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28 comments:

  1. Hi, my name is Steve Rontti and recently I found Ottaway #1o40 listed on the Discover Live Steam, locomotives for sale pages and just had to have it. I've had a love of steam for as long as I can remember. As a teenager I was an associate member of Colorado Live Steamers. While there, many of the members taught me the ways, whys and how to of steam locomotives and the operation of them. This is the beginning of my journey of restoration towards the dream of being my own steam locomotive engineer.
    6-4-2021 bought Ottaway #1040 from a guy in Plainville, KS
    6-4 thru 6-18 Liquid Wrench on nuts, bolts, pins, bearings, in valves and cylinders every other day.
    6-20 oiler removed, cleaned and freed ratchet mechanism...It now pumps oil.

    Will continue to post if you are interested

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    1. Hello Steve! Thanks for contacting. I am definitely interested in seeing your progress either by posing or you can e-mail me as well. Congratulations on getting a great locomotive! Let me know if you have any questions as well.
      Shelly - Webmaster

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  2. 6-26-2021 In working on the oiler, I discovered that the two lines that feed the steam chests were not allowing oil through. As it turns out, the check valves are seized shut. There is no telling how this has been the case. Considering how seized and rusty the pistons and cylinders are, my guess would be since before its last run. Do you have any suggestions on how to break them loose? I've been soaking with liquid wrench and tapping the front of the piston with a hammer and wood block.
    This issue appears to be the greatest stumbling point on the road to restoration. All of the other mechanicals seem to be well taken care of. I say this because when I removed the main drive rods between the crosshead and the first driver, the whole unit, only powered by gravity, went rolling across the garage floor.
    I do have a question that I hope someone can answer. What is the minimum radius that an Ottaway set can operate on?

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    1. My Ottaway owner's manual shows the standard track layout as an oval with dimensions of 102'by 57'. The centers of the two curves are 45' apart and the radius of each curve is 28.5'. 270' total length. No more than 1 foot rise for every 100 feet horizontal. Hope this helps!

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    2. Thank you for your reply. This information will help me get set up for success.

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  3. 7-3-2021 I have freed the pistons from their rusting place (pun intended). OH the rust, sludge and crust inside. Well after wiping them out, they weren't as bad as I thought. It looks as if I do a little scraping and run a cylinder hone through them I may be all right. I will definitely have to get new piston rings as one of them had rusted to crumbles. Anyway, still making headway.

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    1. Looks like you are making great progress. Good luck.

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  4. 9-11-2021 Sorry I haven't posted in a while. It has been sweltering hot here in the garage here in Ks. I have honed the cylinders and they look a far cry better than what I started with.
    While cleaning the frame, I turned it over and discovered unusual wear on the underside of the cowcatcher. It appeared as if it was riding on the top of the rail. So I clamped it to a known straight surface and did some measuring and found out that there was a twist slightly more than 3/8 of an inch in the frame from the link rockers forward. Sad to say it must have been dropped at some point in its history. Ah the joys of a restoration project.
    I am so excited that with a bit of ingenuity, clamps, hydraulic ram, heat and a very big hammer I have straightened the twist to less than 1/16 of an inch. I can live with that.
    Next on the agenda will be more cleaning on the frame and prepping for primer and paint.

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    1. Sorry, a bit late in replying. I am in Kansas as well and can relate to the heat. Looking forward to cooler weather. Looks like you are making great progress! Congrats on fixing the twist. It does seem like there is always something with a restoration.

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  5. Sorry its been a while since my last post. Still progressing on the locomotive. The frame, drivers and the pilot truck frame and wheels have all been primed and painted. Regarding the pilot truck, as I got the locomotive, the front truck was supporting the cylinders and boiler via a large stack of washers. This setup caused a massive amount of uneven wear to the pilot truck cross member / slide. I milled the crossmember back to true and machined a block and roller setup to take the space of the washer pile.
    In other steps toward my restoration project, I have machined some new piston rods out of 303 stainless as the originals were so badly pitted there would be no possibility to get a good seal through the packing on the rear cylinder head. I took the piston to the local performance engine shop to inquire about new rings. The guys there took great interest in my project and were happy to help. They took their measurements from the piston ring grooves and as it turns out the rings are a stock size ring we ordered from Hastings Performance. Maybe I'll have to put those performance parts decals on my loco like the hot rod guys do (lol).
    I have the drivers and the valve gear mounted back on the frame and that brings me to the current state of the endeavor.
    I am working on fabricating an ashpan. I made a cardboard mockup to work out all the angles and shapes needed and those pieces I'm using as templates to cut out some 14ga steel sheet. Next up is finding an opportunity to get the cylinder block on a mill to resurface the valve seat because it looks just like the original piston rods with all the pitting.
    I'll try not to go so long between posts.

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    1. No need to apologize. Looks like you are making good progress. We are trying to figure out an ash pan as well.

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    2. I don't know if you have the coaches to go with your Ottaway. I have the set that goes with mine. But there's a set available on Discover Live Steam right now.

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  6. Well I've managed to find time to get the slide valve surfaces milled, we have been pretty slow at work. I had to take off 25 thousandths to get below all the pitting.
    Today I completely cleaned up the cylinder / saddle casting, masked the cylinder end openings and the valve surfaces and is now sitting in primer. I had to stop there before I melted because we are over 100 again today and I need to get some more gloss black paint.
    I am getting super excited because I feel like I am getting close to being able to test on air and get the valve timing set.

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  7. Ok, during the last couple of weeks I've made new valve rods from stainless and surfaced the slide valves. I've also made new gaskets for the cylinder heads and the valve chests. I have cleaned and put much of the drive and valve gear components in their respective locations but haven't completely assembled it all because I am waiting for the arrival of the packing material for the valve gland and piston rod gland.

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    1. Thanks very much for you recent updates! Looks like you are making good progress. It's very exciting to get close to testing and running.

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  8. I have two complete Ottaway wheel (car) sets and some wheels and axles. I have an offer to buy but have no idea their worth. Can you help?

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    1. Ottaway Steam WebmasterDecember 7, 2022 at 1:13 PM

      Hello Sorry for the late reply. Because there is nowhere that really offers them for sale and not knowing how desirable they are it is really very difficult to come up with a value. It basically just depends on what you and the person purchasing thinks they are worth. Even locomotives are dependent upon that though if they have a good boiler are worth more because the boiler is the most expensive part to replace. Sorry, can't help more than that.

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  9. Thank you. It appears that parts are hard to find.

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    1. Very, unfortunately. A lot of people in this hobby machine their own parts due to that.

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  10. HOORAY!!! Successfully tested on air.

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  11. I am in a train club that has an LA Ottaway engine. The boiler has been completely rebuilt and it needs to have the plumbing done. My question is there any instruction manuals that show how to get this accomplished please.

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    1. Hi, I am very sorry for the delay in answering. I was out of town and then have been trying to find you some info. There are not any manuals of that type available. Fellow Ottaway owners are the best resource. Will let you know if I find any further info.

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  12. Been a while since an update. I've been sourcing parts and fabricating an ashpan. Through some digging with the auto parts store, we found out that the original brake cylinders are actually from a late 40's Chevrolet Styline sedan. They had to be ordered but were in stock at a warehouse a few states away. I've ordered a Keim 2.5" scale steam driven air compressor, a beautiful and functional piece of equipment to adorn my locomotive. Also, far more prototypical than the tire pump type apparatus of the original. I also ordered their Okadee cylinder drain cocks. The ashpan has been fabricated from 1/8 sheet steel and has a sliding door on the bottom to dump the ash. I also made the back of it hinged and large enough to allow the fire grates to be installed and removed. Next up, setting the boiler and start plumming!

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  13. Very interesting! Would love to see photos of the ash pan you came up with. We just have a flat piece of steel.

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  14. Progress made this weekend! Ashpan completed, painted and mounted. Unfortunately, I made the ashpan a touch too tall. When I went to set the boiler on the chassis, it wouldn't fit all the way down to the mounting tabs. Easy fix with a cutoff wheel in the angle grinder. I had to take an additional 1/2 inch off the top. Even with the boiler just resting in its place, it is really starting to look like a locomotive again. I will e-mail you some pics soon.

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    1. I'll probably have to drill some holes in it to allow the fire to breathe.

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