Building a Coal Tank for West Kirby Town

[Dmudriver]

Hi all.

 

I've started this thread, having taken a number of posts out of my layout thread - see below for link.  My layout will have a preserved steam train running at certain times, based on "The Welsh Dragon" that ran between Rhyl and Llandudno inn the 50s and 60s.  The loco was always an Ivatt 2-6-2T but I've got a kit for an LNWR Coal Tank (push-pull fitted, of course!!) to use instead (Rule 1 applies)

 

Before I go too far though, I should point out that this is only the second brass/nickel silver loco kit I have ever made and the first one was years ago - so please forgive me if I state the obvious at times!!!  I've started on the chassis: fairly straightforward, just taking time to ensure the bearings fit in the sideframes comfortably - not sloppy but not forced, either - before soldering in place.  Then taking time again, first getting the chassis soldered up square and then getting the coupling rods turning smoothly on the crank pins.  I've got that all running nice and smoothly now - it runs nicely down a bit of test track when I tilt it.  Here's a pic of it so far:  

 

 

The pony truck is also fixed on and that seemed to be fine until I checked all the wheels were on the track and came across a design fault!!  The pony truck was a nice box shape and I'd got it all nice and square, wheels in and turning freely until I noticed the top of the box was up against the rear chassis stretcher so the wheel was lower than the drivers and was lifting the rear and middle drivers off the track!!!  This photo might help to explain it:

 

 

You can see the rear stretcher going down towards the axle slots.  I had to cut a chunk out of the pony truck to get it to go under the stretcher and the wheels to sit on the track properly.  You can see the alteration in the pic above, but this one below shows it better.  There's still a bit of fine filing to do, but I've solved that problem, anyway!!

 

 

All the wheels now sit on the track correctly and the chassis runs nicely on the layout, too.  There's a few bits to add to the chassis before I paint it, then I'll put the motor and gears on, together with the pickups, then I'll start on the body.  Before that, however, there's another fault to correct:  the head of the screw that's soldered to the stretcher for the pony truck protrudes above the top of the frames and so will affect the footplate!!  So filing that down is another job to do!!!

 

 

 

Rod

 

 

[bobster]

Always great quality pics Rod, Nice work.

 

Cheers.

Bob.

[81A Oldoak]

I shall be watching the progress of the Coal Tank as I am considering acquiring one for Cwm Bach.What brand is the kit?

[Dmudriver]

I shall be watching the progress of the Coal Tank as I am considering acquiring one for Cwm Bach.What brand is the kit?

 

Hi Chris.

 

It's from a series of kits entitled "North Western" by Acorn and Mercian.  In an introductory note in the instructions, Jim Harris says it was originally an Acme Models kit.

 

I can't find an Acorn models website, but the kit is pictured on the Mercian website here:  http://www.modelrailways.tv/7mm-lnwr-locos.html

 

Hope this helps.

 

Rod

[81A Oldoak]

Hi Chris.

 

It's from a series of kits entitled "North Western" by Acorn and Mercian.  In an introductory note in the instructions, Jim Harris says it was originally an Acme Models kit.

 

I can't find an Acorn models website, but the kit is pictured on the Mercian website here:  http://www.modelrailways.tv/7mm-lnwr-locos.html

 

Hope this helps.

 

Rod

Thanks Rod. The model in the photograph on the Mercian Models website has a very poor finish, especially around the wheels and front buffer-beam. I'll be interested to see how yours turns out, but I expect it will be good judging by the standard of your other models on this forum. 

 

Regards,

 

Chris

[Dmudriver]

Thanks Rod. The model in the photograph on the Mercian Models website has a very poor finish, especially around the wheels and front buffer-beam. I'll be interested to see how yours turns out, but I expect it will be good judging by the standard of your other models on this forum. 

 

Regards,

 

Chris

Thanks for the compliment, Chris.  I thought the same as you about the model on the website - particularly when you enlarge the picture.  I'm planning to finish mine in plain black, early BR logo, numbered 58887.  There will be a fair bit of time required n the detailing, but I'll just take my time with it.  I've primed and painted the chassis (matt black) the last couple of days and my aim is to get the chassis fitted up and running by tomorrow night - I want to run it in on the club's layout.

 

Rod

[marsa69]

Fill the gaps in and make them look like a cheap and cheerful BR tarmac repair

[Dmudriver]

Fill the gaps in and make them look like a cheap and cheerful BR tarmac repair

Very tempting, Mark!!!

[Dmudriver]

Hi all.

 

More progress made, but only on the Coal Tank!!  After my last post, I filed down the head of the pony truck screw and added the top supports for the brakes and the footplate support brackets.

 

Then I took off the wheels and the axles and sprayed the chassis with Halfords grey primer.  24 hours or so later when it was dry I sprayed it with Railmatch matt black.  When that had dried, I fitted the motor and gears, put the wheels back on and tested it.  Lo and behold, for some reason, one of the coupling rods started binding, so that came off, the crankpin holes were opened out and it ran OK.  So then I stripped it down again (!!) to fit the pickups.  I should point out, though, that I'd marked the axles and wheels for their positions right at the beginning so they all went back in the same places.

 

I'd bought Slaters plunger pickups, but could only use 4 for reasons explained below.  The holes in the mainframes were not big enough so I had to open those up - no real problem, I just kept checking so that I didn't make them too big.  I glued a couple of pieces of copperclad to the inside of the mainframes for the pickup wires. I soldered the motor wires to this copperclad at the same time as the pickup wires.  Sod's Law applied, of course, in that I got those wires the wrong way round, so forward on the Club's layout controllers resulted in a backwards movement!!!  Still, that's easily sorted.

 

I tested the chassis on my rolling road after I'd put it together again (!!) and, for some reason, got a bit more binding on the same coupling rod as before.  A bit more opening out sorted that.  I took the chassis to the club tonight and it's had a fair bit of running and it's good!!  Runs nice and smoothly at very low speed, even though it's still very light.  I took a couple of pictures when I got home - here's the first:

 

 

If you look to the top right of the centre driver you can see why I couldn't use the plunger pickups on all 6 wheels: the hole in the chassis is right where the motor sits!!!  I could have made a hole on the other side of the wheel, under the centre stretcher but decided to go for wiper pickups instead:  you can see one of these in the second pic:

 

 

More copperclad glued to the frame!!  Also in the pic is the copperclad for the pickup wires.  The other side of the loco is a mirror image of this one.  What can't be easily seen is that the other motor terminal is underneath the motor and happens to match up very accurately with the wire for the brake rigging to the rear axle!!  I've resoldered the wire that was on the terminal, but to make sure there's no contact, I've put a strip of insulating tape on it.

 

Putting the nuts on the ends of the plunger pickups was a bit of a test for the steadiness of my hands (and my blood pressure!!) but I managed it.  I did think about soldering the tag to the screw part of the pickup but decided not to in case I need to take it all apart again for some reason (heaven forbid!!!)

 

So now it's on to the brake shoes, make them up, fit them and then start on the body.  

 

I'm really enjoying this - it's a real change from anything else I've done and getting the chassis running smoothly has certainly built up my enthusiasm.  I must remember, though, that the platform on the layout needs finishing!!!

 

More soon.

 

Rod

 

 

[ianwales]

Hi Rod

 

Does the coal tank include castings for the push/pull gear that some of these locos carried?

 

Ian

[Dmudriver]

Hi Rod

 

Does the coal tank include castings for the push/pull gear that some of these locos carried?

 

Ian

Hi Ian.

 

No, it doesn't.  I've got some from a pal of mine who had a set spare (not that I'm that close to fitting the parts yet!!).  The ones I've got are the LMS ones that were fitted:  I think they were different from the LNWR fittings. Anyway, I've a photo of the loco showing clearly the fittings in BR days which are the ones I've got and which is how I want to build it.

 

Rod

 

Edit: to add the link to the photo I referred to above.  This is the link:  http://glostransporthistory.visit-gloucestershire.co.uk/Push%20Pull%20YTT.html

 

Rod

[alant]

Hi Rod,

 

Coal Tank build looking good. It's always a mystery to me that when I first get a chassis rolling along nicely you later get problems and have to fiddle about as you have done !

 

Alan.

[Jon Fitness]

When I built my IOW 02 0-4-4t chassis I took great care to build it square and true on a piece of glass. I checked it at every stage and was quite sure it was fine. The first test run was a disaster with it limping along like a beached seal. Somewhere it had simply twisted itself out of line. I was that annoyed with it I just picked it up and rather brutally twisted it in the appropriate plane, popped it back on the test track after which it ran and still runs like a well maintained Swiss watch!

My next steam loco I have to build has walschaerts valve gear so I may have to er...refine my methods a little!

JF

[alant]

When I built my IOW 02 0-4-4t chassis I took great care to build it square and true on a piece of glass. I checked it at every stage and was quite sure it was fine. The first test run was a disaster with it limping along like a beached seal. Somewhere it had simply twisted itself out of line. I was that annoyed with it I just picked it up and rather brutally twisted it in the appropriate plane, popped it back on the test track after which it ran and still runs like a well maintained Swiss watch!

My next steam loco I have to build has walschaerts valve gear so I may have to er...refine my methods a little!

JF

Hi Jon,

 

I have so far only braved non outside valve gear loco kits but I am tempted by either an 8F or Black 5 so will have to bite the bullet at some stage!

 

Alan.

[81A Oldoak]

When I built my IOW 02 0-4-4t chassis I took great care to build it square and true on a piece of glass. I checked it at every stage and was quite sure it was fine. The first test run was a disaster with it limping along like a beached seal. Somewhere it had simply twisted itself out of line. I was that annoyed with it I just picked it up and rather brutally twisted it in the appropriate plane, popped it back on the test track after which it ran and still runs like a well maintained Swiss watch!

My next steam loco I have to build has walschaerts valve gear so I may have to er...refine my methods a little!

JF

3-point compensation can cover a multitude of chassis sins. 

[Dmudriver]

Hi Jon,

 

I have so far only braved non outside valve gear loco kits but I am tempted by either an 8F or Black 5 so will have to bite the bullet at some stage!

 

Alan.

 

Thanks, Alan and Jon.  I'm glad I'm not the only one to have had this problem!! I'll be honest, one of the attractions of the Coal Tank was the lack of outside valve gear!!

[pwr]

Thanks, Alan and Jon.  I'm glad I'm not the only one to have had this problem!! I'll be honest, one of the attractions of the Coal Tank was the lack of outside valve gear!!

Valve gear is not as difficult as you think. So far I only built two kits with it but provided you take it slowly and follow a good diagram and photo it all seems to come right in the end.

 

The quality of the kit is important here for those new to it so choose carefully. I always found that choosing a combination of rivets and very small nuts and bolts where necessary will get you past most obstacles and if you need to solder bits together make sure you put a paper washer between moving parts to prevent accidental fixing. You tear this out after the joint is made.

 

Jim at Connoisseur doesn't have any outside gear kits in his range but if he did I am sure they would be a dream to put together.

 

Paul R

[Dmudriver]

Hi all.

 

More progress made in the last few days - but only on the Coal Tank: I've not done anything to the layout!!!

 

I'd got as far as the brake shoes last time - well, they're made and fitted.  

 

I do hope, by the way, that this is of interest and not too simple.  As I said earlier, I've only built one brass kit before (years ago) so I'm learning new skills.  Maybe I'm doing it the "accepted" way, maybe I'm finding new ways.  I just wanted to share my journey and hope others might benefit from it.

 

Actually making the brake shoes needed a bit of thinking about!!  This is how they come off the fret (there's actually 12/6 of the parts - I'd made 2 up by the time I took these pics):

 

 

They're pretty small so I spent some time thinking how to make them up - and came up with this:

 

 

There's a wire through the middle connecting the brake block to the shoes (is that the correct term?) and another wire through one of the end holes to keep the whole thing in line.  All held together by 2 self-closing tweezers.  Below is a view from underneath, showing that you can see the brake block to ensure it's in the correct position:

 

 

Some flux and a blob of solder in the middle and it's done!!  I've only just noticed that I've not properly trimmed the tags off the blocks, but that's only because of the close-up - in normal viewing you don't notice them.

 

I then fitted the shoes to the chassis - not a simple job, trying to get them all lined up properly and not touching the wheels.  Then working through all the joints with the soldering iron.  So, this is the finished chassis.  

 

I'm not going to paint it yet, or cut the crankpins until I've run it again on the Club's layout just to check it's OK.  Then I'll fit a motor-only chip and check it on my layout.  Once I'm happy, I'll then cut the pins and paint it.

 

Next job was to start on the footplate.  The first task, according to the instructions is "Fold valance pieces, locate and solder to underside of footplate, cutouts to clear slots, ensure that valance is set in from footplate edge".   Simples!!  Eeerrr, not quite!!  The valance pieces are 20cm long, but only 4.5mm wide with the etched fold line and they need folding in half!!!  I did it, using my (20cm long!!) bending bars but it wasn't easy, holding 2mm between the bars while trying to bend 2mm!!  To make sure I got a decent right angle, I tapped one side with a hammer while the etch was in the bars.  it came out with a nice long bend!!  Still, I straightened that out OK.  

 

Soldering the valance to the footplate then was a bit tricky.  The pics below should show why:

 

 

 

 

Basically, the 2 sides of the valance are 2mm wide and the slots are 1mm from the edge of the footplate, so ideally the valance needs to be virtually alongside the slots to make sure it is set in from the footplate edge.  I did it this way:

 

 

I jammed a ruler along the 90 degree block at the back of my modelling board, slid a bit of the footplate under it so that the right angle part of the valance was as close as possible to the slots, held the valance tight against the ruler and the footplate with a piece of square stripwood and then soldered it.  It worked!! - although I had to do it in small stages as I'm using a 25W iron and it needed time to build up the heat again after each application.  Still, that gave me time to check, check and check again!!

 

The finished job looks pretty good - there's a slight curve in the first one I did but the valance is still set in from the footplate edge: the other is well nigh straight!!  UNfortunately, it's difficult to phptograph, so you'll have to take my word for it!!

 

Next, onto the footplate fittings.  I'm hoping they will be easier, but I'll be back with more in a few days.

 

Rod

[81A Oldoak]

Hi all.

 

More progress made in the last few days - but only on the Coal Tank: I've not done anything to the layout!!!

 

I'd got as far as the brake shoes last time - well, they're made and fitted.  

 

I do hope, by the way, that this is of interest and not too simple.  As I said earlier, I've only built one brass kit before (years ago) so I'm learning new skills.  Maybe I'm doing it the "accepted" way, maybe I'm finding new ways.  I just wanted to share my journey and hope others might benefit from it.

 

Actually making the brake shoes needed a bit of thinking about!!  This is how they come off the fret (there's actually 12/6 of the parts - I'd made 2 up by the time I took these pics):

 

P1030294 - Copy.JPG

 

They're pretty small so I spent some time thinking how to make them up - and came up with this:

 

P1030292 - Copy.JPG

 

There's a wire through the middle connecting the brake block to the shoes (is that the correct term?) and another wire through one of the end holes to keep the whole thing in line.  All held together by 2 self-closing tweezers.  Below is a view from underneath, showing that you can see the brake block to ensure it's in the correct position:

 

P1030293 - Copy.JPG

 

Some flux and a blob of solder in the middle and it's done!!  I've only just noticed that I've not properly trimmed the tags off the blocks, but that's only because of the close-up - in normal viewing you don't notice them.

 

I then fitted the shoes to the chassis - not a simple job, trying to get them all lined up properly and not touching the wheels.  Then working through all the joints with the soldering iron.  So, this is the finished chassis.  

 

P1030301 - Copy.JPG

I'm not going to paint it yet, or cut the crankpins until I've run it again on the Club's layout just to check it's OK.  Then I'll fit a motor-only chip and check it on my layout.  Once I'm happy, I'll then cut the pins and paint it.

 

Next job was to start on the footplate.  The first task, according to the instructions is "Fold valance pieces, locate and solder to underside of footplate, cutouts to clear slots, ensure that valance is set in from footplate edge".   Simples!!  Eeerrr, not quite!!  The valance pieces are 20cm long, but only 4.5mm wide with the etched fold line and they need folding in half!!!  I did it, using my (20cm long!!) bending bars but it wasn't easy, holding 2mm between the bars while trying to bend 2mm!!  To make sure I got a decent right angle, I tapped one side with a hammer while the etch was in the bars.  it came out with a nice long bend!!  Still, I straightened that out OK.  

 

Soldering the valance to the footplate then was a bit tricky.  The pics below should show why:

 

P1030297 - Copy.JPG

 

P1030298 - Copy.JPG

 

P1030303 - Copy.JPG

 

Basically, the 2 sides of the valance are 2mm wide and the slots are 1mm from the edge of the footplate, so ideally the valance needs to be virtually alongside the slots to make sure it is set in from the footplate edge.  I did it this way:

 

P1030299 - Copy.JPG

 

I jammed a ruler along the 90 degree block at the back of my modelling board, slid a bit of the footplate under it so that the right angle part of the valance was as close as possible to the slots, held the valance tight against the ruler and the footplate with a piece of square stripwood and then soldered it.  It worked!! - although I had to do it in small stages as I'm using a 25W iron and it needed time to build up the heat again after each application.  Still, that gave me time to check, check and check again!!

 

The finished job looks pretty good - there's a slight curve in the first one I did but the valance is still set in from the footplate edge: the other is well nigh straight!!  UNfortunately, it's difficult to phptograph, so you'll have to take my word for it!!

 

Next, onto the footplate fittings.  I'm hoping they will be easier, but I'll be back with more in a few days.

 

Rod

Rod,

A small tip for the brakes. I smear a very thin coat of epoxy resin on the faces of the brake shoes to act as insulation. My chassis are compensated so this provides protection against potential short circuits caused by the vertical movement of the wheels. It is probably not an issue for you on this project as your chassis is rigid. 

 

Regards,

 

Chris

[Dmudriver]

Hi all.

 

Only 2 days but a fair bit of progress on the body of the Coal Tank.  There are only 3 parts that go under the footplate at this stage - the buffer beams and the dummy front chassis piece.  The latter is shown in this pic, with the front buffer beam:

 

 

Easy enough to fit, but when I tried to fit the footplate to the chassis, it jammed and wouldn't fit properly.  The cause turned out to be the brake rigging catching on the chassis piece.  A couple of minutes with a piercing saw on the chassis piece sorted that, though.  The thinner part on the etch is for the front guard irons, which I'll fit later.  The solder near the screw hole is where I started soldering on the captive nut - but on the wrong side of the footplate!!!!  Doh!!

 

One thing that's annoying about the kit is that the slots are way too wide for the tabs.  Hopefully, the next 2 pics will show what I mean:

 

 

 

These are taken from vertically above the bunker rear plate - one from the cab side, the other (sorry about the poor focus!) from the buffer beam side, and show what I mean - there's a gap on each side in the slot. I couldn't move the plate as the sides also fitted into slots and lengthwise, the slots are fine.  It does make it difficult to get the parts properly in line, but at least being aware of it gives you the nudge to check squareness before soldering up.  I've got the bunker very slightly out of square but I only realised when I came to fit the bunker top - that needed a bit of filing (not much) and fits OK now.  Fitting the cab back, sides and tanks were all pretty simple, remembering about the sloppy slots!!  

 

The boiler had already been rolled so I soldered that up and fitted one full and one half end. Pic here:

 

 

I try, wherever possible to solder on the inside of joins and just about managed it here in the fully enclosed end.

 

Finally, 2 pics of the various bits all together - the boiler is not soldered on yet, just laid in place:

 

 

 

The next step is the smoke box and  I'm looking at that with a bit of trepidation - the wrapper flares out quite sharply above the footplate and I'm not sure how to do that..  I'll work on the platform tomorrow if I have time and give myself time to think about the wrapper.

 

All in all, I'm pleased with the way it's coming on, but I would also just comment here that the instructions seem to me to be very basic - just "fit this part, then fit that part".  They're a bit more expansive when it comes to the next bit to be tackled - the smoke box - noting "Aligning front and rear smoke box and soldering together with spacers, is rather tricky, so care should be exercised".  That's it!!   Fortunately I'm taking care but having a knowledge of the loco and a good set of photos and a drawing to refer to is very useful, too.

 

More soon - with a report on the smoke box!!

 

Rod

 

Edit - to correct spelling!!

 

PS  Now to watch MOTD2 and my team's superb victory over Arsenal!!

[Dmudriver]

Hi all.

 

A bit more progress made the last few days:  I've done the smokebox and fitted it to the boiler.  As I said above, the instructions warned about the smokebox being a bit tricky and I wouldn't argue with that statement!  You get the front and back with 2 spacers in between.  As I've said before, the slots are way too wide for the tabs so I could see misalignment happening rather easily.  I ended up soldering the spacers, one at a time, to one end using 2 set squares each time.  Fortunately, I got them at right angles vertically and parallel to each other.  I hope the attached pic shows clearly enough how it has ended up:

 

 

I took the picture directly above one spacer so the other looks a bit out of true, but it's not!!

 

The next pic shows the smoke box and its wrapper.  The latter is a very close fit and soldering it in place without getting solder in the rivets was a challenge but I managed it.  

 

 

The boiler and smoke box had matching holes so I bolted them together (6BA) to solder them.  This is how it looked all soldered up:

 

 

Finally, I sat the completed assembly on the chassis and it's beginning to look like a loco now!!

 

 

 

The thing I'm finding about photographs is how much they show up faults and those 2 pics are no exceptions.  The first shows how easily the rod linking the brake shoes bends without very careful handling and the second that I hadn't fitted the boiler and smokebox up against the cab front properly!!  I can assure you it does fit properly normally, but I've put the camera away now so I can't retake the photo.  The next pics will be better!

 

The next job is boiler bands and other fittings.  However, finding metal strips thin enough for the bands is proving a bit troublesome; I've got about 3cms of Slaters 0.5mm (or very close) strip but couldn't find any more at Melksham at the weekend.  Shouldn't take me long to get some though so I'll fit those then the chimney, dome, etc.

 

More soon.

 

Rod

 

[Dmudriver]

Hi all.

 

More progress on the Coal Tank.  I've added the bar that goes under the cab and (on the real thing but not the model) is turned by the vacuum cylinder and operates the brakes.  I found the little pieces that join the brake gear onto this rod and fitted those.  (Sorry, I don't know the technical terms!!)  I've also cut off the crank pins and filed them down to the bearings.  This pic shows what I've done:   [The insulation tape over the motor is a temporary arrangement to hold the motor in place.  It ran fine on my layout last night but on the club layout today the motor kicked up and pulled a wire off so it wouldn't run - right in front of some of the keenest builders at the club!!!  Fortunately, I had my tool box with me so got it sorted!!]

 

 

Looking at the arrangement, I'm not really surprised the Coal Tanks weren't too good at braking!!.

 

I've fitted a chip to the chassis and, having run the loco, found that the wheels on the pony truck weren't revolving all the time.  I assumed that the truck was too light, so I glued pieces of lead to the top and underneath of the pony truck.  The pics show the lead:

 

 

 

The second pic also shows the brake set up quite nicely.  However, that didn't sort the problem and further investigation showed that at times the axle wasn't revolving freely in the bearings.  I'd oiled the bearings and cleaned them with my 3/16ths reamer but no joy.  Eventually, I cleaned the outer and inner faces of the bearings with a counter sink tool and that sorted the problem!!  The pony wheels now revolve nice and freely and stay on the track - when running forwards and backwards!

 

I've not done much more on the boiler as I want to fit the boiler bands.  The instructions say "Fit boiler bands to half etched grooves."  Unfortunately, there are no half etched grooves and no bands on the fret.  I've eventually decided to use Sidelines rainstrip tape but need somehow to work out how to get them at right angles to the centre line.

 

In the meantime, I've added the beading to the tank and cab sides, and to the bunker rear, together with the coal rails.  The first photo shows the beading on one side and the one handrail I've fitted so far:

 

 

I used 0.7mm wire, making sure it was dead straight before I started.  The ends are longer than they need to be - I'll trim them once I've fitted the hand rails.  The bunker rear was more of a challenge, but I've managed it:

 

 

I chickened out of doing the sides and rear in one piece!  The sides are bent round the back to the end of the straight section - on each side - and the curved piece meets them.  It was a bit fiddly to get fitting right and the curve isn't perfect, but it'll do for me!!  Possibly a bit of filler in the join later?

 

That's it for now.  The chassis does run rather nicely, I'm pleased to say, although it's a bit light and the slightest bit of muck on track or wheels tends to make pick up a bit intermittent, but with all the body fittings on and weighted with some lead, I'm confident it will be fine.

 

More soon.

 

Rod

[Crewe North]

If you've got any photos of a Coal Tank showing the rear they'll show that the rear bufferbeam is virtually flush  with the bunker back and does not stick out beyond it as per the model. This is  a major fault with the kit and it shouldn't be too difficult at this stage to cut it off and reset it back in its proper place. Also, again where the kit gets it wrong, the pattern of the rivets on the bufferbeam is only found on the front one , the rear one does not have the two horizontal rivets  either side of the coupling slot. Sorry if I'm being a buit picky here but humour me as I have a ' thing' about Coal tanks and hope this info is helpful  :-)

[Dmudriver]

Hi John.  Thanks for your comments about the buffer beam.  I've got Talbot's book on LNWR Engines and a plan in there shows the buffer beam being flush with the bunker rear, whereas photos show that there is indeed a ledge.  However, as you say, it is nowhere near as big as the kit.  As I said at the beginning of his thread, this is only the second loco kit I've ever built - and the first one was years ago.  I've done a couple of Sidelines coach kits, but overall my experience and expertise of building brass/nickel silver kits is pretty limited.  I'm learning a lot doing this kit - it's giving me more problems/challenges than I expected.  All of which is a roundabout way of getting to the point of saying that I don't think I'm up to cutting off the buffer beam and chassis and refitting the former.  I want to achieve a loco that is a pretty good representation of the real thing, much as I'd like it to be absolutely accurate.

 

I believe there are 3 Coal Tank kits on the market (Acorn, Shedmaster and Gladiator).  I'll be honest and say I didn't compare the kits before I bought this one: it was for sale - complete - at a bargain price at the local model shop - part of a deceased modeller's estate being sold off and, as I wanted a push-pull fitted loco, I bought it.  Very much an impulse buy!!  If I buy another kit (and it's a big "if" as I've a largeish layout to finish off and I can't fit any more stock on!) I'd do some proper research before buying.  

 

I'm struggling with the buffers at the moment: the kit has solid Webb buffers but I want it finished as running in BR days with LMS buffers:  I've bought some sprung ones but the buffer beams need drilling to accept them: it's a slow process!!  I'll put some pics up soon when I've made a bit more progress.

 

Rod

[Dmudriver]

Hi all.  I've made some more progress - slow, but still progress!!  I've soldered on the vertical handrails: it was a slow process, cutting and filing each one to fit between the beading and the floor and then ensuring they were vertical and a proper distance from the body.  The beading was then trimmed back to fit.  Incidentally, the footplate has no markings whatsoever to assist in this.  However, this is how they look now:

 

 

I said in a previous post that I was having trouble with the buffers.  This pic shows why:

 

 

The solid white metal ones in the kit would fit nicely - the hole is large enough and the spigot fits inside the buffer beam.  But I want sprung ones and,as you can see, the diameter of the casing is larger than the white metal spigot and the shank is longer than the gap between front and rear of the buffer beam.  This is how the (front) buffer beam looked - the rear is the same - before any work on it:

 

 

With my limited range of tools, I had to enlarge the front holes and create rear holes using a pin vice and successively larger broaches.  It was tedious and hard work but I did it in the end.  This is an example of how the buffer beam now looks - it's the rear but front and rear are now finished the same:

 

 

I had to redo the solder a couple of times on each one, but everything now fits OK.  Next job is to solder them to the buffer beam.  

 

I've been at the Leigh 0 gauge show today and managed to find some nickel silver boiler bands, so those will also be going on soon.  Anyway, it means I can now crack on again - when I'm not working on my layout.  Oh and when I'm not on grandkid school runs - a pity the schools have gone back!!

 

More soon.

 

Rod