Virtual dry fit for 622

In typical Panglossian fashion today, I uploaded the STL file for 622’s plastic parts to Shapeways. I might have hit the big “Print” button, if the bounding box hadn’t precluded the use of their highest resolution machine. It’s a good thing I didn’t because the pause gave me an opportunity to assemble all the parts […]

All the parts that are fit to print

I’m just about ready to upload all the printed parts to Shapeways. To support some of the more delicate parts for printing, and more importantly for shipping, I added some sprues. I actually started out making a sprue for all the parts, but then I re-read the pricing guidelines for Shapeways and concluded that this […]

Just about finished drawing #622

Tonight as I was drawing the step that the fireman would use to light the headlight (imagine that at night at -30 Celsius!), I thought I must be just about finished with the drawing. So, I dropped all the parts into an OnShape assembly to see what is yet to be drawn. I discovered the […]

Mud drum plug

The erection drawing for this engine clearly shows a mud drum hanging like a uvula from the bottom of the boiler. Extending from this appendage, the drawing also shows a two-foot lever. This puzzled me for quite a while: surely you would have to unbolt the cover to gain access, and a lever wouldn’t be […]

Boiler keyhole?

Okay, it may be time to admit I have a keyhole problem. Ever since watching Dan Gelbart’s videos on prototyping, I’ve been thinking about them. This latest design element might be a keyhole too far. What if, instead of screwing down through the smoke stack to hold the front of the boiler in place, I […]

Infographic for Railway Modellers’ Meet

This weekend is the third annual Railway Modellers’ Meet up at Simon Fraser University. I always like to bring something to display, but this year, most everything is buried in Mt Flood. So, apart from a whole lot of computer drawings, all I have are the two proofs of concept for the frame. In other […]

Lance Mindheim on Time

A great post on Lance Mindheim’s site caught my attention at lunch today. Here is the critical idea, but you should read the whole post: The hallmark of a good design? It’s pretty basic when you step back and think about it. A “successful design” is one that results in a model railroad that produces […]

To pivot or persevere…

Mark Dance made a great observation on the previous post: Pivot towards something that looks more promising when your existing path is not successful and your rate of learning on it is slowing down. Of course, you don’t know if your rate of learning is decreasing until you have three attempts. As my mother used […]

Equalization POC

We’re just two weeks away from the Railway Modellers’ Meet. As I’ve said before, I always like to bring something to display, and I think everyone else should too. What’s more, we committee members agreed to bring something to get the display rolling: I have a commitment to bring a display! So, I’m working to […]

Semi-believable coupler pocket

From a review of the 1906 Locomotive Builders Dictionary¹ it seems like the pilot, and also likely the tender couplers on 622 should not have draft gear per se, but would have been mounted in cast coupler pockets, without any springing at all. These were very narrow affairs, barely wider than the 6-inch shank of […]