Jon Fitness Posted May 23, 2015 Author Share Posted May 23, 2015 (edited) A little project that should occupy a quiet evening.. I bought a few of these Dapol wagons when they were flogging them off for £20 each. Most of the shortcomings I'm happy to live with at that price but the weird droopy brake lever isn't one of them. I bought these brake levers from Hobby Holidays so I'll see how they go on. More soon JF Edited May 23, 2015 by Jon Fitness 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 Apologies for the phone pics..guess who left his camera battery charger in the caravan on the Isle of Wight The replacement RCH brake levers and guides. The levers are quite substantial N/S etches. They need to be formed and a handy guide is provided as an etched pattern which you match as you bend the levers. The end has a hand hold which is formed into a loop and soldered. I also added one of the etched washers to the pivot as well. The guides are etched from (I think) phosphor bronze and are very fine and fiddly although strong once soldered up. Also provided is a brace that supports the guide against the W iron. I soldered a locating pin to the top of the guide and fixed this into a hole drilled in the solebar. The brace also got a locating pin soldered to it and this fitted into a hole drilled into the W iron. Lastly is an etched chain and locking pin for the brake handle. Tiny and a little fragile but it still got fitted! Before removal of the plastic brake handle. This was just a matter of prizing out the lever guide from the solebar and snipping off the handle and pivot from under the door banger. The handle was then soldered to the metal cross rod. After fitting and painting and a bit of rather clumsy and unsubtle weathering! It's only half a job as the rest of the brake gear needs doing but it's removed the bit about these wagons that I don't like. Worth it? Discuss...! JF 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted May 28, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 28, 2015 A nice job of getting rid of the thing which instantly jars on looking at the Dapol wagons - definitely worth it I think. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted July 18, 2015 Author Share Posted July 18, 2015 (edited) I've never really been one to fuss over the finer details and finishing touches on rolling stock but once I saw these for sale on ebay, my class 24 suddenly had to have them. A nice etched N/S Derby works plate. They came unpainted so rather than fill the fine detail up with paint, I chemically blackened them and stuck them on with double sided tape. When originally built the class 24s generally had them under the drivers side window. Once they were re-numbered and data panels added, the works plates were (usually) moved to the cab doors. Another ebay purchase was an Ex LNW coal tank, ready built for a nat's under £200. Quite a bargain as it's a runner but a little rough around the edges. It's also the first and hopefully the only etched brass loco I've ever come across that has been almost completely assembled with glue rather than solder. It looks to have a Premier components milled chassis, possibly cast iron wheels and a rear pony truck rather than a radial arrangement. After sorting the pick ups and adding a piece of stiff wire to the trailing truck to help spring and "steer" it through curves and turnouts a bit, it trundles along quite nicely. It'll end up being "BR"- ised, pushpull fitted and re-numbered either as 58926 or 58887 which I think was the last coal tank at Bolton (Plodder Lane) shed. I have a list of things to do to it as time allows including:- Better fixing method for cab roof. Replace smokebox wheel with a dart. Better safety valves. Representation of firebox sides behind the frames. New brake gear (current ones are whitemetal, glued on and very flimsy). Add push-pull gear and associated pipework/hoses. Possibly re-jig the rear cab spectacle protectors as I think they should be 45degrees rather than vertical. As the loco was fairly cheap I'll probably scratchbuild all the extra bits to keep it as a bargain (who said cheapskate?!) More soon, signals and workbench re-fit permitting JF Edited July 18, 2015 by Jon Fitness 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmudriver Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Hi Jon. 58887 - something like this, you mean? I've got a picture of it on shed at Edge Hill - which is where I got this livery from. Rod PS The paint job has been dulled down a bit since this pic. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted July 18, 2015 Author Share Posted July 18, 2015 (edited) Hi Jon. 58887 - something like this, you mean? P1030661 - Copy.JPG I've got a picture of it on shed at Edge Hill - which is where I got this livery from. Rod PS The paint job has been dulled down a bit since this pic. Very nice Rod!. Probably like that but much muckier! Has yours got the motor gear on the RHS of the smokebox? JF Edited July 18, 2015 by Jon Fitness Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmudriver Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Hi Jon. Yes, it has - I think it's a Laurie Griffin castings set. This is the photo I was referring to. I can't remember (or find) where I got it from so I hope it's OK to put on here. Mine's pretty clean as it's a preserved one and only comes out on high days and holidays. I'll put a photo on later. Rod 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted August 1, 2015 Author Share Posted August 1, 2015 A bit of holiday work Whilst on a break on the Isle of Wight, between volunteering on the steam railway and in the bus museum, I fitted in a little modelling. The Coal Tank definitely needed some new brake gear as the glued on whitemetal bits didn't look right to me and started to fall off anyway. Using the old hangers as a rough guide, I soldered 6 lengths of scrap etch together for each side, filed them to shape and drilled them ready for mounting in pairs. These were then de-soldered and assembled on rods with spacers. Brake blocks were made from 40thou' black plasticard and the assemblies soldered to the frames. I used some 1mm x 0.5mm brass for the pull rods and cobbled a linkage together from a bit of tube and more scrap etch. The brake gears not quite as it should be as the real thing has pull rods both sides of the wheels but it's stronger and a bit nearer the correct shape than what was there before. I reinstated the front sandpipes but I'm not yet sure where the rear ones should be. Next job will be the firebox/ashpan sides behind the frames. More soon JF 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 Very good Jon. I think it often looks odd when there is a push rod either side of the wheel. In model form they are always too far apart,almost impossible to get close to the wheels. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted August 2, 2015 Author Share Posted August 2, 2015 Very good Jon. I think it often looks odd when there is a push rod either side of the wheel. In model form they are always too far apart,almost impossible to get close to the wheels. Agreed. It would probably work a bit better in S7 with the skinnier wheel profile. I've done the firebox/ashpan sides and it was definitely a job for the RSU. No way I could have used a normal iron to solder those thin sides to such thick chassis sides! Pic to follow.JF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted August 3, 2015 Author Share Posted August 3, 2015 (edited) Having done most of the work on the chassis of the Coal Tank I decided to have a go at a few of the body jobs. I've identified a number of things that I can do without major reconstruction (although that did cross my mind...for a few fleeting moments ) The "ashpan" sides I have a suspicion that there was a vacuum tank under the bunker across the frames but I can't find a picture to confirm it. Anyway.... Safety valves are the wrong type, Replace LNW style smokebox wheel with a dart type. Add a couple of smokebox fastening dogs. Fit push-pull gear on side of smokebox Fit 6 washout plugs Replace all vac/control/steam heat bags Possibly replace coal rail etching, Looking at various pictures it actually looks like the etching is too fine! It needs to be beefed up a little. Washout plugs fitted. Motor gear and pipework fitted. Somebody gave me a little bag of castings in return for a painted signal arm! They are whitemetal and a bit fragile for soldering. I've used these as references for positioning and pipework. I don't think I'm far off.. Smokebox wheel and front hoses removed Rear hoses removed Safety valves removed (with a file as it was all one casting) Edit..the more I look at them the more I think those buffers have to be replaced too..... I think that's enough butchery for now though! More soon, JF Edited August 3, 2015 by Jon Fitness 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy1066 Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Jon - It was good to meet you at Havenstreet - Just a quick question regarding your camera/lighting setup as your images, particularly close ups are very crisp and clear ... Ta .. Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted August 3, 2015 Author Share Posted August 3, 2015 Jon - It was good to meet you at Havenstreet - Just a quick question regarding your camera/lighting setup as your images, particularly close ups are very crisp and clear ... Ta .. Andy Hi Andy, Nice to see you too, hope you enjoyed the Steam Railway. I really meant to take you across to the loco shed to have a look at the Ivatt tank but our paths didn't cross at the right time! Anyway, camera. It's a Canon G15 and I usually try and take pics in natural light outside. On my bench I have halogen lamps but I just leave the camera on auto and let it sort things out. It's a nice camera and capable of so much more than I can do with it!! Oh, and that reminds me, I have some castings to do now I'm home Jon F. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted August 6, 2015 Author Share Posted August 6, 2015 The bodgery continues... Made up some new safety valves from bits of 3 different diameter tubes These will be epoxied in due course. Got a bit carried away with the smokebox door as the hinge looked a bit big. Much hacking and scraping later I also realised the central hole for the dart was too big so that got filled with 145 degree solder and rubbed down too. I don't think I'm going to get away with a bit of a quick paint touch up any more! Made up a couple of smokebox dogs from scrap etch and brass rod. They're a bit clunky looking but in keeping with the "keep it cheap and cheerful" ideas I'm working to with this one! More soon JF 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 Looking good. The new parts will set it off well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted August 9, 2015 Author Share Posted August 9, 2015 Well the coal tank has been through the paint shop. It was a bit of a nail biter as I wasn't sure what paint the original builder had used but the etch primer was obviously good as the paint had held well. I tentatively wafted some of Halfords satin black over it and waited for the expected reaction but thankfully, apart from a couple of tiny areas that had been repainted at some time, all was ok. I printed off a 10D shedplate on the computer which will do till I can get an etched one and once the paint on the buffer beams is dry I'll re-fit the couplings. The front one will eventually be replaced with a Kadee so it can take it's place on the push-pull roster at Saltney. The main transfers are Fox but the little 2F on the cabsides was from a HMRS sheet that was actually still sticky!! The cab roof is now fixed on with 2 14ba CSK screws through a beam fixed between the cab front and back plates. The crew need a bit of touching up (oo-er missus!) and once they are done I'll fix the roof back on and fit the whistle. It all looks way too clean at the moment, so once the coal has been added and the glue set, It'll be getting a bit of filthiness sprayed/brushed/dusted over it. I think it looks a little better than it did and I'm looking forward to having some fun double heading it with the super D .. Back to the signals for now! JF 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 I think you are wrong it looks a lot better than it did. Well done that man. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted August 22, 2015 Author Share Posted August 22, 2015 (edited) I decided not to go too heavy with the weathering on the coal tank. After having a Kadee fitted to the rear (not keen on them but as it's main work will be push-pull it's probably the best option round our sharp curves) it was taken to the layout to check all was OK. I didn't need to have worried as it happily takes 3 coaches and slogs steadily up and down the various steep inclines and sharp curves without a trace of a slip. It can even be left to it's own devices on the steep bits without speeding or slowing excessively. On Shed Taking coal Ready for it's first trip from Astley Bridge to Uppermill. I'll do a video of it doing its stuff if anyone's interested... JF Edit, just noticed I've knocked one of the lubricators off the smokebox.. Edited August 22, 2015 by Jon Fitness 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted August 24, 2015 Author Share Posted August 24, 2015 (edited) At chuffin last...got the screen thingy to work on you tube! Hope you like it after all the faffing about! JF Edited August 24, 2015 by Jon Fitness 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmudriver Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Very nice, Jon. Like the "Welsh Dragon" set too! Rod Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jintyman Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 (edited) Excellent work Jon, and there's nowt wrong with keeping it cheap, especially when the results come out like that. What layout is this, I can't find a thread for it on here, unless I need Specsavers? There are a few photos of the Welsh Dragon on this site http://www.6g.nwrail.org.uk/index.html Compiled by Geoff Poole It's quite a nostalgic look at the N. Wales coast railway. Jinty Edited August 25, 2015 by Jintyman Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted August 25, 2015 Author Share Posted August 25, 2015 (edited) Very nice, Jon. Like the "Welsh Dragon" set too! Rod Hi Rod, We've been powering the Welsh Dragon with a couple of borrowed/visiting Ivatt 2-6-2s for a while but one of them has gone back to it's owner and the other is almost worn out now. There's some alarming knocks and clicks coming from the valve gear! It'll have to be withdrawn for a mechanical overhaul and the Coal tank can step in until its done. Excellent work Jon, and there's nowt wrong with keeping it cheap, especially when the results come out like that. What layout is this, I can't find a thread for it on here, unless I need Specsavers? There are a few photos of the Welsh Dragon on this site http://www.6g.nwrail.org.uk/index.html Compiled by Geoff Poole It's quite a nostalgic look at the N. Wales coast railway. Jinty Excellent link Jint! I'll have a look when it goes quiet at work (about 0230!). The layout is sort of called Saltney and is just me and Steve Dunning's work. It's a 27ft by 17ft roundy-roundy with a couple of terminii. All very crammed in with hidden loops, fierce gradients and one or two unfeasably tight bends. It's built in a lockup under Steve's flat in Saltney and was a last minute desperate home for the remnants of a large garden railway which had to be hurriedly dismantled after a family dispute. I did start a blog but being both busy and lazy it sort of got abandoned. I don't get to spend too much time there due to other commitments and I think familiarity with it means I'm not as inspired to write about it as I might have once been. I really need to get the signalling done on the upper level but as soon as I start something, other work comes along to divert me away from it. Steve also had a habit of having a quick re-shuffle of bits of trackwork whilst I wasn't looking, just as I'm about to build signals for it The most recent change was brought on by the purchase of a rather nice scratchbuilt coaling tower (with working wagon lift) which necessitated a new shed entrance point etc. but things seem to have stabilised for now . I'll see if I can find the blog but there's a lot of changes happened since I last updated it!! Cheers Jon F Edited August 25, 2015 by Jon Fitness Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted August 25, 2015 Author Share Posted August 25, 2015 (edited) How ashamed am I then? 2011 since I last updated the Saltney Blog . http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/456-the-saltney-railway/ There are so many parts of the layout that have come and gone since then, I'm not sure where I would start from to update this. The cattle dock's gone, the tunnel over one end has gone and been replaced by a complex bridge structure, various buildings have come and then gone again and many things have changed shape and colour and track formation. Probably time to call it a day and start a thread from where we are now ..if I can find the time.. JF Edited August 25, 2015 by Jon Fitness Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted August 22, 2016 Author Share Posted August 22, 2016 My word! Another year without an update...too many signals to build, that's my excuse! Anyway, I'm sure many of you have a favourite loco that you have built and mine is my JLTRT 10001 diesel loco. It was my first kit from them and it went together well, ran competently and was duly thrashed around a large garden railway for many hours. In handling, one or two bits went missing, probably still in the garden somewhere but when the layout came to an end the loco was deemed a bit too large for our new indoor layout and was put to one side in it's box, in a cupboard at home. Occasionally it ventured out for a quick run, even paying a visit to a rather large layout connected to it's original manufacturing company! After languishing on a shelf back in the cupboard at home, being shuffled this way and that to release other loco boxes, I must have left it in a rather precarious position after disturbing it as during a modelling session I heard a rather ominous thump from the cupboard. On checking out said noise in the cupboard, I discovered 10001's box 6ft lower than the place I'd left it.........On opening the box this is what I found.... Poor chap had taken a heavy tumble and landed on a buffer badly damaging the corner of one cab. I put the lid back on the box, not really wanting to know had bad the rest of the loco was and left it until now. With Telford coming up, I thought I'd better bite the bullet and see if it was repairable. If so I could ask Laurie at JLTRT to bring me the appropriate bits. These are the bits I retrieved from the box With the body off the loco I had a look to see how bad the damage was to the rest of the loco Amazingly the damage seems to be entirely limited to the cab front with a buffer housing smashed off and a large crack in the drivers side front end. None of the joints have let go, all the glazing has stayed put, the cab interiors had stayed put and damage to one bogie is limited to a brass step falling off. A lot of the paint on the cab front had cracked off, indicating that A, it flexed rather a lot on impact and B, the plastic primer I used didn't take as well as I thought it had!. Once I'd removed all the "furniture" from the nose end I picked all the loose paint off and had a bit of a scrat at the bits of paint that clung on regardless. I think, if I can remove as much paint as possible from the damaged area I might be able to repair it without having to renew the cab. I reckon I have all the bits that broke and a cursory trial fit of the remains shows that with a bit of persuasion and some good superglue, I could be back in business! This is roughly how it should look (Please excuse the rubbish paint job!) give or take a hose or two! More soon JF 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted August 26, 2016 Author Share Posted August 26, 2016 (edited) After gently persuading a bit more paint to come off I realised I had got to the stage that risked damage to the moulded details. Another method was needed. Using a small but fairly stiff flat paintbrush I scrubbed gently at the remaining paint with cellulose thinners. Eventually almost all the paint came off the affected area. The loco had been sprayed with Halfords plastic primer, a Halfords green which I was told was correct but turned out too bright, then Railmatch BR green. As I had fitted the end details first (and intended to spray the green with a Halfords can which would have destroyed any enamel paint underneath!) I could only have overpainted the yellow panel and that was brushed on Railmatch enamel WP Yellow. The buffer housings were painted with Phoenix buffer beam red and this red was the only paint totally unaffected by the thinners! No idea why.! Anyway, the broken parts were further cleaned and re-fitted with superglue. As you can see, due to some permanent deformation of the nose, I couldn't get a perfect fit of the pieces but it's near enough for me. A bit more fettling should see it ready for a blast of primer. This time I'll leave fitting all the lamp brackets etc until after the paint goes on, that way I can get the yellow on first then spray the green round it. Looking a bit better already methinks.... JF Edited August 27, 2016 by Jon Fitness 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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