Warren Shepard 45XX O Gauge Prairie kit build.
Entry posted by ROSSPOP
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This project is another part of my lockdown efforts.
Warren Shepard`s small prairie kit was the only kit of this type available at the time of purchase and I`ve needed to replace the heavy whitemetal kit of the 45XX that I constructed back in 2009.
I`ve never made this make of kit before and was encouraged in my research regarding the quality of his lost wax castings supplied with each kit. I also studied P A D`s 2017 build of this very kit and was made aware of a few of the kit`s short Cummings ( tee! hee!).
The kit has a plethora of guidlines and diagramatical illustrations but no numbered written instructions to follow. Also this is not a tab and slot designed kit. So, if you are shy of soldering and possible anealing as well as shy of riveting this kit is probably not for you.
You are required to work a bit to achieve a good build so I will see how things go.........................
I always start with the coupling rods and for this kit a set of jointed Premier Components are supplied. That saves a few hours work...
The next job is to fabricate some sprung hornblocks and I chose from my broom cupboard a set of Slaters old style nylon honblocks as I needed an adjustable axle ride height.
Once these had been fettled up I used some metal blackening solution to save time later on together with the preparation and blackening of a set of Slaters wheels.
I like to have very smooth backs of the wheel treads to reduce the braking effect of plunger pickups.
Warrens chassis design is made from substantially thick brass etchings so I am using an 80watt bog standard Antex soldering iron with my all time favourite flux Baker`s Fluid which I have been using since the 1960`s.
But before that You will need to mark and drill the brake hanger positions and rear sandbox positions which are not pre etched. I also needed to use some measured scratchings to position the axle ride height as designed for this kit before I cut out the hornblock slots.
Time spent here will save a lot of tears later on. I also marked and drilled out the plunger pickup positions which are best placed at the axle centreline position so as not to impede the wheel suspension movement. I also fettled and soldered up the driving wheel springs so as not to melt the nylon hornblocks.
Having mentioned the lack of tabs and slots , there are two chassis stretchers that are so...... but the slots are etched in the wrong places....more on this easily rectified issue later.
Next is to fettle up and prepare all parts needed for the chassis assembly.
The two cylinder block stretchers are designed to make the whole cylinder assembly completely removeable to which they are very useful parts to keep things square during assembly and soldering up. I needed to cut notches in two of the stretchers to accommodate the hornblock positions. The two stretchers with the incorrect slot positions were sorted out at this stage as they are both required to be the correct height for the two bogie trucks.
The front stretcher I was able to solder to the rear of the chassis block to which it does have corresponding slots and tabs and does not need to be soldered to the chassis sides. Slots have to be cut to accommodate the hornblocks and the brake hanger rod and the plunger pickup positions to make it all removeable.
If you see what I mean.....
Eventually you can produce a very substantial solid chassis frame.....
Here you can see where the original slots are too high in the chassis sides....
It was easy to use this datum to match the height of the front stretcher....
Once all that was sussed.... everything else was plain sailing....
...with the exception of some crude springs to replace the originals that are far too strong for this application. My easy method of jigging evrything in place for a trouble free chassis and motion.
And finally a wiz- popping free running basic chassis.....
Next a pleasant evening putting together the two identical bogie trucks from Warrens brilliant quality castings...
The back to finishing off the cylinder block mainframe...... requiring some riveting and metal bending....
and a wee bit of finger burning.....
Knowing that I have a sweet running chassis I ventured on to perhaps the most challenging parts of the kit.
Warren has cunningly produced a printed riveting guide which you cut out and stick to the rear of the loco tank sides, rear, and front footplate and then apply the rivets using these guides.
Apparently the printed guides don`t match up to the etchings and I could`nt be arsed , so I used them to mark all rivets by hand and then rivet in the usual way.......
Job done in one evening.........
And now.... the real build begins..........
I felt the front footplate needed annealing to get that curved bend...... it was a b%$$£r to flatten out aferwards....
...despite a few dents for added realism I just about got away with it.......... this time....
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