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A Tender for No.184 - part 1


MikeOxon

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blog-0644638001442096151.jpgIt's been a while since my last entry in this blog - lots of summertime activities getting in the way of modelling! I've also had that common modeller's problem of having so many things to do that it's been hard to decide where to start.

 

I'm afraid that I have, once again, ignored Blanche's petulant pleas for new dresses and got down to the more mundane task of building a tender for No.184. I produced an outline drawing for this tender by starting from a side-on photograph of what appears to be a similar tender behind 0-6-0 No.244

 

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I then used AutoSketch to trace around the drawing and produce a cutting diagram for my Silhouette 'Portrait' cutter. I have used a diamond dressing tool as a scriber in the Silhouette pen holder, to mark out the cut lines onto brass sheet.

 

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The result showed that there was some slight movement of the scriber tip during the process and I think, in future, I shall dedicate a pen holder to this purpose and fix the scriber firmly inside the holder, by means of a ring of 'Milliput' putty.

 

cuttingplan.jpg.1adeea8840d89aa1b04650f6dcb91976.jpg

 

 

After marking out, I cut out the components using jewellers snips, before finishing the edges of the frames with a variety of needle files, to produce the curves around the axle guards. For the oval cut-out in the frames, I drilled a 3mm diam. hole and then opened it out to the correct shape by using a round needle file.

 

Before folding the tender body, I formed the flare at the top of the sides by rolling the brass around a wooden dowel. I then made a number of short cuts into the rolled top, where the sides are folded from the back panel, so that the flare can be continued around the corners.

 

makingtheflare.jpg.f488db2488fab683bafe8dda05803d59.jpg

 

 

The main structure is now complete, although there is a lot of finishing work to be done - axle boxes, etc.......

 

tenderassy.jpg.724e756dfa011c664a120bfed4bfa349.jpg

 

 

Things are now moving again but there are several other projects waiting in the wings. My train of 4-wheelers is in need of a break (sic) van, which I intend to base on the well-known photograph taken at New Milford in 1873 - an earlier version than the V2, for which a kit is available from the BGS, but it's more fun to scratch-build. :)

 

Mike

Edited by MikeOxon
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  • RMweb Gold

Hi Mike, good to see the tender taking shape. Out of interest, what was mounted on that large rear overhang - a toolbox?

 

I know what you mean about having too many things on the go. I've also fallen into that old trap recently :-)  

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Some of those old tenders seem to be liberally sprinkled with toolboxes or whatever.  The simple answer is that I have no idea what was carried in them all!  I am also not sure what the fuel 'briquettes' are, on the original photo of No.244.  Any information will be welcome.

 

The structure of my tender came out to be quite simple in the end but I spent rather a long time thinking about it and playing with paper models.  In the end, I based the model on a rectangular brass plate, with the chassis below and tender sides and back above, 

 

There is another reason for my tardiness in that I shall have to motorise the engine, once it has a 'dumb' tender.  I'm still a bit concerned about some of the clearances for the outside cranks and may have to face a further re-design of the loco chassis.  It seems that my rather casual methods are being dragged into a more rigorous attention to mechanical tolerances :)

 

Mike

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Mike,

Have a look at Hollywood Foundry. I use their rigs to motorise the tenders of my pre-grouping locos. I find it makes life easier and you can have a larger motor than you would otherwise have

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Thank you Paul.  It's certainly a thought but I feel I should face the challenge of motorising a loco sooner or later :)

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  • RMweb Premium

It's nice to see how you're able to get the profile cutter to make up a brass tender, let me know when you start producing O scale kits. I don't think the "briquettes" are that, they're just big blocks of coal. Coal hewn out of a seam would have a laminated look as it was part of a strata, and could have had any projections knocked off, making a very rough rectangular shape. They could then build a "wall" with a slight batter on either side of the tender, and pile loose coal behind, with less chance of any shaking off when the old girl hit warp speed. Anyway, forget summer, get on with the main job in hand!, glad to see some progress.

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Thank you for your thoughts about 'briquettes', Northroader.  I've got distracted again by work on a 'break' (brake) van to go with my early coaches.  I'm now waiting for the MJT COMPENSATING WAGON W-IRONS (RCH/GWR TYPE) to come back into stock.

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I would agree the 'briquettes' are coal lumps. It's sometime surprising how large these can be when looking at 19thC pictures. I think we are more used to coal that has been graded for domestic use. I imagine machinery at the coal face produces smaller pieces that would be easier to handle mechanically, and there was precious little of that in the 19thC.

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  • RMweb Gold

Mike,

re you waiting for the W-irons for six wheel vehicles?  They do have some but are waiting to put them back on the site as they are making a new set with the middle axle with inside supports so that it goes round tighter corners.  (D0es that make sense?)  If you email them they will contact you so you can place an order for them, or you could just phone them.  I know as I received some at the end of last week.

 

Clever modelling as ever.

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Many thanks for your comments, Winander and Chris - I've been away from the blog and from modelling for the last month or so, while travelling in the Far East. 

 

I shall write something in the forum about the Sabah (formerly, North Borneo) Railway, which I didn't know existed until I saw it running south from Kota Kinabalu and took a few photos!

 

Now I must get back to all those unfinished projects ............... :)

 

Mike

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I have a couple of these tenders to build too.  I got mine from the Broad Gauge Society as they go with their whitemetal BG Rover kit but sold separately; they also sell the springs separately too which are nice lost wax castings.  I am building mine in P4 as converted to standard gauge of course.

 

Regards

 

Peter

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  • RMweb Gold

Mike, just following up on this a little while later :-)

 

Previously in these comments I asked what was mounted on the rear overhang of the tender. My interest has now turned to the large box mounted at the back of the tender tank itself in your photo above.

 

I have been discussing a similar box on a Dean Goods tender (below) with Miss P, and we are wondering what it might be for. It seems an inconvenient place for a toolbox, and it is rather large. Anything you recognize from Broad Gauge days maybe?

 

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Good questions, Mikkel.  It seems as though, just like Victorian passengers, enginemen were used to taking a lot of 'luggage' with them!  I've often wondered, for example, why jacks were carried around on the footplates of many engines.  It seems that a lot of 'self-help' was expected, rather than relying on a breakdown crew.

 

I have the BGS kit for a Broad Gauge tender of the 'Iron Duke' type.  The instructions for the kit (FL 07) state:

 

"TOOL BOX
15. Fold up the sides and add the lid along with three short pieces of wire to represent the hinges. The box should have four turned decorative columns, on each corner and two on the rear dividing it into three but these will be difficult to fabricate. The date when rear toolboxes were discarded is not known but probably coincided with rebuilding"

 

This does at least confirm that these large boxes were indeed tool boxes and that they could be divided into several compartments.  These instructions refer to an article on 'A Study of GWR Tenders' in 'Broadsheet No.18' but my own collection of this BGS Journal doesn't extend back that far.

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