Bachmann Ivatt 4MT in EM for South Pelaw
During South Pelaw’s outing to Expo EM North a few weekends ago I noticed that on several occasions we had a large number (well 3) K1s lined up in the Stella Gill approach roads. In the interests of variety, and because I like their rather stark lines, I thought it would be good to add an Ivatt 4MT to our pool of available locos.
I have not seen any evidence of 4MTs at South Pelaw, but it is entirely plausible for one of the engines shedded at Darlo, Gateshead, or Teeside would have at least worked in to Stella Gill. So I bought a very cheap secondhand Bachmann model with a broken return crank from Hatton's, an Alan Gibson EM conversion set, and off we go.
Further inspection following the not entirely straightforward separation of body and chassis revealed a broken pickup, but nothing that can’t easily be fixed.
First job was to sort out the wheels, crankpins, and balance weights. The first set of balance weights I made from black plastikard were based on the Bachmann wheels, but then I looked carefully at some prototype photos, and the central balance weights not only have a different arc length, but also a smaller inside radius. I think the Brassmasters etch may also be incorrect here ...
Next problem was the coupling rods — the holes for the crankpins in the Bachmann rods are rather large. Normal practice would be to solder Alan Gibson crankpin bushes into these holes (see the downloads on the AG website), but in this case the bushes were a very sloppy fit and I was not confident about locating them centrally. To my delight I found that Dave Franks of Lanarkshire models does an etched set, and these arrived today. The centres are spot on for the Bachmann chassis, and although not finished yet, they are going to be a big improvement over the Bachmann offering.
My initial investigations suggest that clearances behind the cross head will be OK. We will see...
Richard
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