Hi people, I am a new member resident in New Zealand. Currently built a Stanley style buggy and hope to build a steam generator to power it.

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Joined
Nov 13, 2020
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Location
New Zealand
Owen Buggy 2.jpg
IMG_1862.JPG
 
Hi Steve, thanks for your interest. I'm struggling a bit to find my way around this site so hope my posts will be appropriate. The self-styled Stanley buggy idea came via a 1903 Stanley and a 1967 Smith "Educator" buggy. Having a very limited budget a discarded mobility scooter was dismantled and with suitable mods supplied the Atkinson steering, electric motor and transaxle unit with wiring loom, batteries and controls, all integrated into a 1 inch box steel frame, clad with 5/8 inch ply. The overall dimensions are 6' x 4' to fit into a standard NZ trailer. The speed and power on the electrics is abysmal, hence the desire to make a steam engine for the buggy. There is no plan or castings, but applying a bit of logic I have fabricated the engine from a 4 inch billet of cast iron, boring 2 inch cylinders off center to allow room to mill flats for the valve chests, and tying the whole engine together with 12mm square steel bars. The valve gear is Stephenson's Link. It is running on air so far, but I hope to be able to construct a propane-fired steam generator. The Smith steam generator on the Educator buggy used mainly 200 feet of 1/4 inch OD copper tubing wound in various sections joined in an unusual manner, like "a to c, c to e, e to b" etc for purposes of "economiser" etc, all quite foreign to my logic. As I have on hand mostly 3/8 inch OD copper tubing I wonder if someone out there could enlighten me if it could be made to be a steam generator suitable to propel the buggy at say 10-12 mph which would satisfy my requirements. I have on hand about 90' of 3/8"OD, 12' feet of 5/16"OD, 30' of 1/4"OD, and 30" of 3/16"OD copper refrigeration tube. Thank you people. Regards, Owen.
PS the attached picture is of my first project, a 7 1/4" gauge "Phantom", a freelance plan originating in NZ, one of about 90 constructed over the last 15 years or so.
Owens Phantom.jpg
 
Welcome to the forum, I wish my first project looked like that!, I think it's still hiding in disgrace under my bench. Impressive work, you must be very proud of your achievements. I'm sure some of the more knowledgeable steam members will be able to help with the calculations. Cheers, Peter.
 
Hello Stanleyhopeful, i've search for 7 1/4" (gauge "Phantom", a freelance plan originating) but i found other pictures, more like a Washington or Virginia.
Is your 208 a Phantom?
Thank you.
Pierkemo
By the way this is a lovely forum :)
 
Hi Pierkemo, yes, the Phantom was designed to be similar to early American locomotives, however I have made cosmetic changes to reflect trains I watched in the mid 40s as a small child. So mine cosmetically looks more like a New Zealand "A" locomotive, circa 1910, which I completed in 2010, just before my 70th birthday. Major cosmetic changes are the cow catcher, domes, windows, driver steps, bottom of the cab aligning horizontally through the bottom of the tender, and many others. The model engineering hobby attracted my interest, as a piano tuner I had never worked with metal, so the learning curve was fascinating. Cheers, Owen.
 
You did a gorgeous job on the locomotive and also your little steamer!! Absolutely beautiful workmanship!
My suggestion to you is that you join SACA, or the "Steam Automobile Club of America" They are actually currently running a series on building the "T. Hyler White Steam car of 1899"., using the original drawings.
Equally important, they have what they call the "Store Room" in which they stock drawings for Stanley Steam engines of various designs, other steam engine designs such as the Locomobile and Doble, many boiler designs from various eras, many steam car designs, and a LOT of other related drawings schematics, and steam appliances, such as steam automatic systems, fuel automatic systems, and water automatic systems. ("Automatics" are systems that monitor and control themselves. The Stanleys and others developed very elegant "automatics" that are entirely mechanical.) They also have more modern electrical "Automatics" for boiler, water, steam, and fuel control. The contributors to their site have been (and are still) some of the very top steam engineers of the last 100 years, and there are articles and monographs on nearly every steam subject you can think of.
 

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