Really tiny connectors!

I was feeling pretty smug about having thought to include a wiring channel along the top of the boiler to make room for marker and headlight wires. Then I started to think about how to get the electricity from the decoder to those wires, and how to make it so that everything can come apart, […]

Yoke for 622

Once all six parts of each cylinder were soldered together, I really wondered if I would be able to add the yoke too. I wanted it soldered for strength, but feared turning the cylinder assemblies back into their constituent smithereens. I needn’t have worried. The hard part turned out to be holding the chassis in […]

Once more unto the breach: oil cups

Thanks to comments from Rob and Richard, I re-examined my approach to the crosshead guide oil cups. Rob encouraged me to look again at the prototype while Richard suggested I think like a jeweller. So, despite my earlier capitulation, I launched back into battle with the oil cups. It took a few attempts. One was […]

Capitulating to oil cups

I don’t believe I’ve ever had so much difficulty drilling holes. Five #80 drill bits lined up like casualties of war (where are their flags?), and not one successful hole achieved. #622 had oil cups mounted mid-way down the crosshead guides. They are quite prominent in the photos, and I would love to model them. […]

Brakes Re-revisited (again)

I’ve lost track: this may be the fourth time I’ve designed 622’s brakes. But this time, I have real data to go upon, rather than just conjecture. In 2018, we discovered that the Prairie Dog Central’s #3 has the same pattern of brakes, and despite being out of storage and battery, I did manage to […]

A little mock rhythm

A few weeks ago, as I was contemplating the composition of Pembroke, I noted that I want to pull the viewer through the space between the Pembroke Milling Company and the CA freight shed. The existing mockups had their roof ridges parallel to the backdrop to simplify hiding the join with the backdrop. However, in […]

Crosshead guides

As with the crossheads themselves, I am surprised the guides folded up successfully. Each slide bar is made of two layers, with half-etched detail, and until their free ends are fixed to the yoke, they remain quite delicate. I completely mangled a set as I removed them from the fret, but fortunately, there were spares. […]

Crossheads for 622

When I drew them up, I seriously doubted the pattern for the crossheads would work. Indeed, I included an extra pair on the drawing in case the first didn’t turn out, at least I could try again. As it happens, the train spirits were watching out for me, and the patterns nearly worked as designed. […]

Firebox weight

As with most other parts of 622, I wound up making the firebox weight twice. The first time was pretty bad due to an incomplete burnout of the wax or poor flow of the lead. The second one turned out passably well, and only took one attempt to carve the wax! As you can see, […]

622 under power

Honestly, I don’t know how America ever became great in the first place, having invented the Phillips head screw! The things strip too easily, and even when they’re not stripped, they don’t hold onto your screwdriver and you have to press down to make them work. The reassembly of 622 had to wait until I […]