Florence Locomotive Works

I rarely go a day without using my brass lined parallel pliers. Unfortunately they are quite large, and aren’t always the greatest for small work. For small things I have some very small Märklin pliers, which come in their tool kit, and are excellent.

That took me an embarrassing amount of time to figure out!

About a month ago I made a blog entry about this engine, viewable Here, if anybody wants it’s backstory. I’ll put a shortened story here. 1. began life as Keyser GWR Beyer Goods. 2. Became LCDR small Scotchman Unfortunately it has a habit of shearing the ancient Keyser outside cranks it has, and I’ve now run out of spares, anybody know a company who makes replacements or substitutes? Its far from an accurate model, but it gives the basic outline, and it does have Gibson wheels, so it’s not a complete peasant. Currently it’s still under restoration after it was pushed off a table, hence the unpainted parts. The motor was the last one Keyser produced, and is pretty decent actually. It’s surprisingly quieter than some old Hornby models I have. Definitely not the greatest at slow running, but the horrible quartering courtesy of K’s didn’t help. The frame is the standard Keyser two lumps of brass, but it suffices.

I’ve seen a lot of non Markits metal cranks on modernized Keyser kits, but never been able to figure out who makes them.

My old one used to sleep in the sink as well.

Goodnight all, from Greencountry.

Does anybody know any brands who make outside cranks other than Markits and possibly Alan Gibson? I’ve got a LCDR small scotchman which just sheared the ancient Keyser ones it was using. thanks Douglas

‘Tis correct!

Evening awl, Hot and humid again today, haven’t left the house in 28 hours. Unfortunately I recently found out that Royal Mail shipped my Stuart Oscillator to Chicago, only for the USPS to ship it too New York, where it’s been sitting for 5 days, not very happy with them, as essentially it’s gone 1000 miles the wrong way. But on a more positive note I cooked the filling for some New Zealand meat pies, which I haven’t had since my last visit to family down there. Now it’s peacefully cooling in the fridge. Also the new regulator valve and flywheel for the Oscillator have left Guernsey, so they should be here by next Tuesday. Had some excellent berry cobbler for a breakfast and afternoon sugar refill, which was refreshing. I added a picture of my cat who I’m guessing fell through a worm hole to end up in that position. stay healthy, Douglas

It’s got carb trouble now, no thanks to some of you lot on Early Risers asking if it did four days before the problem developed!

Riddle: Down in the field there’s a big Red Bull it eats and it eats and it never gets full. What is this bovine metaphor in real life?

Post your puzzles and riddles here.

Well most Shays themselves where a bit agricultural, especially after a few years in the Bigfoot country. I’ll be wary of the awl now, many thanks for the advice. The air tank you spoke of I seem to remember was quite distinctive on most Shays. How many drive trucks did yours have? Ages ago I built a Lego model of one, with cosmetic drive, it only had two drive trucks as the tender drive connections were to complicated, not exactly on the same tier as yours though, which I imagine must have been very difficult at that scale.

Interesting story sir. May I ask who the Awlmightey is? I can understand why you would want to fit the pump, Microcosm steam make some nice ones, (At least what I think your talking about) but they are Chinese so the quality might be a bit temperamental, but I’ve had good experiences with them. The Shay you speak of sounds interesting, what gauge was it?

Is the oscillating engine a Cheddar Plover? It looks similar but maybe the base has been replaced at some point. I like the reversing lever, something I need to install on one of mine. The riveted water tank at the front looks very realistic, are they actual rivets or cosmetic ones? Now that I think about it, there were far more of those engines in North Wales than in say, British Columbia.

Is that a narrow gauge vertical boiler logging loco? I’ve always liked them, and how the prototype was always made from whatever was in the company yard.

I think a better term than condenser for what I’m building would be an “exhaust collecting tank”, as that’s about as extreme as my resources will let me go. It’s just a piece of copper tube on a brass base, with the exhaust feeding into the top. Since I’m to lazy to solder in bushes, I’ll just empty it with a large syringe. It looks like more the style of a water tank, but my engine is so minute that a proper condenser would be wasted on it.

I was waiting for one you lot to point that out! I just disassembled the gauge and moved the needle to there, it came out of Florida but was made in Manchester by Budenbergs. Eventually it’ll go up on the wall behind the desk.

Nice to see the old NSWJR area getting some use! (Correct me if I’m wrong about that) As always, exceptional realism sir.

Evening all, 95 degrees and humid today, so very unpleasant to be outside. But of course I was outside, not voluntarily mind you. I’ve made a design for the condenser in the Stuart Plant, but still need to get materials. Spent about an hour polishing up a brass canon my grandfather made while at sea around 1962, I don’t think it has been polished since! As for accents, my mom is American, but my dad is from Liverpool and grew up in New Zealand. I was born in the USA, but until I was about 9 I had a weird Irish-London-American accent thing going on, which really made people stare at you in Starbucks. I still pronounce my O’s like someone from Britain though, and occasionally someone will ask me where I’m from. stay healthy, Douglas

Maiden voyage in the grandparents pool. It was successful, but only lasted 30 seconds as I wished not to douse the cotton rigging with the waves my sibling will cause.

Very good news Derek, I ’ve been following this thread for sometime as an “internet shadow.” Aka me without an account. Best wishes to you both, from Oklahoma. -Douglas

I find that the southern area is like Boston but even more Boston, stereotypical Boston that is. The North is a bit West Country sometimes.

Goodnight all, from Greencountry. (that’s the local name for this part of Oklahoma, even though it’s beige most of the year)

The current mean centre is just east of Joplin, about 2 hours drive from my abode.