Astounding ...could not believe it.

[Digger]

made a deal on some lead , posted in the lead section ....
with that , the gentleman that I was talking to about the lead was standing in the front door to his shop and I had a hard time concentrating as I was looking over his shoulder into his shop ... at a "train" !! ...
What the ..??? , Miniature train ..? Looked closer and I could not believe my eyes .. a working model , fully functional
model of the "G" class locomotive ? ..
the type that people ride on in fair grounds or what not , but this was different down to the smallest detail .
I was simply astounded , the man was a master of wax mold process and casting and machining with the lathes and presses he had in his shop .
Old school , self taught from what I understand , definitely not a "push button machinist" in his work.
every detail on the locomotive he created to scale himself , right down to the little frame for the bell and he created the mold for the bell itself and had another outfit pour the brass !!
he told me so much information about it , I could not take it all in as I was just standing there in awe..

194528194529

[JBinMN]

Whoah! Very Very cool! I wish you could have taken more pics. Being there & seeing person must have been amazing.

Thanks for sharing!
:)

[Bzcraig]

That is amazing and beautiful!

[Freightman]

Great! Hope he passes his skill on, as if not it will pass with him.

[rancher1913]

you need to go back and take some more photos :D

[MUSTANG]

He needs plans to donate to a Museum when he's moved on to a higher plane. Often our families do not share our passions at the same level, and it would be a shame to see such a quality piece of Technical Art lost in the future.

[WILCO]

Great photo!

[EMC45]

Breath taking

[lightman]

Wow! That would be something to see. I can't imagine the time that took to build or the sense of satisfaction one would feel after that project was finished.

[Digger]

Do have one or two more pics..
Will have a bit more when I get home tonight

[mold maker]

Can't wait to see more pictures.
Talent like that is already a lost art.
Our previous generations had many, but alas, the new age of computer run machines have made it obsolete.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Great! Hope he passes his skill on, as if not it will pass with him.

Will it? They say the man who made this is dead, but I think that is just a malicious rumour.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutton_Hoo_helmet

[fecmech]

There are some very talented people out there. Take a look at these aluminum aircraft models.
http://www.beautifullife.info/art-works/amazingly-realistic-aircraft-modeling/

[tomme boy]

Wasn't this the train that was on American Pickers?

[Blackwater]

I'll take ingenuity and inventiveness and perseverance over "education," as it's practiced today, ANY day! We were once a "can do" nation, and if we didn't know how to do something, we learned, or taught ourselves via trial and error. Now? When folks get a box of parts to assemble, the directions are the LAST thing they read, but if they are getting into something new, like reloading or casting, they just ask others what to do. It seems we have a generalized aversion to reading the directions.

My heart really goes out to those who, like me, though, read the directions and can't always understand what they're trying to tell me! Now THAT is a problem! Isn't it ironic how these things work? Ain't it fun bein' human????

[Echo]

I truly marvel at the skill of some folks. And the tenacity...

[Digger]

On that note .....back home from work.
have a pic or two more but none of the first quality ...
The gentleman stated that all told ...He had about a year's worth of man hours into the build ..
Also stated that he has it on Ebay with a price of 41,000 dollars ., I looked for a bit but not that good on searching on their site.
In the past , post recession he said he had a regular business supplying custom kits/pieces here in the states and over in Europe and England.
Talk about a custom business !
After 9/11 or about that space in time , his business dropped off to nothing to speak of ....
thinking about it ... give or take , would that be in the ballpark of computerized machining taking off ?..
At this point in time , he is considering going another direction in life and disposing of all the bits and pieces from the past.

194607
not as good but...

194608

Caught him behind it , shows a bit of perspective , a bit blurry

194609
This one back in the rack ... He said he built when he was 16 ! ..Wow !
He is from So Cal , his dad was a machinist , ...anyway , he stated that this machine was in a movie , a older hollywood star sat on it ..and he told me the title and actor , recognized the name of the actor but have forgot by now ,(been a bit busy lately)

194611 part of the odds and ends of the lead deal ..looks like he poured lead into his casting for trial , to see if the came out to spec's as they are soft lead ..
Been fascinating and maybe will contact him again just for ducks ...so to speak , just for another visit ....[smilie=1:

[10x]

A local fellow (he is in his mid 80's) worked as a machinist all of his life.
His hobby, making scale model engines taht were miniature copies of vintiage and antique engines that ran.
He also restored many vintage and antique engines and tractors.
his workshop was a joy to visit.

A man who can make a working scale model steam locomotive would have no problem making a gun, or anything else

[MaryB]

That shows the love of working with your hands to get details perfect. Something no machine can reproduce!

[JWT]

My Grandfather was a tool maker at Ford and my Dad was a die maker at Chrysler. Grandpa would come over one night a week and spend the evening with Dad and I in the shop. There are two complete locomotives in Dad's basement along with several partials and several scale stationary engines. One locomotive is set up to burn propane and the other is set up for coal. Coal smoke always brings back memories of Grandpa.

They take a tremendous amount of work.

[TenTea]

Wasn't this the train that was on American Pickers?

Nope.

But I can't find proof...

[tomme boy]

They showed a train much like this and the guy was a tool and die maker. I swear it is the same one

[fast ronnie]

A neighbor of mine builds these and helps others build them as well. He's in his eighties and still goes out to the shop. I've never done any of the casting but he does. He makes his own patterns, then does the casting from lost wax process. Quite a guy!!

[Nose Dive]

woooo... Very fine and very cool example of "AMERICAN CRAFTSMANSHIP".... sometimes hard to find nowadays.

Nose Dive

Cheap, Fast, Good. Kindly pick two.

[Hawks Feather]

For anyone who appreciates trains or wood carving you need to visit the Ernest Warther Museum in Dover, Ohio. I have been there several times and still am amazed at what this man did with carving. http://thewarthermuseum.com

Ernest "Mooney" Warther
Ernest "Mooney" Warther was born on October 30th, 1885 in an old, one room school house in Dover, Ohio. The youngest of five children, Ernest learned at a young age the value of hard work. After his father passed away when Ernest was just three years old, times were tough for the Warther family, with young mother Anna, five children, twenty cents, and a cow. Upon turning five, Ernest began his first job as the local cow herder, taking cows to pasture for a penny a piece and earning him the nickname that would stay for the rest of his life, "Mooney." One fateful day, taking the cows out, Mooney found a rusty pocketknife in the dirt. This old knife would ultimately change the course of Mooney's life forever as the young boy began whittling sticks, fence-posts, and anything else. Because times were tough and money was short, Mooney would only finish the second grade and would eventually lie about his age at 14 to work at the American Sheet and Tin Company which was the local steel mill. Falling in love with the railroad and steam engines as a teenager, Mooney found his focus for carving, which became his hobby. When he was not working at the mill, he was carving. If he was not carving he was with his wife Frieda, his own five children, and the neighborhood clan. Mooney's journey is one that is remarkable, with one man creating sixty-four scaled and working representations of steam history. His carvings were created between 1905 and 1971, between the ages of 20 and 86. Beyond the carvings, Mooney Warther was discovered by the New York Central Railroad, traveled with his carvings, raised a family, opened his own museum, and dedicated his life to the town of Dover, Ohio and educating all people through his works. He was a character, smart as a whip, always with a story to tell, and often told the story while carving a pair of his signature pliers. People from all over the world came to Dover to see the man with the wild hair, the booming voice, and the genius mind who carved so perfectly, you had to see it to believe it.

[funnyjim014]

Was it a steamer? If it was that would be a blast to drive around

[John Allen]

That is incredible. I am always amazed at peoples abilities.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

They have all thought "Why couldn't we do it full-size", and the one that started this thread is pretty close. But in Britain a group of enthusiasts have just built, at a cost of several million, the first main-line steam locomotive built in several decades. "Tornado" was recently tested at 100mph with a train, in the intention of using her up to 90. I believe one of the very large American locomotives is still running regular trips for enthusiasts, but burns waste oil, while "Tornado" uses genuine coal. Further on in this series of short videos "The Flying Scotsman", an original, was the first British locomotive to reach 100mph, but "Mallard", a streamlined steam locomotive now on static display, still holds the world record of 126mph pulling a seven-coach train.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-38973223/full-steam-ahead-for-tornado

I don't believe this man, splendid example of the traditional British eccentric, ever built a model in his life. But in Britain he still holds a vital place at the practical end of industrial archaeology. He started out in a documentary about his work as a steeplejack, and then they discovered that he could present documentaries better.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Dibnah

I don't think anybody with a degree on media studies could begin to equal his work on the Victorian industrial age. When I was in Saudi Arabia some of the more gifted among my merry little bunch of Bedouin asked what was different about life in the UK. I showed them some of Fred's documentaries, and told them that some of the people they saw, working with their hands dirty, were retired manual workers, and others were very wealthy businessmen. But you couldn't tell the difference, and outside the office neither could they.