The Workman Train

Finished another train.  This one was also featured in the Sacramento train museum.  Sorry the picture is so bad.  If you want to see the picture better copy and paste it into MS Word and play with the bright and contrast buttons.

Here is the complete train it was fun and a challenge to build.  It was worked on along with the train in the previous post.

There are a five cars to the train and some are suppose to have moving parts.

The locomotive and tinder are made out of pine.  The boiler is actually made out of cypress.  I was given a turning blank from a co-worker and this seemed to be the project to use it on.  Just a note, I did an initial turning to cut it down to size and get to rough dimensions.  I missed a week of class and in two weeks the wood had warped where I did the plunge cuts.  Lots of sanding on the lathe and the parts remained a little over sized.  It still turned out though.

This is the crane and taker.  The tanker was pretty easy the crane however was the last car finished.  the crane does move but not very well.  I don't know if I could design it better or I just like that it sort of works.

This is the side dump car and the hopper.  The side dump car really works.  The hopper was made on the band saw.
There are a couple of cool features with these trains. The General,  Diesel, and this train are all interchangeable cars.  This means that one of those long trains that blocks traffic for a while can be made out all three of these trains.
On a side note.  if any of the people that I have given blocks to have a block that has this profile to it:

Can I please get it back.  I miss counted how many wheel covers I needed and I am about 16 short.  I may have used the block all up so I don't know if it made it to the scrap block give away.

The General Train

 

Well I completed another train.  I thought I was done with trains and this was in the Great Book of Wooden Toys.  I had to use a lathe so I completed the engine in the class I took a while ago.  The cool thing is that I was able to see this train in the Sacramento Train museum last year while I was making it.  

 

This is the complete train.  It only has four cars and not that hard to make except the engine.  The hardest part was the engine.  The engine looks like a deadly weapon with the cow catcher on it.  

 All the round parts for the engine was made out of a single turning.  Fun to do but it was a trouble to make sure the smoke stack, sand pipe, light and bell all in the same line.  The cow catcher was one of the last parts I made because I needed a bandsaw.  I really enjoy using the bandsaw and it makes the smaller cuts a lot easier.

 There are three passenger cars to this train. These are the baggage and passenger car.  

The final car is the observation deck.  It was a lot of small parts and drilling.

The train is made out of pine and walnut.  There is some birch, maple and beech because they were conveniently the correct size scrap.

Christmas Letter - Late

Happy Holidays,
It is that time of year were I get to brag about all the things that the Anderson’s have done this
year. This is a very good year for you because you get to hear more about our son than about the boring
adults. In a nutshell here is the life of the parents.
Katie has retired from the public education system and is now a full time mom. She would have
it no other way. She still plays the piano for the primary at church and occasionally the organ. She is
having fun taking Kyle to various tot programs put on by the city. Oh, I almost forgot, she is expecting
our second child in the beginning of May. It is a boy.
I am still at RSI Home Products designing and building cabinets. If that is not enough wood
working for me I build wooden toys in my spare time. I took on a couple of paying projects to help pay
for my band saw. I can honestly say that I like giving away toys more but it is not very economical. You
can see my projects on my blog sawdustsplinters.blogspot.com.
This year Kyle became quite the little camper. In May he took his first camp out and did very
well. He even was able to pet a snake. So in July we took a trip up to Sequoia Nation Park and spent a
week in a tent. We went with Katie’s brother’s family and her parents also came down to visit while we
were there. We had good food and were amazed how beautiful the forest was. It would have been nice
to have Kyle walking at the time but we let him crawl at every visitor center we stepped in. By the end
of the week he was happy to be home and needed a good bath. We learned that Kyle has a fascination
with streams and waterfalls. He would get so excited when he would hear running water and start
laughing. This also explains why he comes running whenever he hears the bath water even if it is not
his.
Kyle has also become quite the little climber. We are afraid that some day we are going to
find him on top of the refrigerator. We cannot keep him from climbing. A lot of times he climbs on
something to just prove a point, once he has reached his destination he starts laughing and wants to get
down to do it again. We have also learned that he prefers the simple things. We can give him all the
toys in the world and he will play with a box for hours.
Although he was born with TEF, he has not had very many complications with it. When he
turned one we took him to have an esophagram done and they found very little structuring where the
surgery was. Yes he still sounds like a seal sometimes and gets food caught in his throat but he has had
no major problems.
I have to say Kyle is the cutest kid ever. The funny thing is that he is only 18 months and
completely independent. He does not need our help at all he doesn’t want to hold hands but gives the
best hugs ever. He takes after his mother, he likes to be bundled up and warm. He takes after his father
and will not perform on demand and will not smile for the camera. It is fun to see his mind work. He
will sit for a while trying to figure how a toy works and he is so proud when he does. Come and watch
Kyle grow (and the new addition in May) at pigsflyhere.blogspot.com.
Hope this past year has been good to you and the ones you love. We are especially grateful for
this season and the message it brings of peace through our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Love,

The Andersons

This was suppose to go out before Christmas but we are a little late.

On a side note I have a safari puzzle that I would like to give away.  All you will get is a Ziploc bag of pieces so you might want to print off the picture as reference.  All I ask is that you pay for shipping.  It will be for the first person who asks.