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Charlie Strong Metals (and Watery Lane Sidings)


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8 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

An electric pump for the fuel? Luxury! 

Do they need an air compressor for lighting up? 

I don't know. I didn't hang around long enough to find out - that security man showed up, with his dog, so I scarpered. :lol:

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On 06/03/2021 at 19:34, Mol_PMB said:

An electric pump for the fuel? Luxury! 

Do they need an air compressor for lighting up? 

I went back and found out that there is a burner in the bottom of the ashpan, which is fed by steam pressure to atomise the fuel. The steam supply for lighting-up is from a steam cleaning boiler that they use for cleaning the lorry engines. It's a bit of a bodge but it works, apparently. Once the loco has got steam up they open a valve from the boiler so it can use its own steam and they disconnect the shore supply. I think that's what the bloke who's always eating a pie said, anyway.

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He mentioned something about a compressor and an airline being used in place of the blower but I didn't really understand what he was talking about. I just wanted to know what sort of pie he was eating.

Edited by Ruston
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One small detail that I have been meaning to add for a while now is some means of getting the fuel oil out of the rail tanks into the storage tank. It doesn't show up very well in the photo but there is a valve on the end of an underground pipe. Around the valve is a steel plate and to the side is a mesh for any dregs from the flexible connecting pipe to run into a drainage sump.

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Another small job that needed to be done was to fix the safety valves on Ceridwen. This loco was originally Dodo and had the tall dome and Salter safety valves when I ran it on Nant-Y-Mynydd but when I dropped the footplate I fitted it with a small resin dome that was a kit spare. The valves were brass tubes that were open at the top and none of it looked right. I have taken the dome from Osiris, on my Calder Vale Mineral Railway layout and have fitted it to Ceridwen. Osiris now has the tall dome and Salter safety valves

details-003.jpg.54e1cfff53655dec73c7b2c0bd9cde79.jpg

Edited by Ruston
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Dave, absolutely love all the locos and layouts you produce. Right up my street. Out of interest, how do you go about weathering your locos? Weathering powders? Air brush? Dry brush? Or all of the above?!

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48 minutes ago, jdb82 said:

Dave, absolutely love all the locos and layouts you produce. Right up my street. Out of interest, how do you go about weathering your locos? Weathering powders? Air brush? Dry brush? Or all of the above?!

The only effects I have used an airbrush for are those wagons where I start with a rust colour all over and then use salt and hairspray, and/or Maskol before painting the top coat with an airbrush. Everything else is done with paints and powders, in one form or another - washes, drybrushing, powders mixed with water and painted on...

 

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Bogie Bolster C, soon to become BL cars, or razorblades.

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It's a Bachmann model that I've had since 2015, when I bought it for River Don Works. It was used for gauging trials, and to ensure it and a loco would fit in the headshunt. Other than that, it's never been run. I've just given it a quick and dirty repaint and weather. To cope with the tight curve at Watery Lane, I have made a simple sprung coupling.

 

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It consists of one of my home-made milled hooks with a length of bent 0.45mm brass wire soldered on. It allows enough give to avoid buffer locking but only on the outer curve. The inner one is off-limits.

 

 

Edited by Ruston
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On 14/03/2021 at 06:42, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Hopefully on it's way to the torch to be replaced with a Bachmann version?

 

Mike.


Still think the Triang barrel looks better than the Bachmann version!

Edited by Mark Saunders
Prediction can only spell triangle!
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17 minutes ago, Ruston said:

You B*#!?@! idiot! It's nearly knocking off time, too!

Shuntingaccident-006.jpg.84cd2f56e30c0994822aa4bf923f1b7e.jpg

This little shunting accident just happened while having a play with the trainset, so I positioned the figures and took a snap.

I've been there! It only ever happens at knocking-off time and/or in terrible weather!

Before long there will be a crowd of onlookers giving unhelpful 'advice'...

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8 hours ago, Mark Saunders said:


Still think the Triang barrel looks better than the Bachmann version!

 

Agreed, but personally my eye is distracted by the shocking underframe, once you've seen it under 23 different and wrong wagons it's difficult to unsee!

 

Mike.

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Enjoying the story.  I'd imagine such occurrences weren't uncommon.   I know junkyards in the US would do similar with forklifts, especially electric forklifts.   Often a battery would be all that was needed for passable service.

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