Building Kozo's New Shay locomotive

[daveb]

I belong to the Waushakum Live Steamers and we have a 2500' high-line.  We'll have to have you down and we can double head.  Can't let your engine become a mantle queen.  We also have a member that has a 1.5" kozo shay running on 7.25 ground line.

[crueby]

I belong to the Waushakum Live Steamers and we have a 2500' high-line.  We'll have to have you down and we can double head.  Can't let your engine become a mantle queen.  We also have a member that has a 1.5" kozo shay running on 7.25 ground line.

Very cool - just looked up your web site, looks like a fantastic layout there! I'll keep it in mind for the next time I am travelling over thatta way, I go up to Maine and down to Connecticut every once in a while.

[crueby]

One last bit for today - made the snifting valve, which allows air into the engine when the throttle is closed so it does not hit a sudden vacuum. It is a simple check valve, with a steel ball under a cap. When the throttle is open, steam goes up into the valve body and pushes the ball into the valve seat in the cap. When the throttle is closed, the ball falls/gets sucked down onto the end of the valve body, which has a slot so the ball cant seal against it.

First photo shows making the valve body from a piece of hex bar. Hole drilled all the way through for the steam passage, and turned down/threaded the ends. One end got a small slot cut in it.

Second photo shows the pieces made - you can see the slot at the right end of the valve body. The cap was drilled/threaded, and the bottom of the hole extended a little with a boring bar to leave a raised valve seat (a little past a square bottom hole) that was punched with a steel ball to form the seat.

Last photo shows both safety valves and the little snifting valve in place on the boiler. Ready to start the steam dome...

[Steamer5]

Hi Crueby,
 Making great progress, just one question, you refer to both the safety valves & the snifter valve having steel balls, I hope you mean stainless steel. On that note any studs used on the boiler should be stainless steel, the guy that built the my loco couldn't find any for the Regulator so used steel, drilling out 8 broken studs in the backhead of the boiler was character building to say the least!!

Keep up the great work!

Cheers Kerrin

[Roger B]

Looking great    Still following along   

[crueby]

Hi Crueby,
 Making great progress, just one question, you refer to both the safety valves & the snifter valve having steel balls, I hope you mean stainless steel. On that note any studs used on the boiler should be stainless steel, the guy that built the my loco couldn't find any for the Regulator so used steel, drilling out 8 broken studs in the backhead of the boiler was character building to say the least!!

Keep up the great work!

Cheers Kerrin

Definitely stainless steel for those valve parts. The boiler studs and nuts are all bronze, no steel on the boiler itself.

[crueby]

No new work on tne loco today, I was at a class at the local welding/glass place. Class was in copper vessel raising, taking a flat sheet up to a bowl shape with hammering. Learned a bunch, lots of fun, made a nice bowl. Good skills for future models, plus a use for any leftover sheet stock.... If you have a welding/etc supplier near you, check out what classes they give.

[ths]

Your next boiler will be hand beaten? Hugh.

[derekwarner]

  ......aren't they all ths?.....[hand beaten boilers]

BTW how is the beautiful Hampden bridge?.....is all of the repair work completed?

60 years ago,  we [my family] stayed in a property 4 doors south east of the bridge......

Sorry crueby  for the deviation in the thread  .......Derek 

[90LX_Notch]

If you have a welding/etc supplier near you, check out what classes they give.

I never thought of that.  I have a friend who is a sales rep. for welding supply firm.  I will have to ask him if they offer anything.  Thanks.

-Bob

[crueby]

If you have a welding/etc supplier near you, check out what classes they give.

I never thought of that.  I have a friend who is a sales rep. for welding supply firm.  I will have to ask him if they offer anything.  Thanks.

-Bob

I only found out here since a friend who does a lot of welding (he built his own airplane!) told me about it. The place here (Mahanies) has an addition out back where they teach blacksmithing, welding, glassworking, and jewelerymaking.

[crueby]

Time to make the donuts!

Well, an aluminum one, anyway... The steam dome base started out as a bar of aluminum (did not have any brass that large, and it will be painted anyway, so I am using what I got). Drilled/countersunk the holes that the handrails will go in (visible at the taop of the first photo - the little hole in the middle/top), and then bored out the center to size, halfway through. (photo 1)

Then, turned it around and bored the other side out, a little smaller. The step that left in the center will be used to hold it for milling later. (photo 2)

With the center done, went back and turned the outside down. There is a step at the top for the steam dome to rest into, then a straight section that flares out to the outer diameter. After the rest is milled, that bottom thicker area gets filed down to flare into the shape of the boiler, just like the smokestack base did. (photo 3)

In the fourth photo, the base is sitting on the boiler where it will go around the throttle body. As you can see, it does not sit down on the curve of the boiler yet.

Here is where the step I left in the center bore gets used - turned a brass disc to fit the bore, and used that to bolt the piece to a square block held in the vise. In Kozos' book, he uses an angle iron to bolt it to the lathe faceplate for this step. My little Sherline does not have the throw to do this, so I am using the mill instead. I made a paper template of the top of the boiler, and transfered that to a wood block, which you can see to the right of the mill cutter. That curved top will serve as a guide for setting the depth/width of each pass on the mill. As long as I get close to the template without cutting into it, I will duplicate that curve in the base. (photo 5)

Next photo shows it after a set of passes with the mill - you can see how the curve is replicated in the base piece. I then took the little steps off with a sanding drum and filed it to a good fit on the boiler.

Last milling step was to cut a slot for the throttle valve stem to stick through. (photo 7)

Last photo shows the base test fit to the boiler/throttle. Still need to file the curve into the sides of the base - will show that next time...

[PStechPaul]

You can get a full 20 ft circle of track in 3-1/2" gauge for about $500 (plus about $100 shipping):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Eight-Tracks-3-1-2-Gauge-20-foot-diameter-/160930874017



They are made of 1/4" x 3/4" steel bar and the metal ties are 1/8" x 1" steel. You then need to add the wood ties, and fasteners, and paint. I'd like to analyze the cost of the materials to see what it would come to as a DIY project. For each 48" section:

1/4" x 3/4" x 48" steel: $7.84 * 2 = $15.68
1/8" x 1" x 6" steel: $1.02 * 9 = $9.18
Total: $24.68
For 16 sections: $397.76

Those prices are from Speedy Metals, cut to size. Probably quite a bit less for longer pieces. So the $500 for complete sections is not bad. I have also thought that perhaps rectangular tube could be used for track, although it might be difficult to bend. A 48" section of 1" x 1.5" tube (0.120" wall) is $15.32.

If I took the time, effort, and money for a build such as this, I would sure want to be able to run it!

[crueby]

PSTechPaul - I already have a set of aluminum rail I bought last summer - enough for about a 18' circle. I got it at the same time I bought the rail for the display base (the alum rail was cheaper than the nickel, but did not look as good, so I got a bundle of the alum. and 1 of the nice rail). Dont think I'd bother with the metal crossties, just would screw them to the wood - takes a little more care to get the spacing right, but a simple gauge would make it easy. For my setup, it would be on a paved area, so could use arcs cut out of ply for a quick temporary layout.

For comparison on your costs - from Switchcrafters.com you can buy rail in 6' lengths, 96' to a bundle, for about $50. A WHOLE lot less than buying steel bar. This rail is already shaped like real rail, so fastening it down is much simpler (screws vs welding it up).

[PStechPaul]

Thanks for the information on Switchcrafters. I can see that the prices are quite reasonable, but the largest size is Code 332 which is 0.322" high, compared to 0.75" for the 3-1/2" gauge. I had to do some digging to find detailed information on the size of track:

http://girr.org/girr/tips/tips4/track_tips.html
http://www.model-railroad-infoguy.com/track-gauge.html
http://www.urbaneagle.com/data/RRstddims.html

I find the definitions of scale and gauge a bit confusing, but I think I have a pretty good idea. If your Shay is 1-1/2" scale (to the foot), it would be 1/8 scale. If it is 3-1/2" gauge, that would compare to full railroad standard gauge 4 ft - 8-1/2" or 56.5", or 1/16 scale. The Code 332 for 1/16 scale would correspond to 5.35" tall rails. There is much variation in height of full size rails, but generally they are 4-1/2" to 6" high, so Code 332 is just about right for 1/16 or 3/4" scale or 3-1/2" gauge, while the Code 187 would be for an even smaller scale:

http://armypubs.army.mil/eng/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/tm5_628.pdf

I don't intend to hijack your thread, but I think this information is very informative and perhaps helpful in understanding some of the dimensions of the model. And I'm still not sure I have it right.