You've got to remember, the 223 is being restored by the Golden Spike Chapter R&LHS, not the museum. We get no support from the museum at all other than the use of their building. All funds that go towards the 223 are raised by the chapter and cannot be legally used for any other purpose as each donor specifically states that they are supporting the chapter and no one else.

At the same time, the chapter supports the museum by providing maintenance, limited daily security, fundraising and publicity, as well as event security during train shows and visiting engines (like the 844). The chapter cannot do everything, and with the museum board more concerned with keeping the roof from collapsing, what really needs to happen is to get more concerned people involved.

My hats off to your project!

Obviously the pattern maker is proud of his skills and is willing to offer them to your project.



Its unfortunate that in todays society we have a difficult time seeing beyond the latest technology and recognizing the benefits of the "Old Ways"

For most restoration work requiring one-off pieces, CNC can be prohibative if you are required to contract it out. The cost of programing and machine time can be mind boggling.

During the course of a project Iam currently working on I had and have need to fabricate quite a few cast pieces. Not having access to CNC it would have been prohibativly costly to pay for someone to do the work. In addition I could not fathom the expense of many many pounds of costly bronze being turned to swarth in an effort to CNC machine the pieces from solid.

In the end a few evenings in the shop with $20.00 worth of pine and my old 1942 South Bend lathe and I had a set of patterns and core boxes. Later this month the pieces will be cast by a small local foundry using scrap bronze. In fact some of the scrap is remnants of broken parts and swarth from other machining processes from the same project.





Yes, patten making is a nearly a lost art but its intrigal to the story of the locomotives we strive to preserve and restore. Look closely at those hundred or more tons of iron and you will discover that the overwhelming percentage of parts making-up the whole begain as a humble block of wood in the pattern shop.

Iam not an overt spritualist but there is something about a replacement part made the old way. Yes, the header pipes could be cheaply fabricated from pieces and probably would work fine but its sort of like an artifical heart - it functions but thats all - it doesn't have a soul and you always know its not quite right.

Then there is the question of where do you draw the line? Do you replace the whistle with an audio recording because its cheaper than procuring a replacement?

I cannot believe I have come to this conclusion and it has taken decades but I truely believe preserving a locomotive is the easy part - preserving and interpreting the craftsmanship and remarkable story behind its creation and maintenance is far more difficult.

My efforts pale in comparison to others. Below is an example of true craftsmanship - this is a pattern for a driver center for the WW&F's (proposed) No. 11 as photographed by Stephen Hussar.




Best regards,

Terry Harper

Well said, Terry. And nice work on your pattern!

The driver pattern (in the above photo) and many others, are being crafted by Bernie Perch.

Stephen

What happened to the crankpin for that driver center pattern?

Bernie's magnificent pattern is for an outside frame locomotive (WW&F #7/11).

The wheel set in the photo is for WW&F #9, under restoration, which is has an inside frame.

You have the frames backwards. Number 9 is inside frame and number 11 will be outside frame. Number 11's crank pins will be in the counterweights at the ends of the axles I believe.

More of Bernie's work in progress...

Stephen,

I hope you are there with your camera and remarkable talent to continue documenting this process from pattern to foundry to machine shop to assembly....

It is and will be a wonderful story.

Terry

Oops. Fixed that.

I agree with preserving of craftsmanship and trades if it is being done in a museum setting. However, utilizing modern technology is cost effective if a clear and concise understanding is had of all available options. It would be be near to impossible to machine new branch pipes, I was speaking of repair. Cost would be about $300 with a modest amount of prep work prior to taking it or them to a machine shop.

Cheers, Jason

I appreciate all this talk about patterns. I don't think it is a lost art. There are numerous pattern shops and patterns can ordered or made at most foundries. The cost is something else though, compared to my volunteer work. Compared to the "olden days", there are a lot less as fabrication, water jet cutting, etc has replaced casting. There are at least two pattern shops within 35 miles of my house. I apperciate the comments about my patterns, but all it consists of is a lot of cutting, hacking, measuring and mountains of patience. My wife also hears a lot of nasty words coming through the floor when something goes wrong.

Terry, I love your philosophy concerning pattern making and making castings just like they used to. It must have been amazing going through the pattern storage facilities of the locomotive builders. Much of this has been destroyed. I remember as a kid standing on a huge pile of patterns which were being cleaned out of a local foundry and we were hauling them away as firewood. I remember holding a rectangular RR crossing sign pattern in my hands and asking myself if I should save it (I tossed it--this was several years before I started making them). I hadn't developed the appreciation for them at that early age. At that time I knew what they were but had no idea what the whole process was about.

Terry, you should talk to Jason Lamontagne who is the CMO of the WW&FRy and believes that #7/11 should incorporate as many old time consturction features and methods as possible.

I am not a pattern maker, but developed it over the years as a volunteer at several locations. I won't go into details, but it encompassed all the hard knocks, backpeddling and everything else that goes with being self taught. It included being in the right places at the right times to get the job done.

Bernie

I have been enjoying the discussion on pattern making an felt that I needed to add a story. Being a BIG fan of Baldwin I used to write letters to former employees who worked there. One person was Charles Brown who worked in the Diesel Department and later he went to Fairbanks Morse. Anyway the subject of Steam Locomotive Patterns came up and he told me that when the steam era ended at Baldwin they started a huge bonfire near Essington Ave. (Sorry if I have that street name wrong) and they kept it going for two weeks ! They burned patterns dating all the way back to the Civil War !
Oh America, what we have lost ! Here in my town we once had two pattern makers and are down to one. but at least we have that !
Did anyone see the original Steam Locomotive Driver wood pattern that was on Ebay about a year ago ? I bid on it, but lost. A very cool item.


Kevin K.

I wonder how many steam-era patterns are still in existence? I recall seeing at least a couple of N&W driver patterns in the Virginia Transportation Museum; surely there must be others?

I've noticed some casting patterns displayed on the wall of a Cracker Barrel restaurant I've eaten in a few times (among all the other miscellaneous paraphernalia), and I wouldn't be surprised to find that at least one of them was a steam-related part.

Speaking of WW&FRy #7/11, if you look closely at Stephen Hussar's photo of the drivers which Terry posted, you can see her completed lead truck/axle assembly peeking from behind the left side of # 9's drive wheel. Stephen, could you possibly show a photo of the completed assembly?

We can bemoan the loss of all those old patterns, but for the most part, they are just pieces of sculpture which wouldn't be used anyway. If one of today's steamers needed a part made, generally a new pattern would have to be made to match that part perfectly. Also the old patterns I have seen are generally beat up and would need patching or diasssembly/regluing to be made usable again. How many of Glover's patterns have been reused?

The only old pattern we have reused is a RDG/CNJ backer plate for the front nose plate of a locomotive.

Bernie Perch

Bernie

Bernie,

Thanks for pitching in to the conversation. Again your work is wonderful! I am a total newbie at pattern making but I am making progress .... piece by piece. The patterns in my photo are for a bronze intake manifold for a 6 cylinder T-head Wisconsin engine (5-3/4"x7") which once powered a 10 ton Lombard log hauler. I am now working on the fittings for the water manifolds.

Here is the next one I need to tackle:


And then this one with two bends and necked to boot. (still thinking about how to handle it)


I can't even begain to image what these would cost if I had to pay to have them done. Fortunatly my time is cheap!

Awhile back there was an article in the Bangor Daily News concerning pattern's for art.

http://bangordailynews.com/2011/03/11/living/century-old-foundry-parts-are-cast-new-roles/

This interested me because the patterns came from the Waterville Iron Works which did a lot of the castings for the Lombard Traction Engine Co. (i.e. Lombard Log Hauler). Anyway, it seems when the buildings were cleaned out the patterns ended up at the local dump where a farsighted individual rescued them.

Now they are being sold as "Art" at a local gallery. Fortunatly some Lombard fans were able to cull out the few remaining Lombard related items.


Best regards,

Terry