4-8-2 - Custom Home Made Barbecue (BBQ) Grill Smoker

1529 Bell Question

Now that I've found the bell (that I misplaced) that I'm going to put on my 4-8-2 bbq grill/smoker, I have a question. The inside of the bell on 1529 is currently red. Was the inside of the bell red while the 1529 was in service or is that something someone decided to do after it was retired and put on display. I would like to know before I mount it to the grill/smoker so I can paint it if need be.

 

Update on my 3-8-2 grill smoker as of 12/6/2010.

A couple of months ago, I stumbled upon a brass hand bell we had in a box of stuff earmarked for a yard sale.

To my delight, the handle was simply threaded onto the bell and thus easily removed. With a little red paint, a bracket and a couple of nuts and bolts, the 4-8-2 grill smoker now has a bell.

I have photographs attached.

 

For my 4-8-2 BBQ grill smoker, can anyone tell me how to build a steam whistle using a gas burner and a pressure cooker as a steam source?

Other steam-source ideas are also welcome. It is just that I already have a burner and pressure cooker laying around that I could use. I want the 1522 pitch but much, much softer volume.

I have neighbors.

 

I'm not 100% sure I want to fool with a steam whistle.

It seems to be a bit more trouble than it is worth. I may try compressed air one day. Anyway, I want to share another idea I had yesterday.

A few years ago, someone in Amory, MS had a huge Christmas display in his yard during the holidays. He had some type of radio transmitter and a sign in his yard that said, "Tune to ----AM." If you were close enough to his house, you would hear music and realize that the lights blinked in sync with the music.

So, in about 6 weeks from now, I am planning on putting my 4-8-2 grill smoker in the front yard again as part of a Christmas scene. I already have a 1 hour loop of actual 1522 recordings that I made from 4-8-2 SLSF 1522 YouTube clips. It sounds pretty good for what it is. I am thinking of mixing it with some Christmas music and making another CD.

For several years, I have had a small FM transmitter that sends audio from any 1/4" headphones jack to any FM radio. It was for CD players when automobiles only had cassette players. Now I use it for mp3 players. I have discovered that the transmitter sends a clear signal from the porch to the street.

I am thinking of playing a CD of the 4-8-2 SLSF 1522 mixed with Christmas music on continuous repeat and putting a sign in the yard that says, "Tune to ---FM." That way those who pass by will not only see the display, but have music and 4-8-2 audio as well.

 

I got bored tonight, so I created it, tested it, and it is ready!

The FM transmission of Christmas music mixed with actual sounds from the cab of 4-8-2 SLSF 1522. This holiday season, "passers by" will not only see Santa at the throttle of my 1:4 scale 1500 class BBQ grill smoker, but will also be able to tune to 88.1 FM and hear Christmas music! It will be as if they were listening to a stereo in the cab of SLSF 1522, complete with running-speed steam sounds and, of course, the whistle.

There is 45 minutes of music all mixed with a loop of 4-8-2 SLSF 1522 sounds. I burned it to a CD, put the CD on repeat, plugged the FM transmitter into the headphones jack and... it worked. For what I had to work with, a computer, stereo, and a small FM-transmitter-type adapter from RadioShack, it turned out very nice if I say so myself.

I will have to put a sign out that tells people to tune to 88.1 FM. I do not know how many will tune in, but I cannot wait to hear the comments from those who do. To test it, I got in my truck and approached my house from both directions of the street. With the transmitter inside my house, it transmits about 150 feet in each direction from the house, or about 300 feet total.

That may not sound like a great distance but for a slow residential street in a small rural town, and the fact that I already had the equipment on hand, I am more than pleased with the result.

With a metal roof, I may be able to increase coverage by moving the CD and transmitter outside. That is another test for another day. Well, I have to get some shut eye.

Ship it on the Frisco!

 

I have done a lot more smoking than grilling lately with my 4-8-2 themed BBQ grill smoker.

All that recent smoking added a lot more creosote buildup to the interior than I realized. This past Saturday night, I built a hotter fire for grilling. Needless to say, the creosote ignited. I was blessed that it happened before I put steaks on the grill. I believe there must have also been some grease down in the bottom that ignited as well. The fire and heat was so intense that I could not get close enough to close the lid.

Fortunately the grill was far enough away from our home. However, the rear half houses a propane bottle and gas burners, so for obvious reasons, I immediately pulled that part backwards, away from the front half that was engulfed in the inferno.

Then I began to hose down the wooden chassis of the front half out of concern that the intense heat might ignite or at least damage the 2" x 10"s. Once I knew I had the fire safely contained to the metal barrels, I decided to wait for it to burn itself out. The only damage was a little damaged paint, that already needed re-painting, and a melted, plastic headlight housing.

The grill paint's "up to 2000 degrees F" rating, along with the fact that it bubbled up in spots, leads me to believe that the fire exceeded 2000 degrees F. No matter what the actual temperature was, it was extremely hot.

That creosote fire has me wondering. Does creosote ever build up in steam locomotives or are steam locomotive fires always hot enough to prevent creosote from building up internally?

It is a little difficult to make out in the photograph, but the black spot on the front is melted plastic from the headlight housing. The headlight is hanging by the cord. You can see the 2 orange wire nuts I used when I wired it with a salvaged vacuum cleaner cord.

 

Whoa, glad you are okay and no major damage was done.