Sirdouglas' O gauge

[sir douglas]

yes it should have the hook and chain but just as a model it is easier to use the knuckles, hooks that small would be very fiddly to work with

 

The water gauges have been made up in styrene blocks and brass wire but i also have extra perspex rod from the S&Dmodels water gauges ive bought over the years. With the gauges fitted and the backhead is done. the cab parts have got a base coat with some dark grey metal paint though just after doing the back sheet i dropped it so had to rub it down because it got covered in carpet fluff. idid the tank as well but its been over 15 hours ago but its still slightly tacky but the cab parts are dry

[sir douglas]

safety valve time, the tall bit being a 2mm brass tube and the bulge a block of styrene. The rest of the profile made up of Milliput. the top of the tube is flared out by putting it over a conical metal point and gently hitting the other end with a hammer. i put the miiliput on Saturday night, the stuff i put around the top of the styrene still isnt set well over 30 hours but the bottom stuff is, i also did some other un related filling with the same batch and that was all set yesterday. It has been taken off to re-do 

Edited June 15, 2020 by sir douglas

[sir douglas]

The second try with the Milliput dried in the normal time and could be filed down and painted, painting of the loco had to be done before pipes and rodding can go on. Ive gone for the green mixed for Gilgamesh, unlike big sister Hestia, this loco won't be lined.

 

painting and varnishing parts, though i forgot the cylinders, the safety valve cover now painted. Some 4mm whitemetal buffers were found in a bag of deisel detailing bits and the oval heads filed down to circular.

 

Handrails soldered up and glued in. Before painting the water outlet points on both sides of the tank were made, a circle of styrene stuck on and drilled through. the first pipe is fitted with copper wire.

 

After the pipe was on, the right hand bunker could be fitted

[sir douglas]

Pipework progresses on "Heath" with the steam manifolds, whistle rear right, the one previously shown that goes to the smokebox is front right, rear left is the pressure gauge and front left will the the injector feed once i get around to making the thing to go on the side of the tank. the right hand injector feed is just a tap

 

 

There was another project i stated back in December and started a seperate thread as it wasnt O gauge but since putting "Heath" here i now think it was a waste of space to have it seperate. A few days ago i wanted to get back into it. parts were left as i wasnt able to make them they way i wanted to back then but many months have and fresh ideas and different ways around has brought more progress.

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/151107-a-colonial-side-project/

 

This is a colonial pacific,  i'm thinking of calling it "Pangaea" the name give to the ancient super continent. anyway enough of that, a quick summary , it is based on North British designs like the Darjeeling C class and the South African 16A. there are many others like Neilsons and Kitson but i wont waste your time listing them all

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124446949@N06/33985265968/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_Class_16A_4-6-2#/media/File:SAR_Class_16A_852_(4-6-2).jpg

 

progress so far. One of the main parts that put me off was how to mount the running boards securely and robust, Firstly the board itself is 2 layers top one of 0.5mm for the scale thickness and the bottom of 2mm for strentgh will be hidden behind the fascia (i never know what its actually called, the part that runs along under the edge of the footplate), another part was the dome which i was going to turn up on the drill but instead filed it by hand. The backhead though will be the part i'm unsure about, so many pipes, knobs and valve i know know nothing about and i dont know where to start

 

example photos of North British backheads from 1916

 

Simpler and i can understand all the parts but still a lot to do like this Bagnall

 

[sir douglas]

All the main work is done now and just detailing to go. The curves on the front of the running plate and the valancing have been added, there is a hair line gap inbetween the top of the curve and the top running board as the curve is part of the chassis and the top is part of the body so they need to be separate. The curves around the chimney, dome and safety valve have been added with milliput. The safety valves arent stuck in will be though after painting. what is more pleasing is that i havent yet broken the "horns" on the cab sides, though i mght have just jinxed it.

[sir douglas]

Now for something completely different again

 

I first took a liking to the Moyse tractor after a post in a facebook industrial group perhaps last year i think, of an example overgrown and rusting away in the storage yard of a museum in france. Its a Petrol shunter with what looks like a one-piece cast chassis but with nice curves and angles. Research in the last 2 weeks has found there are 5 survivors
- Rotonde Ferroviaire de la Vallée du Loir in Chateau du Loir
- Musee HistoRail in Saint Leonard De Noblat
- Lewarde mining museum
- Sentheim station
- Musee Maurice Dufresne 

the one at Maurice Dufresne that was on FB

 

and the one at Lewarde

 

About 2 weeks ago, i decided i wanted to model it solely for the challenge of replicating that chassis
The dumb buffers are made of layering up 2mm styrene in a wish bone shape for the top down profile then cutting away the end on and side on profiles and finally the angled curve under hook. The hook itself is an ordinarry brass hook soldered into a bit of tube with a lub soldered ont ot ehunderside of that, this is superglued into a slot in the styrene. I was first thinking of making the roof out of styrene but instead tried some more soldering practice, making up a frame of 3mm box section and 1mm sheet, the covering is 0.25mm brass sheet which took several hours to bend to adequate profile before soldering on. Also in this photo are the controls which i can only guess at which does what, i at least believe the large wheel is the brake and the large lever with horizontal handle is the throttle. i didnt have a large curved spoke wheel so it was made out of copper wire. make the ring by wrapping it around a 7mm drill bit then solder up pieces and bend into a little swastika which was cut down to fit inside the ring and soldered in. All the excess solder was cleaned off and a bit off wire soldered to the middle to stick into a hole into the column

 

 

 

Inspiration for the controls of the Chateau Du Loir example

 

The paintwork needs cleaning up, wheels which are 4mm scale 14mm dia' wagon/carriage, coupling chain, a step in the middle below the holes and brakes. For eventual motorising, the N20 gearbox from Ebay will fit, i know from others on here that it is very good. this will fit in the chassis and connect to one axle with a pair of bevel gears i have and an elastic band drive between the axles. here's a size comparison with an RCH 12 ton

 

[J. S. Bach]

5 hours ago, sir douglas said:

Now for something completely different again

 

I first took a liking to the Moyse tractor ...snip...  Also in this photo are the controls which i can only guess at which does what, i at least believe the large wheel is the brake and the large lever with horizontal handle is the throttle. ...snip...

 

I suspect one of the other levers controls the direction of travel. Or maybe both; push one in for forward, pull the other back for reverse? It appears that there might be a mechanical interlock at the bottom where the levers pivot. The green handle has to be rotated about its own pivot to release a lock so that the lever can moved into its operating position.

 

6 hours ago, sir douglas said:

 ...snip... i didnt have a large curved spoke wheel so it was made out of copper wire. make the ring by wrapping it around a 7mm drill bit then solder up pieces and bend into a little swastika ...snip...

 

 

 

Please post a close-up of the wheel, it looks quite good. BTW; this is the first time that I have read that word used to describe anything other than a certain nation's former government's symbol. It is actually a very old religious symbol that pre-dates the birth of Christ: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika

 

Anyway your workmanship on this is superb; I hope that with its short wheelbase and light weight, it runs/tracks well.

[sir douglas]

i was wondering if anybody would pick on it but that was the best way to describe the shape and yes i know of its indian origin

 

this is the only photo i took before painting and also shown is that there is another little lever on the front of the column, that works horizontally and works a shaft down into the gearbox

[Charlie586]

That's excellent modelling , and a really unusual prototype too.

[sir douglas]

The brake gear for the tractor is nearly there but iv forgotten about it since starting something else (even though i have a fiddleyard full of half finished things and i keep telling myself to get through them first), i have an N20 motor on delivery but will take about 3 weeks.

 

i wonder if you can guess what it is i'm doing now?

 

[Annie]

An overtype geared engine?

[NeilHB]

Aveling & Porter traction engine loco? Or basically what Annie said. 
 

Looking forward to seeing how you do this as one of these has been on my want to build list for some time.

[sir douglas]

correct! its a traction engine based loco, though it is ficticous with mixed up inspirations her and there as well as my own aesthetic ideas.

 

i have a thread just about them

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/131625-traction-engine-and-other-over-type-locomotives/

 

i have 2 challenges to work with in this build;

1) try to make at least most of it from metal

2) my first working valve gear

Edited July 31, 2020 by sir douglas

[Northroader]

Thanks for putting a link in for the traction engine thread, Sam, I was unaware of its existence, and very intrigued by it. Building locos from metal, good idea, working valve gear, that small, dunno. 

[sir douglas]

Earlier in the week i ordered x2 N20 motors and a pair of pulleys, Today, the pulleys came as estimated but also the motors somehow came 2 weeks early. The pulleys and 1 motor will go on the tractor while the other motor for this loco, i happen to have 4 bevel gears which does 2 each. On the tractor, the motor fixes tot he rear axle with the bevel gears and the axles connect with the pulleys. On this loco, the motor will again connect with the bevel gears but to the middle shaft (the yellow gear) and sit in the boiler

[sir douglas]

On 31/07/2020 at 14:24, Northroader said:

working valve gear, that small, dunno. 

 

its not any smaller than other valve gear such as on 7mm small locos like 016.5/14 or on 4mm big locos

[Northroader]

Good luck with it, matey.

[sir douglas]

Slowly working my way up, laying the groundwork ready to start on the motion. first was the boiler and firebox, the top of the firebox is fixed to the sides and the front & back are removable. The front piece has a rectangular hole in it for the motor and is soldered tot he boiler barrel. a curved piece was added below to slot the boiler into the front of the firebox. At the front under the smokebox, a saddle was made to sit on with an 8BA nut & bolt fixing it down to a thick channel section in the chassis

 

Next is the motor, mounting it on a U shape frame with the bevel gears within. a lot of fiddly bits and soldering later, it was working, the gear mounted to the motor shaft with a 10BA bolt but this wasnt good enough, the other gear mounted to the "yellow gear" shaft with my usual chocolate block style but the smallest i could find, spaced with a bit of pipe and the screw head had to be cut down to not foul the first gear

 

The second attempt of mounting the gear is with a brass collar. mounting to the shaft just by the D cut away and to to the gear with 2 brass pins. a guard rail was added to stop the wires possibly rubbing on the gear once inside the boiler

 

The boiler didnt quite fit into position first ime with the motor in becasue the wires were getting trapped between the guard rail and the rectangular hole from before so the guard iron was adjusted and the bottom of the hole filed down

 

Test video beofre the boiler was fitted

 

Continuing up the gears, the yellow gear is cut to profile with ribs superglued on. Once painted and covered with a cowling. only the centre wll show hiding the sins of the yellow plastic, it is fixed tot he shaft with a slots and key

 

[Annie]

Why am I allowed to click Craftsmanship/Clever only once.

[J. S. Bach]

2 hours ago, sir douglas said:

 ...snip...

Next is the motor, mounting it on a U shape frame with the bevel gears within. a lot of fiddly bits and soldering later, it was working, the gear mounted to the motor shaft with a 10BA bolt but this wasnt good enough, the other gear mounted to the "yellow gear" shaft with my usual chocolate block style but the smallest i could find, spaced with a bit of pipe and the screw head had to be cut down to not foul the first gear

 ...snip...

Any idea of what the total reduction is with that gear train?

[NeilHB]

Fantastic work Sam.

[sir douglas]

16 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

Any idea of what the total reduction is with that gear train?

 

sorry, no idea

[sir douglas]

Next is the cylinder, it took awhile to get the left hand side bent just right to fit. In other news, the second shaft over the firebox has been scrapped, it is a common featere on traction engines having the gears on for 1st, 2nd and sometimes a 3rd gear as well as the clutch to disengage the wheels and use the flywheel as a stationary engine. I'm not doing any of that extra work so its a direct drive from the crank shaft to the wheels. the front shaft was removed which was going to be the crank shaft and it is now on the other, the holes in the frame will be filled as work progresses.

 

The springs were those i had got for Gilgamesh but were too big.

 

Starting on the motion bracket, the base is soldered on and the rest being marked out on the brass behind.

 

updated drawing as things are added.

[sir douglas]

the rest of the motion bracket with slide bars and crosshead

 

[sir douglas]

Another extra added, is the mechanical lubricator pot that feeds the cylinder, they are normally mounted on a bracket off the cylinder rather than directly on top, some of the brackets span to the motion bracket as i have chosen. This pot will have a swiveling arm attached to the side and is driven from the valve piston rod from an arm like a Walschearts Union link. also somewhat visible under the bottom slide bar is a tube soldered to the motion bracket, this is for the reversing arm. The reach rod from the reversing lever comes across the top of the firebox to a crank on one side and then by a shaft under the slide bars connects onto another crank 90 degrees from it which works the radius link.

 

see this link but separate the horizontal and vertical of the bell crank and put them below the centre line of the motion

 

 

Collecting the parts for the crank shaft; left are the Stephenson eccentrics, middle top are the 3 parts of rod, middle are the cranks, middle bottom is the connecting rod and right is a pulley for something i would like to add i dont know when i will be able to add it is as idotn know when i will be able to source a crucial part. but the pulley can go on the crankshaft ready

 

There are some jobs that i can't do for a few days while i wait on a delivery of replacement drill bits such as i cant drill the small end of the rod above or the holes for the lubricator arms, so instead i'm diverging to other things that dont need them. 2 of of these are the coal bunker and the flywheel

 

Back in November last year we got a second hand Unimat 1 lathe and i started trying it a few weeks ago, the first thing i made for this was a custom top hat bush for the yellow gear because i had nothing close, 2mm bore with 3.5mm outer dia'. The centre holes on the white gears could be drilled out accurately, the motor drive bevel gears were cut down on it. Then ive grown in confidence and made the eccentrics then the pulley. I would like to make the safety valves too. This build wouldnt be possible without the lathe