KRK Sr.

Thanks George, I added a link below the page.

Pierce-Arrow Museum | Hickory Corners, Michigan

Jack, that Bell has the engine number stamped on it. It came from a Baldwin Mallet steam engine that was last used by B&O Railroad. Built in Philadelphia in 1931, Junked in 1953. It is another flea market find years ago. That engine had 6 high-pressure drive wheels then 6 Low Pressure Drive wheels that use the exhaust from the first six wheels. It must’ve been quite a beast to get over the western mountains of Pennsylvania , West Virginia and on into Ohio.

Terry, when I was there they were building three brand new open side passenger cars to look like old ones out of steel. They were going to go to the dock and get on the boat and go to somewhere in South America. If you look at all those pictures again you’ll see a train car metal frame with nothing on it. That could be one they were working on at the time of his passing. That one room in front of where the steam engine is was long enough to have three cars long and two wide. Here in PA there is a very active group of people who use those little maintenance cars on track excursions . Not that I need another hobby but it might be neat to own one of those just so you could play on all railroad tracks up here.

The last time I was in this building there were two guys in the front of the steam engine peening over new flu pipes with a big air driven hammer. YOU TALK ABOUT NOISE. The boiler had new end plates, not sure if the whole thing was replaced or not. At that time, it was a busy shop. I hope someone finishes this train and we all get to enjoy the smoke again. The building was huge, It had just about all the floor space covered with cars and his toys.

I was told the Largest Valve came from the Philadelphia shipyard. It is 7in across the head, 31 in tall, and a 1 1/2 in stem. It was a Macungie flea market find years ago. The second largest is different because it has threads halfway up the stem.

I’ve been collecting large valves etc. for years, here are some of the big valves, big nut, big pistons, and big wheel bearing that collect dust on my office floor

Case Tractor Wrench

Tubes are in and doing fine, update: All the rims were in good shape, when looking at the failure of the old tubes they had long rips on the inside edge near the rim. The last person used no flaps. I cannot tell if rubbing or pinched tubes caused the failure. So, lots of talc, and I found the flaps fit easily in the narrow tires. The whole job was a lot easier than I thought it would be to replace the tubes. When I see old photos of people doing this on the side of the road it seemed common practice in the teens. it would not keep me from owning an early T. Karl

There sure is not any room to add a flap. In fact when I took the first tube out I could see where someone had taken a knife and notched the tire in order to get a rubber valve stem through the wheel. My guess is a brass valve stem would have cleared but would be awful tight in that gap. I can’t see where any of the tube had been distorted by being pushed between the tire edges when it had air in it. When I go to the “tire store “ website I see they show a 30 x 3 1/2“ flap. It sure looks like it will be a fight to get it back in there with a thick flap like we use in other makes. Karl

I just took the old tire and tube off this rim and I see there is no liner of any kind. Should this get a tube liner installed and how wide should it be?

Charlie, We still have a few registrations to process, but looks like around 500 cars. Karl

Registration for the Saturday Show is closed. Registration for the Thursday tour, and Friday tour is still open. Flea market spaces are still being sold. Hope to see you there, Karl

Mobile parts, no Pinto but….