Hunslet Engine Works in 7mm Scale

[Andy Ross]

A Minor update. 

 

I have been putting off making the missing North Light roof structure - I made the jig back in May. 

 

But over the weekend I made a start. 

 

 

And have just finished all six required. 

 

 

These will be fitted next weekend. 

 

Andy 

[Andy Ross]

Following on from my last post it was time to fit all the new north light frames. 

 

When I did this on the mock up some time back I relied on lining these up with the verticals in the cross beams and then just used a ruler to space out the purlins. 

 

With the laser it was time to design and make some more jigs.

 

 

The cross beam jigs were designed to link into the ones that set the purlins. 

 

 

This made the job a lot quicker. 

 

 

 

 

The roof looks a lot better with all these added. 

 

I have also done the drawings and produces some trial parts for the wheel shop wall. This is made from plywood at the moment as it is quicker than MDF on the laser and this is just to prove the drawings, especially were the wall goes in between the crane supports.

 

 

 

 

I have also fitted the wall the full length of the boiler shop. Photos to follow in the next update.

 

At the moment I am drawing the front end of the wheel shop which I am trying to get done before LarkRail on the Saturday 15th. But with two night working away this week I might not get it done. 

 

If you do visit LarkRail please be sure to say hello. 

 

Andy 

 

 

Edited July 10, 2023 by Andy Ross

[David Bell]

That is phenomenal modelling.Hats off!

Cheers

David

[Andy Ross]

One last push before LarkRail this weekend. See link below for details of the show..

 

 

Over the last few days, in-between working on the layout I have drawing the front of the wheel shop. 

 

I have modelled this how it was when there were still the sliding doors on the entrance to the erecting shop.  A short section of the original shop had been left in place when the big lean too was added to the side of the erecting shop. Some time in the 70's this section was also demolished and a plain sheeted end was added. 

 

I only have one part photo of this area in its last form, but several pictures of the old section still in place, so that's what I decided to do. 

 

I have cut the parts from ply as this is only a test and I have found a few areas that need modifying but in the main it has gone together and fits. 

 

 

 

 

 

The photo through from the erecting shop matches well with the original photo. 

 

 

 

The photo also dates this round 1972 with the Scunthorpe Bo-Bo's on build. 

 

It will be interesting to see how the layout will look fully populated when set up at this weekend show with all these extra bits on. 

 

Andy 

 

 

[Andy Ross]

Hunslet Works - LarkRail - Bath. 

 

The visit to LarkRail was a great success and some interesting discussions tool place on how to present the layout at exhibitions. 

 

The original plan for the weekend was to take the board and display it on a table as we had done at York at Easter. But on the way down from Leeds I had a lot of holds up in the traffic and this meant that I could not pick Peter Kirmond up on the way and he would have to meet me at the hall.  

 

It struck me that this would mean that Peter could bring along a couple of trestles and we could possible display the board at a height nearer to what is planned for the layout when it is complete.  Peter agreed it would be a good experiment to see how it would be received by the public.  

 

   

 

Peter also brought along the drapes from his York layout and it all made a real difference.

 

So did it work - yes it did - there were lots of positive comments and the height we chose was ideal for operating the cranes and high enough to allow visitors to look down the shop and get the full effect. 

 

 

 

 

It also was a better hight to get an appreciation of what you will be able to see through the side door. 

 

 

The Wheel shop structure also went down well along with all the parts laid out in the shop. 

 

 

I also set up a shot that was similar to a real one from the erecting shop. 

 

 

 

 

I was also busy with the laser just before the show, in fact the night before I set off. The end of the old wheel shop has the original slate roof so it need all the timbers  and lats on the inside.  The photo of the old shop shows the detail that will be in the end section. 

 

 

I have managed to recreate this by using the following. 2mm ply for the roof structure, 0.4 play for the lats and 1mm MDF for the timbers. These were all cut as a panel with a frame around the edge and then glued together. 

 

 

The effect when the panel is dropped in place is identical to the original. There will be a lot of these panels of various sizes to do as the roof sections of the North lights are tiled as is most of the pitched section going towards the boiler shop.

 

I have also cut some tops for the etched benches a few week ago and Jill has started to paint/stains these. I tried these in place in both the erecting shop and the wheel shop and again I am really pleased with these. 

 

 

 

And last of all, Jill has produced some labels to go on the control boxes for the cranes which are going to make it easier for any trainee crane operator. 

 

 

The good news is that Peter is now trained and signed off as competent as a crane drives for the double lift and wheeling so he is now a vital member of the operating team.

 

All in all it was a really good weekend and a excellent exhibition.  

 

Andy 

 

 

Edited July 19, 2023 by Andy Ross

[St Enodoc]

9 hours ago, Andy Ross said:

Hunslet Works - LarkRail - Bath. (Meant to post this yesterday).

 

The visit to LarkRail was a great success and some interesting discussions tool place on how to present the layout at exhibitions. 

 

The original plan for the weekend was to take the board and display it on a table as we had done at York at Easter. But on the way down from Leeds I had a lot of holds up in the traffic and this meant that I could not pick Peter Kirmond up on the way and he would have to meet me at the hall.  

 

It struck me that this would mean that Peter could bring along a couple of trestles and we could possible display the board at a height nearer to what is planned for the layout when it is complete.  Peter agreed it would be a good experiment to see how it would be received by the public.  

 

   

 

Peter also brought along the drapes from his York layout and it all made a real difference.

 

So did it work - yes it did - there were lots of positive comments and the height we chose was ideal for operating the cranes and high enough to allow visitors to look down the shop and get the full effect. 

 

 

 

 

It also was a better hight to get an appreciation of what you will be able to see through the side door. 

 

 

The Wheel shop structure also went down well along with all the parts laid out in the shop. 

 

 

I also set up a shot that was similar to a real one from the erecting shop. 

 

 

 

 

I was also busy with the laser just before the show, in fact the night before I set off. The end of the old wheel shop has the original slate roof so it need all the timbers  and lats on the inside.  The photo of the old shop shows the detail that will be in the end section. 

 

 

I have managed to recreate this by using the following. 2mm ply for the roof structure, 0.4 play for the lats and 1mm MDF for the timbers. These were all cut as a panel with a frame around the edge and then glued together. 

 

 

The effect when the panel is dropped in place is identical to the original. There will be a lot of these panels of various sizes to do as the roof sections of the North lights are tiled as is most of the pitched section going towards the boiler shop.

 

I have also cut some tops for the etched benches a few week ago and Jill has started to paint/stains these. I tried these in place in both the erecting shop and the wheel shop and again I am really pleased with these. 

 

 

 

And last of all, Jill has produced some labels to go on the control boxes for the cranes which are going to make it easier for any trainee crane operator. 

 

 

The good news is that Peter is now trained and signed off as competent as a crane drives for the double lift and wheeling so he is now a vital member of the operating team.

 

All in all it was a really good weekend and a excellent exhibition.  

 

Andy 

 

 

Super stuff, Andy. Have you got models of DHT and your good self on there yet?

[Andy Ross]

8 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Super stuff, Andy. Have you got models of DHT and your good self on there yet?

If we have a model of Don we would need a smoke unit for the cigar - you always knew when he was in the shop. 

 

As for me, it has been suggested that I should be scanned but you would need some fancy software to knock about 40 years, several stones off and add some hair. 

Edited July 18, 2023 by Andy Ross

[DLT]

Pleased that I've actually got to see Hunslet Works at last; at Larkrail on Saturday.

Superb!

Dave.

[Andy Ross]

Hunslet at LArkRail

 

If you would like to see a small video of the layout see link below to SDJR7F88 link to his Video channel.  

 

This is an excellent video from all around the show. The Hunslet section is at 3min 16sec in. 

 

Thanks to Callum for sharing the link. 

 

Andy 

Edited July 19, 2023 by Andy Ross

[Andy Ross]

I had a visit yesterday from Peter Kirmond who very kindly has made the baseboards for the layout.

 

We had measured up the previous weekend whilst at LarkRail for the lid for the protective side panel, and Peter had brought up the new lid to fit.

 

 

Peter had also brought along some spare legs. He had made these for his 2mm York layout but was not happy with the planned installation and had come up with an alternative. 

 

He managed to fit some to the layout and although they need a couple of additional braces the fit really well. 

 

 

We will take these legs to Swindon as see what the reaction it to the height as it is a bit higher than what we had at LarkRail. 

 

My thoughts are that it is were it needs to be, but I am open to comments. 

 

At some point the same lags will be fitted to the other board. I am also currently looking at what we need for a small fiddle yard. 

 

Andy 

 

[Andy Ross]

Last weekend we took the new legs off and put the main board back onto the trestles. 

The test track board was also connected using a trestle. 

 

I have done this as I wanted to sort the structures on either side of the baseboard joint. 

I have a drawing for the power room that will be over the test track on the narrow board, but I have very little information  on the cross yard crane that originally came from the machine shop. 

 

 

This means I need to build the powerhouse first. This buts up to to the wall that goes down the yard as can be seen in the photo with the loaded bogies. The plan was to sort that end of the wall and get on with the bridges. But as I pulled drawings off the original layout main drawing for detailing and adding structure I got carried away. 

 

The results is that I have got up the yard past the entrance to the toilets in the pitched roof section. 

 

 

In total there are 23 different parts, some of which needed cutting several times.

 

       

 

The Ideal is to make an inner frame that is braced with runners with 1/2 slots. the cross panels have slots and tabs into the false front.

 

 

 

 

There is an outer layer with all the detail, bricks etc. At the moment these have been cut in 2mm ply but may be replaced with MDF. This will be decided when we have done some trials with the painting .

. 

 

 

This took a lot of cutting and I found only a couple of errors so far that I have put right just incase we need to recut some part

 

s. 

 

I am please with how it has come out as when you compare the photos with the real ones it all looks in proportion so far. 

 

The loco is Mike Edges standard 388HP that I borrowed for LarkRail. 

 

 

I must now leave this alone and get on with the other end that meets up with the main board. 

 

For anyone wanting to see progress in the flesh we will be at the Swindon show at the Steam museum with the main board on the 9th and 10th September.  

 

Unfortunaltley the Leeds exhibition has been cancelled this year due to building work at the venue.

 

Andy  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Andy Ross]

Following on from the previous post I needed to get on with the bridge section on the narrow board as this will determine the position etc fro the similar section on the main board. 

 

Again this was to be constructed from laser cut parts.  There was a lot of drawing needed for this and I had to ensure it could extend over the track without a supporting leg on the outside edge of the baseboard. 

 

I started cutting parts on the Thursday evening and finished on Friday. 

 

There were some modifications and improvements I identified as I went along and these will be explained below. 

 

Three main sub assemblies were created first.

 

     

 

There were a lot of tabs and slots designed in and amazingly they all lined up. 

 

     

 

The section with the recesses is the wall under the bridge. The original plan was to produced this by layering up the same profile but was missing brick detail and I did not got it all quite in line. The redraw did take quite a while but the end result is much better. 

 

 

The main assembly went easier than expected with just a couple of small adjustments to allow for a build up of tolerances and a couple of packers that were needed to fill in a gap created by the redesign of the wall. 

 

I have dropped it on the layout and I am really pleased with it.  

 

 

 

I am also pleased with the wall with the cable ducts. 

 

 

I also had to take a few shots with locos  to get a real feel for it. 

 

 

 

 

 

The bridge has came out about 10mm in from the edge of the baseboard - I don't think anyone will notice at exhibitions and  to be fair I think it is better as it will not be so vulnerable to being knocked. 

 

The next job is the other bridge section on the main baseboard. 

 

With all this progress we are looking to take the test track board to Swindon on the 9th and 10th September as well as the main board if I can get it in the car without a proper crate for it. 

 

Andy

 

 

 

Edited August 21, 2023 by Andy Ross

[Andy Ross]

More progress so far this weekend.

 

During the week while I have been away for my day job I managed to get the drawings done for the tower. 

 

I cut the parts out last night when I got home and assembled it this morning. I will admit that I managed to get some of the slots out of place and completely missed some. So there was a bit of recutting this morning. 

 

 

This has to to be removable for transporting so the assembly slots into the back of the bridge section. 

 

It was a bit tight but with a but of sanding it now drops in nice a snuggle. 

 

 

I have scored some lines on this to act as a guide for when I add the corrugated sheets.

 

 

 

I have also today been looking at the main doors. I have not been happy with these as they have been very noisy and a little slow to operate. 

 

The original design was to use the small motor gearboxes that a lot of us have found all kind of uses for - I use them to drive the cranes. But for some reason no matter what I did they were very noisy when working. 

 

 

I had recently found an all enclosed unit on eBay and today I fitted one to see how we got on. It is a lot better and with it being a bit bigger the gearbox fits right up onto the baseboard and at the moment it is held in place with some double sided tape. 

 

See video below. 

 

 

I had bought two gearboxes but the other one is faulty so I have found the same thing on Amazon and hopefully this will arrive tomorrow. 

 

Tomorrow I need to service the cranes ready for Swindon as this is only a couple of weeks away. 

 

I have also arranged with the organiser to now take both boards to the show. 

 

Andy 

 

 

Edited August 26, 2023 by Andy Ross

[Andy Ross]

After a view false start I have managed to put together the second bridge structure. 

 

Originally this was to cover the crane tracks that ran from the machine shop to the boiler shop. 

 

By my time this was still in use but only to bring items out of the machine shop. The doors into the boiler shop had been bricked up and some building as added. all that is left is the upper lifting door but this was locked in place and built up to as can be seen in the photo below. 

 

 

 

 

 

I have included photos of the buildings before the bridge section was added. 

 

 

 

The upper doorway was fragile and I broke the first one so when cut is has a sacrificial support frame which will be removed to add the door frame.

 

I am not sure how much will be visible at exhibitions under the roof so at the moment there is a representation of the frame work and trusses all laser cut. There is some overlays and a couple of steel columns to add that go down to the floor which I will probably get etched.

 

 

 

The rest of the phots are just general views.

 

 

 

 

 

This is as far as I am going before the Swindon show next weekend. 

 

If you would like to see the progress in the flesh, then please come along to the Swindon Railway Festival at the steam museum on the 9th and 10th September. 

 

Andy

 

Edited September 4, 2023 by Andy Ross

[Andy Ross]

Another first tonight. 

 

When we decided to take the small board to Swindon it was meant to be a static display. 

 

However I had an opportunity tonight to install some temporary wiring and I will be able to drive standard gauge locos up and down the yard. 

 

The link below is the first loco to go from the workshop up the yard. 

 

 

Between now and Easter we will have time to fit chips into rest of the locos. (some with sound). 

 

That's it now before Swindon - tomorrow I start packing it all up for the weekend. 

 

Andy 

[Andy Ross]

Thank you to everyone who said hello at Swindon exhibition over the weekend. I took this video and from this angle watching the loco go up the yard, it was like I was back there in the early 80’s. 

Next confirmed outing will be York next Easter we’re there will hopefully more to see including a small fiddle yard and more Woking locos on different gauges. 

Andy

 

[Andy Ross]

I have also received this evening a video taken by Thomas Haynes of the wheeling sequence which you might like to see.

 

 

Its fair to say it does not always go this well.

 

Andy

Edited September 11, 2023 by Andy Ross

[St Enodoc]

7 hours ago, Andy Ross said:

I took this video and from this angle watching the loco go up the yard, it was like I was back there in the early 80’s. 

Is that a Channel Tunnel loco on the right?

 

5 hours ago, Andy Ross said:

Its fair to say it does not always go this well.

On the model or in real life?

[Michael Edge]

No it's a  150hp mines rack loco, this is the one I built for the layout we built for Hunslet in the 1980s.

 

I was building the model from the drawings as it was being built (and pointing out parts which wouldn't fit), they still hadn't got one finished for the catalogue sheet so they used my 7mm model as seen above.

[Andy Ross]

On 11/09/2023 at 21:55, St Enodoc said:

Is that a Channel Tunnel loco on the right?

 

On the model or in real life?

As for the model Mike is correct. The one on the layout is for British Coal.  However there were two specials made with extended cabs for TML (Channel Tunnel) for rescue trains. Along with two special ambulance cars based on GMT running gear. 
 

As for the wheeling going well. It always worked in real life as there was a team of men guiding it on and in the pit holding axle boxes.  The model success rate is not too bad but every now and then I have lift back up and start again.  

[St Enodoc]

2 hours ago, Andy Ross said:

However there were two specials made with extended cabs for TML (Channel Tunnel) for rescue trains. Along with two special ambulance cars based on GMT running gear. 

They must be the ones I was thinking of. Thanks.

[Andy Ross]

Several weeks have passed since I last posted anything and its fair to say not a lot has been done until this weekend. 

 

When we got back from Swindon it was a case of unpacking the car and within 24hrs were loading it again for a two week long waited holiday. 

 

The photo below should give you a clue on where we went. 

 

 

Since we got back it has been very difficult to get motivated again especially now the Leeds Exhibition has had to be cancelled due to building work at the venue. 

 

I know that I need to get on with more design work for the building from roof panels to sorting out the floor panels and control panels etc. 

 

Despite this I have decided the best way to get going again is to solder up some more parts to fill the shop. So I have started with some trestles and progressed on to some locomotive parts. 

 

The trestles are quite fiddle and until you solder the legs up, very fragile and easy to bend out of shape, but once they are done they are very strong. 

 

 

It might be easier to 3d print these but they would be far too brittle and would need building up which will not look as good as the etched ones. 

 

I also decided to build some parts up for a Bord na Móna loco that would help fill up the boiler shop. I am not sure how I bent the cab up last time but this time I used the Tamiya bending fixture. This was OK, but to get al the bends I had to modify it by cutting some of the legs off. 

 

    

 

Its quite a complex fabrication with a false floor and built in sandboxes etc. 

 

 

 

I am quit please with progress and there are few more different bits I need to do including more trestles and a lot of benches. 

 

All being well this will motivate me to get on with the design work for the layout in the next few weeks. 

 

Andy 

 

Edited October 23, 2023 by Andy Ross

[Andy Ross]

The run up to Christmas has not seen much activity on the layout. Well in Leeds anyway. 

 

Pete Kirmond has been busy down in Gloucestershire making the fiddle yard board and sorting out the creating for the narrow board.  This had gone through several design reviews but in the end we reverted to a very simple solution. 

 

    

 

The fiddle yard board only needs to be 1 metre long so a 1/2 metre section is added to allow for creating. This may be used as a set up board for the dcc with all the different gauges on it. 

 

I collect these just before Christmas and in the next few days they will be put up in the garage so I can lay the track across the board and start on the wiring.

 

Back in Leeds there has also been some activity. As the layout is starting to receive invites to Shows, all be it as a work in progress, I have been asked if I have any lighting, as some the halls have poor lighting for models.  This has led to several interesting discussions, especially with Peter. With the buildings being so high and the layout being set at eye level how do you try and light it without a huge lighting structure.  The conclusion at the moment is that we don't.

 

The majority of the activity is inside the building, so what we need to do is light the interior. The other issue with lights outside would be that there is no guarantee how much would get in through the windows. As we add more roof details, the worse this will get.

 

For the North light I had thought abut making the external structure as separate units, like a hat for each one. So how do I get the lights inside. I wondered if I could get some LED's on the window face to simulate light coming in through the windows.  To accommodate the LED strip I made the window face 3mm deep. This has pinched a bit of the gutter but it will not be too noticeable. 

 

    

 

As you can see I used 2 rows of LED's.  I also put all the inner roof details on the tiled face as I needed to check it sat down right on the structure. 

 

    

 

 

When I put the test assembly on with two rows of lights it is way too bright, especially with another in the next bay. So I disconnected the top row and there was still more than enough light. This will also mean I can move the strip a bit further up so you cannot see them from most angles. I might also fit a thin diffuser, but I am not sure what difference this will make so close to the light. I am not sure if this will work in the long run and the boiler shop section with the pitched roof is going to need another idea. There is also the issue of the narrow board / test rack area to consider, but one step at a time. 

 

I have also noticed some areas in the size of the end panels but this will not take long to correct. The next thing to do is make a couple more and see how they all sit together. 

 

Andy 

 

 

 

 

   

Edited December 28, 2023 by Andy Ross

[Barry O]

Add a resistor in the power to the LED strips?

 

Uplighters into the building may be worth a look at.

 

But it's coming together very well

 

Baz

[John Besley]

How about a yellow tinted diffuser strip to kill the bright white light or light with Dolls House light bulbs as these give a nice period glow