Mike 84C Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 Steve, this is all good stuff! I enjoy Irish railways so all the locos are different from the mainland and you put fresh perspective on problems that I have. Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Alder Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 That's a possible solution to my continual steps problem as well- to be filed away and pondered. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londontram Posted August 14, 2015 Author Share Posted August 14, 2015 (edited) Thanks for the comments chaps. Now I made a little compromise with the rear steps as if you look at the photos of the original loco the step bends over the water balance pipe I actually made my step with a slight curve but most of this bulge will be created buy adding a bit of filler and shaping before painting. The water pipe its self was made from in this case a thick walled drinking straw that granddad liberated from his little treasure but it seemed just the right size it was bent to shape by just holding the straw in the position to be bent to a soldering iron that had been switched off and had just lost most of its heat this made the section to be bent very soft while the rest stayed stiff. Once a matching pair was made they were glued in place in holes drilled on the inside of the valance on the running plate with liquid polly cement. To clear the wheels the back of the straw was shaved away slightly so the wheel and connecting rod wouldn't catch it, sorry I don't seem to have a photo of this but you can see the end result in the photos in the last post. While working below the running plate the rear guard iron was made from brass and super glued in place and an attempt was made to tidy the rods up a bit by filing and a little smear of filler in the flutes of the rods giving them a flat look, the rods are always going to be a compromise as they were adapted from the original Hornby ones but hopefully when painted should look OK The second axle on the original has a very large counter balance weight and this was cut from 5 thou plasticard and super glued in place. This and some of the work on the rods can be seen in this next picture, also in this picture I've added the little bit of chassis between the tank and front splasher but after looking at this I realized it was a bit high so this was removed before the glue had a chance to set and new pieces were made and is now at the correct height. Once again thanks for looking in, Steve Edited August 15, 2015 by Londontram 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 G'day Gents That's looking the Bee's knees, a most unusual loco. manna Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buhar Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 Hi Steve, Your early morning update on the big pug is the first thing I look for on rmweb at the moment. Any news today? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londontram Posted August 15, 2015 Author Share Posted August 15, 2015 (edited) Sorry my friend I had a late night last night and treated my self to a lay in and once up had to go out shopping as the good lady and her sister are throwing a bit of a party for some friends tonight and she needed to start preparing the food so I've had no time to my self so far today running round at her beck and call, I'll do some thing either later today or for tomorrow morning promise. Steve Edit added. I like your reference to the big pug as most people who think of the term pug think of either the Caley or L&Y 0-4-0 but its not generally known that in Scotland all the tank locos regardless of size were called pugs by the crews Edited August 15, 2015 by Londontram Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londontram Posted August 16, 2015 Author Share Posted August 16, 2015 (edited) Still working under the running plate I thought i had better do something about the brake gear, the front two axles were OK as they hadn't been disturbed I could leave them as they were with the original Hornby brake detail. but the rear two axles would need something the problem being that even though I had saver the brake gear when moving the axles there was not enough space between the wheels to mount this so a compromise was reached, First some small squares of 15 thou plasticard were cut and super glued end on to the chassis then from 10 thou plasticard some basic brake shaped shoes were cut out and glued to the outer end of the little squares, hope that makes sense. OK there not super detailed but once painted should look alright and at least there's something there. Sorry these are not good pictures as I've taken them with my phone but you can see the brake shoes still in white plasticard in this first picture and you can also make out the rear guard irons made from brass as well. Next job was the rear bunker rails and these after cutting and bending were held in place on the work bench with blue tack while they were soldered, for the uprights I once again used some of the brass strip from the W iron fret I mentioned in an earlier post the upright for the middle of the back being extended up to form the rear lamp bracket. When done the whole assembly was super glued in place and when painted will have coal added Caledonian locos have a strange lamp arrangement as they didn't carry any lamp brackets at running plate level until the LMS took over, instead they had four lamp brackets one at the front on top of the smoke box, one at the rear on top of the bunker rails and one either side of the cab. the lamps used here were special double lenses lamps with lenses to the front and rear so the cab mounted ones could be seen from the front and back a bit like the port starboard lights on the side of a ship. I believe there was an arrangement where the lenses could be turned to show different colours or even turn one side off for when the lamps were mounted at the front or back. I suppose it must have been somewhat like the lenses on a Bardic lamp. Anyway as I said sorry the photos are not good but my phone is not blessed with a good camera for close up work, thanks for looking again Steve Edited August 16, 2015 by Londontram 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrel Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 Looking good can't wait to see it finished. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londontram Posted August 17, 2015 Author Share Posted August 17, 2015 After the bunker rails I added some of the smaller grab handles on the cab side and in front of the front steps the next job was the main hand rail which should have been one piece starting at the cab running around the tank filler to the front of the tank turning towards the boiler then turning again to run along the smoke box and over the front smoke box door before following the same route down the other side - ouch. I had a few goes but ended up just wasting hand rail wire so in the end elected to make it in three parts, both tank sides and a section around the boiler and smoke box. I had some hand rail knobs in stock but they were just the same as the ones Markets do, these were fitted to pre drilled holes and the wire bent to fit each section and fitted. Here's a couple of pictures the first a better one of the bunker showing the rear lamp bracket. and the front lamp bracket and hand rail over the smoke box. One more showing the grab handle and lamp bracket and the coal rails on the cab side and bunker Thanks for looking Steve 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londontram Posted August 18, 2015 Author Share Posted August 18, 2015 (edited) I had to go into Norwich the other week to an appointment at the hospital, this is a regular event and while in Norwich I like to pop in and see a good friend of mine called Tony who does lurk in the shadows on this sight but is more active on the Caledonian forum being one of the associations foremost members those of you who frequent the Caley forum will know who I'm talking about a nicer man you could not find. He models in P4 and is working on a layout based on Blairgowrie a Caledonian railway station cir 1900 we like to have a good chat about anything and everything putting the world to rights but most of all I love his depth of knowledge on all thing Caledonian. Even though not finished I took the loco along for Tony to have a look at and pass a critical eye over, I say critical which is not really fair because Tony is such an inspiration and is always full of encouragement for anybody who makes the effort to model something no mater what gauge it is. We took the opportunity to sit the loco on his layout an even though it was a bit of a balancing act on his P4 track Tony took some photos with his far superior camera and here they are . (That turn table will never balance with the loco where it is) Now one thing Tony has is it seems a limit less stock of spare parts off all descriptions and we were discussing the loco and the next step the dome and chimney and Tony started foraging through boxes and draws full of bagged bits and pieces and came up with a box of assorted resin domes saying "I had these done years ago and will never use them so help your self if you can find one the right size" This is Tony to a T and he always refuses any attempts to pay for anything so a forage in the box came up with a close match which was just a bit to tall but being resin would easily sand down and its this dome you can see sat on the loco in Tony's photos above. in his stock of bits he came up with a couple of Furness type valve chest lubricators which will go on the smokebox front after the loco has been painted. Back to my poor camera and here's a picture of the loco back home on my work bench with the new lowered dome, this was done by filing about 1 to 2mm of the top then first filing then sanding the bell top profile back onto the top Thanks for looking and next time the crowning glory - the chimney. Steve Edited August 18, 2015 by Londontram 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flubrush Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 (edited) Thanks for looking and next time the crowning glory - the chimney. Steve, Would your loco have a brass star round the smokebox handle? :-) Jim. Edited August 18, 2015 by flubrush Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londontram Posted August 18, 2015 Author Share Posted August 18, 2015 Most likely but I fitted the smokebox door handle before I managed to get a fret with some on (Again from Tony) so might try to remove the handle and fit it. The handle is only fixed with super glue and as the handle is made from brass that has been sweat soldered together and is quite strong it should be possible to remove it with out doing any damage, I'll then paint the loco first before refitting it. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londontram Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 (edited) First of all I'd like to apologize to any one who follows the Q & A thread as I've been discussing the chimney on there but in case some of you haven't seen it I;ll run through it here. I was having a bit of trouble obtaining a chimney of the right size and profile, now this is a long running problem going back about a year or so as I wanted an almost identical chimney for another project a Caledonian Dunalastair I was converting from a T9 and the failure to obtain the chimney pretty much brought that build to a stop. There is a supplier of parts who lists these items as available but several attempts to contact them have either been ignored or have received a rude response, I could say more but wont but this was going to be a problem that could stop this project like it had the previous one. So after receiving no joy in my hunt for a chimney I posted on the Q & A thread about the possibility of making my own and received lots of helpful advice. One suggestion by fellow member "Northroader" of using sleeved brass tube solder and filler appealed to my bodging nature so thought I'd give it a go. Two lengths of brass tube were obtained from the model shop the main one being 5mm (Or 4.64mm if you want to split hairs) and a second length that slid over it like a sleeve, first the 5mm tube was cut to give me a section the same size as the chimney height and a second section was cut 2mm long from the second bit of brass tube to give me a collar. A hunt in my tool shed came up with a selection of washers and back with the plans two were selected that matched the size of the base and top lip of the chimney, these only needed a few minuets work with a needle file to make them able to slip over the tube and the first two picture shows first the tube laid together on the work bench with two cast white metal chimneys I had in stock showing how the new one fell between the other other two size wise. The taller one is a Caley jumbo chimney the short one I don't know what it was for but it was of such shocking quality so was virtually unusable any way. The second picture it the tubes with the washers laid together the lower one was bent around a former to shape it to the same profile as the smoke box. I started to solder it up pausing after each touch to let the heat disperse before applying the next bit of solder this way bit by bit I could build up the basic profile with out it all falling apart as I soldered it, then half an hours work with some needle files produced this. and when held against the plans the results started to look pretty encouraging. Rather than push my luck with the soldering iron even though its a fairly low wattage one I will finish off with some filler to get the final profile but I hope you'll agree that the end result was worth the effort and also gives me the scope to produce others including the one for the Dunalastair. Thanks for looking and once again sorry if any of you have already seen this on the other thread. Steve Edited August 19, 2015 by Londontram 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrg1 Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 First of all I'd like to apologize to any one who follows the Q & A thread as I've been discussing the chimney on there but in case some of you haven't seen it I;ll run through it here. I was having a bit of trouble obtaining a chimney of the right size and profile, now this is a long running problem going back about a year or so as I wanted an almost identical chimney for another project a Caledonian Dunalastair I was converting from a T9 and the failure to obtain the chimney pretty much brought that build to a stop. There is a supplier of parts who lists these items as available but several attempts to contact them have either been ignored or have received a rude response, I could say more but wont but this was going to be a problem that could stop this project like it had the previous one. So after receiving no joy in my hunt for a chimney I posted on the Q & A thread about the possibility of making my own and received lots of helpful advice. One suggestion by fellow member "Northroader" of using sleeved brass tube solder and filler appealed to my bodging nature so thought I'd give it a go. Two lengths of brass tube were obtained from the model shop the main one being 5mm (Or 4.64mm if you want to split hairs) and a second length that slid over it like a sleeve, first the 5mm tube was cut to give me a section the same size as the chimney height and a second section was cut 2mm long from the second bit of brass tube to give me a collar. A hunt in my tool shed came up with a selection of washers and back with the plans two were selected that matched the size of the base and top lip of the chimney, these only needed a few minuets work with a needle file to make them able to slip over the tube and the first two picture shows first the tube laid together on the work bench with two cast white metal chimneys I had in stock showing how the new one fell between the other other two size wise. The taller one is a Caley jumbo chimney the short one I don't know what it was for but it was of such shocking quality so was virtually unusable any way. Chimney choices.jpg The second picture it the tubes with the washers laid together the lower one was bent around a former to shape it to the same profile as the smoke box. chimney with rim and base.jpg I started to solder it up pausing after each touch to let the heat disperse before applying the next bit of solder this way bit by bit I could build up the basic profile with out it all falling apart as I soldered it, then half an hours work with some needle files produced this. Chimney finished .jpg and when held against the plans the results started to look pretty encouraging. chimney against the plans.jpg Rather than push my luck with the soldering iron even though its a fairly low wattage one I will finish off with some filler to get the final profile but I hope you'll agree that the end result was worth the effort and also gives me the scope to produce others including the one for the Dunalastair. Thanks for looking and once again sorry if any of you have already seen this on the other thread. Steve You could try using whitemetal solder (90 degree) for filling-it has a fairly high surface tension, and can be built up. I was using Carr's Red Label Solder for my son's Warhammer figures, and then filing smooth. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londontram Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 I have three types of solder one a white metal one the second a multi cored electrical one and the third is a big roll of plumbers solder which is the one I get on with best and used it here, it seems to fall half way between the other two and is quite easy to build up as it puddles and can be moved around with a thin tip on the iron with out to much heat transfer to other parts of the job. I also used this solder when fitting the steps which with its low heat transfer qualities allowed me to fit the steps with out any damage to the adjacent plasticard running plate. I find the white metal solder to be lumpy and hard to spread and doesn't flow into joints very well the electrical one turns to a very runny liquid when hot and seems to spread the heat very quickly too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Alder Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 100 degree solder flows a lot easier then the 90 - I get mine from C&L- and wouldn't go back to the 90 again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 84C Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Now why did"nt I think of that ? Must use it on an amazingly ugly CIE 2-6-0.. Thanks Steve. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londontram Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 Now why did"nt I think of that ? Must use it on an amazingly ugly CIE 2-6-0.. Thanks Steve. Have you got a picture of it Mike? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londontram Posted August 20, 2015 Author Share Posted August 20, 2015 Work progresses behind the scenes and I've started stripping the chassis down for final fettling and painting. I've also added some filler to the bottom rim of the chimney to finish that off as well but before doing that I couldn't resist sitting it on the loco to see what it looked like and here are a few pictures. Remember it's only sat in place and needs a final tidy up so if it looks a little off set that will be sorted when I finally glue it in place. This is fast approaching the painting stage and then the dreaded lining never a job I look forward two but hay we've come this far. Any way thanks again for looking Steve 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 84C Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Evening Steve, your 0-8-0t is looking really good, black or Caley blue? either way it will be an impressive model. i do not have a picture of an ugly CIE 2-6-0 that I can print ! But if you check out Mike Morant on google,/Smugmug he has some brilliant b/w photos of CIE locos. Its a K3 you are looking for and about as far removed from a Gresley as you could get ! Enjoy! MIke Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londontram Posted August 21, 2015 Author Share Posted August 21, 2015 (edited) Hello Mike, Black only I'm afraid as even though its got an air pump this was for the brakes on the 30 ton mineral wagons and not for use on passenger trains, but as its going to be Caley black it will need the red, white lining of the period. I think people use BR 1950s lining as I'm pretty sure no one does lining for Caley freight or for that matter even passenger locos where I think some people use LNER lining for apple green locos. Anyway I've got that pleasure to come first it needs spraying and I think I;ll go for a satin black rattle can as its black all over and I've had good results with these in the past. Steve PS tried getting on to Smugmug but as not a member it wont let me in and at this time of night I cant face all the faf of signing up so will try later Edited August 21, 2015 by Londontram Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 84C Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Hi Steve, just Google Mike Morant, it lets me view the photos without joining Smugmug. Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londontram Posted August 22, 2015 Author Share Posted August 22, 2015 Hi Steve, just Google Mike Morant, it lets me view the photos without joining Smugmug. Mike Yeah done that but its like hunting a needle in a hay stack, any clue which link to follow Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 84C Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Try google MikeMorant.smugmug.com/Trains.Railways-British-Isles./Irish-railways-1954/i-sfZcPhW/A that"s the one on the list with a K3 sat on I think Galway t;table. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londontram Posted August 22, 2015 Author Share Posted August 22, 2015 (edited) Oh dear Mike I can see what you mean, it looks like a cross between a Midland 2p sat on a 4F chassis with the front pony wheels thrown in for good measure and that smoke box door looks like it should be on some export loco to Africa. Well it is different I'll give you that and would make an interesting model though that flat bottom to the smoke box looks a bit awkward but doable. Steve Edited September 12, 2015 by Londontram Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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