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Crimson Rambler

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  1. @Tricky I have an electronic copy of GA 91-3628 Class N 0-6-0T which is the one you want as Slater's based its kit on the batch built by the Vulcan Foundry. I will e-mail it to you but please do be aware it contains some errors/departures. An example of the former is the top link of the couplings will not clear the hook due to draughtsman copying 78-1055 (the drawing all of the Derby-built earlier 0-6-0T were built to) without thinking! An example of a departure is the cab step plate not being far enough behind the outside frame nor is the platform cut away at the cab entrance. I think this has been discussed in an earlier post. Crimson Rambler
  2. @David Hunt Do you think SWJ missed a trick concerning boiler washouts? Crimsom Rambler
  3. I was asked if I would help man the S7 stand at Warley Exhibition on the Sunday. This was something I was happy to do, indeed it reminded me very much of the earliest days of the S7 Society. So I took my toy train for a jolly to Birmingham which necessitated it being temporarily assembled in order that it looked something like a locomotive rather than the collection of funny shaped lumps that represents its normal condition. While in this condition I took a few piccies before it is dismantled again to permit the boiler clothing plates to be fitted and what the Midland called the moulding pieces to be added in the cab around the firebox. Since my last post I have removed the ABC Mini Gooch motor/gearbox combination and substituted one of Slater's final drive 'boxes - a solution I much prefer because it is more compact and permits the introduction of some flexibility in the drive line thereby enabling the trailing axle to be given a bit of movement via its Slater's horn guides. Unfortunately this substitution has left a huge hole in the back of the firebox/ashpan which would not have been needed if .... The replacement nickel silver cab floor is visible in one of the views. Its rear corners are provided with two 'ears' which locate within what would have been the O gauge wheel slots if the platform (or running plate) had been used as the kit designer intended. This, in my opinion represents an important advantage of S7 – while it represents a gain of only one millimetre on the gauge it delivers over 2 millimetres on the wheel back-to-back dimension. The cab steps are wonky because they are just wedged in. Crimson Rambler
  4. I think the discussions have covered most of the points concerning the safety valves on Mr J's smaller boilers. I would however add that SWJ was reputedly a cautious man who liked to advance in small stages. The presence of a lock-up safety valve gave an indication to the world if the Salter valves had been tampered with, for if they were not blowing but the lock-up was, then something was wrong. As pointed out the latter was set to lift at 5lbs/sq in higher pressure. But why fit in effect two systems? I believe Mr J preferred to have what normally would be the main safety valves located on the barrel so their operation reduced the chance of water being picked up with the escaping steam. The ebullition is far more violent around the firebox where typically around 60-75% of the steam was generated - with the balance of course coming from the barrel. If water is picked up it makes a great deal of mess – to the engine, the surroundings and any unlucky people in the vicinity. The smaller boilers such as the A, B, C, D, E and F were fitted with four gusset stays which tied the firebox outer wrapper plate to the outer door plate (backhead). They supported the area of doorplate above where the direct stays ceased. The steam load on the roof of the inner firebox was carried by typically eight sets of roof girders running fore and aft in the steam space. These girders were supported in turn by hangers whose upper ends were connected to a pair of circumferentially disposed tee-irons curved to suit and riveted to the inside of the wrapper plate. The intention was to obtain adequate support for the inner firebox while providing flexibility to accommodate its growth and movement in service. However the downside of this design was that there was a lot of 'structure' above the crown potentially restricting access to it for descaling so the manhole carrying the lock-up valve greatly improved the access. These designs of boiler only contained two washout plugs above the crown - these were fitted in the doorplate left and right roughly at about the working water level. There were none fitted in the firebox wrapper plate although some of SWJ's earliest Midland boilers had been fitted with what has been called a mid-feather. It resembled a transverse radial groove fitted into the inner crown plate with the intention of introducing flexibility. Boilers so fitted can be readily identified by the presence externally of a circular cap located roughly halfway along the firebox and 9-10ins or so below the handrail. This detail did not last. Crimson Rambler
  5. And just to demonstrate I was not idle during my period of internet isolation here are some piccies of the Class N 0-6-0T:- I have done more but it hasn't been photographed. Crimson Rambler
  6. It is only in the last few days that I have had my internet connexion restored. For varous reasons that I won't bore you with my old provider and the new one demonstrated a level of incompetence that sadly is all too common nowadays. Thus it was only today that I noted the discussion by @Nick Lawson and @Compound2632 regarding the brake pull rods on Mr J's 0-6-0s. The Class B, which were 4ft - 10ins engines, were originally built without brakes, when they were added later they were given outside pull rods (due to the smaller wheels) but the final section from the rearmost brake stretcher was inside to effect the connexion onto the steam brake cylinder - which was horizontal. The Dubs Class H (5ft - 2ins and classed as express goods engines) were the first 0-6-0s to be built with steam brakes. In this initial arrangement the cylinder was vertical - an arrangement used on one only (I think) roughly contemporary batch of 2-4-0s. These Dubs engines were the only large-wheeled 0-6-0s fitted with outside pull rods and also all of the rods were visible. The next engines Stephenson's, Derby's and Beyer Peacock's versions of the Class H (again 5ft - 2ins) had the now standard horizontal format for the steam brake cylinder in conjunction with two inside pull rods - everything was inside. The 1698 class came next (4ft 10ins) and these had a similar arrangement of pull rods as the Class Bs, indeed given that some of the Bs had double brake hangers whereas the 1698s all had single, I suspect the layout used on the 1698s was essentially a copy of that developed for the Bs. The 1798 class comprising 10 engines was the first to be provided with the single inside pull rod layout and this then became the standard for all of the remaining classes - viz Neilson Goods, J, J2 and M. Crimson Rambler
  7. In view of the discussion a few pages back on Midland locomotive lamps perhaps this drawing might be of interest:- It was made by F C Hambleton who was one of the better draughtsmen, so while it is not an official drawing it should be reasonably accurate. Crimson Rambler
  8. @GWRSwindon - I don't seem to visited RMWeb as much recently as I used to despite the many interesting things on it - particularly those posted by @Compound2632 - too many other things to be done at the moment hence also the delay in re-posting the L&YR curve until now. Crimson Rambler
  9. The following are the only Midland turntable photos I can recall - Derby negatives DY 1011 & DY 1012. They were taken at Leeds some time before 1902/3, but as Baxter has No 1346 rebuilt in 1899 and the engine still has its original splashers I suspect it predates the latter by say a year or two. Unfortunately the girder is in shadow but I think it is possibly red oxide(?) - it certainly does not appear to have been finished like a contemporary bridge girder. Crimson Lake
  10. In response to the request made by @DenysW the LYR curve and explanation are reposted. Apologies for the delay my filing system is next to non-existant. Crimson Rambler
  11. Midland sleepers were nominally 9ft x 10ins x 5ins, however there was a tax on imported timber during the nineteenth century 9ft and over in length hence an 1884 drawing of MR 85lbs outside key track states the sleepers as being 8ft 11ins long. Not sure if or when the tax was repealed but certainly later drawings referred to sleepers being 9ft. long. Incidentally, shortly following the arrival of Worthington in 1905 the Midland fitted two 12ins wide sleepers (referred to as joint sleepers) as the first and last ones in 45ft rails. The joint sleepers were to increase the support at the joint. It started with the 100lbs rail 1907 before spreading to the 85lbs rail in 1911. Regarding sleeper wagons and ordinary sleepers it was the practice in some companies to fit the chairs to the sleepers off-site and transport them to the re-laying point stowed upside down in the wagons. The height of the chairs providing a secure handhold albeit for a heavy load. I suspect the Midland adopted this practice but I'm not sure when it started. One photo I have seen (very early twentieth century) taken during the replacement of set of points (turnout), suggest the timbers were chaired as they were laid so were not delivered already chaired or identified with various location marks implying a previous test assembled. However, I have seen a photograph taken in 1914 of an almost complete single slip together with two additional common crossings laid on flat ground alongside a pair of running lines suggesting a trial assembly before installation. Not sure if it was to become a universal practice or one reserved for more complicated trackwork - my suspicion is the latter. Crimson Rambler
  12. Perhaps better late than never - on page 213 @Compound2632 referred to a photo of Derby with NSR break vans in the foreground. It was probably taken around 1885 or 1890 - J B Radford, a man with an abiding interest in Derby Works has quoted both timeframes over the years. For what its worth I favour the former if only because the 4-4-0 still has its number displayed in an arc. The date is however before No. 4 shed or the Hulland St works bridge appeared. Plenty of dumb-buffered ex PO wagons for everyone to admire! Crimson Rambler
  13. @Compound2632 - you are not alone in being a slow worker. Two Slater's wagon kits taken from the pile waiting to be built:- The D299 is somewhat younger as that cost £6 something (£6 - 22?) Crimson Rambler
  14. Plaistow (LT&S) had a conventional coaling stage with a water tank on top - the LMS introduced a conveyor belt as seen here. Crimson Rambler
  15. Regarding the larger railway companies running fleets of loco coal only wagons in conjunction with PO/colliery wagons, we might perhaps find a (partial) parallel with the oil companies when they used to own and operate very large tanker fleets e.g. BP over 100 ships. Yet large as they were they could not carry all of their company's oil, the shortfall was made up by chartering from tanker owning shipowners as necessary. Conversely if trade dropped off then the charters could be reduced. Having their own ships gave the oil companies theoretically at least more bargaining power when agreeing charter rates. Crimson Rambler
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