Fine Furniture



This is a stool I made several years ago. The legs are from high quality 2x2's and the seat is two pieces of 3/4" C/X grade plywood laminated together. I think I made it back in 1999 but I don't recall for certain. If you really want to know, flip it over. I usually mark the date on all the furniture I build. For the right price I will make you a set.

Reading Railroad
I disassembled Dwayne's engine tonight.



The Engine in question is an American Flyer Reading Railroad 442 S-scale locomotivie. Based on marking inside the shell (6 49), it was probably made in June of 1949. I could be wrong. The tracks measure 1" center of rail to center of rail. The inner measurement between the two rails is 7/8" (S-gauge).

The power supply puts out AC voltage. It has dual outputs: 7-15 volts and 15 volts according to the lettering on the outside. I believe the first output is variable, the second fixed voltage.

The tender's wheels pickup the power from the rails. The tender contains a mechanical AC/DC converter. Wires lead from the tender to the cab where they connect to a DC electric motor and also to a light bulb which generates heat in turn causing the liquid smoke to become actual smoke. A piston forces the smoke to go puff puff puff. The motor has a worm drive used to spin the rear two of the center four wheels.

I did not fix completely fix the engine. It had four problems. Now it has three.

The first was a free spinning gear stuck on an axle. The gear drives the piston. A little bit of penetrating oil and it spun like a..., well like something that spins freely.

Someone else had disassmbled it in the past. Two springs are missing that hold the keys to the motor. I suspect these could be replaced with springs from some clicky type ball point pens. Clicky type!?

All the electrical wiring is dry, cracked and needs to be replaced (think safety hazard). The tender contains a mechanical AC to DC voltage converter. It could use a little oil and a new spring. The mechanical actuator currently sticks. There is a mechanical switch that is used to adjust spring travel and thus the output voltage which in turns adjusts the speed of the train. It is actually a pretty cool electrical/mechanical wonder.

A connector or switch is missing from the back of the cab where the wires from the tender connect. I am not certain whether it is a switch or connector because it is missing.

The electric motor drives not only the wheels but also a piston. The piston is what makes the smoke come out of the engine in periodic puffs. This is a pretty cool mechanical/thermal wonder. I left the piston disconnected when I reassembled it.

I estimate it would take a minimum of 4-5 hours to get the thing functional again. A few more to remove the rust and paint the newly rust free portions. Definitely more time than the average person would put into it. What this engine needs is a model railroading fanatic. Catch me on the right day and it could be me. Today however is not the right day.

My current recommendation is to place it on a shelf as a display.

The A/C power supply is fully functional.