Adventures of 486

by Daris A Nevil

In this column we'll following the adventures of Allen Mogul #486.

Construction


No. 486 was built, or rather finished, by Robert Donckels of Mololla, Oregon. He bought the loco from someone at Train Mountain who could not build it. Robert is a machinist, and this is his 5th engine. The previous owner bought it from someone who passed away, it is actually 20 years old (1991) but never fired until Robert completed it in 2010.

Gone to Texas
Robert decided to sell No. 486, mainly due to his arthritis. It was becoming increasingly difficult to sit with bended knees for long periods of time on the locomotive tender.

Daris A Nevil noticed the locomotive being offered for sale on eBay in the summer of 2011. Later in the fall it was listed again. Daris contacted Robert, worked out the details, and committed to purchase the locomotive.

Daris and his wife, Marianne, flew to Portland, Oregon in December 2011. They rented a 10 foot moving van and met Robert at the Pacific Northwest Live Steamers in Mololla, Oregon. They loaded the locomotive and supplies (including the Toolbox of Requirement) into the van and headed for home. Daris tells the following harrowing tale:


 * Marianne and I drove out of the club lot and went a block down the road. As we were passing a car I ran over a bump in the road raised from the root of a tree. It rocked the truck from side-to-side pretty violently. We heard a loud "clunk clunk" in the back. My heart stopped. I feared that the engine had toppled over. I stopped and opened the back door and saw ... that everything was just fine. Whew. I was so relieved. From then on we were very careful about pulling into and out of driveways, to make sure we did not rock the van.

After three days of travel the couple arrived back home in Texas with their new pride and joy.

Bagley Oil Burner
Replaced the Peterson oil burner with a Bagley Oil Burner.

Toolbox of Requirement
Everything that is is needed for #486 is in the Toolbox of Requirement.

New Oil Tank
The old tin one gallon gas tank finnaly gave out, so a new tee-shaped oil tank was built and installed.

Pony Pivot Repair
A derailment due to a branch across the rails damaged the pony truck described here: Allen Mogul Pony Pivot Repair.

Pony Wheel Damage
14 March 2014

I'm pretty hard on my Allen Mogul #486. Seems like every time I take it out to a meet I break something.

The most recent damage occurred happened at Houston Area Live Steamers Chugga Chugga Chili fest. We had a great meet, enjoyed some hot chili, and drove trains all day.

During a run #486 hopped off the rails at a turnout. It went half way onto the wrong turn. Took a bit of work for me and my passenger, Spence, to get it lined back up on the rails.

I didn't take time to inspect for damage. Everything seemed fine, so I continued to run throughout the meet. At one point I heard a squeaking noise up front, but again I ignored the warning sign.

I didn't discover what was wrong until I loaded up after the meet. What I discovered is shown below. During the derailment the cattle guard caught the frog or one of the guard rails and was bent back about 3/8". The brace between the apron and the cattle guard was bent down and started rubbing against the flange of the pony wheel.

By the time I loaded up the flange had been worn to a fine edge. Looks like I will have to turn a new wheel.

But hey, that's part of the fun of the hobby too!

Water Fitting


The tender fell off the Wesco lift while I was loading it in the van. It fell about 4 feet. Luckily it bounced between the engine stand and the lift about 3 or 4 times on the way down, which minimized the impact. It broke the water fitting on the tender going to the injector.

I turned a new one out of a standard brass fitting.