"Mule's Relief" a Stomper based Critter project

[vsmith]

OK I know I need another engine like a hole in my head but Mik’s cool traction engine bash perked my interest and the Muse began speaking to me, but the final straw was the article in the latest “Industrial and Mining Annual” frorm Uncle Russ showing an unbelievable model of the Oregon Pony. Once I had read thru the article and studied the pics the louder the Muse spoke to me. Then I looked back at a topic on the GR forum about a neat little Stomper based loco bash that used a HLW gondola for the body. The Muse was screaming by this time. As I sat down at my bench I took an inventory, Stomper drive, ready to go, spare HLW body, check, fuel bunker, yep, front half of cheeser Xmas train tender left over from last bash, steam dome & stack from the junk box, check, also from the Xmas train, Boiler, Hmmm Boiler?….there’s the caveat, no plumbing pipes, no dowels, errrr…maybe this wont happen, Hmmm... then I noticed the plastic tube case my AC glue nibs came in was about the right size, maybe if I use a balsa block for the firebox….…when the Muse hits me with the Baseball Bat it can rather hurt: A short Time later:    BTW No its not missing a smokebox, its the clear plastic of the tube and, Yes that red circle is the lid of the nib container.  Just about done:     I only need to add the water feed pipes and one more steps, if I can find one! Still debating to add a roof or not, I kinda like it topless.

 

[PJM20]

Looks great! What did you use for the piping?  - Peter

[ttrigg]

Not to be a nit-picker but since when did the stack move behind the dome? Since you know the number to UPS, before you get tired of that hunk of junk, please consider putting a canvas umbrella "roof" over the "cab". What color will you be making it? Borracho Springs, "silver"? I say the "brass" stack and dome need to be de-shined and slightly corroded. The boiler a nice "dirty fire engine red", of course the firebox needs to be a very dirty black. The bunker might look good in a "Kilz Coffee Cake" (light brown) with chocolate brown deck and side panels. Of course with a paint scheme like that it’s not going to fit well with the rest of the Borracho Springs equipment and I’ll just have to repaint it Rosebud Falls Silver. Nice job, SO FAR, my friend.

[vsmith]

 

Hi Tom, the "prototype" is this little geared loco, the Oregon Pony, one of the first steam engines built on the west coast, it used a boiler more similar to a stationary engine than a locomotive, thats why it has such an odd set up. Sorry, Its gonna be black, already painted the base coat on, just detail painting now.

Peter, the tubing is styrene, but I have a trick to bending it, on the smaller tubes I stick a brass rod thats the same diameter as the inner tube AC it in place, so I can bend it wherever I need to and get a radius bend without snapping the tube, on larger tubes I 'll use a styrene tube inside the larger tube along with the brass rod. On larger tubes sometimes I'll have to us a candle or match to heat the styrene so I can bend it. On this one I didnt use a brass rod in the larger pipe but I did uses 2 tubes and bent it with heat. The "couplings" on the pipes are strips of masking tape rolled around the tube, fixed with a lttle AC to hold them in place.

 

[ttrigg]

AH Shucks! Here I thought I had a winning argument and you sidelined me. Oh Well. A few years back (1970?~1975?) I saw a very similar piece to the Oregon Pony on a rail flatcar in Barstow. It was not much bigger than a John Deere 210. But alas, I had no camera with me at the time. The bunker was (as I remember) just deep enough to hold 12~14 inch long firewood. The firebox was large enough to hold about six or eight pieces of firewood. The boiler was not much bigger than a 55-gallon drum. At the time I was heavy into HOn3 D&RGW (Silverton and Cumbres Pass) and saw this thing as a simple curiosity only. Had I known then of the fascination I would later (much later) acquire of these "one of a kind" heritage pieces I would have shot up a couple rolls of 35 mm film. The back 2/3’s of that flat car was filled with scrap iron, sadly I’m sure it was headed to a melting pot somewhere.

[vsmith]

Painted and weathered, Angry Beaver Logging Rwy #2:

Just need to find some twigs in the yard to split for the wood load and eventually add couplers, but those are minor.

Well thats about it.

[ttrigg]

vsmith

Painted and weathered, Angry Beaver Logging Rwy #2:

Well thats about it.

"That’s about it" is right! Love the RUST! Looks like it is a well used and loved rust bucket. Very excellent job my friend. Just might have to give you an invite to run on the future expansion of the RbFSRWy.

[Mt Beenak]

I understand the layout of the boiler, firebox and fuel bunker, but where is the water tank, and how is it powered? I assume there are pistons between the wheels and a cam instead of a solid axle? Or not? In other words, where do the steam pipes go?

[vsmith]

Mt Beenak

I understand the layout of the boiler, firebox and fuel bunker, but where is the water tank, and how is it powered? I assume there are pistons between the wheels and a cam instead of a solid axle? Or not? In other words, where do the steam pipes go?

 

 

 

I wasn’t really think too hard about where all the bits would be, like all tram type loco’s they are supposed to be under the side sheathing safely hidden away from sensitive viewers who might find the rotating wheels and rods and arms pushing back and forth as too provocative for gentile society types, besides it frightens the horses.  

So the idea was something that looked like a credible engine and allowed me to use the Stomper drive, which is interchangeable with other models, and not have to do major reworking to add pistons and rods, which given the limited power the stomper puts out, might have bogged down the drive unit. As it is it runs well on its own even on the super-tight 21” D upper loop

[PJM20]

Looks plenty credible to me. Me thinks you got ideas buzzing in my head - Peter