Building the LNER J77 - Worsdell cab & Fletcher cab

[mikemeg]

The first of the mainframes has now had all three hornguides fitted, hornblocks slightly eased and then fitted. All of the hornguides and hornblocks are by High Level Models; the front set of hornblocks are the Spacesaver variety; the centre and rear sets are the standard hornblocks. These hornblocks required almost no easing to slide freely between the horncheeks, just a few strokes of a sharp edged needle file to clear any scurf from the grooves.

 

This chassis is being built compensated, with compensating beams operating on the middle and rear axles; the front axle will pivot on a beam parallel to the mainframes. The compensating beam is secured by an 8 BA screw, which was soldered into a hole in the mainframe and then dressed flush with the frame as to be invisible. Care must be taken to ensure that the 8BA screw is a loose fit in the hole in the compensating beam to allow this beam to rock with the axleboxes, which it does.

 

The beam allows over 1 mm of vertical  movement on the centre and rear axles, which should be enough to compensate for any track inequalities!

 

Now to finish the second mainframe.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

Edited October 28, 2014 by mikemeg

[mikemeg]

Both mainframes have now had their hornguides/hornblocks fitted and the compensating beams assembled and fitted. A quick check to ensure that the hornblocks move freely in their guides and that the compensating beams also move freely. The separate driving wheel springs can then be soldered  onto 0.5 mm wire spigots, located in etched holes at the bottom of the mainframes, for the middle and rear pairs of driving wheels. These two layer springs do look far more substantial than the single layer etches used previously.

 

With everything moving freely, it's into the chassis jig for assembly of the mainframes into a chassis.

 

The bolts on the brake standard brackets have all been represented by four pieces of 0.3 mm wire, trimmed to about .5 mm protrusion, prior to assembling the frames. With the chassis jig holding the mainframes fairly tightly, then soldering in the various frame spacers is made very easy. Once all of the frame spacers are fixed, then the chassis can be taken out of the jig and cleaned up,just to remove any excess solder. The pivot beam, for the front axle, is then cut from 1.0 mm brass rod and soldered into the etched holes in the front two spacers to span the front axle.

 

Now to check that the Gibson 1/8" axles revolve freely. These High Level hornblocks are machined to very tight tolerances and the axleway often needs just a couple of strokes with a round needle file or a run round with a !/8" broach just to remove any burr and to allow the axles to revolve freely.

 

Then onto checking fitting the various anchorages for the brake hangars.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

 

[mikemeg]

And then a quick check that the loco body sits squarely and properly on the chassis. It seems to !!

 

Cheers

 

Mike

 

[mikemeg]

The brake hangar stretchers and front brake hangar brackets have now been added to the chassis, along with the small fillets which constitute the inner brake hangar brackets on the middle and rear sets of brake hangars. These have to be fitted very carefully, lined up with with wire smeared with oil to prevent them from becoming soldered up solid, then slotted through the brake hangar brackets. Anyway, everything worked to plan and the brake hangar postioning wires could then be withdrawn after these tiny items were soldered to the mainframes.

 

The small triangular brackets, which supported the front and rear buffer beams, have also been added to the chassis. The ashpan has also been folded up and soldered into place between the mainframes.

 

So now this is about ready for a coat of primer, after masking off the hornguides and hornblocks to avoid any primer getting into the horncheeks and preventing them from sliding freely, after which the inside slide bars will be fitted.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

Edited October 6, 2014 by mikemeg

[mikemeg]

Having now largely assembled the chassis, apart from the guard irons, it is now time to establish the positioning of the motor and gearbox assembly. I normally do this before I fix the boiler and smokebox assembly into the loco body.

 

This chassis has had some additional weight, in the form of sheet lead, fixed between the rear and middle driving wheels to balance the loco about the centre driving wheels. Then a plasticard 'tower' is built to support the motor in its correct orientation, adding successive layers until the motor will sit in its correct position. Using plasticard for this motor support does prevent the transmission of noise to the chassis, as this stuff does deaden sound.

 

These small 0-6-0's do require the motor to be very carefully positioned so as not to interfere with the later fitting of the backhead. So with the gearbox/motor assembly mounted on the driven axle, the position of the motor can be established, to clear both the backhead and the top of the firebox. The motor simply rests on this plasticard 'tower' such that the whole gearbox/motor assemby can rock with the movement of the compensating beams, so no attempt is made to 'house' the motor in a shaped cradle. The protruding motor shaft, not utilised, will be cropped off before the chassis is finally fitted, using the Dremel with a slitting disc.

 

The gearbox, used on this model, is the High Level Humpshunter with a gearing ratio of 108 : 1 which does allow them to run very slowly.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

Edited October 8, 2014 by mikemeg

[will5210]

A very inspiring build, as usual!

 

cheers

[mikemeg]

A very inspiring build, as usual!

 

cheers

 

Thanks Will. I do enjoy these test builds though, on here, I don't highlight any of the issues which might arise, even if they are few and far between; those are just reported back to Arthur. I guess having scratch built a few 4 mm locos, over the years, helps in this test building.

 

Once again, the comments are much appreciated.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

Edited October 8, 2014 by mikemeg

[mikemeg]

The chassis has now had a coat of grey primer and the brakes have been fitted to the brake hangars though not yet positioned and fixed within the hangars. This will be done once the wheels and coupling rods are on and the chassis is tested for free running.

 

The cylinder covers have also been fitted between the front of the frames to protrude, very slightly, above the footplate.

 

So now we have an 0-3-0.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

 

[mikemeg]

Following the coat of primer, the chassis can now be painted with a coat of weathered black. I almost always use this weathered black on chassis, either leaving it as is or adding further weathering coats of very diluted leather and/or wood mixed with some rusty weathering powder.

 

Once dry, then the wheels can be fitted, after having their crankpins ftted. On Gibson wheels, I normally make a countersink, on the rear of the wheel, to allow the crankpin head to sit flush with the back of the wheel. This also locks the crankpin into the wheel more effectively. Just a 3/32" drill twisted round a couple of times in the pre-drilled crankpin hole, on the back of the wheel, will make a sufficient countersink to accept the head of the crankpin.

 

The wheels can then be fitted and gauged. On most of Arthur's chassis, when built to P4 gauge, there is quite a lot of sideplay on the driving wheels. I normally take most of this sideplay out by adding a brass washer to each side of the driving axle. Arthur does supply an etch of various washers, handwheels and boiler bands (half etched), which does include a number of 1/8" inside diameter washers, all etched in .010" brass.

 

After gauging, the wheels can then be quartered. I don't know what the conventional wisdom is, for doing this activity, but I always locate one wheel with the crankpin at bottom dead centre, held by fingers, and then slowly rotate the opposing wheel until the crankpin is horizontal i.e. 90 degrees opposed. Obviously, the 90 degree oppositions must all be in the same orientation.

 

Anyway, after quartering, the journals in the coupling rods were just eased off by a couple of thou, using the appropriate broach, and then the rods were test fitted to the crankpins. At this point the crankpin collars haven't been fitted and the journals are only just oversize to the crankpins.

 

Testament to the accuracy of the chassis jig, with only a couple of thou of clearance, everything revolves without binding, so now the final stages can be undertaken with the fitting of the crankpin collars, opening up the journals to around 2 - 3 thou over the collar size, adding the crankpin nuts and, finally, trimming the crankpins to length. Best not to overdo this phase of the chassis testing so as not to damage the very fine threads on the crankpins and certainly don't try running the chassis, under power, in this state.

 

Fortunately on this 0-6-0, as on all inside cylindered locos, there is no necessity to recess the front crankpin nut to clear slide bars, connecting rods, etc.

 

At this stage the compensation can also be checked by gently rocking the chassis from side to side and end to end. If the chassis moves easily and restores to level under its own weight then all is well with the compensation.

 

Next stages, once the rolling chassis is complete, is to position the brakes and then fit the brake linkage under the frames, followed by the addition of pickups and those guard irons.

 

And I did commit to having the chassis build verified by the middle of this week so, target more or less achieved!

 

Cheers

 

Mike

Edited October 9, 2014 by mikemeg

[micklner]

Well done, I have Arthurs lovely B15 to do at the mo (when I have the time !!) . Will you be doing a build of the B15 ?

[jwealleans]

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/64603-lner-b15-ner-class-s2-4-6-0/?hl=+arthur%20+kimber%20+b15

[mikemeg]

Well done, I have Arthurs lovely B15 to do at the mo (when I have the time !!) . Will you be doing a build of the B15 ?

 

Mick,

 

I have done a build of the B15, which is somewhere within this topic area. And yes, it does make up into a quite beautiful model.

 

I've only had the final castings for this for a week or two, so once the current round of test builds is completed, then I'll finish this. Only the cab castings and the footplate mechanical lubricator, plus some sand pipes to add to achieve completion.

 

All of Arthur's kits have been/are a joy to build but this one and the D20 just exemplify the beauty of Victorian and Edwardian NER locomotive design; they are lovely.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

Edited October 9, 2014 by mikemeg

[mikemeg]

The brakes are now all positioned and the brake linkage has been added, along with the inside slide bars.  So, apart from the final addition of the crankpin collars and the final adjustment of the journals, plus the guard irons and pick ups, then that's about it for this chassis.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

 

[micklner]

Re the B15

 

Thanks Mike and JW lovely loco !!

[mikemeg]

Re the B15

 

Thanks Mike and JW lovely loco !!

 

Mick,

 

Agreed,the B15 is a lovely loco, though I reckon when Arthur has the etches done for the C6, then that will eclipse even this one.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

Edited October 9, 2014 by mikemeg

[micklner]

Mick,

 

Agreed,the B15 is a lovely loco, though I reckon when Arthur has the etches done for the C6, then that will eclipse even this one.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

1. It will definately  be better than the awful DJH C7   

[mikemeg]

Having now received the various castings, from Arthur, then these can now be added. The front driving wheel springs, located above the footplate, are actually fabricated from four layers of etches soldered together.

 

Now the model begins to look like a locomotive.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

Edited October 20, 2014 by mikemeg

[mikemeg]

Apart from the dome, the majority of the castings are now fitted. The chimney is a brass casting and is a very nice piece of casting. The arc shaped smokebox front handrail has also been formed and fitted.

 

I still have to add buffers and three link couplings, the boiler and cab entrance handrails, as well as sandpipes, tank vents and the detailed backhead, which will be done while I start the next two test builds from Arthur.

 

Next up will be two more J77's, though each different, both from this one and from each other.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

Edited October 20, 2014 by mikemeg

[mikemeg]

More details have been added, in the shape of the sanding gear operating rods, extending to the tops of the front sandboxes; the blower valve on the smokebox, the cab handrails and the boiler handrail stanchions.

 

With these North Eastern locos where the smokebox is some 9" greater in diameter than the boiler, in order to achieve a boiler handrail which is parallel to both the smokebox and the boiler, it is necessary to use two sizes of handrail stanchion (assuming that the builder uses Alan Gibson handrail stanchions, as I do). For the smokebox, then the short length is used; for the boiler, the medium length is used. The left hand smokebox fixing for the handrail is the blower valve union, which is a very tiny casting and can easily disappear into the carpet, never to be seen again!

 

For the cab entrance handrails, Arthur, has etched small holes with raised surrounds where these handrails are intended to fit into the footplate. I normally broach these holes out to just over .3 mm, cut the handrail to length (in this case 16.5 mm) and then file an oblique point onto the .3 mm wire, so that it engages into the hole easily. For fixing these very small handrails, I use superglue, simply depositing a very small blob on a piece of scrap cardboard and then very carefully dipping both ends of the handrail into this blob. So, perhaps only .5 mm  (.020") of the handrail is actually carrying the glue. I use a very similar technique to fix the handrail stanchions into the smokebox and boiler.

 

I guess, on these test builds, there is something of a temptation to stop once the 'macro' building has been finished. I have to confess that as I do more and more of these test builds, then this temptation has diminished, to the point where I now must pursue the build to final and total completion. Taken a year or two to get to that!!

 

And yes, this still needs a dome, which will be fitted as soon as more castings arrive.

 

Quite a pretty little loco!!

 

Cheers

 

Mike

Edited October 21, 2014 by mikemeg

[mikemeg]

At this point, and while I await the final castings to fit to the Worsdell cab version of the J77, let's now move on to the Fletcher cab versions.

 

The first two batches of J77's, numbering forty locos, retained their original Fletcher cabs, though with some modifications during the rebuilds. There were a number of externally visible variations to these locos, most noticably in the shape of the cab windows. Some locos had circular cab windows; some had square cab windows and some had a mixture of both, with round windows at the front of the cab, square at the rear and vice versa,

 

There were also variations in the safety valves fitted to these locomotives, through their lives, with some locomotives being fitted with Ross pop safety valves, while other locomotives retained their North Eastern 'trumpet' safety valve casings until their withdrawal.

 

Additionally, some locomotives had a buffer beam extension fitted to the front, involving bolting the standard North Eastern steel/wood/steel 'sandwich' to the front buffer beam. This was done without extending the front footplate which did give the locos a look of this being an 'add on'.

 

With this number of variations, then a photo of the chosen prototype, in the period of the chosen model, is necessary to establish what variations were fitted.

 

I am actually building two of these Fletcher cab locos; the one to be 68429, which had round windows, Ross pop saftety valves and no front buffer beam extension. The other will be 68409,which had square windows, retained its North Eastern 'trumpet' safety valve casing and had the front buffer beam extension. The intention is to build both locos in parallel, so that each stage of the assembly is replicated across both models. Time will tell whether I achieve this!!

 

Cheers

 

Mike

Edited October 30, 2014 by mikemeg

[mikemeg]

Both footplates have been folded up and assembled, though there is still a little soldering to do on footplate two. On footplate number one, the splashers have been completed, as have the valance flares at the ends of the valances. These are part of the etch and simply fit into half etched sections on the fold up valances.

 

The loco superstructure is a one piece etching and must be treated with care, especially when filing back the etching tabs after cutting this section out.  I chose to bend up the cab roof before I folded up the side tanks and this operation is absolutely critical to getting the model right. On these test etches, only the tighter radius curves have half etched lines inside the roof to assist with forming these radii; Arthur is now extending this so that the whole of the roof curve has half etched lines on the inside. This to prevent a kink forming between the plain section and the half etched sections at the interection of the different roof radii.

 

I used a 3/8" diameter rod to form the tighter curves, just above the cab cut outs, with just finger pressure to form the larger radius over the remainder of the cab roof. I did make repeated reference to the cab front as a pattern though it is not advisable to try and bend the roof against either the cab front or cab rear; these components, even when both layers are soldered together, will not take any significant pressure. So just trial and error until the curves on the roof match the pattern of the cab front or rear.

 

I then made breather pipes from 0.7 mm wire, which were fitted into holes on the inside of the tanks, just aft of the cab front, and then bent up to follow the profile of the cab roof before emerging through holes on each side of the cab roof.

 

The final operation, prior to fitting the superstructure to the footplate, is to cut out and fit the cabside beading to both cab cut outs. Not much to say about this other than tin the whole extent of the beading on one side and then plenty of flux on the beading as it is soldered to the half etched recesses at the edge of the cab cut outs. Slowly is the watchword for achieving a good fit on this beading!

 

So now to bring the second model, with round windows, up to this same stage.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

 

[7mm Mick]

Hi Mike,

 

Very nicely done. Getting the Fletcher cab profile correct is crucial and I must say looks spot on here. As always I will enjoy watching your builds as one day I will build 68409 as I have a couple of good pictures of her. My favourite being on dock, shunting fish vans with a Bobby watching proceedings. At some time or other I probably would have been in the area walking the beat, sadly the J77 though was long gone,

 

ATB Mick

[DougN]

Mick, that is 2 nice builds comming along. I can feel the credit card going for a run. Problem is I have too many kits and things a head of a J77. I just wish I had the cash to buy all the kits and bits I want (I guess Arthur would be happy too!) so many loco's so little cash.... Well time is the other problem I don't seem to have any spare!

[mikemeg]

Hi Mike,

 

Very nicely done. Getting the Fletcher cab profile correct is crucial and I must say looks spot on here. As always I will enjoy watching your builds as one day I will build 68409 as I have a couple of good pictures of her. My favourite being on dock, shunting fish vans with a Bobby watching proceedings. At some time or other I probably would have been in the area walking the beat, sadly the J77 though was long gone,

 

ATB Mick

 

Mick,

 

If you look at a couple of postings back, you'll see that I too found a photo of 68409; though I think this was taken at Middlesborough. This loco came to Hull some time in 1958 and, like so very many ex North Eastern Locos, finished its days there.

 

And Mick, here's a photo just for you. In a class of 'oddballs', this one was unique, as it had an arc roofed Fletcher style cab with large, square windows, J72 type combined splashers and sandboxes and different profiled mainframes. It also had all three sets of driving wheel springs under the mainframes, unlike any other J77. Just to complete this 'litany of the unusual', the photo shows the loco derailed; I assume this was at Alexandra Dock shed though that large LMS loco immediately behind?

 

As ever Mick, many thanks for the kind words; they are always much appreciated.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

Edited October 30, 2014 by mikemeg

[mikemeg]

Mick, that is 2 nice builds comming along. I can feel the credit card going for a run. Problem is I have too many kits and things a head of a J77. I just wish I had the cash to buy all the kits and bits I want (I guess Arthur would be happy too!) so many loco's so little cash.... Well time is the other problem I don't seem to have any spare!

 

Doug,

 

I can't help you with the cash situation but I can say that this J77, in both versions, does look a very nice kit and does make up into a very fine model of a pretty, if somewhat idiosyncratic, locomotive.

 

Cheers

 

Mike