The View From Our Window
In spite of many other projects on the go and more than a few interruptions through the day, the log car got some attention today. The frame is complete and now awaits the sub-frame and then detailing.
When it is complete the train will measure approximately eighteen feet long - an impressive piece.
-grampa dan
Today I made great progress on the train engine. We'll actually I did about the same amount of work as the other days but the progress looks more substantial than usual. Today was the day the boiler was welded into place. It is the kind of metal fabrication I really enjoy. There were many bits and pieces cut with the plasma cutter, cleaned up with the grinder and then welded into place. It didn't take long until the train started to look a whole lot more like a train.
There still are a whole lot more details that have to go on - headlight, pipes, grab bars, steam domes, smoke stack, bell, LOTS of rivets and of course the whistle. Stay tuned as it comes together...
-grampa dan
It is always fun to design fanciful ideas but when it comes to building these ideas a whole different logic takes over. It's called the real world. Anytime the public can walk under or over something we build it has to be fabricated to an extremely high standard. The last thing we want to do is hurt someone because of a structural failure.
The train and log car need to be securely fastened to the log trestle that supports it. I thought of many ways to accomplish this task but in the end simple won the day. Three inch angle iron will be securely fastened inside the rails and the train will be structurally supported from them. Behind the wheel sets sturdy two inch square supports go up to the frame of the train. No one is going to move this train once it is fastened into place - ever! The wheels and trucks are merely there for show.
Once the hidden frame was securely welded I could get on with fabricating the train once more. The first order of business was to finish the smaller frame bracing and then cut and weld a steel plate deck securely to the heavy frame. This deck will soon support the boiler.
I spent most of my day under my welding helmet, cutting steel with the plasma cutter and then welding it into place. I pulled many feet of weld.
As quitting time approached I squeezed in the beginning cuts and welds on the steam boiler for the train.
By the end of tomorrow the boiler should be mounted to the frame and the beginnings of the cab should be in place. Stay tuned...
-grampa dan
Custom Design & Construction
