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The Johnster

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  1. The Johnster

    A High Level pug for Cwmdimbath Colliery

    By The Johnster,


    Nickel silver chassis build
    If anyone is following the saga of Cwmdimbath (Layout Topics ‘South Wales Valleys in the 1950s), you will be aware that I picked up a cheap Hornby L&Y pug on the ‘bay a while back, which never ran very well and has now died with a badly worn nylon gear cog, and replacements are not to be found.  But I like these little engines and didn’t want to consign it to the ‘when I get my round tuit’ box, and decided on resurrecting it with a High Level chassis kit. I ordered a motor and 80:1 gears from HL at the same time. 
     
    Now, I’m taking a bit of a punt here, as HL kits are fairly complex by my standards and definitely at the scary end of my comfort zone.  I’ve built a successful nickel-silver chassis back in the day, for a Westward 64xx, but that was a fold-up job.  But that was 35 years ago, and the pug has more bits, and outside cylinders & motion.  
     
    So I’ve been working up the momentum to start this project.  The weekend before last I dismantled the loco and put it in a box with the kit parts, and labelled the box ‘Pug project’, a declaration of intent that amounted to a full commitment, and actually made an admittedly tentative start earlier this evening.  
     
    The kit instructions are in the order of, cab details, chassis, gearbox/motor, wheels, and final assembly, but there seems to be no need to do the cab stuff first.  As there is no point in doing it at all unless the chassis runs properly, I’ve decided to start with the chassis and come back to the cab last before final assembly. 
     
    First job: separate the main frame side pieces from the fret and file down the pips where it was broken out.  Next is to solder the main bearings into the holes in the frames, which entailed reaming the holes until the bearings fitted, and soldering. This entailed quite a bit of gentle reaming, taking about an hour, as I was concerned not to allow any more play in the fit between the holes and the bearings than I had to, as smooth running is dependent on accurate alignment of the bearings.  I decided not to attempt compensation for the front axle; the kit offers this but it felt like a step too far for me!
     

     
    I’m sure many of you will find my soldering a bit crude, but the bearings are in and the next stage is to file down the part of them that protrudes on the inside face of the sideframe, behind the piece in this photo.  This is a penalty of working in 00, and has to be done to provide clearance between the frames for the foldup gearbox. 
     
    Confucius him say journey of a thousand leagues begin with single step, and I’ve managed two without completely b*ggering the job up so far, yay me!
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