Some progress with the J10 has been made but first I’d like to show you a couple of posed shots of the EM gauge Crab. They are same pose but differing angles and the layout is ‘Bowtons Yard’ – so we have an EM loco standing on S4 track!

This shot shows the completed coupling rods of the J10, one set on ‘rod-axles’ in the chassis assembly jig, where both sets were assembled, and one on similar axle jigs in the chassis.

Here the right hand (colour coded red) rods are shown fluted side out but J10s did not have fluted rods so this set will have the flutes towards the main-frames. They would be the left hand rods if the flutes needed to show.

With all axle-mounted gearboxes there is a tendency for the axle box to try to rotate around the axle rather than stay still and rotate the axle. To limit that tendency we need to fit a thing normally called a torque arm. The design of the torque arm is a little more complex if the gearbox axle is also sprung. These two pics show the torque arm arrangement on the J10 chassis. Sorry about the fuzzy one!

Today the full chassis has been assembled, less motor, and unusually for me its a free runner first time. Mind you the CSBs have yet to be threaded through the axlebox links but that has the makings of a tedious fiddle, so I'm waiting as long as possible before fitting them.

Also today I have fretted out the running plate but having completed that job I found that I had not thought carefully enough and made the plate as though the main-frames were my usual design. Unfortunately they are a set I purchased on the S4 B&B stall many years ago and Alan Gibson approaches main-frames rather differently than I. I think that it is going to be necessary to solder the cab to the running plate much earlier than I would normally, just to add strength to what will become the frail cab-end of the running plate when I have done some further metal fretting to accommodate the frames. More about that next time perhaps.