Ray_m's 2013 adoption challenge

[ray_m]

Did you fabricate the valve gear and side rods.. If you did can you please go into detail on how you did it.. That has always been a sticking point on my builds.

I built the valve gear parts by bending steel wire around jigs that I made. once the part was formed , it was soldered and filed flat, then riveted together using small brass brads that I cut and peened over.
I would probably be easier to explain how to build valve gear by posting photos of the next valve gear set I make.
The connecting rods and main rods on this locomotive were made from .015" brass sheet with brass washers soldered on to re enforce the bearing ends and copper wire soldered along the edges to form a rib along the edges the filed to shape.
Below are some parts I made in the same manor to replace the plastic parts of a Hobbyline Berkshire with a Simms chassis.