Florence Locomotive Works

A good point, although first I’d need to find a avaible Corliss. Preston Services has a disassembled one I think (and a Robey drop valve of similar size) but I’d get a right shouting at from my parents.

As much as I’d like to do that it would be harmful to the Corliss to be run under such little load, this lathe is only 3 feet long and a 1/2 HP DC motor runs it just fine. A Corliss really needs to be driving a rolling mill (substitute in your preferred heavy industry) or under no load at all otherwise the governor will be fretting over where it should be all the time, which in turn will put excessive wear on the governor and its valve linkages. Speaking of Corliss’ I recently acquired a gauge that is more than likely off one, this is a Worthington Simpson pressure gauge made in 1957 according to the inscription under the dial. Found it in a local junk shop.

His Grace the Duke is also coming along nicely. In this photo I was using my 1890s surface gauge to determine the height difference between the cylinder block and the middle of the driving axle. I had to do this on my desk as I don’t have a surface plate.

Yes been on the site a lot lately. It will have its original flat belt drive system installed which will be connected to a modern motor and VFD.

Coming Saturday…. Someone (me) got given a 1948 Rivett 504 high precision lathe, complete with full tooling and drive system. I’ve been away as I’ve been heavily involved in moving it from New York to Tulsa. Full details Sunday. Douglas

The King. Douglas

Looks to be in all right condition, probably either a Cincinnati or a Barnes, but more then likely a Barnes.

You will not be disappointed. More details Friday.

It’s actually not lamp, it’s a porcelain Japanese pagoda model thing which I thought would make a cool desk ornament.

Well a lot of progress has been made since the last update. First I finished off all the leading and trailing wheels. These are made from C360 brass, and took ages to make as the tool I was using in the lathe was dull and I didn’t have a grinder to hand. After the thankful conclusion of that I started on the driving wheels. These were turned from 2 inch Aluminum round bar, 1/4 inch wide. They were a lot easier but as anyone who’s ever turned aluminum in bulk on a lathe will know it makes a massive mess, seen below. After those were done, I now had all the wheels finished, along with the axles, so it was time to start on the bearings. These are made from 3/8s inch round brass, (C360 alloy) and get turned flat and drilled in the lathe. The slots the enable them to run in the horn guides are cut with a jewelers saw (as I don’t have a milling machine, sadly). After all those were turned, drilled, reemed and fitted to the frames it was time to fit all the wheels and axles and get them bedded in. Meaning I now had a rolling chassis! (the bearings are an interference fit in the horn guides, holds then in pretty well) So that brings us more or less up to date, except work has started on platework. I roughly cut out the footplate this morning and get it fitted up to see how much material needed filing off. Douglas

Evening all, I've been away for a while. An update: Much work has been done on the Iron Duke since it was last seen in these hallowed pages. Progress to date includes the completion of all engine wheels and 4 of the 8 wheel bearings and their axles. Material for the footplate has also been selected. I've also been mentally making designs for how the smokebox will be made. Here are some photos: Douglas

Drill all back together and working very well now. Douglas

There’s one sat abandoned behind a big house about 2 miles from my house, and I know the owner…. Although I would advise against the purchase, maintenance on the hydraulic suspension would be very significant. You get the same problems with Rolls Royce’s built after 1970.

No not quite though that would be nice. Oil drip tray under the front diff is a requirement on mine as well.

Evening all, Busy day today. Morning spent erecting the frames on Iron Duke, and they don’t look half bad either, and this time great pains have been taken to make sure that everything is parallel and level. Now it’s time to find some 2 inch diameter brass for the driver. This afternoon was spent once again working on the Rover, which has a absolutely filthy engine bay as for some reason in the cars 20 year life the LR techs were never told to clean the engine bay, so it is covered in road grime etc. The first 1/5 was cleaned today, and I took the liberty of putting some Camel Trophy decals on it. Douglas

Thank you Jamie, I am glad of it as well. A compensation package from the complaints department will be posted to you shortly. Firstly, thank you all for the responses they have made good reading. From what I know (keep in mind it is early days yet) I am on the "lower" end of the spectrum i.e. I am for all intents and purposes a normal functioning human being. However, the tests indicated that I should have several outstanding problems, for example it should be impossible for me to be capable of driving any sort of vehicle, which is odd as I've been racing one for two years now and just got a perfect score on my license test. However, there are some things the tests revealed that most certainly are problems. The most major one is a auditory processing problem, where I will hear someone say something, but then (completely randomly) forget what they said. This is very annoying when sitting in class, and also explains why I'm rubbish at math as the numbers have less a chance of registering than words. So far the only positive thing than has come from all this is that I have an extremely good visual and auditory memory (when that bit works), I often can remember the times people texted me from years ago. My therapist also hypothesizes that I am also mechanically gifted, judging by my work and how I typically don't need a drawing to produce it. I concur with @Dave Hunt that I probably do have reactive depression, although quite what exactly I am reacting to do has yet to be determined. I also have the same black sense of humor*, as do many males my age, for reasons none of us have been able to figure out. A coping mechanism for the school system I guess. A great example is the hilarious jokes made about "who's going first" if a school shooter arrives. *in America we call it "dark humor" the term originates from Reddit I think

Evening all, We returned two days early from Arkansas as both me and my sister became ill, mine passed over very quickly but her’s has lasted a while. It was a nice trip though, though with a large amount of motion sickness. In other news, the drill was taken down to the shop today and certain parts put in the bear blaster. For the frame this is preparation for a coat of POR 15, a high strength gloss black coating used by dad on his classic cars. The main gear had so much paint gone already it didn’t need blasting and got a new coat of gloss red. The gearing and its various collars got throughly cleaned of 124 years of grease by dad in the parts washer, and I refinished them handles. I also managed to complete the sixth 4”6 wheel for the Iron Duke. Next up is the driver. In yet more other news, some more info on the doom has emerged. It appears, according to many and various tests, that I have Asperger’s. I was not at all surprised, although it wasn’t a pleasant thing to hear. This depression which I have been in since mid January apparently is a result of anxiety stemming from Covid, my challenging freshman year (which was not a socially challenging year, but was just generally) and various other factors, resulting in what was termed as a shut down, creating this depression. (and no, I am not braindead) Douglas

Thank you, The slope does indeed need some TLC but only the fabric, the rest is in very good condition, except for the marbeling on the bottom which has mostly been worn off. Lovely workshop btw, did you make the benches?

Evening all, This was acquired today, a very well used example of a Goodell Pratt hand drill from 1898, complete with a chuck that wasn’t seized! It’s going to be a quick resto project, basically just needs some degreaser and a repaint as the handles have survived very well. The drill’s unusual in that it has a two speed gearbox, that isn’t really a gearbox as it works using dog clutches from what I can discern. This morning one of the nations big cat sanctuary’s was visited, a hot but interesting experience and far better than any zoo I’ve ever been to. Less people and animals that don’t spend their days hiding in concrete cell blocks rather than parading before the public. The current view. Douglas

I have to disagree: whether it is food, music or model railways you have to know about the subject and what the ideal is supposed to be before you can write a critique – whether positive or negative I see you do not read American news then.

We arrived safely in Eureka Springs a few hours ago after an uneventful drive, and so far it seems to be an interesting place. Here’s the view from my balcony, showing Beaver Lake. Currently I sit on the upper balcony with my folding desk listening the birds chatter away whilst making drawings for the Iron Duke and polishing its frames. Can’t complain really. Douglas

Drivers license acquired. Douglas

Glad to hear all is now relatively well HH. I did something almost exactly the same when I was 12, only I cut the underside of those fingers not the top, and most of the injury was to my thumb, which was sliced in half, and to this day is still deformed. According to the GP I was about 1mm away from requiring surgery like you got. I ended up with 14 stitches in my left hand, the most that clinic location had ever put in somebody. 10 were in my thumb! (the injury was inflicted by an exacto knife which was be used to carve an unsecured piece of wood) Douglas

Afternoon all, Glad to hear of the Hippos return from the field dressing station. The morning was spent cutting the horn guide slots in frame, and then several hours filing to true up all the edges. The end result was this, a pretty passable frame. On Saturday an epic journey to the northeast begins, the destination being Eureka Springs in Arkansas, an attractive Victorian hot springs town that I know nothing about. We’ve been lent a friends lake house there so we’ll be staying for a week. I intend to bring the folding desk, the book of drawings with me and some 1500 grit sp so I don’t have to loose a weak of progress and can clean up the frames during the lots of spare time we’ll have. Douglas

Im building to 49.2mm gauge, after some more research it seemed better than 48mm gauge which is also quoted as being feasible on the Finney drawings.