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Austin 7, Alan Gibson kit


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I always think engines with fowler style smokebox doors look like they are frowning :)

 

 

bit stuck now as I need some bits and bobs to finish, have to wait till the Preston show next week I think.

 

I was going to do some work on the tender but got no drill bits the right size for handrails.

 

I was then going to do the brakes on the loco but somethings a miss, you get brakeshoes for either the loco or tender but not enough for both so will have to see if I can source some from somewhere. you do get brake rodding for the tender but none for the loco, the loco Im pretty sure has the 1 rod through the centre of the frame anyway.

 

apart from that I think we're nearly there, soldered the tailrods and handles in, bit of solder paste on them and a quick dab near by with the rsu and theyre solid now.

 

steps are still on the fret so they dont go missing or get bent.

 

 

 

 

I need 4 new sandboxes, I put the wrong one on the front of the loco chassis, you get 2 wide ones for the front, 2 shorter ones for the back under the cab, aswel as 4 which go in the centre which havent been put on yet, I wrongly put the short ones on the front a while ago, i thought they looked too far in but didnt twig at the time so need some new ones of those. one was taken off a while ago, the right hand one can be seen in the last pic and was wonky anyway.

 

needs replacement lubricators so I can do the pipework on them, the ones on the loco at the moment are a very slightly melted anyway, took a fraction too long soldering them on.

 

need brass rod for the exhauster pipe.

 

injectors and gubbins under the cab (unsure what to use and where to get it from)

 

and need to make sure ive got the cab roof vent the right style, Im still not convinced its correct.

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also got to do the vertical cab handrail, had to dig out this poor quality photocopy of an old shot in Linacre gasworks Bootle 1955 as I wasnt exactly sure how the handrail attaches and I dont think ive got any better shots.

 

looks like it attaches to the roof then there should be flat beading around the C of the cab opening, it goes through that then it goes into a handrail near the bottom. I dont think it goes through the knob and touches the floor. attaching the handrail knob to the side of the flimsy cab side will be fun.

 

 

this is the other loco im pondering doing, as it has no tender rails and because of the location its in. though im leaning towards 49668 as it lasted longer into the period I like to model.

 

post-27-0-68940200-1361673882_thumb.jpg

 

 

 

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Really interesting photo of the gasworks. Is that the one on the Langton Dock Branch? I have very vague memories of seeing one of these engines on that line. The fact that I remember it suggests it was pretty unusual so it must have been late 50's. The diet at that time was usually unrelieved WDs.

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it is the Langton dock branch, the houses above the wagons are on Vaux crescent/Fernhill road where my dad lived at the time. he wasnt born until 1956 and can only remember the last days up until the line went in 1968 with black 5's.

 

ive searched for many years for info and pictures on this area with hardly anything coming up.

 

any more recollections id love to hear them.

 

the engine was shunting the wagons into the gasworks, looking the other way the now demolished bridge over Hawthorne road..

post-27-0-83431800-1361734395_thumb.jpg

picture quality is poor but treasured.

 

 

 

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You could try Alan Gibson (Colin!) or Brassmasters for the exhaust steam injector. Make sure you get the LMS type, not a BR standard - they're quite different.

The small pipe you mention is the live steam changeover which runs from the RH steam chest, at the front of the loco (it actually comes up through the running plate just behind the snifting valve and taps into it by the side of the smoke-box), to the exhaust steam injector. I would guess it would be 3/4" or 1" O/D. The example in the photo is fairly worn and battered. When new, it would follow the underside of the large exhaust steam pipe much more neatly.

Edited by Dave Holt
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You could try Alan Gibson (Colin!) or Brassmasters for the exhaust steam injector. Make sure you get the LMS type, not a BR standard - they're quite different.

thanks Dave, exhaust steam injector for the firemans side, what is the name for the one under the drivers side?

 

post-27-0-71036100-1361817900.jpg

 

quick look on the brassmasters site and they have exhaust steam injectors listed.. http://www.brassmasters.co.uk/lmsfittings.htm

Edited by Michael Delamar
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Hello Michael,

 

following on from my last post, I'm not sure if all the Austin 7s had exhaust steam injectors fitted. All the ones that did have them fitted would have the pipe coming out of the R/H side of the smokebox, if no exhaust injector was fitted it would have two live steam injectors. One on each side.

 

OzzyO.

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every pic ive seen of an austin 7 has the pipe coming from the smokebox.

 

little bit confused now.

 

meantime heres a nice colour shot of one at Monsal dale in 1956, can see the cab roof vent, but is it a flat one or raised..

 

http://www.searchenginelibrary.org.uk/trains/railwaysuk6/Albums/Album1/Source/Monsale_Dale_56aug.htm

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every pic ive seen of an austin 7 has the pipe coming from the smokebox.

 

little bit confused now.

 

meantime heres a nice colour shot of one at Monsal dale in 1956, can see the cab roof vent, but is it a flat one or raised..

 

http://www.searchenginelibrary.org.uk/trains/railwaysuk6/Albums/Album1/Source/Monsale_Dale_56aug.htm

I get the impression that it was LMS policy to fit exhaust steam injectors to all LMS standard locos. Like you I've only ever seen photos of Austin Sevens with this device. Like Ozzy I think the live steam injector was always fitted on the drivers side, ie near side on this design, with the fireman having responsibility for the exhaust steam on the offside.

 

Nice model, really like it!

 

Regards

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thanks David

 

might seem a bit of an odd question but how are they attached to the loco, to the frames or under the cab?

I think it might seem more obvious when I get hold of the parts.

 

also wondering what is the small valve on the drivers side just behind the smokebox on the boiler?

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ozzyo. thats what I was thinking, of course with models theyd have to be mounted on the body otherwise you wouldnt be able to seperate the chassis and body if it has pipework connected to the body.

 

thanks David, its something i could knock up out of a bit of scrap. although its nice to learn what the bits are and what they do when you build a model.

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Hello Michael,

 

never say never, as I mount all of my injectors to the frames, it's all down to where you cut the pipes. But on this loco I'd mount the exhaust steam injector to the body. That way you'll get the large pipe and the rear of the steps as some thing to solder it to.

 

OzzyO.

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thanks David

 

might seem a bit of an odd question but how are they attached to the loco, to the frames or under the cab?

I think it might seem more obvious when I get hold of the parts.

 

also wondering what is the small valve on the drivers side just behind the smokebox on the boiler?

On LMS locos, the live steam injectors were mounted to the back of the cab steps (which were braced to the frames, not just dangling from the cab, as usual on a model!). The exhaust injector, being a massive lump, had it's own support bracket attached to the cab support arrangements. In model form, the Brassmaster's casting has this bracket as an integral part of the injector casting. Depending on your model and how you mount it, you may have to shorten or extend the mounting to end up with the injector at the correct height.

As Ozzo says, generally, on a model, the injectors are attached to the body for convenience, but it depends where you split the cosmetic pipework. On my BR Standard Caprotti 5 I actually made the injector and part of the exhaust steam feed pipe a permanently attached part of the chassis and split the pipe under the foot plate so the forward part was attached to the valve gear mounting! It just suited the way I'd made the sub-assemblies on this particular model. There's no fixed rules, just do what's most convenient.

The small valve you mention was to attach a steam cleaning hose/lance, used mainly for cleaning out the boiler tubes of soot and ash. You'll see this on LMS Stanier and BR Standard locos on the RHS of the smokebox near the front and on GWR locos on the front ring of the smokebox..

Edited by Dave Holt
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