NORTH BRITISH 0-4-2

[DOCJACOB]

Life does have some strange coincidences. I'd done a swap with a fellow Gauge 0 Guild member and included in the deal was an ancient MEGA kit for a NBR 0-4-2. These were not a resounding sucess for the NBR and were rebuilt as 0-4-4 within a few years. Despite this they still lasted till the mid 20's Then the North British Study Group Journal 117 had an extensive article on them so time to dust the box off.

 

By modern standards this kit is a bit of a dog but we have to remember it must have first seen the light of day about 25 years ago! Not being one to shirk a new challenge (I'm the sort of idiot who swims the Humber Estuary for amusement or runs a 65 ultra marathon for charity- you get the idea) off we go!

 

The only saving grace in this swap was it included pick-ups, motor, gear, wheels, flywheel. Some of the white metal castings need a bit of work but it was possible to buy better quality brass fittings from 62C models.

 

That aside the chassis was built on my JPL jig, and I got a chance to play with my new riviting tool, here is where we are at so far

[Rannoch Moor]

Doc,

 

Looks interesting - I will watch with interest!

 

Gus

[N15class]

What you have done so far looks good. These odd little locos I think are full of character.

[DOCJACOB]

Managed to play a bit more. The instructions mentioned building the footplae, valances and buffer beams with the cab front and then match to the chassis for clearance purpose. In this case the white metal buffers provided were grim so pinched a set from mt NBR N15 kit (easily replaced from 62c models)

 

I also finished the seam on the boiler, using wire to hold in place prior to soldering. The good news is the gap will be hidden. Oddly enough the boiler is correct diameter and if I really should have replaced the wrappers in the kit. Life is just too short!

 

I also used the coupling rods provided but not 100% convinced and guess they may be scrapped for some milled ones.

[DOCJACOB]

Just for the record what it should look like.

[burgundy]

Drummond's version of a Stroudley D tank?

Best wishes

Eric

[DOCJACOB]

In answer to Burgandy "yes" though in comparison the LBSCR versions were lighter by about 7 tons. 4 of this represents the weight on the trailing axle and may explain the re-building by NBR

 

Anyway on with the build; I took stock on the "fettling" needed to get the footplate to fit the chassis and had a very strong coffee. I decided instead to fit the moulding to the cab sides and the brass trim to the spectacle plates. Shaping the trim was tricky due to the thickness hence the white profile template to bend the brass trim to fit inside cabside edge. The spectacle trims were a bit easier but very flimsy so needed gentle handling to get in place.

[DLT]

Looking a very nice job Doc, and an interesting prototype that I've never seen before.

You cant beat a nice bit of brass & solder.

All the best,

Dave.T

[DOCJACOB]

I finished the boiler and seam soldered the front of the smoke box on. Here it started to unfold as when I dry fitted the splasher/sandbox items i find they are each about 1.5mm too wide. That wasn't the only stressors as the water tanks have holes for a footstep and a vertical handrail that bears virtually no relevance to the locomotive; built or re-built. We should also add:

 

The footsteps provided are nice but 100% the wrong shape.

 

The radius of the spashers on the cab sides appear different to that on the footplate.

 

The hinge strap on the smoke box door is too long.

 

After this I had another strong coffee and dug my GNR Pulley Wagon out for finishing. I'll wait till warmer weather before painting. I feel a night in front of the TV is called for and in the words/classification of Mr D Jenkinson this is a "2 bottle problem" and I'll need to get seriously thinking.

[burgundy]

Wasn't it the A Team that had the catch phrase "I love it when a plan comes together".

Clearly they had never built an etched brass kit, as trying to get the sub-assemblies to come together is the cue for the plan to fall apart!

Best wishes

Eric

(experiencing the same feeling on my current project)

[DOCJACOB]

Well here it is; nearly 2 days work and the footplate looks like a lump of swiss cheese now the holes are enlarged. At the very least it is level! I also have to be honest bending the guard irons is the least of the issues currently. The dry "mock up" was to ensure that I didn't cut away so much metal to free the wheels that I caused holes/gaps being visible to the naked eye.

 

The instructions said a 1mm packing was needed but that's another "porkie" as the buffers are at the right height when pushed up against my GNR wagon seen earlier. This may mean another problem is on the horizon as I have a funny feeling the coupling rods will short out on the underside of the footplate when we progress further.

 

Strangely though the water tank issue was a breeze to sort, folded up nice and easy, scrap soldered on the inside to blank off the unnecessary holes and turn them round 180 degrees so the smooth face was facing the front. The filled in areas will be covered by a westinghouse pump on one side when I get that far! The tanks will still need a tiny bit of prunning though as the inside of the ends foul the trailing wheel flanges. Having got this far with the tanks I've not really considered where the balance pipe should go, guess on the front of the tank similar to LNER N15 class?

 

The issue with the combined splasher and sand box at the front is now blatantly obvious, and next to challenge the grey cells. However I've rewarded myself with a day playing with full size stuff at Ludborough. I hope to have a bit more done to the LNER grain wagon, the image is from earlier this year after starting on the painting. Its actually a lot further on and the door hatch is the next item on the agenda.

 

 

[Sandy Harper]

Some of these so called kits were described as 'an aid to scratch building'. In a lot of cases, usually more of a 'hindrance to Scratch building'! However you are making a good fist of it but that footplate still looks as though it will need the administration of the slitting disc to get the rods to clear.

 

An interesting challenge. I look forward to following the trials and tribulations.

 

Best of luck

Sandy

[jwealleans]

Excellent.  Can we see some more of the grain wagon as well, please?  (Another thread if you prefer).

[DOCJACOB]

Thanks for the encouragement Sandy. Never scatchbuilt a locomotive but beginning to wish I had! Surely designing a kit "right" is easier than "wrong" But then I'm probably showing my ignorance.

 

As regards the other request 3 LNER grain wagons were rescued from a length of track adjacent to Louth North signalbox a number of years ago. First scan shows what we're aiming for. The second picture shows the sort of state they arrived. Third scan is one was started I think nearly 10 years ago but work had been intermittant. I'm a "newbie" at the full size preservation thing but got involved as I like trains, it was near me and I needed something different to triathlon as part of my recuparation from serious illness in 8/2011. I had started training as a fireman till another setback occured, I got a DVT in my arm (honestly, a pretty rare occurance apparantly) The option was do nothing, worse still work in catering coach or adopt the grain wagon. I chose the grain wagon and since the latest image; the underframe has been painted, bolts ground off, door repaired and painted (currently in my garage) body undercoated and painted. Next job is the make the door frame and I've lined up a mate to do this.

 

Weather forcast is bad for W/E but I'll see what I can manage on picture front.  

 

[burgundy]

However you are making a good fist of it but that footplate still looks as though it will need the administration of the slitting disc to get the rods to clear.

 

An interesting challenge. I look forward to following the trials and tribulations.

 

Best of luck

Sandy

I wonder whether the crankpin throw on the wheels that you are using is possibly greater than that on the prototype? It does not make the "interesting challenge" any easier to solve, but it may explain how it has arisen.

Best wishes

Eric

[ianmaccormac]

Looking at Euons drawing at the beginning of this article, there is a splasher for the coupling rod that you have not built or alowed for in the footplate. Or, as Eric says, the crankpin throw looks huge compared to other NBR loco photos and drawings.

Best wishes

Ian

[N15class]

I concur with Ian, the coupling rod has a small splasher too.

[Sandy Harper]

I think the crankpin throw is about right but well spotted on the front wheel small splasher. The etches may well be on the fret. They will be quite small, but if not, easy enough to make from some scrap etch.

 

Sandy

[PatB]

Just as an aside, was it not Ladybank which should have been hauling the train which fell with the Tay Bridge?  That's if I recall my "Red for Danger" correctly.

[DOCJACOB]

Thanks to all who have posted in reply. You are correct there are some small splashers for the coupling rod knuckles in the etch. There are 2 cresent shaped bits of brass that are sweated together. (2 for each side) needless to say this results in a solid item and given my previous comments I guess about as useful as a fart in a spacesuit. I fear a visit to the scrap etch box will be required.

 

Also to be noted the feed water condenser pipes are cast in whitemetal but given the image from Euan Cameron shows them to be brass so another visit to the bits box will be required!

 

Finally the Dummond 0-4-2 are mentioned in North British Study Group Journal No 107 covering the 130th anniversary of the Tay Bridge Disaster. The official train across the bridge on opening day was No 314 Lochee. 224 (aka the Diver) was rostered to pull the fateful train on 28/12/1897 as the Drummond Tank was having a boiler washout. Remarkably after being fished out of the drink in April 1880 224 had a further long and eventful life being rebuilt as a Nisbet Compound in 1885 and a another rebuilding in 1897. She was final scrapped around 1917 though her boiler may have alledgedly lasted longer in stationary use.

[N15class]

Thanks to all who have posted in reply. You are correct there are some small splashers for the coupling rod knuckles in the etch. There are 2 cresent shaped bits of brass that are sweated together. (2 for each side) needless to say this results in a solid item and given my previous comments I guess about as useful as a fart in a spacesuit. I fear a visit to the scrap etch box will be required.

 

Also to be noted the feed water condenser pipes are cast in whitemetal but given the image from Euan Cameron shows them to be brass so another visit to the bits box will be required!

 

Finally the Dummond 0-4-2 are mentioned in North British Study Group Journal No 107 covering the 130th anniversary of the Tay Bridge Disaster. The official train across the bridge on opening day was No 314 Lochee. 224 (aka the Diver) was rostered to pull the fateful train on 28/12/1897 as the Drummond Tank was having a boiler washout. Remarkably after being fished out of the drink in April 1880 224 had a further long and eventful life being rebuilt as a Nisbet Compound in 1885 and a another rebuilding in 1897. She was final scrapped around 1917 though her boiler may have alledgedly lasted longer in stationary use.

 

 

I would cut a hole in the footplate and use one of your cresents and makena top for it, just as it should be, it can then be made wide enough to clear the coupling rod. Then just makensure there is clearance for the ones in the tank.

Nice job so far.

[DOCJACOB]

That was sort of the plan courtesy of some "thinking time" I may solder up the boiler and tanks and then fettle and trim from the inside. Probably making it a bit more tricky for myself but want to avoid holes to fill/cover as much as possible.

[Sandy Harper]

Measure three times, cut once. Wish I could remember that myself!!

Sandy

[DOCJACOB]

Its been a few days since an update, mostly thinking rather than doing. The list of issues grows: the chimmney flare is too wide for the smokebox wrapper, the rear guard irons are a joke and while I've been trial running the chassis with the fly wheel you see it will not actually fit in the boiler space of the locomotive. The brakeblocks are a total figment, they certainly don't match the earlier image and I almost forgot the boiler backhead for the cab is too wide to fit between the cab splashers.

 

At least I've got a running chassis, I will now admit to a total horror/cheat. I would like to use the bushes provided with the slaters wheels but that would mean new coupling rods and almost certainly a worsening of the issue regarding inside clearance. I've thus used the 12BA bolts provided but not shortened them till 100% happy with the chassis running. I hope to get away with this as the loading through the cranks should be light and I'm not planning on her covering massive long runs, more a gentle end-end trundle.

 

Couple more images and still a bit of cleaning to do and then the fettling of the footplate for clearance. I did build the water tanks and boiler before further fettling to ensure we didn't get holes in visible places and also because of the strength/rigidity imparted to the footplate that was becoming increasingly flimsy.   

[DOCJACOB]

Not much to show for what seems an inordinate amount of work. Started fettling the footplate but the minidrill I owned effectively died. Yes it really is that bad. Another cup of coffee required!

 

I tackled the rear guard irons. These I knew already to be pants but as the chassis was working now seemed a good time to sort them out. I built from scratch fairly easily. They do fit flush to the main frames so needed wire behind to strengthen and keep them in position. Also needed to use different melting point solder to avoid them falling apart. First image should be self explanatory

 

White metal castings, or more correctly "blobs" were then assaulted. To ensure we got a reasonably close fit to the boiler shape a length of green aluminium oxide abrasive paper was stuck onto a brass tube of the appropriate diameter. Large amounts needed to be removed as can be seen from the first image and the chimney. The next image shows the dome dry fitted to the boiler. At least it isn't a million miles away.

 

I think I deserve a couple of beers now as the next jobs are a) to cut a hole in the boiler and allow the motor to fit. b) finish fettling the footplate.

 

Finally has anyone got a finished image of one of these kits built? I did ask on the Gauge O Guild forum but never got a reply? Or more worryingly may be I've answered my own question!