The Newbie project Sept/Oct 2004

[Ssmachine7]

Hello my name is Sean Skelonis,

I am looking to get stated in Live Steam Railroading and am thinking of building the Newbie Project as my first locomotive.

I have a few questions reguarding the Newbie:
Has anyone else built this locomotive? What is the pulling capicity of the Newbie? How well does it run? Is there any way to contact the designer/builder of this locomotive?

Please contact me reguarding this subject.

Thank you for your help,

Sean Skelonis
Ssmachine7@hotmail.com

[Steamboy89]

theres a problem with the newbie, its explained tn jan/dec 05, I highly recommend that you have that issue and nov/dec 04

[Al_MESSER]

The only problem that I know that Unka Jesse had with it was the one time the riding car de-railed and the Newbie went chugging on around the track until it ran out of Steam. What problem are you thinking of?

[Steamboy89]

The problem how the Ocillating cylinders suffer more wear and tear than they should due to an innacturate trunion bracket measurements and one of the drawings is wrong, I think its for a Shaft of some sort, im not sure I have to look it up.

[gearedloco]

The only problem that I know that Unka Jesse had with it was the one time the riding car de-railed and the Newbie went chugging on around the track until it ran out of Steam. What problem are you thinking of?

IIRC, there was an alignment problem between the cylinders and the the trunnions, such that there was a poor seal with the post containing the steam and exhaust passages. I'd have to find the original articles as well as the issue with his description of the fix to be certain.

That arrangement looks pretty touchy, IMHO, and requires quite a bit more precision than anything else in the whole shootin' match. I wonder if it would be possible to line-bore the trunnion bushings in place which may avoid the problem. Or not.

I may not know what I'm talking about, but it's never stopped me before!

-bill

[Al_MESSER]

O.K. Unka Jesse! Speak up and share your wisdom wif us!!

[Unka Jesse]

O.K. Unka Jesse! Speak up and share your wisdom wif us!!

Al,

As you know, any oscillating engine has a problem with steam leakage that does not occur, at least where you can see it, with slide valve engines. Once I realized that the outside trunnion bearings were very slightly lower than the bearing in the main frame, I shimmed up the outside bearings to correct the problem. Also I placed narrow but thick valve plates on the cylinders according to something you had read in a book somewhere. This prevents steam from getting between the main frame and the cylinder wearing surface which causes the cylinder to "float". It takes only a few minutes to remove a cylinder to check if the valve surface is wearing unevenly which indicates that a bit of hand scraping needs to be done to the areas that are higher to lower them a tiny bit. Also, I found that the spring that presses the cylinder against the main frame ports can be quite strong without causing any problems. This makes the seal tighter and less steam is lost, but there will always be some leakage. The longer I have run the loco, the less steam escapes as the moving parts of the valve surfaces wear to a perfect seal. Newbie will be at Mid-South at the end of September and I am currently reattaching water lines etc that I removed to prevent freezing last winter. I have had problems with the injector not picking up properly so I am also reworking the water lines to it as well as making a better starting valve.

Oh, contrary to what some people claim, I do not use the Newbie boiler to make corn squeezings, but instead, have built a more proper copper still to supplement my retirement income.

Unka Jesse

[pkastagehand]

what you say in print. Never know where them pesky revenuers could be lurkin' :D

Paul

[pockets]

I'm thinkin' the reetarment inkum mus be purty good, ter build a COPPER still, in this day 'n' age...

Greg B.

[Al_MESSER]

Sean, do you have a copy of the book "The Shop Wisdom of Jesse Livingston" available from Village Press? It contains an excellent construction article on building the "Newbie", among others.

[Al_MESSER]

Jesse, I've been staring at the drawings for the Newbie for several nights and the question comes to my mind is this: while you were in "design mode" did you consider at all of making the drive axle a cranked axle and driving the Newbie without the speed reduction mechanism for the engine, or did you figure that with this size cylinders it would be impractical?