Noel, Missouri
This is a 1/26 scale model of the 25 H.P. Wood Brothers traction
engine with special coal bunker and water tank, and all parts were
hand made from scrap flat material. It is nine inches long, weighs
23 ounces and has a self-contained power plant for traction and
belt power.
The front and rear wheel hubs were moulded from printers type
lead and finished on a jewelers lathe. The wheel bands and spokes
were drilled in the flat, then formed into shape and assembled with
optical screws. The wheel cleats were riveted to the wheel band
with hand made rivets.
The boiler is the dry bottom type and riveted construction. The
boiler barrel or longitudinal tube is 1 outside diameter.
The connecting rod has split bearings and adjustable taper
wedges. The band wheel was made from two pieces of metal. The hub
and spokes from one piece, the band was made from a flat piece of
metal formed into the round then welded and fastened to the spokes
with optical screws, then finished on a jewelers lathe.
The bull gears, disc wheel, crosshead, worm gear and all
bearings were hand made with a jewelers saw, file and lathe. The
teeth in the bull gears were cut by hand with a jewelers saw and
file.
Working only a few minutes at a time, it required about eighteen
months to make this little engine. It is needless to say that I am
very proud of it.
