Douglas’ mostly 7mm live steam workbench and layout.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Hi all,

 

Thought I’d start this topic to chronicle my various exploits with coarse scale O gauge rolling stock and motive power, instead of posting it in my layout topic. To bring anyone interested up to speed, my main and only engine is a 1912 Gebruder Bing for Bassett Lowke LNWR George the Fifth. Originally she was sold in midland colors, masquerading as Compound 1000, but she is now a LMS engine, as the midland livery drove me crazy. The livery’s were identical except for the crest, so a soluble circle was painted around it.
 

A few weeks back she suffered a spring snapping, so has been sent to a clock repairers for a full mechanism rebuild. 
 

Douglas

 

 

Here’s a link to my layout topic, with more information on the engine and its history. 
 

 

Edited November 29, 2020 by Florence Locomotive Works

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Next project will be building a semblance of what is below, a Bassett Lowke lever frame. I may scratch-build one, or simply buy the Wizard models kit. Meccano seems like a good option also, but won’t be very scale. I’m building this in the first place as something is needed to operate the fully functional signal also below, the signal was quite good fun to scratch build, and only took a few hours. However this probably won’t be so enjoyable, or quick to make.
 

Douglas

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Right, well, I decided a it isn't worth going through all the trouble to build a lever frame for a singular signal. So, station improvements then. Currently, only the Meccano station canopy exists, and even it needs widening. My plan is to carve (aka bodge together) some sort of large victorian terminus building, similar to that on the 1928 Horden Layout. A station platform also needs making, which shouldn't be to hard. 

 

And then there's the big problem. The "down" station currently does not exist. A minor inconvenience for commuters. I'm hoping to make something like the old Hornby O gauge "Wembley" station to go there. Or if one comes up cheap on USA ebay (it does happen) I'll just buy one. A turntable also needs bodging together, maybe two actually, one for the up and one for the down. However the one for the down is a necessity so will be built first.

 

 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Well I ended up doing nothing I stated above today. Instead I spent a good two hours hand carving this very Milbro like LMS period one coach. Not sure what wood she’s made from, but the bogies are off my now slightly redundant Bassett Lowke Mk 1s. 
 

Next up she will have her ends painted, and the the roof. Then probably after consulting a friend who’s far better at painting than me, lining will begin. At some point isn’t here it will be decided whether she’s a corridor coach or not. 
 

Douglas

[J. S. Bach]

11 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

 

Ah, outside third rail! Here is a sample of something that I have:

 

A side view of the car (note that the cribbing has since been replaced and is now complete but I still need to put protection on the commutators):

 

 

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by J. S. Bach

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Ended up not doing the lining. So I got on my phone, found a render of a LMS Hornby 4 wheel coach, and then cropped the photo. Said photo was then exported to my computer and printed off. Said prints were then glued to the coach body. 

 

Douglas

 

Edited November 13, 2020 by Florence Locomotive Works

[Florence Locomotive Works]

2 minutes ago, J. S. Bach said:

Ah, outside third rail! What scale?

I can’t say I see one? 

[J. S. Bach]

3 minutes ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

I can’t say I see one? 

Inside the black circles you can see the outside third rail.

 

 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

12 minutes ago, J. S. Bach said:

Inside the black circles you can see the outside third rail.

 

 

O scale then, I’m not sure what the third rail was for as from what I can gather it was a steam only LNER layout.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Florence Locomotive Works

[J. S. Bach]

5 minutes ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

O scale then, I’m not sure what the third rail was for as from what I can gather it was a steam only LNER layout.

To power the locomotives, the axles (probably) were not insulated. Note the brass "rod" mounted on the left end of the truck on this Fairbanks-Morsre H16-44 switcher:

 

ans sticking out from the side inboard of the pilots:

 

 

 

 

 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

12 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

To power the locomotives, the axles (probably) were not insulated. Note the brass "rod" mounted on the left end of the truck on this Fairbanks-Morsre H16-44 switcher:

 

ans sticking out from the side inboard of the pilots:

 

 

 

 

 

Fairbanks Morse would be proud of that powered bogie Dave.

[J. S. Bach]

4 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Fairbanks Morse would be proud of that powered bogie Dave.

I am quite sure that this H16-44 will pull the plumbing right out of the station; it weighs in at somewhat over thirteen pounds! it is what some call a "doorstop"; I prefer "bridge bender"!

 

Edit: It would just pull the whole station!!

Edited October 22, 2020 by J. S. Bach

[Florence Locomotive Works]

First part of the underframe was fitted just now, made from balsa wood. Bogies will be fitted this evening.

 

Douglas

 

Edited November 13, 2020 by Florence Locomotive Works

[Annie]

1 minute ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

First part of the underframe was fitted just now, made from balsa wood. Bogies will be fitted this evening.

If you PM me your email address Douglas I'll have a rat around and find you some litho coach artwork that I have done that you might find useful.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

35 minutes ago, Annie said:

If you PM me your email address Douglas I'll have a rat around and find you some litho coach artwork that I have done that you might find useful.

Thank you, I believe you already have my email address Annie. But if not I'll PM it to you.

 

Edit: All my PM's show up in my email anyway.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Florence Locomotive Works

[Annie]

With my memory and ability to lose things it would be best to PM me your email address again.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Bogies were fitted last night with brass screws, and the first coat of back paint for the coach ends and roof was applied, I’ll post some photos in about 7 hours. 
 

Douglas

[J. S. Bach]

14 hours ago, Annie said:

With my memory and ability to lose things ...snip...

Join the club!

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Well I have decided to embark on a quest to revive my live steam Bassett Lowke stainer mogul. Her main problem is that I accidentally drilled a hole through the main steam line inside the oil tank. So as one might expect the oil tank and steam line need replacing. The pictures show her having a boiler test under steam yesterday, without the oiler or fake smokebox. More to come later. 
 

Douglas 

 

Edited October 24, 2020 by Florence Locomotive Works

[J. S. Bach]

0 psi??

[Florence Locomotive Works]

On 24/10/2020 at 20:36, J. S. Bach said:

0 psi??

Not up to pressure yet, should max out at 16 psi. 100 psi gauge may seem a bit exuberant but is necessary to see if safety valve is working. (they weren't fitted originally)

 

Douglas

Edited November 13, 2020 by Florence Locomotive Works

[J. S. Bach]

Thank you, I forgot to ask what the operating pressure is.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Many things have been accomplished this afternoon. First the ordering of all part necessary for a full main steam line and lubricator rebuild, and the Gauge O Guild was joined.

 

What follows is a detailed explanation of how I believe the new lubricator will work. 

Above is a hand drawn diagram of how the new piping will go. All that has been changed is that instead of the second 3/16 x 40 "street" elbow, there will be a PM Research displacement lubricator. However for this to fit within the confines of the smokebox the bottom drain assembly and threaded area will have to be sawed off and soldered over. A picture of said lubricator is below, with the yellow region denoting the area that will be cut off.

 

The above image shows rather vaguely what the final arrangement will hopefully look like. The bottom bent pipe will actually pass the vertical pipe shown in the photo (which is the exhaust/blast pipe) on the other side. The main benefit of using this lubricator is what looks like an over iced chocolate donut on one side. This is actually the rubber handle of a needle valve. Said needle valve is able to control the amount of steam that enters the lubricator, and therefore the amount of oil that leaves the lubricator. For those who don't know how a displacement lubricator works, here's the basic working principle:

 

On the left, you see the inlet/outlet port. A small amount of steam travels up this into the main vertical cylinder. This cylinder is partially full of oil. Said steam condenses to water when it hits the oil, and displaces a bit of oil back into the inlet/outlet port.

Edited November 20, 2020 by Florence Locomotive Works

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Well ladies and gents here is what we're aiming for. This is the engine running before the hole was drilled. Before the hole, the engine still wasn't running properly as I was using the wrong oil viscosity. The hole was drilled on accident as I was attempting to widen a steam line. Anyways, back to the video. This is the engine running without oil (never, ever do this), so the cylinders were not gummed up, hence why it ran. Of course it had no power as the oil provides the bulk of the seal around the pistons. The goal is to have it running like this, except on the track with two Bassett Lowke BR coaches behind it.

 

Douglas

 

 

[Mikkel]

I can see the attraction of that!

 

It even comes with built-in 'clickety-clack' effect - if a rather fast one