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Hudswell Clarke contractor's 0-4-0ST


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Last December I bought an unbuilt kit, dating from 1979. With it being a "complete" kit, and mostly whitemetal, I reckoned it would be a doddle to build and that I'd have it finished in no time. How wrong I was...

 

The kit is by Keyser Kits and is intended to build into Taff Vale Railway No.267, which was a standard Hudswell Clarke contractors/industrial design with 10x16" cylinders.

 

Building the bodywork was quite straghtforward (after plastic handail knobs were binned in favour of brass ones, and plenty of filing was done to fettle the parts for a better fit) but when it came to things below the running plate, it may have been alright in its day but it won't cut it almost 40 years on.

 

The supplied wheels were the wrong diamter, the motion and motion brackets were thin fold-up etched nickel silver, the cylinders were oversize and their arrangement was rather poor. The frames were two rectangles of brass with the axle holes already in them but nothing else, and were to be spaced and held together by a couple of turned spacers and 4 screws. And then there was the motor/gearbox - the least said about that the better.

 

So, I ordered some 2ft. 9in. wheels from Alan Gibson and set about making everything below the running plate from scratch.

 

post-494-0-48961600-1522180108.jpg

The body and motor.

 

post-494-0-50432900-1522179874.jpg

The bodywork finished and ready for the paintshop.

 

The plan was to use an N20 motor/gearbox that can be bought from ebay at a fraction of the price of a Mashima and HL gearbox. To fit this would need a gear plate and some plastic gears.

 

post-494-0-27876300-1522180521.jpg

These little gadgets are what I use to put loco frames together. The turned spacers keep the frame plates parallel and the old extended Romford axles aligh the axle holes and hold everything together whilst the actual plate spacers are soldered in. One spacer is cross-drilled to act as a depth gauge and centring tool for the fitting of the gear plate into the frames.

 

The original kit frames to the rear and my new frames, with gear plate fitted, to the front.

post-494-0-51111500-1522180578.jpg

 

And this is where things are up to now.

post-494-0-56667400-1522180685.jpg

The gearbox shaft has been cut down and a plastic gear, with D-shaped hole to match the shaft, is a push fit. The crown wheel as bought has a 2mm hole but has been opened out and is fitted onto a carrier of turned brass by 2-part epoxy glue. The carrier is drilled and tapped for a 14BA grub screw and a flat has been milled on the locomotive axle. It has been run up by attaching the wires to a controller and it is amazingly smooth.

 

 

Edited by Ruston
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Last December I bought an unbuilt kit, dating from 1979. With it being a "complete" kit, and mostly whitemetal, I reckoned it would be a doddle to build and that I'd have it finished in no time. How wrong I was...

 

The kit is by Keyser Kits and is intended to build into Taff Vale Railway No.267, which was a standard Hudswell Clarke contractors/industrial design with 10x16" cylinders.

 

Building the bodywork was quite straghtforward (after plastic handail knobs were binned in favour of brass ones, and plenty of filing was done to fettle the parts for a better fit) but when it came to things below the running plate, it may have been alright in its day but it won't cut it almost 40 years on.

 

The supplied wheels were the wrong diamter, the motion and motion brackets were thin fold-up etched nickel silver, the cylinders were oversize and their arrangement was rather poor. The frames were two rectangles of brass with the axle holes already in them but nothing else, and were to be spaced and held together by a couple of turned spacers and 4 screws. And then there was the motor/gearbox - the least said about that the better.

 

So, I ordered some 2ft. 9in. wheels from Alan Gibson and set about making everything below the running plate from scratch.

 

attachicon.gifBigRuston&Hunslet.jpg

The body and motor.

 

attachicon.gifHudswell-001.jpg

The bodywork finished and ready for the paintshop.

 

The plan was to use an N20 motor/gearbox that can be bought from ebay at a fraction of the price of a Mashima and HL gearbox. To fit this would need a gear plate and some plastic gears.

 

attachicon.gifgadgets-and-motors-002.jpg

These little gadgets are what I use to put loco frames together. The turned spacers keep the frame plates parallel and the old extended Romford axles aligh the axle holes and hold everything together whilst the actual plate spacers are soldered in. One spacer is cross-drilled to act as a depth gauge and centring tool for the fitting of the gear plate into the frames.

 

The original kit frames to the rear and my new frames, with gear plate fitted, to the front.

attachicon.gifHudswel;Frames.jpg

 

And this is where things are up to now.

attachicon.gifHudswel;Frames-002.jpg

The gearbox shaft has been cut down and a plastic gear, with D-shaped hole to match the shaft, is a push fit. The crown wheel as bought has a mm hole but has been opened out and is fitted onto a carrier of turned brass by 2-part epoxy glue. The carrier is drilled and tapped for a 14BA grub screw and a flat has been milled on the locomotive axle. It has been run up by attaching the wires to a controller and it is amazingly smooth.

 

Did the plastic gear come with a D-shaped hole? If not, how did you produce a concentric D-shaped hole?

 

Do these nylon gears take to epoxy glue? My experience is that NOTHING can be relied on to secure nylon to steel other than a locking pin, but an interference  / force fit can produce a workable combination.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

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Last December I bought an unbuilt kit, dating from 1979. With it being a "complete" kit, and mostly whitemetal, I reckoned it would be a doddle to build and that I'd have it finished in no time. How wrong I was...

 

The kit is by Keyser Kits and is intended to build into Taff Vale Railway No.267, which was a standard Hudswell Clarke contractors/industrial design with 10x16" cylinders.

 

Building the bodywork was quite straghtforward (after plastic handail knobs were binned in favour of brass ones, and plenty of filing was done to fettle the parts for a better fit) but when it came to things below the running plate, it may have been alright in its day but it won't cut it almost 40 years on.

 

The supplied wheels were the wrong diamter, the motion and motion brackets were thin fold-up etched nickel silver, the cylinders were oversize and their arrangement was rather poor. The frames were two rectangles of brass with the axle holes already in them but nothing else, and were to be spaced and held together by a couple of turned spacers and 4 screws. And then there was the motor/gearbox - the least said about that the better.

 

So, I ordered some 2ft. 9in. wheels from Alan Gibson and set about making everything below the running plate from scratch.

 

attachicon.gifBigRuston&Hunslet.jpg

The body and motor.

 

attachicon.gifHudswell-001.jpg

The bodywork finished and ready for the paintshop.

 

The plan was to use an N20 motor/gearbox that can be bought from ebay at a fraction of the price of a Mashima and HL gearbox. To fit this would need a gear plate and some plastic gears.

 

attachicon.gifgadgets-and-motors-002.jpg

These little gadgets are what I use to put loco frames together. The turned spacers keep the frame plates parallel and the old extended Romford axles aligh the axle holes and hold everything together whilst the actual plate spacers are soldered in. One spacer is cross-drilled to act as a depth gauge and centring tool for the fitting of the gear plate into the frames.

 

The original kit frames to the rear and my new frames, with gear plate fitted, to the front.

attachicon.gifHudswel;Frames.jpg

 

And this is where things are up to now.

attachicon.gifHudswel;Frames-002.jpg

The gearbox shaft has been cut down and a plastic gear, with D-shaped hole to match the shaft, is a push fit. The crown wheel as bought has a mm hole but has been opened out and is fitted onto a carrier of turned brass by 2-part epoxy glue. The carrier is drilled and tapped for a 14BA grub screw and a flat has been milled on the locomotive axle. It has been run up by attaching the wires to a controller and it is amazingly smooth.

I will now do my 'Waynes World' thing, go down on my knees and proclaim, 'We are not worthy'.

That is truly awe inspiring!!

My soapbox, using an old kit and enhancing it!

I take it this gem will be with the beasts you have built for the next project?

                          chris.

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Where did these gears come from, or how did you search for them?

The plastic bevel gears I've used come with a 2mm hole, boring these out with a 3mm drill for the gearbox and a 1/8" drill for the axle results in an excellent friction fit on both, ignoring the D section. I leave a little space between the gearbox and the gear so that it can be slid back along the shaft (levering it with a screwdriver) to disengage the drive.

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Did the plastic gear come with a D-shaped hole? If not, how did you produce a concentric D-shaped hole?

 

Do these nylon gears take to epoxy glue? My experience is that NOTHING can be relied on to secure nylon to steel other than a locking pin, but an interference  / force fit can produce a workable combination.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

 

The gears come with the D-shaped hole and, yes, the glue seems to have stuck so far.

I will now do my 'Waynes World' thing, go down on my knees and proclaim, 'We are not worthy'.

That is truly awe inspiring!!

My soapbox, using an old kit and enhancing it!

I take it this gem will be with the beasts you have built for the next project?

                          chris.

 

Excellent! No Stairway? Denied etc.  :sungum:  Thanks! They are all being built for a proposed turn of the 19th/20th century industrial/light rail layout.

Where did these gears come from, or how did you search for them?

The plastic bevel gears I've used come with a 2mm hole, boring these out with a 3mm drill for the gearbox and a 1/8" drill for the axle results in an excellent friction fit on both, ignoring the D section. I leave a little space between the gearbox and the gear so that it can be slid back along the shaft (levering it with a screwdriver) to disengage the drive.

The gears were given to me but I did see the same things pop up in ebay searches when looking for the motors in a "people who bought this also bought these" type thing.

With this loco being so small there really isn't the space to leave room to be able to slide the gear along the shaft to disengage it and so that's why I had to make the carrier with grub screw.

 

I have made up other gear plates for different applications, which have one or more idlers so the plate can be fitted vertically in the frames and the motor and gearbox doen't have to fit between the frames.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just out of the paint shop. The paint on the wheels should be dry by tomorrow, so I'll get them pressed on to the axles and I may even get the rods on. The cylinders are now built up, along with the slidebars and so all that remains to be made are the crossheads.

post-494-0-81114200-1523127018.jpg

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Hmmmm. Not sure about the colour.

 

Gordon A

It's not too much of a leap though - Hunslet's early house colour for their standard gauge locos was a pale chocolate brown, with the inside motion in soft pink. 

 

Paul A. 

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The colour looks better in real life. The photo was taken with a flash, which doesn't help.

 

I eventually got the wheels on, today, but it was a lot of hassle as the GW wheel press doesn't cater for such small wheels as this (Gibson 2ft. 9in. driving wheels) and I had to spend most of the time making a jig to quarter and press them. This is now the seventh loco that I have built using Gibson wheels and crankpins, so I didn't mess about trying to keep the tolerances tight and opened the holes in the rods right out to give plenty of clearance for the bushes. It ran well the first time power was put to the motor. I have marked up the broach used to open the holes with a permanent marker, so I know how far to take it without having to keep stopping and trying the holes on the bushes.

 

A broken piercing saw blade stopped play as it was my last one and I can't make the crossheads without a piercing saw.

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Hmmmm. Not sure about the colour.

 

Gordon A

Well, you may get a chance to see it in the flesh this coming weekend at Scalefour North - even if it is OO!

 

Should be able to get blades there Dave if you've not sourced them already.

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Well, you may get a chance to see it in the flesh this coming weekend at Scalefour North - even if it is OO!

 

Should be able to get blades there Dave if you've not sourced them already.

Cheers, Paul! You've just outed me as a OO modeller. How can I possibly go to Scalefour North now, knowing that everyone will be talking behind my back and whispering "There's that Ruston guy, he does OO, you know".

 

Yours, staying in and watching the telly on Saturday,

 

Dave

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Cheers, Paul! You've just outed me as a OO modeller. How can I possibly go to Scalefour North now, knowing that everyone will be talking behind my back and whispering "There's that Ruston guy, he does OO, you know".

 

Yours, staying in and watching the telly on Saturday,

 

Dave

There's Sunday as well :jester:

 

Bryan will be coming - and he's an OO modeller too!

 

And Sir Douglas - and he's O gauge!!!

 

(And, rumour has it, that there may well be several noted EM modellers there as well - but you didn't hear that from me...................) :angel:

Edited by 5050
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Last December I bought an unbuilt kit, dating from 1979. With it being a "complete" kit, and mostly whitemetal, I reckoned it would be a doddle to build and that I'd have it finished in no time. How wrong I was...

 

The kit is by Keyser Kits and is intended to build into Taff Vale Railway No.267, which was a standard Hudswell Clarke contractors/industrial design with 10x16" cylinders.

 

Building the bodywork was quite straghtforward (after plastic handail knobs were binned in favour of brass ones, and plenty of filing was done to fettle the parts for a better fit) but when it came to things below the running plate, it may have been alright in its day but it won't cut it almost 40 years on.

 

The supplied wheels were the wrong diamter, the motion and motion brackets were thin fold-up etched nickel silver, the cylinders were oversize and their arrangement was rather poor. The frames were two rectangles of brass with the axle holes already in them but nothing else, and were to be spaced and held together by a couple of turned spacers and 4 screws. And then there was the motor/gearbox - the least said about that the better.

 

So, I ordered some 2ft. 9in. wheels from Alan Gibson and set about making everything below the running plate from scratch.

 

attachicon.gifBigRuston&Hunslet.jpg

The body and motor.

 

attachicon.gifHudswell-001.jpg

The bodywork finished and ready for the paintshop.

 

The plan was to use an N20 motor/gearbox that can be bought from ebay at a fraction of the price of a Mashima and HL gearbox. To fit this would need a gear plate and some plastic gears.

 

attachicon.gifgadgets-and-motors-002.jpg

These little gadgets are what I use to put loco frames together. The turned spacers keep the frame plates parallel and the old extended Romford axles aligh the axle holes and hold everything together whilst the actual plate spacers are soldered in. One spacer is cross-drilled to act as a depth gauge and centring tool for the fitting of the gear plate into the frames.

 

The original kit frames to the rear and my new frames, with gear plate fitted, to the front.

attachicon.gifHudswel;Frames.jpg

 

And this is where things are up to now.

attachicon.gifHudswel;Frames-002.jpg

The gearbox shaft has been cut down and a plastic gear, with D-shaped hole to match the shaft, is a push fit. The crown wheel as bought has a mm hole but has been opened out and is fitted onto a carrier of turned brass by 2-part epoxy glue. The carrier is drilled and tapped for a 14BA grub screw and a flat has been milled on the locomotive axle. It has been run up by attaching the wires to a controller and it is amazingly smooth.

You have inspired me - just ordered one of these motors, and 10 sets of bevel gears, for the princely sum of £5.50! Just need to find a project to use them in now....

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Cheers, Paul! You've just outed me as a OO modeller. How can I possibly go to Scalefour North now, knowing that everyone will be talking behind my back and whispering "There's that Ruston guy, he does OO, you know".

 

Yours, staying in and watching the telly on Saturday,

 

Dave

 

More than half of what we sell at S4 exhibitions is for 00 gauge.

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And then there's the P4 modellers who secretly use EM wagon wheels, slipping out of the exhibition hall with an unmarked brown paper bag and a guilty expression...

 

(No offence intended to those clever people - I have enough bother keeping stuff on the track in EM !)

Edited by Barclay
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Wheels and rods on and it runs beautifully, which is more than I can say for the RTR Hornby Sentinel that it just had a pushing contest with. The Hudswell runs in the opposite direction to the Sentinel, so I'm going to have to swap the wires round on the motor but as it ran that way I put it on the track with the Sentinel, which runs like a three-legged dog and was pushed back without the Hudswell even slipping.

 

Bloke in a shed - 1 Large Chinese factory - 0

 

post-494-0-69381300-1523299256.jpg

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There's not much left to do on this one now. All the major jobs are done and it is running now that the crossheads have been made and fitted.

 

I made the crossheads using a different technique to that used on the Manning Wardle scratchbuilds, which was over-complicated.

 

post-494-0-41760700-1523384735.jpg

Clockwise from top:

Scraps of nickel silver waste from an etched kit were cut and filed to size and drilled to take a 16BA screw.

 

Both pieces held in a hand vice for finishing to size, located using drill bit to register the holes and filed to shape.

 

Length of Nickel silver strip bent to a squared-off U shape and soldrered to one side, then the other side soldered on.

 

Two sizes of brass tube were cut, using a piercing saw, which were soldered on to a length of 0.7mm nickel silver wire piston rod.

 

The nickel silver plate assembly was rubbed on an oilstone to thin them down before the tube/wire part was soldered on.

.

Connecting rod located in crosshead by 16BA screw, which is soldered in, leaving a flush rear face. I should really have a nut on the outside face but didn't have any in stock.

 

post-494-0-68419100-1523385276.jpg

Things still to do include the fitting of couplings, cylinder ends, various wheels and valves, works plates and crew figures.

 

 

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