Frappingtons workbench - Sharp Stewart Long Boiler 0-6-0, Take 2!

[Frappington Jct]

14 hours ago, manna said:

G'Day Folks

 

Like the C9, a engine I've thought about building, I've been very slowly collecting bits, including a couple of D49 bodies, tender bits etc. One day, it'll get a start.

 

manna

 

It's certainly an interesting loco - I think if I were building it myself (as opposed to taking on someone else's nearly completed project) I'd build the booster bogie either as part of the loco or the tender (still with full pivot functionality etc.) rather than as a completely separate unit, in order to try and reduce some of the daylight issues. This one seems to have been built with some massive tolerances in mind!

[Frappington Jct]

M&GN Class A Rebuild (ish) from a Hornby Adams Radial

 

It's been a long time since any updates here, and to be honest I haven't really been active on here recently. I have, however, recently started a long planned project which I thought I would document here. I've long been an admirer of the M&GN Class A Rebuilds, a class of 4-4-0s originally built by Beyer Peacock in the 1880s, before being rebuilt with Midland Railway parts in the late 1890s/1900s.

 

 

A model which approximates them has long been an ambition of mine, and I'm now cracking ahead using a Hornby Adams Radial as a base. This won't produce a perfect model for a number of reasons, but I'm hoping it will look good if nothing else! The Hornby Radial was chosen for a couple of reasons - one being the (slight) passing resemblance, and the other being that the bodywork comes apart pretty comprehensively, aiding rebuilding. The loco will be paired with an old, cheap, Airfix 4F tender (with the motor removed, and needing a new rear buffer beam) for now, although in the future I may replace it with a Bachmann equivalent, as these can be got for £40-50 from the Bachmann spares department.

 

The model is going to be a compromise, primarily in relation to the boiler. I'm not replacing the Adams boiler, and cannot easily raise it higher in the frames as it is cast in the same metal block as the lower cab and side-tanks. I will however be extending the smokebox - theoretically! For the same reason, I don't know how effectively I'll be able to remove the side tanks without ruining the boiler, but I expect I'll have a go!

 

So far, the loco has been completely dismantled and the rear of the cab, bunker and safety valves removed. Next steps that I have already decided on will be to extend the smokebox and fit an MR smokebox door, continue to remove unnecessary details on the footplate such as the toolboxes, replacing them with new outside steam pipes, and opening up the splashers. I also need to look at whether the cab needs lowering slightly before I then fill in the square spectacle plates and replace them with circular ones. I also need to fix up the tender. 

 

 

 

I now need to source a new Johnson dome, MR smokebox door (I think 247 Developments sell these) and a new safety valve cover. If anyone knows where to get the latter I would be very grateful! It would also be good to find some tablet catcher equipment, but a cursory glance online hasn't thrown up any options. 

 

Edited January 4, 2023 by Frappington Jct

[Corbs]

Excellent! Looking forward to seeing how you get on.

[Mike 84C]

For tablet catchers The Highland Rly Society do cast brass ones and  Lochgorm models do etched ones.

[Frappington Jct]

1 hour ago, Mike 84C said:

For tablet catchers The Highland Rly Society do cast brass ones and  Lochgorm models do etched ones.

 

Perfect, thank you!

[Frappington Jct]

Slow progress - I'm waiting on parts and have spent an absolute age trying to find 19mm tube to extend the smokebox. My plan B is to get some Butyrate tubing from 4D models when I'm in London on Thursday, but that will cost me a lot, and I'll only need 5-6mm of the 760mm tube so not really worth it! Plan A I came up with on the weekend, when having bought some shoe spray I discovered that the plastic cap on the bottle is pretty much the right diameter - it does splay out slightly but I think I can hide that. I've roughly cut it and am now just trying to work out exactly what length it needs to be. Here it is pushed on for inspection - I reckon it needs to be a tad shorter personally.

 

 

I've also cut away one of the side tanks (which took an hour!) - below are photos both on and off the chassis to demonstrate the next challenge once the other tank is off - removing the body-mounting points previously hidden in the tanks and which appear to be integral to the motor housing...

 

 

 

The more I look at it as well, the cab will definitely need lowering - another thing on the list

[Frappington Jct]

2 steps forward, one step back! After a lot of broken cutting disks, I managed to remove the body mounting points from the chassis block.

 

 

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to save the rear of the mounting points which the rear of the motor mount screwed on to, which I think may have caused me some issues... After re-soldering the motor into place, by-passing the DCC socket as I have no need for it and no-where to house it on the model anyway, I found that the model now doesn't quite run right. It's jerky going forwards and not quite smooth going back - and I think this is because I haven't been able to get the motor exactly in the right place. Going to need a bit more exploration, but I can't think of anything else. The pickups also aren't working at the moment, but I think that's just because the wheels need the metal dust cleaning off them and the pickups fettled back into shape. 

[Frappington Jct]

My order of Alan Gibson bits arrived yesterday, so in order to distract myself from the chassis debacle I started the bodywork this evening by drilling the hole for and test fitting the safety valve cover and cutting the cab down. The latter needs tidying, re-profiling etc. but I'm letting the glue dry properly before doing that.

 

[Frappington Jct]

Few updates - most importantly of all I think I've pretty much got the chassis sorted. It's not perfect but it runs quite happily so all good! Having gotten that sorted I've now started on the bodywork proper - the bodywork and chassis have both been cut back, the extended smokebox and smokebox door added, the cab windows filled and new circular ones drilled in and the boiler/upper bodywork glued to the footplate. Next step will be to start filling the holes... I've also started looking at the tender - the cheap Airfix 4F tender sits slightly too high for the loco so I've lowered it slightly by chopping away the base of the body, and though it may need to go down a bit more I'm awaiting some new metal wheels to turn up before I do anymore. Having looked into a tablet catcher as well, it turns out that the Highland Railway Society, who I think were the only suppliers, no longer do so and Lochgorm is still not trading seemingly - back to the drawing board on that (unless anyone has any suggestions).

 

 

 

Edited February 14, 2023 by Frappington Jct

[Mike 84C]

Sorry I gave you bum information on the tablet catchers. But I did get mine a while back!

[Frappington Jct]

5 hours ago, Mike 84C said:

Sorry I gave you bum information on the tablet catchers. But I did get mine a while back!

No worries, not your fault! I'll come up with something I'm sure 😊

[Frappington Jct]

All the holes on the loco body are (I think!) now all filled, and milliput used to profile the missing boiler sections to (pretty much) match the remaining original section. I have also, after about 6 attempts to get the profile right, added the outside steam pipes to the smokebox - even after so many attempts I noticed after they had been glued on that the right hand side (as looking from the front) is slightly the wrong profile, but I should be able to rectify this with a file once everything has set. Next up the splasher extensions and boiler fittings.

 

 

 

 

Project 'Train for the Peacock' has also kicked into gear - the plan is to create a rake of 6 (and maybe 4) wheelers to run behind the peacock, representing the antiquated nature of some trains on the M&GN even into LNER days. I'm aware that by the late 30s/early 40s when the last of the Class A's were withdrawn, even on the M&GN most trains seemed to be bogie stock of some (usually very old) description, but rule 1 etc - I like the smaller coaches! I've already got a Hattons Genesis brake 3rd and 2 Hornby all third 6 wheelers in various LNER liveries, as well as a ratio 4 wheeler that I'll use to make up the train if I feel it needs extending. Aside from getting a bit of grime etc., the RTR coaches are going to stay fairly stock - I'm going to add some underframe details to the Hornby's and maybe repaint the roofs to something a little darker but I'm not going too wild. Complementing these (and because I missed the boat on the genesis's somewhat... 😔), I have taken inspiration from another thread on here and started the process of creating a generic 6-wheel composite from a pair of Hornby toy 4 wheelers. Still at early stages, but I've joined and started blending the 2 bodies, gotten the chassis mocked up and attacked the interior from an old airfix b-set brake 3rd  that I keep as a spares donor to fit. Hopefully it will look decent, even if just as a 'layout model' - now waiting on an order of carriage vents to arrive for it.

 

 

[Frappington Jct]

Slow but steady progress - the splashers have been extended out and I've made a start on the boiler fittings, though I'm now waiting for the next bag of goodies before I can continue. I might start working on the tender in the interim, but I'm moving house at the end of the week so I suspect everything's going to have to go on pause. 

 

 

I also thought I would make a start on sorting the cylinders out today - having managed to break the original cylinder block in half whilst attacking the chassis, I bought another set from Peter's Spares (turns out it was the last set they had...). What I have discovered is that they are a VERY tight fit, and if you push in slightly the wrong place they will do this:

 

 

 

Oh well... I have tried gluing them back together but it just isn't strong enough annoyingly, so I have now ordered a 3rd set from Lendon's which I thing I will widen ever so slightly with a file before fitting to help the fit. Hopefully 3rd time the charm etc. etc...

[Corbs]

Hi mate, would the 7F tablet catcher be able to be adapted? It's here for £1
https://Bachmann-spares.co.uk/product/7f-tender-tablet-catcher-31-010/e3101-mis-012

 

 

[Frappington Jct]

16 hours ago, Corbs said:

Hi mate, would the 7F tablet catcher be able to be adapted? It's here for £1
https://Bachmann-spares.co.uk/product/7f-tender-tablet-catcher-31-010/e3101-mis-012

 

 

Corbs you are a life saver - will have a proper look later but looks ideal! 

[Corbs]

I actually went there looking to see if they had the ones that come on the Class 20s but alas I think those are moulded into the bodyshell, so hope the 7F one is of use!

[Frappington Jct]

Due to a house move and a busy period at work progress has been slow recently, but a trip to Ally Pally yielded a few bits to let me get at least something done. I'd been trying to work out how to model the ejector and more specifically its control linkage, which ran through handrail knobs but was considerably larger than the handrail wire. Through comparing with RTR models, I reckoned the linkage would scale to approx 1mm (though I bought 0.9mm to adjust for my dodgy measuring!), which is waaaay too large for any 4mm scale stanchions. The solution? 7mm stanchions! Specifically, the smallest stanchions I could lay my hands on, and even these needed drilling out with the pin vice. Not sure exactly how scale they are truth be told, but they look pretty good when combined with the ejector, associated (simplified) pipework and the stretch of actual handrail on the smokebox. From the 1 picture taken from a useful angle, it looks like there is also a handrail underneath the linkage but I really couldn't work out how to do that, so I've left it for now. All a little rough and ready, but I'm fairly happy with it.

 

Not the best photos below (you can't really see the interface between the pipework and the handrail due to the light reflecting off the glue), but they give the flavour.

 

 

 

[Frappington Jct]

Boiler handrails are on the loco (and the smokebox door only fell off once during the process!), but most importantly, I've gotten new cylinders on and the chassis runs! Little bit temperamental as to how well it runs after the body goes on, but with tweaking it works pretty well. After so much faffing and a lot of time spent worrying that I'd ruined everything I am very relieved!

 

 

https://youtu.be/8jM6pyI5AmQ

 

[Frappington Jct]

Added a few more more handrails around the cab - I've used a different design for the rearmost ones as I wasn't confident how well I could replicate them fully prototypically. I've also added cab footsteps (taken and modified from my donor Airfix 4F), extended the cab roof (because I decided it was definitely too short) and a reverser linkage out of styrene strip. The model has now had some primer to show up points to tidy up - happily not too much to do (except the big patch of filler on the fireman's side which will need sorting), so I'm very happy. Starting to come together, just need to crack on with the tender now. 

 

 

 

[Frappington Jct]

Few jobs cracked on with - most obviously a coat of paint has gone on the loco which seems to have pulled it together and I'm rather pleased with how it has come together. I've also started experimenting with the tender drawbar - I've drilled a hole into the void in the chassis where the radial truck attached to the main chassis, where I've inserted a 3mm rod. This will be epoxied in with the drawbar on once I've confirmed I'm happy with it. The drawbar is out of my spares box, but I'm not entirely sure whether I'm happy with the loco-tender gap - any views would be appreciated.

 

 

 

The tender has started gaining bits on the fireman's side - namely some extra panelling detail and a tablet catcher. I did have another look at the Bachmann 7F parts suggested by Corbs above, but on closer inspection I think they would have taken a bit of chopping to make right. My Grandad found a few white metal examples in his spares draw which whilst also not right were easy to modify to look vaguely acceptable and crucially weren't costing me anything! 

 

 

The 6 wheeler from two Hornby 4 wheelers is also finished - I didn't reduce the height so it's a bit tall and thus may not go in a train with the other 6 wheelers, but I'm really pleased with the finish and it should make a nice layout display coach in a siding somewhere. Don't know if the photos do it justice but hey ho!

 

 

[Frappington Jct]

Work and a house move have slowed progress on the Peacock down somewhat, but I think I've now got it to a stage where I can, maybe, call it finished bar weathering, coal and crew (the first 2 probably to be done by someone else!)

 

 

Since the last update the loco has obviously gained transfers, as well as a tender drawbar, replacement tender buffer beam, vacuum pipes and the reinstatement of the front buffers from the original radial (I'm not too fussy about them being slightly different!).

 

Very typically for this project I had a small varnish based disaster on 1 side of the loco which I've since sorted, and then when I went to glue the rear tension lock onto the tender I discovered it was missing a hornblock. Bit of a pain but after attacking the original model's radial truck I've managed to get a new one on. Never-mind it's a slightly different length, you're never going to notice that on a layout!

 

I'm really proud of how this has turned out despite seemingly my best efforts at times - it's possibly my most ambitious model to date and I reckon it has turned out OK! Now, what next...?

Edited June 27, 2023 by Frappington Jct
Better photo added

[Frappington Jct]

A quick update as the Peacock has been to Grimy Times for a cleaned but in service sort of look - I think it looks rather nice (though maybe the photos don't do it full justice) 😄

 

 

 

For the sake of uploading pretty pictures, my Bachmann D11 also went off to Grimy Times for a much heavier weathered finish with scorch marks on the smokebox as seemed to be characteristic of the class in later years.

 

 

 

On to the next then - I'm currently building some more coaching stock to fit with the Peacock (on the bench at the moment is a Ratio LNWR All 3rd as transferred to the M&GN), but on a chance visit to Furness Models yesterday I found myself an Electrotren 0-6-0 for an actually reasonable price so thought it would be rude not to! The chassis will go under another yet to be determined project (they're just good to have in the spares box to be honest!), but the body? Well, that's going spare, so I thought I might have another go at a Furness Railway Long Boiler saddle tank which was the original inspiration for Chimera. Slightly more long term (and not sure what I'll do about the chassis just yet), but the fact the body is spare this time gives me a bit more license to experiment!

Edited October 27, 2023 by Frappington Jct

[Corbs]

Fantastic work - it looks brill!

[manna]

G'Day Folks

 

I'll second the motion, the A class looks brilliant.

 

manna

[Frappington Jct]

Thanks both 🙂