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John B

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About John B

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    Kilmarnock
  • Interests
    Herding cats, collecting air miles and hotel points, playing with balls, tripping the light fantastic, shooting things and occasionally modelling.

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  1. Pipework
    Wright writes.....
    2 hours ago, johnarcher said:

    I was going to click 'like', but that's not strong enough.

    That is simply wonderfully excellent, not only the valve gear but the smooth slow running too.

     

    I had to add a PS - as I was just considering the actual size of all that neat pipework. You have a trained flea with a microscopic soldering iron?

     

    No fleas were harmed in the production of the injector pipework!

     

    My soldering iron is an Antex TC-660. For most 2mm work I use a 1mm chisel tip.

    The secret to soldering this small stuff neatly is to find a way of holding the parts firmly, and controlling the amount of solder you put on. I take thin salami slices off the end of a reel of electrical solder with my scalpel, but several of my friends are now using solder balls to achieve the same end. The bodies of the injectors etc. are brass (turned and filed to shape), and I drilled little holes in them to locate the copper "pipes" so they didn't move while soldering took place.

    The aspect I found most difficult was soldering all the little flanges so they remained perpendicular to the pipes.

     

    Here are a few of pictures of various bits of pipework "in the raw" so you can see how much solder there is(n't).

     

    Live steam injector:

    IMG_8136.JPG

     

    Exhaust steam injector:

    IMG_8139.JPG

     

    Injectors installed on the loco with the beginnings of the water feed valves, and the steam valves on the side of the firebox:

    pipework 1.jpg

     

    Round the other side is the vacuum ejector, ATC valve and boiler feed/clack valve:

    clack valve.jpg

     

    Further back are the ejector control valves (the outline for the body of which was etched, and is the only "cheat" in the pipework) and on top of the firebox the manifold and whistle:

    roof ventilator.jpg


  2. Pickup arrangements in pictures
    Wright writes.....

    The topic of pick-ups came up recently......

     

    Obviously, good pick-up is essential for good running. However, by employing dead-frog points/crossings, then good running is compromised. If such non-conductive track configurations are used, then the maximum number of pick-ups is required.

     

    2104150830_pick-ups03.jpg.b938e1adfc3ad45f3f3900e54c38182d.jpg

     

    I built a London Road Models D2 for Mark Allatt for use on Grantham. Since Grantham has several dead frog configurations, to prevent stalling I installed tender pick-ups as well. The non-insulated side had the pick-ups fixed directly to the frames. Shorting out the wheels on that side would also have worked. 

     

    A better solution all round would be to only use live frogs. 

     

    Since all of LB uses live frogs, I have no need of tender pick-ups. I thus configure them in the simplest way. Since I don't use DCC, the majority of my locos are live-to-one-side. 

     

    1330142768_KingV207.jpg.de124ea2cbefdc2f7d7378ebb2bfc079.jpg

     

    Like this - for a Graeme King V2 on top of a Comet chassis. Small-bore PVC tubing (Mercontrol) obviates stray shorts. 

     

    118930889_pick-ups01.jpg.82e394051f1918bc7642a2f6cfa5a059.jpg

     

    And, the same on an A2/2. Note the tapped hole in the front spacer - to take a shouldered screw. 

     

    85226512_pick-ups02.jpg.56f8f2f4917e17c01b440407efbdd828.jpg

     

    The wheelset I had for the DJH 'Semi' (featured in this month's Railway Modeller) was all-insulated, so two sets of wiper pick-ups were required (better for DCC as well). No sleeve-insulation was necessary. 

     

    1394057465_pick-ups04.jpg.df96a7a67395a4c5e26634dd2884d0bd.jpg

     

    Even if a live chassis is employed, sleeve-insulation is not obligatory; as long as there's plenty of clearance. Note the forward extension to give access for a crocodile clip for routine testing. Also note the use of shouldered screws (or one with a collar) to hold the bogie and pony in place. These are easily tightened-up - much better than using a nut. All the bogie/pony/tender wheels are live, meaning return is via ten points of contact.

     

    The pick-up wire is .45mm nickel silver wire. I've had occasion to investigate poor running on locos using phosphor bronze as pick-up material. I just scrap it and replace it with nickel silver. 

     

    I hope some of this is useful.......


  3. Corridor Connections 2
    Wright writes.....
    30 minutes ago, Jamiel said:

    I had assumed that you use two concertinas for each connection, but one going across the full gap makes much more sense. I will watch out for it snagging. I agree that gaps between coaches are unsightly, even if the gaps have to be widened for the curve radii.  

    I will also keep an eye out for how the wires perform, they are single strand, but connected to muti-strand with plenty of play just inside the body of the end units.

     

    Jamie


    I originally planned one bellow/s for my 108, once fitted it didn’t really look right so I fitted the opposing set and it looks much better, (detail here https://albionyard.wordpress.com/2012/07/08/108-connections/ ).

    I use Dinghams as my couplings on this set, the bellows means the unit moves ‘as one’ too. I’m currently working on a 67-80 era DMU layout so am currently looking at upgrades on the RTR DMU’s. Masokits also do various types of bellows sets but they are a little more complex in assembly.

     

    0BDB7914-A9CE-45F0-98B2-A8B10B76DE74.jpeg


  4. Link to Muz's Bulleid detail list
    Wright writes.....
    9 minutes ago, Barry Ten said:

     

    Thank you, Graham - very informative! I searched in vain for your breakdown of Light Pacific models and details, knowing it would be helpful, but I couldn't find it. I think it's on your website somewhere?


    It could do with updating but my table of the Hornby models and their variations can be found here https://sremg.org.uk/model/lpvar.html


  5. Hornby Fish Van transformed
    Disappointing Hornby LMS 'Refridgerator Van'

    Here's a before and after of one I did a little while ago.   Scratchbuilt underframe, new roof and brass ladders.  These were fitted vans; some had the ladders and ice boxes removed and were used on meat traffic.   Although a few made it through the war, I doubt there were more than penny numbers passed to BR and those wouldn't have lasted long

     

    spacer.png


  6. Regauging NER Petrol Railcar
    Chop Yat - The NER through the North York Moors.

    NER Autocar regauging.
    The two bogies are different, even down to the wheels, the powered bogie has spoked and the trailing has disc with a plastic insert.


    Starting with the trailing bogie, remove it from the chassis and gently ease off the two ends, unfortunately these can’t be reused as we need to move the bogie side frames apart. Next the centre bolster needs to be removed, the bottom half unclips and the two sideframes can be eased off the top part. The top part of the bolster will be found to have four square pegs, these need filing back from the centre line .5mm, the corresponding holes on the sideframes need filing in over by about .5mm so that when the sideframes are remounted they will each be 1mm further out. I also filed back the pick up strip a tiny amount as it was rubbing on the wheels.

     

    20220515_151134-001.jpg.c06ed3b81a90ffdd7a4ae68e53076145.jpg

     

    Next the wheels need attention, first, obviously, they need re gauging, holding the plastic axle sleeve with serrated pliers each wheel can be twisted and persuaded to the desired B2B. The plastic inserts now need working on, the outside flange needs removing as it sits proud of the tyre, then if the back of the insert is filed back until the four circles disappear they will fit in the wheel much better and will be lass likely to catch the pick up strips.  

     

    20220515_143935-001.jpg.40ae5381715e6c86843aa3c83b851703.jpg


    Now the bogie needs re assembling, the two halves of the bolster should clip back together and the screw fixing it to the chassis should hold it all together, a little glue could be run into the holes around the four pegs to stop any movement but it’s a very glue resistant plastic. 

     

    20220515_143534-001.jpg.654438dca5e10565540ed7f16b988dd7.jpg

     

    20220515_144754-001.jpg.3239c6829e49eb4aa09504c7fe9c5c90.jpg

     

    The power bogie is more difficult to remove but easier to re gauge, the body needs to be unclipped and the interior removing, it won’t come off completely as there are pick up wires attaching it to the chassis, there’s no need to remove these. Remove the bogie clip from the top of the gearbox and ease the bogie and propshaft out of the chassis, the propshaft is a tight fit into the gearbox but is better removed to work on the bogie. Next remove the axle keeper plate and the bogie sideframes can be slid out and the wheels removed, re gauge the wheels as before, there’s no inserts here, this bogie has spoked wheels. As on the trailing bogie the square holes on the sideframes need filing in over, as this bogie already has a little sideplay there’s no need to file the pegs which are on the axle keeper plate. Clip it all back together and re fit the bogie, it’s a bit of a squeeze to get it in the right position, there’s a pin to locate the bogie which it also pivots on. 
     

    20220515_150612-001.jpg.ca31f207843b56ea1d0d3c154ab8472c.jpg

     

    20220515_161934-001.jpg.6c2fd657b0d376e1ccdb9fdfa00c193e.jpg


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