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Steve's Caledonian loco work bench


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Wonky washout plugs now done, although you cant see it from the angle of the picture when checked I found that No. 2 plug was a little low and No.4 a tad high so they were pushed out and the holes elongated with a needle file and using the steel rule to keep them straight and level they were glued back in so that's sorted now.

 

  Some one else in a PM (He was afraid of offending me he said) pointed out that the 782 tanks chimney still had some molding lines so a scrape with a scalpel and some wet and dry has cleaned that up as well but due to other pressures getting in the way (Bloody Christmas) I've not had a chance to do anything else.

Edited by Londontram
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Having a bit of a crises with the Cardean at the moment more about that in a few seconds but instead of Cardean I fitted the hand rails to another of the locos in waiting having already done the 782 tank and the jumbo so this time it was the Dunalastair I No great story I'm afraid pretty routine and while I did the hand rails I also fitted the lamp brackets to the smokebox and cab sides, here's a picture.

post-17847-0-54952700-1450814745_thumb.jpg

 

As I was saying I'm having a bit of a personal dilemma with the Cardean and fear I may have fallen out of love with it, no matter what I do I just cant work up the enthusiasm for it at the moment so I might mothball it for a while and do some other projects first and come back to it fresh in the new year. It could just be all the build up to Christmas with all the hassle and pressure plus a raging chest infection so Ill see when all this is out the way. So apart from straightening up the washout plugs there.s been no progress on her.

 

PS the chimney and front lamp bracket on the Dunalastair are dead straight but my phone camera has a habit of distorting things to the edge of the photo some times

Edited by Londontram
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You will know when the mojo is back on track. I"m  with you all the way even down to to the raging chest infection; so get yourself down to the doctors for some antibiotics! I have not touched the modelling bench for 10 days now. Just sit back and enjoy Christmas with your grandchildren because theres a New Year to come.

 Mick   :locomotive:

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Thanks Mike already on Antibiotics because of my medical problems my immune system is a bit shot so I have to keep a couple of boxes ready in case anything brakes out as I'm a bit vulnerable to infections.

 

   I'm not going to do any more until after its all over as I do think its as much the infection and the pressure of Christmas as anything else.

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G'day Gents

 

Don't let it get you down, put the modelling to one side and enjoy Christmas, I'm on my third bout of Flu, in the last six months, not doing much, but a Dapol Deltic is coming along !!

 

Merry Christmas.

 

manna

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Enjoy Christmas with the family, shake off the bugs, and pick it up in the new year. When you get going again, you'll knock off the 460 and wonder why you lost interest, it's looking great right now to the rest of us. All the best.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well I said I would wait untill the new year before making a decision which is what I've done. I've decided to mothball the 903 class for a while and turn my attention to some other jobs one of which is a commission job for a friend and most likely I'll be doing the 104 class 0-4-4 tank for myself as well, so it was never lack of mojo just lack of enthusiasm for the 903 class. Don't worry though it will come maybe six months from now I'll have a splurge and restart it but for now I take care of a few other more important jobs. Thanks for all your kind words both on here and in PMs and I hope you will still enjoy the next couple of build even though they wont be as grand as the 903.

                                                            Thanks Steve

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Hi, I think I had the same bugs. I could not face the walk to the workshop.  Everything I tried to do once in and warm took ten times longer plus I burnt myself twice and while rescuing a nut off the floor impaled the back of my hand on a drill in the pendant drill!  So  I will add to the sage advice. Wait until you feel well and have a soft restart.  I really admire what you make.  It is a bit of a lost talent - bashing a reasonable model into something rare and nice. As a Scot who models Highland it cheers me to see those lovely blue locos appearing on your and Sandy's benches.  All the best for the New Year, regards Workwright.

Edited by M Wright
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Just to add to this theme of having a temporary lull in modelling activity.....over the festive period and in line with the prototype network rail.....I decided to suspend running and relay some poor trackwork on my loft layouts fiddle yard. I lowered the loft ladder and affixed it before climbing up into the dark opening, some lengths of peco code 75 track under my arm. One of them fell to the landing floor. I deposited the rest in the loft and descended the ladder. The loft was cold dark and unappealing, and on this occasion I decided not to commence the work. I am a lazy fellow by nature so rather than climb up with the last piece of track....and relying on the robustness of the peco product I threw it upwards aiming for it to land just inside the loft......it came hurtling back thru the darkness like a two prong spear and inflicted two puncture wounds 16.5 mm apart on the bridge of my nose...looking for all the world like a snake bite.

 

You know when too call it a day when your creation fights back....

 

I will however return to the fray in due course ...

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  • 3 weeks later...

OK then after a period of reflection over the Christmas and new year period I started another build today. If you recall I mothballed the Cardean as I was having personal issues with it (Don't worry it will be back) I was going to start a commission build for a friend but that has also been put on hold while I work on chassis options as the one we were going to use was not suitable after I had a chance to have a good look at it (Its looking like its going to have to be a scratch built chassis for that one)

 

So today I bumped the next build up to the top of the list which is a Caledonian class 104 0-4-4 tank loco

post-17847-0-78692900-1453473512.jpg

These were built to handle the suburban services around Glasgow and Edinburgh. A handy little tank most of them spending most of there lives on these duties with its 4ft 6in driving wheels giving them good acceleration and a short wheel base which was ideal for the stop start conditions of the twisty inner city suburban lines.

 

      Of interest a little bit of trivia the 104 tank is the only Caledonian tank loco to have flush tank. cab and bunker sides all other tank locos have a stepped in cab or cab and bunker, this gave them a particularly clean look with uncluttered lines making them a hansom little loco.

 

The loco themselves shared a lot of details including the boiler and driving wheel size with the 782 0-6-0 tank which was one of my previous build which is now awaiting the warmer weather so it can be painted. So the build should follow along the same lines and as so I'll be using the boiler and smokebox from an old Caley single body as I did with the 782 with the rest scratch built from plasticard.

 

As some of you may recall the chassis was built for this a couple of years ago from a Hornby standard 0-6-0 chassis by removing the rear wheels and axle which I used to replace the flange less center driver's then cutting the chassis away and grafting on a small bogie. You can see this on this next picture of the chassis sat on the drawings which also shows how the wheel base is correct to the scale drawing.

post-17847-0-04213500-1453474358_thumb.jpg

 

   I always like to start with the running plate valances as it sort of forms a backbone for the rest to be built upon so starting with some square section brass rod two lengths were cut and by filing V shapes 2mm in at each end the ends were folded in and soldered to form the supports for the buffer beams at each end. I also cut out the backing for the steps which after being sweat soldered together and shaped with a half round file were separated again and attached to each valance the steps themselves will be added later from a thinner grade of brass.

 

   Just to check at all stages the parts are checked against the drawings as seen here.

post-17847-0-32507300-1453475342_thumb.jpg

 

Now turning to the running plate and as any one who has used plasticard or brass for that matter the most important thing is to make sure that the card has straight edges and square corners so once having established a straight edge an engineering set square is used to get a 90 degree corner with some plasticard being sacrificed to achieve this as can be seen in the next picture.

post-17847-0-34032900-1453475598_thumb.jpg

This quickly gives you two straight edges to take all your measurements off as can be seen in this next picture of the plasticard now with a straight edge on at least two sides

post-17847-0-29734900-1453477309_thumb.jpg

As well as the plans the dimensions needed were double checked in a reference book in this case my copy of "Forty years of Caledonian locomotives" I know I've mentioned it before but for the Caledonian modeler its an outstanding form of reference 50 plus years old and brought for a few quid on ebay.

 

   Here you can see the 104 class details underlined showing for example the overall width of the running plate as 8ft 6in which in 4mm scale is 34mm the same as the 782 tank

post-17847-0-87061900-1453477558_thumb.jpg

When this is marked out on the plasticard with a steel rule it was then cut it out with a sharp bladed craft knife (I always treat it to a new blade when I start a new build) cutting just outside the line so it can be sanded back with a sanding block to get a nice burr free straight edge.

 

   The end result is this collection of parts ready for the next stage which as well as the chassis and valances are the parts for the main running plate and the front and rear buffer beams.

post-17847-0-65549900-1453478571_thumb.jpg

 

    I'll leave it there as I've now got to go and pick my granddaughter up from school but to anyone reading this who has not had a go at scratch building give it a try its not a dark art its just a case of making sure you follow a few simple rules like always working from a straight edge and gathering as much information as you can. Come on in and dip your toes trust me the water feels fine.

 

        Thanks for looking Steve

Edited by Londontram
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Couple of better views of 104 tanks though not very good pictures I'm afraid but they do give you a better idea of the subject

 

post-17847-0-53674900-1453535112_thumb.jpg

 

In this first view you can see how small the wheels are on the bogie also the flush sides to the tank cab and bunker stand out in this picture

post-17847-0-26401100-1453535161_thumb.jpg

 

Because of the flush cab sides the air pump had to be moved on these locos from the cab side to the front of the tank. You can also see in this view how closely the 104 tank resembles the 782 tank with which it shares the boiler and driving wheels.

 

Next job I've got to tackle is making and fitting the front steps and making the steps for the rear ones

Edited by Londontram
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Thanks but I cant claim it as mine I got the idea from fellow member David 65061 who used it on a J21 scratch build he featured on here a while back but it does give a strong warp free base to start building up the rest of the structure one plus point also is I like building my steps to be solid and knock free from brass and this gives me something to fix them too

 

Steve I really like your adaptation of RTR chassis. May I enquire if you have a layout on which these run?

Sorry not at the moment - lots of good ideas mind you and some boards sat against the wall in the spare room but nothing else at the moment I'm  afraid.

Edited by Londontram
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Thanks for restarting the 104. I will follow it with interest. Where do you source the drawings featured at the beginning of your post? The Hornby chassis you are using has been slated in reviews but I think it moves quite well. What's your experience? Keep up the good work, Graham

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Thanks for restarting the 104. I will follow it with interest. Where do you source the drawings featured at the beginning of your post? The Hornby chassis you are using has been slated in reviews but I think it moves quite well. What's your experience? Keep up the good work, Graham

I have never known why people are so negative with the Hornby chassis the newer ones with the sprung rear axle run well there built like a brick out house with none of this split axle stuff, you can fit Markits/Romford wheels with very little trouble the only down side in use is its a bit noisy. Being made of a solid lump of metal I also find it easy to chop around and drill new axle holes if needed - remember the 492 tank that was converted to an 0-8-0 by keeping the first two axles in the same place, re positioning the third axle which left enough room to add the forth axle.

 

The only problem with reliability is there a little prone for stripping the plastic gears after a few years use to me this is not a problem as you can get them for a couple of pounds from ebay or places like Pete's spares (No connection) and the new gears can be fitted in half an hour. The beauty of this is also you often see them advertised on ebay as "The motor runs but the loco wont move so selling as spares or repair! and can be brought for sometimes under ten pound £8 was the cheapest I paid for one and with new gears I had a perfect running loco chassis for about ten pounds.

 

Check out the Thomas and friends range as the body's are often play damaged with missing steps and chimneys etc and are again sold for next to nothing and underneath its the same chassis.

 

As to the drawings the Caledonian railway association do a long list of loco GA drawings which they sell copies for £1 each but you can find them just as easy sometimes on the web by looking on pages like this

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=images+for+caledonian+104+class+locomotive&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=mI-jVs_2NMSxUYT-hlA

 

Very often the drawings come with a sizing bar which makes it easy to re scale a drawing or in the case of the 104 class where there was only a line diagram I used a bit of lateral thinking knowing that the 782 class had the same size boiler, chimney, driving wheels etc and I had a scale drawing of that with all the measurements on I just pasted them onto the same page and just resized the 104 drawing until all the known measurement matched which is why when you look at the picture of the chassis sat on the drawing of a 104 class the drawing below is the 782 for comparison. Having a good book with all the dimensions in also helps to cross reference everything and in this case there's an excellent book called "40 years of Caledonian locomotives" which features pages and pages of dimensions on all Caledonian locomotive but I'm sure other railways have there equivalent. some times just knowing the wheel size is a start to re size a drawing.

 

Most drawing programs have a scaling tool or you can down load one but I use a simple method which - Brace yourselves boys its a cringe moment. is to simply set the page size on words to 86% which on my laptop screen is the same size as A4 paper I can then once pasted the drawing just size it using a steel rule when I think I'm there I print off a copy and check the hard copy with a steel rule, Trust me for 00 scale it works. So as I say there's no mystery in it just a bit of lateral thinking

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I always think that scratch building is a learning curve and I'm always looking at ways of making a better job with each new build and today's job was one of those attempts to improve a part of the loco namely the steps.

 

I've got into the habit of making the steps from brass which intern I solder to the valance bar which gives what is often a vulnerable part a lot of strength, the trouble is if you have a bit of brass thick enough for the main body of the steps its hard to fold it up and put the little end turn ups on the treads so this time I cut and fitted just the upright sections from a strip of 20 thou brass and the treads I made from a 5 thou bit of brass plate cut out shaped and sweat soldered onto the backing section. The end result is a strong step which will take all the knocks and handling of life but with a fine nice shaped tread to the steps...... Bloody fiddly though.

 

Here's the result, they still need a bit of dressing with some needle files to "square them up" but I think there starting to look the part. What do you think?

 

The front step with its single tread

post-17847-0-92806400-1453572463.jpg

and the rear steps with its double treads

post-17847-0-71860900-1453572472.jpg

 

                    Steve

Edited by Londontram
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I don't know whether to be flattered or terrified as I hardly feel my bodging is a good example of how to build a loco but we'll try to work together on it and I'll explain as much as I can but you have been warned.

 

     On saying that I've not touched it for a few days as I've been tied up doing some Inkscape cad drawings for a commission job for the Caledonian Railway association working with Ross aka ossy5190 who organized it and is doing the cutting on his silhouette cutter

 

   My parts about done and its just down to Ross now to work his magic and put it all together in a presentable package more of this no doubt in due course but it means I'll be getting back to the loco now.

 

Next job is to do the step treads for the other side then looking at the chassis block I'll need to take the hack saw to it and chop off most of the block in front of the motor mount to give it some daylight under the front of the boiler which will amount to about the same as I did for the chassis used on the jumbo, so in loo of that I've striped the chassis down to a basic block again ready to make a start

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To the august company that gathers around this thread, might I ask a question which might also help others. The context is that I'm adding lining and other transfers to my 55 class 'Oban Bogie' and wonder how far it is reasonable to go. Obviously boiler bands, main panels and even the tight 'oval' around the handrail on the panel of the tender side nearest the cab are required. Splashers and cab front and the line between the maroon and red on the buffer beam seem necessary (the latter if only to tidy up the paint boundary). But how about all that lining along the sideframes between and in front of the splashers? Below the footplate is no easier to decide. Obviously there is much to gain from a white line along the maroon solebar but how about the white lines around the steps uprights and on the wheel spokes and round the tender frame cutouts? Using the three foot viewing standard, a little bit of artistic training (to A level in the 60s), and not being a museum standard wallah, where do I draw the line (pun intended)? Or not? I'm using HMRS LNER loco black-white-black pressfix (very impressed) but finding the curves difficult to get smooth.

 

I hope it's OK bringing this slight digression, Steve, but I suspect others might be in the same quandary. 

 

Graham (now back home in North Shields)

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I haven't lined out Caley livery, so this is a bit gratuitous.  But looking at photos, the only thing I think you can get away with omitting is the wheel lining.  The white on the valance, steps and usually round the holes in the tender frame is really clear in pictures.  As it's to an edge, you might be able to do this by masking.  Of course, you didn't mention the Westinghouse pump ;) . Good luck.

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