Shipston-on-Stour Branch

That's all looking rather fine, I must say.

Thanks, Captain!  I forgot to say that I am not springing this chassis and it certainly speeds up the process.  Even so, I hasten to add that speed should never be the aim when building a soldered kit.  Tony Wright emphasizes the "tack first, then if all is well, solder the entire part(s)".  This is very good advice.

 

As an aside, my first white metal kits were from Keysers and Wills back in the late 1960s - I built a 4F and a 60XX King among other things.  Some of the fettling was done in a tent(!) in what was then called Westmorland to while away the summer evenings when doing geological fieldwork.  The modern kits certainly have better chassis and motors, while some things never change - Romford wheels, for example!

This is very interesting to me as I am also engaged in working on the Comet Dean Goods chassis, having inherited a part-finished project from another member. Like you I found the clearance for the gearbox was tight.

 

I'm running into another problem now, which is that the torque from the motor seems to be very low - either that or there is undetected stiffness somewhere in my chassis. But it runs freely without the gearbox in place, so I'm a bit puzzled. My first thought was that I might have damaged the motor, but having substituted a second one, the running characteristics are unchanged. More investigate work required, I think...

The struggle was in filing down the center axle bushes. I have yet to test the motor/gearbox but in past builds the gearbox could be stiff because it's not quite square. I can tun the shaft with my fingers so mine shouldn't be too tight. Remember a little light oil goes a long way.

Thank you - yes, I also had a struggle with the center axle bushes! When you do wire up and test the loco, I'd be interested to compare notes on starting voltages and so on. Mine won't start running until around 6 volts on DC, much higher than for my other kitbuilt locos, and while the running is smooth and free of tight spots at slow speeds, it stalls as soon as it encounters any additional load such as on a curve or when required to pull anything! I've removed the gearbox again and all seems fine, so I'm wondering if I managed to damage the motor in some way when removing the rear spindle, perhaps by over-heating. In any case, your model looks to be progressing very nicely and a lined Dean Goods should look a treat.

Thank you - yes, I also had a struggle with the center axle bushes! When you do wire up and test the loco, I'd be interested to compare notes on starting voltages and so on. Mine won't start running until around 6 volts on DC, much higher than for my other kitbuilt locos, and while the running is smooth and free of tight spots at slow speeds, it stalls as soon as it encounters any additional load such as on a curve or when required to pull anything! I've removed the gearbox again and all seems fine, so I'm wondering if I managed to damage the motor in some way when removing the rear spindle, perhaps by over-heating. In any case, your model looks to be progressing very nicely and a lined Dean Goods should look a treat.

How did you cut off the rear spindle?  Comet do make a statement about this.  I hope the motor was not fried or the journals spoiled.

I used a cutting disk in a Dremel-type tool. I've cut a few of these off over the years but I don't look forward to it as there's always a chance of dwelling too long and over-heating the spindle.