Large Scale Central

Getting dirty... again

Other Hobbies
#1

On October 1, 2, 2011 our local antique machinery club will hold their annual fall show. There will be fresh pressed cider, steam cooked apple butter, “old rusty junque”, and a garden tractor pull on Saturday…

They asked me if I would fire my 20th Century to supply steam for the cider press this year… so we’ll be hot 3 days (Friday-Sunday). If anybody is in the area, feel free to stop by. the showgrounds is right off US 19 about 35 miles N of Pittsburgh Pa.

Meanwhile, yesterday Kim and I power brushed (don’t have the luxury of a needle scaler or sandblaster) and repainted the boiler on the beast. The last time I did a full repaint was '97, so she was getting kind of sad looking. We’ll have to finish up another day, since we ran out of paint and daylight, but it’s amazing how much $10 worth of paint can improve things…
The down side is, what we didn’t paint now looks even scruffier…

#2

photos
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.269783429720406.72821.144288548936562&type=1

#3

Old paint/new paint… what should I do? Okay, here’s the deal. The cylinders on the beast were green when I got her. So I bought Hunter Green… and tossed the receipt. Then today when I pulled the cylinder covers I found

(http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j371/AlleghenyValley/PA070017.jpg)

Looks kinda like very old grey and very old red… don’t it? Steam cleaning the crosshead guides yielded even more red - and grey on the rods… under several other colors.

(http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j371/AlleghenyValley/PA070019.jpg)

We were told that this was the last engine built before the company folded. Mismatched parts (like the 3" crankshaft from the larger 35HP) are one bit of supportive evidence. Numerous unfilled blowholes on the RH crosshead guide (from a cold pour) may be another.

(http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j371/AlleghenyValley/PA070020.jpg)

I used the green anyway… but ran out 2/3 through.

(http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j371/AlleghenyValley/PA070021.jpg)

Now I’m debating with myself whether to just get more green, or strip it and start all over with grey and red. (I’m doubting grey will cover green, even though red might) And, one last pic just to show off an oddball feature. These are the original cylinder draincocks. a wedge rod in the slot pushes a square pin to unseat the ball… and when you shut the steam supply completely off, they also work as drifting valves. Interesting concept, unless you actually want to STOP on any kind of grade… (most traction engines don’t have brakes)

(http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j371/AlleghenyValley/PA070018.jpg)

#4

Red, green and grey? It just distinguishes the parts, all should be fine.

#5

Allen, All that equipment is neat, but this caught my eye as well. Nice build, with the modern dually bed on it.

(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/jebouck/REO.jpg)

#6

John, I thought it was cool, too, plus I think the guy actually uses it for work.

#7

Well, Kim decided the color question for me over the winter… “You already BOUGHT half the green!” But the rods are now grey again.

(http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp52/steamnut1917/P1010005.jpg)

Here is something even steam fiends won’t see everyday. It is a McCollough pump lubricator (pat’d 1907). I think over nearly a lifetime in this hobby I’ve only seen 4. This engine had one from the factory, but it was worn out, so I (stupidly) gave it away. This one took me almost 8 years to find and was stuck from dried up dinosaur goo when I got it.

(http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp52/steamnut1917/P1010004.jpg)

#8

Very nice engine mik! I really think the McCollough pump is cool. I have been an engineer at the Old Threshers Reunion In Mt. Pleasant Iowa for a few years now, but i don’t recall any of the engines having one of these on it. A truly unique piece indeed!

#9

Hey Mik, Thought of you when I saw this beast today at the Spencer Shops :wink: Ralph

(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/cabby/_forumfiles/TractorM.jpg)

(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/cabby/_forumfiles/Tractor2M.jpg)

#10

Where’s the sand dome?

#11

Ralph, nice pics! The 120HP Avery was rated at 40HP under the old system. Most of those very big beasts were designed primarily for pulling gang plows to break the virgin prairie in the US and Canada. They were a bit to big to be efficient at lighter work, so (something like a Big Boy on a branchline!) once that task was done, they were pretty much obsolete. Some builders tried to adapt the plow engine design to heavy freighting with 2 speed gearing, but then broken gears became an issue. Many of these big ones only survived because they were abandoned too far out in the boonies to make it cost effective salvaging them for scrap. I’ve always wondered how they could see a bloody thing off the left side with those small windows. It probably didn’t matter much out on the open prairie, but at a modern engine show…? I actually have an Avery fast hitch out in the shed. It works on a principle similar to the knuckle coupler. Maybe I’ll take a pic if there is interest My 20th Century is a 25HP, the literature claimed it made 95HP on the belt. 20th Century also made a non-catalog (special order) 35 HP and at least two 50 HP engines that we know of, all those were shipped to “Mexico” (they probably ended up in the Panama Canal zone) This is the 35

(http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp52/steamnut1917/20thCenturyMfgCo/bigengine.jpg)

and a couple pix of the 50s

(http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp52/steamnut1917/20thCenturyMfgCo/carnippleworks.jpg)

(http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp52/steamnut1917/20thCenturyMfgCo/35HP20TH.jpg)