Castle Aching

[Edwardian]

31 minutes ago, webbcompound said:

Very nice engine and good comparison with the Terrier. A bit of work with a couple of files would take the door space up to the roof line, which would be a pretty exact match for the Terrier height wise, and then there would be no crew size issue

 

That must be the right answer, thank you, I had not considered it.

 

Now I'm wondering if |I could do that without making a hash of it.

[CKPR]

1 hour ago, webbcompound said:

A bit of work with a couple of files would take the door space up to the roof line

Good idea and some additional beading around the cab entrance would make good the alterations and enable the new cab entrance to go right up to the roof as per the Terrier.

[petethemole]

What height is your figure?  1:1 scale figures vary in height and a smaller/shorter 4mm figure might fit better and still be to scale.

[rocor]

12 hours ago, ChrisN said:

You could always try fitting H0 crew, as they are on their own they will not appear too small, and will make the cab look bigger.

 

That would certainly be a better option than doing a cut and shut job on the current driver, and then naming him Ernie Wise.

[Edwardian]

16 hours ago, uax6 said:

It certainly looks like you could take the whole footplate up to the correct buffer height. I wouldn’t be concerned about more of the wheels being on show, l think it actually looks like the body is too low anyway. 
 

Andy g

 

I decided that Andy had the right of it.  Not only could more wheel be showing, but, more should be showing.

 

I thought I'd dig out some pictures of the 4' Sharps (I know mine is a model of a Vulcan, but these Sharps are very much the real life SG equivalent to my freelance Vulcan). 

 

The smaller 4' Sharps:

 

 

 

 

And the larger 4' Sharps:

 

 

So, a shim of two thicknesses of 40 thou styrene later, and I have a much larger locomotive:

 

Before:

 

After:

 

My conclusions?

 

Well, in practical terms, it creates some issues, but nothing that should not be easily fixable:

 

(1) I will need longer fixing screws.  That is why the the cylinders are left off, because the front screw passes through them.

 

(2) I will need new pick-ups, because the pick-ups are mounted above the wheels, so are no longer in contact. 

 

In cosmetic terms, the proportions are now much better for a 4mm scale SG model. The valance clears the wheels to an extent comparable to the 4' Sharps and looks much better as a result. 

 

The locomotive body is surprisingly good for 4mm scale.  The size of all the features is very much consistent with 4mm; the sand box, clack valve, dome, whistle, cab spectacles, cab height are all comparable with a 4mm loco. The 4mm scale chimney CKPR is kindly sending me should, therefore, look in proportion. 

 

The only three underscale features are the buffers, which need to be replaced and re-sighted anyway, the cab side-sheet aperture height and the cab steps. 

 

As has been pointed out, there is room to take the cab-side aperture to a correct height for 4mm.

 

Then it will be a case of any further refinements.  I've thought of beading for the extended cab aperture (see below), guard irons, sand pipes, and some brakes would be nice. Perhaps tank filler lids?

 

Do I need to do something about safety valves? Perhaps add Salter valves as seen on the prototype Vulcan (the dome will remain brass, of course)?

 

I suppose she should be vac fitted for passenger work on the WNR, so stand pipes on the buffers and, I should think, a vac ejector from the cab sheet to the smokebox side.

 

Thank you to everyone for their enthusiasm and sage advice.

 

 

1 hour ago, petethemole said:

What height is your figure?  1:1 scale figures vary in height and a smaller/shorter 4mm figure might fit better and still be to scale.

 

It's a Stadden, so very much true scale, i.e. average height of bloke of that period in 1/76 and, therefore, shorter than most figures sold for 'OO'/4mm. 

 

That is one reason why I accept the inevitability of  Webbcompound's advice.

 

2 hours ago, CKPR said:

Good idea and some additional beading around the cab entrance would make good the alterations and enable the new cab entrance to go right up to the roof as per the Terrier.

 

Yes, that I had already determined to do!

 

It is a prototypical feature and I noticed that it was present on the Japanese prototype, indeed, an odd omission, I thought, from a model on which so much similar detail was included. 

 

It would certainly look better for it, and helps to reconcile me to the task of filing a height extension.

 

 

 

Edited June 12, 2021 by Edwardian
spelling!

[burgundy]

2 hours ago, Edwardian said:

 

 

 

 

After:

 

 

 

The Terrier is the large loco. 

In another thread, which I can't find at the moment, there is a photo of a driver on the footplate of a D tank who must have had extreme difficulty seeing out of the spectacle plates. He really does look like an HO figure (in height, if not in circumference). 

Best wishes 

Eric

PS It might have been this photo

Edited June 12, 2021 by burgundy

[Edwardian]

9 minutes ago, burgundy said:

The Terrier is the large loco. 

In another thread, which I can't find at the moment, there is a photo of a driver on the footplate of a D tank who must have had extreme difficulty seeing out of the spectacle plates. He really does look like an HO figure (in height, if not in circumference). 

Best wishes 

Eric

 

The decisive factor is the pitch of the boiler on the 'Vulcan', which is higher than any of the Sharps I've pictured, and which makes the 2-4-0 look relatively large next to the Terrier.

 

If you had a low slim boiler, not raised too far above those very low tanks, the impression would be closer to your photograph, or, rather, I think you'd have something comparable to the second group of Sharps, with the longer w/b, such as North Western, Bishopstone, Hesperus. 

 

I have given the Vulcan a bit of a clean and oil. The pick-ups were particularly dirty.

 

For anyone interested in the underside and inside:

 

 

 

 

After the clean, I put her back together as she is intended to be to see if her slow and jerky performance had improved. It had, and after running for a few minutes, I've managed to get her down to reasonable low speeds.  Video to follow.

 

 

 

[Nearholmer]

The boy definitely done good buying this one. Looks very NZ or Aus alongside those coaches.

[Nearholmer]

“For British men, the average height at age 21 rose from 167.05cm (5ft 5in) in 1871-75 to 177.37cm (5ft 10in) in 1971-75.”

 

My maternal great grandfather was of the earlier generation, and worked for the LBSCR for a few years; he was about 5’3”. 

[CKPR]

See if you can slip a few washers between the worm and the end motor bearing  to remove any end float - you can do this with brass washers by simply filing a slice out and then slipping them over the shaft. A bit tedious and fiddly but straightforward.

[Edwardian]

2 minutes ago, CKPR said:

See if you can slip a few washers between the worm and the end motor bearing  to remove any end float - you can do this with brass washers by simply filing a slice out and then slipping them over the shaft. A bit tedious and fiddly but straightforward.

 

No, read that several times now, but it is still going right over my empty head. Ailment, diagnosis and cure are all equally mysterious to me. I suspect you may be crediting your audience with understanding he lacks!

 

Anything mechanical or electrical and my brain turns to blancmange.

 

However, I do, thanks to you, now have a chimney.  My neighbour is on the round this week and delivers to me when he returns from his shift, hence a strange time for Saturday post to arrive.

 

It looks magnificent, thank you so very much.

 

[Annie]

2 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

The boy definitely done good buying this one. Looks very NZ or Aus alongside those coaches.

NZR 'L' Class (Avonside 1877)

 

[Edwardian]

So, after a wash and brush up, she can now run at sensible West Norfolk speeds.

 

 

 

[Compound2632]

Is that @TurboSnail's SER brake van in the background?

[Edwardian]

3 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

Is that @TurboSnail's SER brake van in the background?

 

No, it's one of a pair of second hand scratch built ones that I have yet to desecrate with OO wheelsets. 

[TurboSnail]

Easily confused in the same livery, even down to the same missing "Goods Brake" text!

Edited June 12, 2021 by TurboSnail

[Regularity]

2 hours ago, Edwardian said:

No, read that several times now, but it is still going right over my empty head. Ailment, diagnosis and cure are all equally mysterious to me. I suspect you may be crediting your audience with understanding he lacks!

Washers are normally do-not shaped.

Take a bit out of the ring, to create a horseshoe shape. Put it between the motor bearing and the worm wheel, to stop the armature (the whirly bit) being able to move backwards and forwards.

 

Lots of thin ones are better than one fat one.

 

Edited June 12, 2021 by Regularity
Photo

[uax6]

Can you just say that l was right again please? Being a married man l obviously am not used to being right, and have to bask when l can.....

 

Andy G

Edited June 13, 2021 by uax6

[Compound2632]

1 hour ago, Regularity said:

Lots of thin ones are better than one fat one.

 

So I have heard it said.

[Northroader]

 Nah,

 

just remember when when you take the wheelsets out to paint the loco, put them back the same way, they’re only insulated on the one side.

Edited June 12, 2021 by Northroader

[Hroth]

6 hours ago, Edwardian said:

 

No, read that several times now, but it is still going right over my empty head. Ailment, diagnosis and cure are all equally mysterious to me. I suspect you may be crediting your audience with understanding he lacks!

 

Anything mechanical or electrical and my brain turns to blancmange.

 

However, I do, thanks to you, now have a chimney.  My neighbour is on the round this week and delivers to me when he returns from his shift, hence a strange time for Saturday post to arrive.

 

It looks magnificent, thank you so very much.

 

 

A double chimney!  Amazingly advanced for the WNR, you'll have that nice Mr Churchward down to inspect it!

 

1 hour ago, Northroader said:

 Nah,

 

just remember when when you take the wheelsets out to paint the loco, put them back the same way, they’re only insulated on the one side.

 

Such a jolly girl!!!

 

[Edwardian]

17 hours ago, burgundy said:

In another thread, which I can't find at the moment, there is a photo of a driver on the footplate of a D tank who must have had extreme difficulty seeing out of the spectacle plates. He really does look like an HO figure (in height, if not in circumference). 

Best wishes 

Eric

PS It might have been this photo

 

I love that photograph for the driverly insouciance evinced by his stance, watch chain etc.

 

But, yes, one does wonder what use the cab spectacles were in such a case!

[Edwardian]

On 09/06/2021 at 19:18, Adam88 said:

It looks as though I wasn't the only person to be tempted by Early Japanese Railways, 1853-1914 in the PostScript catalogue recently.

 

Top tip. Thanks. Looked like a most fascinating rabbit hole as I leafed through my newly arrived copy over coffee this morning.

 

I suspect most of us are familiar in only the most general and superficial terms with Japan's Nineteenth Century opening up to the West and rapid modernisation/industrialisation, and that via a distorting Western lens  - Commodore Perry, Madame Butterfly, The Mikado, Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai etc - but it looks as if this book will take us through the rapid transformation of Meiji-era Japan via its railways.

 

So far I've only read the Preface, but that alone is fascinating, as the genesis of the book is a package of maps, drawings and photographs a Japanese gentleman sent to the Locomotive Magazine for publication, which that periodical ignored, but which a century or so later, the author managed to acquire. 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 13, 2021 by Edwardian

[Compound2632]

... and of course Walter Mackersie Smith:

 

 

[Northroader]

So you’re going to leave your little 2-4-0T as it is, and have a nice little branch line station up in the mountains with Mount  Fuji in the background? I see the trend has already reached Milton Keynes, don’t get left behind.