The FORD Lounge

[Danny G]

You hit the nail on the head.

That combined with the "I have to fix that know that I am saw it" mentality.

[Danny G]

This is probably just worry setting in because my bp keeps dropping out and hr spiking with the good ol chest and arm pain. But I swear Monday after my doctor sees me I'm gonna fill out a will with the lawyer that if I go the wife can't sell the truck and some bullnose guru/fan locally is gonna have to finish the restoration for my kids.

[BigBrother-84]

If those who have 20 minutes, interesting basics and transparent V8 engine.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I had that model kit as a kid.

Later, in the early '80's, I met an IBM machinist that had built a running V-8 that was 4-5" long!
Pistons, connecting rods with caps, valves, cam, pushrods, ALL of it!  🤯

[Nothing Special]

I used to work with a guy that built a running steam engine when he was in high school.  It was just single cylinder, and he used compressed air for the power source rather than build a boiler system.  So no where near as impressive as building a running V8, but still pretty cool, especially for a high school kid.

[ArdWrknTrk]

It takes a lot of talent, I'm sure!

I used to like going to live steam events.
There were always a few that had running models of 'classic or pivotal'  steam and hit-or-miss engines.

I didn't know the difference, but I understood that X or Y was an example of some gigantic things that changed the world.
From Newcomben's (?) steam pump that cleared the water out of coal mines to steam engines like the Tod that drove hundreds of rolling mills in the heyday of steel.

[Nothing Special]

Back when my kids were in Cub Scouts the pack to a trip to a local model railroad club.  The club owns a couple dozen acres a little out of the cities and has a big network of tracks.  I don't know the gauge, but roughly 12" between rails.  One day a month they open up to the public and give rides on the trains.  Most of the trains were powered by something like a Briggs & Stratton, but there was at least one live steam locomotive.  The engineer sat on top of the coal car (which had a supply of charcoal briquettes) and fed the fire while controlling the engine.  It took a few people a fair bit of time to get that engine on line!

And speaking of that, in Boy Scouts we took a trip to Green Bay where we toured a railroad museum (one of the Scout leaders was a big railroad geek).  They have one of the last of the "Big Boy" steam engines, what is considered the most powerful successful locomotive ever made.  They explained why diesel electrics aren't even close in power to the big steam engines.  It took such a large crew of people to run each steam engine, and so long to get each engine on line that it made more sense to have fewer, more powerful engines.  But with diesels a single crew can run several locomotives, and it takes comparatively no time at all to get one started and warmed up, so it makes more sense to string a bunch of them together and only run as many as you need at any point in time.

[ArdWrknTrk]

If anyone's in or around Youngstown, they have a (24"?) narrow gauge Porter (3 actually!) at the Youngstown Steel Heritage Museum that runs on live steam

They also have the last of the enormous Tod rolling mill engines, with gantrys/catwalks so you can see the whole thing at once.

There is a YouTube channel if you want a taste of* it and some of the incredible work that goes into tracking down, moving and reanimating these things.

[85lebaront2]

I have been to the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum in Strasburg and ridden the excursion train through the area. All of that is now part of Norfolk Southern's territory after the government made them take over Penn Central.

[Gary Lewis]

I've ridden that train, Bill.  Our home was only ~30 miles away when we lived in PA and we were through there many, many times.

[ArdWrknTrk]

There used to be a narrow gauge train in Essex, CT at Gillette Castle that went along the river where all the bald eagles are nesting.
Belching black smoke the whole way!

This was a big thing back in the '70's because DDT had decimated raptors.
It bioaccumulates like mercury.
The little birds ate the toxic bugs, the bigger birds ate the little birds and so on..
Hawks, falcons and eagles were really on the edge as far as having a sustainable population.
Their gene pool definitely had a bottleneck.

But today this symbol of our nation is coming back strong, thanks to Nixon and the EPA!  👍

[Danny G]

BigBrother-84 wrote

If those who have 20 minutes, interesting basics and transparent V8 engine.

This channel helped me understand how a carb pulls fuel from the bowl and sends it on its way when they did the transparent carb.

[viven44]

That is a really good video with a prototype...

I am still amazed when I find an old video like the one below that really breaks down the concepts with simple illustrations. Back in the good old days before internet or computers when there were no shortcuts in creating a good training and instructional video!!

https://youtu.be/yYAw79386WI?si=UOTCCjeQH_G5kKka

[BigBrother-84]

viven44 wrote

Back in the good old days before internet or computers when there were no shortcuts in creating a good training and instructional video!!
https://youtu.be/yYAw79386WI?si=UOTCCjeQH_G5kKka

I love it!
And guess what, I learned that early automobiles were "one wheel drive"!


I'm wondering if this kind of movie was presented in theaters... kind of interlude or entertainment before the movie.

[ArdWrknTrk]

"Early" automobiles were likely chain drive to a solid axle!  

You can catch a lot of this sort of content on the Periscope Film YT channel.
I know I've seen that one.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Not steam, but if you're into vintage machinery and engines, and happen to be in the Litchfield hills.

https://ctvisit.com/listings/connecticut-antique-machinery-association-museum

And next door:  https://ctvisit.com/listings/connecticut-antique-machinery-association-museum

[viven44]

Most likely shown at an exhibition or an auto show back then, or just employee training. The production of this video was also probably handled by a movie studio, so they probably did it with their usual fanfare.... probably back when quarterly revenues, earnings per share wasn't the top priority of the big corporations... so they put in maximum effort and everything was only done well

[ArdWrknTrk]

These sort of sponsored content fundamentals were fixtures in trade schools and shop class (remember those?!? )

Thank you Mr. Hamon, Mr Krol & Mr.Gavin!   

[Nothing Special]

This is another cool one.  I watched this video a while ago (and just found it again this morning, so I think it's the same one).  If I recall correctly this guy made a brand new "antique" steam tractor from original blueprints.  Then each year at a farm equipment show he breaks the old record (set by him the previous year) for number of rows plowed at once.

[BigBrother-84]

Really nice, love it!

Somebody knows the goal of that spinning device (shaped as a modern anemometer) just behind the chimney?



EDIT:
Just an idea... Is it kind of "spring loaded" and it "flattens" as the engine speed increases, kind of visual RPM?