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This is the business end of the John Deere with
the T-41. The switches are; main power, engage starter and ignitor, and fuel by-pass to spool-up engine. The gauges are; tachometer in percent, exhaust gas temperature, and oil pressure. The old hour meter is mounted below. The petcock on far right is the throttle control as such. Rather than tear into the governor I am using a pressure tap off one of the compensator lines to reduce RPM. It seems to work OK. The RPM can be reduced to 65% by opening the petcock, besides it blows a nice refreshing breeze in your face on a hot summer day. |
| This is my latest project, finished in the winter
of 2000. It is a 1 inch scale model of a steam powered traction engine. I do not know who built it or how old it really is. In restoring it, I discovered that it was built with machine screw sizes no longer available. It is very detailed, having a working governor, clutch, and a mechanical water feed pump. It has reverse gear and cylinder blowdown valves, all operated from the workman's platform. It also has two steam whistles and a mechanical oiler. I have been running it on 50 psi pressure and it seems to work quite well. |
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I built this ten-wheeler (4-6-0) locomotive in
1989. It is crude but functional. No fake rivets or any special decorative touches, but runs quite well. The construction had been started with one cylinder complete and the frame and main drive wheels finished. The plans and all other parts were missing. I purchased pieces of cast iron from a local scrap yard to machine out the other missing cylinder and other parts. At the scrap yard I was given a sledge hammer and directions to where large pieces of cast iron lay with instructions to break off what I needed, but I would have to pay for the sledge hammer handle if I were to break it. This engine weighs 100 lbs. and has 33 flues of 3/8 in. diameter. |
| This is an H.J. Coventry designed locomotive kit
of a B&O D-4 switch engine (0-6-0). Construction was started in 1960 and finished by me in 1991 due to the illness of the original builder. It is a very detailed engine with steam injector and optional power reverse. Unfortunately it's light weight of 75 lbs. prevents it from hauling my big butt around my track. |
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This is my favorite steamer. It is a 4-6-4 Hudson and weighs 140 lbs. It was built in the 1950's and ran regularly at a nearby club track. The popularity of 3 1/2 in. gauge railroading waned in favor of larger scale, so there are few tracks of that gauge left in my area. This engine has a super-heater, steam injector, and a two cylinder boiler feed pump. |
| This is a cab view of the Hudson. The controls are as follows starting from the left; oiler for boiler pump, valve to control boiler feed pump, valve to control steam injector, little valve to operate stack blower to aid in draft, pressure gauge, water level sight glass, throttle (arc shaped device in corner), and reversing gear (lever with little notches). The fire box doors are shown in the open position. The engine runs at 90 p.s.i.. The tender carries a supply of coal and water and has an emergency hand operated boiler feed pump inside water tank. |
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