Ixion 0 Gauge Fowler Diesel Loco

[Amiddl]

That's a challenge, particularly at this early hour.

Assuming you haven't moved the wheels on the axles, (and you obviously have the driven axle in the right place at the rear) then it doesn't matter which way round the axles are.

The loco is "right hand lead". At least, mine is, and as this was common practice on the GW and other railways, I expect they are made that way, and I'm confident they're all the same.

Imagine standing in the cab, with the loco going forwards. If the loco were see-through, you would see the right hand rods coming up to top-dead-centre, and then they would be moving forward until they got to front dead centre. If you were to stop the loco instantly, and get off, the crankpins on the right hand side would all be as far forward as they can be - at "3 o'clock". If you walk around to the left hand side of the loco, the crankpins should (all) be at top-dead-centre, 12 o'clock.

If they are not, then you have a quartering issue, with one (or more) axle(s).

It is easy to be confused by the quartering, but easy to make an aide-memoire. Take a piece of paper, write "right" at the bottom, use a felt tip pen so it shows through the paper, draw a circle and put an "X" or something at 3 o'clock. Turn it over sideways, write "left" at the bottom, and draw the same circle, and put an "X" at 12 o'clock. This is what it should be. Now, if you had put the axle in the wrong way round, so left is right and vice-versa, you need to turn you piece of paper until the left X is at 3 o'clock. Now turn your paper over sideways, and you will find the other X is at midnight. It doesn't matter which way round the axles are!

Now, there is a proviso: it doesn't matter which way round they are, if they are all quartered at exactly 90 degrees. If the axles are all quartered at exactly 88 degrees, you won't be able to put the rods on unless they are all the right way round, but the loco will run perfectly when you do get them on.

Possibly the easiest thing to do is to drive the loco until the motored axle right hand crankpin is at 45 degrees, between 12 and 3 o'clock, and then line up the other axles and put the right rod on, temporarily. You should be easily able to see whether all the crankpin holes on the left hand side are lined up or not. If not, only one of the can be wrong (there are three, two must be the same!) so reverse that one. The rods should now fit.

(I'm not sure if the rear axle drive gear is offset - if it is, then this axle must be "correct" and you may have to reverse both the other axles)

If not, I fear you have moved the quartering.

Hoping for a happy outcome

Simon

Simon,

 

Thank you this is really helpful - now to find a bit of time this weekend to work through this.

 

Many thanks

 

Andrew

[Simond]

Are Ixion Fowlers becoming the "New Lima". ?

 

Two lovely scratchbuilt locos on Ixion chassis

 

http://www.gauge0guildarchive.com/xenforo/index.php?threads/wisbech-and-upwell-tramway.268/

 

Best

Simon

[Ruston]

Are Ixion Fowlers becoming the "New Lima". ?

 

Two lovely scratchbuilt locos on Ixion chassis

 

http://www.gauge0guildarchive.com/xenforo/index.php?threads/wisbech-and-upwell-tramway.268/

 

Best

Simon

I can't see them, Simon. I guess you need to be a member to view that.

[Simond]

Ah, yes.

 

I'll ask the op to post here

 

Best

Simon

[NeilHB]

Are Ixion Fowlers becoming the "New Lima". ?

Two lovely scratchbuilt locos on Ixion chassis

http://www.gauge0guildarchive.com/xenforo/index.php?threads/wisbech-and-upwell-tramway.268/

Best

Simon

Having finally remembered my username and password for the Guild forum, I can safely say that wow! They are seriously impressive and very nice looking. Now I just need to find an Ixion chassis and suitable plans for a Tramway 04...

 

Many thanks for sharing Simon - greatly appreciated!

[Neil S]

Having finally remembered my username and password for the Guild forum, I can safely say that wow! They are seriously impressive and very nice looking. Now I just need to find an Ixion chassis and suitable plans for a Tramway 04...

 

Many thanks for sharing Simon - greatly appreciated!

Hi there,

Here are the two W&U locos I've been building over the winter, (almost finished!) both are on the Ixion Fowler chassis acquired from a certain online auction site (acmodels regularly auctions them).

I used a 4mm drawing enlarged by Monty Wells which appeared in the Model Railway Journal No.3, Autumn 1985 for the Drewry, an old Skinley for the J70 with a suitable degree of scepticism (the bell was in the wrong place I believe).

Hope you find them helpful.

[Neil S]

Hi there,

Here are the two W&U locos I've been building over the winter, (almost finished!) both are on the Ixion Fowler chassis acquired from a certain online auction site (acmodels regularly auctions them).

I used a 4mm drawing enlarged by Monty Wells which appeared in the Model Railway Journal No.3, Autumn 1985 for the Drewry, an old Skinley for the J70 with a suitable degree of scepticism (the bell was in the wrong place I believe).

Hope you find them helpful.

[Ian Rathbone]

Additional lining on the GWR Fowler

 

I received the Fowler after its body modifications (after David L. O. Smith, see post 22nd March) had been completed by Mike Morris. The first thing I did was to look at the photos in Russell to find the extent of the prototype lining. The model comes with the main panels on the cab sides, engine housing and sloping top of the gear box housing lined in GWR style panels. There is also lining on the ends of the buffer beams but in white rather than GWR orange. There is no other lining. Additionally, the valance and footsteps are in green rather than the black one would expect.

 

A thorough examination of the photos in Russell showed that the front of the cab was lined in a rather extravagant way, far more elaborate than standard GWR styles. Also, each louvre on the engine and gearbox housing was lined, presumably with a black edge and offset orange line. The starter engine’s louvres were not lined but the transverse transmission housing was, on its narrow top and side. I have never seen a photo of the back but it is a reasonable assumption that the rear of the cab would have been lined in a style similar to the front.

 

I could not see any evidence that there was lining on the red part of buffer beams or housings but, curiously, there was lining behind the buffer beams and on the main frames. There was also lining around the wheel centres and there appeared to be lining on the spokes.

 

The ex-works photo in Russell seems to have been taken using panchromatic film which renders red as white so the buffer housings appear white, as do the rods. A close examination shows that the bosses of the rods are not painted. It also shows that the blocking to the cab side lettering is not a uniform red but red fading to pink, and black.

 

My first job after taking off the rods was to put them in the vice and file the tops smooth to get rid of the untidy mould marks. I also filed the front to smooth out the plating (they appear to be nickel plated brass). The bosses of the rods were masked off and the remainder sprayed with a red oxide etching primer. Once cured (24 hr) I airbrushed on three coats of Humbrol 174. Red is a difficult colour to spray as it is so translucent when thinned. I sprayed the three coats at roughly ten minute intervals, allowing the thinners to evaporate before continuing. Once dry I chemically blackened the bosses to reduce the bright finish.

 

The next job was to brush paint the valances, steps and buffer beam ends black. After a day’s curing, I could line the buffer beam ends on one side, then, after a further day, the second side. To do the extra lining on the superstructure I needed to remove it from the footplate unit but, as Mike had already been through the process, this was easily done. All the lining on the superstructure - front and back of cab, louvres and starter transmission housing - was done with bow pen compasses, offsetting from an adjacent edge. The same method was used on the frames, wheels and back of buffer beams. Rounded corners were done with a fine brush.

 

The final task before reassembly was to mask off the windows then airbrush a satin varnish on the front and back of the cab just to tone down the gloss lining. 

[Guest Isambarduk]

Excellent, Ian ... rather shows up my example, now!  Thank you for taking the time to share this with us.

 

I cannot remember now if I decided to omit the lining on the wheels or if I just didn't notice it at the time, and you make a good point about the lining on the rear cab sheet and other places.  When I have nothing else to do, my loco might have to come back to the paint shop for the additions but I would worry about not matching up the lining as well as you did.

 

I also cleaned up the moulding marks on the rods, although I forgot to mention that, and I painted and finished them in essentially the same way.

 

"... body modifications (after David L. O. Smith, see post 22nd March)"

 

For anybody who might be interested to know what these were, I have them written up on my website at: (www.davidlosmith.co.uk/GWR_Fowler.htm) which might be more convenient.

 

David

[delticfan]

Just bought the Fowler from eBay brand new quite a bargain at £175 incl p and p. Arrived in 48hours perfect condition. Well pleased and there are some left.

[hmrspaul]

Mine was £140 delivered from Ebay. Just done the 2 day Ebor Group exhibition and it was easily the most used loco, operated perfectly. I have always worried about the limited pickup an 0-4-0 would have, but no problem at all. And a number of comments when visitors recognised it was similar to Churchill at the DVLR. [and no one commented on all the work I had done on the wagon kits......]

 

Paul

[Fastdax]

Yes, it's the 7mm I'm talking about. My sound fitting feature will be a stand alone piece, unconnected with anything else you may have already read. It will probably also show the alternative speakers and locations I tried out before settling on....the one I settled on. Ha ha.

 

Paul

 

Hi Paul,

 

PM sent.

[swiftbeam]

Nice looking model :-)

Edited September 17, 2020 by swiftbeam

[Mol_PMB]

I'm fully aware that I'm a decade behind the game here, but I've finally weakened and bought myself an Ixion Fowler. 

Having made sure it works, my task this Christmas is of course to pull it apart, modify it and repaint it. 

There's a lot of good stuff in this thread about how to do that, although of course many of the photos disappeared down the server black hole.

My intention is to modify it to represent Fowler 410 0009 of 1947, which worked in Trafford Park:

Fortunately several of the 410 class survive, there were only 15 of them and I have found photos of the following in preservation:

410 0001, 410 0003, 410 0005, 410 0013.

Photos of the survivors are helpful for what this loco would have looked like from other angles. There will need to be some compromises as the 410 class weren't quite the same as the Ixion prototype. Some things will be easier to change that others. This is a summary of what I'm thinking:

 

A key question I haven't yet resolved is whether to just fit a plain DCC decoder, or whether to double the cost of the project with DCC sound.

 

Any thoughts/experience welcome. 

Cheers,

Mol

[ngtrains.com]

If you want sound Mol give us a shout. I did the sound installs for Ixion and have Paul Chetter originated sound projects recorded from a close relative of the model.

 

 

[Mol_PMB]

3 hours ago, ngtrains.com said:

If you want sound Mol give us a shout. I did the sound installs for Ixion and have Paul Chetter originated sound projects recorded from a close relative of the model.

Many thanks, Paul. I'm mulling it over - might see how well the body modifications come along before committing to further investment in it. Am I right in thinking that the only heavy modifications required are to the chassis, in which case I don't need to worry about those in the body mod programme? I can probably mill off a lump of the chassis myself if required.

Cheers,

Mol

[dpgibbons]

An article by Paul Chetter in the Jan 2014 issue of Hornby Magazine detailed two ways to install sound in the Fowler. One requires some internal body mods; neither require chassis mods. PM me if you want a copy.

[Mol_PMB]

7 hours ago, dpgibbons said:

An article by Paul Chetter in the Jan 2014 issue of Hornby Magazine detailed two ways to install sound in the Fowler. One requires some internal body mods; neither require chassis mods. PM me if you want a copy.

Many thanks for the offer. My understanding is that Paul (Chetter) and Paul (of ngtrains) subsequently developed what they called a 'third way' which became the preferred option for their installations. That requires a block to be milled out of the chassis, but avoids body modifications. There are some details of this in the thread above, only a few of the photos have survived. I do have a milling machine so I could follow that process I think.

[ngtrains.com]

Mol, no milling required. Rewire the loco, decoder goes where current pcb is, speaker on a laser cut spacer and keep alive go in the chassis. Nothing is attached to or requires mods to the body.

[Mol_PMB]

15 hours ago, ngtrains.com said:

Mol, no milling required. Rewire the loco, decoder goes where current pcb is, speaker on a laser cut spacer and keep alive go in the chassis. Nothing is attached to or requires mods to the body.

Many thanks Paul. Which decoder model would you recommend - I appreciate things have come on a way in the last 10 years.

Cheers,

Mol

[Mol_PMB]

Right, there's no going back now!

This came apart more easily than I was expecting.

[Mol_PMB]

Some progress already.

On the cab, I have removed the lettering and lining, also the small handrails on the upper cabsides, which have been relocated to the cab front.

I have also added some microstrip along the bottom of the cab at the back, as it will no longer need to be cut away to clear the bufferbeam.

I have added a representation of the electrical conduit, junction boxes and side light housings. These will be non-working, but I do propose a working headlight just above the upper junction box.

 

On the footplate, I have sanded down the bufferbeams and filled the holes to achieve the required thin and flat appearance. I also marked out the bolt positions, drilled some small holes and fitted Masterclub bolt heads.

I also hacked away the various lumps associated with the donkey engine and jack. I failed to get these perfectly smooth and flat, but I hope that a combination of grime and a strategically placed oil can will hide the worst of it. To give me more options for the DCC chip and sound fitment, I have also enlarged the cutout in the footplate to extend under the gearbox.

That's probably all for tonight.

Mol

 

 

[Mol_PMB]

More Fowler-bashing progress this morning.

Various bits of the front bufferbeam moulding have been hacked up and refitted to the underlying plate.

(410 0003, from Mick Cottam on Flickr)

 

Same approach but different in detail on the rear bufferbeam:

 

(410 0003, from Gordon Edgar on Flickr)

 

Having removed the donkey engine I was left with a rather awkward mishmash of panels and slots. I considered replacing them with another bonnet door but chickened out of trying to match the louvres. Looking at photos of the prototype, this door was quite often missing, so I decided to follow that approach. OK, so we can see the gubbins inside but it's not entirely unlike what you might see on a real diesel loco of this breed - the end of an engine block, a flywheel and some brackets, hoses and cables. I think if I add a few bits and pieces, paint that lot a mix of matt black and gunmetal, and perhaps shield the flywheel with a mesh guard, it won't look too bad.

 

Plenty more detail to add, but I've got a week ahead of me for this Christmas Project.

(410 0005, from Gordon Edgar on Flickr)

[Mol_PMB]

I'm still wondering what, if anything, to do about the radiator.

 

The one on the Ixion model is a beautiful moulding, but of a much earlier type than the 410 class had. The easiest thing to do is to leave it be.

The trouble with changing it is that the model's radiator grille is wider than it is tall, whereas the 410 class has the grille taller than it is wide.

This is partly because the 410 has a narrower bonnet (which would be impractical to change as it's full of motor and flywheel).

It's also partly because the gearbox cover (and the gearbox inside it) sits lower compared to the footplate and bonnet - this is because footplate is higher on the 410. That could be changed fairly easily, but on its own wouldn't give the right proportions for the radiator.

 

So, shall I start hacking it?

 

[Mol_PMB]

Some oiling points for axleboxes and jackshaft have been added to the footplate and cab front.

A coat of paint (a mix of matt black, gunmetal and track colour) on the gubbins under the bonnet has immediately made it look more plausible. A few more bits and bobs here and I think it will look fine from a normal viewing distance.

I've ordered some figures and some oil cans and tools etc from ModelU, the plan is to put the oil cans on the rough bit of footplating in front of the open panel, to further distract the eye.

My enthusiasm for hacking the radiator is growing... has anyone else tried this with their Ixion Fowler?

 

Tank wagons in the background are Dapol conversions, I haven't yet done a Kraft one but I have all the bits ready and I'll make a start soon with a view to having it finished with the Kraft Fowler.