Today¡¯s S Scale project
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Over the many 20 to 30 years of modeling an S Scale I have always been on the lookout to buy SSL&S Parts. I like to buy kits that some guys have started and failed on are from the estates that somebody is selling. Back around 2011 or 12 I bought, a parts box of all kinds of detail parts. Once I opened it up, I found that a lot of it was for a consolidation with 56 inch drivers so I just kind of put it all back in the box and the other day I decided to go through this box itemize the detail parts and put them in my inventory for future used.
Upon doing so I decided to start building the consolidation since I had a set of drivers and side rods and the frame to start from. So scrounging through my inventory. I started to build it and you can see by the picture I have an assortment of parts laid out. I¡¯m at the valve gear step and I just happen to be a Walsherts valve guy and not so much a baker valve Gear guy. After talking to a buddy of mine about the different valve gears, and then he brings up the needle bearing issue and the maintenance that the prototype didn¡¯t have to deal with on Baker valve gear using needle bearings. He really pushed me in the Baker direction. Although the Walsherts valve gear was designed to be on the outside of the locomotive compared to the Stevenson and other valve gear systems allowing the engineer to lubricate everything consistently during operation. The. Walsherts valve gear actually performed very well with low maintenance . But after talking with him and reading his dissertation on Baker and needle bearings I¡¯ve decided maybe to try my hand at a baker valve system on this consolidation. I¡¯m building it for the Meramec Valley lines so I¡¯m referring to this model as a mutt because it¡¯s going to be made up of all the parts that I¡¯ve collected over the years. Upon going through some of my parts that I got from Rusty¡®s estate I found a full set of Baker valve gear that looks to me like it came off of an 0-8-0 Overland or consolidation. I am likely to use that , if not, I¡¯m gonna go with the Walsherts valve gear. I can darn put one of those together in my sleep. I should say that all the parts in this picture are out of my inventory of parts including those cylinders. So with all this said, let me know if you want me to post progress pictures. Mike Swederska -- Mike Swederska Meramec Valley Lines Modeling Mopac equipment in 3/16 Don't let perfection get in the way of good enough! Keep model railroading fun! |
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Mike,
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Please do post your in progress photos. You have incomparable skills that provide so much inspiration to us! I tried to build some SSL&S kits when I first entered the scale side of the hobby and failed. My Pacific was cosmetically completed but I could not get it to run worth a darn, so I gave it to a friend more experienced in building steam, but he had no luck either. Thanks, Roger Nulton -----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Mike Swederska Sent: Saturday, June 22, 2024 8:37 AM To: S Scale Groups IO Post To Group Email <[email protected]> Subject: [S-Scale] Today¡¯s S Scale project Over the many 20 to 30 years of modeling an S Scale I have always been on the lookout to buy SSL&S Parts. I like to buy kits that some guys have started and failed on are from the estates that somebody is selling. Back around 2011 or 12 I bought, a parts box of all kinds of detail parts. Once I opened it up, I found that a lot of it was for a consolidation with 56 inch drivers so I just kind of put it all back in the box and the other day I decided to go through this box itemize the detail parts and put them in my inventory for future used. Upon doing so I decided to start building the consolidation since I had a set of drivers and side rods and the frame to start from. So scrounging through my inventory. I started to build it and you can see by the picture I have an assortment of parts laid out. I¡¯m at the valve gear step and I just happen to be a Walsherts valve guy and not so much a baker valve Gear guy. After talking to a buddy of mine about the different valve gears, and then he brings up the needle bearing issue and the maintenance that the prototype didn¡¯t have to deal with on Baker valve gear using needle bearings. He really pushed me in the Baker direction. Although the Walsherts valve gear was designed to be on the outside of the locomotive compared to the Stevenson and other valve gear systems allowing the engineer to lubricate everything consistently during operation. The. Walsherts valve gear actually performed very well with low maintenance . But after talking with him and reading his dissertation on Baker and needle bearings I¡¯ve decided maybe to try my hand at a baker valve system on this consolidation. I¡¯m building it for the Meramec Valley lines so I¡¯m referring to this model as a mutt because it¡¯s going to be made up of all the parts that I¡¯ve collected over the years. Upon going through some of my parts that I got from Rusty¡®s estate I found a full set of Baker valve gear that looks to me like it came off of an 0-8-0 Overland or consolidation. I am likely to use that , if not, I¡¯m gonna go with the Walsherts valve gear. I can darn put one of those together in my sleep. I should say that all the parts in this picture are out of my inventory of parts including those cylinders. So with all this said, let me know if you want me to post progress pictures. Mike Swederska -- Mike Swederska Meramec Valley Lines Modeling Mopac equipment in 3/16 Don't let perfection get in the way of good enough! Keep model railroading fun! |
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I took a couple of pictures of the drivers in the NWSL quartering tool to show what I was talking about in my last post. To make a point for those who have not ever used this tool. The important thing to get right is the axle in alignment with the tool. Once that is good set your plastic screws. Also notice the crank pin hole is just at the edge of the tool.
So let me touch on quartering drivers. When doing this step what your actually doing is making every driver on the loco with the exact same off set crank pins. Don't think of it as getting the off set from side to side exactly at a 90 degree. If your thinking that if your not at exact 90 its not going to work. It will as long as all the drivers are exactly the same.? The counter weights on the used drivers were Walthers Goo-ed. Un believable that some one would glue brass. Plus the weights were all different sizes. Once the drivers were cleaned and the weights were removed I went through my inventor and collected the correct size and shape for 56" drivers. I can't tell you how many locomotives I have worked on where someone ahead of me placed the wrong driver back in the wrong axle slot with a counter weight that should be on the end.? Using fine diameter solder that I smash flat to create little pancakes along with the gel flux to be able to go in-between the parts. Clamp the weight on the driver inside the hub. Not on the tire. Make sure that the weight is absolute flat. No corners sticking up to grab side rods when they go by. Also make sure it is square to the axle and up tight to the wheel rim. Hit it with a torch from both sides staying off the tires.?? When I make side rods or use SSLS parts which is what I am doing here. Another big mistake that I have come across from using others cast off parts. They built their side rods with the parts in the wrong order. Read the back of the side rod. Most SSL&S rod parts have the location engraved in the back.? I clean all the crank pin holes very gently with 600 grit to clear any flashing. I am not trying to enlarge the hole. Also clean the out side edges to keep from any binding on the driver hub or crank pin. Once all this is done install the crack pin screw sleeve in the side rod hole and make sure it is a snug but a smooth fit. No slop.? If you are making your own sleeve. This is how I do it. Cut a piece of masking tape the width of the shoulder length. Then wrap t around the crank pin screw and insert it into the rod. Yes make it tight but not crazy tight. Then screw it back on the wheel and rotate in the direction of the tape as to not unroll the tape. Once it starts to turn freely. Carefully remove the screw. Using your calipers measure the diameter of the tape where the rod had worn it to the correct diameter.? Now you have the correct diameter of the sleeve you need to make. Then drill and turn a new sleeve from tubing setting the outside diameter to the caliper. Now you have a sleeve that is customer made for that hole on that rod.? I use a button head 2-56 1/4" long screw for my crank pins. They just look great to me. Also they are a Allen heads which makes them very easy to install or remove. Thanks Fred for that tip years ago. I purchase all my screws from MicroFastener.com These side rods were from another modelers attempt that I am using on the loco. He has used 090 bolts to build the side rod units. I am kicking it around to leave them as I use the straight pin technique. Clean your side rods, make sure all the contact surfaces or polished. How I build mine is simple. Using the straight pin, insert it through the first rod then pierce over the pin a piece of aluminum foil to sandwich between the two rods. Hold everything tight while pulling on the pin to keep it tight against the outer rod. I use a gel flux for brass and nickel silver. Hit it with a tinned iron. Once soldered, rip out the foil that keep the solder from migrating and soldering both rods together. Cut your pin, file it nice and flat.? -- Mike Swederska Meramec Valley Lines Modeling Mopac equipment in 3/16 Don't let perfection get in the way of good enough! Keep model railroading fun! |
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I have worked on the Mutt loco on and off since my last post. After the side rods are done and installed I started to break in this part of the assembly. As I installed each driver in the frame I made sure there was no sticking or binding. Once all of them were in and I was happy with the free rolling of the drivers with the frame plate tightened. I started installing the side rods one driver at a time making sure no binding was? occurring with each crank pin screw. Once all the crank pin screws were installed, I began my break in period.?
Back in the old days I would use toothpaste. Today I use a buffing compound used to remove 1200 grit scratches from Urethane clear coat. By coating the axles and crank pin sleeves with the micro compound and rolling it in my hands polishing all the moving surfaces to a slick finish. Now I do this for hours and hours. I use to run the mechanism on the bench over night in one direction then the other. But I have cooked motors doing that and have gotten away from that technique. Rolling it in my hands I can feel any minor or very slight bind and can address it at that time. As a Cardinal baseball fan I enjoy the game and roll the mechanism on my leg and in my hands the whole game. Passing it over to my wife for her to roll in between her hands and analyze the free flowing drivers. She can detect defects as I get use to feeling them.? The polishing compound is water clean up. So a tear down of the mechanism is required and at that time since all the soldering is done to the frame and drivers they get painted. I have also competed the cylinders. I found a set of cylinders but they were one of my rejects due to a bad casting on one side of the cylinder. I cleaned up the defects the best I could with out misshaping the cylinder side. After that I made the inspection plate and soldered it on the sides of the cylinders and it hid a lot of the defects. After that I drilled and installed the drifting valves on the top of the cylinders. Then painted along with the drivers.? While I was painting I went ahead and painted the loco pilot truck and tender trucks prior to their assembly. -- Mike Swederska Meramec Valley Lines Modeling Mopac equipment in 3/16 Don't let perfection get in the way of good enough! Keep model railroading fun! |
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Mike, Thank you for this latest installment of the loco construction. Mike (Ohio) On Tue, Jul 2, 2024, 10:40?AM Mike Swederska via <MikeSscale=[email protected]> wrote: I have worked on the Mutt loco on and off since my last post. After the side rods are done and installed I started to break in this part of the assembly. As I installed each driver in the frame I made sure there was no sticking or binding. Once all of them were in and I was happy with the free rolling of the drivers with the frame plate tightened. I started installing the side rods one driver at a time making sure no binding was? occurring with each crank pin screw. Once all the crank pin screws were installed, I began my break in period.? |
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After a long back and forth in my head on which valve gear to run I decided to go with the Walschaerts instead of the Baker. I like the look of the Walschaerts ?over the Baker. Plus I am much more familiar with the Walschaerts than the Baker since I am building from my head and not a prototype specific loco. I do believe building the Walschaerts ?is more difficult than Baker but that is also the draw to if. As I am building this loco from my parts inventory I have found all the necessary parts to build the valve gear. This is a straight forward process so there really is no need for me to describe how I do it. I will touch on certain techniques that as I use during the assembling of the parts.? Each moving part is fitted carefully with no friction. Then each piece is polished for a very smooth no bind operation by hand sanding with 600 wet or dry. I make sure they have full unobstructed motion to go way beyond their motion of travel during operation.? Also I made it a point to use the NS parts over the brass as I wanted to keep their look on the black locomotive. The NS is a little harder to work with but is a much nicer look when done.?
Here I opened up the location where the revering rod comes through the hanger on both pieces. After they were prepared for soldering I made sure that they fit together perfectly.? I drilled and tapped for a 0090. I know from previous builds how my valve gear needs to come apart for future maintenance.? Here are a couple of pictures with the hanger installed on the frame with 0090 screws. Making sure they were square to the frame and hit the cross head guides where they needed to be just short of the ends but still fitting between the frame springs. Don't worry about the yellow tape. The cylinders were getting ready for paint. I should mention that I did not like the height of the spring casting to the 56" drivers so I cut off the pedestals when soldering them onto the frame.? You can see how I use tin foil to keep the solder where I want it and keep the joint free flowing. The pin was soldered on the other side and filed smooth. Depending on the side of the joint on the other valve gear parts the head of the pin was always kept to the back side and soldered. Then the pin was cut on the visible side giving a clean look.? You can see here how I wrap foil around the part and then push the pin through before soldering the joint. Now all the work is done on the valve gear and everything is installed and on the loco frame. Since I am working from my parts inventory I don't have the correct length for the radius rod and the main rod. I have made most of my own over time so no big deal. Here is some tips on how I go about it.? Knowing that the loco is using 56" drivers that will give you a starting point on how much travel the cross head will move on the guides. The rod I chose was longer so I cut it in half using a jewelers saw. Making sure where I cut it will allow me to put a splint on my splice with out inter fearing with any moving parts behind it.? I assembled the alligator cross head on the guides with that end of the rod and moved it as for back as I could just before touching the hanger. Then installed the end of the rod on the crank pin. Put the two pieces of rod together and mark for length. I plan to paint the slot in the main black when I am done. In this picture you can see the slot cleaned up after soldering from the back. To reinforce the joint I use chrome straight pins that really are brass. Cut a piece the length you need and smash it flat with your pliers. Because it is chrome it takes to solder quickly and I believe the chrome may give it a touch more strength.? The radius rod is no harder to do. Using one that is longer I set the revers link in neutral and measured to the center of the main driver axle. Cut, soldered and cleaned up just as I did the main rod. The only difference was I put the slot on the radius rod to the back and used it to take the smashed straight pin splint. BTW neutral is the revers link straight up and down.? As long as you have taken your time and polished as you went there is no need to roll the mechanism on your leg or hand for hours to break it in. I was talking with Bill Winnans through emails and he mentioned how it should roll it on glass. Well I have custom granite counter tops through out my house and they are polished and very slick. The mechanism rolls very freely on them. So that is it for now and I have moved on to the tender frame in order to get this little thing running. I won't be posting anything about most of the build as it will just be a straight forward build. I will post pictures just for the heck of it and if you would like to ask questions I will do my best to answer them.? I really hope I have inspired a fellow S modeler to take on their closet SSL&S kit.? -- Mike Swederska Meramec Valley Lines Modeling Mopac equipment in 3/16 Don't let perfection get in the way of good enough! Keep model railroading fun! |
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Tender frame is ready fore black.
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Mike Swederska On Jun 22, 2024, at 10:37?AM, Mike Swederska via groups.io <MikeSscale@...> wrote: --
Mike Swederska Meramec Valley Lines Modeling Mopac equipment in 3/16 Don't let perfection get in the way of good enough! Keep model railroading fun! |
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Motorand gearbox are installed. Here are a couple pictures of how I do the cup in the ball to the armature of the gearbox and motor. I always kind of referred to this as the ?Bill Lane technique. I do it to all of my builds now and I don¡¯t deal with any cup or ball slippage. When I cut the groove in the armature or the gearbox shaft, I¡¯m also basing how deep I wanted to go on that shaft because once the pin goes into the groove of the shaft, it locks it in, and it cannot slide in or out.
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It¡¯s been a while since I got back to the little mutt to work on it, but here¡¯s an update of has accomplished in the last couple hours or so. The first thing that I¡¯ve been working on is gear noise and so with that, I now have that accomplished and it¡¯s very quiet And smooth running. The biggest issue I had with it was the clearance or the tolerance between the plastic gearbox and the hole that rest inside the frame. I had to slowly work around the hole, filing it and squaring it even better to give that gearbox enough clearance to keep the vibration of the rotation of the gears from transfer through the frame and the drivers into the layout. I wound up squaring the box up with some double back tape pieces stuck to the sides of the gearbox, plus because I enlarged in the hole The double back tape kept the gearbox square to the motor.
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The next thing I worked on was the front pilot installing and Kadee 5. With filing and tapping for a 256 I got that accomplished and adjusted everything to as close as I could get it to an 802 coupler height gauge from the ?National Association of S gage.
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The next thing I did was center up the front pilot with the wheels set on the dimension that I wanted from the center of the cylinders to the center of the axle like a prototype would have. The issue that I had with the pilot was it swung all over the place so I made a spring from .018 spring wire. This gave centering alignment and downward pressure to the pilot.
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I drilled a .020 hole in the brass frame plate through to the frame screw hole dead center. I then did the same thing on the pilot truck. I had to drill and tap a 2-56 to hold the pilot at its pivot point ?And can see everything in the picture. The steel spring goes into the hole on the frame plate wraps a full turn around the screw for the pilot and then extends through the center of the space for the pilot into the front of the pilot hole that I drilled.
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And now there is pilot centering on a very light spring action and it has a little bit of downward push but not much to keep the pilot in line with the track.
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The little Mutt has been making its rounds around the layout without any issues and I¡¯m very happy. I have started to use it on the local and in the yard switching.
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if you are wondering what the weight is on the frame wrapped in yellow masking tap is, top post cut off discarded car batteries.
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this pretty much concludes the mechanical portion of this build. Everything now will be cosmetic.?
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Mike Swederska Meramec Valley Lines Modeling Mopac equipment in 3/16 Don't let perfection get in the way of good enough! Keep model railroading fun! |
Roger Nulton
Ben
