[MLC] New axle driven water pumps for Forney #2

Hello friends of the large steamers,

since the last bigger maintenance 3 years ago, I had issues with the boiler water feed systems on the Forney, so the loco was not in service for the past two years, resting on the dead track.

But a few weeks ago, I suddenly took the loco on my workbench and started to assemble the loco down to the frame.

As the original pump got lost, I simply build a whole new one. First I had to add new eccentric rings to the second axle. This needs to me to remove the whole axle. Finally everything was much easier than expected.

The parts for the pump were made from stock brass on the mill and lathe. The single parts for the pump body were soldered to a single unit. I use a high temperature soft solder which is strong enough for such tasks.

To have easy access for maintenance, the pump is hold in place by a single screw. Once loose, I can take the pump out of the frame to the cutout section in the bottom of the former water tank. Last task was to rebuild all necessary water pipes for the axle pump including the bypass back to the tender tank.

The first test run at home was very successful.

So next I headed for a local club layout on June 2nd for a long-term test run. The loco performed great for more than 5 hours and is now back in full operational condition. This makes me really proud, as the loco is already 36 years old, but still not tired.

Originally, I planed to rebuild the Forney for 1:7.2 scale as well as I did with my other rolling stock recently. But in the end, I can’t get warm with the 1:7.2 proportions on this loco. So I decided to keep here in 1:6 scale for the moment and gave her on loan to a sugar cane railroad.

[MLC] Equipment Flatcar & Boxcar

Hello,

here’s part 3 of the rolling stock rebuilt. First I ripped down my old tool & work car. The shack and open workbench got scrapped, while the detail parts got sorted. Those that are still useful and matching to the new scale got stored or added to the caboose interior. The new”Supply & Equpiment Flatcar” will be used to haul logging equipment for log loading and others.

Afterwards, I took care of the boxcar i.e. camp & crew car. The photos above are showing the car as it was before the work started. My first plan was to cut off 35mm at the top of the side walls as I did on the caboose. But I came to close to the windows and had to replace them as well, which started to become very difficult. I also had to rebuilt the small section above the door, which made the whole job much more complicated. Best would be to cut at the lower end, but the floor from plywood is screwed and glued to the side walls and the boards on the outside are longer to cover half of the frame below.

Finally I decided to go the more complicated “easy” way and removed the whole body from the chassis. The chassis got an all new planking from boards I cut years ago for my new BCL&RR flatcars which never got built.

Back on the boxcar body itself, I placed new nails at the lower portion of the boards and lined out the cutting lines all around. I used my circular saw for the cutting, which worked perfect. I added some enforcement braces across the door area to secure the wiggle section above the doors.

Since the car now features a detailed floor, I decided to spend some attention to the plain plywood walls on the inside as well. I painted bord-joints with a pencil and hot-glued thin stripes in place to represent the timber-framework.

Once the car body was mounted on the flatcar, I cut off the doors as well and reinstalled them with all the hardware. Ad on the previous rebuilds, the car now looks longer and wider, just perfect for a 24′ long 3′ gauge boxcar.

By now, the car has no further interior, as I use it regularly to hold all the steam-up equipment on meets & events. But with the new details inside, it’s a pleasure to run the car with open doors..

Cheers, Gerd

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