Ruston's Industrial locomotive and wagon workshop thread.

[Ruston]

37 minutes ago, Asterix2012 said:

Is the chimney not just a fancy cover for the exhaust?

It is but what we don't know is if in reality it had the flat top, with a small hole, or if it was exactly like a steam loco chimney but with an exhaust pipe up through the middle.

[Mol_PMB]

I apologise that this will probably muddy the waters further with a third option:

From Gordon Edgar on Flickr.

 

This one doesn't have a protruding pipe, but we can't quite see what the top of the chimney looks like:

 

But I think this is the money shot from Andrew Smith:

Note: these are 3 different locos.

[Michael Edge]

These cast iron chimneys aren't just cosmetic, they were normally used to add much needed weight at the front end of the loco, balancing the gearbox to some extent. Best known example of this is the huge one on the BR 03 shunters but it was fairly common practice elsewhere.

[Ruston]

2 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

 

Note: these are 3 different locos.

Thanks for posting those. That last one is pretty conclusive. All of those pictured are from the batch built for the WD, like those I am modelling. The ESSO one may have been modified in its later industrial life. This has been like any other build where you think you know about a loco type until you start to look in detail, whereupon you find so many little differences between batches and individual locomotives. It's made even more interesting with these in that they were built by two different companies.

 

For example, some have the cab steps fixed to the outside of the valance, but others to the inside.
Some Barclay examples, built for R.O.Fs have wheels that aren't typical Barclay wheels.

Vulcan-built examples have Barclay wheels.

R.O.F. examples seem to have a rectangular buffer beam but the WD ones have a cut out and holes for lifting/tie down shackles.

 

And then you get into the Baguley refurbishments for the MOD in the 1960s and the list goes on...

[Ruston]

I have just been informed that the chimneys had a steel plate lid with a hole in the top. The exhaust pipe went only partly into the cast chimney, which then acted as an expansion chamber, or in other words, an extra silencer.

[Mol_PMB]

I've just stumbled across a photo of one of these named 'Sir Ernest Brearley' working in Trafford Park. The nameplate is half the length of the bonnet!

I am not tempted to model one in 7mm - too many unbuilt kits already...

[Ruston]

22 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

I've just stumbled across a photo of one of these named 'Sir Ernest Brearley' working in Trafford Park. The nameplate is half the length of the bonnet!

I am not tempted to model one in 7mm - too many unbuilt kits already...

Where did you find the photo? I guess that would be the one that ended up at the NYMR.

 

I've managed to find old photos of some in original condition, which show the steps being fixed on the inside of the valances. Presumably those on the outside have been taken off and wrongly refitted at some point. Some also had a sort of spark arrester top to the exhaust.

These pictures have been taken from various internet sources, who have lifted them from who knows where, so I can't credit them to any original source or copyright and the photos are all at least 75 years old by now.

 

70045 and 70041, Eindhoven, 1945. Both are Barclay-built, w/n 360 and 356

 

 

WD32, a Vulcan-built example. Drewry Car Co. w/n 2159 Vulcan w/n 1190. This one was put ashore on Juno beach on the 14th of June 1944.

 

There are a load of post-war photos of the examples that stayed on to work on the Netherlands railways, here

http://www.stichting162.nl/fotos/historische-fotos/

 

 

Edited December 18, 2021 by Ruston

[Mol_PMB]

Here he is, this photo is scanned from 'Transport Treasures of Trafford Park':

Looking more closely at this enlarged scan, I think the name is 'The Ernest Brearley' rather than 'Sir..' in the caption.

It is not listed at this location in the 1952 Lancashire pocketbook, nor in EL1 of 1969.

[Ruston]

One of the chassis is almost finished. I need to make and fit pickups and, of course, wire it. I'll fit a 6-pin socket so I can use a left over blanking plug from one of my RTR conversions. That will allow testing on DC and a simple change to DCC by plugging a decoder in.

I also need to make some wheel balance weights as there are none in the kit.  The above is my own chassis. I lost the guard irons for it and fitted a length of flat bottom rail instead. The commission build has the proper guard irons.

Edited December 19, 2021 by Ruston

[Mol_PMB]

41 minutes ago, Ruston said:

 The above is my own chassis. I lost the guard irons for it and fitted a length of flat bottom rail instead.

Nice inspiration from the Esso and Shell/BP locos there!

[Ruston]

Jumping from one thing to a completely different other for a minute. The VF/AB builds are still ongoing, but I'm posting these pictures as a sort of encouragement to myself to get on with this one...

 

I think that I started this scratchbuild around two years ago, but have never posted about it, or if I have, I've forgotten about it. It is a W.G Bagnall 12x18" saddletank.

 

Milled brass frames, and other parts, plus turned brass chimney. The gearbox came in the remains of a wreck that was a Dapol L&Y pug, with a High Level chassis kit and gearbox.

 

I made a lot of progress with it.

 

 

 

Until I got it to this stage and then gave up on it.

It's too good to abandon, and I just need to get motivated to get on and finish it. It's just that building kits and modifying RTR is easier than scratchbuilding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2022 by Ruston

[Mol_PMB]

It does look very promising, and nice workmanship on those milled parts. Looks like it will have a lot of character when done.

But I fully understand that the quicker wins from kits are more appealing sometimes - I am guilty of many unfinished projects!

Every so often I try and finish a few (which is what I'm doing this week) but I can feel the urge to start another new kit imminently.

Mol

[Barclay]

Lovely job - those little Bagnalls are really charismatic with that characteristic tank shape.

 

I know what you mean about scratchbuilding, I couldn't go from one straight to another - there's always something more 'kit-bashy' in the pipeline as an antidote to the more serious stuff. But you have to finish this, it will look superb.

[Tullygrainey]

Lovely stuff! Definitely worth finishing. All that milled brass looks reassuringly substantial. 

 

Alan

[Sandhole]

Lovely work Dave.
Definitely carry on working on it, it'll be a lovely loco when it's finished.
Merry Christmas,
Chris.

[Ruston]

Thanks for the encouragement, chaps. I've had a look at it, today, and have discovered that I can get a sound decoder and a Stay Alive in the tank, so it can join the fleet of either of my layouts. Which one it ends up on will depend on how I choose to paint/finish it.

 

I put the finishing touches to a wagon project, today. I've had four Bachmann RTR 16-ton minerals on the bench for months for repaints/weathering/detailing. Three remain on the bench for want of vac pipes and Instanter links, but this unfitted example has gone into service.

It started out as a Diag. 1/102, with independent brakes. I changed the brakes to Morton and filed a slight curve to the lower edges of the body panels either side of the door, to make it an early 1970s rebodied Diag. 1/108. It has the lightest of weathering to represent almost ex-works condition. The number and repair panels were drawn up by myself, using Photoshop, and printed by @Worsdell forever

Edited December 26, 2022 by Ruston

[Ruston]

I found some vac pipes.

 

I realised a while ago that, considering Charlie Strong's yard is set in the 1970s, I don't have enough rebodied minerals. It's also taken a while for me to learn some aspects of 16-ton minerals regarding top flaps and lack of top flaps, the brake gear that goes with them and the time period. I managed to buy a few second hand Bachmann models quite cheaply. The two without the top flap were already supposedly vac-fitted and "factory weathered", by Bachmann. Bachmann can't be bothered to add the tie bar between the axle guards, so I added these myself. I also added lamp irons. The brake levers ought to have a reinforcing strip, but I left this off. They have all been repainted, renumbered and weathered.

 

B570259 - rebodied and finished as if not long out of works.

 

B578500 - Rebodied and in service for some time. The real one had a thinner top rail when rebodied and I didn't take this into account; I simply liked the italics on the numbering when I picked this number.

 

B578504 - not rebodied and quite scruffy.

They need Instanter links, but I'll run them as they are until I get some links.

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by Ruston

[Ruston]

I've made a little more progress with the WD diesels.

 

The window frames and riveted strips have been added to the cabs, and the cabs have been soldered to the floor. A nut and bolt will hold the cab tight to the engine casing. The floors had sheet lead added before I fixed the etched footplates in and some lead has been added in the leading part of the engine casings to balance this out. I'm sure that all of the DCC gear can be accomodated in the casing and between the frames, which leaves the cabs free to be detailed and have driver figures added.

Edited April 2, 2022 by Ruston

[ColinK]

Looking good. How did you get the window frames attached so neatly?

[Ruston]

22 hours ago, ColinK said:

Looking good. How did you get the window frames attached so neatly?

I simply lined them up by eye and held them in place with fingers whilst I soldered them in. I used a watery phosphoric acid flux and 70 degree solder.

[Ruston]

Both chassis now have pickups and are running very well. I used 6-pin sockets, taken out of a couple of Hattons Barclays that I previously remotored and fitted sound to. This is to enable them to be up and running on either DC or DCC, and to allow simplified fitting of sound when funds allow.

 

The one below is my own model, to which I have added the spark arrestor. I made it from a disc of nickel silver with holes drilled in and short lengths of brass wire soldered in. One length of wire is longer and fits into a hole drilled in the chimney casting and is fixed with superglue. The radiator is made up from the kit parts and is fixed with a small amount of glue n glaze. This is to allow it to be easily removed as it will be replaced by a 3D printed version.

Apologies for the poor quality photo.

 

 

A quick test run with DCC.

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by Ruston

[Sandhole]

21 hours ago, Ruston said:

Both chassis now have pickups and are running very well. I used 6-pin sockets, taken out of a couple of Hattons Barclays that I previously remotored and fitted sound to. This is to enable them to be up and running on either DC or DCC, and to allow simplified fitting of sound when funds allow.

 

The one below is my own model, to which I have added the spark arrestor. I made it from a disc of nickel silver with holes drilled in and short lengths of brass wire soldered in. One length of wire is longer and fits into a hole drilled in the chimney casting and is fixed with superglue. The radiator is made up from the kit parts and is fixed with a small amount of glue n glaze. This is to allow it to be easily removed as it will be replaced by a 3D printed version.

Apologies for the poor quality photo.

 

 

A quick test run with DCC.

 

SMOOTH Dave.
Regards,
chris.

[Down_Under]

Hi Dave,

 

what brand of 6pin socket did you use? 
 

James 

[Ruston]

5 hours ago, Down_Under said:

Hi Dave,

 

what brand of 6pin socket did you use? 
 

James 

 

On 03/01/2022 at 15:28, Ruston said:

I used 6-pin sockets, taken out of a couple of Hattons Barclays

 

[Ruston]

Back with the WD diesels.

 

The Vulcan-built one, that is based on WD820, at Foxfield. It's had some paint slapped on and the beginnings of weathering are under way. I have also made and fitted some wheel balance weights.

The kit radiator has been replaced by the 3D-printed on that was drawn up by @Neilgue Many thanks for doing this, Neil, it is a great improvement!

 

 

My own model is at the same stage but without paint. Both need buffers, lamps front and rear, and for the cab roof to be fitted.

Edited April 2, 2022 by Ruston