DLT's SR Locos - Lord Nelson Craftsman Kit

[DLT]

Isn't it always the way?  Runs brilliantly first time, but the next day it develops a tight spot!  Anyway, after much fiddling and fettling it works again, and the cylinders are now fitted.  (courtesy of more BlueTack)  As supplied the cylinder mount was too narrow, and I've had to space the cylinders further outwards, by about 1mm each side.  Anyway, here is the state of play:

 

 

[Tony Teague]

Looking good!

[cctransuk]

2 hours ago, AVS1998 said:

I can't believe how quiet it is!

 

That's High Level gearboxes for you! I swear by 'em.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[hayfield]

53 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

That's High Level gearboxes for you! I swear by 'em.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

 

 

You should try High Level's coreless motors, I have recently fitted the 1219 which is super smooth and very reasonable at £27, Chris recconds the 1220 is a lot more powerful, on a standard Road Runner.

 

I have just tried one of their budget 10 series 3 pole motors, seems fine and whilst I am still building the chassis seems to have enough power at least for a small tank loco and certainly the answer for those who like those little early tank locos

 

[DLT]

13 hours ago, hayfield said:

You should try High Level's coreless motors, I have recently fitted the 1219 which is super smooth and very reasonable at £27, Chris recconds the 1220 is a lot more powerful, on a standard Road Runner.

 

Thanks John, that could be the answer to another project I'm planning.

Cheers, Dave.

[DLT]

Once the cylinders were sorted out, next job is the motion.  The kit required that you solder the motion brackets and cylinder block permanently to the chassis.  I prefer to have them removable for various reasons.  so I've created a sub-assmebly of the two motion supports that screws to an extra cross-member of the chassis.

 

 

 

 

Uniting it with the body shows that all is not quite right; cylinders and motion brackets appear to be too far forward by 2 or 3mm.

However, crossheads, connecting rods etc are fine, and offering up the rest of the valve-gear etches shows that everything fits. 

Moving everything back would involve a major rebuild of the front end of the chassis, and much of the valvegear.  I'm not sure its worth the effort,  I'm happy to continue as it is.

 

 

Edited September 6, 2022 by DLT

[John Tomlinson]

Looking back a page to p.62, the picture of 30488 shows the front of the cylinder block to be right up to the point where the valance on the running plate turns down, which rather implies that the cylinders should be further forward rather than back. If what I assume is the front valve cover is added then this may fill the gap.

 

Is the answer that the cylinders are a bit undersize, as on so many models?

 

John.

Edited April 9, 2020 by John Tomlinson
clarification

[bgman]

Please excuse my ignorance during this excellent build Dave, may I ask why the locomotive was named a " Chonker" ?

 

Yours,

Dyed in the wool Early GWR enthusiast.

[DLT]

1 hour ago, John Tomlinson said:

Looking back a page to p.62, the picture of 30488 shows the front of the cylinder block to be right up to the point where the valance on the running plate turns down, which rather implies that the cylinders should be further forward rather than back. If what I assume is the front valve cover is added then this may fill the gap.

Is the answer that the cylinders are a bit undersize, as on so many models?

John.

 

Yes I think you're right about the cylinders being typically a bit undersized.  The front covers will fill in the gap at the front sufficiently, but I cant make the cylinders any bigger or move them back without wrecking everything else.  The motion-bracket comes too far forward, the front end should be under the step in the footplate.  I MAY be able to correct this, but it might have a considerable knock-on effect!

 

52 minutes ago, bgman said:

Please excuse my ignorance during this excellent build Dave, may I ask why the locomotive was named a " Chonker" ?

Yours,

Dyed in the wool Early GWR enthusiast.

 

Can't help there I'm afraid; I've no idea how the nickname came about.  Graham Muz might might be able to help, he knows everything...

[John Tomlinson]

Dave,

 

I meant to say in my post above that if you hadn't mentioned the issue I suspect no one would have noticed.

 

As it has all gone together well and particularly the motion works, I'd be very tempted to leave well alone.

 

John.

[30368]

Dave,

 

The front valve casting for the cylinder extends the top of the cylinder unit by just of 4mm so you should be fine.

 

A close up of my 30489, built by PDK for me about 6 years ago. I had a lot more money then!!

 

Hope all goes well.

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

 

[DLT]

Very nice Richard, thanks for the photo.  How do you get on with the bogie on curves?

[30368]

What curves?

 

Only joshing, shed yard and fairly strait main line with mostly gentle curves. Some yard sidings are too tight without de-railing - just like the real thing!

 

kind regards,

 

Richard B

Edited April 9, 2020 by 30368
clarification

[LN850]

I have attached a drawing which may help. This is a 2D extract from a 3D drawing I am preparing of the original Urie design, as yet by no means finished. It does however show the relative positions of everything at the front end.

To elaborate. the center of the cylinder is 15'3.5" from the centre of the Driving wheel, this on a line drawn on a slope of 1 in 36 from the center of the Driving wheel. The point where a line, drawn from the center of the cylinder perpendicular to to the cylinder center line, crosses the center line of the valve spindle, is convenient for establishing the centre line of the chimney/blast pipe arrangement. The front of the smokebox is about 2'2.5" in front of the chimney centre line. 

 

Note the position of the motion bracket relative to the footplate drop. Whilst not yet drawn, the downpipe from the side clacks goes through the footplate between the drop and the reversing lever arrangement.

 

 

Mke

 

 

h15.pdf

[DLT]

Thanks a lot Mike, I will need to get to grips with those measurements; and that drawing looks excellent.

Many thanks, Dave.

[N15class]

Oi think it's a combination of two things. 1 cylinders being under feed, 2 the drop down looks a long way from the smokebox front.

[DLT]

Thanks for all the info on cylinder dimensions etc, but we've decided to carry on as it is.  Although dimensionally things are a bit out, everything fits!  Just to show, here is the valve gear made up and running.  Some of the mounting points were a bit feeble and I've beefed them up so they are a bit more positive, but everything else fits beautifully.

 

 

Once I've done both sides, I will do some detailed photos of the mountings.

Cheers, Dave.

[Michael Edge]

That looks very good, I wouldn't bother trying to alter anything now.

[Wilton 34041]

Hi Dave,

another great build coming along - I've just caught up on it. (Followed all the others). Interesting to see the discrepancies you've found, PDK Bulleid light Pacific's have similar front end issues of cylinder position and body length I've discovered.

I believe the nickname ' chonkers' came about because of the sound from the coupling rods when travelling under light steam or coasting.   I enjoyed talking with you at Uckfield exhibition last October and watching your 'Charmouth' layout. It's good to have a face to go with these loco builds now. Looking forward to more of the H15.

Keep well and safe,

Phil.

[DLT]

Thanks very much Phil.

I really enjoyed the Uckfield show, although it was a flipping long drive home on the Sunday night.  That was probably Charmouth's last outing, its getting a bit decrepit underneath (no comments please!)  It still runs very nicely, but the switches, connectors etc are starting to fail.

 

As for the Chonker, motion is completed, and here are a few photos showing the motion bracket from underneath.  They show the extra bits I've added to create a more positive and secure mounting for the motion.  Two lengths of angle with a nut soldered on give a better and removable pivot for the expansion links.

 

 

Two little "L" brackets give a much better mounting point for the front section.  With the valvegear fixed in mid-gear, the radius rod doesn't move and so its soldered in place, adding to the strength.

 

 

When I installed the expansion link, it was clear that it too long and hung too low.  I modified as below, soldering a 14ba washer each side to form a new pivot point.

 

 

View from above with the motion bracket in place.

 

Edited September 6, 2022 by DLT

[DLT]

Coming to the part of kit construction that is often the least satisfactory, the front bogie.  Often left to flop around at the end of a strip of brass and frequently derail.  My favourite method is to restrain it in guides with light springing.  The strips of brass across the top of the bogie form the guides, which slide on the fixing screw.  This in turn is fixed to an extra chassis spacer.  The springy wire fits loosely in a length of tube soldered to the intended bogie mounting point.  The photos should explain it!

 

 

 

 

I've had to open up the wheel arches slightly, and alter the cylinders, to avoid the wheel rims touching the chassis and shorting out.

 

 

 

Edited September 6, 2022 by DLT

[RAY NORWOOD]

Looking good Dave. I have seen that idea in a book on scratch building locos.

Keep up with the good work. 

[DLT]

|Brake rigging is done, my usual method of beefing it up by using brass rod instead of the flimsy etched strips supplied in the kit.  The mounting holes in the frames were too far away from the wheels so I redrilled them about 1mm closer, improving the appearance no end.

When finally assembled, I will secure the assembly with a touch of Evostick on the hangers.

 

 

 

Edited September 6, 2022 by DLT

[DLT]

And just to prove that with bogie, front steps etc all fitted, it runs through 30 inch radius pointwork.  Although I think it might be tighter than that.

 

 

[DLT]

Thanks for all the "Likes" guys. that pretty much completes the loco side of things.  Yes, there's still the various whitemetal castings to add, and pipework etc to be fixed after painting, but its time to get on with the tender.  Theres the potential for problems with all the bends and flares involved, but I guess that makes it all the more interesting.  Pickups need fitting, so inevitably I will be deviating from the instructions.

Cheers, Dave.