Sandwich, Illinois
I am enclosing a photograph that we are proud of. They represent
many months of hard work.
The first project we built was the miniature train which many of
your readers have seen and rode in. This was first started in 1943
and completed in 1951. This was winter work. The engine is a 4-4-4
with the exception of the firebox, boiler pressure is 150 P.S.I.
Engine is complete with air pump, air brakes and electric lights.
It has automatic bell ringer and a deep toned chime whistle that we
built. We have four cars which carry eight adults each and as you
have see at Pontiac many times we have had as many as forty-five
persons aboard. Yet this engine always starts its load with the
greatest of ease.
A couple years ago we decided to build a six inch scale model of
a Case traction engine. We are very proud of this little girl as
you do not have to stretch your imagination to know that we were
duplicating. I would like to see more good models made as I think
people get a big kick out of the models and the nearer they are to
perfection the better people like them. I have seen a few very good
models in your magazine, some of which were very good until they
got to the wheels. There they went astray and used what they could
find in the junk pile or if they were built did not stick to the
original pattern. We have a pattern for every casting on this
engine with the exception of the governor which is a Gardner. The
bunkers are built exactly as the originals being riveted as they
were. The boiler which is the heart of the engine is built
regulation to the ASME boiler code. The barrel is AS53 Type B
seamless pipe, the rapper sheet, throat sheet and rear boiler head
is AS285 C Flange steel, the firebox is of all welded construction
of firebox plate and stress relieved. Staybolts are of the screwed
and riveted type. The boiler is riveted together as was the old
man. We carry 150 PSI.
A word of warning to you handy boys about boilers. In most
states today it is required that a pressare steam boiler be built
by a certified ASME builder and stamped with the clover leaf
emblem. If you build your own boiler out of this or that you may be
disappointed when the State Boiler Inspector says that you cannot
put fire into it. Better read the 1952 edition of the American
Society of Mechanical Engineers on power boilers.
