CANCELLING PUMP ORGAN PURCHASE! After considerable thought and mature reasoning, I've concluded that getting one of these 95 to150-year-old monsters would be a bad move! It would require constant maintenance, with the hundreds of reeds and a rats nest of rods, levers and mechanisms to keep from jamming, as well as leaks cropping up in the bellows and air reservoir. Besides, in a few years I'll begin disposing of my Estate, and the interest and call for a Pump Organ is now practically zero! So instead of buying a Century-old box of potential headaches, I'm gonna buy a Brand New compact, sensible CONCERTINA! Hal
LOL...I don't know about the concertina but whatever floats your boat... I think you made the right decision with regard to the Pump Organ
Too late to edit that post, but I'll follow up by cancelling the Concertina too, and going back to my lovely Grand Piano! Hal
@Hal Pollner Touched an exposed nerve with that one! Common topic between my wife and I (she's 10 years younger), regarding how will she dispose of all my stuff? The weight of my tools and machinery and other equipment is ~ 10 tons! Frank
Last week I attended a 5-day Model Railroading display at our Museum. While there, I hit it off so well with the "Sun City Train Club" that they asked me to join, which I did! Now I'll have others visiting my large home layout, instead of just a few neighbors who don't know much about Railroading! I had no idea that a Model Railroad Club was so close by in the Del Webb Sun City Retirement Complex! They are all Seniors, and they live in local High Desert communities, where I can finally interact with others who share this hobby! All Aboard! (Following are pics of my home layout) Hal
Always lovely to find new friends to share a hobby, I hope you all have a great time with it.. I know @Frank Sanoica is interested in model railways too...although I believe quite a bit larger..
@Hal Pollner Sun City has a spin-off in your area? The original Dell Webb developments, Sun City, and Sun City West, lie a few miles NW of Phoenix, perhaps 400 miles from your location. Frank
Yes, Frank; Del Webb has a Sun City retirement community right here in Apple Valley, just 4 miles from my residence. Holly says you have a layout "quite a bit larger" than mine. How about some photos of it? Thanks, Hal
I am sure that @Frank Sanoica will be happy to post some pictures for you, @Hal Pollner ; but just to give you a little clue about the amazing “model railroad” that Frank actually MADE himself out in his shop, and the size of it........ Frank can actually RIDE on his, or could when he had it. I think that he might have moved and not have it where he lives now, but not sure about that part. Frank will tell all.....
@Hal Pollner @Yvonne Smith "Holly says you have a layout "quite a bit larger" than mine. How about some photos of it?" "Frank will tell all....." My "layout" consisted of 750 feet of trackage of 7-1/2 inch gauge (1/8 of full size RR use), located across the road from our farmhouse in Missouri. It took many loads of gravel fetched by my most-helpful neighbor, Harley Hasten, using his front-end loader. I spread and graded it all by hand. The layout consisted of a large squarish plot with a smaller opposing loop entering it, thence back to the starting point where I had built a switch allowing a spur to run off back into my shop. Ya can't pick up 1500 lbs of locomotive and move it about very easily! Nor can it be re-railed without difficulty in case of a derail. Unfortunately, the last photos, from 2009, were taken using "throw-away" cameras, the prints then later scanned and stored, some of them. I have about a hundred taken while building the beast. Below, fired on propane, taken from across the road by my wife on our front porch. The switch is visible at right. Before completion, still lacking cosmetic details, perched on the bench I built specially for it. Working on the ground is quite difficult. This was done in the air early on swinging from a chainfall. Dual-compound compressor pump designed and built in one weekend. Supplied air pressure for brakes. Please understand these are being presented hodge-podge due to their being scattered amongst many hundreds of stored images in my image-provider with no rhyme or reason. Still, 120 Volt operated to provide mineral-free boiler water, consisted of 3 stainless steel cookpots which slipped inside of one-another, lid between the bottom two, inverted upper condensed the steam back to water, which collected in the bottom bucket. The center bucket contained heating element, from electric water heater. The beginnings of a model steam boiler! Gotta head out now before bank closes, will continue later. Don't wanna overload Ken's system, anyway! Frank
Yes, that was an immense undertaking for providing a route and creating that big 4-8-4 Northern! What boiler pressure do you run? Hal
@Hal Pollner 125 psi, second relief set at 150, in case first is unable to "keep up". Here's a few more pics. The first track laid leading out of my shop. Building the switch. The rail was made in 10 foot sections. The smokestack and pettycoat which form the vacuum needed to feed the fire. The above parts installed in the smokebox, and the exhaust nozzle below. The inside of the smokebox completed, with the superheater coils installed. The grade crossing trench, to be filled with concrete. Neighbor had to drive across my track to get to his house, this had to be strong enough to carry ready-mix trucks for his building work. It did! A view during the construction process. The cylinder block and bronze liners for cylinders and piston valves. My little "buzz-box" arc welder, welding up the firebox section. And now, I must prepare to pick up the first nephew in town, getting off a greyhound bus from Flagstaff. Just got off phone with his brother in Kansas, he's due in tomorrow morning on a big orange-tailed Sun Country jet!
@Hal Pollner None of the above! Can you tell from this? Note all motion points are either ball or needle bearing, including the crosshead, which rides on 4 ball bearings not visible. Frank
Frank Sanoica is fortunate in having the Skills and Shop Facilities required to build a 1/8-scale Live Steam Locomotive! I have questions: Is the 7-1/2" gauge track available from suppliers or does it have to be fabricated? The pictures that shows an Oxygen cylinder being cut with a saw...is that the Boiler? The Crosshead must have been quite a job for your Bridgeport Mill. I assume that you're scaling all components from a prototypical 4-8-4 Northern class locomotive. Overall, I'm greatly impressed! Hal