After an 18 month gap I have picked tthis project up again - but I am beginning to wish I had not.
I have purchased a new soldering iron, rated at 60w, and some flux.
Laminating the cab floor went well, and after opning up some holes was soon bolted to the footplate and chassis.
I then waxed the underside of the cab, and tried to solder the front of the cab to it.
I did not manage to solder it on. I do not know what the problem was. Did I forget the flux? Was the wax migrating into
After a long stressful January, punctuated by Snow, Colds, Virus, friends and relatives in hospital, minding granndson for a week at a time, I have finally made a start on the build.
Michael Edge, quickly supplied the missing bushes. Thank you.
I also took his advice to build a rigid frame.
I decided to make a tool to punch rivets, from odd bits hanging around.
Its just a bit of threaded bar, a few bolts, a screw, and half a dozen larger diameter bolts for the weight.
It managed to
Well I bought the kit from Judith Edge Kits at the Wigan Model Railway Exhibition.
The white box arrived a few days later in the post.
My wife then wrapped it for opening on Christmas Day.
Upon opening on Christmas Day I found it contained:
5 pages of instructions.
Three brass sheets.
A bag of nuts bolts etc.
A bag of moulded plastic components.
Five lengths of wire
Whilst at the Wigan show I also purchased from Alan Gibson:
3 sets of driving w
Its one of the three 15" Hunslets that worked at Bickershaw colliery in the 1950s.
So thats:
BICKERSHAW (HE1699)
LYON (HE1809)
BILL (HE1901)
They were built 1933-1938 and stayed at Bickershaw colliery until 1956-1959.
I do not think they have survived to this day but others have.
Here is one at Embsay, on a foggy November morning.
Photo References:
The industrial railways of the Wigan coalfield, Part 2, North and East of Wigan by C.H.A Townley, F.D. Smith, J.A. Peden ISBN 1-8
