Peckett E Class Locomotives

[PGH]

The title of this thread may seem a little vague, you may wonder where its going (so do I !), but probably guess that its prompted by the acquisition of a Minerva Peckett.  A title of "modifying a Minerva Peckett" is probably a bit too ambitious for what I have in mind at this stage and "adding a bit of extra detail to a Minerva Peckett" doesn't sound very inspiring.  One of the great things about RMweb is that its so easy to post stuff - and its also easy to delete stuff if there is little interest, so we'll see how it goes.

 

I bought the Peckett some time ago, how could I resist, a ready to run industrial in 0 Scale - stick a decoder in, plonk it on the track, job done.  Unfortunately it didn't quite work that way and initially it ran with a distinct "waddle" more like the motion of a duck than a steam loco.  This was due to an out of true wheelset and after contacting Minerva they supplied a new wheelset which seemed to cure the problem.  However other problems later developed so I eventually contacted Minerva again and they supplied me with a replacement chassis. This now seems to have solved the problems.  I must commend Minerva for excellent after sales service and they really do seem very concerned that their customers get satisfaction from their products.

 

Now the loco is operating satisfactorily the question was what to do with it.  My layout is based on the NCB in South Lancashire, an area devoid of  'E's so it would not be based on a particular prototype.  The NCB inherited 6 Class E locos in South Wales plus a similar loco built by Ebbw Vale and acquired two more secondhand, the NCB in Yorkshire had 2 and there was another 1 in Durham - making a total of 12. 

 

The model is quite well detailed, but one area I thought could be improved was the inside of the cab. 

 

 

The first item added was the missing reversing lever using Laurie Griffin casting No.23-005, not exactly right but the nearest I could find to the prototype.  Pipework was added from the manifold to the injector and brake cylinder on the right hand side of the firebox and injector and blower on the left side.

 

 

A new coal bunker will be added on the left hand side and the backplate has been drilled for the new water gauges which will be added after painting, and losing the red !

 

 

New rear sandboxes have been made for fitting in the front corners of the cab at waist height.

 

tbc

Edited July 15, 2018 by PGH

[Giles]

Very nice! Keep it coming!

[PGH]

Peckett 1465 was  ex works on 5/3/1917 and despatched to EVSIC, Ebbw Vale Works, named SIR CHARLES ALLEN and with the fleet number 31.  It passed to PJ&JP at Marine Colliery, Cwm in 10/1936 so possibly transferred there from Ebbw Vale before 1929.  It was still at Marine Colliery at Nationalisation and remained there with a couple of visits to Tredegar Central Workshops until transferred to Hafodyrynys in 1969.  However shortly before that transfer it was rebuilt at Marine Colliery with parts of Peckett 1524 and Ebbw Vale 2.

Edited September 9, 2018 by PGH

[Ruston]

How did you make the sandboxes and their lids?

[Guest Isambarduk]

Might be helpful to some, at the time that I bought my Peckett E Class, I collated some information here: www.davidlosmith.co.uk/Peckett-E-Class.htm

 

David

[PGH]

How did you make the sandboxes and their lids?

 

The sandboxes are just brass blocks machined to size with the corners rounded off and two holes - a 2mm dia. for the lid and a 0.7mm dia. for the operating lever

 

Lids made as follows

 

 

1. Turn 6mm dia. brass bar 2mm dia x 4mm long and 4.5mm dia x 2mm long.  Check 2mm spigot is easy fit in 2mm dia hole.  Cut off as shown.

 

2. Mount 2mm spigot in lathe chuck, face off top of lid and drill 3mm dia as shown

 

3. Cut a slot across the top with a piercing saw

 

4. File a brass strip with a slight taper so the thin side just goes in the slot then force it in - it needs to be a very tight fit.

 

5. Trim off the excess brass strip each side, replace in lathe and very gently turn down to required size 

 

 

 

This should be the final result - its a lot easier when you can take the cab roof off !

Edited July 16, 2018 by PGH

[Guest Isambarduk]

Nifty work, PGH.

 

I made new lids for the sandboxes on my Victory class (Kerr Stuart 0-6-0T by Minerva Model Railways) in a similar sort of way, see here if you're interested:

 

www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/128633-kerr-stuart-‘victory’-class-–-a-7mm-rtr-makeover/page-1#entry2973759

 

 

Half relief sandbox lid (left) and machined replacement (right)

 

David

[Andrew Young]

Your Peckett looks great, thanks for putting the info and photos up here. I too have a Minerva Peckett that I think could do with some extra detail, so this thread is very useful as is David Smith’s Page. I’m tempted to modify mine with a rear bunker like 1010/1903 had, but unsure yet as to whether I’ll take the plunge to modify it that far!

 

Cheers,

Andrew

[81A Oldoak]

Very nice work by PGH. 

[brianthesnail96]

Lovely work as ever PGH and your loco histories are always of interest.

[PGH]

 

 

Bunker and sandboxes temporarily bolted into place before painting - to make sure it all goes back in the cab OK.  Some adjustment may be needed when its finally fixed to get the sandboxes tight into the front corners. 

[PGH]

 

 

 

Cab detail ready to go back, coal will be added to bunker top and bottom when its back in.  There should of course be more pipework on top of the firebox but the manifold is fairly delicate and I wouldn't want to drill any more holes in it !

[PGH]

Lamp Irons were added front and rear:-

 

 

 

These were simply made from brass strip and wire -

 

 

1.  Drill two holes in strip

2.  Bend strip as shown

3.  Insert wire bent in 'U' shape into holes and clamp strip at 'B' with spring clip to close joint at 'A'

4.  Silver solder at 3 points shown in red

5.  Cut off excess material as required for final shape

Edited July 28, 2018 by PGH

[south_tyne]

Wow that's great work - very impressive!

[RGSrr]

This is very clever, for PGH to say " These were simply made from brass strip and wire " is another one of his understatements !  Looking forward to seeing this "super Peckett" emerge from the shops  

Lamp Irons were added front and rear:-

 

Lamp Irons 001.jpg

 

 

These were simply made from brass strip and wire -

 

Lamp Irons 002.jpg

 

1.  Drill two holes in strip

2.  Bend strip as shown

3.  Insert wire bent in 'U' shape into holes and clamp strip at 'B' with spring clip to close joint at 'A'

4.  Silver solder at 3 points shown in red

5.  Cut off excess material as required for final shape

[PGH]

 I wasn't going to replace the pipework and rodding between the tank and the footplate, but............

 

 

 

For those that might worry about such things the water valves were not handed and the operating lever was on the right side.  Thus the rod connecting the valve to the cab was outside the tank support (adjacent to the cab) on the right hand side and behind the support on the left hand side.

 

 

Edited August 3, 2018 by PGH

[Guest Isambarduk]

ever tried shaping a piece of 20 thou brass into an oval size 2.8mm x 1.5mm and then drilling a 0.45mm hole in the centre,

 

Well, yes.  These days I can do that quite easily on my milling machine but in earlier times I would have drilled the hole first and then shaped the oval around it.  That said, you've made a great job of yours.    David