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Ruston's Industrial locomotive and wagon workshop thread.


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1 hour ago, Ruston said:

 What idiot thought it would be a good idea to fill the chassis with over half a dozen gears, when rods would have worked far better? They've been working on the real thing since George Stephenson's day, so what made this idiot think he knew better?

 

We all know which idiot that was, don't we !?!

 

John Isherwood.

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13 hours ago, laurenceb said:

His reasoning was that he could fit thinner coupling rods, but when you compare it with the Hornby one the rods are no thinner! Barmy!

Why would you need thinner rods?  Coupling rods are hefty things and most model ones are to thin in the first place.

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Over the weekend I got a lot of work done on the 16-inch Barclay that I posted earlier.

 

The chassis block has been hollowed out to allow a Stay Alive to be fitted. I have also replaced the motor with a smaller one. The weight lost by hollowing out the chassis block will be more than made up for with the lead sheet that can be fitted around the motor. Although it is a 16-inch the base model is the one that Hattons did in the CPC livery and has the smaller water tank of the 14-inch. This makes it more of a challenge to get all the DCC gear in.

CutdownAB-001.jpg.58b01e0173b990555f39aa604450cf0a.jpg

 

It is based on one that worked for the Scottish Gas Board at Provan works that had a cab that was open at the back, I have done an exchange deal to get a "Katie" cab and buffers. The chimney has been shortened and the cab trial-fittted.

CutdownAB-004.jpg.bd8c376b00d59158b421e9a322748405.jpg

 

Edited by Ruston
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The bunker tops have been lowered so they will not stand proud of the cab sides. The footplate has been cut away at the sides to hopefully give the impression that the inside edges are part of the main frames, once the new footplate sides are in place.

ABcutdown-1.jpg.95bfba7ef6c01f77be175499c45cabb2.jpg

The DCC gear is in place and instead of the Stay Alive being in the milled recess, a larger speaker than anticipated has been fitted. The SA now rests above this.

ABcutdown-2.jpg.c8b98a9e0dfbdb2279d0b81e5675b6b4.jpg

This all leaves the space inside the smokebox free to fill with lead sheet.

Edited by Ruston
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It is looking hideously glossy, but it is so for decals to be applied later.

CVMRmovies-006.jpg.a3f06907ef0589411734762b578bf500.jpg

The cylinder sides have been shaved to put flats on them and the top of the tank has been drilled and the safety valves relocated.

CVMRmovies-007.jpg.e710371274f44a09fdd30ff27a4b565d.jpg

There are various bits of detail painting to be done, plus the reinstatement of some hand rails and the brake standard. Weathering will have to wait until the decals and an overcoat of varnish are applied.

Edited by Ruston
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One thing that I have been considering for some time is how to get a large capacity Stay Alive into a Hornby W4 Peckett. People have put smaller capacity ones in, but they are electronics geniuses, who can make their own and can solder connections with great accuracy. People have also put larger ones in, but they simply stuff them into the cab - it looks ridiculous and I won't even consider doing that. My plan involves changing a few things and the use of the trusty Proxxon milling machine.

It may not work and if it doesn't then that's eighty quid, or whatever it was that I paid for it, down the drain. I'll just have to add it to the non-runners to be shunted around Charlie Strong's scrapyard, but fortune favours the brave and all that...

The chassis block and lower boiler casting.
W4SA-1.jpg.e2f3748db1fd27fc07e65ec1a4d6ceb5.jpg

The gear tower will be cut off and the lower boiler casting will be milled out. This should allow the motor so be situated lower down. This in turn will allow the decoder to be sited above the motor. Currently, people (myself included) site the decoder vertically in the smokebox area - this space should become free to fit the SA in.

The gears and gear tower will be replaced by a hybrid that uses a High Level Roadrunner and the existing Hornby gear and wheelset.
W4SA-2.jpg.70e082692bede73e7d53e9d9001f50b2.jpg

 

Whilst I have the millling machine out, another alteration is to widen the gap in the frames to allow the fitting of a much larger speaker than is otherwise possible. I have also milled the front of the frames in order to thin the frame plates. This is purely for cosmetic reasons.

W4SA-3.jpg.f242460ecc67971f502e8c160392b18a.jpg

It could yet all go tits-up, so tune in for a laugh if it does.

Edited by Ruston
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The gearbox is in and I successfully replaced the wheel quartered. I put the other wheelset in, and rods on, to check.

W4SA-5.jpg.69fdf8040cb5bd8445b0ed35d1b06609.jpg

All of that stuff on top of the frames will have to come off to site the motor but I should be able to keep the springs after a little thinning on the inside faces.

 

The original keep plate still fits but the aft screw no longer has anything to screw into. I will drill and tap the chassis block to take a couple of 14BA screws to fix that.

W4SA-4.jpg.30c7a5d650bfd0da237ec8f349b0afd4.jpg

Edited by Ruston
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It needs some wires soldering to the motor for a DC stationary test, but the space gain can be clearly seen in this picture. It has lost 20g in weight but some of that can be made up with lead sheet once I know exactly how much space is left, after a trial-fit of the DCC gear.

W4SA-6.jpg.3abaddbd997b85f50c5a2ea097a8f12e.jpg

I'll paint the visible part of the motor and gearbox to match the boiler and once the body is on, with oil cans etc. on the running plate, it will be hardly noticeable.

Edited by Ruston
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How to check that something will fit under the body of a loco? I got this idea from watching Kindig Customs, on Discovery. They had put a bigger engine in a car and needed to check how much clearance there would be for the air cleaner, or whatever, so a loose ball of crumpled tinfoil was placed on the engine and the hood closed. The tinfoil retained the shape that it was crushed down to, so they could see how much clearance there was. I have done the same, but on a smaller scale, to check that there will be enough space in the Peckett body for the Stay Alive and decoder.

ABanP-001.jpg.9a3f3f95dd6a3873997e5fa9a899c62e.jpg

 

New motor under test, on DC only.

 

The cut down Barclay has had its decals applied.

ABanP-003.jpg.2592a97a5976d9c172d8904b47476e7e.jpg

They should be dry by tomorrow and I'll give it a coat of Mattcote.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I bought a lot of Airfix 16-ton minerals a while ago. I completed some, but others have been lying around in states of completion for well over a year now.

I'll be finishing at least one as vac-fitted, with clasp brakes. Here are my home-made plasticard parts, plus a pair of vac cylinders that I bought from LMS.

VBC16-1.jpg.4216a790bf087c0595a1b887836b8e25.jpg

 

This is how I prepare the Airfix body. The top one is to remain unfitted, although the Airfix brake gear will be binned. It's not just that it's a bit chunky, it's more that it wouldn't work as modelled. I'll be replacing it with Bill Bedford etched parts. The lower body has been prepared for clasp brakes and has holes drilled to take the safety loops.

VBC16-2.jpg.0956a41bdfd849e8139b9d1d72839188.jpg

 

Here's an unfitted one that I have just finished. I've painted/weathered it as one that's had a repaint and the old rust is coming through just about everywhere, but not chipping or flaking off. I've seen a few pictures of them in this state and thought it would be something a bit different for a change.

16min-001.jpg.9be011101fa6aef60d8abeeb782c2314.jpg

 

Edited by Ruston
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On 08/10/2021 at 18:59, AlfaZagato said:

Looks excellent, sir.   About the same shape as some cars I've owned.

 

 

The yellow line from the left-side axlebox.   Is that an intentional addition, or a long wayward strand of grass?

I'm not sure at all what yellow line you mean.

 

More RTR bashing.

 

Although I like Hornby's B2 Peckett, I have only ever bought one example. The pizza cutter flanges and wide treads have put me off because not only do they spoil the appearance, they cause trouble on both Charlies Yard and the CVMR. On the former it is the inset track where they hit the copper clad sleepers that are sunk beneath the Das clay and hold the rails in gauge. On the latter it is for the same reason but on the section of overgrown line. I still don't understand why Hornby made this retrograde step when their previous model, the Peckett W4 had smaller flanges, which don't give any trouble on my layouts and, of course, have a better appearance.

 

The C Class had the same cylinder and wheelbase dimensions as the B2. It was basically an inside-cylindered B2 but it ran on the same diameter wheels as the W4, which means that with a few modifications to the chassis block, pickups, and the addition of W4 wheels, it's a reasonably straightforward conversion.

I have been given another B2 body and so have hacked my B2 chassis to begin the conversion.

PeckettC-1.jpg.790c32a5cd48b95018c4fb9dcea22f2c.jpg

I began this conversion some time ago but never made the alterations to the chassis and centre wheelset. This time I have more information to work from and this time the changes will be permanent. Last time I put plasticard spacers between the chassis block and body, in order the raise the height, but it appears that on the prototypes the height loss through the smaller wheels was simply compensated for by moving the buffers up on the buffer beams. That's the next job. Making a replacement keep plate and pickups is another. The Hornby pickups are too pathetic and weak to take being bent to suit the smaller wheels and some have snapped off.

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The pickup problem, solved.

PeckettC-2.jpg.4a1298ed9d7a215d037eb9d9b6038b4d.jpg

Fixing the plastic brake hanger/blocks to the new keep plate is the next problem. I don't think that simply gluing a 2 square millimetre sections of plastic to the side of the new keep plate will be a robust solution. I may have to make new brake parts from brass so that they can be soldered to the keep.

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On 14/10/2021 at 15:35, AlfaZagato said:

5-minute epoxy might do the trick.   I don't know if the solder joint would be stronger.   I'm probably wrong.

Epoxy seems to have a bit more 'give' in it than cyano glue, so it could work. The problem is that I've yet to find a so-called 5-minute epoxy that actually goes off in 5 minutes. I don't think I could hold the little pieces in place for that long, to be honest. I may give it a try though.

 

Toto; I've a feeling we're not in Bristol anymore...

MW16x24-003.jpg.9be841060860a45e867da1dce55fa3a7.jpg

This Hornby B2 Peckett chassis is being prepared for a new life. Balance weights, made from 10 thou. plasticard have been added. The footstep on the lower slide bar has been filed off (needs a bit more filing yet) and the tops of the cylinders have had the convex curve filed away.

Edited by Ruston
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I know that I ought to finish one of the above projects, before starting another, but I was waiting for paint to dry on the Manning and various bits for this project were lying around. It's an idea that I've had for a couple of years now, in fact since Hornby released their B2 Peckett.

 

From studying a drawing of a W6 I figured that the tank and boiler of the B2 is bang on for a W6. The cab opening is also of the same design and height and width. The running plate is of course longer overall, but the back end can be cut and a forward extension will need to be made.

 

What we have here is a B2 body, with cut-n-shut cab and lowered chimney. The chassis is from a W4, with B2 cylinders and motion bracket. The cylinders need to sit forward on the chassis due to the longer slide bars and the chassis is positioned to suit the cylinders. Frame extensions, front and rear, need to be manufactured, as does a front running plate extension. Because the running plate on the W4 is lower than the W6, plasticard plates have been fitted twixt chassis block and body, in order to raise the body and buffer height. The buffers will require repositioning so their tops are flush with the top of the beams.

 

One thing that cannot be easily altered is the position of the tank filler. This should be further back, but I'll just have to live with that.

 

At the moment it's all just hung together with double-sided sticky tape and there's a lot of fit and finish to do yet.

W6choppy-003.jpg.74a6afa022e2eba4d1525dd9dcc1392e.jpg

 

W6choppy-004.jpg.05f3b6ff2e8747e41fae89e31d7085c6.jpg

 

Comparison with W4.

W6choppy-006.jpg.2dca03bfd29d764c7d1443eba769bed4.jpg

Edited by Ruston
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20 hours ago, Ruston said:

I know that I ought to finish one of the above projects, before starting another, but I was waiting for paint to dry on the Manning and various bits for this project were lying around. It's an idea that I've had for a couple of years now, in fact since Hornby released their B2 Peckett.

 

From studying a drawing of a W6 I figured that the tank and boiler of the B2 is bang on for a W6. The cab opening is also of the same design and height and width. The running plate is of course longer overall, but the back end can be cut and a forward extension will need to be made.

 

What we have here is a B2 body, with cut-n-shut cab and lowered chimney. The chassis is from a W4, with B2 cylinders and motion bracket. The cylinders need to sit forward on the chassis due to the longer slide bars and the chassis is positioned to suit the cylinders. Frame extensions, front and rear, need to be manufactured, as does a front running plate extension. Because the running plate on the W4 is lower than the W6, plasticard plates have been fitted twixt chassis block and body, in order to raise the body and buffer height. The buffers will require repositioning so their tops are flush with the top of the beams.

 

One thing that cannot be easily altered is the position of the tank filler. This should be further back, but I'll just have to live with that.

 

At the moment it's all just hung together with double-sided sticky tape and there's a lot of fit and finish to do yet.

W6choppy-003.jpg.f468e7cadf79562f965d49addb5cd459.jpg

 

W6choppy-004.jpg.c02d3165d5edb32e6629ce2bd71c65d6.jpg

 

Comparison with W4.

W6choppy-006.jpg.6bd80b43caa61271d407777cdc2d59d4.jpg

Great job Dave.
chris.

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