Scratchbuilding a Caledonian Dunalastair in Gauge 1.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Hello all,

 

 

I have recently begun construction on my most ambitious project yet, the construction of a Caledonian Railway Dunalastair I in coarse scale gauge 1. 

 

 

Prototype: The engine being loosely modelled is a Caledonian Railway 721 Class "Dunalastair" 4-4-0, designed by John F. McIntosh for the Caley in 1896. They were fairly heavy 4-4-0s for there time, and the class was named after an ancient Scottish estate which is sadly now abandoned. 

 

credit

 

The engine above is the one that I intend to replicate, as the box on the forward splashers will them easier to make. I haven't decided what tender it will be built with yet, but the bogie one is the favorite at the moment, due to the lesser amounts of steel needing to be filed.

 

 

Goal: The goal is to make a coarse scale (deep non finescale flanges) replica of the above engine in gauge 1, in a very robust and not terribly scale manner. To explain this one must first see photos of the progress so far.

 

 

 

 

 

In the above photos we see the mostly completed frames for the engine. These are made in the typical model engineering style from some steel plate, which is then bolted to some frame stretchers like the real thing. In my case the frames are 2 mm steel plate, which is bolted to 5 Meccano 3 hole angle brackets which were conveniently the right size. The whole engine is to be built in quite a beefy manner, with the cab being made from 2 mm brass plate along with the running plate. Said running plate will be bolted to the Meccano angle brackets seen in the last image, another set will be installed further back. Atop this plate will be the wooden smokebox saddle, upon which will rest the boiler, a tube of some sort. The cab as mentioned previously will be 4 mm brass plate bolted together with the Meccano angle brackets. not very scale but nice and functional, and easy to disassemble if needed. The chimney, dome and safety valves will be bought from somewhere. Wheels will be cast iron and need ordering form Walsall Model Industries, and connecting rods will be forged Meccano axles, a process I have used to great success on a stationary live steam engine. Currently there is no inside motion detail planned. Motorisation at the moment is not decided upon, but the main ideas are either battery electric or non motorised. The livery will be Caledonian light blue.

 

 

 

Douglas

Edited May 18, 2021 by Florence Locomotive Works

[Londontram]

Good luck will follow this with interest.