Mark's workbench - lockdown loco build (page 17)

[wagonbasher]

I presume they are the Romford / markit wheels...  I have a set of Romford crankpins doing nothing when you want them

 

Andy

[N15class]

For a first attempt you are progressing well. Like most things in life if you finish one part before progressing to the next it seems to work out ok.

[Mark Forrest]

I presume they are the Romford / markit wheels... I have a set of Romford crankpins doing nothing when you want them

 

Andy

Thanks for that, chances are I'm not going to get much time to work on it this week anyway (and have some other bits I need to order), but if I need them I'll let you know.

[Mark Forrest]

For a first attempt you are progressing well. Like most things in life if you finish one part before progressing to the next it seems to work out ok.

Really enjoying the build, I know this chassis is a long way from the state of the art stuff from High Level and the like, but as a basic chassis to practice on it seems a good place to start.

Sticking to a logical step by step approach definitely helps.

[Mark Forrest]

Didn't expect I'd get much done tonight, but as it happens I've managed to pop the wheels back in and connect a couple of wires to the motor; it lives!!

[KalKat]

Coming along nicely!

 

Just out of interest, who's the maker of your rolling road please?

Edited February 9, 2016 by KalKat

[Mark Forrest]

Coming along nicely!

 

Just out of interest, who's the maker of your rolling road please?

Thanks!

 

It is a Rolling Rails rolling road from http://www.rollingrails.co.uk/ it's multi-gauge catering for 00, EM and P4.

Top quality bit of kit that I wouldn't be without.

[Mark Forrest]

Thinking about the pick ups for the Pannier chassis reminded me I still need to add some to the FlyShunter.

Digging this out to have a look prompted me to have another look at how best to attach the mechanism to the van's body. The mounting screw holes provided are exactly where I needed to put the brakes and the floor height of the van was going to give the wrong ride height, so this is what I've ended up with:

 

 

A ledge of plasticard on the inside of the van ends rests on the top of the platforms at either end of the motor. Final ride height can be adjusted by packing between these platforms and the ledge. Here it is deliberately sitting too low, allowing for some packing.

 

Brakes will be attached to the chassis , not the body, so it will be removable as a complete unit, pickups I'm thinking will be partly hidden by the brakes. In fact as I type this, I'm thinking if I use etched brakes, they could actually form part of the pick ups.

[Adam]

Thinking about the pick ups for the Pannier chassis reminded me I still need to add some to the FlyShunter...

 

 

Brakes will be attached to the chassis , not the body, so it will be removable as a complete unit, pickups I'm thinking will be partly hidden by the brakes. In fact as I type this, I'm thinking if I use etched brakes, they could actually form part of the pick ups.

 

That sounds a very sensible idea though it's not as though there isn't space to mount them on the chassis acting on the treads.

 

If you did choose to use the brakes, how are you planning to insulate the cross shaft (assuming that these vans didn't have independent brakes? I genuinely don't know - my version of this kit is presented as a component of  an NCB 'paddy train', not that I've built the rest of it...)?

 

A bit of cable insulation or plastic tube epoxied the hole in the tumbler, suitably opened out, might work - making the brakes live but the cross shaft dead. Alternatively, perhaps shorting the wheels to the frame - making that live - and fitting the brakes/pick ups on one side only on a piece of PCB?

 

Adam

 

PS - You could make that work with whitemetal brakegear too but you'd have to be nifty with the iron.

Edited February 11, 2016 by Adam

[Mark Forrest]

Yes, you're right Adam, it could be done with the cast brakes; my soldering is getting niftier, but I'm not sure it's quite at that level just yet.

 

It'll have Morton brakes so a cross shaft will be required; on some of my stuff with cast metal clasp brakes where I had concerns of a short I've used plastic rod as cross shafts.  Obviously not as strong as brass, but seems adequate; although I like your idea of insulating a brass cross shaft at the tumblers - thanks, I'll give that a try.

 

I was daydreaming earlier about whether it could be modified to use live wheels and half axles.  Would need to open out the holes for the axle bearings and sleeve these to insulate from the chassis; might be something to consider for the next one.

[Mark Forrest]

Crank pins for the Pannier had arrived when I got home from work. These are Comet ones from Wizard Models (the usually excellent and speedy service from Andrew).

 

The rods need the holes opening out to accept the bushes, but I couldn't resist quickly fitting them and giving it a quick burst of power to see it run!

 

I appear to have made something which resembles a loco chassis!

[Mark Forrest]

The rods for the Pannier have been opened out and it has had a bit of running in. Seems OK. I've stripped it ready for paint, at which point I remembered the sandboxes.

 

Tonight I've made up the brake gear for the FlyShunter van.

[Mark Forrest]

Anybody spotted the mistake I've made with the brake gear on the van yet?

 

 

I woke up in the middle of the night on Monday and all I could think about was the brake lever and how this would attach; I need to stop eating cheese before bed.

Conclusion I reached was that the vees need to be attached to the solebar (and therefore remain part of the van body) to enable me to remove the mechanism.

 

I've also been reading up on split axles for live frame chassis. I'm not ready to try that just yet, but it has inspired an idea for an insulated brake cross shaft.

[wagonbasher]

Anybody spotted the mistake I've made with the brake gear on the van yet?

I woke up in the middle of the night on Monday and all I could think about was the brake lever and how this would attach; I need to stop eating cheese before bed.

Conclusion I reached was that the vees need to be attached to the solebar (and therefore remain part of the van body) to enable me to remove the mechanism.

I've also been reading up on split axles for live frame chassis. I'm not ready to try that just yet, but it has inspired an idea for an insulated brake cross shaft.

 

We were all over that.... Just too polite to comment

 

Andy

[Mark Forrest]

Polite? Really?!?!?!?!?

[Mark Forrest]

Last night I fitted some pick ups to the FlyShunter, after a bit of fiddling about and a wheel swap (I'd been meaning to change from split to solid spoke for a while) it was running and collecting power from the rails all by itself.  It still needs a bit of fine tuning; I think the pick ups could do with being made of a more springy material.

 

 

I'm really keen that my modelling activities this year take me outside my comfort zone and teach me some new skills.  The FlyShunter and the Pannier chassis are all part of this, but do leave one particular bete noir unresolved.  The elephant in the room is of course fitting and quartering Gibson wheels.  So tonight's journey into unknown territory started with this:

 

Involved a bit of this:

 

And ended with this:

 

Obviously I've still got a long way to go, but other than a couple of little hiccups along the way, I'm fairly pleased.  I had to fit a short length of 2mm internal/3mm external plastic tube over the end stops of the GW press, because the wheels have 3mm axles (to suit Bachmann's chassis), whereas the press caters for either 2mm or 1/8" axles, but that was no problem.  Main surprise was the need to shorten the axles.  A label on the packaging suggests doing this after assembly;  I chickened out of trying to saw/file the excess material off the end of the axle with the wheel in place and took one wheel off to file the axle down to the required length (22mm).  The other two axles I shortened before assembly, which seems a more sensible approach.

[wagonbasher]

Last night I fitted some pick ups to the FlyShunter, after a bit of fiddling about and a wheel swap (I'd been meaning to change from split to solid spoke for a while) it was running and collecting power from the rails all by itself.  It still needs a bit of fine tuning; I think the pick ups could do with being made of a more springy material.

 

24853329169_e35b473b46_o.jpg

 

I'm really keen that my modelling activities this year take me outside my comfort zone and teach me some new skills.  The FlyShunter and the Pannier chassis are all part of this, but do leave one particular bete noir unresolved.  The elephant in the room is of course fitting and quartering Gibson wheels.  So tonight's journey into unknown territory started with this:

24582874594_288b1a5713_o.jpg

 

Involved a bit of this:

25096582462_9e523ba767_o.jpg

 

And ended with this:

24925465220_5af9a7624a_o.jpg

 

Obviously I've still got a long way to go, but other than a couple of little hiccups along the way, I'm fairly pleased.  I had to fit a short length of 2mm internal/3mm external plastic tube over the end stops of the GW press, because the wheels have 3mm axles (to suit Bachmann's chassis), whereas the press caters for either 2mm or 1/8" axles, but that was no problem.  Main surprise was the need to shorten the axles.  A label on the packaging suggests doing this after assembly;  I chickened out of trying to saw/file the excess material off the end of the axle with the wheel in place and took one wheel off to file the axle down to the required length (22mm).  The other two axles I shortened before assembly, which seems a more sensible approach.

So how long were the axles, is that because some driving wheels are deeper than others?

 

Looks good though, another demon conquered.

 

Andy

[Mark Forrest]

So how long were the axles, is that because some driving wheels are deeper than others?

 

Looks good though, another demon conquered.

 

Andy

I'm not calling it conquered yet; let's see it running first, but certainly feels like a step in the right direction.

 

Had to take just under 1mm off the axle length. I seem to recall reading somewhere that the conversion sets all come with P4 length axles regardless of wheel profile, not sure if that is true or just internet rumour.

[Mark Forrest]

This week I'm mainly focused on getting myself ready for next weekend when I'll be attending my first Missenden weekend. The weekend was a birthday gift from Mrs F and I'm looking forward to it very much. Between now and then I'm trying to find misplaced tools, squeeze them all into a toolbox that will fit in the car and find all the bits for the loco kit(s) I'll be having a go at building.

 

Despite all that I've still managed to find time to give the FlyShunter van some buffers, a quick blast of primer and a DCC decoder though... it lives!

 

Excuse the poorly fitted roof, borrowed from a Cambrian kit!

[Spitfire2865]

I think there might be a ghost in your house...and it likes trains.

[Adam]

That seems to run rather nicely which must be a relief. Well done. 

 

Adam

[wagonbasher]

I can see marks evolutionary developement here

 

Self propelled - no rods (ghost wagon)

Coupled. - Six coupled but no valve gear (Pannier)

Valve gear - Six coupled with valve gear ( 76 thingy)

 

Andy

[Mark Forrest]

That seems to run rather nicely which must be a relief. Well done. 

 

Adam

Thanks Adam. Yes I'm quite pleased with how it is running. The pick ups still aren't perfect and there is some adjustment of CVs to do on the decoder once it is run in but it is a relief to see it moving!

[Mark Forrest]

I can see marks evolutionary developement here

Self propelled - no rods (ghost wagon)

Coupled. - Six coupled but no valve gear (Pannier)

Valve gear - Six coupled with valve gear ( 76 thingy)

Andy

And just to spice things up, in P4, 00 and EM respectively.

[Mark Forrest]

I think there might be a ghost in your house...and it likes trains.

The white primer livery seems quite appropriate.

 

Who you gonna call?

https://youtu.be/m9We2XsVZfc