next section... Then, a couple of hours later (yeah it was really hard to get to sleep!) I would hear a locomotive pull that train out and head for the road.

Part of the reason I got into Live Steam (in the garden) is because I was hoping to somehow replicate the sound of the road engine pulling that heavy train out of the yard. Never really got my engines to chuff quite right and I figured it was just the small size that limited the ability to make that loud, low chuff.

You have come the closest to it yet. Wish I had BIG speakers on my PC... I may have to see if I can pipe that video to my TV and see if it can make it as loud as I can stand!  

Thanks!


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## Nick Jr (Jan 2, 2008)

Semper Vaporo: I believe I was bitten by the same bug. As a child lived very close to an industrial siding and was able to hear the beat of the steam switchers and smell the exhaust. I vividly remember my dear mother closing all the windows that faced the track and bringing clothes off the line so the soot from them wouldn't ruin her mornings wash. And you are right,this is closer to reality than the chips I installed in my sparkies. Love This Hobby.


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## steamtom1 (Jan 2, 2008)

*Semper,

If you like real, (not electronic), chuff sounds, like we all do, listen to this one, especially on launch.






One reason it is so loud is the Duchess is 4 cylinder, with the inside 180 degrees from the outside, so you only hear 4 chuffs per revolution, but they are actually double chuffs.

Or this one. Great chuff sound, and no "chuffer". I wish I knew why, so I could duplicate it on my other locomotives. 






Cheers,
*


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## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

Great job Bille, Not only is this controversial engine running but it seems that you have made one of the first working gauge one feedwater heaters, that I ever heard of also.


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## steamtom1 (Jan 2, 2008)

*Although it wasn't used as feed water, I believe Kevin O'Connor came up with a steam line running through the tender, to keep the butane warming water warm, on the Frank S.*


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## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

That is true and it makes it twice as useful. But this is in the feed water. Only injectors don't like hot water, but axle pumps dont mind. As a mater of fact the French Dabeg feedwater heater used a mechanical pump that took it's movement from the motion (the ASTER sncf 1-4-0 C has one fitted on the fireman side). Feedwater heaters should be a real boon to our gauge one live steam. Because: Not only does the pump reduce part of the power of the engine, but it also feeds cold water into our boilers reducing their steaming ability considerably. If hot water is fed instead of cold water we should get an increase in efficiency. The main problem is where do we collect the steam? With the triplex Bille uses steam that was just wasted out of the tender and which did no work at all, in effect it is a real feed water heater. Also beneficial is the fact that the steam from the rear engine being condenced partly due to this feed water heating, this increases the efficiency of the rear engine. Magnifique!


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

> *Utterly Fantastic doesn't even come close to describing your work, Bill.
> *


I agree. Awesome locomotive. Thanks for taking the time to document and photograph the build - I know how much time that additional chore takes.


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## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

I'm your 12-thousandth viewer, woo hoo!


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## Skeeterweazel (Feb 11, 2014)

Bill, do you cut "single point" threads on the lathe? 
If so, what are the treads you do cut?
Thx.
Marty


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Hi Marty
I usually use tap & die setups unless I need a special thread like in the cylinders of my Ruby in which I used 52 threads per inch








Here is the link to that build
http://forums.mylargescale.com/18-live-steam/38146-hot-rod-ruby.html


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## Skeeterweazel (Feb 11, 2014)

Thx. Am looking at a lathe but it doesn't do many metric threads. Knowing you don't single point much makes me not worry so much.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

The only metric thread I use is 5 x .5 which I use extensively. It threads easily and is used for fittings, safetys and jets and much more
The SAE ones I cut with taps and dies are: 0-80, 2-56,4-40, 8-32,10-32,1/4-28, 1/4-40, 5/16- 24, 3/8-24
Those along with the 5 mm should be able to handle any task.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

I just finished the carrying case. It is a different design than I have done in the past as it is fully encased in a plywood box.
I used Baltic Birch which is a multi ply plywood made from all birch wood vs the normal plywood fillers. It is a little pricey but worth it.
Here is a four minute video on the features.


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