Lee Stephens

Southern Ps-4 Pacific Castings
The following advertisement appeared on the back page of Live Steam Magazine, April 1972.


 * Complete Castings Set
 * for
 * Southern Ps-4 Pacific


 * All castings needed to build the Ps-4 Pacific Locomotive and Tender are now being offered for the low price of -


 * $695.00 f.o.b. Chattanooga


 * This includes a set of read-to-mount springs and trunnions. A few castings not shown in the picture such as domes, smokebox front, bell bracket, etc., are also included in the set.  These are of excellent machinable grey iron.  Plans and instructions are furnished.  A 4-8-2 may be made by using 2 more drivers and 2 more frame sections.


 * Stamped and certified boiler for the Southern Ps-4 Pacific -
 * $675.00 f.o.b. Chattanooga


 * If you do not have a lathe, enroll in an evening machine shop class and build this Pacific ... or turn it over to a high-school machine shop as a class project and assemble it in your own shop. At any rate, GET STARTED NOW! Plans and instructions $10.00, fully refundable on casting order.


 * Lee Stephens
 * 3715 Kings Road
 * Chattanooga, Tennessee 37416

Boiler
Marty Knox posted on Chaski.org, 25 December 2007:


 * Adding a combustion chamber cuts down on the number of tubes you can fit in, and makes it more difficult to inspect and work on the rear tube sheet. As CBrew says, full size they were used to keep flues to a reasonable length. I have to build a new boiler for a PS-4 that was built to the old Lee Stephens design, and I am using 3/4 inch K copper tubes, 7/8 OD x .065 wall. I can't get as many in as I would like, even without a combustion chamber.

Sale of Ps-4 Design
Terry McGrath wrote the following, from Live Steam Magazine, October 1973:


 * When illness forced Lee Stephens to give up his Live Steam line, we purchased the patterns with every hope that we would be able to continue the attractive price structure he had developed for the 1-1/2 inch scale Southern Ps-4. We spent what seemed an awful long time checking over all the patterns and, when that was completed, we began contacting foundries to provide our castings.  A more frustrating experience I have never experienced! Each contact brought another defeat with "Sorry," "Too busy now," "Couldn't possibly add them to our production," or "Your run is too small."  Finally, after combing a five-state area, we found a foundry hundreds of miles away that agreed to do the work.  They have firm delivery dates and promised price quotations shortly.  We placed an ad in Live Steam Magazine which gave a two-month period in which our stock was to be delivered and began to wait.  No price quotation was ever made and, after the promised delivery passed we were told that they couldn't handle our comparatively small order!  So we began again.  We have finally located a satisfactory source and have taken delivery of our first shipment at a price we feel is satisfactory.  We hope this will prove to be a reliable and trusted source.