I have not written a post in about six months, but I have been busy. During the summer, I spent time maintaining and running the Shay and the “500.” In August, I strayed from trains and spent a couple of months building a Rose Engine Lathe. When the cold weather set in it was back to work on this beast.
I bolted the left and right crosshead guide hangers and milled them as one piece to make sure they were identical.
I spent some time making sure the location of the cylinders was correct. I built a test bench with a 55 foot radius curve to make sure the engine would track without the lead truck interfering with the cylinders. I also had to try the fit in both 7.25 inch gauge and 7.50 inch gauge.
When I was sure the components were located, I drilled and tapped the cylinders for mounting. The guide bars are held in place with steel plate work. I tapered the rear section of the guides and added small blocks to help hold them in place (see the first photo).
I made a temporary two piece main rod which could be adjusted to find the proper length.
The main rods were made from aluminum bar stock, bolted together and machined as one.
Each main rod was fluted to match the prototype. Brooks Locomotive Works made the side rods plain sided and fish-bellied; only the main rods were fluted.
Boring precise holes for the crank pins required a creative setup on the horizontal mill.
The finished main rod minus fake bolts (details to be added later).
The pin holding the main rod to the crosshead was machined from one piece of 1144 stress-proof steel. A fake nut was machined in to make it look like the prototype. There are lubrication holes drilled in the center of the pins along with cross holes to get oil to the bearing.
Here is an overhead shot of the cylinders, crossheads, guides, and main rods mounted on the frame. I have already started machining the inside admission piston valves. That will be the next blog post in the near future.
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