If you've put the Tichy water column together before, why is it that there are only 3 support pieces on the bottom of the collar that sits on the bottom most section, instead of 4 that would make it more 'level'? I know Drwayne has assembled several of these and probably others have also.
I have seven water columns on my layout, but will add a few more when I get some time to work on the partial upper level of my layout.
Two of mine were semi-scratchbuilt, using Grandt Line spouts, along with some styrene tubing, tips from some Bic pens, and some wire and odds 'n' ends that I had on hand. I needed the longer Grandt Line spouts in order to more easily service locos on the "High Line" through Dunnville, due to the greater distance than usual between the tracks...
In the photo below, the Tichy one is at left, the kitbashed one, with the longer spout, to the right...
Those nubs themselves play no part in keeping the water column in a true vertical position - they're there only to act as a fastening point for the wires, which I'd guess represent what keeps the real ones from leaning or falling over.The lean occurs because once the water column is rotated a few times (usually to create a photo of a tender being replenished), the fit of the nub at the base of the column becomes sloppier every time it's rotated.
You may be able to lessen or eliminate the lean by using a #42 drill bit to ream the inside of a piece of Evergreen 1/8" tubing (Part #224). Use a sharp blade to slice-off a piece about 1/16" thick, then, with the column fitted into the flared base, slip that piece onto the nub at the column's base, pushing it far enough so that it touches the inside of the flared base.Add a very small bit of solvent-type cement to secure that ring to the nub - don't let the cement touch the inside of the flared base, or it won't turn at all.
I can't guarantee if that will eliminate the lean, but it's a method I'd use if I have problems with a leaning water column.
Wayne
While I've used mine for a few photos, I'm also leaning to not use them so much, due to their fragility.
It's a lot easier getting a photo of a loco taking water when it's directly from a water tank...(click on the photos for a larger picture)
...or catching "Chrome-Dome" McSuttcomb re-filling the sandbox on an Erie Northshore Mikado...
If anybody's interested, there's a staged thread HERE on making-up a train for an "Extra move"...basically a series of photos with captions and/or conversations from the LPB participants.
I haven't seen a post from you in years, Friend. Welcome back!
I can't answer about those three nubs...it's bizarre...but could you put a pin down through the base, maybe with a brass collar vertical below the orifice? You want the device to pivot, but also to remain pretty darned close to perfectly vertical in all directions. I would think a wire acting as a pin, that comes out of the vertical shaft, and a suitably sized hole in the plinth. You could even build another plinth or two the same way and move the water spout to other locations for photography that way.
Just trying to think of ideas. Nice to 'see you' again, Jarrell.
I may have a few drawings around but there were several makes and models out there. I believe the Tichy is based on a Fairbanks-Morse "Sheffield" model.
This photo of a standpipe in Thurmond on the C&O shows how the ring may be part of the counterweight for the funnel or spout:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/alcomike/22933849443/in/photolist-AXF9Ug-2j9bFfR-Q1SVcK-2iR2f4S-2j8XSJt-BT5YUJ-2j4qptY-2j71iX5-2iuhfWg-BKEV6s-2j92eFf-2iR1icz-2j8F28W-AWzYri-BsHzH3-BJ7nfy-BrNKBs-BUTSYz-BU43Dz-BKCx57-2j8P4K8-Bpj7Gc-BZ4tAP-BMFb4v-BJbjdJ-BJgzgE-BRvBGL-BXN6Pi-BViMS4-BKKMjL-BthERJ-BsV4Jw
Note that the "ring" has three (perhaps four?) nubs but only two are being used to secure the cable.
A view of the upper portion showing how the cable attaches to the spout and runs over the pulleys:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/alcomike/23571066865/in/photolist-AXF9Ug-2j9bFfR-Q1SVcK-2iR2f4S-2j8XSJt-BT5YUJ-2j4qptY-2j71iX5-2iuhfWg-BKEV6s-2j92eFf-2iR1icz-2j8F28W-AWzYri-BsHzH3-BJ7nfy-BrNKBs-BUTSYz-BU43Dz-BKCx57-2j8P4K8-Bpj7Gc-BZ4tAP-BMFb4v-BJbjdJ-BJgzgE-BRvBGL-BXN6Pi-BViMS4-BKKMjL-BthERJ-BsV4Jw
and another one in Cumberland:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/23711298@N07/35310352063/in/photolist-e1n4uX-vwNBRp-9PjpJe-CibD7C-C1CeU3-Ddcsqf-CGNz8Y-dHWodK-CrLhaL-kmUeLL-CGVqm4-CsKwFp-Eh6yJg-VNfMtv-AA3kRR-pxCWfV-qFHM1e-pHPXrv-2eatWkt-qpqiFn-qEMMnA-qnz93B-Diz1dN-2j31bjj-2j31gMU-qBsYUc-9XSMXK-CGNyxu-q5Mnnm-28D6bja-dHXaeZ-Cjv7TN-C2WBRN-BveQrU-k6JTzS-e1s3BA-BveQjj-CksPPp-jNgP6P-e2JLRj-e2D83H-e2JLSb-e2D7YP-91mvAN-aCxdAd-8xEDCU-dZu9B5-apssXQ-cCzmhu-aCxdSL
Say What?
14-2398 by George Hamlin, on Flickr
Good Luck, Ed
Hello Wayne,
You and I have corresponded on this forum on various subjects...
Your post here is pushing two years ago, so you may not see this question. Wish I knew how to contact you "real-time" so you'd see it.
Anyway....I'm finishing assembly of Tichy's column and am wondering just how the "latching lever" should be attached. How did you do it?
The prototype (I have a copy of Fairbanks Morse's diagram of the 1936 version of the Sheffield 12A model) shows one arm of the bell crank-shaped lever in an upright position at the end of the main, horizontal support arm of the column. The hole at the center of Tichy's model lever suggests it's to be attached to pivot at the end of the support arm, but I'm not sure that's what the prototype lever did. A photo accompanying the diagram I have shows the column in use by a fireman who is holding the valve handle down to fill a tender. The latch lever is shown in the same upright position as in the diagram where the column isn't being used. Considering the name of the lever, I assume its purpose was to "latch" it to the valve handle so the fireman wouldn't have to keep his hand on the handle while filling. Tichy's lever has a small hole at the end of each arm of the lever. I suppose these had something to do with a latching device on the valve handle, but I can't be sure. I've e-mailed Tichy about this subject, but haven't gotten a response.
-Chuck Greene
The original posting was asking why only 3 wires. These were ment to tention against the spout which would put stress on the colum, especially when filled with water.
GM's FT demos had steam generators in the B units, so they had to get Di-Hydroxyoxide from some place
Di-hydroxyoxide would be (OH)2 O (or On with N some increasingly unlikely number) and that is far too many oxygens even for FOOF adherents...
There is a reason we call it 'dihydrogen monoxide' to trigger the unlearned (when we could certainly have used 'bihydrogen' in the same construction as bicarbonate of soda, which got mangled into sodium bicarbonate). If you want to observe chemical convention and keep the electropositive member 'first', you could say 'hydrogen hydroxide' (which I have in fact used in some of the DHMO parodies). Or hydroxyl hydride, which butchers what the bonding is actually doing, but is technically sorta accurate...
The far more interesting question is where the water tankage for the demonstrator SGs were located, and how it was replenished on the road. We have a picture of an ATSF consist being "NASCAR pit-stop serviced" in 5 minutes or less, which Ed will helpfully paste here in a moment, which shows the water hoses clearly going to fillers at the 'beltline', roughly same height as the fuel fills. But it might not be outside the bounds of modelers' license to think that a barnstorming locomotive with relatively heavy steam demand (cold-weather operation on the long trains the sets could have pulled, or lots of ATSF-type steam-ejector AC) might be rigged to take water from what would then have been frequently-provided water columns instead of some piddling garden-hose setup near trackside...
stayboltAnyway....I'm finishing assembly of Tichy's column and am wondering just how the "latching lever" should be attached. How did you do it?
In the past, I probably could have come up with an answer, but nowadays, I can't even recollect how it would have been done.
OvermodThe far more interesting question is where the water tankage for the demonstrator SGs were located, and how it was replenished on the road.
Another photo here, not the original FT but a good view of the filler location (scroll down to second photo):
http://michaeljmorrisreports.blogspot.com/2011/06/new-era-in-railroading-arrives-as-first.html
The photo of the 'demonstrator' set was obviously intended as a tongue-in-cheek stab at humor.
Regards, Ed