Aston On Clun. A forgotten Great Western outpost.

[MrWolf]

Both tenders need minor repairs and the same detailing, so I think that running something different would be taking the job one step further. Plus I can order a set of transfers I can use on this and number 23.

I expect that etched plates for 2291 can be had somewhere.

[MrWolf]

Here she is at Leamington shed:

 

https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrls2161.htm

[Graham T]

Looking quite careworn there.

[Tortuga]

Looks better with the small tender to my eye Rob.

[MrWolf]

2 hours ago, Graham T said:

Looking quite careworn there.

 

Is that a polite version of wilfully neglected? 😀

 

1 hour ago, Tortuga said:

Looks better with the small tender to my eye Rob.

 

It looks like I had better repair it and replace the unicycling lion with something a little more art deco.

 

[Mike 84C]

I thought heavily weathered.

[MrWolf]

As long as it's not eBay style "Pro weathered"...

[MrWolf]

The small tender is discumnockerated and the BR logo removed. Almost a pity because it's one of the most impressive in my opinion.

 

 

At the business end, there's the usual damage, although the curved handrails are intact. 

Can someone confirm that the missing parts are: at footplate level on the left should be a brake standard and on the right by the fork for the fire irons is the beheaded remains of the operating handle for the water scoop, (or the other way around) it's not too clear on any reference material that I have.

 

[Graham T]

From my (very limited) knowledge, and tips that others have given me about 3205, I think you're right.

[wiggoforgold]

7 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

I expect that etched plates for 2291 can be had somewhere.

Might I suggest 3D printed plates from Railtech? You can specify the number you want so they could do no 23 as well.

Alex.

[John Besley]

Tender / loco hand brake always on the fireman's side, water scoop handle on Drivers side, the give away is the conical shaped water level indicator which should have a flat front with a brass plate and slot for the float level to rise and fall in

[Compound2632]

2 hours ago, John Besley said:

water scoop handle on Drivers side

 

Curious as it would presumably be the fireman's responsibility. On the LNWR, a LHD line, the control for the scoop was on the fireman's side, but it was rather differently arranged.

[The Stationmaster]

5 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Curious as it would presumably be the fireman's responsibility. On the LNWR, a LHD line, the control for the scoop was on the fireman's side, but it was rather differently arranged.

The tender handbrake was an essential part of working loose coupled freights to add brake power to the engine brake - hence the Fireman's job.  (Because the Driver was driving, and using the engine's brake.  And of course it also went back to the time when the only brake was on the tender.)

[MrWolf]

12 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

The tender handbrake was an essential part of working loose coupled freights to add brake power to the engine brake - hence the Fireman's job.  (Because the Driver was driving, and using the engine's brake.  And of course it also went back to the time when the only brake was on the tender.)

 

Good point, I remember reading how they had serious and often fatal problems controlling trains as traffic increased but there was no continuous brake even on passenger trains.

Wasn't it the Shipton accident where the loco crew made an emergency brake application after the first coach became derailed by a broken tyre but the rest of the train just kept coming and ran down the embankment?

[MrWolf]

8 hours ago, John Besley said:

Tender / loco hand brake always on the fireman's side, water scoop handle on Drivers side, the give away is the conical shaped water level indicator which should have a flat front with a brass plate and slot for the float level to rise and fall in

 

I realised after I wrote my post that saying "(or the other way around)" was correct as GWR locos were driven from the right.

I'll modify the water level indicator a little, but at least Mainline / Bachmann put something there. The generation of models previous had very little detail on the tender front.

[MrWolf]

10 hours ago, wiggoforgold said:

Might I suggest 3D printed plates from Railtech? You can specify the number you want so they could do no 23 as well.

Alex.

 

I'll have a look at those, thankfully, the 23 plate has been available in etched brass since the days of the original Tri-ang conversion.

[Donw]

On 21/08/2022 at 23:08, MrWolf said:

Whilst I am perfectly happy to admit that modern cars are in most respects superior,

I don't subscribe to them being better, either for the owner or the environment. The over complications and planned obsolescence of what is supposed to be a simple concept let them down. The scrapyards are full of cars that should be repairable, but one obsolete or disproportionately expensive component has rendered what should have been a reliable £1000 runabout to about £50 worth of junk. If of course you can drive it to the yard, if not, they'll collect it for free.

Very few people go to a breakers for more than body and trim parts now, I've had some enlightening conversations with yard owners. The running gear is removed and the baled bodies and cast iron shipped to the other side of the world.

So much of it is not recovered, it ends up being foundry slag. All the time, energy and a lot of the materials that go into making a car from primary industries upwards are lost forever.

At some point all vehicles made in the last thirty years will develop a fault that cannot be economically repaired because the design won't allow it, such as a sealed piece of electronics, ie a chip.

If a Tesla is written off in an accident, the factory can send out a kill message to all of the components, rendering them useless.

At least for previous generations of vehicles, someone with basic engineering skills and a bit of determination could repair things at home, which is where car restoration started.

 

This is the ignition management system from the BSA in my previous photo. Rendered obsolete in 1963 by alternator and coil ignition, but easy to fix and parts are still available.

 

 

 

 

If thats one of those paxolin cogs my friend managed to strip half the teeth. Result dead bike. My 350 norton combo had to tow his bsa combo with 6 people and their luggage from Weymouth back to Reading.

 

Don

[MrWolf]

29 minutes ago, Donw said:

 

If thats one of those paxolin cogs my friend managed to strip half the teeth. Result dead bike. My 350 norton combo had to tow his bsa combo with 6 people and their luggage from Weymouth back to Reading.

 

Don

 

Thereby turning a dull journey into an adventure....😀

Full marks to the Norton's slogging power though! I'm assuming it was a single cylinder Model 50 or similar? 

A smashed fibre gear is usually a result of failure to grease the bearings in the magneto, or on a single, the piggy back dynamo as well.

I had it happen on a BSA WDM20, though I suspect that the dynamo bearings were the same ones fitted when it helped chase the Italian army out of Libya back in 1941.

[Donw]

It was indeed a model 50

 

Don

[MrWolf]

5 minutes ago, Donw said:

It was indeed a model 50

 

Don

 

Respect is due.

 

I once had a 1948 ES2 with the "garden gate" frame, 500 OHV, I'm still annoyed with myself for having to sell it! 

[Mike 84C]

You could also add the feed valves for the injectors that were always adjacent to the coal space on Western engines. A simple handle but a photo is needed for accuracy of placement.

[MrWolf]

5 minutes ago, Mike 84C said:

You could also add the feed valves for the injectors that were always adjacent to the coal space on Western engines. A simple handle but a photo is needed for accuracy of placement.

 

Thanks for the info Mike, I might just be trawling Google images for that.

Unless any of the regulars know of a suitable illustration?

 

It's also going to get the avalanche prevention plank.

[Mike 84C]

In my experience, 60's to the end of WR steam, those planks had gone missing yrs ago! and an old firebar did not work very well.

 Just imagine having a tender full of small ovoids and where they got to! Large ones were bad enough

[John Besley]

Here's a couple of pics 

 

The above shows the slotted brackets for the scaffold plank to hold back the coal and the vacuum trip cock on the fireman's side ...

 

Notice the difference of the handle shape of the hand brake and the tender water scoop handle 

 

The water inlet handles to the injectors are clearly showing as well

 

 

[MrWolf]

Thank you John and Mike, I had just come across the lower picture on the idiots guide to GWR tenders. It's a really useful resource.

 

http://www.gwr.org.uk/no-tenders.html

 

I'd also seen the water tap on the fireman's side and what must be the sand box lids?

 

I feel a bit of modification coming on before this tender gets a coat of green paint.