May 18, 1939 IT Am Challenged And I Accept ! By “ L.BS.C.” MANY good folk are of the opinion that the most criticised person in the world may be found in Berlin, or perhaps in Rome. Well, don’t you believe it! He lives in Surrey, alongside the main line of the old London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. But, bless your merry hearts, I do not complain; critics are sometimes useful, and some- times amusing. I love to hear, for instance, somebody or other “go off the deep end "” about combustion-chambered boilers. We all know that boilers without combustion chambers will make steam; but that does not alter the fact that the full- sized “' Princess Royal” on the L.M.S. steamed a jolly sight better after her boiler was provided with a combustion chamber, and all her sisters have them. Also, in that land of big boilers, the U.S.A., the combustion chamber is practically universal. A combustion chamber fitted to a little boiler with a long barrel, such as a 24” or 3}” gauge“ Pacific,”” increases its efficiency enor- mously, as I have proved again and again. A stage coach would take you from London to Glasgoww—but the ‘ Coronation Scot” would do it far quicker! Recently I had a letter from a super-critic. He was one of that misguided minority who believe in valve-gears without any lead, hundred-per-cent cut-offs, and small-bore cylinders, and the subject of his letter was the ill-starred “ George the Fifth " locomotive owned by Lieut.-Col. Hugh Simpson. After taking exception to my description of that ‘engine in some recent notes, he eulogised its bad points. especially te tiny eyiindes, and concluded by asking me if I thought I could design a better one! Well, there is nothing your humble servant enjoys as much as a friendly “scrap,” and T hereby accept the challenge with great pleasure. It is a long time since I described a 34” gauge locomotive, and have had several recent reminders from interested readers not to forget this gauge. ‘A 4-4-0 is a good type of engine for anybody to build; simple, not too costly, no super-heavy work required, and the type is suitable for sharply curved roads, as it will take the same radius curves with ease which are required by a 24” gauge " Pacific.” ‘Therefore, the following notes and sketches may prove just what many prospective SY” gauge locomotive builders are waiting for. ‘Though the engine is to be an inside-cylindered 44.0, there is no necessity to stick to the L.N.W. outline; and as I am such an awfully slow hand at pencil-pushing, I looked through some outline drawings, accumulated at different times, to see if I could find something in which to put ‘' monkey- gland” works. My lucky star must have been shining, for almost the first thing that came to hand Was an outline drawing of a North Eastern “RI.” Her number is 750, so we will call her “« Miss Ten-to-Eight.”” By a curious coincidence that is also the number of my gasoline cart, though prefaced by a combination of letters which sound rather like railroad Esperanto. The drawing is the handiwork of Mr. John Chapman, the “* Bro. Nobody "’ of the old Live Steam notes. This type is ideal for our purpose, being neat and compact, and of pleasing yet sturdy and powerful appear- ance. I fetched out my boxes of castings and other oddments, checked up on the various details, and found that everything needed can be obtained from stock, from our advertisers. No special patterns will be required, and anybody who decided to build the engine can get busy right away. Here is a brief specification. The frames are made from standard section steel strip, with buffer and drag beams of steel angle. The hornblocks and axleboxes are the same as used on “ Maisie.” The bogie is of the sliding Adams type; can be made from stock castings or built up. All. the wheels are stock size, as sold for 3}” gauge engines. The cylinders are made up from “Sister Dora ”” castings, and are the “scale '” equivalent of 19” by 26, viz., 13/16” by 1”, which will make the locomotive step a little livelier than the ‘ pea- shooter "” bores on ‘" George the Fifth ” mentioned above. The valve-gear will be J ith the same setting as used on “Sister Dora."” Any- body who does not care for the Joy gear, and has a continuous road, could fit loose eccentrics with a cut-off of 60 per cent. Alternatively, an inside Walschaerts could be used; there is hardly room for a really robust four-eccentric link motion. The boiler is a plain round-topped type, with a barrel very little longer than the firebox wrapper. If anyone tried fitting a few large tubes in this, instead of the nest of small tubes which I shall call for in the instructions, the result would probably be that an enormous amount of heat would be wasted, and it would be impossible to Keep any paint on the smokebox. In addition, the heavy blast going up a stiff bank would probably shift the fire up to the smokebox end. The top works and trimmings can be seen in the drawing, and are all built up from brass or steel sheet. A six-wheeled tender, of standard North- Eastern type, will be provided. Note: no boiler feed-pump will be described, except the emergency hand pump in thé tender. ‘The boiler will be fed by a small injector that can be used whilst running. The Westinghouse air pump can also beTHE MODEL ENGINEER sAquoece oumsy yo umd pore Seurvog, mane TORE aca ore “mee. Bea fs sng aorsuzonn sie es tun, wis aor | a ay #9 bea] eB 8 NE ! zee io 2 _———— | Te ; nae = [ee oe Ba hy ia Bee i ce ; 2h, 0 BOTT me = =I 9 | fF zlMay 18, 1939 used as a water pump, if two “ self-acting feeds are desired. Now to construction. Owing to limits of space, I shall not be able to describe e detail in full; but if you refer back to “‘ Maisie ” notes, there should be no trouble in machining, fitting and erecting ‘' Miss Ten-to-Eight."” Write to me direct if you get into any tangle. ‘Main Frame Assembly Two pieces of }” bright steel, 23” long and 3” wide, are needed, and are sawn and filed to shape and ‘dimensions ‘shown. I have purposely not shown any cylinder or motion-plate screw-holes, as Thave not yet (time of writing) settled final details ‘of cylinders and motion; but these can easily be drilled after the frames are erected, and the cylinders ready to go in place. The homblocks will have to be end-milled, as hot pressings are not yet available in 3)” gauge size. They are clamped to a vertical slide, and operated on by an end-mill held in three-jaw. ‘This process has been fully described and illus- trated in the old “Live Steam’ notes. The space between the jaws of the hornblocks can be roughly end-milled out; then, after riveting the hornblocks into the frame slots, the frames can be bolted temporarily back to back, and each pair of horn- cheeks cased out with a smooth file, until a piece of bar 7” wide, used as a gauge, will slide freely in them without shake. A sketch of the hom- blocks will be given in next instalment, along with axle-boxes. They are the same as used on “Maisie "” and ‘* Princess Marina.” The buffer and drag beams are made from steel angle. The depth of the beams is 1 1/16”, and, unfortunately, this is not a stock commercial size, so you will have to procure the next larger size in stock, and mill or file it to dimensions required. The exact width of beams at top does not matter. Ifyou get 14” angle, leave the tops that width and do not bother to file or saw them down any narrower. Be careful to locate the slots in the top ‘of beams, in which the frames fit, to exact dimensions, which is 27” between the inner edges; and the frames should be a tight fit in slots to ensure a square set-up. If the slots cannot be milled, carefully saw and file them, using the vice top asa guide. Pieces of angle are riveted against the inner edges of the slots, and the frames attached in the manner shown. Do not forget, before putting the screws in, to lay the frame assembly on the lathe bed or something equally flat, and make certain the whole issue is free from twist or wind. An Old Lathe Some further comments on the interesting machine illus- trated on page 445 of the “ME.” for April 15th last By G, Gentry ‘PHE machine is evidently a good example, in some details, of an English mandrel, probably dated somewhere about the middle of last century for later; although, as represented in the photo: graph, it is probably not quite in its original form, tunless it was specially built. Both English and Swiss mandrels, which were watch and light clock- makers’ lathes, and superseded the older ‘* turn- benches "” in the clock trade, were, in a general way, all miade as rectangular bar-bed machin cast ‘in one with the headstock, and overhangin; from the pediment, which was usually immediately beneath the head, and was made in the form of a polished hardwood clamp, within the slot of which, and between the cheeks, was bolted a clamping-tongue depending from the main casti Where the Swiss tools varied from the Englis was that, instead of having a single pulley on the spindle tail, they had a beautifully cut pinion with helical teeth, which was driven from a corre- sponding spur wheel on a handle-driven spindle Tounted in back gear bearings on a bracket... The English type were generally driven by a relatively large handled flywheel, with a vee-edge and fine gut cord, which passed over an adjustable jockey on a vertical arm. This belt was crossed, looped at right-angles, so passing tightly round the single pulley on the spindle. Both machines were, for the most part, cast in yellow brass, and had a single curved cone journal in the head bearing, not otherwise bushed. The tail bearing was a thrust pin, with lock-nut adjustment. The heads were just as in Mr. Fraser’s, with a crossed out dog faceplate and pump centre. The latter is operated by a slot in the long half hollow spindle. The three main accessories, which were made with rectangular slotted lugs on underside to slide on the bar and clamp by a wing nut and pad, were the slide-rest, hand-rest and meeting centre (i.e., back centre), all similar to those in Mr. Fraser's example. Curiously enough, during the tenure of THE Mopex ENGINEER workshop an example of one of these tools was brought up by Mr. H. Algar, then a student. Under tuition, he fitted a cone pulley on the spindle, dismantled the faceplate and set the tool up as an ordinary lathe with jaw chucks, swinging tool clamp and runner centres in the tailstock, and generally converted it to a light precision lathe. One would like to know definitely whether anything of this sort has happened to Mr. Fraser’s example.590 THE MODEL ENG EER A Drilling Machine A chine designed to meet practical requirements using drills from No. 41 to 80 found to be necessary after long experience in model making By G. E. EN the construction of working models, whether of locos, marine engines or other machines, the correct drilling of holes is at least as important as accurate turning and fitting ; for if the holes are drilled out of position, not in the desired direction or not of correct Size the whole job is spoiled. Yet, although the amateur craftsman has a wide choice of lathes, planers, milling machines, etc., for the turning ‘and shaping part of the business, the only thing available for drilling holes is the usual type of hand bench-drill, or the so called “sensitive drilling machines’ with drill spindle driven by a belt running over jockey pulleys, both provided with some form of self- centring chuck — which may, but more often does not, hold the drill truly Failing these appliances, the amateur must use his lathe for drilling, or he must be content to use hand tools. The lathe, if fitted with ball thrust to headstock, is quite satisfac- tory for’ some _drillin operations, and, of course n all cases where a hole to be made in the centre of work revolving in. the lathe chuck, this is the Photo showing:—The completed machine; A small mi with brass plate having numbered holes for 40 collet Coupland natural and indeed the only way of doing the job properly. The reverse of this procedure, where the drill is held in the lathe chuck and the work held against a pad with shank fitting in the tail- ock, is, in effect, the same as using a drilling- machine in a horizontal position, except that the work must, of necessity, be fed up to the drill by the tailstock screw, ‘a method which leaves much to be desired. If the work is at all heavy and the drill slender, it is liable to slip down unobserved, throwing bending strain on the drill, unnecessary friction and perhaps causing a break- age. The hole does not always come out right cither. Not. many lathe chucks will hold a No. 70 drill dead true and if the ll wobbles and is guided by its point only, the es are that it will wander from the correct path. The ordinary type of bench- : loge ae ww we Lehi ae pe 4 tw RADIUS ROD A VIBRATING LINK t JACK LINK ANCHOR CINK = Parts of Joy Geare and hard since the bush was installed all that time ago. ‘A Few Simple Facts About Locomotives Some new readers, having discovered that your humble servant is not only an actual builder of successful locomotives, but has also turned other folks’ failures into successes, have asked me to clarify from my own experience, the various con- ing statements that have recently appeared in this journal on the subject of cylinders and valve- gear, Anything to oblige; so here are a few concrete facts in the proverbial nutshell. For speed, power and general efficiency, you need big cylinders; and a reliable guide to a suitable bore and stroke is the “ scale "” equivalent ‘of those used on a full-sized locomotive of the same type. I found that out long ago, by actual experiment on the track, which is the only thing that matters. It is a complete fallacy to, put forward the argument that cylinders just. large enough to slip the wheels when the engine is stationary are sifficient. They definitely are not. When the piston is ‘running away from the steam,"’ in a manner of speaking, the pressure per square inch on the piston rapidly falls. If some- body aimed a blow at your nose, and you popped your head back before the oncoming fist, you Would either receive a gentle blow or miss it altogether. Same rule applies, American full- size locomotive builders pushed up the rate of acceleration, and raised the speed at which an ‘engine recorded her maximum horse-power, from 87 to 85 miles per hour (fully described in ‘American railroad journals some years ago) merely by increasing the cylinder bores far and away above the cut-and-dried “slipping limit,” and arranging valves and gear to allow the steam the freest possible entrance and exit. I do exactly the same with the small sisters; that is why my engines noted—is to ensure free passage of the steam; the rapid movement of the valve, due to the distance it has to travel in the steam ‘chest, gives a quick port-opening, both to admission and exhaust. At the same time, whatever theoretical folk may have to say about it, a full port opening is not essential when the engine is running at a short cut-off. How do I know? Well, I actually build loco- motives, experiment with valve-gears, and test the engines on a continuous track, with heavy loads, tunder all conditions of service. Experience still teaches! [Our contributor appears to have mis-read our editorial note.—Ed., “” M.E.””] Tt has been erroneously stated that no valve-gear vyet invented gives a full port opening at any point of cut-off. Actually, poppet-valves do; also, I myself fiave devised and tested a trip arrangement, applicable to any valve-gear, which will give the result stated. An old personal friend, Mr. G. P. FitzGerald, devised and patented a valve-gear attachment which gives a full exhaust port opening at any desired percentage of the stroke, and maintains it until the piston is approximately at the end of its travel on the exhaust stroke. His demonstration gadget, a working valve-gear with cylinder and valve in section, laid out on a steel frame two feet long, and hand operated, is standing against the wall within six feet of me as I write these words. However, experiment has shown that there is a difference between adequate" and “full” port openings; and provided the valve opens the port sufficiently to allow free passage of the small amount of steam heeded by a properly timed and fitted locomotive, to haul its load at the required speed, nothing is gained by increasing the port opening. It is the fime factor that counts; and that is why I always give my engines plenty of lead on the valves.AERO 8 THE MODEL ENGINEER Model Aeronauties The first of a series of articles dealing with the theory and practice of model aeroplane building By Lawrence H. Sparey T has for long been understood in the world of science that the pursuit of any special branch of knowledge lies not along a broad and solitary highway—straight and uninterrupted from the beginning to the goal. Rather, is the road a steep and tortuous one, winding, and intersected by many lanes and crossroads, So much is this so, that the traveller may often be at pains to distinguish his path from the maze of byways—each one of which leads to fresh fields of investigation, and to other, seemingly, unallied sciences. "In other words, no science stands alone as a separate, isolated thing; but is, in some way allied to some other branch of’ investigation albeit only at the fringes. For many years the science of model aeronautics has pursued a rather lonely course, and has grown to vast proportions as a somewhat self- contained hobby; working along its own lines, and isolated, in a manner of speak- ing, from other branches of model making. _ Never- theless, the link was there; and, now that the pastime may be said to have grown up, the affinity is becom- ing more marked. Particularly is this so with model petrol ‘planes and flying boats, and the “model ’ aero- plane constructor is now confronted with exactly simi- of ge 1. Lightened edition of the * Kestrel desired. The writer on model aeronautics is in a similar case, as the types of model aeroplanes are legion, and ‘it is necessary to confine our remarks to’ some special kind of aeroplane. We will, therefore (for the present, at any rate), deal with the design and construction of model petrol-driven aircraft. ‘The design of these may be attempted from two directions. Either we may plan a specific machine and fit it with an engine to suit, or, already possessing an engine, we may design a "plane to fly it. Fundamentally, the two processes are the same, except that the problem is tackled from different ends of the scale, As it seems likely that many would-be constructors already possess engines which they may desire to fit into aeroplanes, we will start from this viewpoint. The first thing 2 to be determined is the flying speed ‘of the proposed craft. This must be kept as low as possible, as, for any given machine, the force ‘of the landing shocks— or accidental impacts with obstacles during flight—goes up as the square of the speed; that is, twice the speed, four times the landing shock. The minimum speed of an aero- plane is governed by the weight and 5 ccc. engine. Alterations lar | problems of include a serew fitting for propeller, simplified contact-breaker, lightened the wing area; the design and con- petrol tank, and duralumin connecting-raiyete. Present weight is 9] wr. relationship of struction with the two being which the makers of other mechanical models have for years contended. AS these articles progress, these problems will become evident, together with some of the special difficulties which make the building of model aeroplanes such a fascinating business. Were we to ask an architect for a description of the design and erection of buildings, he might be pardoned for asking what type of buildi alled the wing loading. In model work this is, always expressed in ounces per square foot of main wing area, and the simple formula for determining the “approximate minimum flying speed is as follows: — W A Where: S = Speed in miles per hour. W = Weight of machine in ounces.July 13, 1939 container by an 8 B.A. screw and nut, and the outer spring to the lever by an 8 B.A. screw, as shown. Avnut and washer on the end of the spindle prevents end-play. When the lever is moved to the right, looking at the lubricator from the spindle end, the tendency of the outer spring is to unwind, and slip around the spindle, which cannot move back- wards, as the inside spring grips it. Moving the lever to the left causes the outer spring to close in fon and grip the spindle, which then turns, as the tendency is for the spindle to unwind the inside spring, and slip around inside it. The simple check-valve The oil delivery clack is just a simple check- valve with a spring-loaded ball, fitted upside down as shown, hence the spring, which should be made from thin wire, about 28 gauge, and merely strong enough to keep the ball on its'seat. Use 4” ball on 8/32” seating. The top of the tank is a flanged rectangular piece of brass sheet about 16 gauge, with a central hole for fixing, and a leather gasket as mentioned above. A 4” by 40 bush is silver- soldered (or, if you like, soft-soldered) into this at any point clear of the pump stand. The filler plug is an ordinary 4” by 40 plug, turned up from 5/16” hex. tod. "It is drilled right through 3/32”, opened out, bottomed and tapped 3/16”, and a nicked headless plug made to suit, as sketch. A ¥ ball is “‘ bottomed "’ on the 3/32” hole, before screwing the headless plug in. The action is much the same as a. snifting-valve. The lubricator is filled through the 3” hole by a syringe or squirt- can, and the complete plug screwed home. All the time the locomotive is right way up, the ball rests on the nicks and allows free ingress of air as the level of the oil sinks; but when you turn the engine upside down, the ball goes on to the seating, seals the air hole, and prevents what Mrs. Malaprop would call “spillage.” The complete gadget can be driven by a connection to the engine's valve-gear, water pump, or anything that moves J” or so; of a separate eccentric can be attached to one of the axles and coupled to the operating lever by a rod made from a 13 gauge spoke. MISS TEN-TO-EIGHT How to Assemble the Valve-Gear To my way of thinking, this is about the easiest valve-gear of the whole bunch to erect Take off the connecting-rod. Poke one of the spigots of the jack-link pin through the hole in one of the jack-links, and, if it is mot a tight press fit rivet over slightly. Then put the pin through the hole in the connecting-rod, and the other jack-link on the other spigot; that is No. 1 fixed (eae ee ee L.B.S.C. Put the anchor-link between the other ends of the jack-links, with a 1/32” bronze washer each side; drive a }” silver-steel pin through the lot, cut off the ends, file almost flush, and rivet over ever so slightly, for “safety first."” No. 2 operation done. Drive a §” length of 4” silver-steel into the upper hole in one of the vibrating links; put on a }” bronze washer, then the radius rod, then another washer, and ‘finally the other vibrating link. Rivet over slightly as above. Then line up the lower holes with the vacant holes in the jack-links; drive another }” pin through the lot, and ‘ ditto repeato” on the riveting over. No. 3 job completed viaRaring lconwecrive R00 d-onwve rir a T =RUWNING FIT doe Da ACK Nes @d ca 5 “ANCHOR LINK 163 waswens How to assemble the Joy gear. Carefully drive a 18/16” length of J” silver steel, chamfered slightly at each end, through the vacant holes in the vibrating links; place a die- block on each end and the assembly is finished To erect, insert the assembly from underneath, entering the die-blocks in the ends of the curved slides; couple up big-end; insert crosshead pin; and attach loose end of radius od to valve crosshead by a little bolt made from silver-steel with a nut at each end. When both gears are erected, a long bolt through both anchor-link brackets, and the loose ends’ of the anchor-links (see last week's sketches), makes all secure. Simple, eh? All right; get it so that it works nicely, no tight places when the wheels are turned by hand, and next week I will tell you, all being well, how to set the valves.ELECTRICAL THE MODEL ENGINEER Electric Traction ‘A Model Electric Traction Control and Signalling Equipment By G. Baker N previous electric traction articles, the principal systems of real practice were briefly reviewed to discover their adaptability to the average model railway. The degree of accuracy with which an equipment can be faithfully reproduced depends toa large extent, upon the size of the model, “* 0 gauge being about the smallest on which one can expect really successful results. Now, ‘00 " gauge is fast overtaking the larger gauge in popularity, and, incidentally, the scientific realism Of a perfectly ‘true-to-type equipment does not appeal to every model maker. But these objec~ tions are no excuse for dismissing technically realistic models; on the contrary, they exemplify their wide scope, capable of satisfying all tastes. And this is particularly true of the * in between variety of models which combines a certain degree of accurate technical realism with other features of railway operation which together produce spectact: lar workings and appear quite uncanny to the layman. Furthermore, these models are applicable to any gauge. Of course, they are open to criticism from both the practical electrician and the true-to-prototype enthusiast. The former sees no reason for introducing “unnecessary” electrical complications and insists that all circuits should be of the simplest possible order, whilst the latter maintains that nothing less than a complete relay system is acceptable for the motor control equipment and that each phase of electric operations should correspondingly be faith fully reproduced. ‘The model about to be described is an “in be tween " one, and will give readers the opportunity of comparing the various possibilities of all electric models when contemplating extensions to their own layouts. It was built by the writer in 1937, and was awarded a bronze medal and the “Electric Traction prize at THe Move Giver Exhibition of that year. It consists of a 2)” gauge electric locomotive of ex-Metropolitan Railway Fig. 1. General view of the complete model prototype, and a special length of portable control track 4’ 8” long. The latter is eauipped with a master controller and resistances, signal lever position colour-light signal, and train stops, together with the necessary track circuiting A rail brake and various switches A general impression of the model can be seen in Fig. 1. The track is laid on 3” 7-ply, stiffened at the edges with 12” x {” strips. Diagonal fillets are glued on the upper side and these are covered with green felt to represent grass mbankments. The outside surface of the strips is stained and french polished. The track is hinged in the centre and when folded back allows sufficient length of rail to form a permanent stand for the loco. when not in use. In accordance with real railway practice, the undermentioned interlocking devices and opera- tional arrangements have been incorporated in the model 1.—The controller handle cannot be moved until the reversing spindle has been shifted to either forward or reverse positions. The detachable key operating the revers spindle can only be engaged or detached when, the latter is in the neutral position, arrangem are also fi 3.—The reversing spindle can only be shifted after the dead man’s knob ’” has been depressed. 4.—The first step on the controller energises the re- yerset mounted onthe locomotive and throws it to the position _ previously determined by the position Of the reverser key. 5.—The second and subsequent steps cut out the resistances in the main motor circuit 6.—Releasing of _ the dead man’s knob’ when the controller handle is in any position (if the reverser is not in neutral) illuminates a “dead man’s alarm lamp on the control panel This represents an applica tion of the air brake on the prototype. 7.—Releasing of the ‘dead man’s knob” in anyJuly 27, 1939 thin liquid cement were thrown over the ballast, it would keep free from weeds and never shift ; and judging by the present condition of the buttresses, under the corner posts of Doll’s House Viaduct on the Polar Route, which were made in similar fashion, he is quite right. MISS TEN-TO-EIGHT Alternative Motion Plate If anybody wants to fit the usual type of motion plate to this locomotive, and likes to make a pattern for the casting, ‘here are the necessary details and sketch. First, slight alterations to the existing parts will be needed; shorten the guide bars by 3”, and file or mill 3/32” off each side of the crosshead slippers. This reduces the wearing surface by 50%; but with this type of motion plate it cannot be helped, as the guide bars fit in notches in the plate, and the crossheads must clear them. ‘You cannot set the motion plate beyond the limit of crosshead movement asit would foul the valvegears. The shape of a suitable cast motion plate is, shown in the sketch. It is rounded off at the bottom corners, at the point where it meets the bogie wheel clearances in the main frames. The middle part of the plate is 3/16” in thickness, and a ¥” flange all round brings it up to {” at the outside edges. Two lugs are cast on the bottom flange, to take the anchor-link fulcrum pin. Very little machining and fitting will be required. The sides can be milled to fit snugly between frames; Reverse arm—Inside alternative. if a regular miller is not available, use the lathe. Clamp the casting on its side, under the lathe tool- holder, and traverse it across a 7/16” or larger endmill held in three-jaw chuck. A home-made fiat slot-drill (see ** M.E.”” handbook, ‘ Milling in ‘Small Lathes,”” which is a most useful tome for a beginner) will do the needful just as well. You can easily make certain of getting the whole doings square, by putting the faceplate on the mandrel nose, and setting the casting to the blade of a try-square held with its stock against the faceplate; the top edge of the casting should touch the blade all the way along, when the clamp bolt is tightened. After milling’ off one side, merely turn the casting over and repeat operation. ‘The 1/16” nicks for the guide bars should be carefully made with a file, and the holes for the anchor link pin marked off from the centre of the nicks. Drill the lugs in the lathe if you have no 7 L.B.S.C. drilling machine, not by hand. Hold the casting with the tailstock centre in one centre-pop, whilst you drill the other lug by running up to a'No. 32 Grill held in three-jaw. Reverse and repeat operation, with tailstock centre in previously drilled hole. Slot the lugs by clamping the casting under the lathe tool-holder, and running up to a }” circular slotting cutter on a stub mandrel in the chuck. Finally, poke a }” reamer through all the holes ‘at once.’ The complete motion plate is placed. between frames, recessed part to rear; slipped over the guide bars, and adjusted to correct, position, after which it can be secured by three 4” or 5 BLA. countersunk screws each side, The exact location of the screwholes does not matter, 50 long as the screws enter the flanges fairly central. Before fitting the reverse arm, there is just one point to bear in mind. If the outside arm is used, the spindle must screw into the side of the curved Besley lie s anazeQ Brit Reverse arm—Outside type. guide, tightly enough to stand the thrust of the die blocks. This is quite O.K. if your taps and dies cut a good thread; I fitted a Carson rebuild with the same arrangement, and the spindle was 50 con- founded tight that it broke off when I attempted to get it out for some more repairs a few years later; so there was never any likelihood of its ever shifting of its own accord! "If, however, you are alittle chary of its keeping tight, fit the alternative inside arm as given, which is attached to the right-hand curved slide by a separate screw, and, therefore, cannot move independently of the shaft. The outside arm is simply a piece of 3/32” by 1” steel strip filed to shape, one end having a little Steel bush made from ” rod, brazed into it, as shown in sketch, which needs no further explana- tion, The inside arm is also a piece of the same section rod, filed to shape, and bent as shown; but take note that the centres of the holes must be 13” ajter bending. No bush is needed, the larger end being drilled 3/16” to fit over the slide-shaft trunnion. A No. 30 countersunk hole is drilled in the arm 3” above the trunnion hole, and a 5 B.A. countersunk screw goes through this into a tapped hole in the blank side of the slide. It must not project into the slot, or it will foul the die blocks. Note that the ‘flange of the trunnion bearing on that side must be reduced to a thickness of 3/32”, to allow for the thickness of the arm. ‘Assembly is the same as previously described; just put the complete shaft, with arm attached, between the bearings, and screw in the trunnion pins from outside the frames.ELECTRICAL 98 THE MODEL ENGINEER *Eleetrie Traction A Model Electric Railway Control and Signalling Equipment By C. Baker ‘A. RECESS is cut on the inside of the periphery and into this is held one arm of a bell crank lever; the other end presses against. the tunderside of the main interlocking disc and is held in position by a light tension spring. In the normal condition, the reverser spindle is locked by the crank lever, but can be released by depressing the controller handle. The main and reverser spindles are locked together by a small cast arm pivoted from lugs on the back plate. In the “' off” position, this engages with one of the grooves on the main inter- locking disc and can only be released by de- pressing the controller handle (to free the reverser spindle) and then moving the reverser. This eration brings either the forward or reverse brake alarm plunger” immediately over inter- locking disc so that any upward movement of the latter forces up a plunger which closes the alarm contacts and illuminates the lamp on the control panel in lieu of applying the air brakes. The alarm plungers are made of brass turned ‘8/16” diameter with 5/16” heads, into which are pressed small fibre plugs which close German silver con- tacts of bell-push type The plungers are carried in arms cast on the re- verset interlock. The cap plate of the controller is designed, as far as possible, to repre- sent the real counterpart, and the stops limiting the travel of the reverser key are positioned to prevent the removal of the latter in any position other than neutral. The electrical and mechanical designs of the controller do “not follow actual practice but have been arranged to give the same results, Trip Swit This unit is housed in a box 3” long, 14” wide and 13” deep, made from 20 s.w.g. brass. sheet "Concluded from page 47, “MLE.” July 13,1939, Fig. 6. of Trip Switeh from the underside. The top cover is hinged to form a lid and the bottom, which is readily removable, is secured by four screws. The box is fitted in a hole cut in the track so that }” protrudes above the top surface of the sleepers; this suggests realistic proportions, although the box is actually overscale. Three sets of twin coils are attached directly to the sides of the box over a 20 s.w.g. steep keeper; the attachment screws passing directly into tapped holes in the iron cores. The two sets of coils for the normal operation of the track arm are mounted at J” pitch with a rocker carrying the armatures pivoted between them; these can be seen in Fig. 6. ‘An arm is attached fo the fulcrum point of the rocker and this actuates a push rod through a pin joint. ‘The rod passes through the end wall of the box and is connected at the outer extremity to a crank which is free to move on the track arm spindle. The drive to the spindle is obtained through an adjacent crank, to which the loose crank is attached by a lightly spring-loaded crescent-shaped lock engaging with a spigot on the fixed crank. This permits the normal operation of the track lever, but when hit by a train in the danger’ position the crescent lifts against the spring and moves the gear out of the control of the normal operating coils. The resetting push-rod is connected to the spindle through a lost motion quadrant and can only operate in the tripped position. The attachment of the rocker and the arrangement of the armature are similar to those for normal operation, except that the rocker carries the main silver contact for the motor current, Both rockers are built up from 20 s.w.g. sheet brass and all “armatures are cut from jf” x 14 s.wg. steel. On the underside of the box the two contacts, can be seen in Fig. 6, which are bridged only when the rocker is in the ™July 20, 1939 L.B.S.C. Ten-to-Eight How to set Valves By “LB, ALTHOUGH the following notes are primarily concerned with the valve-setting on this, particular engine, locomotive builders in. general may probably find one or two useful “ ‘ints and tipses " therein. Not only beginners, but many who are more experienced, do not appear to realise that the first important essential in valve setting is to make sure that the driving axleboxes, are in running position; that is, the position the will take up in the hoblocks, when the engine is standing on its wheels in running trim with all the top works attached, and water in the boiler. Even full-size locomotive folk have been known to slip up over the latter condition; for example, in the old Nor’-West days at Crewe, valves were sometimes set when the boiler of an engine w, empty, with the result that when the arrived at the running-shed to which she was allotted, the beats were “all over the shop,”” in a manner of speaking, so that the first thing the local staff had to do, was to reset the valves with a full boiler. With link motion, the error is not sufficient to affect the steam distribution to any considerable extent. With Walschaerts or Baker gear it is not, too bad, although the effect is distinctly noticeable to the practised ear of an engineman. However, the case of a radial gear located directly above the driving axle, such as Hackworth, or directly above and driven from the connecting-tod, as in the present instance of Joy gear, it does not need a Sherlock Holmes to deduce that any variation from the correct position, either up or down, is going to cause some trouble. Yet, as the old saw truly says, every cloud has a silver lining; and this very fact provides a simple means of counter- acting any slight inaccuracy which our friends of the locomotive L-cards may have managed to introduce without being aware of How to Check Slide-Shaft Position Valves can either be set under pressure or by sight. Many prefer the former, as it automatically allows for any slackness in ‘the fitting of the valve gear; and precision workers are, unfor- tunately, in the minority. The latter method is the best’ and easiest for the beginner and inex- perienced worker. The first thing to be done, is to ascertain if the position of the slide-shaft is correct in relation to the cylinders and crank axle. If you have followed the instructions with the care beloved of and exemplified by our old friend Inspector Meticulous, it will be; but here is the way to check it. Clamp a small tap-wrench, or something similar, on the projecting end of ‘the co slide-shaft trunnion. I have used a small lathe- carrier, such as clockmakers use, on jobs like this for many years. It has a hole in the shank, so that the shaft can not only be moved back ‘and forth but secured in any position by a length of wire, hooked up to anything convenient on the engine frame. First put the right-hand crank on the front dead centre, and waggle the tap-wrench back and forth so that the slide-shaft oscillates. Watch the radius-rod carefully; it should not show the least movement, as in this position the dieblock pin and the slide-shaft trunnion should be dead in line. If 0.K., move the crank to back dead centre, and rvpeat the performance. If this also is all right, try both dead centres on the left-hand crank in the same way. If these also give the same result, knock off and take a cup of the engineman’s best friend, or other refreshment to taste, for, believe me, you certainly deserve it! Although T have made so many, of different sorts, that I can do them ‘* upside down and backwards,’ so to speak, T always feel like raising a cheer every time they come out all serene; it is so easy to make a slip. But, aha! did you see a little movement on the radius'rod as_you. were waggling the slide-shaft with the crank on front dead centre? Well, never mind. Just move the crank slightly off centre, still waggling, until the radius-rod becomes quite still, and then take a look at the crank. If only a weeny bit off centre, you can equalise things up by altering the position of the axlebox, either slightly up’ or down, to restore the crank’ to the horizontal position without moving the connecti rod. This is quite in order; Mr. Joy himself said that his gear works quite all right'with the centre- line of the crank axle either a little below or a little above the centre-line of the cylinders. Check oft on all four dead centres again. If they come right with the altered running position of the axlebox, O.K.; but if, say, the two front dead centres are all right, but you get movement of the radius-rod on the back centres, then the distance from the axle to the vertical centre-line of slide-shaft is not correct. This can be checked by putting the piston-rod at half stroke and noting the position of the whole gear. The links should be practically in a straight line at both top and bottom positions. If they are not, you can see at a glance which way the slide-shaft trunnion wants to go to make them Take out the slide-shaft trunnions, and remove the bushes or bearings in which they work. Make ‘two new bearings, but instead of drilling the holes for the trunnions in the centre, drill them slightlyLOCOMOTIVES %6 THE MODEL ENGINEER A Track Day in South Africa T a recent meeting of the Witwatersrand Society of Model Engineers, Mr. C. “Churms ex tended an invita- tion to members to spend a track day at his resi- dence. This in- vitation was gladly accepted. Mr, Churms’s track is 2)" gauge, laid on concrete, in a continuous oval some 240 in. cir- cumference. Two sidings are pro- vided, with points leading to the main track, for getting up steam and attending to the locos” A gradient of approximately 1 in 120 is incorporated in the N.W. side of the track, and makes itself dis- tinetly felt when the eagines are heavily loaded The height of the concrete from ground level is 18”, and the width at the top 8”. A recess is cast in the top surface, into which the sleepers fit snugly Fine ballast is packed round the sleepers, but no other means is used to fasten the track to the concrete. This construction certainly results in a track which remains beautifully level, even whet subjected to the extremes of the South African climate, In addition, trucks with footboards can be used, thus making driving and firing a com fortable and simple job. ‘An added interest ‘to the day's outing was given by the presence of Mr. Rowbottom, of Cape Town, who had brought his “ Fayette "* type. loco. on the long journey of 1,000 miles in order to enjoy a run with his Johannesburg friends Photo by} Columns of * Live Stean Mr. Rowbot tom is no stran ger to “ME. readers, and his loco. is built to LBS.C.'s" de sign as regards boiler and ¢ sis, but is finish ed’ off to South African outline He has spent a considerable am: ount of _ time experimentin with small in: jectors, with so much so that he has taken the somewhat revo- lutionary course of abandoning pumps altogether on his loco., and relying entirely on two baby injectors—one for high pressure and one for low He discovered that the altitude (6,000 feet above sea level) affected his injectors by lowering slightly their pressure range, but the prompt pick-up and steady feed, without a sign of dribble, given by these tiny ‘injectors, was a revelation to. the Witwatersrand loco. men. Another feature of Mr. Rowbottom’s engine is the rocking grate, which worked perfectly Steam was raised in a very few minutes, and the“ Fayette lapping the track steadily, notched up almost to mid-gear. Under these conditions the blast could scarcely be heard, but the steam pressure was maintained easily at blowing-off point. The speed at which the points were taken caused many an anxious moment, but not the slightest trouble occurred. The engine's steadiness is probably accounted for by the side control springs fitted to the b: (J. H. Court Mr. W. €, Henning’s S.A.R. “15CA class Loco,August 3, 1939 L.B.S.C. A Few Queries Answered By “LBS.” BEFORE describing the reversing gadgets in the cab, there are a few queries of general interest to deal with. The first relates to wheel sizes. In the opening notes, it was mentioned that although. the size specified for the driving wheels was 5” diameter, this need not be rigidly adhered to; a wheel slightly smaller could be used, without making any alteration whatever to the working parts. The effect of using smaller diameter driving wheels meant merely lowering the height of the running-board from the railhead, by half the difference. One of our advertisers has taken the trouble to make up a special pattern for a wheel which will finish to the 5” of the original specifi- cation. Others are selling the castings used for Maisie,”” and several readers have found that ‘owing to slight inaccuracies in moulding, their wheels will clean up to only 4 13/16”, and want to know if this size will do, and how it affects the bogie and tender wheels. Nothing at all to worry about! The running board will be 3/32” nearer the rail level, which is not noticeable when the engine is on the road, and merely corresponds to the amount to which a full-sized engine would settle down when the springs flattened out a bit after prolonged service. Some of the old Brighton front-coupled engines used to “get tired" as we called it, and sat down almost on the guide bars! ‘As regards bogie and tender wheels, if these are reduced by a like amount, no further alteration is necessary; but if, say, 24” wheels are used on the bogie, with the smaller drivers mentioned above, adjustment can be made either on the rubbing plate or the axleboxes, or both. For example, the rubbing washer could be made 1 /32” in thickness, and instead of drilling the holes for the bogie axles in the middle of the boxes, they could be drilled 1/16” above centre line of same. This would bring matters right. Conversely, if * Maisie "” bogie wheels were used, and finished to 24” diameter, then the axleboxes would be made as shown, but the rubbing washer increased to 3/32” thickness. We will go into the matter of the tender wheels when giving the notes and sketches of the tender frames and running gear. ‘The question of balancing has been raised. In most of the wheels on the market, the balance weights are opposite the crankpin bosses; whereas ‘on most inside-cylinder engines the inside cranks and the outside coupling-rod pins are on opposite centres, necessitating a balance-weight almost on the same centre as the crankpin boss. If your balance weights are opposite the crankpin boss, put the inside cranks on the same centres as the coupling-rod crankpins, thus following the good example of Messrs. Stroudley, Dean and other famous designers of successful locomotives. ‘* Old Billy "” always laid it down, that the cranks should pull direct on the coupling-rod pins, instead of transmitting the stress through the axleboxes and horns; and many of us are of the opinion that he was quite right, as this drive is approximate to that on an outside cylinder engine, where the driving stress is actually applied to the coupling- rod pins. ‘Some of our readers who are familiar with the North-Eastern “big sisters "" are asking for drawings of the Stephenson link motion with indirect drive, as fitted to the full-size engines. ‘Apart from the fact that scheming out such a valve- gear for a small minority only would take up far more time than I can spare at present, it would not be anything near as robust as the Joy gear; the eccentrics would be very narrow, as there is very little space available for four of them between the cranks. There is good “‘ precedent,” as the politicians would say, for fitting Joy gear, as many of the Worsdell engines had it.“ The best alterna~ tive for “ anti-Joyites ”” would be simple loose eccentrics, set to cut-off at about 60% of the stroke; this would answer the purpose of anybody wishing to run the engine on a continuous track. The two eccentrics should be 1)” diam., 2” wide; no grooves are needed, as the crank webs would prevent the straps from slipping off the sheaves. ‘The latter could be made in two parts, held together by a set-screw with its head sunk below the periphery of the ‘‘ tumbler,”” the hole being filled up with white metal and smoothed off, like the eccentric set-screws on the Stroudley engines. The throw of the eccentrics should be 3/16”, giving }” movement to the valves, which would effect the desired cut-off. A pin in the crank web, engaging in a sausage-shaped slot in the eccentric {as on my old ‘‘ Caterpillar”) would be a con- venient and easy way of arranging the drive, the eccentrics “following” the cranks; this would come in just right, as a small rocking shaft would be needed to transmit the movement to the valve spindles above the piston-tods. This could be a plain 5/32” or 3/16” silver-steel stay-rod, right ‘across the frames, midway between piston-rods and valve-spindles. On this would be mounted two bronze sleeves; the inner ends of these would carry pendulum levers connected to the eccentric rods, and the outer ends would be furnished with vertical levers connected to the valve-spindles, the whole forming a simple and efficient drive. Regarding the alteration of the top works and “trimmings "” to suit the outline of other com-L.B.S.c. panies’ engines, this is a simple matter in the case of the old L.N.W., and other inside-cylinder 4-4-0's in the L.M.S. group; the Great Eastern “Claud Hamilton's” and similar engines on the L.N.E.R.; also the re-built Billinton, Wainwright and Drummond engines of the Southern. But, in reply to those few Great Western supporters who want to turn “' Miss Ten-to-Eight ”” into a fully- fledged Swindon lass, of Dean vintage, with outside frames and whatnot all complete, I would offer Mr. Punch’s famous advice—""Don't.” The alterations involved would be so extensive as to entail re-designing the whole outfit. Even with double frames as far as the firebox, so as to retain the “ works "’ as given, you would still need the long axles, outside-framed bogie, outside driving and coupled axleboxes with separate cranks and coupling-rods, and a different type of boiler altogether. Anybody especially sweet on a 3}” gauge G.W. engine of the outside-framed variety, could make a very fine example by scaling down Mr. Maskelyne’s design for an Armstrong goods engine. If an ordinary inside-cylinder 4-4-0 with a distinct whiff of the Wiltshire locomotive factory would fill the bill, then the job as described to date, plus a Great Western taper boiler, cab, and tender, would look like one of the Cambrian or other engines taken over by the G.W.R. in the grouping, and re-built at Swindon. I fancy the above covers the most pressing queries, but must add a word to new readers before Ieaving the subject. Time is precious; so if you write for information, number your questions and keep a copy of them, and enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope. Please note I only answer locomotive queries, and do not supply drawings. “Pole” Reverse Lever In response to requests, I am giving sketches of both the pole type lever and the wheel-and-screw reverser. Once again, Pier cee ed friends in their selec- emg tion, I might mention that’ for an_ up-and- down road, the pole is the handiest. It is instantly reversed; and the “fixed” notch- ing-up positions, as determined by” the notches in the sector. \ plate, will give a de- #%#c70awe+\ gree ‘of cut-off quite suitable for the short distance run between stops. If, however, 130 THE MODEL ENGINEER the cut-off to be adjusted to any desired point of the stroke, which is a great advantage on a long non-stop run. Every properly-fitted locomotive, bi or little, has one particular place on ‘* the lever (enginemen always call the reverser the “lever, whatever type it is) where she will run like a deer on the minimum steam consumption. Many of the old Brighton enginemen used to mark the place on the guide over the reverse nut. I will tell you how to find it on “ Miss Ten-to-Eight "” when we come to the testing stage; once found, you just bring the lever back to it when the engine has got hold of her load, as the enginemen say, and then you can ‘' keep on keeping’ on till the cows come home,”’ merely adding three or four shovels of coal every half mile or so, and putting the injector on when the water level drops. It is a safe w: that you will get tired of it long before the engine doesi Dealing with the “‘ pole "’ first, the stand, or sector plate, is cut from 3/32” bright mild steel to the shape and dimensions shown in the sketch, and a 1” length of 3/32” by 2” angle is riveted to the bottom, to form a foot which is screwed to the back beam in due course. A strip of 3/16” by 8/32” steel is either bent to the curve at the top of the sector plate or else cut from the flat to match the curve; this is attached by 1/16” bolts, with spacer washers a full }” thickness in between at the ends. The lever itself may be milled and turned from the solid, or built up. If the former, a length of 2” square mild steel is needed. Chuck it truly in the four-jaw, and tum the handle and flange: then mill away 1/16” each side, to leave the flat part of the lever }” thickness. "Drill the holes for fulcrum pin and reach-rod connection (80 and 41 drills respectively) and round off the bottom. It will be noted that the reach-rod is connected above the sector plate; an unusual plan, but necessitatea by genseeerve vew or Larch the reach-rod having —- 1 to be placed high enough to clear the ‘e) splashers. The fule crum pin is a }” bolt with 4” plain under the head ; it isserewed tq] into the sector plate and lock-nutted. A built-up lever can be made in avery short time by filing up the flat part from a bit ofp by f° steel strip, and brazing on a handle turned from you have a continuous line, fit the wheel and screw. This takes longer than a pole to shift from full forward to full back gear ; but, in between, it allows ¥ round steel. Drill as above, and pivot same way. The trigger can be sawn and filed, or milled, from a bit of ¥' by ¥" steel rod, toae Augase 3, 1939 the shape shown; exact size is of no moment, so long as it looks neat. The lug at the bottom is slotted 3” to embrace the lever, and lightly riveted to it by a 1/16” steel pin passing through lug and lever. “The trigget must be perfect fee. A small piece of gramophone governor spring steel may be attached to the trigger, as sketch, to ensure it actuating the latch when released after reversing or notching up. The latch block is a piece of steel, 7/16” by 4” by 3”, slotted to embrace the lever, and cross- nicked for the latch, It is riveted to the lever, domestic pins being just right for use as rivets on this job. The latch itself is also a simple filing job, and is shown in the perspective sketch. The T-head fits in the cross slot in the latch block, whilst the eye fits into the lug at the bottom of the trigger, being secured in place by a 1/16” pin. Leave the T-head about 3/16” deep; fit the whole doings together on the lever, and then file off the “* T'”’ level with the bottom of the latch block, when the trigger is squeezed tightly to the handle of the lever. When the trigger is released, the latch should fall and engage with the required slot on the sector; but as the head must not fall clear of the latch block, the slots are only 1/16” deep. They are filed with a key-cutter’s warding file after the lever has been assembled. Push lever to each end of quadrant, mark position of latch, and file the two end slots; then file the middle one exactly halfway between them, finally adding the rest at even. intervals. Four each side of middle are sufficient for all ordinary purposes. The complete outfit is mounted on the top of the drag-beam, approximately 3” from right-hand side, as shown; and is connected to the reverse arm on the slide straft by a reach-rod made from a I of 3/32” by J” stecl strip, with a little block brazed to each end. These blocks are slotted to fit reverse arm and lever respectively, and filed up to the usual shape of a fork or clevis; they are attached by silver-steel nutted pins. The rod is bent at the forward end to clear the splashers, as shown in the general arrangement drawing. "Its exact length is obtained from the actual job; put the lever in the middle notch, and the reverse arm in mid-gear position, then measure the distance between the centres of the holes in lever and arm. ‘Wheel and Serew Reverser This is merely a glorified edition of the little gadget specified for “* Olympiade,”” and needs no special instructions for making up. The stand is cut from }” steel, with a foot-angle attached, same asthe pole lever. Two steel bearings, 5/16” diam. and 3/16” wide, are brazed to the ends, leaving a space of 1 9/16” between; the front one is drilled and tapped 7/32” by 40, and the back one drilled No. 30. I believe the East Kent, and probably one or two more of our advertisers, are going to put reversing screws and nuts on the L.B.8.C. market, all ready to save amateur workers the trouble of cutting two-start threads; but anybody with a screw-cutting lathe can. do it, by putting a 8/16” Whit. chaser in the tool-holder, and setting the lathe to cut 12 t.p.i. As the chaser is 24 pitch, a two-start thread will be formed on the screw blank. A suitable tap'can be made for one or two nuts, by cutting a similar thread on a bit of silver-steel rod, filing four flats, and hardening and tempering. The back end of the screw is turned to }” diam. for }” length, and squared and screwed to take a little hand wheel, as shown. The front end is merely reduced to 4” diam., a bush with a No. 30 hole in it, being made to screw into the tapped hole. The nut is made from a }” length of 3” bronze rod, grooved at bottom, to slide on the edge raavet or mur Hie Bao ‘aeazeo some giare— ¥ seine, ES] | ate ‘SECTION THRO" MT Simple alternative screw reversers of the stand; flattened by filing at each side, and furnished with two little set-screws by which the fork of the reach-rod is attached. To assemble, place the nut over the stand between the bearings: poke the squared end of the screw through the front bearing, twist through the nut, push right home, and secure by screwing the locking bush into the front bearing. The screw should not have any endplay, or the gear will chatter away like a sewing machine working overtime, when the engine runs fast. The wheel can be turned up from 1” brass rod; you need not bother about filing spokes unless fecling especially energetic! The hole, after being drilled }”, may be squared by driving a bit of }” square silver-steel through it. The erecting and coupling up are practically the same as for the pole lever, except that the reach- rod will need a big fork to embrace the screw and nut. This is made by brazing or riveting an extra Dit of the 3/32” strip to the side of the reach-rod, and opening out and bending to the shape of a large fork, similar to ‘ Olympiade "” and other engines previously described.LOCOMOTIVES THE MODEL ENGINEER “Iwatt « Atlanties ”’ Further details of a famous series of Great Northern Railway (L.N.E.R., Locomotives By R. A. H. Weight Improvements to the Small “ Atlanties ” QN tuming to the 990 class again for a moment; it is necessary to record that following upon the reported success of the German Schmidt system of supetheating the steam, by carrying it in elements {nests of pipes) the length of the boiler and back in close proximity to the hot gases, before passing it to the cylinders, Mr. Ivatt decided to give this plan a trial, as did several other Chief Mechanical Engineers. "No. 988, in 1909, was the first super- heated G.N. express engine, and she ran for some time in shop grey paint instead of the usual green livery. Her heating surface became:—104 2” tubes, 706.5 sq. ft.; 18 flue tubes, 54”, 321 sq. ft.: firebox, 135.5 sq. ft.; total evaporative, 1,163 sq. ft.; superheater (18 clements), 254 ‘sq. ft-; total, 1,417 sq. ft. Owing to the greatly enhanced temperature of the steam it was at first thought advisable to reduce the boiler pressure in early superheated engines, so this figure went down from 175 to 160 Ib. New cylinders were provided of 20” diameter (a figure afterwards to become familiar); stroke remained 24”; the balanced slide valves were replaced by 8” ‘piston valves having inside admission so that a marked step forward had been taken in efficiency. One of the new large tenders was attached, weighing 43 tons 2 cwt. full. Originally, 988 had an unusual bogie with outside bearings, ‘but from 1909 an older sister, 983, displayed this feature. In 1911, the freak 271 was radically and finally altered. She became unique in a new way, for she was provided with a pair of inside cylinders, 184” by 26”, with Stephen: son gear and piston valves between the frames. She now had a superheater boiler like 988, but 2, July 2, 1939. pressed to 170 Ib. per sq. in. The engine wheel- base became 27° 6”, and the total weight was somewhat reduced to 58 tons 13 cwt. without tender. No, 271 was to prove in later years a notably free-running and powerful engine, able to take turn on express duties otherwise entirely run by the large “* Atlantics,"” though at first she was regarded as somewhat experimental. It will be noted that the cylinder diameter was slightly reduced, but the stroke was lengthened to 2 figure largely favoured on other types. ‘The New Ten of 1910 Meanwhile, in 1910, the series of ten con- siderably improved large 4-4-2 engines was turned out; these were the last built, and bore numbers 1452-61. The altered arrangement of the internal planning of the boiler showed that 144 2” fire tubes and 24 53” large flue tubes gave, with a firebox area of 141 sq. ft., an evaporative heating surface of 2,022 sq. ft.; to this was added the 427 sq. ft. represented by (24 element) super- heater {ube surface, reaching a total of 2,449 sq. ft. Boiler pressure was at first reduced to 150 but afterwards raised to 170 Ib., which became standard. Piston valves were : provided inside and the outside cylinders were increased to 20” diam. The chimney was placed farther forward, so that the blast would clear the header or steam collector on the smokebox tubeplate. A remark- able outcome was the quiet exhaust of these super- heated engines as compared with the roar of their older “ saturated ” sisters. An old driver averred vards that a superheater made “two ference "” uphill, When Mr. Ivatt decided to retire at the age of 60, he had given the Great Northem a fine stud of 115 4-4-2 express engines, and he had already ‘A typical large Atlantic of the 1910 superheated series.August 10, 1939 159, L.B.S.C. Ten-to-Eight — By “L.B.S.C.” Lubricator and Air Test TPHE mechanical lubricator described in the July 13th issue will do fine for this engine, so maké one up to the given instructions, or with ratchet drive if preferred, and attach it to the top of the front buffer beam'by a bracket made from a bit of brass angle. The top of the oil container should be about level with the top of the beam, and just clear of the back edge, although the exact position does not matter a bean, so long as the Grive can be connected up, and the tank does not foul the drawbar nut, Do not bother about connecting up the oil pipe to the steam chest yet, as we will fix a tee on the steam pipe, so that the oil may be introduced directly into the flow of steam. This is by far the best method, as the hot steam picks up the oil, atomises it and carries the spray. to everything that moves inside the cylinder block. As to the drive, you can either fit a divided eccentric (as described several times in“ Live Steam ”’ notes) between the cranks, and connect it by a stout wire spoke to the operating lever, or extend the pin in one of the valve- spindle forks, and drive from that, via a bent piece of spoke wire. T have used both methods. In the latter case, a small round boss, drilled to fit over the extension of the valve-fork pin, is screwed to the upper end of the rod. Connection to the operating lever, in either case, is made by a little steel fork, made as described for the valve- spindle forks only smaller. The shank of this is tapped, and screwed on the end of the spoke wire. Most builders will, by now, be anxious to see if the lady will turn her own wheels—if they are anything like your humble servant this is pretty certain!—so you can get busy with the tyre pump off the family week-end chariot. Drill and tap a hole in the steam chest cover, 5/16” by 32, about }” ahead of the exhaust fitting, and a little to one Side; the exact position is of no importance, but take the cover off to do the job, otherwise you will ‘get chippings in the cylinders, Get an old auto tyre valve, take the “* inside "’ out, and turn and screw the end to suit the hole in the cover. Screw in, and connect up your pump. Have the “running position” packings under the axle- boxes, and prop up the beams so that the wheels are clear of the bench. Then operate the pump. With the lever in full gear, cither way, she should loose off sharp and snappy exhaust cracks, starting in any position of the cranks, and should keep running with the lever fairly near middle either way. As cold air does not “* work expan- sion ” like hot steam, and the momentum of the wheels is nothing like’ the momentum of the mass of the engine and train on the road, do not expect, to get too close to mid-gear on air test; but if she runs well with the lever about two-thirds back, either way, she will perform all right on the road. Tip: do not pump too vigorously, or she will christen the workshop ceiling; there is a delightful jazz. pattern worked out in oil spots over my own bench! Boiler In all probability my good friend the super- critic who issued the challenge, having recovered from the shock of seeing cylinders 1 3/16” bore called for in my specification, is now wondering what the merry dickens I am going to provide in the way of a “‘ kettle,"” to keep them supplied with steam, Well, as a matter of fact, they will not need so much steam, under normal running conditions, as the hopelessly-undersized bores on Lieut.-Colonel Simpson’s engine; at the same time, the boiler specified will provide all the steam needed for climbing a bank, fully loaded, with the lever down in the comer, and plenty of regulator opening. As you can see by the drawing, itis only just an ordinary boiler, nothing “fancy” about it at all; but fake a second look, and note the proportions. A moderate grate only is provided, but there is plenty of firebox volume, and that is what matters. There is a big nest of small tubes and a couple of flues large enough to house two adequate superheater elements of the spearhead pattern—the type used on full-size railways, be it noted—without any risk of them becoming choked by “ birds’ nests.”” In the course of my personal experimenting with different kinds of boilers, 1 found that there is a definite relationship between the amount of water carried, and the “innards ”” of a locomotive boiler, if the temperature of the water is to be sustained; and as it is the tempera- ture of the water that governs the steam delivered, and not just mere square inches of heating surface, a successful boiler should have this relationship properly arranged. A candle flame would not sustain the temperature of the contents of a five- pint kettle, but would have no difficulty in keeping the contents of a thimble “' on the pin,” if you get my meaning! All right; so let us get on to construction. Barrel and Firebox Wrapper There are two ways of making this; take your choice. The first is to procure a length of 4” diam, by 16 gauge seamless copper tube, and turn it off square at both ends, to a dead length of 83”. Cut a piece of 16 gauge copper, 16%” by 7”, and bend it to the shape of the firebox wrapper, as CalQ ™ Te ee L.B.S.C. 160 THE MODEL ENGINEER : shown in the cross section. Cut a strip of 16 gauge copper, }” wide and 12” long, bend it to the diameter of the inside of the barrel, insert it for half its width, and rivet in place by 3/32” round-head rivets at 4” centres, putting the heads inside and hammering the shanks flush into countersunk holes in the barrel. Butt the wrapper against the barrel, with the projecting half of the butt strip : entering the circular part of the wrapper; rivet as above. Making the Throatplate A throatplate must be made and fitted, to fill the space between the bottom of the barrel and the bottom of the wrapper; and as | this has to be flanged at each side, it would | be advisable now to make the forming plate on which the backhead is flanged and use it for this job also. It is just a piece of 3” steel or iron plate, sawn and filed to the shape shown in cross-section of the boiler, but 1/16” less all around, except at bottom, than the inside measurement of the wrapper. Cut a piece of 13 gauge sheet copper 34” by 3"; clamp in vice, side by side with the forming plate, narrower end of copper flush with bottom of plate; then beat down each side, over the edge of the former, so as to form the side flanges. The copper should be well annealed by heating to redness and plunging into water before flanging. Clean up the flanges with a rough file; place throat- te temporarily in position; mark a line on it corresponding to inside of barrel; remove, saw and file away the surplus, replace, and | rivet flanges to wrapper as above, making certain that the upper curved edge of throat- | plate butts against back edge of barrel, but 1 eS + + a + + SE comven sts ar ceures is + + a + 2 does not stand above same. It is hardly necessary to add that all joints should be well © cleaned before assembling, and this goes for | everything on the boiler. Successful brazing depends on clean joints. | The parts thus far assembled, are now united as one, by brazing or “ Sifbronzing.’” The former needs a five-pint blowlamp or a 14” gas blowpipe; the latter, oxygen | apparatus, which many prospective loco- motive builders are now acquiring. Your humble servant, after many years of “slow | roasting" with’a five-pint lamp, was one of =| | : wh the first to welcome the ‘* Sifbronze " method of locomotive-boiler construction, whose only opponents are those who do not realise that "Sifbronzing ” cannot be done | © by brazing “technique,” but requires | special manipulation. I might here add that | *' Sifbronze ’” welding has “’ caught on” to | || 2 SATEEN WH On ea aL such an extent in the plumbing trade that all modern installations are now made in copper ipe with “ Sifbronzed ”” joints and special ittings made of weldable metal, instead of Nn a a lean itl ll itil sadness inAugust 10, 1939 the old soft hot pressings, wiped joints and compo. piping. Eh—did T hear a remark about riveted- and-soldered boilers? However, brazing instructions first; mix up some brazing flux, “* Boron,”” “ Alda,”” or any similar preparation, to a creamy paste’ with water, and cover the joints with it. Stand the boiler, barrel pointing skywards like an anti-aircraft gun, in a pan of coke or breeze, and pile the latter up all around it. Get your blowlamp or blowpipe going good and strong, and blow up to bright red; apply some easy-running brazing strip, as sold by our advertisers. Start at the bottom corner of the throatplate, run up the side, around the bottom of the barrel, and down the other side. Then lay the shell on its side in the coke, and go around the circumferential joint, running the spelter well in. Let cool to black, then dump in a pickle made from one part of commercial sulphuric acid to twenty parts of water. Add acid to water, never vice versa. Let it soak a few minutes, then wash well in running water, and clean up. If the heat has been sufficient, the brazing medium should have run as smoothly as soft solder, and not require any filing; but beginners and inexperienced workers usually manage to get some ‘* superfluous knobs and excresences,’” and these should be filed off. Do not re-heat. Oxy-acetylene brazing If you have an oxy-acetylene blowpipe, proceed thus. There is no need! to pile any coke or breeze nd the job; just file a V-nick all around the nntial "joint and sprinkle some ‘* Sif- bronze" flux in it, Lay the shell down in the pan, and play the flame on one place in the seam tuntil it glows bright red, using a No. 295 blowpipe tip. Dip your stick of “* Sifbronze” in the flux, and apply it to the joint in the flame, so that a little blob melts off and drops in the groove; then play on the blob until it kind of “fuses ”’ into the copper on each side of the groove. Then drop another spot as close to the first as you can, so that it slightly overlaps. Blow on that until it fuses, then repeat the operation right around the seam, and down each side of the flange, until th whole of the grooves are filled with ‘" Sifbronze, and present a rippled appearance. It sounds’ a long job to describe, but in reality it is very quick, the action being continuous. Applied thus, the * Sifbronze "” actually fuses into the copper and produces a “‘ surface weld ”” which is stronger than the parent material. If you try to apply “Si "with a blowlamp, or with insufficient bronze ” concentrated heat, it merely “sticks "” and will leave the parent’ metal under stress. It is a welding, as distinct from a brazing, material. Porto” is a similar material to “" Sifbronze, and is applied in exactly the same way. Surface- welded jobs may be pickled and cleaned off, in the same way as brazed jobs. I use a handful of steel wool for cleaning up. The lower edges of the firebox wrapper must be 16 cut away, so that they will rest on the trailing homblocks when the boiler is erected on the engine and sitting down at its correct level. At 54” from the top, make a horizontal cut at each side, 23” long. Make a diagonal cut at }” from the throat- plate, to meet the cut above mentioned; this will Heave a step © 14” deep in the lower part of the wrapper; see sketch. I think the above will be enough to keep '* Ten-to-Eight "” builders busy for ‘one week; but if not, carry on with cutting out the iron former for the firebox end sheets. This is made from 4” plate, same shape as shown in cross section, but 1/16” less all around except at bottom, Set ont on it the location of the tubes as shown, and drill a No. 40 hole at each spot, as the former plate is used as a jig for drilling ‘the tube holes in both firebox and smokebox tbe- plates. Alternative construction of barrel and wrapper will be given next week, all being well. Scenery for Model Railways OME, years ago it was the practice of model railway owners to obtain from their local decorator pictorial friezes to use as backgrounds for their model railways. Some of these were very good. Others, where a prominent building formed part of the scene, were not so suecessful— no one wants to see about twenty “ Windsor Castles" behind their model railway at regular intervals! ‘The fashion for this type of house decoration has now changed, and, therefore, its aids to model railways are no longer available. Model railway owners will be pleased to learn that Messrs Bassett-Lowke, Ltd., have, in conjunction with Messrs. Trix, Ltd., given considerable thought to this matter of scenery and are now able to otter to the public and to the trade the first of a series of specially designed backgrounds suitable for “OO” and “O"" gauge lines. This series, which is now ready, consists of three separate scenes, each 91” high by 36” long, depicting:—(1)" Pastureland with undulating country; (2) Sea coast with cliffs, and gorse in the foreground; and (3) Mountains with heather fore- ground. Each section is the work of the same artist, and they are so designed that any of the three can be joined to cither of the other two without the division being visible. ‘The model railway owner can, therefore, arrange his own landscape—i.e., he can have, say, two or three of the pastureland and one each of the sea coast and mountains, and join them as he wishes, the meeting point of each scene being so arranged as to make the picture complete however they are placed. They are sold in sets of three at 85. per set, or separately at Is. 9d. per scene, and model railway dealers can obtain them in quantities for re-sale from Messrs. Trix, Ltd., 45-47, Clerkenwell Road, London, E.C.1.LOCOMOTIVES 162 THE MODEL ENGINEER The “Henderson” Competition (THE preliminary announcement and rules for this competition appeared in the March 30th issue of THE MopEL ENGINEER, and the event took place before a large number of spectators under perfect weather conditions on Whit Monday on the Romford Model Engineering Club's tra in the grounds of the Red Triangle Club at Romford. The deciding factor in this contest was the weight of the loco. and tender (WIb.). Onthis factor, the coal allowance and standard load were W Ib. decided, the coal allowance being oz.and the standard load 20W (a maximum). Standard lap time for the 430 ft. circuit was fixed at 50 secs. one mark being added for every sec. under this, Mr. Killey's Annie Bodie.” and two deducted for every sec. over. Stewards had been appointed for the duties of weighing loco’s., drivers, and the sacks of sand used for the load, and for weighing coal allowance, lap scoring time keeping, and posting up results lap by lap ona large indicator board visible to all spectators. The order of running for the 12 entries received was decided by drawing lots. A summary of the results will be published later, but the following comments may be of interest. Mr. S. W. Carr’s “Fayette” type Pacific opened the proceedings, with just under a quarter of a ton behind the tender (11 W), and after a slow opening lap due to slipping while getting under way, got into her stride and covered 18 laps (1F miles) non-stop when the load de-railed, pulling the loco. with it. On re-starting a further 2 laps were covered, then the tender had to be re-filled and, after a further de-railment in the 22nd lap, and the fact that a drop-arm had worked loose the run was concluded. The Dupen Brother's Atlahtic, “ King Edward VIIT” was next, looking extremely smart_after her re-build and paint. She was hauling 416 Ib. (13 W), and put up an excellent performance com- pleting 17 laps, but suffering in the marking through the load slipping and causing a de-rail ment. Mr, Bond of Luton was next with h G.N. locomotive. Most unfortunately his pony truck persisted in de-railing, and he had to retire without even completing a lap Mr. Killey’s 4-4-0 ‘ Annie Boddie”” followed His first two laps with 396 Ib, load were rathi too slow to qualify, owing to slipping; but on reducing the load to 284 Ib., the loco. put up some very good times in the course of the 18 laps covered. Mr. J. Couch’s" Dyak seemed off form although he “was handicapped through raising steam some time before the finish of Mr. Killey’s run, He retired in the first lap—owing to the boiler having "' gone off the boil.” Mr. Fred Bruton of Fulham, with his L. Pacific“ Boanerges,” which put up such show at Mr. Simpson’s Day last year, had the misfortune to blow out a regulator flange gasket and after doing three laps in a cloud of steam and with badly scalded fingers, he had to retire They say No. 7 is a lucky number, but the performance which followed by our worthy Secretary's 28-2 tank, "Cock o’ the East (unfortunately missed by many visitors who had long distances to travel home) was the best of the day. He had weighed up all the pros and cons, and realising that he might have a difiicult proposition to beat the day’s best figure so far (No. 1) he decided on a non-stop run, As his VER. ‘good water tank only holds just over a pint of water (easily evaporated in one lap, working hard) he arranged beforehand for another member to hand him a bottle of water “‘en route.” We might mention that it is no easy task to empty a bottle of water into a tank while preserving balance at 8 m.p.h. on a continuous track !ae ——— oT August 17, 1939 MISS TEN-TO-EIGHT Alternative Way of Making Boiler Shell Anybody wishing to do away with the circum- ferential joint, should get a piece of 44” by gauge seamless copper tube, long enough to finish to a dead length of 153” after the ends have been squared off in the lathe. Make a cross saw-cut 7” from one end and 1}” deep; then make a longi- tudinal one along the 7” length of tube to meet the ‘cross cut in the middle. Anneal the cut portion by heating to red, and quenching in clean water; ‘open out to the shape of boiler shell, as shown in the cross-section sketch, and trim off the bottom edges so that they are straight and parallel ‘As the opened out portion will not be deep ‘enough to form the firebox wrapper, two extension Weapeen SHEET EiREB0r eet ‘Wrapper extension with lap joint. pieces must be added. These are cut from 16 Zauge sheet copper, and attached to the bottom of the wrapper, either by a riveted and brazed lap joint, or by a regular “ coppersmith’s joint. Both methods are illustrated; take your choice. First check off from the actual job the size and shape of the pieces of copper needed for the extensions, I” usually make paper patterns, allowing 4” lap. Then cut the copper to match. For a plain lapped joint, rivet the extension inside the edge of the wrapper, as shown in detail sketch, just putting in sufficient rivets to hold it in position hilst brazing. This is done in the brazing pan without elaborate preparation; merely pile the coke or breeze around, apply some flux, blow up to bright red, and feed in a little easy-running brazing strip.“ Sifbronzers ”” can surface-weld the joint, drop by drop, as previously described. Pickle, wash and clean off. The lap joint reduces the water space above the sides of the foundation ring to 13/16". If you wish to keep them 3", make the copper- SERRATIONS INTERLOCKED EDGE OF LOWER PLATE _ ee L.B.S.C. Bend the pieces of metal between the cuts, alternately forward and back, just slightly, like setting the teeth of a saw.’ Place the two pieces of metal so that the “* teeth '” interlock; rest the joint on a bar of metal held in vice jaws and projecting out at the side, and beat it flat, so that all the ‘* teeth "are in close contact. Cover with flux, braze with easy-running strip, and file smooth both sides, If properly done—and it is very easy-the joint will be practically as strong as a ‘one-piece plate; and as both wrapper and extension sheet are in line, the full-width water space is retained, also a ‘throatplate may be made and fitted exactly as described last week. With the lap joint in the wrapper, the lower part of the throatplate will have to be narrowed in, to fit into the reduced width between the side sheets at bottom of wrapper. Make a saw-cut in the throatplate flanges each side, level with joint; then close the lower part of flanges in 1/16” each side, by hammering over a bar held in vice, or even over the edge of the vice jaws, if your vice will open wide enough. Firebox The iron former plate for the ends of the firebox. should be the same shape as shown in sketch of door sheet, less 1/16” all around except at bottom, the length from top to bottom being 5 3/16” to enable it to be used for the tube-plate. Set out the location of tube holes on it, and drill No. 40 at each point. Cut out a piece of 16 gauge sheet copper 4” larger all around except at bottom, where it should be flush, Anneal, clamp in vice ‘alongside former plate, and beat down the projecting edge of the copper on to the edge of the former, forming a flange 2” wide. Run the No. 40 drill through all the holes in the former, and right through the copper. Remove copper from former; trim flanges level, and clean them up with a rough file, the scratches from which form a “key” for the brazing material. Open out the small tube holes to 23/64” and ream 3”; the large ones are drilled out to 65/64” and reamed ¥’, or they can be filed. 7” reamers are fairly expensive! ‘The door sheet is made in the same way, but is 32” long only. Before cutting the hole for the firehole ring, the latter should be made. The “ Briggs "” ring was designed by a friend in the Midlands, and is the best type I have ever used, as it needs no rivets, takes up little space, and forms a stay between inside firebox and backhead. Fine pose, heh ae smith’s joint. Cut a series ; [ of “ snips” along the bottom of the wrapper, and a cor- responding ‘series along the bottom of each extension piece, about }* or so deep. EDGE OF UPPER PLATE \ “Coppersmith’s brazed joint.” , ee oeDoor plate or sheet. A piece of 12” copper tube, 4” thickness and §” long, is needed. Chuck in three-jaw, and turn a step, 1/16” deep and 8/16” long, at each end; see sketch. Anneal, and squeeze oval in vice, to a size approximately 7” by 1” inside. Clean well, lay it on the door sheet and scratch a line around the edge. Cut the piece out—a fretsaw with a metal-cutting blade saves a lot of filing—clean around hole, insert the flange of the firehole ring, and beat it outwards, flat to the inside of the door sheet. The ring should be fitted as close to the top flange as possibie. Sides and crown of fire box are formed from a single sheet of 16 gauge copper, Cut a piece 14)" by 6’, and bend it to the shape of the tube and door sheets. Some folk go to the trouble of carving out a hardwood block to the shape of the firebox, on which to bend the copper sheet, which is fine if you have the time. I have not, so all T do is to clamp a round bar of iron in the vice jaws, and bend my cop- peroverthat. By anneal ing the sheet, anybody with average strength can bend it to shape with their hands alone. Tube and door sheets are placed in position at the ends, a couple of small toolmakers’ clamps holding the sheet to the flanges, which are gently beaten into close contact with them, and a few 8/32” rivets put in, to hold the lot together whilst ing brazed. The bottom of the firebox is then trimmed off as per the general arrangement sketch, same as the wrapper. There are three crown stays, of my well-known, girder type with a slight variation. The crown of SQUEEZE OVAL AFTER TORHINIG TO SLE GIVEN Firehole ring. THE MODEL ENGINEER the box being wide and flat, a double flange is necessary at the bottom of each stay, but the arch of the wrapper does not need a donble flange. A single girder is, therefore, shown at each side, with an additional ‘flange riveted on at the bottom. This is bent up in the vice, from the same section sheet as used for the girders. The centre girder does not extend to the crown, of the wrapper, being merely added to stiffen up the roof of the firebox, and is of the same type as used for ‘' Maisie,”” viz., two angles bent up from 16 gauge copper sheet and riveted back to back. The centre part of the girder is curved like a “bow ’” girder on a bridge. The flanges of all three girders are well cleaned, and riveted to the top of the firebox by a few 3/32” rivets in each, spaced at about 4” centres. Warning: make Bs USE FIREBOX FORMER AS DRILLING JIG «BOOS QOO.00 “OOO” A Eg ‘Smokebox tubeplate. sure the girders extend the full length of the firebox over flanges of the tube and door sheets. All the joints of the firebox assembly can now be brazed or “' Sifbronzed,"” the same process being followed as for the shell. If using a blowlamp or air-gas blowpipe, take care not to melt up the metal between the tube holes; it is very easily done! Brazing artists should make certain that their jointing metal flows well under the crown stay flanges; and to that end, it would be advisable to run ina little common-grade silver-solder, or an easy-flowing alloy like Johnson Matthey’s ** B6,”” to “start the ball rolling,”’ following up with the brazing strip.“ Sifbronzers"” should carefully weld along both sides of each flange, and “spot ” each rivet-head also. Personally, I have no difficulty in making the “' Sifbronze” “ run "” by using a bigger tip on the blowpipe, and going very carefully to work. Once the job is properly done, it will never leak, nor ‘* come unstuck,”’ no matter how badly the boiler is ill-used. Leave a good fillet all around the firehole ring. When through, pickle, wash off and clean up, same as before. If any brazing material.has tun into the tube holes, put the reamer through them again. % BOLER ORG Poa RtFonL.B.S.C. quite common on a small non-stop road. As the LN.ER. “ Mallard” turned her wheels a little over 500 r.p.m. to break the locomotive record at 125 miles per hour, our little engines are easily capable of an equivalent of 150 and more. However, to return to old ‘‘ Fayette,”” whilst she still has the deep-toned plop! plop! plop! “bottle cork ”” exhaust cracks when starting in full gear, she is much quieter when notched up, and hardly uses any water, bypassing freely all the time, and I had to ream out the blast nozzle a little more to keep the safety valves quiet. She ought to be O.K. now for many years to come, accidents excepted. MISS TEN-TO-EIGHT Fitting Firebox and Tubes to Shell To save repetition, please bear in mind when assembling up the boiler ready for brazing, that every bit of metal that comes in contact’ with another piece should be well cleaned with rough emerycloth or similar abrasive, or else filed or seraped clean. Dirty joints render the brazing unsound. Cut a piece of 4” square copper rod 24” long and jam it tightly between the throatplate flanges at the bottom. Lay the shell on its back and insert the firebox and tubes. When in correct location, the crown-stay flanges should bear for their full length against the arch of the wrapper, and the firebox tubeplate should butt up against the piece of 4” rod just inserted between the throatplate flanges. Put a strong toolmaker's clamp over the plates and the bit of rod to hold them in close contact whilst you attend to the crown-stay flanges. When the firebox is nicely in the middle of the wrapper, the flanges should be in the position shown in the cross-sectional sketch. Put a clamp over the end of each, to hold it in close contact with the wrapper; then drill a couple of No. 40 holes through both flange and wrapper, put a couple of temporary bolts in (8/32” or 7 B.A.) and remove clamps. You can now drill No. 40 holes along both flanges and wrapper at about 1” centres, and countersink them outside the wrapper. Rivet the crown-stay flanges to the wrapper with 3/92” roundhead copper rivets. A piece of iron bar about 1” by 4” section, held horizontally in the vice, makes a fine riveting dolly, or holder-up, for this job. Be careful to hit the rivets and not the wrapper. Remove the temporary bolts and replace by rivets after all the other rivets in the two rows have been put in. Now drill a series of holes with No. 40 drill at ¥" centres, through the throatplate, square rod and firebox tubeplate. Rivet up with 3/32” by ¥" copper rivets, and remove clamp; then fit the Smokebox tubeplate. First of all, mark the centre of the top of boiler, and draw a vertical line across the smokebox tubeplate, so that you can fit it in an upright position. “Enter it flange first, as shown in recent sectional sketch of boiler, and gently tap it in until it is almost, but not quite, touching the tubes. Then line up each tube with its respective THE MODEL ENGINEER hole, by coaxing the tube with a wooden meat skewer, lead pencil, or something similar; finally, drive the plate right home so that the tubes project through the holes about 1/16” or so. Brazing the Assembly To braze in the tubeplate, you will need an old tray or tin lid, with a 43” hole in it. Stand the boiler up on end and slip the lid over the barrel, supporting it by bricks or some other fireproof material so that it is a couple of inches or so away from the end of the barrel. Pile some coke or breeze in the lid almost level with end of barrel. Plug the tube ends with wads of asbestos string Mix up some brazing flux to a creamy paste with water, and paint it all around the tube ends and the tubeplate flange where it touches the barrel. Cut up some silver-solder into little pieces and drop among the tube ends; also put a few around the flange joint. Blow the lot up to medium red, playing the flame on the coke so as to get the barrel well hot, finally directing the flame on the smokebox tubeplate itself. When it reaches the proper temperature the bits of silver-solder will melt and flow. The molten metal can be assisted to flow around the tube ends by scratching with a pointed wire. A little easy-running strip can be applied to the flange joint, and extra heat will be necessary to make it run and form a ifllet. Play the flame “ comerwise "on barrel and tubeplate, keeping at one place till the brazing material runs; then go slowly all around the edge of the barrel until_you have a nice smooth joint. “ Sifbronzers ”” can simply stand the boiler on end and surface-weld the flange joint drop by drop as before, until the groove between barrel and tubeplate is completely filled; but T recommend silver-solder for the thin tubes. Apply flux and bits of silver-solder as above, and adjust oxygen and acetylene until the blowpipe gives a large flame, but works without violent hiss, almost noiselessly in fact. This moderated flame can then be applied to each tube end, until the silver- solder melts and “ flashes" right'around the tube. Lay the boiler on its back with the wrapper overhanging the edge of brazing pan; paint some flux along each side of the crown-stay flanges, and lay a strip of silver-solder also alongside each flange. Heat up with flame partly outside and partly inside, blowing at the end. When the copper begins to glow red, apply flame at full force underneath, that is, playing upwards on to the arch of the wrapper, which will then come up to bright red; the silver-solder strips will melt and sweat "” right through the joint between flange and wrapper.“ Sifbronzers"” had also better use silver-solder for this job, as it would be awkward to get the blowpipe tip in far enough to surface-weld the flanges to the wrapper. _Pro- ceed as above, applying your blowpipe flame outside wrapper, travelling slowly along under each flange as the silver-solder melts and runs. Pickle, wash and clean up. The bottom of throatplate 1s left until the final braze-up.August 31, 1939 257 L.B-8.0. excessive pressure on the pins when hauling outsize loads. In fact, we might say “‘wear but not tear!” The bushed ends of the eccentric-rods working on the return crank pins, had also worn; but inside the Baker gear frames, except for the two bronze bushes in which the bell crank spindle works, the wear was, in a manner of speaking, not worth writing home about; and had I used a bell crank mounted on a sleeve and running on a single long pin as in current practice, instead of a spindle running in separate bushes at each end, even that wear would not have taken place. I might add that the eyes are reamed, hardened, and fitted with “* natural ” silver-steel pins. The pump eccentric-straps had worn a little, ditto the gudgeon pins, but the glands and pump rams were perfect. The cylinders, which are cast-iron, had suffered most, having apparently been let stand with water in'them. Both valves and port-faces were badly pitted, and there were bad places in the bores. though the pistons were still a good fit, and the packing was intact. The rustless. steel ” rods—some of Stuart Turner's original stuff, by the way—were undamaged. The boiler, apart from a load of scale and dirt, w O.K. ‘and as tight as a bottle under test pressure; whilst the fittings, though terribly dirty, were all in working order except for a broken gauge glass and a regulator handle stiff with dirt and scale in the gland The worn bushes were knocked out and replaced, and I repinned the combination levers with some specially tough pin steel given me for test by Mr. Glazebrook. This material is so hard that a file will hardly touch it, and it wrecks any die if an attempt be made to screw it, yet it will not snap like hardened silver-steel. When re- erecting the old girl, I made one or two alterations and improvements. The separate top-feed clacks were dispensed with, and the feeds put in on either side of the dome, shortening the pipes and making a much neater arrangement. Both pumps now deliver through a common feed-pipe to the right side of the dome, via a central clack under the * on the Walmington line barrel; the bypasses are also controlled by a single valve. The left-hand feed-pipe is monopolised entirely by the duplex donkey pump. This tiny adget, the first duplex donkey anything near ‘orrect size ever fitted to a 24” gauge locomotive, only required new rocker pins and a bit of fresh packing on the pistons. A new clack was screw into the lower part of the backhead, for the emergency hand pimp connection, which is never needed tinder normal working conditions. The displacement lubricator was scrapped, and the experimental ratchetless non-spillable mechanical Inbricator, recently described, fitted in place, the travel of the actuating lever being arranged to give one revolution of the pump spindle to 35 of the driving wheels. Originally, the engine was left in the natural colour of the metal, but this time I painted her with some ‘' Sol” Synthetic crimson lake, so she is now the exact colour of the L.M.S. passenger engines; that is, when they come out of the paintshop ! On the first run after re-erecting, old “ Fay put up a better performance than when sh new, due to a little alteration T made in the setting, not in accordance with “ the book.” live and learn! She hauled me a distance of 2} miles without a stop, turning her driving wheels at approximately the same number of revolutions per minute as a full-sized engine of similar type running at about 85 miles per hour. Incidentally, there is no such thing as ‘' scale speed.” You cannot scale time, any more than you can scale nature; a minute on a little railway is just as long as a minute on a big one. If the wheels of a big gine of any given type tum a certain number of revolutions when doing a mile in a minute, then a small copy of that engine, turning its wheels the same number of revolutions in the same time, travels at a speed equivalent to that of its big sister. Actually, the wheels of a little engine usually turn much faster than those of a big one, fon account of the parts being so light incom: parison—a wrist watch ticks much quicker than Big Ben!—and between 600 and 700 r.p.m. isee Miss Ten to Eight—Sweating up the Stays If the stays are properly fitted, sweating over the heads and nuts is only a matter of form, so to speak; but the trouble is, that most amateur or inexperienced workers usually get imperfect threads when screwing copper, and a tom thread in the plate may let some teardrops through. Hence sweating is advisable. It is neither the fault of the die nor the worker, in many cases; a ny chip of copper in the teeth of the die will tear up the soft metal and spoil the thread. I use a ground die and plenty of cutting oil, and with ordinary care and slow speed, usually get perfect threads, but I always sweat them, to be on the safe side. Plumber's solder, obtainable in thin strips, is about the best stuff for amateur use; though babbit can also be used, the former is handier. First of all, lay the boiler on its side in the brazing pan, and heat it slowly with a blowlamp; have the flame on the mild side, not fierce. With a brush, made by tying a bundle of fine iron wires toa stick, apply a liquid soldering flux, such as Baker's fiuid, killed spirits of salts, commercial chloride of zinc, etc., to all the stayheads and nuts. Do not use a paste flux, because if any gets into the boiler, it spreads like a film over the copper plates, causes violent priming when the boiler is in steam, and nothing I have so far tried will wash it ont. When the boiler is hot enough to melt solder, dip a strip of the plumber’s solder in the flux and touch each stayhead and nut with it, leaving a tiny blob on each. Then, keeping the heat up with the blowlamp, dip the wire brush in the flux and brush the blob of solder around the head or nut. If the metal is clean, and at the right heat, the liquid solder will cling to the stay and form a tiny fillet; should the threads be torn, and any interstices left, these will immediately be filled up. When one side of wrapper, and one side of firebox are done, turn the boiler over and do the rest, up-ending it for the backhead and throatplate stays. ‘An alternative method is, fist, to brush overall the heads and nuts with flux, as above; secondly, melt off a little ‘* pool” of Solder on the copper plate and, keeping up the heat with the blowlamp, spread the solder with the fiux-treated wire brush all over the area covered by the stays, completely tinning it, including all the heads and nuts. In ier case, allow the solder to set, then wash the whole bag of tricks in running water. How to Test the Boiler T have described several times in the old “ Live Steam ” notes the method of testing a boiler, first by hydraulic pressure, and then by steam: but in view of the possible dangers of an untested boiler, as mentioned recently, here is a brief résumé for new readers’ benefit. The necessaries for hydraulic test are merely a pressure gauge ting up to 200 Ib. per sq. in, (our advertisers THE MODEL ENGINEER sell them at a reasonable rate) and a small water pump; the one you are putting in the tender for lise a an emergency hand pump will do very nicely. Cover the dome hole with a disc, or fit the proper cover; plug all the bush holes ‘except two Fill the boiler with cold water; connect the pressure gauge and the pump to the two vacant bush holes by means of adapters and pieces of copper tube. The best place to make the test is in the kitchen sink, where you will not make any mess if spilling water. Pump water into the boiler steadily until the gauge shows 80 Ib., and then examine for leakage and bulges. If the firebox crown sheet _moves 1/82” o so, take no notice, it is only the soft copper arranging itself in the best position to resist pressure. If all O.K., gradually increase the pressure to 160 Ib. There is no need to go above twice the working pressure, as excessive stresses only unduly strain an otherwise good boiler. If that pressure is reached safely, let it stand a little while, and if nothing develops you can let the pressure off and pass the boiler for service. Should any leakages appear, mark the spot, and make them good before proceeding. “* Pinholes ”” in the brazing can be stopped “ for keeps "” by plugging with screwed stubs of copper wire, whilst any defect in the sweating-up should be remedied by heating the boiler again to the melting point of the solder, and applying another blob, plus liquid flux, to the offending spot. Do not patch up any leaky place with a copper-bit, as the solder thus applied will only probably stick to the surface, and ‘come away when the boiler has expanded and con- tracted a few times under steam. A Mechanical Lubricator Tip From time to time I receive complaints from locomotive builders, that water is finding its way into the mechanical lubricator, and in one or two ‘ases has worked the displacement trick on the oil, and caused same to overfiow on to the permanent way. This is caused by a " double event ""; leaky clack, and badly-fitting pumy Leaky clack are a, result of indifferent workman: ship; if the hole is D-bitted, and the resulting seating carefully reamed to correct size for the ball used (Q” for 5/32” ball, and No. 40 drill size for ¥” ball), a very light tap with a hammer and soft rod on the ball will ensure an oil-tight seating. A light spring of 28 gauge wire between ball and cap will prevent any tendency of the ball to "float ”” in the thick cylinder oil. The pump-ram trouble is not so much the fault of the ground steel rod (though I have encountered plenty which are anything but truly circular), but usually is due to the reamer cutting large; that the pump ram, though apparently oil-tight in the pump body or cylinder when the engine is cold, allows oil to pass when hot. Consequently, any steam and water getting past a leaky clack blows the oil from the connecting pipe, and escapes into the Iubricator between the ram’and the cylinder bore, on what should be the feeding stroke.September 21, 1939 since childhood) shunted the little 220 out of her running shed and headed her for Wood mancote, a pleasant hour's run through beautiful Surrey and Sussex. After a pro- longed“ lobby iat" on those topics dear to our hearts, and a welcome cup of the engineman’s best friend, we got up steam on the “Mallet” once more, but this time with a difference. A wide firebox. re- quires —differe treatment to a narrow one, and I broke up the coal to the correct size and showed Bob how to “place "it. Also, on the previous occasion, the water level had been kept too high. These combustion-chambered boilers have a very lively circulation, due to the water tubes, and with a high water level, are liable to throw water over into the steam pipe. Anyway, there was soon 100 Ib. showing on the gauge, and after preliminary warm-up, away went the engine in fine style around the circle, hauling its builder. 1 called to him to shut the blower off, and he did so: this time there was no loss of pressure, nor any water in the exhaust. It came out white, as is usual with saturated steam, but was dry, and, though soft, it created sufficient pull on the fire to maintain full pressure. In fact, when eventually the pin came out of the Stuart flywheel and put the pump hors-de-combat, so that we could not get any more water in the boiler, Bob had to run the engine around with the firehole door ‘open to knock the pressure down. While she cooled down, I gave him a few ““ints and tipses "” on how to fit up his super- heaters, one for “live steam” and one for re-heating; also how to fit a twin axle-pump and arrange for mechanical lubrication. She will also be fitted with a multiple-jet blastpipe, like the latest arrangement on the Southern’ Railway which will make the most of the low-pressure exhaust without in any way choking it.“ As soon as alterations are completed,”” as the builder's, notice sometimes informs us, the engine is coming along to the Polar Route for a thorough test, all being well. If she comes up to expectations the “next item on the agenda will be a Tom Glazebrook and Victoria on their own road. L.B.S.C. trip to Bursle- don, and a run against" Anna- bel,” the B.R.R Mallet "” with four simple inders. This should also prove _ interest ing. The com- pound has plenty of power, and both sets of engines do their share; tl will both’ at starting if the regulator is opened too wide. ‘Annabel’ has four 13/16” by 1y” cylinders and works at about 80 Ib. pressure, The compound's boiler is smaller, though it works at 100 Ib., but whether her bigger, cylinders “in series” will equal “" Annabel’s"” smaller ones “in parallel "” is a question which can only be settled satis- factorily by observing what they do on the bank when hauling the same load, and taking note of the fuel and water consumption on similar lengths of run. An Outsize in Oil Burners second son has built an old-timer y” gauge, with a water-tube small for the gange, the engine herself being only a small type: but diffi- culty has been experienced in getting ‘a suitable oil burner to fire it. Commercial types, as used for brazing lamps and stoves, having proved unsatisfactory, T made up a big ‘ improved Carson ”” 8)” overall length, with a flame tube 2)” diameter, 3” mixing tube, 2” vaporising tubes, and a nipple screwed 4” by 40 and drilled 0.5 mm. The back of the nipple is counterbored, and the recess filled with copper gauze to prevent choking. This burner on test gave a very intense flame, melting brass wire and brazing strip when held in it, yet withal working as quietly as a domestic gas ring at about 15 Ib. pressure. I took this burner along on the trip mentioned above, demonstrated it by attachment to a Primus stove tank, presented it to ‘* Dot-and-Dash No. 2"" and left him to fit it to his “* ancient and honourable."” This is, so far, the largest Carson-type oil burner [have made, ‘and am naturally interested to see what sort of results it gives on a 94” gauge engine. Mr. MorseL.B.S.c. barrel, 23” diameter and 6}” Jong. It took several years of spare time to complete the engine, the turning being done on a Wade lathe I had hoped, ere this, in view of the recent comments on hill climbing, ‘* scale '” speeds, and various other interesting topics, to give a series of pictures showing various types of locomotives climbing the ‘big hill” with a load, plus a description of how they behaved on long non-stop runs under actual service conditions; but the trouble which has now enveloped us all has effectually prevented anything more being done for the time being. At the time of writing, it is hard to say when any more trials will take place on the Bursledon R.R.; but all enginemen arc more or less superstitious, and those who believe in omens may be very interested in the following episode. A couple of nights ago, time of writing, just as dog Mick and your humble servant were about to set out on our usual midnightly ramble, a terrific thunderstorm broke, which compelled us to wait a while. We eventually sallied forth just as it was subsiding. The continuous lightning- flashes so illuminated the darkened streets that we ‘were able to see our way as clearly as in bright sunlight; we went our usual walk, and arrived home safe and sound, just as the last of the storm died away and left a peaceful and pleasant calm. Brother locomotive men, wherever you may be an old engineman who believes in a Divine Providence asks you to join in a simple prayer. May the trouble now upon us, even though it be as fierce as that storm while it lasts, light our proper path in the same way, die down just as speedily, and leave us to enjoy a lasting peace and hap; ness. So may it be! Meantime, instructions from our worthy Editor say “Carry on,” which I shall endeavour to do Rood, he 40 DRILL Yeicso 386 THE MODEL ENGINEER as long as I am able, hoping that these notes may be a kind of connecting link between members of our locomotive fraternity who may be scattered far and wide. Miss Ten-to-Eight Pump for Testing Boiler To test the boiler, as described in the last instalment, it can be connected to the tender hand-pump of another engine of any size, if a separate pump is not available; but if you have no pump at all, do not bother to get one especially for the job. The pump that will be fitted to this engine’s own tender will do very well for testing purposes, so I will describe it right away; a bit ahead of its turn, truly, but it can always be laid aside until required for its legitimate jol The pump shown in the accompanying sketch is of rather greater capacity than usually specified in my notes for the emergency pump on a 3)” gauge locomotive, but there are several reasons for this. One ‘is, that the engine has no mechanically-operated pump, but relies for its boiler feed on a little injector.’ Now I can tell you how to make this injector, but I cannot guarantee that your workmanship will be 100% efficient, and furnish you with a perfect-acting trouble-free boiler feeder. Have seen too many weeny holes drilled the wrong size to think otherwise! Another point is the doubtful enginemanship of a good many locomotive builders. Many a time, on my own road, somebody has suddenly discovered, when the engine begins to lose steam, that the fire is, nearly out, and the water low in the glass. In such a case, application of the injector, and putting a bit more coal on, would promptly ‘do what the enginemen call ‘knock her stony.” Again, UF sw kj — | i] se ; Lage oe Wows f rena i | | CeaPaTvED VaR Pacrine { pam 2 LONG a4 = FIT 70 BARRELSeptember 28, 1939 385, L.B.8.0. A Hill-Climbing Tank Engine By “L.BS.C.” N the present troubled times, mention of a tank climbing a bank “’ conjures up in the mind a vision of a huge, fearsome, misshapen monstrosity running on a species of endless belt noisily making its Way over "' ‘umps and ‘ollers ” in rough country; but the kind of tank whose hill-climbing abilities I now have the pleasure of setting on record, is very far removed from the above. It is just an innocent little piece of cleverly-made mechanism which runs on a 2)” gauge Tailway line Fate, as we all know, is sometimes kind, some times tinkind. She was in the latter mood when Mr. N. van Raalte made the improvements to the Bursledon R.R. which I described in these notes a little while ago. The worthy owner of that wonderful line asked me to mention that anybody who wanted to try his locomotive over it could do so by appointment; but just after the invitation had gone to press, Mr. van Raalte had a serious recurrence of his old complaint, and when the notice appeared was lying once more in the shadow of the dark valley. “However, by Heaven's mercy, he made a fine recovery, ‘and sorting out some of the applications for running dates which had accumulated during his illness, fixed up with Mr. E. E. Shipp, of Birmingham, for a run with the latter's L.M.S. 26-4 tank engine A picture of Mr. Shipp’s engine, with a small supplementary one of him driving it, appeared in the issue of December 2nd, were then given. litt 1937, but no details Here is another picture of the locomotive tackling the ‘* big hill,”” with the and buikler driving it. She can just manage to take two adults up the 1 in 75 grade and as this is equal to a full-size load of something like 1,800 tons, it is quite a good performance The engine has a remarkable turn of speed; in fact, she broke all records on her first lap, for Mr Shipp had never been on a continuous track before, and went around as though motor-racing at Brooklands, luckily without any untoward happening. A’ fault which developed in the lubricator eventually brought the run to a close, but the performance was very goc The engine, which is similar to, though not an exact copy of, the L.MLS. 26-4 tanks, is built generally to “L.B.S.C.”” specifications, the out- Tine being obtained mostly from illustrations of ze engines of similar pattern, The cylinders are like “ Fayette's,”” and are cast-iron, the bores being lapped to a finish, withstood six years and have so far running without attention The only other castings used were the wheels, Coupling- and connecting-rods were sawn and filed from rustless steel. All parts, excepting cylinders, which come into contact with steam or water are of rustless metal. The Baker valve- gear is case-hardened throughout. The boiler is similar to the “* Dyak "’ type, but has a smallerSeptemb! 28, 1939 many amateur enginemen may find it difficult to ‘operate the injector on the run, though it is easy enough when you master the knack, and can keep up the water level. In these, and other cases, which I need not mention, a good hefty hand- pump, which will take care of the boiler feed in any circumstances, is not only an asset but first- class insurance against damaging the boiler. Built-up Pump Stand When things settle down again, castings may be available for the pump; but for those who may be able to resume operations before castings can be obtained, built-up construction is given. The stand and base can be made from stock rod and strip. A piece of 1” by 4” flat brass, 1)” long, makes the base; and a piece of 3” by #” brass bar (commercial “'screw-rod”” will do fine), 111/16” ong, forms the barrel support. Saw and file, or mill, a 7/16” by 9/32” rebate each side of one end, leaving a tongue 3/16” wide and 7/16” deep. Round off the top, and drill a No. 30 hole squarely through it. Square off the other end in the four-jaw chuck, Either attach the stand to the base by four 1” or 5 B.A. brass screws, as shown’ in the detail sketch, or silver-solder it in place, which makes a far’better job. A single 8/32” screw can be used to hold the parts togetlier whilst this is being done. Drill a 9/16” hole in the upright, for the accommodation of the pump barrel, and’a No. 30 hole in each comer of the base for holding-down screws. Barrel and Valve Box The barrel is a 1}” length of 9/16” brass treblet tube, squared off in the lathe, at both ends, to dead length. One end is closed by a plug driven tightly in and soldered. This plug has a }” by 40 spigot turned on the outer end, plain part being 2" long, screwed spigot about 5/32”, and a 1” hole is drilled through the lot. Should the plug not drive tightly into the barrel, put about three 8/32” brass screws into it, radially. Stubs of serewed brass wire will do equally well. Do not, however, try to silver-solder it in, otherwise you will soften the treblet tube and probably desiroy its circularity. The valve-box is a piece of 7/16” brass rod, 15/16” long. Square the ends to dead length: then centre one end and drill a No. 25 hole right through. Open out with 9/32” drill, bottom with D-bit to a depth of 2”, and tap 5/16” by 40, Countersink the edge slightly. Reverse in chuck and repeat operation, but do not use the D-bit. Leave the end of the hole as finished by the drill, and chip a couple of nicks in the centre passage way, as shown in sketch, to prevent the ball sealing the hole as it rises. \ Drill and tap a 4” by 40 hole in the side, in which to screw the barrel. This should be §” from the D-bitted end. Screw the barrel in, solder it to prevent leakage, and then poke a 5/32” parallel reamer through the small hole in the valve-box to form a true seating for the delivery valve-ball. Drop in a 3/16” L.B.S.c. rustless steel ball and seat it by the usual hammer blow via a bit of brass rod; ‘then make the toy fitting from a bit of 7/16” hexagon brass rod. The lower end of this is screwed 5/16” by 40, the length being such as to allow the ball 1/32” lift. The upper end is screwed }” by 40, counter- sunk deeply with a centre-drill, and drilled right through No. 40, the hole being cross-nicked at bottom, to prevent blockage by the rising ball. The bottom cap forms the seating for the suction-valve, It is made from 7/16” hexagon brass rod; chuck in three-jaw, face, centre, drill about 3” deep with No. 25 drill.’ Tum down 3/16” of outside to 5/16” diameter, and screw 5/16” by 40. Part off at 5/16” from end. Re- chuck truly, and put a 5/82” parallel reamer through the hole; seat a 3/16” ball on it, and assemble as sketch. No jointing material should bbe used on the screw threads, as it is liable to get on the ball scatings and cause the pump to blow back. A cross-nick can be filed in the hexagon head, as sketch, to prevent obstruction by anything accidentally getting into the tank. Ram, Levers and Assembly The ram is a 2” length of 4” round rod; gunme.al, rustless steel, or hard brass are all O.K.. but not “ screw-rod.””” One end is grooved 3/16” wide and 4” deep, for graphited yarn packing. The other is slotted 3/16” wide and {” deep, and drilled No. 32 for the gudgeon-pin.” Drawn tod of 4” diameter should be a_correct fit for the treblet tube barrel; but, if it is not, the ram should be turned from larger diameter rod. Push the barrel through the hole in the stand, so that an equal amount shows at each side, and solder it; then insert the ram. The lever is a 24” length of 3” by 3/16” brass rod—any rustless metal will do for lever and links, but do not use mild steel—one end being chamfered to enable the socket of extension handle to fit over it easily. No. 30 holes are drilled at 1” centres, for ram and link connections. Put the lever in the slot in the ram, and pin it by squeezing in a piece of 2” rustless steel or bronze rod. Connect the lever to the tongue on the pump stand, by two links, 3/32” thickness and §” wide, made from brass or any rustless material, pinning same by }” rustless pins driven through No. 32 holes in links, and if necessary slightly riveted over. The extension handle is a 6” length of 3” by 8/16” rod (which may be steel, as it is not left in the water) with a socket on the end, to fit over the pump lever. This socket may’ be made of tectangular brass tube, which is a commercial article, or made by bending a piece of sheet metal around the tod, and silver-soldering it. To test the boiler, with this pump, screw it down toa block of wood, using the holes in the corner of the base; connect the union on top of the valve-box to the boiler, by a 5/32” pipe, and stand the whole issue in a basin of water. The 6” extension handle will enable the test pressure to be attained very easil oaAERO THE MODEL ENGINEER Model Aeronauties A series of articles dealing with the theory and practice of model aeroplane building By Lawrence H. Sparey I[N the last article of this series mention w: of the S.M.A.E. formula for the cross-sec area of model fuselages, but I omitted to state that this ruling does not apply to model petrol-driven craft. Nevertheless, it may, with advantage, be adhered to in this connection, as it forms a good basis upon which to proceed, and will prevent the making of freak fuselages which are either too thin or too squat. Returning to the question of the reinforcement of model fuselages, it is well to remember that alsa has considerable strength if used in fairly large section, and advantage may be taken of this Fig, 48, fact to strengthen a structure by the use of balsa blocks or carved solid pieces. As an illustration cf this, the drawing in Fig. 48 shows the nose of a model thus strengthened. Furthermore, whole bays of a fuselage may be sheeted in with balsa at any particularly vulnerable point, such as the nose, or the points of attachment of the under- carriage. Particular attention should be given to this latter point, as there is often a considerable shock imparted to a model in landing, amounting, in cases, to several dozen pounds. In balsa models it is a wise precaution to reinforce these points with birch or spruce, by binding and gluing strips of these materials to the balsa longerons. In addition, strong sockets for the undercarriage legs should be provided, and, for certain types of ““andercart,"" there is no better method known to me than that provided by a piece of brass or aluminium tubing placed across the fuselage from longeron to longeron. This must be securely lashed with florists’ wire to the reinforced Jongerons, and the binding secured by a touch of solder (in the case of the brass tubing) or a plentiful flooding with cellulose cement in the case of the alloy tubes. Also, these tubes may be “Continued from page 223, * M.E4” August 24, 1939. embedded in blocks of hard balsa, and sturdy bracing struts added. The parts of a model which require frequent handling should always be stiffened by some method, as much damage may be done apart from that sustained in flight. Longerons, for example, should receive attention, and the drawing in Fig. 49 shows a sound and light system. The longeron is simply reinforced by a strip of balsa stuck on edge, against the direction of possible pressure. Balsa corner blocks are also very valuable as an adjunct to strength—especially as the added weight is very small. Following some full-sized prac model fuselages are now built on the monocoque prin- ciple. In this, the body is formed by a complete skin—usually ‘of balsa in the case of models. This skin, besides being a covering, takes most of the strains to which a fuselage is subjected; in fact, very few internal formers should be needed. Lightness, strength and clean line are virtues of the system, and it is the only practical way of forming truly round or oval fuselages. Monocoque construction forms one of those instances where the most work is involved in the preparation, as it is necessary to prepare a solid core or former upon which the balsa planking may be laid. Those builders who have a lathe will, of course, find no difficulty in turning a round core from a suitable piece of soft wood. However, as, model makers will scarcely ever possess a lathe Fig. 49. capable of turning a core suitable for a petrol model of, say, six feet in length, it will be necessary to evolve this in sections—the measure- ments of which will be taken from a drawing—of lengths suitable for the between-centres distance of their lathes. Each portion may then be stuck to its neighbour with glue, and sanded to uni- formity on the bench. ithout a lathe, the process is more laborious, but may. be successfully accomplished by a careful worker who is not too hasty to check measurements frequently. Oval cores must, per-October 12, 1939 439, L.B.S.C. More Workshop Experiences By “ L.B.S.C.” 6¢ALL work and no play makes Jack a dull A boy,” they say. tard that eee the saxo- phone operator in the jazz band ought to be in clover, for he cannot work unless he plays; but joking apart, I have been trying to work out some Scheme for writing these notes, so that they will be useful to engineering “dilutes,” embodying various operations and processes also used in the home workshop and the locomotive-building craft, and at the same time cater as far as possible for those who are still able to carry on with some locomotive work. I think it ean be managed. all right, and at the same time include a little ‘jam around the pills,”” as we used to say in the Live Steam ”” notes, for the lads who have gone to interview the representatives of the gentleman with the Charlie Chaplin moustache, and are therefore, precluded from doing anything in their workshops, or on their tracks, for the time being. ‘The words at the beginning of the above paragraph were written by some wise person who understood human nature, Theatres and cinemas are re-opening; football and other sports are being resumed; and there is no valid reason why those left behind who find recreation, if not exactly play,’’ in the gentle art of building and runnin little locomotives, should not carry on with s when time and’ circumstances. permit. case, the long evenings of late autumr are the locomotive builder's busiest period, in normal times. At present, when the shutters are up after sunset, and a black pall envelops the whole a cosy place where you can easily forget, for an hour or two, the gentleman mentioned above, and all his works, and derive much benefit thereby. Ever since I'set down the words of that simple little prayer that flashed through my mind on the night of the great storm, T have had a comforting feeling that it is going to be answered. Our Shop and its Outfit Ever since starting to write about locomotive- building, it has been my endeavour to set down the result of actual personal experience. When something has actually been done, it can be done again, and often improved on. Continuing that policy, Iam now going to tell you how some of the things were done in the small “* production ”” shop mentioned last week. Let it be noted at the outset that our methods are not claimed to be the best, nor even general practice; in a modern engineering establishment, with twenty-one years’ further progress behind it, we should expect to be hopelessly out of date. However, in small shops with limited equipment, one has to make the best of what is available; and if anyone in similar circumstances, also owners of amateur workshops, can profit by our varied experiences, then the purpose of my notes is fulfilled The owner of the shop of which I was placed in charge was, of course, a Government contractor; he had previously been in the motor trade, and understood little or nothing about production or precision work. He took what he thought were suitable premises, and purchased some new capstan lathes of various sizes, some new centre-lathes of both British and American manufacture, mostly between 6” and 8” centres; a precision ‘grinder, two. milling machines, a’ fine radial drilling machine, and two smaller drill-presses. But, although he did not graduate in the Aberdeen School of Economics, or hold any diploma issued by the Vitachapei Institute of Business Acumen, he must have had some pretty close friends in both places, for he bought up a big collection of the mouldiest junk machinery I ever had the dis- pleasure of setting eyes on, in the hope that it could be made serviceable enough to operate. It is said of a certain Chief Mechanical Engineer, that when he went around the locomotive sheds of the company to which he was newly appointed, and saw at Close quarters some of the engines he was expected to put in good fettle, he nearly went back to his old company. Well, that is exactly how T felt when T saw the ‘old iron” part of the outfit; but the new stuff really looked the goods, and it won. Some of the old stuff, on examination, proved to be of good origin, and it has always been one of my mottoes that anything ‘once good, can be made so again; and on this oceasion that was a mighty good consolation! How the Machinery was Arranged There was enough room in the shop for five rows of machines and, in setting them out, the capstan lathes were placed all along one side, not parallel with the wall, but staggered, and at a slight angle to the wall, so that any long Tods sticking out from the hollow mandrels would not foul the adjacent machine, Each capstan lathe had its own suds pump, so there was no piping-up for cutting fluid. Some ‘of the centre-lathes had suds pumps, and some had not. Those that had, were set in the second row, next the capstans. Those that had not, were placed in a row against the opposite wall. Tin trays were made to fit under the bed of each machine, tilted slightly so as to drain into one corner. "A piece of brass tube was soldered to this corner, under the tray, and connected by a short piece of garden hose to long drain pipe (promptly nicknamed "the sewer”) made of gas-barrel, with reducing tees in it opposite each lathe. The “sower"” had a gentle fall right throughout its length, and discharged into a big pan against the end wall. A sinall geared-type suds pump wasCLUBS 2 THE MODEL ENGIN Reports of Meetings ‘The Society of Model and Experimental Engineers ‘Arrangements have now been made for Meetings to be held on Saturday afternoons, during the period of the lighting restrictions, "The next Meeting will be “held at ‘The Caxton’ Hall, "Westminster, “on aturday, October 28th, at 2.90 p.m., when” Mr. W. Hobbs will give ‘a lecture entitied *" Thirty Years of Practical Model Making.” The lecturer will” give practical examples of constructional methods, describe the dificulties overcome, and refer to notable examples of ‘model work during that period. The lecture will be illustrated by lantern slides, Visitors’ Tickets for the Meetings, and full par ticulars of the Society, may be obtained from the Secretary, H. V. Stexte, 14, Ross Road, London, S.E.25, Norwich and District Society of Model Engineers There was a good attendance of members at the Monthly General Meeting of the Society, held on September 28th, in spite of lighting restrictions and wartime conditions. The meeting decided to cancel the Sixth Annual Exhibition, which should have been held early in October. ‘As the Society proposed to carry on as usual during the war, it was resolved to open the workshop at Old Gothie House, King Street, Norwich, to all ibers on Thursday evenings, and to purchase the timber and materials necessary to. construct a partition across the workshop, and to re-arrange the Stove and lights, as proposed by Mr. P. E. Cross at previous meeting. Several members volunteered to help to black-out the windows. ‘Owing to the financial loss sustained by the Society through the Exhibition being cancelled, several members who had offered prizes gave them instead towards paying the rent of the workshop, as follows:—The President, €2; Mr. Hines, £1. 1s.; Mr. Bailey, £1 Is.; Mr. Cross, €1 Is; Mr. Gill Knight, £1 1s; Me W.'F. A. Way, 10s, 6d.; Mr Hil, 16s. Gd; and Me. Warren, 10s. 6 Mr. H. A. Greenfield was thanked for his gift of 0” gauge railway track ‘The next meeting of the Society will be held on October 12th, 1989, and will be a model night. Secretary, F. W. Lovick, 24, Wymer Street, Norwich. Mancunian Model Engineering Society At our meeting on September 29th, Mr. J. Wood save us a demonstration on how to finish the interior Of a model yacht. The yacht is built by Mr. Williams on the vertical laminated principle, which Mr. Williams says gives greater strength for carrying the lead Keel, which in this case weighs about 7 Ib. Mr. Wocd very soon cut out the interior, and his explanations were enjoyed by a large audience which included several visitors from a local yacht club, Meetings held each Friday at 8 p.m. Garrett Hotel, Princess Street, Manchester. Hon, Secretary and Treasurer, H. Srusns, Ashdene Road, Heaton Mersey, Manchester, old Birmingham Society of Model Engineers At a meeting of the above Society held on September 27th’ it was unanimously decided to carry on the activities during the war. A good attendance was recorded, in spite of the fact ‘that many members are engaged in H.M. Forces and on. voluntary work connected with the defence of the The next meeting will be held on We October 25th, 1989, at 7.30 p.m, at the Horse,” Congreve Street, Birmingham, Hon. Secretary, Wir. H. Kestertos, 31, Wood Green Road, Quinton, Birmingham. dnesday, “White Easthourne Society of Model | Engineers Owing to the general w nent, all. regular meetings of the ded ‘until further notice. Track construction at Spencer's Cafe, Hailsham, will continue, so “" Come and give a hand at week-ends you loco, fans Although mectings are suspended, members are asked to keep in touch with the Secretary ‘with cach other as much as possible; 0 on the E.S.ME.’s.”” Hon. Secretary and Treasurer, C. T. Susans Road, Eastbourne Urrox, 31, Hull Society of Model Ex Due to the international situation existing at the time, and the many different ways in which it has affected a great number of our members, it has been decided to abandon our usual fortnightly meetings for the present. Notification of our next business meeting, and the place, will be given in Tae Move ENcINEER when possible. We may be able to hold informal meetings occasionally, and whenever this is, found to be so, members will be notified individually by the Secretary as well as in Tie Mopet. ENGINEER. ‘Our exhibition has had to be postponed indefinitely, but we would like to take this final ‘opportunity of warmly thanking all our many friends who so willingly offered us models for the exhibition in an attempt to make it a most interesting show ‘Their great kindness has not, and will not be forgotten by our members. ‘Particulars on any matter concerning the Society can always be obtained immediately from the Hon. Secretary, E. Bentany, 15, West View, Wyndham, Street, Derringham Street, Hull.In Bsa. E, ‘These bronze bushes were bored a nice running fit for the 1” shaft. When the whole lot was assembled, and some oil poured into the space between the bushes, the result was O.K. Cast- iron drip cups are hung at each end of the bearings to catch any excess that might work through. MISS TEN-TO-EIGHT Regulator Gland and Handle The regulator rod is the next item, and this is a 12” length of 3/16” rustless steel (the drawn variety will do quite well) or German silver, or phosphor-bronze. One end is turned down to 5/32’ diameter, to fit the socket-hole in the regulator column or stand, and is furnished with a little brass crank, as shown in last week's sketch, the pin of which engages with the slot in the back lever, and so operates the valve. The making and fitting of this crank is a simple job, needing no detailing out. It can be pinned direct to the rod, asits length is such that, by a little “* judicious fon ge euaroe a0 Mer 2 overs =| ew Regulator gland and handle. wangling,”” it can be inserted through the tapped bush on the backhead. The other end of the rod is squared for 4” length, and the extreme end turned down and screwed 9 B.A., as shown in this week’s sketch. A little brass ‘collar, about 2” diameter and 3/16” wide, is then made, and pushed on to the rod about 1” from the handle end. This must fit very tightly, so that it “* stays put.”” wherever placed. The stufling-box is turned up from }” brass rod. Chuck, face, centre, drill down about 4” with 3/16” clearing drill (No. 11); turn down 1” of the outside to 2” diameter, and screw, with die in tailstock holder, to same pitch as the bush in the Doiler backhead. Part off {” full from end. Reverse, and either re-chuck in a screwed bush, or grip’ the screwed part lightly in the chuck. which will not hurt the threads if you use retion instead of trying to bend the chuck key. Open out the hole to 9/32” diameter for about 4” depth, and tap 5/16” by 32. Take a skim off the face of the flange. Make a gland to fit the tapped hole, same as you would for a cylinder gland. Drill a couple of No. 40 holes in the thickness of the stuffing-box flange. They are useful for tommy-holes when tightening, and should be diainetrically opposite. THE MODEL ENGINEER Put the regulator rod in place, making sure that the crankpin is engaging the slot in the lever; then carefully screw the stuffing-box right home. It will catch the collar on the rod, and drive it forward. Remove the lot, shift the collar 1/64” or so farther along the rod, pin it with a bit of 16 gauge German silver wire, and replace rod and stufling-box. This time, put a 1/64” Hallite washer between the stuffing-box flange and the boiler bush, and tighten up with two little bits of 3/32” silver-steel rod in the tommy-holes. Drive with a‘ box-spanner " made from a bit of tube that will just slip over the flange, and has two nicks filed in the edge, to engage the pins, like the starting-handle of the family chariot; you know, the thing you can never find when’ you have inadvertently let the battery run right down! ‘The regulator rod will then have about 1/32” end-play, which will allow for expansion. Pack the gland with graphited yarn, and fit a handle. I have shown the old-type “’ standard '” regulator handle, ‘on the upper quadrant; but if you prefer any other type of handle, go ahead and fit it. Personally, 1 am rather sweet on the balanced drop handle used ‘on many of the Southern engines. Nineteen out of every twenty drivers on the old “ Brighton " used the lower end of the double-armed Stroudley handle, and seldom touched the upper one, unless shunting and looking out from the fireman's side of the engine. No stops are needed; you cannot ‘overshoot the mark, as the regulator valve touches the dome ring in its extreme positions. The steam pipe, and the flange for the attach- ment of the supetheater header, are exactly the same as I have described “* many a time and oft ”” in the old "' Live Steam " notes, except for size; and the latter you can get from last week's illustration, so we do not have to go over that bit of road again. Screw the steam pipe in with the end of a round file jammed in the bore, and do not forget a taste of plumbers’ jointing on all the threads. Precision Work in a Small Shop T promised to tell you about what we did and how we did it, but propose to keep to the ““Jobby-chats "style, and do not think our worthy itor will raise any objection, becanse a little bird whispered in my ear that the merry old Knight of the Blue Pencil likes reading them himself{—well, well! Twenty-one. years is a long time, but memories are now fast leaping the gap, and 1 will try and set them down as they come back to me, also include a few more anecdotes, circumstances permitting. Some, of the blobs’ and gadgets, processes, tools, “‘wangles ” and other things, are very suitable for use in locomotive building —1 soon found that out!—so we serve a double purpose. An urgent order came in for a quantity of bronze bushes, when we had not a capstan lathe available, nor even one of the new centre lathes. The raw material was in two-foot cast sticks, with askin on them as hard as—well, jolly tough, letOctober 19, 1939 Power Dr L.B.S.¢. ve in Limited Space By “L.B.S.C.” ME. T. H. GLAZEBROOR’S workshop, though ™M ‘well built and nicely fitted, is situated at the bottom of a small suburban garden, and space in it is very limited. When first equipped with a 4” Drummond lathe, pedal-operated, and a bench, limitations of space were not so apparent; but when a Milnes lathe was installed, followed by a pedestal drilling machine, quarters began to appear rather cramped, especially as some means had to be found for installing a power drive for both machines. Our friend is a frequent visitor to my own workshop, and well acquainted with my thod of driving two or more machines off one countershaft, so in order to reduce shafting and pulleys to the minimum, he adopted the same idea, further economising space by fixing his motor ona frame attached to the cross beams in the roof The photograph shows how the drive was fixed up. The long shaft, running in ring-oiled bearings supported by universal hangers bolted to the cross beams, carries the 14” driving pulley on o1 end, and a 6” pulley, 3” wide, on the other end. The cone for driving’ the lathe is just inside the left-hand hanger. The motor, which is a 4-b.p. Higgs, is just out of sight, but the belt going to it is shown in the top left-hand corner of the picture. The switch operating it is shown alongside the electric light fitting, and is of the push-and-pull pattern, When using the lathe, it is started and stopped by switching the motor on and off same as with my own lathes. The drilling machine has a self-contained countershaft arrange- ment incorporating fast-and-loose pulleys on. the lower cone shaft, with a push-and-pull belt striker When using this machine, the lathe belt is thrown off the cone, the motor left running, and the drill started and stopped by operating the belt striker in the usual way. The arrangement works quite satisfactorily, and there is neither noise nor vibra~ tion, as I can testify from personal inspection The ring-oiled bearings for the shaft were Mr Glazebrook’s own contriving. The universal hangers contained plain cast-iron bearings for 14” shaft when purchased, so a bronze bush was driven into each end of the plain bearing, leaving a space between in which a ring could be placed.October 19, 1939 ‘asta r0R a94m 80:7 4 L.B.S.C, sam curs reer’ Mandrel for large bushes. us say. There was a 6” British and 5” American lathe being used for odd jobs, neither of them being anywhere near “* precision ”’ pitch, but they were pressed into service. Both hacksawing machines being temporarily unemployed at the time, a boy was set sawing up the sticks into suitable lengths, putting three rods into the machine vice at a time, and setting them to a stop, to get correct length. He kept the two machines, going. Meanwhile, I got busy tightening up the slides and seeing to the mandrel bearings of the British lathe. Incidentally, I was not supposed to do any “manual” work,’ but merely supervise, issue orders and instructions, and never soil my shop-coat. What hopes! A reasonably true three-jaw chuck was mounted on the mandrel nose, and a taper-shank drill in the tailstock. I drilled four radial holes in the tailstock wheel, and fitted pegs in them, like a ship's steering wheel. A cap or sleeve was made to fit over the point of the drill, easy sliding fit, and a small centre-drill set-screwed into it, By this time, the saw-boy had a box of blanks ready, so one of the elder lads, who had plenty of muscle, was set drilling. He caught a blank in the chuck, put the cap over the drill, centred the blank, whipped off the cap (which was only, of course finger-tight), and pushed the drill through, the pegs in the tailstock wheel giving the necessary leverage. 7 Larne mananee on the milling machine with a slitting saw. A screwed taper plug with hexagon head was then made and fitted, the saw burrs inside the mandrel being taken out by another application of tap and reamer. The mandrel was then mounted on its own lathe, and with the taper plug in place, a Tight cut. was taken along it, s0 that the b blanks just slipped on. Less than a quarter tum with a Spanner locked them tight and true. On trying to reduce the blanks to nearly-finished size in one roughing cut, the lathe would not have it, chattering and playing every trick too familiar to most tumers. Cast sticks of bronze, and con- foundedly tough stuff at that, are not exactly what one would call shining examples of true circularity; and not even a “ thunder-and-lightning "tool, with the back-centre supporting the mandrel, would give anything like a decent result. But, “where there's a will, there's a way,” says the old saw; and the little ‘plan sketch shows how we overcame the difficulty, and roughed and “‘second- cut” the blanks within a few thousandths of finished size in one traverse per blank. The cuts are shown exaggerated for the sake of clearness. Although the total length of cutting edge presented to the blank, was the same as if a single tool were being used, the division of the cut made all the difference in the world. Not only did it even out the pressure on the blank, to two places instead of one, but the second cutting tool acted as a kind of us manoees | Mandrel for small bushes. Whilst I was getting the lathe ready, the tool- maker had made an expanding mandrel, as sketch, for the American lathe. This was a piece of steel turned taper to fit the hole in the mandrel, and tapped for a drawbolt. It was then put in place, the parallel part tuned a shade over size, drilled down, taper-reamed at the end, and tapped. It was then cross-cut lengthwise, as shown in sketch, steady for the leading tool. Another thing we found was that a much higher speed could be used with the divided cut; the self-act was, to the best of my recollection, somewhere in the neighbourhood Of 100, turns per inch. "Production then went ahead in real earnest, and a big pile of blanks, semi-finished and drilled, marked the end of a busy day. Next morning, one of the newer centre-L.B.8.C. lathes became available, so a similar mandrel to the one described was soon made for that. The blanks were then finished dead to size by a single tool, which was very similar to those shown, but slightly more rounded at the point. Tt had plenty of top rake; I always gave (and still give) lathe tools cutting non-ferrous alloys more than the * text-book allowance "of top rake, also used a lubricant of cutting-oil and paraffin with some kinds of bronze. The. cross-slide of the finishing lathe was set to turn the bushes dead to size at a single cut, which was only a few thousandths deep, and then’ was locked by the clamp-screw. How the bushes were finished intemally, and cut to specified length, I hope to tell you next week. While on the subject of bushes and mandrels, I might mention that we had some little short bushes to make soon after, and a modification of the mandrel above described was used to hold them for finishing. The body of the mandrel was turned, taper-reamed, drilled and slotted same as the larger one, but not tapped, either for plug or draw-bolt. The taper expanding plug, instead of having a screwed extension, was drilled up at the smaller end, and tapped for a small drawbolt. The latter was simply a piece of mild steel rod, screwed at one end to fit the expanding plug, and furnished at the other end with a cross-handle, made by pinning a round steel boss on it, and drilling and tapping the boss for a couple of pegs of the same kind of steel as used for the bolt itself. The sketch shows the arrangement in section. The mandrel was turned so that the small bushes just slid on without any shake, and less than half a turn of the drawbolt handle, locked them in position tightly enough to stand the pressure of the light finishing cut. For the ‘The Elements of Sheet-Metal Work. By W. Cookson and A. Bold. (London: The Technical Press, Ltd.) Price, 6s. net. This book sets out to impart, clearly and pre- cisely, the elementary principles of working in sheet-metal. By means of excellent diagrams, the text is doubly explained and the meaning made perfectly understandable. The chapters dealing with Workshop Arithmetic, Geometry and Men- suration are particularly lucid, while a novel and simple method of Triangulation, evolved by the authors, is extremely useful aS an aid to the student. Sketches are included to illustrate the preparation of joints for such processes as solder- ing, riveting, grooving, brazing and welding, and the final chapter deals with simple operations that should be mastered by all sheet-metal workers, THE MODEL ENGINEER A useful tip for L-card lathe hands, is never to grip a piece of work any tighter than necessary, When turing it, Otherwise, when you let go, it springs back and leaves the machined part untrue If you need proofs that all metal is elastic, grip a bush tightly in a three-jaw chuck, and bore and ream it same as a cylinder. Then take it out of the chuck and carefully inspect the reamed bore. Under a magnifying glass, it will appear decidedly Pn Tous woe [one rao. rosr Roughing and semicfinishing at one traverse. triangular. Probably the reamer would jam in it, if entered by hand. And mention of ‘cylinders reminds me that the mandrels mentioned above would be fine for mounting locomotive cylinders upon, when turning up the end flanges true with the bores. For this purpose, they need not be so elaborate; for instance, they could be slit with an ordinary’ hacksaw, instead of being properly slotted on a milling machine, and the larger one would not need any drawbolt to keep it in position. Bookshelf The Locomotive Engineer's Pocket Book. (London: The Locomotive Publishing Co.. Ltd.) The 39th edition of this handy little volume has just been issued. Much additional matter is to be found in its pages, making it a compact and concise compendium of technical information on locomotive design, construction, maintenance and operation. Appropriate mathematical and con- version tables are included, as well as complete lists of the world’s railways and their principal officers, all of which have been brought right up to date, Incidental information, such as the gauges and mileages of all railways, will also be found in the pages-of this remarkable little book. which is excellent value at its published price of 38. 6d. net.ine L.B.S.0. locked it. As her left hand reached for the belt striker, her right grabbed the lever of the tailstock, and ere the reamer had performed the “* in-and- ‘out-nonstop ”” movement, her left hand again was on the handle of the cross-slide, moving up the ‘tool to face off the end of the bush, the split ‘second after the reamer left it. It was through “ Tiddles,"’ incidentally, that the tool-brooch fashion started. I had made the facing tool out of a bit of carbon steel, when first setting up the machine, and the — tempering colours were anusually vivid. ‘‘ Tiddles,"" on seeing it, exclaimed, “What pretty colours— just like a rainbow,” Which, of course, it was. Several times I saw her peering closely at the tool, 50 T took, a short length of 3/16” square silver steel, polished it on the bufi, ground the end to a miniature facing tool, and heated it to reproduce the colours. I then attached it to a small safety-pin, and gave it to her as a “trade-mark '” to stick on her overall. She was as delighted as if it had been a thousand guinea diamond brooch—and within two days practically every girl in the shop was wearing a miniature replica of the tools on her machine made up as a brooch. I suppose the toolmaker and I spent about an hour, all told, for ‘those who could not make their own. ’ Silly? Ah, maybe you think so. If you do, you have a lot to learn about human nature. Miss Ten-to-Eight Safety-Valves Mr. Chapman's original drawing shows the well known large round brass casing, typical of the old North-Eastern locomotives, which in full- sized practice contained a set of ordinary duplex spring-loaded valves, with levers for easing pur- pose. We will retain the casing on our little edition, but in it place a pair of plain spring valve Pop valves may, of course, be used if desired; I have given full instructions in previous notes on how to make them, but must confess that ever since the “‘ non-stop "’ Polar Route was opened I have “ gone off "” pop valves. You cannot scale Nature, and the highest level of the water in a 2Y” gauge or 34” gauge boiler is very close to the underside of the valve. When a pop valve acts, the sudden reduction in pressure immediately below it causes a miniature waterspout to form on the surface of the water in the boiler, and with a high level it touches the bottom of the valve, and a stream of water is blown out with the escaping steam. After a few shower baths from the pop valves on "" Ayesha" and other engines, T bed ‘enough of it, and replaced them by plain valves, 478 the other for THE MODEL ENGINEER which start to blow gently and do not lift water. The valves for the present engine are made from 4” hexagon tod, bronze or hard brass. Chuck a length in three-jaw, turn down one end for 5/16” length to 3” diameter, and screw 26 pitch. Part off at 15/16” from end. Reverse and re-chuck cither in a screwed bush or by gripping the hex. just above the screwed portion; turn down the outside to 7/16” diameter, leaving just sufficient hexagon to accommodate a spanner. Face, centre, rill right through No. 14, open out to 9/82” and bottom with a D-bit to 9/16” depth. Tap 5/16” by 32, and poke a 3/16” reamer through the ‘mnants of the small hole. Seat a 7/2” ball on. the hole—you know how it is done by this time!— and turn up the cup and spindle from a bit of }” tod. The ball should just jam in the cup, so that it comes off the seating if the pin is lifted. The nipple has four slots in it, and the spring is wound up from 22 gauge tinned steel wire. If the nipple enters one thread with the spring uncompressed, ‘you can set the valves under steam, Backhead Fittings These are practically the same as on any 24” gauge engine previously described in my notes, the size being ample, and being a little nearer scale; so I need not describe them in detail all over again, just giving a brief résumé. A combined two- tunion turret and whistle valve is screwed into the top of the wrapper, close to the backhead, so that the threads pass through the flange. One union is used to connect up the blower valve, and the steam gauge, a 3” ort fates to 120 Ib. being. recom- mended. The water gauge has a 3/16” glass, and the upper fitting is screwed into an elbow, which in turn is screwed into the wrapper and through the backhead flange. This, allows a vertical glass. The blower is the same as, that on.” Olympiade.”” A swing firehole is fitted; no catch is needed if the door is left fairly stiff on the hinge, but do not leave out the baifle-plate. ‘The clack for injector delivery is shown here. The body is made practically ‘as described for the safety-valve mentioned above; then drill a 3/16” hole at the side, and fit the screwed branch, turned from 3” brass tod, which screws into the boiler bush. "This branch is silver-soldered in. The ball should have about 8/64” lift, as it does not keep rising and falling like a pump clack, the stream from the injector being continuons. The clack for hand pump delivery need not be quite so large, a 3/16” ball on 5/82” reamed seating being quite sufficient; but otherwise the valve is similar.October 26, 1939 Reaming Bushes Continuing our “ shop-chat,"’ I said I would tell you how we reamed the bushes described last week. Well, there is only one way of holding anything true to precision limits in production work, and that is in a truly-fitted split collet. Many amateurs’ lathes have self-centring chucks which are accurate to precision limits. Did I hear somebody say ‘and a jolly lot more which are not?” True—too true, in fact!—but I had in mind the better class’ of small lathe, costing jout accessories somewhere around £50 or so, and chucks to match; not the “* popular ”” types of lathes now on the market for a few pounds only. Nobody could reasonably expect‘ precision in the latter machines. They are very and quite suitable for the majority of amateur workers (locomotive builders, for in- stance), who are not pushed for time, and can set up and machine a job at their own convenience. Were it not for their existence, many locomotives, described in my notes could never have been built by readers whose spare cash would not have permitted an expensive equipment. But going ‘back to my observation on accurate chucks, — these would probably retain their accuracy for years, care- ADE anaes fully handled by their owners on intermittent work. I have a fine Ger- man three-jaw of this kind. However, the finest chuck in the world will wear and go “out ”” sooner or later, and on production work, wth the operator on ‘bonus and running against the clock, it is going to be soone Bat the collet chuck will stand up to anything you can give it, within reason, and so we rigged uup a collet chuck on a cenire lathe, in order to ream the bushes, as no machine which was built with collets was available, The sketch, which please note is not to scale, shows how it was done ‘on the quick.” A socket was made from a piece of round mild steel One end was bored and screw-cut to fit the lathe mandrel; and when I say “fit” T mean it, both thread and plain part fitting very accurately, jout_any shake. The thoroughfare hole was drilled right through, to the core diameter of the mandrel “nose. ‘The socket was then screwed tightly home, and the outer end carefully bored and reamed to a taper, to take the collet of sleeve. ‘The latter was made from mild steel, and bore a family likeness to an ordinary Morse taper sleeve; Dut it was cut by a slitting saw for three parts of its length, on the four quarters, tapped for a drawbolt, and carefully bored, in position, an exact sliding fit for the bushes. Between’ the ‘tapped hole for the drawbolt and the end of the bush, it was necessary to provide a clearance to allow the reamer to come partly through the bush, a7 L.B.S.C. the reamer having a “ lead" as usual; and this was arranged by forming the bore of the collet with a step in it, as shown in the sketch. The drawbolt was simply a length of mild steel, screwed at one end to fit the collet, and furnished at the other end with a boss and a cross-handle. The first reamers we used were of the ordinary “hand” pattern. We were Incky to get hold of a batch of “‘ pre-war” precision-grade hand reamrs; some of those made during the war were, in my humble opinion, equal to the razors offered by the man who “stood in this "ere market-place for forty years,"" which were made to sell, not to shave with! Anyway, by applying a fine-grade India oilstone to the cutting edges, in case there might be any stray nicks to scratch the bores of the bushes, I found that these reamers would produce glass-bore "hole, true within the tolerances allowed. But they had to be arranged to ‘‘float””; also, operation by means of the failstock-barrel screw was far too slow. I, therefore, got the toolmaker to turn up a sleeve or socket, one end of which fitted over the end of the tailstock barrel and the centre; the other end was bored a loose ‘socner S ser cower / cueamance Fae ReAMER Collet chuck for bush reaming. fit for the reamer shank, which was inserted and prevented from coming out by a cross-pin through sleeve and reamer, fitting very loosely in the eross-hole in the reamer shank to allow the reamer a little endplay. The complete gadget was then slipped over the tailstock barrel and secured by a setscrew, in such a position that when the barrel was moved moved towards the headstock the centre-point entered the centre-hole in the end of the reamer shank, and drove it forward ‘ under true guidance," in a manner of speaking. On pulling the tailstock barrel back, the cross-pin brought the reamer, back with it.’ The tailstock barrel screw was removed, and a lever fitted in its place for quick operation, This worked exactly the sume way as the lever feed on ‘ Adept.’ and other small shapers, so I need not bother to describe it. Home workers who spend an evening reaming a cylinder bore, and then get it bell-mouthed or taper, plus a bore that is anything but glass-like, should have seen Gwendolen Valerie (alias “'Tiddles"’) reaming bushes with the above up. As she slid a bush into the collet with her right hand, her left would seek the drawbolt handle, and at the instant the bush bottomed in the collet, a deft flick of the drawbolt handle26, 1939 487 WORKSHOP The “ Plurovane ” mul tage centrifugal pump, which is made pressure range from 200 to over 1500 Ibs. per sq. ing, and for pampi various numbers of stages to cover a ither oil or water. A, centre-line suspension ing hearings B, duplex stuffing box. €, fluid sealed labyrinth packing. D, Metallic contact seal rings. Ey Forged stcel end covers.” F, Serrated metalface joints between ring cements. Gy registering spigot. H, Tension bolts joining complete assembly. I, Fluid cooling and sealing passages. J, stuffing box. K, gland nut. (By courtesy of Mather and Platt Ltd., London and Manchester.) bearing bush. The common practice of making the gland bush a running fit on the shaft, so that it acts as a second bearing (?) is not to be recom- mended, and although the cost and difficulty of production may be increased by adding an entirely separate bearing to support the outer end of the shaft, near the coupling or driving pulley, it is well ‘compensated by the steadier running and vastly increased life of the pump. Stainless steel is indubitably the best material for the impeller shaft, ordinary steel being almost certain to cause trouble by pitting and corrosion when employed in water pumps. It is, of course necessary to make special provision in this respect when pumps have to deal with corrosive liquids, but it should be noted that, in view of the general absence of rubbing contacts, inethods of protecting the exposed parts, which are quite impracticable in other types of pumps, can be successfully employed. In some cases, the impellers and insides of casings may be electro-plated, galvanised, lead-coated, metal-sprayed, or covered with a layer of rubber; the latter has been found particularly effective in resisting the imp: gravel or other suspended solid matter fluid being pumped. In answer to the frequent query as to whether there is any limit to the smallness of a practical working centrifugal pump, the writer is of the opinion that there is not, so long as the general rules of design are observed and that clearances etc., are kept more or less to scale. Successful pumps having impellers less than 4” diameter have been made and found to have a really surprising output for their size, It is, however, necessary to run very small pumps at extremely high r-p.m. if any substantial pressure of output is required, as their peripheral speed is much less, for a giv rotational speed, than larger pumps. Another point which should be considered is that, as a general rule, the efficiency, in every sense, of very small machines of any type is much less than that of their counterparts of more normal size Multi-stage Pumps So far, the centrifugal pump in its simplest form, that is to say, having only one impeller and one stage of operation, has exclusively been dealt with, as such pumps are by far the most commonly employed, especially in small sizes. As already pointed ont, however, the pressure of delivery obtainable ‘with single-st-ge pumps is limited, and where higher pressures are required, extra “stages” may be added, in very much the same way as with air compressors ; that is, by connecting the delivery side of one pump to the antake of the next, andso on. But unlike air com- pressors, all the “‘stages” are the sime size, in pumps dealingwith practically incompressible fluids, (To be continued)WORKSHOP THE MODEL ENGINEER Welding and the Model Maker By C. W. Brett, M.Inst.W. (Managing Director a Baris Ltd., Scientit AMONGST model makers there is a camaraderie which is hardly excelled in any other hobby. This spirit of friendliness extends even to mant- facturers, who often give a great deal of aid to amateur engineering enthusiasts. It may be of interest to many model makers to learn something of recent welding progress, for it may be that some of the processes recently developed can be utilised in some small way to overcome an obstacle or correct an error. It is in regard to the latter that welding is often useful Tn these days when the crankshaft of a motor: car or commercial vehicle is broken, usually across a web, there is no need to scrap the component and purchase an expensive replacement, for it can be fusively re-united with so little risk of further failure that a comprehensive guarantee is invariably given. Still more frequently, are worn crank-pins and journals re-built by welding, and after being ground the repair is invisible to the ken lathe headstock. of the fracture are ‘can also be seen hy comparing this next ‘The broken picee and the naked eye. This may appear to be an exaggera tion to Some model makers who know that when steel is welded the affinity of the oxygen in the atmosphere for the molten metal is liable to cause fine pit marks, As a matter of fact, this problem has been solved most effectively, for whenever steel is welded nowadays and a high finish is subsequently required, the fused metal is con- tinuously enveloped in hydrogen. This is done by using special apparatus which provides a hydrogen “field,” as it is called, either by obtaining gas from high-pressure cylinders, or by using chemi- cally coated welded rods, which emit the required volume of hydrogen directly they are heated and in the normal course of the work. This process is not expensive, and it can be used to overcome mistakes which may have occurred during machining, and which might otherwise mean the waste of weeks of spare time. It may be that the pins and journals of a crankshaft are too small, in which event fusive engineering refutes the familiar statement that you can remove metal but you cannot put it back again, Welding Engineers) One of the most recent of welding processes affords a further contradicion of a long-held belief. Until a few months ago it was considered impossible fusively to unite two metals having a different co-efficient of expansion and obtain a reliable result. A vast amount of research has been directed towards the solution of this problem, and such good progress has been made that iron and steel are being welded together with complete success. This process was intended primarily for repair work, but the opportunity that it affords has been seized upon with avidity by several prominent draughtsmen, and it is likely to be a standard form of construction in many types of machinery. So far, notable success has been ob- tained by welding steel bearing housings into cast iron crankcases, particularly those of Diesel engines, and obtaining’ increased rigidity and_ strength without a corresponding rise in the weight. A good deal of welding work is done for the owners of model aeroplanes fitted with small petrol engines. If these motors are in an inverted position, the cylinder is rather more liable to damage than if it is placed upright. Cases have occurred in which cylinders have been virtually torn away from the crankcase to which they have been bolted, or it may be threaded, and the smash appears to’ have wrecked the unit completely n when parts appear to be beyond all hope of reconditioning and qualified for the scrap-heap This shows the headstock successfully repaired by scientific welding. It is esse ‘should be accurate as well as strong, and the welding engineers do any machining that is necessary. (Repaired in the Barimar ‘ding Works.) alone, they can be repaired in a manner which appears almost miraculous to those who are unfamiliar with the work which is now being achieved by scientific welding methods. More- over, the scope of such activities is not confined to ferrous metals, for there are few alloys which cannot be similarly treated, with the exception of certain types of zine alloy castings, which, in any event, are an inexpensive replacement. Where other’ parts are concerned, however, the cost is hardly likely to exceed a shilling or so. Tt may be thought that this work is too small toL.B.S.c. 508 THE MODEL ENGINEER Ten-to-Eight By “ L.B.S.C.” Arrangement of Backhead Fittings MANY otherwise excellent locomotives have been spoiled in appearance by a badly- arranged backhead. If there is one thing more than another that excites your humble servant's admiration, it is a neatly arranged footplate with well-made fittings. In the old days of huge ug commercial components, it was difficult to get a decent layout; but even if you cannot make up the small gadgets that T desciibed in the old “‘ Live Steam ”” notes, some of our enterprising adver- tisers can now supply fittings of similar type, so there is not the slightest excuse for an unsightly and complicated conglomeration among which to burn your fingers! The picture shows the cab of one of my own engines which has done some thirteen years service, and is a little the worse for wear, the paint being shabby and some of the pipes having left the “straight and narrow path." Even so, everything is, as the old song says, ‘ in beautiful working order "’; water gauge shows correct level, steam gauge returns to zero every time the boiler is cold, and correct pressure to within Ib. when in steam; the wheel-valves are all pable of being easily operated by finger and thumb, no pliers being needed, yet are steam- and water-tight; and you can get at any of them without touching any other. The hanging chain operates the whistle-valve. The firehole door swings open wide, clears everything, and leaves the firehole clear and unobstructed for easy manipu lation of the shovel when on the run, It is possible to drive this locomotive for a couple of Iniles of so at night, with no more light than what comes out of the firehole door. A“ pre-black out ”’ night, I hasten to add; the Polar Route only operates in daylight at the moment, the loco: motives having no A.R.P. curtains, as you could not get at the footplate at all with them up! The photograph, if studied in conjunction with the drawing also given, should be of assistance in fixing up the backhead of the present engine Some of the pipes shown do not have to be fitted until the boiler is mounted on the chassis, after the smokebox has been made and fixed; so all you have to do at the moment is to make and mount the fittings, most of which were mentioned last week. There are a couple of valves needing spec’al attention, viz., the injector steam-valve and the blowdown-valve. As the action of an injector depends on a jet of steam condensing in a jet of water, it stands to reason that if water goes over with the steam no further condensation can take place, and the injector will either work irregularly or fail altogether. For this reason, steam for the injector must be taken from some place in the boiler where it can be collected ““ dry.” The most obvious place is at the top of the barrel. To ensure this, a few inches of 5/32” pipe is fitted tightly and silver-soldered into the spigot of the steam-valve, the latter being of a kind I have described quite 2 number of times, and need not repeat. The pipe is softened throughout its l at the same heat, but left straight To mount the valve, drill and tap a J” by 40 hole { approximately the position he backhead, shown in the diagram above the solid stay. No bush is needed, as the valve, once fixed, never needs to come out any more.’ Leave th ads tight, and screw home with a touch of plumber’s jointing on the threads; the extens‘on-pipe will be then projecting straight into the boiler, lying near the top of the left-hand crownstay girder. Form a hook on the end of a short piece of stiff wire poke it down the safety-valve hole, and " go fishing ”’ for the pipe. When you get a bite, haul in carefully. The wire will easily pull the softened pipe to the crown of the bar when it can be unhooked and pulled out. If the end of the pipe touches the top of the barrel just bend to a curveNovember 2, 1939 vanes SoLGERED TO ROTOR WORKSHOP uearcaror waren ourcer Ua OUTSIDE O14 souoekeo \ STERN TUBE mepeicer |"0Ia \. warer ImeT Fig. 8. A circulating pump built into the stern tube of a model boat, as useil by Mr. J. P. Ripper. spring which screws over the spirally grooved sleeve on the pump shaft, and over a similar member on the engine shaft. The pump shown in Fig. 7, and accompanying photo, is used on the twin-cylinder two-stroke engine and also on the four-cylinder four-stroke engine designed some years ago by Mr. Elmer Wall, of Chicago, U.S.A. In each case it is arranged with the shaft in the vertical plane, and driven from the lower end from a skew-geared vertical shaft which carries the ignition distribution gear at the top. This arrangement brings the pump, and particularly its intake port, down to the lowest possible level ; a very desirable feature, in view of the advantage of keeping the impeller immersed under static conditions. " ‘A flanged spacer is. attached to the pump end- plate and serves to mount the pump on the under face of the gear housing, in true alignment with the vertical driving shaft, to which it is coupled by a simple form of dog clutch. The pump body, which carries both the intake and delivery pipes, is made in one piece from a gunmetal casting. It will be seen that the impeller is just a 4-armed spider, with no backplate, and is screwed tightly on toitsshaft. No method of end location appears to be provided. The third example of this type of pump is shown in Fig. 8, which represents a pump made by Mr. J. Ripper, of the South London Experi mental Power Boat Club, for water circulation in a 5-c.c. “ Kestrel” two-stroke engine modified by the addition of a water jacket and installed in a 3-{t. cruising hull. A feature of this pump is that it is integral with the stern tube of the boat, and its impeller is mounted on the propeller shaft. The front cover forms a housing for the shaft bearing and has a packed stuffing-box which serves also as the main stern gland of the boat ‘A grease lubricator is also fitted. This endplate is attached by six screws to the pump body, which is concentrically fitted to the stern tube, the latter passing out through the bottom of the boat in the usual way and fitted with a bearing bush at the rear end. (These features are not shown in the drawing.) It will thus be clear that the stern tube serves as an intake passage, to which water is admitted by a number of holes drilled in the underside. The pump so arranged calls for the minimum of pipe work, is assured of a constant water supply by the complete immersion of the intake, and by incorporating a bearing and a gland, both of which The “ Wall” twin twosstroke engine, showing arrangement of cireulating pump. would be necessary in any case, involves the least possible mechanical complication and friction, Although no provision for locating the impeller endwise is incorporated in the pump, it will as a matter of fact be kept in its correct position by the propeller shaft thrust bearing. (To be continuod)November 2, 1939 beyond the crownstays, there is not much fear of water going over with the injector steam, even when it surges as the engine stops. I will describe the injector, by the way, after the boiler is mounted, as it is fitted just ahead of the drag- beam, same as on “ Maisie.” At the time of writing, I have just made three similar injectors, and hope to show an enlarged ‘* close-up ”” of the cones, fo aid our friends who are going to ‘' try their skill" likewise. More profits in store for the sellers of weeny drills! The other special fitting, the blowdown-valve, is to help those readers who live in districts where the water is hard or chalky, to keep their boilers clean. I did contemplate’ specifying a gadget something like Mr. Stanier’s continuous blowdown arrangement, but a constant dribble, whilst not 6 RUSTE Vacrt an runner tenn ee, te nanan cero seas vse suare or wnoows auowee nano ron ciaen inaceron wat ase We Pee | Pine L.B.S.C. at the end to take a box key. The latter is merely a bit of tube or drilled rod, hammered square at one end to fit over the valve-pin, and furnished with a cross-handle, made of 3” rod, at the other end. No union is needed, as'a straight piece of pipe can easily be screwed into the boss after the boiler is erected on frames. Cab Front or Weatherboard This is very much out of turn, like the hand pump; but when I had drawn out the backhead with the fittings on it (hours of hard labour; I was never intended to use the tools of a draughtsman!) I thought it would save time and space to add the outline of the cab front, and did so. Do. not make it now, unless you feel inclined; just keep for reference, and use the sketch when makinj the rest of the top works. The metal should be 20 gauge hard-rolled brass, or 18 gauge steel, blue or galvanised; or you can use heavy tinplate it desired. I have I — shown plain circular windows, as being the easiest to cut, the window-frames being turned from brass tube; but if shaped windows are preferred they may easily be fitted. Precision Work in a Small Shop Serew Making One of our * leading lines "* were small lsu" screws. We made cheese-heads, counter- sunk heads, hexagon heads, and nuts in | galore. In’ a modern plant, screws are made by the million, on fully-automatic machines. We did not have any auto- matics, only hand-operated capstan lathes; and the methods we used could be copied to a large extent on small amateur lathes. T often get letters from readers ‘‘ out in the wilds ” telling me of orders they send Jand for screws, and wait maybe a couple of months or so before getting nan Pose, | fea Pree" them; and then, sometimes, the wron, size is sent. They could easily make al their own! I do not make screws myself Arrangement of backhead fittings. being any actual drawback on an outdoor road, might not suit the wishes of all followers of these notes, so I substituted the valve. Eh? Oh y I know quite well that it is easily possible to get a continuous blowdown without any valve at all, especially if your brazing is not quite up to scratch, or if you fit a rivetand solder foundation ring; but that kind is not usually found in my specifications! Anyway, to return to the valve, the body can be made from a casting, or from a piece of 7/16” brass rod, with a boss silver- soldered into one side of it, for the outlet pipe. No gland is required, the valve-pin being made from }” rustless steel or bronze rod, and squared now, although I made quite a lot at my old workshop at Norbury, on a most ex- cellent small capstan lathe made by our old friend Mr. R. H. Morse. In the coming days of peace and prosperity which T am certain a kindly Providence hasSin store for us all, after the dark clouds pass away, Iam going to ask Mr. Morse to design and place on the market a small lathe especially designed for locomotive builders; it will have a special slide-rest, and a capstan or turret in place of the usual tailstock, performing all the functions, of the latter, with a vastly increased range of rapid production of all the small, turned parts we need for our little engines. In case new readers, either young or uninitiated, are a little hazy about the construction and operation of a capstan lathe, here is a briefL.B.s.c. description of the type we iad. The beds were straight, with single-geared headstocks carrying three speed cone pulleys. Collet chucks were fitted, opened and closed by a small lever, whilst the lathe was running, the rod being fed auto- matically through the hollow mandrel by a chain and weight like a grandfather clock, the end of the chain being attached to a claw working in the groove of a collar setscrewed to the rod. The cross-slide was operated by a lever, and carried two tool-posts. The capstan or turret was mounted on a cartiage traversed along the bed by a big handle like Mr. Hitler’s trademark with the wore tips cut off. The turret was hexagon shape, and every time it was run back, a stop on the lathe- bed caught a trigger on the turret, and turned it one-sixth of a revolution, presenting a fresh face to the mandrel. Each face had a hole in line with the mandrel, in which to fit cutters or other tools. Every movement on the lathe could be regulated by a stop. The cross-slides were never used for “ straight turning; only for facing, chamfering or parting-off. All turning was done by tools in knee-shaped holders fixed in the capstans. In setting up a lathe to make plain screws, three of the capstan holes would be used. No. 1 contained a piece of plain rod, acting as a stop, to regulate the amount of stock projecting through the collet. No. 2 had a turning tool in it, whilst No. 3 carried the dic On the eross-slide,’ the front tool-post only was used, and carried a combined parting and chamfer- ing tool. Sketches of both later, all being well, with adaptation for use in ordinary home workshop lathe. The modus operandi was as follows. The girl or boy first brought the stop in the capstan opposite to the mandrel by turning the swastika,”” and then pulled the lever releasing the collet chuck. The rod in the hollow mandrel was then pulled forward by the chain-and-weight arrangement, until it hit the stop, when the operator closed the collet, which gripped the rod securely. The capstan carriage was then backed away, reversed and run forward again, making its one-sixth turn in the process and presenting the turning-tool to the rod, which it proceeded to turn down to size until it came up against its stop, previously set for correct length of screw blank Back again, and once more forward, after making the portion of a turn that this time presented the die to the screw blank. The die then engaged and ran along the blank, cutting a thread, until ‘the die-holder ran off the key and started slipping, whereupon the lathe was reversed by the crossed belt on the countershaft, the die run off, and the capstan was once more run back. The cross- ee eh ee 510 THE MODEL ENGINEER slide was now fed in by the lever, the parting-tool cutting off the threaded screw, and the chamfer for the next screw was formed by the specially shaped section ground on the neck of the parting-tool. The parted-off screw was diverted into a tray as it fell by a kind of miniature chute arrangement. A deep metal tray was formed under the bed of the machine, containing a sump and a suds pump, so that a flood of cutting solution poured from an adjustable pipe all over tools and work, keeping the tools cool, and ensuring a good finish. ‘The flood of cutting oil also kept the die clear of chippings, Two of the machines had self-opening die-heads. These were, in appearance, just, like “Little Giant” type drill chucks, but contained four small chasers set radially to the centre-line. When the hhead was closed, these chasers advanced towards the centre-line a sufficient distance to cut a thread on a piece of steel running between them. When the end of the thread was reached, and the screw touched a stop in the head, the chasers were released, and sprang away from the screwed rod, allowing the capstan to be pulled back, and the serew cut off by the parting-tool. ‘As these die-heads cost plenty of money, a whole consignment of ordinary “ button ”” dies were bought, same as_you buy from Kennion, or the East Kent, only K. or E.K. are a bit better than what we had! When used in an ordinary ieee fom fernre! Injector steam valve. pe) hand die-holder, working back and forth, the threads they cut were quite passable; but in a die-holder ‘on the capstan lathe, even when running at low speed and flooded with cutting oil, would they cut a decent thread? They simply tore the metal, and the holes became choked with chippings. Well, thought I, something has got to be done here; so the old grey matter was agitated and this was the outcome. As previously mentioned, we had a couple of tool-post grinders, and one of them had an attachment for small internal grinding, with a speed of over 30,000 r.p.m. and some weeny “" pencil-grinders ”” h would enter the clearing holes in’the dies. i ground out one of the dies until there was literally more holes than die, leaving four cutting segments about 3/32” in thickness, just like miniature chasers; also backed off the’ leading threads s0 that they resembled the chasers in the self-opening die-heads. The trick was done; the alteration enabled the dies to cut perfectly good threads, accurate to size; not quite up to the die-head standard when viewed under a glass, but within the tolerance allowed, and clean enough to pass the. A.LD. inspection, which was all that mattered. sever ‘ sacoeneoNovember 9, 1938 a little boiler, but he need have no fear If the instructions on driving and firing, which have been given several times in past instalments of my notes, are care- fully followed, the locomotive will behave in a way that will probably be far beyond her builder’s expectations. Hearty congratulations to our “ brother of Kent ” on a very nice piece of work. MISS TEN-TO-EIGHT Smokebox Most of thevengines described in these notes have had a circular smokebox mounted on a cast or built-up saddle This one is a little different, having no separate saddle in the ordinary sense of the term, the sides being carried com: pletely around the barrel of the smoke- box, and forming a kind of supple- mentary wrapper. It is, of course, quite possible to make this wrapper actually serve as the smokebox proper, by fitting a flat bottom to it, and a ring for attach- ing to the boiler; but whilst you arc doing ali that, and getting the joints tight, the present construction can be erected and finished, without fear of air leakage or other ‘little worries and troubles. The barrel is a piece of 16 gauge brass tube, 43” diameter and 39/16” long. Both ends are squared off truly in the lathe. If your three-jaw will not open ‘wide enough to grip the tube in the usual with a disc of metal of something similar jammed in to prevent distortion, put it over the highest step of the outside jaws and slide it right back as far as you can without fouling the chuck key. A moderate grip from the inside will then hold it quite firm enough for facing the ends, Note the rear end is bevelled off; this is te simulate the brass ring covering the angle joint on the full-size engine. The wrapper sheet’ can either be made from 16 gauge brass or steel sheet, bent around the barrel and secured to the bottom part just where it bends down to meet the frames, or made from a piece of the same tube, 3}” long. This can be sawn longitudinally at the bottom and opened out imilar to a firebox wrapper; it can then be sprung on to the barrel, and by virtue of its original shape nd size will lie snugly against the barrel, and stay put" without any fixing. Take a’ good look at the sketch, and note how the wrapper is fitted on the barrel; the squared end (front) of the barrel is 3/32” inside the wrapper, to allow for a flush front plate, whilst the back’ (bevelled off) projects 5/82” beyond the wrapper, for the purpose just stated. The front ring, in this case Photo by actually is a ring 5a L.B.S.C. "(WH Banyard Soften a 14” length of instead of a flanged disc }” square brass rod, bend into a ring a little over 1” diameter, and silver-solder the ends. Ch nn the three-jaw, same as you did for the barrel, face one side, and tun down the outside to a diameter that will just push tightly into the barrel This forms the attachment for the front plate, which is cut out of a piece of hard-rolled sheet brass, or something equally true and flat. Leave it a shade on the large side. Cut a 8” hole in it, and rivet the ring to it, as shown in the sketch, turned face of the ring making contact with the front plate. Now trim off the edges of the plate, so that when the whole lot is put in place at the smokebox front end, the ring will enter the barrel, whilst the front plate will lie snugly in the rebate between the barrel and the wrapper, sce sketch. The door may be a casting or built up, Probably some of our advertisers may be able to supply a 3}” door casting from stock, as it is aL.B.S.c. common size; but a door is no trouble to build up, a stamped brass blank, 3}” diameter and }” thickness (commercial article costing but a few pence), being the easiest thing to make it from. Alternatively, it could be cut from 4” sheet with a metal fretsaw. Anneal the blank, place it on a block of lead, and assault it with the ball end of the hammer until it looks like a saucer Chuck in three-jaw, concave side out, centre, drill No. 30, and face off a little circle about 4” diameter in the centre. Turn a pip on the end of a piece of 9” or }” brass rod, to jam tightly in the No. 80 hole, the faced portion of rod around the pip, bedding down on the faced circle of metal. Solder the ro to the dished blank, chuck the rod in the three- jaw, and you can then tum up the outside of the door and face the contact rim, at the one setting. ‘Melt off the brass mandrel, and there is your door. The hinges are filed up from }” by 4” German silver tod, and riveted on with domestic pins. Mention of those always bring mea smile. Some- body once telephoned me to ask where he could Duy “‘dome-stick ” pins; not in jest, but quite serious! Front Plate The front plate must be perfectly true, or else the door will not close airtight; so test it by rubbing on a sheet of emerycloth laid on some- thing tre and flat, such as the lathe saddle, or a pees THE MODEL ENGINEER drilling machine table. Then put the door in place, and mark the position of the hinge lugs. ‘These are tuned up from 4” by }” German silver rod held in the four-jaw, the stems or shanks being 3/32”. Leave the’ lugs fairly large and undrilled. Screw them into the front plate, and put the door back again. A No. 51 drill can the be run through lugs and hinge bosses, a 1/16” headed pin put in, and the lugs rounded off with a file, to come flush with the hinge bosses. Crossbar The crossbar is simply two 4}” lengths of }” by 3” mild stecl, riveted together with a distance- piece, 5/32” in thickness, near each end. It is, supported on two small brackets, see sketch, riveted to the ring, one at either side of the door ming. The dart and handles are the same as for the 2” gauge engines, the dart being made from a 19” length of 2” round steel, with a tee head brazed on one end. The other end is turned down for }” length to 3/32” diameter, and threaded; a further ¥” is squared. A steel boss, ¥ thick and }” diameter, is drilled 3/32”, and the hole squared ‘with a watchmaker’s file, to fit the square on the dart; the boss is furnished with a steel handle, screwed or silver-soldered in. A little wheel is turned from 3” round rod, and tapped to fit the screw. The assembly is shown in the sketch. ouree wearer ‘ee suter b24ss oF sree. Bale [sue 'Y sstrcaoe' “mnret dine | aus Tse T prs oven ons q Be] a Smokebox for Miss Ten-to-Kight.November 9, 1939 A hole, 1)” diameter, is made in the top of the smokebox, right through wrapper and barrel. A 2” length of brass or copper tube is softened, and the bottom belled out a little as shown. Cut a piece of sheet copper 2” square, anneal and bend to same radius as inside of ‘smokebox barrel. Make a hole in it to fit the liner tube, and silver- solder it in. By the way, will new readers please note that fully detailed instructions, simple enough for the rawest tyro to follow, have been given several times during the past couple of years or so, on all these odd jobs such as turning up parts, cutting holes in sheet metal, silver-soldering, etc., and too-frequent repetition ‘will bring the Knight of the Blue Pencil on my track mighty quick! Smear a little plumber’s jointing around the liner on the convex side of the flange, and poke the straight end through the hole in the top of smoke- box, from the inside. Fix the whole issue by four 8 B.A. countersunk screws, nutted inside the smokebox. The outside chimney, which is of the type fitted to the North-Eastern‘ Raven ”” “Pacifics,”’ before amalgamation in the L.N.E.R. is turned up from a casting, which can be supplied by our advertisers, and is just a tight push fit over the liner. Tt does not need any screws or other fixings. The cross centre line of the cylinders does not come exactly underneath the chimney, but }” behind it, so the 7/16” hole for the blastpipe must be drilled that much to the rear. The position of the hole for the steam pipe can be measured off from the blastpipe connection on the steam-chest cover, and transferred to the bottom of the smoke: box, ‘the hole then being drilled for the pipe. Tip: do not forget that the measurements are “Teversed "” when transferring, or you will find the hole is on the wrong side of the smokebox when drilled! L.B.8.6. When in position on the frames, the lower ed of the wrapper rest on them, the cylinders coming between; and to keep the wrapper in position, four connecting-pieces are used. ‘These are made from }” brass sheet. Two are 18/16” long, and two 7/16”, all }” wide. The longitudinal ‘sketch of smokebox shows where they are fixed, and the front view shows how; they are attached to the lower edge of the wrapper by 3/32” countersunk screws, so that when the boiler is mounted, the lower halves go down between the frames, at each end of the cylinder block, and are attached to frames by hexagon-headed screws put through some of the little holes drilled along the top edge of the frames. The vacant holes, by the way, can either have dummy screw heads, on spigots, squeezed into. them, or you can drill and tap shallow holes in the steam chest walls, and put in short hexagon-headed screws to match the others, for appearance sake. The space at the back of the smokebox, between the wrapper sides and the bottom of the barrel, is filled in with a “ make-up” piece, like a throatplate, of 16 gauge brass, either attached by a litle piece of angle in each corer, or silver- soldered to the 2” plates by which the smokebox is attached to the frames. "There will be no need to provide screws, or any other ‘* positive ” fixing, between the smokebox and boiler, as the former merely slides on to the latter a tight fit, with a smear of plumber's jointing to prevent any ait leaking in. Do not, however, attach it yet “for keeps,"” as we have to fit the superheater and blower ring before this can be done. Well, it looks as though T have used up all my space this week, so will have to defer illustrations of mass-production "” screw-making tools until the next instalment of these notes. Luminous Paint WE , have received several enquiries for a formula for making luminous paint, and therefore, reprint below a recipe that is given, with others, in Spon’s “ Workshop Receipt: In making luminous paints, a vehicle that is used with advantage: is a varnish that has no trace of lead in its composition, for lead has a prejudicial effect on the luminous ingredient. This varnish is made of Kauri or Zanzibar copal, 6 parts, oil of turpentine, 24 parts, the copal being made into a molten state and then dissolved in the turpentine. When this solution is made, it is filtered and mixed with 10 parts pure linseed oil (without lead in it), the oil being well heated and allowed to cool before the copal solution is mixed with it. This completes the varnish. In dealing with dry materials, these should be ground before mixing. A paint-mill is suitable for this, but the rolls or grinding surface should not be iron, if possible, as minute particles of iron are carried’ in the ingredients with bad effect. The chief dry ingredient is luminous calcium sulphide. This is made by mixing 80 parts of lime with 20 parts of flowers of sulphur and heating together in a closed crucible until fumes cease to be evolved. The substance remaining is calcium sulphide, and requires to be powdered finely. The paint is then made by mixing together 10 parts of the varnish, 1.5 parts of calcitim carbonate, 8 parts of white zinc sulphide, 1.5 of barium sulphide, and 9 parts of luminous calcium sulphide. 2CLUBS ot Reports of Society of Model and Experimental Engineers "A very successful meeting was held at the Caxton Hall, Westminster, on Saturday, 28th October, with Mr. 'H. G. Eckert in the chatf, and an increased attendance of 39. Mr. J. Mawbey of Cricklewood, Mr. R. Purdie of London, S.E.13, and Mr. 0. N. Roper of Acton, were elected members. Mr_E. W. Hobbs delivered a lecture entitled "* Thirty Years of Practical Model Making,” which was illustrated by a collection of about 80 lantern slides. ‘The first portion ‘of the lecture was devoted to the years preceding the Great War, and the models which were Constructed at that time, including the fleet of eight If ton warships which were built by Messrs, Bassett- Lowke for the Earl's Court Exhibition in eight weeks, in the design and construction of which Mr. Hobbs wwas associated. The lecturer then dealt with his Work during the Great War which was directed to the mechanisms in artificial limbs for’ the disabled Soldiers at Rochampton, and finally he described his model sailing yachts and power-driven steamers Which occupied his time in the following years, Concluding "with a reference to the professional research work on which he is at present engaged. The debate was opened by Mr. A. W. Marshall, and a vote of thanks to the lecturer was proposed by Mr. J. C. Crebbin, and seconded by’ Mr. J. N. Maskeiyne. The next meeting of the Society will be held at 58, Old “Bailey, London, E.C.4, on. Saturday, 18th November, 1939, at 2.30 pm., and will be a Com- petition, and Stationary Engine Meeting. Secretary, H. V, Stiztx, 1M, Ross Road, London, SED. The Kent Model Engineering Society ‘The next meeting will be held on Friday, November 10th, at 8 p.m., at Sportsbank Hall, Sportsbank St. Catford, S.E.6! this will be a discussion night. ‘The following meeting for November 17th, will be a“ Boat ” night, when Mr. Bitlin will describe the ‘construction of his latest hull. ‘Particulars as to membership from Hon. Secretary, W. R. Coo, 103, Engleheart Road, S.E.6 ‘The Junior Institution of Engineers Saturday, ith November, 1939, at 99, Victor Street, S.W-1, at 1.30 pam., Annual General Meeting Triday, 24th November, 1939, at 39 Vietona Street, S.W.1, at 6.90 pam, Informal Meeting —paper: The’ Revival of the Gas Producer,” by KW Willans (Member) Glasgow Society of Model Engineers We are indubitably affected by the results of the war, involving as it has, the complete cancellation of our’ prepared winter programme, and schedule of visits. By. a fortuitous circumstance the new Club premises are now ready for occupancy, and it is proposed to hold a series of meetings there on the third Saturday of each month at 7.90 p.m. The Council has appreciated the improving attendances on Saturday evening, and would again emphasise the value of this opportunity of meting and incidentally of doing the Society a forthright service, - THE MODEL ENGINEER Meetings There is 150 ft. of railway track, partly under cover, at White's works, Rutherglen, available an Saturday afternoon for loco. running—a relieving diversion from the anxieties of the war situation Future meetings are :—Nov. 18, “The Model Aeroplane,” The Glasgow Model Aero Club; Dec “Plant in Power Boats," W. H. Denwick and Robert Todd.; held at 143, West Regent Street, C.2, at 7.30, p.m. "Dates are Saturdays, ‘At the A.G.M. it was very wisely decided to re-elect the existing officers and council for the war period, subject to such changes as were inevitable in the circumstances, Secretary, Jous W. Swrru, 7 wi {5, Dumbarton Road, Leicester Society of Model Engineers ‘The next meeting will be held on Sunday, November 12th, at the chairman's private residence, ‘* Holm wood,"" Groby Road, at 10.0-a.m. sharp. This will be a’ track meeting when the Society's portable multigauge track will be erected, and all members who have locos. are asked to bring them along and give them an airing. A very interesting mornin anticipated. Joint Hon. Sec., E. Dattastow, Bainbridge Road, Braunstone Estate, Leicester, Manchester Society of Model and Experi- mental Engineers ‘The next meeting will be held at Milton Hall, 1th November, at 2.30 p.m. Hon. Sec., Jos, N. Liversace, 10, Linden Road, Cheadle Huinie, Stockport. Edinburgh Society of Model Engineers ‘The annual general meeting of the above Society was held on Saturday, 28th October, 1939, in the Club Room, Mr. J. Brangwin (Vice-President) in the chai. ‘The Secretary reported on the progress of the Society during the year, and said that eleven new members had. been enrolled. ‘The abandonment of the forthcoming winter programme of lectures and visits was to be regretted but, in the circumstances prevailing, no other course was open Workshop and Club Rooms open on Saturdays at 2.90 pm,, and on Tuesdays, at 7.30 p.m. Hon. Secretary, Mr. H. V. Prrscors, 8. Russell Place, Edinburgh 5 NOTICES gatzibations,o9 sa aie are ate coetions 2 See ee as ee ee eee ee See eet ee ‘Sauibation i inure. All MSS. shoal ‘be Sepa by Samper ‘rasa for‘otura late event ese eee soy "correeponden to sates of the paper cat Sal Co Tes and Pooks fo be addres’ to Pepcival i : “Aasual "Subseiption, C1 You, "Halerearyy bound volume Svar oe a Fie deja Etre Ringoes WeNovember 16, 1939 S51 L.B.S.C. Little Things that Matter By « L.BS.C.” TPHE other day a correspondent wrote me about what he considered an inexplicable puzzle. He had made up a mechanical lubricator to the instructions given in past notes, and had used a ratchet drive with weighted ' pawls. Off the engine, it worked perfectly, pumping against the highest pressure shown on his testing gauge. On the engine, it worked just as well at ordin speeds; but when the engine began to “reel off the knots,”’ it just quit pumping, restarting again as, soon 'as the speed slackened. There was no question of the pump running too fast, as this was practically impossible with 2” driving wheels and 35 to 1 reduction by the ratchet drive; besides, the pump worked perfectly when operated by NOED STEADY Geetha Ft Operon — rs m capstan is ‘ae aa =e) turning the hand wheel at a higher speed than ever it would go on the engine. I suggested bad ratchet teeth, but he said no, every tooth was perfect, and’ it was impossible to make the pawl slip any tooth; so I asked to see the lubricator, and he sent i As soon as I saw it the mystery was explained; it was just another example of the “too-much-of-a-good-thing” idea. In an endeavour to make quite sure that the ratchet pawl did not slip he had made the counter- weights very large and heavy. This was quite O.K. on the stationary pawl; but on the moving pawl, attached to the oscillating lever, there was a ‘constant battle going on, whilst the engine was at work, between two opposing forces, viz., Centrifugal Force and the Force of Gravity. When running slowly, the latter held sway and kept the pawl well down the wheel, so that the teeth engaged every time; but at a certain speed the rapid oscillation of the lever simply flung the pawl clear of the teeth altogether, just like the weights of a Watt flyball governor on one of the old steam engines. On sawing off half the weight, and trying it on one ‘of my own engines, the lubricator worked per- fectly at any speed. A small-wheeled engine, running at high speed, would be better with a spring pawl; and a piece of flat spring steel, soldered into the slotted head of a screw (See coming close-up photo), makes a very good one. The outer end of the piece of steel engages with the teeth. Being hard, it lasts a Jong time, and can be renewed in a minute or two in case of breakage. Ttem No. 2 from our ‘* Bureau of Information "* concerns an injector. This was a‘ Vic "” pattern injector made to the instructions given in these notes, and the “‘Live Steam" book; and it worked perfectly on the engine to which it was originally fitted. On being transferred to another engine, however, it refused to put water in the boiler at all, depositing it by the side of the line instead. To all outward appearances, the installa- tion was identical, the same size pipes, both for steam and water, and the same size of check-valve being used. I was asked to investigate, and found that the cause of the trouble was insufficient steam supply. The hole in the throat of the screw-down valve was drilled 1/16” only; and on opening this out to 7/64”, and making a new valve-pin with a ‘blunt nose," the cone angle being 90°, the little jigger resumed operations well up to its old form, and has given no further cause for com- plaint. By the way, mention of the words “ Li Steam ”’ brings to mind a point being raised by correspondents. Although these words were originally used to describe the series of notes written by your humble servant, which ran from September, 1924, to December, 1938, so that “corre, ws 18 ‘wore cane Seven 1s 108 ower Boureo Dons. How screws were slotted. “Live Steam" and “L.BS.C.” became synonymous, the term is now passing into general use. In America, any small locomotive which uses steam as its motive power is now called a “‘live steamer,” to distinguish it from the “* glorified toy "” type of engine which is powered by an electric motor. The same thing is now happening here; for example, the term wasate applied to the gauge “0” “ Mogul "* recently described as being built from a kit of finished parts. In reply to the correspondents mentioned above, I had nothing at all to do with it. Credit where due is ever my motto! Precision Work in a Small Shop Here are the sketches of the capstan tools used. in making small screws on non-automatic lathes, such as we had. There were two kinds of holders for the turning tools, one as shown, a forked pattern carrying both a turning tool and a steady, and a single-sided "" knee "” pattern, which carried a turning tool only, and was used for making the Tanger, sizes of screw blanks, which were, sift enough to dispense with any support whilst being turned, “A holder of the kind: shown ‘could be made to fit the tailstock of any small amateur lathe, and no stop would be needed. A length of stock rod could be pulled through the three-jaw chuck, to a little over the length of screw required, and the hand-wheel turned the same number of times after the tool touched the work and sersceem encnane “eurton =a 2 Simple capstan die holder, started to cut. This would give the same length of screw blank. The die could be applied in a hand stock, and the screw parted off with a tool of the type shown, mounted in the slide-rest. Whilst much slower than “* mass production,”* this method of obtaining small screws would, for over- seas users, be far quicker than waiting for tardy delivery of maybe incorrect goods, especially in these days of U-boat activity! ‘Locomotive builders, and other small lathe users in this country, might do far worse than procure e of the tailstock capstan heads on the market. This useful gadget has a taper peg to fit the tail- stock barrel, and a revolving head which presents several holes to the lathe centre-line in turn, just like a regular turret, though, of course, much smaller. If this were set up with tools of the type illustrated, the owners could be quite independent of any temporary shortage of small screws occa- sioned by prolonged hostilities. It will be noticed that the die-holder is parallel, and not shouldered, like the one described in a “Live Steam" note some years ago. This is merely because of the size of the spigot on which it slides, which was made to fit the capstan hole. The length of thread desired to be cut on the serew blank was determined by setting the capstan 352, THE MODEL ENGINEER stop so that the capstan slide travelled (after the threads in the die had taken a bite on the blank) a distance equal to the length of thread less the amount required for the die-holder to run forward off the key-pin. The operator fed up the die to the blank by means of the capstan-slide handle, and when the die engaged, simply followed the movement of the die-holder by a light pressure on the handle, until the slide hit the stop ahd came to rest. The die-holder then ran forward on its own, until the slot ran off the pin, and the holder started turning round. The girl then reversed the lathe by means of the belt striker and the crossed belt, and held the die-holder with her hand whilst the die ran back off the screw. This she could do quite easily, as the screws were only four or six millimetres in diameter. We made larger sizes} but for these the machines with the self-opening dicheads were always employed. ‘Amongst the used machinery purchased by the owner of the place was a small bench milling machine, not much bigger than the kind now sold by Bond’s, the Pool people, etc., but more strongly built, and lever operated. This was reconditioned, and set up for slotting screw-heads, DIE As Poncnnsea, Oe arree Grom. How to improve button dies, in charge of a youngster fresh from school, the jig for holding the screws being exceedingly simple. Two pieces of bright steel angle were bolted together like vice jaws, see sketch, with a strip of thin metal between, such as 20 gauge brass. A series of holes, clearing size for screws, were then drilled right along, the centre pops being made on the metal strip. This was then removed, the two pieces of angle bolted together again, and one side was fixed to the miller table so that the slotting cutter came exactly over the joint. The boy slackened off the free side, inserted a screw in each hole, tightened the bolts, and then ran the whole row under the the one movement slotting all the heads fell swoop. MISS TEN-TO-EIGHT Superheater This is a two-element superheater of the usual spearhead pattern, arranged to minimise “" bird’ nesting” and other evils often present. The construction differs very little from the numerous examples I have fully described in 21” gauge sie, so only a brief run through should be needed her The elements are made from 4” by 22 gauge seamless copper tube, the spearhead being formed by bending the ends of the tubes at a slight angle, filing flush, placing the resulting oval openingsNovember 16,1939 L.B.S.c. clement is bent around hori zontally and inserted into the end of the swan-neck, the other clement entering a drilled hole and forming an angle-joint. Brass wire should be used for brazing these joints. The farther end of the swan-neck is furnished with a 7/16” union-nut and the usual coned nipple. arazto~ J At 9/16” from the back, on the top line of the smokebox, drill a }” clearing hole. Attach the header to the flange, insert- ing the elements in the flues. Put the smokebox in its right place on the barrel, and run the Y” clearing drill through the snifter-hole, making a counter- 2° | ‘ 1 exageneer ec wane ai tonen view seam creer How to connect elements to cylinders. together, and brazing with brass wire. Do not use silver-solder on this job; just tie the parts together with iron binding wire, apply a little lux, blow up to bright red, and touch the joint with a bit of 16 gauge soft brass wire, which will melt, ran in and make a perfect seal. | Soften the other ends of the tubes, to make bending easy, before quenching in the pickle bath and washing off. The header is a §” length of 1” brass or bronze rod, or a casting may be used. The apparently excessive thickness is explained by the header having to project far enough into the smokebox to allow ‘the snifting-valve to be screwed into it, through a clearing hole in the top of the smokcbox. A 5/16” “blind” steam-way is drilled in the centre, see sketch; and into this, through the thickness of the header, two }” holes are drilled diagonally for the bent ends of the elements, which are silver-soldered in. Drill also three No. 30 holes for the fixing screws. Connection between the “* hot” or lower ends of the elements, and the fitting on the steam-chest, is made by a swan-neck of 5/16” copper tube, the arrangement ‘being shown in the plan sketch.’ The end of one sink on top of the header. Re- move, and drill and tap the hole 7/32" by 40 for the snifting-valve. Be sure you blow all the chips out. ‘The superheater can then be replaced “ for keeps," with a 1/64” Hallite washer between flange and header. The connection between the union on the swan-neck and the steam-chest is a very. simple affair, being merely a 1)” length of 7/16” brass tod. Chuck in three-jaw, centre deeply with a centre-drill, drill right through 7/32”, and screw +" of the outside with a 7/16” by 26 or 92 die in the tailstock holder. Reverse, turn down 3/16” Iength to 5/16” diameter, and Screw 5/16” by 32, to match the tapped hole’in the steam-chest cover mentioned in the issue of August 10th last. Serew it into the steam-chest, and mark the front. Remove, and on the front line, at 4” above the shoulder, drill a No. 14 hole. Chuck 4” of 3/16” brass rod, countersink the end deeply, drill right through 1/16”, and screw the end 40 pitch. Drive the plain end into the hole in the fitting, and silver-solder it. The fitting can then be fixed Lt iesto in the steam-chest cover permanently with a smear of plumber’s jointing on the threads; and the union underneath the lubricator is then connected to the little branch just made, by a length of 3/32” copper tube furnished with’ the usual nuts and nipples. The oil delivered by the lubricator will then enter the steam flow and be carried to every moving part, spindles, valves and pistons all constant Supply.”LOCOMOTIVES 354 THE MODEL ENGINEER Railway Practice By Chas. S. Lake, M.I.Mech.E., M.[.Loco.E. New Locomotives for South Africa OME. interesting developments have recently taken place in the locomotive and rolling stock standards of the South African Railways, a system already remarkable for the size and power of its engines and also for the dimensions and appointments of the passenger coaches, especially in view of the fact that the gauge of track is only 8 6”. New locomotives now being delivered belong to the 15 F class; these have the 4-8-2 wheel arrangement and two outside cylinders driving the second pair of coupled wheels. They would be large locomotives even for the standard gauge, as the accompanying illustrations and dimensions show, and this point is accentuated when the actual gauge is taken into account. ‘The locomotives are designed for traversing curves of 275 radius with a }” gauge widening The boiler, the centre-line of which is 9 2)” above the rail level, has a diameter outside at the front end of 6” 4)”, and at the firebox end 6’ 7)”. It is built up of nickel steel plates and steel is also used. for the interior firebox. There are 136 small tubes of 2)” diameter outside, and 36 superheater flue tubes 5)” outside. The supetheater elements are of the short loop type, taking steam from a collector pipe extending from the vicinity of the firebox tubeplate to the multiple valve header joint. The grate is of the rocking type with hopper ashpan, the latter having sliding doors at the bottom operated by rods and levers from the footplate. The locomotive is arranged for hand firing, but the design is such that a mechanical stoker can be fitted if desired. A spark arrester of the self-cleaning type is fitted in the smokebox. The main frames are of the bar type, formed in fone length without joints, and steel castings are used as bracings. Each cylinder is cast solid with its steam-chest and half the smokebox saddle. The piston-valves are 12” diameter and operated by Walschaerts motion. Other equipment of a modern character includes roller bearings for the retum cranks, steam reversing gear, roller bearing axleboxes for the front bogie, hind truck and 42 of the tenders; in two cases, these are equipped with Isothermos axleboxes. The cylinders are 24” diam. by 28” stroke, other dimensions being wheels, front bogie, 2 6” diam.; coupled wheels, 5’; hind truck wheels, 2° 10”; coupled wheelbase, 15” 9”; total wheelbase, 35° 8”. ‘The heating surfaces are as follows:—Tubes (including arch tubes), 3,205.2 sq. ft.; firebox, 209.3 sq. ft.; total evaporative, 3,414.5 sq. ft superheater elements, 661 sq. ft.; combined tota 4,075.5 sq. ft.; grate area, 62.5 sq. ft.; boiler pressure, 210 Ib. per sq. ft. ‘The tender has wheels of 2° 10” diam.; the rigid wheelbase being 6’ 2”, and total wheelbase 20°5”. Tt has a capacity of 6,050 gallons of water and 14 tons of coal. The engine in working order weighs 108 tons 18 © and the tender 68 tons 12 ewt. Each locomotive develops a tractive effort of 42,390 Ib. at 75 per cent. b.p., and 47,980 Ib. at 85 per cent. b.p. The engines were built by the North British Locomotive Company, Glasgow Mechanical Stokers A Warrington correspondent asks the opinion of the writer on the subject of mechanical stokers for locomotives and the reason why such devices are not employed in this country. In the view of this correspondent, it is somewhat difficult to under- stand why the extremely arduous duty of firing coal to the large fireboxes of modern express and other engines working at higher pressures and hauling heavier loads at higher speeds should not be taken out of the hands of the fireman and carried out by mechanical means. He has always understood that when liquid fuel was tried in this country it proved highly beneficial in reducing the labours of the firemen, and that being so the same result will surely follow if coal were fired mechanically. The answer to this is that mechanical stoking apparatus is both heavy and costly, and that with the class of coal used for locomotives in this country some at least of the advantages ordinarily associated with its use would largely disappear. The slacker kinds of coal employed in America and certain other countries are much more easily dealt with by mechanically operated apparatus, ig of smaller screen and containing much more “dust "" than in the British-mined coals. These latter, before they could be handled by a mechanical stoker, would have to be broken down to some extent. Moreover, the fireboxes of engines used in this country are much smaller than those in the States, and although it is true that mechanical apparatus is used even on some of the narrow gauge engines of South Africa, there is the difference in the class of coal and other considera- tions to be taken into account. The weight factor is by no means a negligible matter, nor, indeed, is that of the first and maintenance costs of the apparatus. The excellent steam coal used on the home railways and the relatively small fireboxes combine with the other reason given to make hand firing the best method for use here, and it is unlikely in present circumstances that the other style will be intro- inced.November 23, 1939 579 TeB 8207 Ten-to-Eight By “L.B.S.C.” Snifting-Valve : TPHIS useful little gadget which, for, novices’ information, admits air to the cylinders when coasting with the regulator shut, and thereby prevents smokebox ashes being sucked down the blastpipe, is made from a 3” length of 4” brass rod. Turn one end down to 7/32” diameter for 3/16” length, and screw 40 pitch. Drill right through No. 43. Reverse, and put a few threads on the other end, also cross-nick it with a saw. | Th cap is turned from {” bras rod. Face, centre, drill down about }” depth with No, 43 drill; then open out and bottom with a 7/32” D-bit to a full 7/32” depth, tapping 4” by 40 for three or four threads only. Part off at 3/16” from the end; reverse, and round off as sketch. Seat a 1” ball on the hole inside the cap, and assemble as shown, with a touch of plumbers’ jointing on the threads. Insert through hole in the top of smoke- box, and screw home into the tapped hole in the wet header. oS ZZZIZZIIE Blower A ring blower will provide a better draught than fa Single jet, with less consumption of steam, in wide chimneys such as the present one. Bend one end of a piece of ¥” copper tube into a ring 3” pee SUvER SOLDERED. Vee TaEe nt 70 Ss PLAN. Blower ring. internal diameter, and silver-solder the joint as sketch. The other end of the pipe, which should be long enough to reach easily to the end of the hollow stay, is furnished with a union nut and nipple. Make three centre-pops in the ring, and put it in place over the blastpipe nozzle, coupling up the union nut to the screw on the end of the hollow stay. Fix a No. 70 drill in the end of a few inches of 3/16” brass rod; put it down the chimney, and twirl it between finger and thumb, with the drill in one of the centre-pops. Repeat operation on the others, and your blower will be certain to send the jets of steam up the liner. I described this method of drilling ring blowers in an early “ Live Steam ”’ note about fourteen years ago, and it has always proved very effective. How to Mount the Boiler The complete boiler and smokebox, with all the blobs and gadgets attached, can now be placed in position on the frames, and connected up. When the bottom edge of the smokebox wrapper is resting on the frames, and the foundation ring on the top of the trailing hornblocks, the boiler should be quite level, with the bottom line parallel to the top of frames.” If it is not, your hornblock castings are not the same as those’ used when setting out the job, but that does not matter a bean. All you have to do, is to set the boiler level, locating from ANGLE & cue sETween coumen meets Frame REAR ENO boiler fixing: the smokebox end, and put a bit of rod or some- thing similar between the barrel and the top of the frames, to prevent it falling down. Two pieces of brass angle, about 1” long, and 5/16” by 3/16” by 1/16” section (5/16” by 1/16”, with one side filed away a little), are ‘then attached to the firebox wrapper by three 7 B.A. brass screws, so that the narrower side rests on the frames,’ see sketch. A little clip at each side, made from 1/16” sheet brass and screwed to the frame, will prevent the boiler from lifting. If the holes are carefully tapped in the firebox wrapper, using a taper tap and not entering it too far, the screws will be steam and water tight; but if there are any teardrops, the best and easiest way of drying them up permanently is to sweat completely over angle and screws, with ordinary plumbers’ solder, same as the stayheads. There is an alternative method of securing the boiler, and at the same time providing enough flexibility to allow for expansion, and I often makeL.B.S.c. eleven equal parts, which just allowed for length of one rod plus a’ little extra for centring. The first operation was flattening one end to form the blank for the eye. The rod was then centred at both ends, placed between centres on one of the larger “ not-so-accurate ”” lathes, and a roughing cut taken along it to remove the skin and true it up. It was then removed to an accurate lathe: and, by aid of a steady, the rod was turned to correct diameter. It was then placed in a jig on a milling machine, and the head traversed between two end-and-side cutters set on the arbor at correct distance apart. This settled the thick- ness of the eye. The rod was then placed in [Dawson Jnr.” Leading end of the Dawson tender. Photo by another jig on the drilling machine, and the hole in the eye drilled a weeny bit undersize, The next item on the agenda was machining the outside of the eye, and you will now see where I got my coupling-rod-boss machining stunt from. “A peg, icely fitting the hole in the eye, was turned on the end of a piece of square steel bar, which was gripped vertically in a large machine vice and bolted to the table of a vertical milling machi This had a long mill in the collet, something like a glorified endmill, the diameter of it being equal to the radius of the junction between the eye and the rod. The hole in the eye was slipped over the peg, and the job fed up to the cutter, the end of the rod then being swung around slowly in a horizontal half circle, so that the cutter milled away the surplus metal around the hole. Stops were arranged on the cross-slide to regulate the THE MODEL ENGINEER depth of cut, and stops bolted to the miller table (merely bits of bar, bent over at one end) governed the radial movement and prevented the operator allowing the cutter to bite too deeply into the rod at each side of the eye. The hole was then reamed to correct size. The final operation was putting the thread on, and turning off the centre-hole. This was done in one of the small lathes, in pretty much the same way as you would do it at home. The tod was gripped in the three-jaw, after inserting through the hollow mandrel; the thread put on with a ground-out button die in a tailstock holder, and the end finished off with a combined parting and chamfering tool operated by the cross-slide. Though “* Jhones of the X.Y.Z.’” beat us hollow on production time, with his stampings and up-to- date equipment, we beat him on one count—we had a far smaller percentage of throw-outs! The New Soldo Drill-Saw HE cutting of holes, of any other shape than circular, in comparatively heavy timber is always a rather awkward job, especially to the amateur with limited equipment. It is usual to carry out this work by first boring a circular hole with a brace bit, of sufficient size to admit the point of a keyhole or compass saw, and then use the latter to work outwards from the hole in the required direction. In most cases, it is found necessary to finish the hole to exact shape by means of a small file or rasp. Such operations call for a fair amount of skill and patience, and even when all care is exercised, do not always work out as neatly as one might wish. the use of a simple tool lately introduced by the Soldo Co., Ltd., Sicilian Avenue, London, W.C.1, the cutting of such holes is resolved into a one-tool operation, and thereby very much simplified and expedited. The tool in question embodies a combination of gimlet, twist-drill, saw and rasp, being made of square section tool steel twisted into an Archimedean spiral, and rasp-cut on the comers; the end is flattened, while still retaining its initial twist, and ground to drill cutting edges at the point. It is finely tempered so as to stand up to rough usage without fear of breakage or losing its sharpness. In use, the tool is first employed as a gimlet to drill a circular hole in the wood, and the hole is then enlarged in any direction by using it as a saw or rasp. It cuts very rapidly and is fully under control, having much less tendency to tear out the back of the hole than a keyhole Saw, and none whatever to wander or cut “on the twist ”” when working tound a curve. Any finishing of the interior surface of the hole which may be found desirable may be carried out by means of a slip of glasspaper wrapped round the shank of the tool There is no question that both amateur and professional woodworkers will find this inexpensive little tool very useful. It is made in two sizes, one having a 10” blade, the other 6” longNovember 30, 1939 TAB sates Injector for “Miss Ten-to Eight” By “LBS.” JUDGING by recent correspondence, telephone calls, and “lines of communication” in general, the following is something that quite a lot of good folk have been waiting for. It will be seen from the sketches that the injector is a very small edition of the well-known “Vie” type, as mentioned in my “ Beginner's Guide to. the Injector "’ notes in the early part of the year. One reason why I decided to keep to this type is that it is about the easiest to make, as well as being the best known. Another reason was that, although I have, after prolonged experiment, perfected the sliding-cone and other patterns in the Lilliputian sizes, I think I have “ given away ”” quite enough, as many followers of these notes have pointed out. If any of our good friends of “ the trade "’ wish to copy this injector and place it on the market, they are perfectly welcome to do so, but I hope they will not forget to acknowledge the source of their information. One thing I sincerely hope they have already in stock is a good supply of 66 and 72 drills, for they will surcly be needed when the “lads of the villages” get busy. The tales of woe I have heard from amateur “ jigger-wallahs "enough said! t of all, I had better tell you what the little squirt (literally!) will do—or rather, actually has done. I made one and fitted it to an {Atlantic ”” engine, a 24” gauger similar to old “Ayesha.” With a good fire, the blower on, and the safety-valves blowing off at 85 Ib., and about ¥ of water in the glass, the injector was started, and its only perceptible effect on the pressure was that the safety-valves shut down, the pin of the steam gauge remaining in the place where it normally belongs. The water gradually crept up the glass, the rate of feed being about 2} minutes to put ina pint. “When the water reached the top nut, I shut off the injector, and in a few seconds up went the safety-valves again. We then started off, and went a distance of 14 miles, using the injector only. If the firehole door is closed whilst running, when there is a good fire on, the boiler will blow off furiously; and apparently this surplus steam is nearly ail the little jigger needs, for as soon as she began to blow off I put the injector on, leaving the firehole door closed. The engine was travelling at a speed equivalent to about 90 miles per hour, with the regulator halt open and the lever just off middle. ‘The safety- valves shut down, as the injector picked up and commenced to feed, and in two laps the boiler was full up again, and the steam pressure had dropped about 10 Ib. She was blowing off again almost before I had shut the water off. There were occasional spurts from the overflow, as the sway. ing and jolting of the engine sent water over with the steam, but the feed was constant. I made up the fire, and by the time the added coal had burnt through and she was blowing off again, more water was needed. By following full-size practice, and using the injector when the fire was fiercest and she wanted to blow off ‘' skyhigh,” we got along in grand style, and finished the run with’ “full pot.”” : The next test was with the ‘ Caterpillar.”” This engine has a long boiler with a 3}” diameter barrel, wide firebox and combustion chamber, and although a 2)” gauge engine, the capacity of the boiler for making steam is about equal to ‘“ Miss Ten-to-Eight,”” as it easily supplies four 3” by ; Weao wd ff ba “ ven See |— a0 WN cel ue sun Saeco, bi Ui Injector body. 14” cylinders. With a good fire on, the blower working and the safety-valves blowing off at 100 Ib., they just kept on blowing off, though not quite so fiercely, with the injector working. On the road, the little jigger did not seem to make any difference at all: True, the blast of this engine is practically continuous, as she has the cranks set at 135° and gives eight beats per turn, and she will blow off with the firehole door open,L.B.S.C. Tt was just a case of “* put the injector on and shut the firehole door.’’ Several times she started to blow off with the injector working, when the fire was just breaking through after a few shovel- fuls had been added, as I put the injector on as needed without troubling about the fire at all. “The result of this run, which was over two miles, made me quite satisfied that the little injector would be just the identical for ‘ Miss Ten-to- Hight,"” or, indeed, any similar engine. To the best of my knowledge and belief, every, injector obtainable commercially will pull down the steam pressure even on a 5” gauger, and cannot be used ‘on a 3)” gauger when running. Well, now you Know what to expect, get busy and make one here is how to do it. ‘No castings are required; all you want are some oddments of brass rod, weeny Grills, home-made cone reamers, good eyesight and plenty of patience. The last is decidedly not least! Nore Denes ‘Steam 55 Comes 65 Der 72 c2 suors Injector cones. Injector Body. For this, a piece of §/16” square brass rod will be needed. Chuck truly in four-jaw, and square off each end to a dead length of 18/16” over all. ‘Tum down one end to }” diameter for }” length, and screw 40 pitch, Centre, drill right through No. 24, and ream 5/32”. Reverse, and turn down and screw the other end, same size and pitch. Tn the middle of one side, centrepop and drill, a Y” hole into the bore. On the opposite side to this hole, find the centre, and at 9/64” each side of it, on the longitudinal centre-line, mark off and drill a No. 21 hole. Tap one of them 3/16” by 40 for the overflow pipe. In the other, fit a little nipple made from }” brass rod. Chuck a piece three-jaw, centre deeply with centre-drill, drill No. 30 for about 5/16” depth, screw the outside 40 pitch for about 3/16” length, part off 3” from end, reverse in chuck, and, gripping lightly, turn down the plain end until it is a tight squeeze fit in the plain hole previously mentioned. Squeeze it in very carefully so that the countersink and THE MODEL ENGINEER threads are not damaged. A “blind ”” nut is useful for jobs like that. To make the air-valve box, chuck a piece of Y round brass rod in the three-jaw, but put a Piece of packing 1/82” in thickness, between one Jaw and the Tod, so as to throw: the latter that much out of ¢entre (see plan sketch). Face off, centre, drill right through with No. 34 drill, open out ‘with 7/32” drill, and bottom with a D-bit to 4” depth. - Tap }” by 40 for about 3/16” depth, and slightly countersink the top. Poke a 4" parallel reamer through the remains of the 34 hole, and be sure you hold it truly in the tailstock chuck. Now tie this fitting to the top of the injector body with a bit of thin iron binding wire, so that the hole in it lines up with the hole drilled in the body (put a piece of J” rod through both, and leave it while attaching the wire), also the thickest part of the “* eccentric” should lie above the overfiow hole, sce plan sketch. Next apply a spot or two of brazing flux to the joint between body and air-valve, also to the water nipple previously inserted, and silver-solder both joints at one heat. I find “ Tenacity ” flux and Easyflo "” just the ticket for these jobs, which can be done with a Bunsen burner made out of a few inches of }” boiler tube, on a bit of asbestos millboard. Incidentally, you would laugh to see my “ blackout "” forge.” The lean-to that we call the “ Crystal Palace,”” where T usually do my brazing, ctc., is not blacked out; so I made a little brazing’ tray, about the size of a domestic soap- dish, from an odd bit of stainless sheet steel. This stands alongside the “ Tdeal "’ heating boiler, on a bit of 2” steam barrel with a flange at each end, which makes a nobby pedestal. There was disused gas point close to the wall, originally intended by the enterprising builder for a gas fire (only Mr. Therm runs out a bit too expen- sive!), so I coupled a 3’ length of gas barrel to it, with an elbow and cock at the top, plus 3° of rubber tube and a Bunsen as mentioned above. With a handful of asbestos cubes in the soap-dish forge, it is really wonderful what a lot of small silver-soldering jobs can be done, and no “fumes "" to poison the operator, ner vapour to rust up the machine tools. Returning to our job, quench it out in pickle, wash off and polish up. Put a 21 drill in the overfiow hole, and make a countersink on the opposite side of the bore: then carry on with a 5/64” drill, into the air ball chamber, sec section. The drill should emerge clear of the ball seating, and cut a groove in the wall of the chamber, as shown, through which steam, air and water escapes to the overtlow pipe when starting up. ‘The Cones These are all tured from 7/92" brass rod, and the more care you use the less railroad Esperanto Will be called for. Make the combining-cone first. This is of the American Sellers pattern, and every Dit as effective as the divided Holden and Brooke, whilst being easier to make and fit. Chuck a bitNovember 30, 1939 of rod in the three-jaw, and turn down 9” of the outside to a tight push fit (not driving fit) in the bore. Centre, and drill down with No. 66 rill, about the same depth. Face the end slightly, to cut away all traces of the centre-drill, leaving the hole dead drill-size. This is very important. Tum the end to a very blunt nose, a5 sketch; and with a 1/16” parting tool make a shallow groove, about 3/64” deep, 7/64” from the end. Part off at 9/32; reverse, and open out with a little half- round taper reamer which you can make from a bit of j” round silver-steel. The angle of the taper is 13°; if you turn a cone point 4” long on the end of ‘the steel you will just about get it File away half the diameter, harden and temper to dark straw. Finish the edge on a hard smooth oilstone. After reaming the taper, cut two 1/32” saw slots, as sketch, ream out the burrs, and slightly bell the end." Push into the bore, so that the slots come under the airball seat. Chuck the rod again, centre, drill down 3” with No. 56 drill, turn the outside to shape and dimen- sions given on sketch, the parallel part being a nice sliding fit in the bore. Part off at 3” from end. Reverse, and open out with a reamer made as above, only the cone point is turned 9/32" long. Feed in until the full diameter just meets the flange of the cone. Remove from chuck, and take the merest scrape out of the nozzle end with the combining cone reamer. Let Us Cry! “If you have tears, prepare to shed them now" or equivalent. Chuck the rod once more (mur- muring “third time lucky"), face the end, centre, and drill down about 5/32” or so with the No. 72 drill. The best way to hold this little provocateur ‘of linguistic abilities is to solder it in the end of a bit of 4” rod which can be gripped in your tailstock chuck. The average tailstock chuck is supposed to hold down to “* 0,” but they do not specify what size “'0,"" and so far T have not found one that will hold much below 64. Personally, I use a watchmaker's pin ch in my tailstock chuck, these cost about a shilling each, and will grip a hair. Turn down outside to shape shown, parallel part stiding fit as before, bell. the nozzle, ‘and part off 5/16” from the end. Another little half-round reamer can be made for belling the nozzle, or you can use a stub of broken drill (1 expect you have a few!) ground to shape. ‘The reamer for the taper in the delivery cone is made from ” silver steel, with the cone turned 7" long before filing, hardening and oilstoning. Reverse the cone in chuck, take a 1/64” skim off the face of the flange, centre, put the No. 72 drill in again, and carry on until it meets the first hole. If you drill from both ends as above, there is less likelihood of breaking the drill, and more certainty of its running true; but be careful as the holes meet. Run the lathe as fast as you can without rocking the premises, and feed steadily. After drilling, open out with taper reamer, and slightly 07 Tapes ees bell the end. Then a sigh of relief is called for, as the rest is easy. Assembly Put the delivery cone in place, and note through the overtlow hole if the combining and delivery cones are the right distance apart, that is 1/64” of “daylight’’ between. If not, adjust combining cone, using a narrow strip of 1/64” metal as a fecler gauge. When O.K., the combining cone is soldered in place. A drive fit would distort the centre part, hence a soldered push fit. Put, two spots of Baker's fluid inside the bore, at the large end of the cone, and one weeny blob of solder about half the size of a domestic pin-head; no larger under any circumstances. Hold almost horizontally, but slightly tilted with the delivery end lowest, in the flame of a Bunsen, until the tiny blob of solder melts and seals the cone in place “for keeps.’ Wash well in running water. Drop a 5, 32” rustless stee! ball in the ait chamber, seat with the usual hammer-and-brass-rod treat- ment, make a little cap "from 5/16” hex. brass rod to fs Sel close the chamber, rail allowing the ball y nearly “1/16” litt, fae a and the job is . re done, as far as #0 the “part that — 4¢'aau__¥ matters” is con- ——suyeg NV gemed, A pause sxtneo | for refreshment is - always indicated at 4. PRY L this “stage of the 9°47 | _Acam proceedings. Check Valve or et Clack | This is built up aaa from rod. The part which screws on to the injector is a 4” length of 3/16” rod. Chuck in three-jaw, drill nearly through ¥, open out and bottom to 3/32” depth with 7/32” Debit, and tap 4” by 40. Drill a 3/16” hole in the side. The lack box itself is also a 4” length of 5/16” rod. Chuck, face, centre, drill right through No. 34, open out to 7/32” and bottom with a D-bit to 5/16” depth. Tap 3” by 40, and ream the rest of hole }”. Reverse in chuck, turn a spigot on the end to fit the hole in the side of the horizontal part, drive it in, and silver-solder it. Chuck a 4” length of 5/16” hex. rod; face, centre deeply, and drill right through with |” drill. Turn down }” of outside to 5/16” diameter (which means removing the comers of the hexagon) and screw 5/32” by 82. Reverse, turn down and screw }” of the other end to fit the clackbox, and cross-nick the end so that the ball does not block the waterway when rising ‘Assemble as sketch, and screw it on to the delivery end of the injector. Next week, I hope to tell you how to fit this little gadget to the engine.en Pe aes LOCOMOTIVES THE MODEL ENGINEER Railway Practice By Chas. S. Lake, M.I.Mech.E., M.LLoco.E. A New 3 ft. 6 in. Gauge “ Pacific ” Locomotive SEVEN locomotives of the 4-6-2 type recently left this country for service on the Gold Coast Government Railway. They are of new design and built by Beyer, Peacock & Co., Ltd., of Manchester, to work on track laid with 60 Ib. rails and of the 3° 6” gauge. They conform to the special requirements of the Chief Mechanical Engineer, Major C. R. Turner, and were con- structed “under the supervision of the Crown Agents for the Colonies. Every endeavour has been made to keep the design as straightforward and simple as possible, this being especially important in view of the fact that the engines are operated entirely by African drivers, The new engines will at first be used on passenger services between Sekondi and Kumasi, which section is laid with 80 Ib. rails, but later they wili work passenger services between Accra and Kumasi, which, when the track has finally been relaid, will consist of 60 Ib. rails throughout. Very steep gradients are’ met with on this railway, the ruling grades, both on the 60 and 80 Ib. sections, being 1 in 80 inland and 1 in 100 towards the coast. The engines have two outside cylinders measuring 18” diameter by 26” stroke; coupled wheels, 5’ diameter; and engine wheelbase, 29° 2” The boiler has a total heating surface, with super- heater, of 1,690 sq. ft., and a grate area of 25 Sq. ft, the boiler pressure being 180 Ib. per sq. in. At 75 per cent. boiler pressure, a tractive effort of 18,950 Ib. is exerted. The tender, as the illustra- tion shows, is carried upon two 4-wheeled bogies with outside framing, the water capacity being 4,000 gallons and the coal capacity 7.5 tons. In working order, the engine weighs 63 tons 9 cw and the tender 44 tons 6 ewt., making a total of 107 tons 15 ewt. The dimension of 5’ was selected for the coupled wheels as being the most suitable size for the gradients and other conditions of service. The engines are distinguished for having bar frames with the left- and right-hand cylinder castings bolted together on the centre-line of the engines and forming a saddle for the smokebox. The leading 4-wheeled bogie is of the sliding type and spring controlled. Tt has a side-play of 6”, and the main springing system is compensated in two groups, namely, the springs of the leading and driving, and the trailing and carrying wheels. The cylinders are fitted with pistons having three narrow rings, and piston-valves 10” diameter and of the hollow-trunk type are employed for steam distribution. They have a travel of 4§” and are operated by Walschaerts valve-motion. The boiler has a diameter outside of 4’ 10”, and the length between tubeplates is 15’ 5”. It is fitted with a copper firebox having a combustion chamber, supetheating apparatus and drop grate. The Gold Coast Government Railway has length of 500 miles. The two main lines have respective lengths of 164 and 190 miles, and the remainder of the system is made up of secondary and branch lines. Streamlined Locomotive Performance A correspondent writing from Christchurch, Hants., called the writer's attention to a graph showing speeds and horse-power curves for three 4-6-2 locomotives of the German Railways, one standard, another semi-streamlined and the third wholly streamlined, appearing in the pages of a contemporary, and asked for an opinion respecting the accuracy of the graph which the correspondent refers to as extraordinary. “The graph,”” he says,“ appears to indicate that at 1,900 h.p. the standard locomotive runs at 55 m.p.h., and the streamlined at 80 m.p.h.! If this is correct, much as I dislike streamlining, it settles the question as to efficiency. But surely there is something wrong—if it is so clear-cut, why were we not told before? I, with, I think, many others, believed that scarcely’ any effect was noticeable under 75 m.p.h., and then very litte."” In reply, the writer would like to make the following observations. On the German railways, they have what are really streamlined locomotives, whereas we have nothing in this country but semi streamlined ones, and from the writer’s experiences with all kinds of engines in Germany the graph would appear to him to be correct, and this point of view is rather borne out by the figure relating to the semi-streamlined type. Sir Nigel Gresley, of the L.N.E.R., has stated that there is a difference of 200 h:p. between the non-streamlined and streamlined engines of the same class working under similar conditions, and if the matter is viewed strictly from the standpoint of German practice and it is realised that their streamlining is more advanced than ours in that everything is covered in, the difference between the standard and streamlined engines is not so difficult to understand, The writer has still in mind two runs that he made from Berlin to Hamburg in the latter part of last year. The train load was somewhere in the neighbourhood of 600 tons, and the average speed with the fully streamlined engine was 72 m.p.h., whereas the ordinary non-streamlined engine, otherwise of the same class, could not do better than 65 m.p.h., and there was little or nothing in it in point of view of weather conditions or load. These were not test trains, but the ordinary 6.15L.B.S.C. fe Are 10 ee tn Se ‘te Are ron nan ‘etn su On fase oe, ‘rao Tenoen the feed re Beaceer How to fit_the injector. water-tight clack !--as soon as ever the ram starts on its delivery stroke, and opens the oil port, steam blows past the leaky clack, down the delivery pipe, into the pump cylinder, and forces out the oil between the badly fitting ram and the cylinder bore. The slow motion allows the pump cylinder to be completely emptied by the time the ram reaches the bottom of the stroke, and so the engine cylinders get no oil. If such a wretchedly fitted pump were hand-operated, the quick move- ment of the lever would not give the steam time to blow all the oil back, and some would enter the delivery-pipe and reach the engine cylinders. The maker of the pump, not knowing nor troubling to find out the truth of the matter, immediately condemns the mechanical lubricator, and uses a “flood-and-starve”” hand-operated gadget, explain- ing to all and sundry that “* mechanical lubricators are no good.” Every failure T have seen has been made to work perfectly, simply by counterboring the end of the pump cylinder, tapping it, and fitting a little gland packed with graphited ‘yarn. It does not then matter if the ram is polysided; so long as no oil can escape from the cylinder by getting past the ram, the pump, if of the oscillating cylinder type, would function without any clack at all. Another good wheeze is to put a loop in the delivery pipe connecting the lubricator with the steam-pipe or steam-chests. The lengthened pipe prevents heat being transmitted to the lubricator, and making the oil in it ‘go thin.” Before leaving the subject, I might mention that I have tried lubricators with smaller rams, 3/32” and 1/16” diameter, and made one of the latter size which will deliver one drop of oil for every 40 strokes of the engine cylinders. This will provide the cylinders of a 24” gauge locomotive with sufficient oil for lubricating purposes, whilst preventing waste blowing out of the chimney, and allows a run of over three miles at one filling of a normal- sized oil container. These lubricators differ in several respects from those already described, and if all. goes well I hope to give a sketch and a few details in due course. Miss Ten-to-Eight How to Fit the Injector Eh—used up all the ‘72'’ drills! Well, that is just too bad! Never mind, you have probably made the little squirting ‘apparatus, and are waiting to know where to put it. The sketch shows where I fitted Maisie’s, and it was out of the way and worked well in that location, so I do not think we can better it. First hold the injector in place, and make a template with a bit of soft copper wire for the pipe connecting the union under the steam-valve on the boiler backhead to the steam union on the injector, giving it an easy bend, as shown, Straighten out the wire, and cut a piece of 5/32” by 24 gauge copper tube to the same length. Put on a couple of }” by 40 union nuts, and silver-solder a little union cone on each end.” By the way, readers who have small lathes Yerra tas Connection for tender pump with a single slide-rest which will not set over to turn tapers, can easily make these cones by using a tool ground oft alagonally at the end You can get the correct angle by putting a Slcomb or other centre drill in the chuck, and grinding the tool until it touches all along’ the tapered part. Drill the nipples No. 40 and counterbore the backs with a No. 22 drill, so.that they are a tight fit on the pipe. When silver-soldering, be extremely careful not to get any silver-solder on the cone part, or the unions will not be steam-tight. Also heat the whole length of the pipe, and quench out in pickle, then wash in running’ water, letting itL.B.S.c. swill through the pipe, so that no bits of scale are left in, to choke the little jigger nozzles. Clean up the pipe with a bit of steel wool—bright copper pipes look pretty on the footplate—bend to shape and couple up, adjusting position of injector. This pipe will hold it in position whilst the next one is fitted. Measure again with the copper wire, from the top union of the clack on the injector, to the union on the right-hand delivery clack; then cut a piece of 3/16” by 24 gauge copper pipe, fit with union nuts and nipples as above, and couple up. Keep in Sight AS this injector will be used whilst running, you will want to see the end of the overflow pipe, sme as on a big engine, to ascertain that the water is going into the boiler, and not on the permanent way. To this end, it should be bent almcst to a ight-angle, and led to a position underneath the right-hand step. Soften and clean the pipe, put a few threads on the end, holding the pipe in the three-jaw and screwing’ it with a die in the tailstock holder; then screw home, and bend afterwards. Finger pressure only will do the trick, without kinking. A little bracket, of 16 gauge brass, is then made, and a hole drilied in it for the pipe to pass through, see sketch. The bracket is attached to the back of the step by a small screw and nut. The three pipes support the injector with ease, For the Diaries for 1940. We have received copies of pocket diaries published by our contemporaries, The Amateur Photographer, The Wireless World, The Motor Cycle and The Autocar. Each is nicely bound in leatherette, and, in addition to the usual pages for personal’ memoranda, contains a considerable amount of useful information appropriate to its particular subject, illustrated where necessary with clearly reproduced drawings and diagrams. The price is 1s. 6d. each, net, and copies may be obtained from either of the above-mentioned journals at Dorset House, Stamford Street, London, S.E.1 Science for Handicraft Students. By H. Morton, B.Sc., A.Inst.P. (London: E. & F. N. Spon, Ltd.) Price 7s. 6d. net. This book should be useful to students and craftsmen alike; the former will find it an excellent textbook of elementary science, while the latter should be able to acquire some knowledge of the scientific principles underlying the processes em- ployed in the workshop, more particularly as Tegards the application of those principles to wood and metal work. There are sixteen chapters, each with a selection of exercises at the end. THE MODEL ENGINEER as it only weighs just over an ounce, complete with clack, and no further fixing will be needed. Connection to the tender tank is made by a little swan-neck of 5/82” pipe attached to the water union on the injector, by the usual nut and nipple, see sketch. The water regulating-valve will be fitted on the tender, and the feed-pipe coupled to the injector by a slip-on rubber hose, known to enginemen as a feed-bag. Hand Pump Connection Measure once more with the copper wire, from the left-hand clack union on the backhead, to a point under the drag-beam, as shown in sketch. ‘a piece of 5/32” copper tube to length ated, and on one end of it silver-solder a indi nipple with a nut for connection to the clack. On the other end, fit a union screw turned up from a ¥ length of }” hexagon brass rod, and screwed ¥" by 26, the coarser thread being easily engaged and quickly coupled. Countersink the screwed end deeply, drill right through No. 40, and counterbore the hexagon end No. 22, silver- soldering the pipe in place. Pickle, wash, clean up and bend to shape; couple up the union at the clack end, and attach the other end to the frame by a little clip, as sketch, made from 16 gauge sheet brass, and secured by a screw and nut. The pipe may, if desired, be soldered into the clip to prevent it from becoming twisted or otherwise damaged when coupling or uncoupling in a hurry. Bookshelf ‘The New “Coronation” Brochure The smart threepenny catalogue of gauge ‘‘ 0” railways produced by Bassett-Lowke, Ltd., last Christmas season proved so overwhelmingly popular that they have again published this list, and the new issue came out on December 4th. In place of the biue and silver cover, it is now maroon and goli—the ‘' Coronation "” in her new colours —and inside are given the latest developments in models and also revised prices. Some prices, readers will be pleased to learn, can now be main- tained at their old pre-war level. This book is called ‘" Bassett-Lowke Gauge ‘0’ Scale Model Railways "" (section GR), and costs 3d. post free. Other new catalogues include the November, 1939, issue of the “ Twin Train Gauge ‘ 00’ Railway,” price 2d. post free; and a newly prepared “* Ship Catalogue,"” price 6d., for 1940 will be out during December. Bassett-Lowke’s model _maker’s handbook, “Steam Locomotives, Stationary Engines and Everything for the Model Constriictor,"” 8d. post free, published in September, is proving very popular among model engineering enthusiasts. Al these lists can be obtained over the counter at their London or Manchester branches, or by return of post from Northampton. verL.B.s.c. good many examples of that sort of thing happen- ing to engines of quite respectable size, even 5” gauge, in days of not so very long ago! Comments In reply to Mr. Keiller, who commented on the design of “' Miss Ten-to-Kight’s "” smokebox, the reason why I did not specify the usual circular smokebox on a saddle was that I wished to keep to the outline shown on Mr. Chapman's drawing. Also, the inefficient engine that was the cause of the challenge “to design a better one,”” had a non-saddle smokebox with flat base, and it suffered from air leaks. Mine has the same outside appearance, but I do not think it will leak, as I made a similar one for a 24” gauge locomotive which gave every satisfaction. It is no trouble to me to build up a non-saddle flat-base smokebox in steel plate, absolutely leakproof, by aid of my oxy-acetylene blowpipe; but it was of little use describing how to build it thus for ‘ Miss Te Eight," as owners of oxy-acetylene outfits a the minority, especially under present conditions. Hence the instructions and illustrations given; but should anybody fancy to use a circular smokebox on a saddle, there is, of course, not the slightest objection. As our ‘friend correctly states, it entails less work. Congratulations Mr. Bragg-Smith on his Princess Marina,”” which was built to my nstructions in a contemporary journal. I do not think her performance on the road will disappoint him. A parallel case was that of Mr. Kelman, a Keston reader, who built a ‘* Southern Maid "” as a first attempt from the “Live Steam ” notes, and never tried it under its own steam for lack of a suitable road. Making his personal acquaintance through a mutual friend, I invited him to try his engine on my own line, and he duly: brought her along. We got up steam, and without the slightest hesitation, the little ‘* Maid "” started off and flew around the track hauling her builder, keeping it up until Mr. Kelman, in the excitement, inadvertently forgot to put the blower on whilst stopping to refill the tender tank and the Iubri- cator; and the fire, which had burnt low, died out. The builder was astounded at the results of his own handiwork! He has now nearly com- pleted a 5” gauge “ Eva May,”’ 0-6-0 tank engine with Baker valve-gear, also to the designs of your humble servant. ‘Loco. Coal Re Mr. Harrison on coal-burning experiment “ donkey's years ago ”” as they say in the classics, I sent him some Ford patent compressed charcoal to try, and he sent me a sample of “ Craigola inretum. As he says, itis good stuff; a 24” gauge engine will haul a passenger half-a-mile or so on one firing of it. But long ago I gave up being “finicky” about coal. Full-size engines have to get along with whatever comes to them, and T figured that little ones ought to do the same. Our “"Tdeal ” heating boiler lives and thrives on the THE MODEL ENGINEER Welsh ccal supplied by our local merchant, which happens to be "' Phutnod ”” No. 3 nuts, and my engines have to feed on the same stuff. We have a cinder sieve with about 4” mesh, and when the loco. coal gets low, I just heap up the sieve with the dust and small’ that usually accumulates in the coal shed. This is sifted into another home-made sieve consisting of a piece of perforated zinc with 9/32" holes, which in turn is sifted on to a tray. The coal that remains in the home-made sieve, is what I use for the locomotives; and do they like it? It lights up rapidly, requires little draught, leaves not much ash and’no clinkers. If I want to make a long non-stop run, especially with a wide firebox engine, Tadd an equal amount of anthracite peas, about the same size. But by arranging the blast, blower, etc., to suit, I find that steam can be got out of anything except granite chips and tarmac. The stuf that poor old Ayesha "" has had fed to her, during her long lifetime, would break any ” finicky ”” engine’s heart! MISS TEN-TO-EIGHT Superstructure The top works on this locomotive are very simple, and the rawest tyro at platework should be able to make a first-class job of them. Sheet metal of 18 gauge should be used, and this may be hard-rolled brass, blue steel, ‘or galvanised iron. My own pet method for an engine of this size, is to make up the whole complete side as one unit, running-board, splasher and cabside being cut out and brazed up with brass wire, using the oxy-acetylene blowpipe with a very ‘small tip, This was how I made the superstructure for ““Maisic.’” ‘The assemblies were attached to the frame by pieces of angle, and screws. However, lack'ng the blowpipe, most builders will prefer the following method. The runn'ng boards are plain flat strips, with pieces cut out to clear the driving-wheels and coupling-tods, as sketch, which gives dimensions. The side strips are attached to the top members of the buffer and drag beams, by a couple of 4” countersunk screws at each end, and are supported ahead of and between the coupled wheels by small pieces of angle, say 2” by 1/16”, attached also by screws to both running-board and frames. The edging of the running-board is a piece of 3” by 1/16” angle brass, running the full length between the beams, and riveted to the underside of the running-board by 1/16” brass or iron rivets, round heads underneath, shanks hammered down into No. 51 countersunk holes on top of the running- board, and filed off smooth. A make-up piece is fitted ‘between the frames at the front end; this should not be screwed down, but merely made a tight push fit, easily removable to get at the lubricator. Another piece is fitted at’ the rear, to form the cab deck or footplate; this should be screwed to the top of the drag beam.December 21, 1939 moment, about 85 Ib., and with the cones I have in the injector at present, it has a range from about 35 Ib. (at which it will pick up) to blowin, off What the high limit is, I have not yet tested, probably about 110 Ib. or maybe a little more.” With steam full on, and the water-valve open half a turn, nothing comes out of the over- flow whilst standing, and only an occasional drop whilst running, due to water going over with the steam. If the water-valve is shut, steam blows from the overflow, and on reopening the valve, the injector resumes duty at once. All the effect the injector has on steam generation is to stop the boiler blowing-off on the run ‘An eccentric-driven pump still has one adva tage over the injector, as the by-pass can be set to give a practically constant level in the boiler, and there is no need to watch the gauge glass; whereas, with injector feed, the glass needs watching, and the injector has to be started at low level, and shut off when the water reaches the top. Also, the jigger keeps on feeding when the engine stops, whereas the pump does not; and if you happen to forget to shut the former off, the Water will soon come out of the whistle, as the enginemen say. However, many owners of small locomotives do not regulate the pump by-passes, merely turning them on and off, according to the level of water in the gauge glass; and, in such cases, the injector is no more trouble to operate, especially when it has single-handle control, as with my vertical sliding-cone pattern. Weighing up the pros and cons of pumps and injectors, I see no reason for discrimination in favour of either, and personally T am now fitting both to all engines. Anybody building one of my engines, in which I have specified twin axle pumps, can stitute a single pump and add an injector in lien of the second. The old “* Caterpillar ” goods engine has four methods of boiler feeding, viz., twin eccentric-driven pumps, a duplex donkey Pump, an injector, and a tender hand pump; so if oon L.B.8.C, Photo by [A.W Leggett “Bill Jue” gets up steam. the driver ever deserves to miss the home in the black-out. Followers of these notes have asked many times as to the possibility of fitting injectors to engines with water-tube boilers, and up to the present I have advised against it; but in view of recent experiments, and considering the small amount of steam needed by the gadget just mentioned, I now think it quite feasible, in 2)” gauge at any rate, to use one on a water-tube boiler without knocking the steam gauge silly. Of course, you can, if you so desire, fit an injector to any boiler; but it is not going to be of any use if, as soon as the steam- valve is opened, the pressure flops right down to zero, or pretty near it, and the locomotive quits work. T have heard plenty of tales, and seen a drops the lead plug” he Dewdrop Inn” on his way Mr. Leggett's new * Pacifie "progress to date.December 21, 1939 sno Combined splashers and cab side. The splashers and side of the cab, are cut out as ‘one piece; see sketch for dimensions. The shaj and size of the cab front was given in the illustra- tion of the footplate fittings; this can now be made, ‘and fitted in position, suitable clearances being cut in it to allow room for the rear coupled wheels. ‘The size of these is casily measured from the actual job. Before erecting the side sheets, solder a beading of 3/32” haif-round German silver wire around the window openings on the outside, also along the back edge of the cab. Runners can also be fixed on the inside of the cab sheets, above and below the windows, to take a piece of mica, as described for ‘' Olympiade."” Tt is funny how small things irritate certain folk, and you would hardly believe how it fidgets me to see a loco- motive costing maybe a three-figure price, with just “‘ aching voids" where windows ought to (ae es plate is about 4” from the edge of the running- board, and parallel to it. The bottom angles are then attached to the running-board by screws; you can tap the angles, and put screws in from under- neath, through clearing holes in the running-board, or drill clearing holes through both, and use nutted screws of bolts, as desired, The cab sides are attached to the weather-board by a piece of angle brass in each corner, secured by small brass countersunk screws. A’ strip of metal is cut to fill in the space between the top of the splashers, the frame, and the boiler; this extends from the bottom’ of the leading splashers to the cab, and may be soldered in position, a couple of pieces of angle being attached on the inside, to give extra stiffness. The cab roof is merely a piece of sheet metal, same gauge as ah at ct he See a Oe ] ] i be! strips of brass can also be soldered fon to form splasher edgings. Small pieces of brass angle can then be riveted to the side sheets at the bottom, between the splasher outlines, and at the back corners of the cab; the whole doings is then erected, so that the front edges of the side sheets meet those of the front plate or ‘weather-board, and the bottom of the splasher- sides, bent to the curve of the top of the weather- board, and edged with 3/32” half-round German silver wire soldered on. It may be a fixture, or not, just as you like. If the latter, fit a little tongue in each corner, as sketch, to’ fit between cab sides, If the former, “ditto repeato,”” and put a screw through cabside and tongue to prevent any lifting.AERO os THE MODEL ENGINEER *Model Aeronautics A series of articles dealing with the theory and practice of model aeroplane building By Lawrence H. Sparey BEFORE embarking upon a fresh topic, there yet remains some useful matter to be pre- sented on the subject of undercarriages. As the reader may have gathered, I have a preference for pneumatic operation of these components, but this is not always possible—especially on the lighter types of petrol-driven models. Pneumatic contrivances must, of necessity, be somewhat weighty, and on models scaling under 2 Ib. they are not, so far, a practical proposition. This eaves us with three alternatives; one, a solid, unsprung leg depending upon the resilience of the air-wheel (really a pneumatic type); two, damping by means of springs; or three, damping by means of rubber bands. “It may seem that the last two are identical, but this is not so, as springs may be used in compression, whereas rubber bands must be used in tension. Of solid, unsprung undercarriages there is little * Cont ued from page 645,“ M.E..” December 7, 1939. to say, beyond stressing the need for good strength of the fuselage at the points of attachment. “If this essential is observed, they are quite suitable for machines up to 3 Ib. in weight. Solid legs may be carved from whitewood or even hard balsa, in which latter case the leg should be drilled throughout its length, and a piece of 4” steel wire embedded through the centre. The leg may then be bound with Jap silk and doped. As previously mentioned, an’advantage of the unsprung under- carriage is that it may be shaped to conform to almost any prototype without difficulty. Some full-sized undercarriages are easily imitated if the model incorporates compression springs within telescopic tubes. Such an under- carriage is fitted to the American Douglas D.C.2— a trans-continental air liner greatly used on the Australian routes As will be € from the illustration of the actual machine (Fig. 90), the undercarriage lends itself very well to model construction, but a lathe Fig. 90. A fleet of Douglas D.C2 airliners, showing the retractable landing-gear. (By courtesy of Aeronautics.January 11, 1940 a b.B.8.¢. Ten-to-Eight By “L.BS.C.” Tender MR. CHAPMAN'S original outline drawing of 'N.E.R. 750—new readers can here see how she collected her nickname!—did not include a tender; but as another of his excellent drawings showed a standard type of tender, I sneaked it on the “rob Peter to pay Paul ”” system, and here it is. It is far more suitable for ‘* Miss Ten-to- Eight "” than the latest high-sided type, as it allows plenty of room to get at the handles in the cab, and the firchole, whilst holding sufficient water and coal for a long non-stop run. There is nothing special to note about it; stock castings, 3” diameter are used for the wheels, and the axle- boxes and springs as sold for “* Maisie "” will do nicely. The body can be made from 18 gauge brass; or, if expense is a consideration, of galvanised iron, which can readily be soldered up to make a watertight tank. If ordinary blue steel is used, a thin copper tank should be put inside the steel body, otherwise the whole lot will rust in next to no time, Asit is advisable to make the tender, and test out the locomotive on the track, before adding the final ‘' trimmings,"" here is a drawing of the tender frames, on which you can make a start. No detailed instructions “are necessary; just saw and file them out of 3/32” bright or blue mild steel, with the two plates temporarily riveted together, as usual. Buffer beams and frame assembly next week, if all goes well. “Bat” (Cont.)—Eccentries and Stop Collars These must be made and fitted before pressing The eccentrics on the second wheel of each pair. are easy enough to make; chuck a piece of 2” round stecl rod in the three-jaw; face the end; tum down to 7/16” diameter for }” length, and part off to leave a 1/32” flange of full diameter. Repeat operation, then reverse each eccentric in the chuck, and take a cleaning-up skim off the fiange side, in case the parting tool has left a rough surface. On the side first faced, the tool will have marked the true centre; at 5/64” from this make a centre-pop. Drill a hole slightly undersize, say No. 14, and finish with a 3/16” reamer. Do not drill and ream by hand, as the holes must be dead square with the eccentrics; if you have no bench or pillar drill, use the lathe with the drill in chuck, and the work held against a. drilling pad in the tailstock. Alternatively, chuck the eccentric in the four-jaw, with the pop running truly, then drill and ream from the back centre in the usual way. In the widest part of the eccentric, between the hole and the edge, drill a No. 58 hole, and squeeze in a pin made from 1/16” silver-steel or 16 gauge spoke wire. {t should project a bare 1/16”, see sketch. ‘A combined stop collar for both eccentrics is used on the ‘" Bat.” Chuck a piece of }” rod, brass or steel; face, centre, drill a 3/16” hole in the middle, and part off aj” length. A segment is sawn and filed from each side of this, at right- angles. Scribe a line across the collar, 1/32” from the true centre line, as sketch; repeat the ‘operation on the other side, the two lines being at right-angles, finally cutting away the metal to leave the small shoulders which drive the pins. The segments could be milled out, if the collar is, SR ‘Tender for RL. 750 (Miss-Ten-to-Eight [F. ChapmanL.B.S.C. worn rails, On my own little road, there was considerabie slipping until the railheads became rolled out to a smoothness which was very far ” "Now, we do not get any slip on dry rails, nor on clean wet rails. The only time sand is needed, is when some visiting engine has distributed half the contents of the lubricator over the motion, and the oil has found its way to the railheads via the wheel treads. On clean dry rails, a single-wheeler of 24”. gauge with smooth diving tyres making a fullvidth contact on the smooth flat railhead, has started a load of three adults (Messrs. Meers, Rummens and myself) without slipping; this would be absolutely impossible on new rails giving only a “line” contact between wheel tread and railhead. A Veteran Passes Lhave just heard, with much regret, of the death of Charlie H. Hogan, the first engineman in the U.S.A. to top a three-figure speed. “Though 89 years of age, he would not leave his beloved rail- Toad; and when he became too old for the footplate the New York Central made a shop superintendent on the Buffalo division, which position he held right up to the time of his death last month. iarlie’s famous exploit took place on May 10th, 1898. He was driving a big-wheeled 4-4-0 hauling four cars only, and had left Syracuse for Buffalo, 170 miles distant, half-an-hour late. The train was the then new “ Empire State Express,”” which had been much advertised as a sort of super-ground-flying-machine, and Charlie had the tip from certain officials to make up as much lost time as possible, He did his best, and on the practically straight 36-mile stretch between Batavia and Buffalo, he gave her the lot; and according to officials travelling on the train reached a maximum of 112 miles per hour. At that time, which I well remember, though but a youngster, America had a reputation for being the ‘“ land of tall stories," and much doubt was cast on the tale of Charlie's run, The bald fact remains that even if he did not actually reach the speed named, he mnst have been well over the level hundred," from the start-to-finish time schedule, and’ the passing times given on his running sheet. Personally, I do not doubt it for a minute; hundreds of exceptional bursts of speed are daily made by locomotives in good fettle, both in England and abroad, but are never recorded, because there do not happen to be any stop: watch merchants on the train, Any driver can confirm that! Charlie Hogan's engine, 999 of the N.Y.C., was an engine built and tuned up like a present-day racing automobile; she was comparable to the two 7” 74” 4-4-0's that the old North-Eastern built for the “‘ race "” to Scotland With a ‘* featherweight "’ load of only four cars, an excellent track (U.S.A. roads were then, and still are, more “solid” and have heavier rails than ours), and a man at the throttle who knew THE MODEL ENGINEER THE MODEL ENGINEER how to get the last ounce out of a willing engine without thrashing her, there is not the slightest reason why the speed claimed should not have been attained, seeing that it has been now exceeded in three different countries. Our worthy brother started thirty minutes late—but he finished a few years ahead of time, that is all! A Makeshift Gauge Glass PLAYING smashed the gauge glass on a 3)” gauge locomotive, the writer was “put to” to get under steam again, though no cement was available; and, with a view to easy replacements in future, the idea shown in the sketch was evolved. he top and bottom glass-holders were formed from old wircless crystal cups, with shoulders 6 BA oD ‘tumed inside to take the ends of the glass tube, which pressed thereon through a rubber washer (marked R in sketch). A short length of 6 B.A. rodding—nickel-plated later for good visibility—was passed through the entire assembly, as shown, and the nuts tightened thereby locking the glass into a steam-tight joint. The assembly is not what might be called “ good looking,” but does definitely save time and trouble when replacing a glass—E.F.C.0 THE MODEL ENGINEER Ten-to-Eight By “ L.B.S.C.” TPHE tender body, which, incidentally, is about the same size as that on my 24” gauge “Caterpillar” goods engine, is built up on a soleplate made of 16 gauge metal—any kind, as specified in the introductory note—which is 15%” Jong and 6” wide. It is attached to the tops of the drag and buffer beams, and to the central frame angles, by 3/32” brass screws, which pass through clearing holes and are nutted underneath This allows the complete body to be casily removed in case of emergency, by simply taking off the nuts. Owing to the curved coping, it will be easier to make up the tender body with separate sheets for ends and sides, instead of bending up one long length, as with straight-sided tenders. Each side will require a sheet 153” long by 4” wide; the back end sheet will be 6{” by 4”. Make certain the thests are taly rectangular, that la having Tight. angled corners, then scribe a line {” from the top of each, to mark the beginning of the coping curve. Cut away 3” of each side of the back sheet, and one end of each side sheet, as far as the coping line, then curve the cut outwards to the edge of the sheet, as shown in sketch. Tyro builders may have some trouble in bending the coping to the required curve. Well, it is easy when you know the trick, like most things in this benighted world. The way I do it, is to get two lengths of round rod a little longer than the tender sides, say about 18”, and about 4” diameter. These are placed side by side with a stout elastic band at cach end, to hold them together. The edge of the sheet’ is then inserted between the rods, which grip it by virtue of the elastic bands. The two rods are then placed between the jaws of the bench vice, as near the top as they will go without slipping out, and the jaws tightened up. All that then remains is to pull the side sheet over with your fingers, almost level with the vice top, which bends the edge around one of the rods and puts a permanent “set”? in it, without trace of kink or dint, and perfectly even along the whole length. Anybody who has neglected to "drink more milk,”” or forgotten his “little daily dose,"” etc., and whose muscles are thus inade- quate to pull down the sheet to vice level, pull it down as far as you can, and then put a piece of hard wood over the bend. Hit the wood with a hammer, at the same time pressing down on the sheet with the other hand, as hard as you can, That will do the necessary. Building up Tender Body Rivet a 3%” length of 1/16” by 4” brass angle to the back end of each side sheet; then rivet the back sheet to them. Use 1/16” by }” brass roundhead rivets, countersunk on outside, and be careful to hit the rivet and not the sheet. Sheet- metal riveting is what I call a teetotaller’s job; some folk need glasses to see the rivets properly, whilst if some others had glasses they would hit the rivets that were not there. A tool-maker’s clamp is handy to hold the angles to the sheets whilst the riveting is being done, but they may also be tacked in place with solder, as the whole bag of tricks has to be soldered up later on, to make it watertight. For the front plate, a piece of metal will be needed, 63” long and 3)” wide. Bend a bare 5/16” of each side to a right-angle, so that the overall width is 61”, less the double thickness of the sheet metal. This will ensure the tender sides, being parallel full length. Cut out the coal gate opening, 2” long, 13” deep, and at each side of it rivet a runner. "This is a piece of }” by ¥” brass rod, with a rebate 1/16” wide and deep planed or milled along one edge, sec plan sketch, The milling can be done same as axleboxes; put the piece of rod under the lathe tool-holder, packed to correct height, and traverse across an’end-mill held in the three-jaw. The coal gate itself is a piece of sheet metal cut to slide in the runners, and furnished with a knob for lifting it. The com- pleted front sheet is then set between the sides, 1” from front edge, and riveted to them. Erection of Tender Body Several pieces of 4” by 1/16” angle must now be riveted to the inside of the tender body, for supporting the coal plate and back cover, and also for stiffening the sides and attaching’ same to soleplate. The former are shown in the sectional sketch, ‘The pieces supporting the horizontal part of the coal plate are 5” long, and located 1)” below the top of the front plate; the side cover supports are 4” long, and located at the bottom of the coping, whilst the back piece extends the full width of the body. If you require the stiffest possible job, the bottom angles can extend the full length of sides and ends; but I find that a couple of inches at each end, and the same in the middle of each side, is usually sufficient. Drill a couple of No. 40 holes in each bottom angle, ppat the body in position on the soleplate, and tack it temporarily with a blob or two of solder, on the inside. Drill a No. 48 hole at each hole in the angles resting on the soleplate, tap them 3/32” or 7 B.A., and put in brass screws, which will hold the body in correct position whilst sweating up, and prevent it moving ever after. If a novice tries to solder a tender body to a soleplate without some such means of keeping it rigid, he will be surprised to find that it is next to impossible ~a February 8, 1940 ‘A simple type of moving coil galvanometer is shown in Fig. 4. A pivoted moving coil is free to move in the gap between the two poles of a magnet. In d.c. galvanometers, the magnet is a permanent magnet, usually made of cobalt or tungsten Steel, and it is essential that the magnet should remain of constant strength. In a.c. instruments, the magnet is an electromagnet made of laminated ifon The current to be measured is led into the coil which twists round after the manner of an electric motor, but whereas in the latter machine the rotation of the coil is encouraged, in the galvano- meter it is prevented by the presence of a spring iS N N S) Fig. 3. Astatie couple, attached to the coil. The twisting force of the coil and hence the torsion of the spring is almost exactly proportional to the strength of the current and, therefore, by fixing a pointer to the spring, the strength of the current in amps. can be read directly on a calibrated scale. The efficiency of the instrument is improved by placing in the gap between the poles of the magnet a fixed core of soft iron. In some instruments, the pointer is 139 ELECTRICAL N Fig. 4. Moving coil galvanometer, replaced by a small mirror, which, by reflecting 1 spot of light on to a scale, gives the advantageous effect of a very long pointer. Tt is an advantage in a galvanometer that the needle should reach its maximum deflection very rapidly. is commonly achieved by winding the coil on a light frame of aluminium. The passage of the current through the coil sets up eddy currents in the frame, and since these retard the movement of the coil the needle quickly comes to rest, ‘A galvanometer arranged and graduated so as to measure current in amps. directly is called an ammeter. A galvanometer arranged and graduated to measure potential difference directly in volts is called a volimeter. Selecting Serew Taps QNE of the main points of a tap is the design of the flute which determines the shape of the face of the tooth. In general, taps are made with either four flutes, three flutes, or two flutes, the number depending largely on the size of the tap, and to some extent on the material to be tapped. Two-fluted taps are usually chosen for metalwork in which chips are most likely to clog and break taps. They are used principally in screw machines in the small sizes for tapping deep holes in alu- minium, brass, copper and duralumin. ‘These taps are not recommended in hand-tapping operations. Three-fluted taps will give longer life than two- fluted taps, when they cut freely. They give splendid results when threading blind holes in all soft me Four-fluted taps are chiefly used in cast-iron, cold-rolled steel, brass and other metals, when the chips break up and wash out of the flutes by the use of lubrication flooded on the work. They are good fot hand-tapping. Spiral pointed taps are excellent for tapping through holes in all metals. The cutting is done on the points of the taps, which are milled at an angle to the axis of the tap. This invariably produces a long curling chip which is forced ahead of the tap, eliminating any chip clogging in the flutes. The flutes are usually milled shallow which provide a thicker web, and thus increases the strength of the tap. For through deep hole tapping they will be found superior to taps of any other design. Experience proves that the design of a tap has a lot to do with the success of tapping various metals, Select the right tap for your tapping operations—you will then get satisfactory tap performance —A.J.T.E.February 8, 1940 to get a straight line contact. The local heat of thevsoldering bit causes local expansion, and the bottom edge of the tank side goes all curly. With pieces of angle attached to sides, ends and soleplate, the whole lot ‘" stays put" whilst being soldered up; and this job may now be done. It is a great help to put the tender near the domestic fire, and warm up the whole assembly evenly (I usually stand it on our “ Ideal "* boiler) so that one heating of the bit will run the solder completely along one side, leaving a nice even fillet, Use a liquid flux, such as Baker's fluid, applied with a brush. Do not forget to cover the serewheads, also sweat up the corners, running the solder right up to the top. Ordinary tinman’s solder is best for this job, as it flows freer than plumber's solder. Wash out well’ in running water when through. I have dilated somewhat on this job, owing to requests in recent letters— not so much skipping the sheet-metal work this time, old man!" Ah, well! I do my best to please everybody. Coal Plate Next item is the plate which forms the bottom of the coal space; this is a piece of metal 11)” long and just wide enough to fit between the tender sides. A slight bend is made 6” from one end, and a sharper one 1” from the other; the exact angles do not matter as long as the two end sections are at right-angles, see sketch. The front edge is cut away each side for 5/16”, to leave a little tongue which sticks out through the coal gate and forms a ledge for the fireman to rest his shovel fon when scooping up the black diamonds. It saves a dickens of a lot of back-ache if the fireman does not have to lift the coal from floor level! Fit the plate as shown in the sketch, putting a few small brass screws through clearing holes in the plate, into tapped holes in the angles; then sweat ua. L.B.8.C. up with solder as above, and wash out the inside well. Test for leakage; if all 0.K., the “‘ giblets "” can now be fitted before the cover plate is made. Pump and Feed-Valve ; ‘As the engine has no axle-driven pump, the internal arrangements of the tank are a little ifferent than hitherto described. First we need a valve to control the injector feed-water, and Footplate end of tender. this wants to be some place where you can get at it on the run, and operate it whilst watching the overflow pipe, if necessary. I used the brake- handle pattern on “* Ayesha "” and the “ Cater: pillar "” when testing injectors during the expe ments mentioned in previous notes, and find this as good as any. The valve itself is practically the same as the injector steam-valve already lustrated in section, but the part that carries the gland-nut is made 5/16” long, and a lock-nut is, fitted below the gland-nut. The valve-pin is 4” long overall, screwed 5/32” Whitworth where it enters the valve (for quick action) and is ‘ALTE 08 Ral. COAL GUARD OPTIONAL an 04 he i. ie sete seace FoR cont am is TE pai pe——Se waren Pe | ‘Geidie Section of tender body (Miss Ten-to-Eight”), hy a aaa a cai te Bt = |L.B.S.C. furnished with a little cross-handle made from 16 gauge wire, at the upper end,~as shown in sketch. A piece of 5/32” copper tube, 5” long, is silver-soldered into the side of the valve, in place of the union on the steam-valve. At the other end of this pipe, an elbow is silver-soldered. This is made from 5/16” brass rod; the upper end is screwed 4” by 40 and furnis ith a lock-nut, to which is soldered a gauze finger. Drill a 3” clearing hole through the soleplate, ¥” ahead of the front plate, and about 13” from the side sheet; exact measurements do not matter a bean. Approximately 5{” behind this (check the exact distance from your actual fitting) drill a similar hole. Take off the gland and lock-nuts, and remove valve-pin, also the lock-nut on the elbow which carries the strainer; then poke the top of the valve through the first hole, and the top of the elbow through the second. Screw the ock-nut and strainer tightly on the elbow, which can easily be reached through the 6}” by 41” opening on the top of the tank, except. by the exceedingly ham-fisted fraternity, who will either have to use a long spanner, or conscript “ the Mrs."” for this item. Put the lock-nut on the valve, and the whole assembly will be secure and rigid; replace gland-nut and valve-pin. The latter needs a little bracket, made from 9” angle, near the top of the plate to steady it, as shown in sketch; this is a simple job needing no detailing out. ‘The emergency hand-pump, which should be “ready and waiting,” as we used it for boiler testing, is attached to the bottom of the tank by four 5 B.A. brass screws, nutted under the sole- plate. Before fitting it,’ make a double-ended union from a bit of {” hex. rod. For tyros’ benefit, chuck the rod in three-jaw, face, centre deeply with a centre-drill (Slocomb or similar), turn down 4” of outside to 4” diameter, and screw 40 pitch with a die in tailstock holder. Part off at 3” from end. Reverse in chuck, and repeat operations, but this time turn down {” length, and screw it. After deeply countersinking with the centre-drill, run a 4” drill clean through. Make a lock-nut, }” thickness, and two union nuts. Drill a hole in the bottom of the tank about 6” from the back, and put the longer end of the union through from the inside, securing with lock-nut outside, see sketch. Make up a swan-neck of 5/32” pipe with a little cone and }” union-nut on each end, and attach the Ionger end of it to the union inside the tank, The pump can then be put in position as shown in sketch, bolted down to soleplate, and the swan-neck coupled up to the delivery ‘union. Filler and Cover Plate The cover plate is a sheet of metal approxi- mately 6}” by 4)”, cut to {it over the opening at the back of tank, and rest on the angles. Cut an opening in straight sides and rounded ends, it 24” long and about 1” wide, with The driver likes 2 THE MODEL ENGINEER a big opening, as it is easier to do what our transatlantic cousins call ‘' spot ”” the engine by the water crane, and the fireman likes a big hole to drop the hose in, Billy Stroudley’s little filler hole was one of the few. things his enginemen grumbled about; to sail into Norwood Junction on a fast evening suburban train, and’ pull up within two inches’ of a chalk mark or splash of paint on the platform, just right for the water ‘crane, was a fine test of enginemanship, believe it or not! Many a cheer was raised for the good old Westinghouse air brake, which made it possible. Bend a 3” strip of brass, or whatever metal you are using for the tank, to the shape of the hole, fit it in, and solder all around, I have shown a snap lid for the sake of variety, but you can fit a hinged lid, as described in past notes, if preferred. The completed cover plate is attached to the angles by 8 B.A. roundhead brass screws, put through clearing holes in the plate (No. 43 drill) into tapped holes in the angles. The pump, if ever needed, is operated by a 4” extension handle with a socket of rectangular tube, or bent-up sheet, ‘on the end, to fit over the pump lever, as described for 24” gatige engines. up the injector-valve to the jigger on the engine, a small piece of 5/32” copper tube is attached to the valve as shown, and a slip-on hose, or “ feed bag,"’ of stout rubber tube (as used for suction-operated windshield wipers) makes the connection. To connect the double union to the hand feed connection on the engine, cither a spiral of 5/32” copper tube, softened and wound around a 1” bar, may be used as sketch; or a piece of automobile tyre-pump hose, or a piece of stout rubber tube as mentioned above, pushed inside a closely-wound “spiral spring" made of brass wire. Each alternative needs, of course, union nuts and nipples at each end, to suit the respective unions; as this pipe is under pressure when in use, a slip-on connection would blow off. ‘The coal guard may either be rail pattern, made up from 3/32” half-round German silver wire, as shown in Mr. Chapman's drawing; or it may be a vertical plate coping, soldered on, with a couple of reinforcing strips about 3/16” wide, placed vertically at each end and soldered in place, to prevent an accidental “ bit ” starting a break- A beading of half-round German silver wire is soldered all around the edge of the tank, which makes a nice finish. A small vertical handrail 6f 15 gauge German silver wire, with a handrail knob at top and bottom, is attached to the front and back ends of each side sheet, see general arrangement drawing. Other“ trimmings,"” such as buffers and~“ couplings, will be dealt with in the concludin, instalment on this engine, which will also includ “by request "" a hint or two on how to paint her. See next weck’s issue for continuation of the ‘ Bat.””