LeBLOND HEAVY DUTY

[reggie_obe]

Rick, any developments in rescuing the LeBlond and the shaper?

 

[Marshall Henderson]

Since this was brought up on another thread....
What was the final status????
Marshall

 

[Mike Powell]

The machines are still there last I looked. I heared recently that the rail line has been sold to a landfill operator, who brings demolition debris in from youngstown by rail. I dont know if this is true. I have a 20" ATW that I am working on now so i have no interest in this lathe. Even if it was offered for free. It is a beast and I have no place for it!

Mike

 

[Rick Rowlands]

It has been fourteen years since Mike and I first laid eyes on that lathe, and I now have an update. For the past two and a half years I have been employed by that very railroad as a track inspector, and just today while talking with the locomotive mechanic I pretty much stated my desire to haul that LeBlond lathe out of the building and bring it home.

After sitting all that time it has lost it's four jaw chuck and drive motor, but has not been beaten up. Someone had removed the spindle bearing caps at one time but both were sitting there with the lathe. With a 22" swing and an 8 foot bed the lathe is large enough to use for turning two foot gauge wheelsets as well as anything else I may need it to use in keeping our 24" gauge steam locomotive running. I do not yet have a place to put it at the museum but we are going to be setting up a pair of boxcars as enginehouses and I think it may be installed in one of them.

It will be rather fitting that a lathe that had been used for maintaining the Y&S's fleet of 2-8-0s and 2-8-2s may be used for maintaining our 0-4-0T.

 

[SIP6A]

Rick, it's been a long time since you have been on here. Whats going on at your museum these days?

 

[Rick Rowlands]

We have so many things going on that it is difficult to know where to start. Over the past 6 years we have built a 24" gauge steam railway on the property with one operational locomotive and two more likely to join the fleet next year. We have also acquired a 1920 riveted tank car to use as water storage and a pair of boxcars that will become enginehouses. The railroad will have about 1,000 feet of track once we are done building what we can on our property.

The Tod Engine has not seen much attention since we started the railroad project since the railroad is what will make the money to sustain the entire operation, hence the priority is in getting it going. With live steam on site the is a definite possibility of seeing the Tod once again turn over with steam power.

We also have a rather successful Youtube site with quite a bit of content about our various projects.

YouTube

 

[SIP6A]

Thanks! I’ll check out your YouTube videos

 

[johnoder]

Similar to this 19" - but they made multiple versions of the gear head, even in the early teens / preteens

 

[jmm03]

Obviously it worked over the years,but why did they put such spindly legs on such a robust machine? Jim

 

[johnoder]

Obviously it worked over the years,but why did they put such spindly legs on such a robust machine? Jim

Looks like they were spending more time on the "works" and not enough time on the "looks" - besides they were still mostly cone head folks where those legs did not look quite as silly

 

[jmm03]

I was thinking more in terms of better support and spreading the load rather than looks,at least on that particular machine, but I see where design from previous models would carry over into their successors.Jim

 

[Dr. Hillbilly]

Hi Scott R:

I plead ignorance of who Mike M. works for.

John

John,
Please ask Mike to message me
Thanks

 

[johnoder]

John,
Please ask Mike to message me
Thanks

You are referencing a post over 14 years back - I'll pass on your request

YOU can message anyone you like - simply by clicking on their user name (upper left corner) and following through with such as Private Message

But before you do that you might want to see if they are even active anymore by clicking on their Profile