Coulsdon Works

[John Tomlinson]

Not entirely clear from your pics, as we don't have one that is at wheel centre level.

 

I suspect the whole loco body is sitting a bit high above the wheels and the cylinders are too high relative to the wheels as well. I wonder if in fact the driving wheels are the right size, or a bit small?

 

The boiler side handrails and what I assume to be the regulator pipe look to be too high on the boiler.

 

The coupling rods in the picture of 61041 are parallel sided not with convex sides, also should be fluted, assuming all B1 rods are the same.

 

I think Keith is right about the tender, although I've always found this quite a tricky topic.

 

John.

 

 

[thegreenhowards]

Hi Keith,

 

Thanks for the comments on the tender, I think the 3,500 gallon  erosion you mention is the one fitted to the V4s and K4s and had rather bigger cut outs than my B1 version.

 

Here is  my V4 by way of comparison.

My K1 has a standard 4,200 gallon tender.

 

The B1 tender is here

 

Sadly, it seems to be somewhere in between! To my eyes, about right for a B1 at the rear, but with a deeper cut out at the front. Interestingly, I have a coarse scale B1 bought for peanuts some time ago with a view to converting to finescale and this has a tender with very similar cut outs.

Is it possible that some B1s had bigger cut outs? If not, I’m not sure what I can do about it, but to my eyes it’s probably nearer the K1 version, so I’ll probably live with it for now, and maybe build a replacement in due course.

 

Andy

[thegreenhowards]

1 hour ago, Keith Turbutt said:

The tender looks like the smaller Group Standard 3500 gal with long cutaways to the tops of the tenders as fitted to some J39s.

I don't think any B1s were fitted with this type. I think all (?) B1s had the larger 4200gal group standard tenders.

 

Also, if doing a Scottish example don't forget to alter the corners of the fairing under the running plate. These had rounded corners. Gresley style.

Good point about the rounded corners. I also need to add electric lights for my chosen prototype 61352 - goodness knows where I’ll get them from in 7mm scale. LMS do good ones in 4mm which I’ve used in the past, but they don’t do 7mm.

[thegreenhowards]

35 minutes ago, John Tomlinson said:

Not entirely clear from your pics, as we don't have one that is at wheel centre level.

 

I suspect the whole loco body is sitting a bit high above the wheels and the cylinders are too high relative to the wheels as well. I wonder if in fact the driving wheels are the right size, or a bit small?

 

The boiler side handrails and what I assume to be the regulator pipe look to be too high on the boiler.

 

The coupling rods in the picture of 61041 are parallel sided not with convex sides, also should be fluted, assuming all B1 rods are the same.

 

I think Keith is right about the tender, although I've always found this quite a tricky topic.

 

John.

 

 

Thanks John,

 

Maybe I didn’t get such a bargain! The driving wheels are 43mm diameter, which is as near as dammit a scale 6’2”. So at least that part is right!

 

Does this photo help the diagnosis?

 

 

Andy

 

 

[John Tomlinson]

2 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

Thanks John,

 

Maybe I didn’t get such a bargain! The driving wheels are 43mm diameter, which is as near as dammit a scale 6’2”. So at least that part is right!

 

Does this photo help the diagnosis?

 

 

Andy

 

 

 

Thanks for the pic.

 

Big plus that the wheels are correct, as that would be a pricey thing to change! £250 looks a good price for this to me, even if it needs a bit of "fettling"!!

 

I do definitely think the cylinders are too high, look at the position of the bottom of the casing compared to the centre of the drivers and also the bogie wheels on the photo of 61041. And also the long arm that comes back from the top of the cylinders to the bracket, horizontal on the real thing, not on the model (sorry I'm no good with names for valve gear parts). This may have been done deliberately by the builder to get clearance over the front bogie wheels. There's an inset drop of the cylinders below the running plate looking at the real thing, which might make this easier to correct.

 

John.

 

John.

Edited December 17, 2023 by John Tomlinson
typo

[65179]

The overly thick valance makes the cylinder situation look worse than it is. At least the proportions suggest you won't need to convert it into this!

 

(Paul Kearley collection Flickr image)

Simon

Edited December 17, 2023 by 65179

[thegreenhowards]

A bit of OO modelling for a change. This time a Bachmann V2. I have several V2s for Gresley Jn from Jamieson, Nucast and older Bachmann, but I had resisted the new Bachmann V2 on the grounds of price. However it dropped to £131 at TMC in their Black Friday sale, so I finally succumbed. First job was to fit sound. I thought this would be an easy job as it is advertised as coming with a speaker installed….wrong! The speaker they provide was the tiniest speaker know to mankind me just made a horrible tinny noise with my Youchoos sound project. So I fitted a boom box in the tender leaving the Bachmann speaker in parallel for any whistles and to give some noise from the loco. I wrote this up a couple of weeks ago on a decimated thread if anyone is interested.

 

 

Since then, I’ve fitted the comprehensive detail pack and weathered the loco.

 

 

 

 

The natural light does show all the warts, but overall I’m pleased with the result.

 

I will do a video of her running on Gresley Jn soon.

 

Andy

 

[thegreenhowards]

Back to O gauge today. I’m working on an N2 which I bought for the club layout Smithfield before we decided it would be set in the 1920s. So I now need to back date it.

 

 

It’s also a Scottish one and I hadn’t realised how many detail differences there were. I’d already added the condensing pipes, but on looking through Yeadon, I also need to add another coal rail round the bunker and change to GNR buffers. There are also probably a lot of other changes required. If anyone spots some obvious ones, do let me know.

 

The BR paint job was actually quite good, so I’m trying to keep it and only change the bits I need to change. This basically means the bunker and water tank sides which had BR numbers/emblems and the wrong lining. The lining on the boiler bands and front wheel arch is good (better than I could do) and I intend to keep it. I sanded back and repainted the sides and have lined and applied numbers/ LNER to one side. I’d be grateful if someone could confirm that I’ve got these right as I always seem to get the wrong colour or font size!

 

 

The works plate needs to move to the wheel arch - hence the brass on the front sandbox.

 

Any comments welcome.

 

Andy

 

 

[31A]

14 minutes ago, thegreenhowards said:

I sanded back and repainted the sides and have lined and applied numbers/ LNER to one side. I’d be grateful if someone could confirm that I’ve got these right as I always seem to get the wrong colour or font size!

 

 

 

The works plate needs to move to the wheel arch - hence the brass on the front sandbox.

 

Any comments welcome.

 

Andy

 

 

They look like the right transfers to me, Andy!

 

[manna]

G'Day Folks

 

Think you'll have to replace the chimney to, or lower it.

 

manna

[thegreenhowards]

On 15/01/2024 at 22:30, manna said:

G'Day Folks

 

Think you'll have to replace the chimney to, or lower it.

 

manna

Really?! I know the Scottish ones had taller chimneys but this looks more like a southern section one than a Scottish one to me. What do others think? 
 

Andy

Edited January 18 by thegreenhowards
Taller not smaller

[manna]

G'Day Folks

 

Looks to tall for a KX loco.

 

manna

[thegreenhowards]

I’ve dug out the shipment from my unbuilt Slaters/ Rising Star N2 kit, and @mannais right. This shows the white metal chimney placed in position next to mine.
 

Hats off to you, because I’d never have spotted that difference!  The question is whether I will see it when running, but now I know, I suppose I’d better change it!

 

I’m not sure what the chimney I have is supposed to be as it’s too short for a Scottish version. It may just be another random LNER chimney which the builder sourced when building this loco. I think the loco may be scratchbuilt, so that is perfectly possible.

Andy

 

Edited January 18 by thegreenhowards

[Asterix2012]

10 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

I’ve dug out the shipment from my unbuilt Slaters/ Rising Star N2 kit, and @mannais right. This shows the white metal chimney placed in position next to mine.
 

Hats off to you, because I’d never have spotted that difference!  The question is whether I will see it when running, but now I know, I suppose I’d better change it!

 

I’m not sure what the chimney I have is supposed to be as it’s too short for a Scottish version. It may just be another random LNER chimney which the builder sourced when building this loco. I think the loco may be scratchbuilt, so that is perfectly possible.

Andy

 

Ah I was wondering why the GN N2 would have shorter chimneys than the Scottish ones as the GN has a more generous loading gauge 

 

Found the answer, was to clear the Metropolitan load gauge.

[Keith Turbutt]

On 18/01/2024 at 09:53, thegreenhowards said:

I’ve dug out the shipment from my unbuilt Slaters/ Rising Star N2 kit, and @mannais right. This shows the white metal chimney placed in position next to mine.
 

Hats off to you, because I’d never have spotted that difference!  The question is whether I will see it when running, but now I know, I suppose I’d better change it!

 

I’m not sure what the chimney I have is supposed to be as it’s too short for a Scottish version. It may just be another random LNER chimney which the builder sourced when building this loco. I think the loco may be scratchbuilt, so that is perfectly possible.

Andy

 

Safety valves look taller than cab roof ?  Some N2s had Ross Pop safety valves in LNER days but not sure about this one,

[thegreenhowards]

Thanks Keith,

 

I think they got Ross pops from late ‘20s/ early 30s when the boilers were replaced. There is a comment in Yeadon but I can’t find it this morning.
 

Anyway, I’m modelling mid ‘20s so I think I’m safe with the Ramsbottom type. I’ve based my model on 4608 on P92 of Yeadon. I chose 4612 because I didn’t have enough ‘0’s and ‘8’s on my transfer sheet, but I think they should be the same. The picture seems to show the safety valve slightly above the cab roof, so I think I’m ok there.

 

Andy

Edited January 21 by thegreenhowards

[thegreenhowards]

I’ve been working on the N2 and it now has the correct chimney and buffers and has entered the (touch up) paint shop.

 

 

 

I know these look a mess but I’m confident she will be much more presentable shortly. I will post more photos at that stage, but thought I’d show these now in case the changes aren’t very evident once she’s all painted!

 

Andy

[thegreenhowards]

I’ve also been working on the B1 which you might remember from my posts in mid December (too if this page and bottom of the previous one). I’ve sorted the valve gear out so that it looks more convincing…if not perfect. And more importantly, there’s less slop in it so it doesn’t lock from time to time with unfortunate consequences.

 

I’ve also removed the valance one side to see if I can tidy that up. It proved a big job but I think has made a worthwhile improvement. The valence, as it turns out, was held on by an unholy combination of epoxy, solder and filler hence the deep sides and general mess. I removed one with some difficultly, cleaned it up, tinned it and the bottom of the footplate and tried to reattached it. This was quite hard even with my 150W iron on 480C. I had to resort to 145C solder and a lot of pressure for a significant period of time. It’s one now but the curve at each end aren’t quite as neat as I’d like! I’d welcome thoughts on other ways of attached the valence and whether the improvement is worthwhile.

 

Here’s the side I’ve done.

 

 

And, by way of reminder, the untouched side.

 

 

Andy