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Post by simplyloco on Nov 28, 2019 9:39:25 GMT
I love seeing pictures of your work Barry, truly excellent models sir.. Pete I reckon he's got his own little army of Elves...  John |
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Post by mugbuilder on Nov 30, 2019 22:25:48 GMT
A heavy American Micardo in 5" gauge . The 8" diameter boiler weighed 107 pounds bare. I couldn't lift it in now. It was a fabulous engine to drive. 2 1/4" cylinders. powerful and forgiving.  |
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Post by mugbuilder on Nov 30, 2019 22:29:39 GMT
NSWGR 'C3403' This picture was taken on my then private test track. Unfortunately now gone as I now live in town.  |
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Post by Jim on Nov 30, 2019 23:45:15 GMT
Superbly detailed models Barry. Dave P, Tim G, and I hope to get across for the annual Christmas run. We need to show our faces to prove we're still on the planet.
Jim
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Post by mugbuilder on Dec 2, 2019 6:04:34 GMT
Looking forward to seeing you then Jim. About time you came with your loco.
Barry
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Post by Jim on Dec 2, 2019 7:08:23 GMT
Just need to do another steam up to make sure all is working as it should then I will bring it over for you check it out. Jim
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Post by Oily Rag on Dec 2, 2019 20:15:39 GMT
For this marvelous and most praise worthy proliferation of work there are four possibilities that come to my mind
a: You never have to sleep and can work non stop for 24 hours a day and seemingly 7 days a week.
b: You have made an apparatus that taps into the laws of relativity and thus you can speed up time in your workshop while us ordinary mortals on the outside are existing in a passage of time we assume is normal.
C: Your catalogue of work represents 200 years of being on the tools and you have traveled back in time to our existence.
d: You are terribly efficient, skilled and persevere at the toil and this is admired and a true inspiration to us ordinary metal bashers.
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Post by mugbuilder on Dec 2, 2019 23:24:37 GMT
G, Day Darrell,To answer your questions,
A I have been building since I was 15 and am now 77.
B Over 35 years was full time building.
C I have always enjoyed the work.
D Due to my wife being very unwell for a very long time I needed to find a way of making a living from home.
E We needed money to eat.
F Some of the engines were finished from partly constructed models.
When working full time I never worked weekends or publick hollidays and always had at least 3 weeks leave each year.This was to ensure my sanity.
Regards,
Barry
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Post by David on Dec 3, 2019 7:27:23 GMT
Dazza, your option D is also true. It's bewildering how quickly Barry makes things.
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Post by suctionhose on Dec 3, 2019 9:41:06 GMT
Dazza, your option D is also true. It's bewildering how quickly Barry makes things. Not using CNC certainly helps  |
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Post by suctionhose on Dec 3, 2019 9:52:39 GMT
Barry,
I'm pleased you are able to share these pictures with a wider audience. No matter what the circumstances, it is an enviable body of work you have created!
You've always spoken highly on my behalf though the irony is, in truth, I have always tried to emulate you! Neat. Practical. Reliable.
Once captivated by your 5201 (I first saw it at Colo Vale with neither paint nor tender - 1975?) it took years of practice before having the courage to roll my version of a 50 class out in public!
Yours is a great legacy of which you can be rightly proud.
Ross Bishop
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Post by David on Dec 3, 2019 19:58:07 GMT
Not using CNC certainly helps :) Given it took me over 3 hours to make a single step the other night I'm not sure CNC is what is holding me up. |
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Post by mugbuilder on Dec 4, 2019 2:41:41 GMT
Thanks for that Ross, I think that you are going a bit over the top with the praise. Your work is second to none and well in front of mine. [People will think that we are peeing in each others pockets if this keeps up.]
With regard to the volume of work ,it must be remembered that I have been building since the age 15 and am now 77 and over 35 years of that was full time. I try to follow the following recipe.
When building for others you must make every hour count and not be over fussy with the job.I usually plan a job ahead of time and time spent on the loo can be very usefull. I don,t waste time with fancy set ups and have no jigs. I don't have any fancy machines and all of the early work was done with just a small belt driven lathe and no mill. I made 7 engines that way while working full time for a boss in the smash repair trade. 2 of the '59's were done that way. It is much easier now with a biger lathe and a reasonable mill.
I have made 14 Blowflies and all but the last three were done one at a time as they were ordered. I could make a basic one in 5-6 weeks from scratch 200-250 hours each. I never worked weekends or public hollidays and rarely more than 8-9 hours a day. 3-4weeks every year was spent on holliday to preserve my sanity.
I think that it is important to know what to do that day before opening the shed door and have the materials on hand for the job. There is nothing more frustrating than being all prepared for a job and not have the materials . I am starting to experience that myself now as I am winding down on stock materials in preperation for the eventual arrival of the grim reaper.
Do a little bit each day even if you dont feel like it as a pause for a week can end up a pause for a year.
Steam technologe is very basic and not rocket science. If tolerances are too fine on a new loco it takes a fair amount of running before it settles down on the track. A stiff engine is usually a slippery one at first.When delivering a new engine the owner had shelled out a good deal of money and expects the engine to perform from day one. I learnt to build in a bit of clearance where required to allow a free running engine from the word go. I am still plodding along and spending a few hours a day [too many my wife reconds] and intend to do so as long as i possibly can. I would hate to die with an unfinished engine on the bench.
After all we are just a lot of big kids playing trains so don't take it too seriously.
Barry
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Post by mugbuilder on Dec 4, 2019 2:52:07 GMT
The 19 class was built foe the Sydney Powerhouse Museum and is very highly detaild but non working. The inside of the smokebox displayed all the scale boiler tubes. blast pipe and spark arresters.It is 5" gauge. the 27 class was finished from a part built Simplex and should have a bogie tender, but the owner wanted a shorter one to make driving easier.I fitter the 6 wheel 'P' class tender to it.  |
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Post by mugbuilder on Dec 4, 2019 2:55:57 GMT
This is a '53 'Class standard goods built from scratch at the same time as my '55'. An engine like that could be built in about 11-1200 hours.  |
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Post by suctionhose on Dec 4, 2019 3:54:16 GMT
"Grim Reaper"? I prefer "When Gabriel blows his trumpet..."
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Post by Jim on Dec 4, 2019 4:43:50 GMT
Snipped: Steam technologe is very basic and not rocket science. If tolerances are too fine on a new loco it takes a fair amount of running before it settles down on the track. A stiff engine is usually a slippery one at first.When delivering a new engine the owner had shelled out a good deal of money and expects the engine to perform from day one. I learnt to build in a bit of clearance where required to allow a free running engine from the word go. I am still plodding along and spending a few hours a day [too many my wife reconds] and intend to do so as long as i possibly can. I would hate to die with an unfinished engine on the bench. After all we are just a lot of big kids playing trains so don't take it too seriously. Barry That's a great philosophy Barry and one I'm trying to follow too.
Jim
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Post by suctionhose on Dec 5, 2019 9:05:18 GMT
One of these is mine (far right) the other 3 are Barry's... (Orange 2008) Hint: He must like headlights!  |
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Post by mugbuilder on Dec 5, 2019 22:11:39 GMT
Love those tall chimneys.
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Post by Jim on Dec 6, 2019 1:32:29 GMT
Tall chimneys and headlights.
As a kid catching a train to Sydney I would stare up the line for the first glimpse of the locomotive rounding the bend on the approach to see if it had the headlight on top of the smoke for the usual 32 class or my favourite, a 36 class, with the headlight lower down on the top of the smoke box door, they alway hauled The Fish leaving Katoomba at 6:30 am.
As the passengers boarded the sound of the Westinghouse pump always sounded as if the locomotive was panting from the effort. Just some very happy memories.
Jim
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