GWR Ex- Rhymney Railway Unrebuilt P Class 0-6-2T

[RosiesBoss]

Disclaimer

This paper describes the kitbashing of a 00-scale 0-6-2T inspired by the RR Pclass, making use of components already to hand – a kind of “scrapyard challenge”. The resulting model does not pretend to be a fine-scale example, but does represent many of the Stephenson-built 0-6-2Ts which ran in the Welsh Valleys, described here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_0-6-2T_locomotives. Rivet counters need read no further!

 

Introduction

As many RMWeb readers know, I have a significant collection of GWR and BR(W) models which take their turn to run on my (fictional) Carmarthen Junction layout. Some are the usual main-line ones, but there is also a group of South Wales models, many of which I have built or kitbashed:

• 3: Ex-Barry Railway 0-4-4T (modified Craftsman kit)
• 2161: Ex-Brecon & Merthyr Railway 0-6-0T (Centre Models Kerr Stuart Victory kit)
• 1565: 1076 class 0-6-0PT (Kitbashed Hornby/Wills)
• 411: Ex-Taff Vale Railway O3 class 0-6-2T (Modified Wills body on whitemetal chassis)
• 1670: Ex-Brecon & Merthyr Railway 0-6-2T (Rebuilt Dublo body on scratchbuilt chassis)
• 6667: 56XX class 0-6-2T (Mainline)
• 2620: Aberdare 2-6-0 (Keyser kit)
• 3026: ROD 2-8-0 (Keyser kit)

A recent blog re the ex-TVR A-class stimulated another HD rebuild project.

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/121553-taff-vale-unrebuilt-a-class-0-6-2/&do=findComment&comment=2681633

 

I checked through personal and on-line references, but could not find any drawings of the unrebuilt TVR A-class, so I had another look through Refs.1 & 2.

 

Among a few old HD 3-rail models, I do have a complete HD N2 class that I restored from a seized and dusty wreck:

 

My scrapbox also had an old HD N2 class body that someone else had repainted in black with a fictional number, as well as a matching chassis block with no motor.

 

Checking the body against the drawings in Ref. 2, I decided that the best fit for me was the Rhymney Railway unrebuilt P class, which had the nearest appearance of side tanks and wheel splashers. Photos of the class in this condition are thin on the ground, but there are two in Ref.3. I chose to model GWR No. 83, with its original bunker, so in its condition of about 1930.

 

The wheelbase of the RR P class was 7'3"+8'0"+6’6”.

 

When I scratchbuilt the chassis for 1670, it took a great deal of work to get it to run reliably and smoothly. It still looks crude, being made from brass channel. In the interests of achieving smooth, reliable operation, I considered the following chassis in my scrapbox:

• Plastic Mainline Dean Goods (7'0"+8'0") – too flimsy to motorise
• Hornby 0-6-0 (7'9"+8'3")
• K’s chassis (8'0"+8'6")
• Bachmann J72 (6'9"+7'0")
• K’s chassis (6'9"+7'0")
• Brass N2 frames (7'3"+9'0") – incomplete – came with N2 body
• Dublo N2 (6'6"+8'0"+ 7'6")

After weighing up the issues in adapting each of the above, I chose the Dublo chassis, but substituted a pony truck with better dimensions for the rear wheels, so as to achieve the correct overall wheelbase. Given that some other compromises were to occur with the body, I did not feel too bad about this.

 

Parts List

• Hornby-Dublo N2 class body (bought cheaply at a “bring and buy” stall)
• Hornby-Dublo N2 class chassis block
• Hornby-Dublo N2 coupling rods
• Diecast pony truck (unknown origin)
• Hornby Type 7 motor
• Nylon gears (from local electrical components shop)
• 20mm Romford driving wheels and axles (only one side insulated)
• Romford driving wheel cranks
• 14mm trailing wheels (possibly Gibson or Romford)
• Brass dome (turned up on lathe)
• Brass safety valve base (turned up on lathe)
• Hornby safety valve (for pannier tank)
• Brass chimney (make unknown)
• Brass whistles (Peter’s spares)
• Brass/solder top feed fitting (home-made)
• Brass handrail knobs
• Brass rod for feedwater and vacuum ejector pipes
• 0.4mm dia. phosphor bronze wire for pickups and handrails
• Printed circuit board material for pickups
• Hornby tension-lock couplings
• Misc. brass BA screws, washers and nuts
• 6BA nylon screw/nut/washers
• Humbrol enamels
• HMRS Pressfix transfers
• Wire-wound guitar E string
• Evergreen polystyrene strip and sheet

Chassis

The wheels, axles and central power pickup were removed. (There were no motor parts extant.)

 

A new Hornby Type 7 motor was fitted with a nylon worm. A Romford axle was fitted with a matching gear while being installed to the rear driving axle position. Wires were soldered to the motor before installation, to be taken through the original motor brush holes..

 

The motor was then fitted to the space where the original armature had been, using a piece of brass bar to support its weight with appropriate packing and Superglue to stabilize the assembly and ensure good meshing of the gears. (See photos below.)

 

The driving wheels were drilled and tapped 10BA and Romford cranks fitted.

 

The remaining axles and driving wheels were then fitted, with slim 1/8” i.d. washers on the rear axle, to limit sideplay and ensure good meshing of the gears.

 

A new power pickup assembly for the front two axles was then fabricated from a piece of PC board, cut to the shape of the original insulation plate, to be held in place by the original pickup bolt. Phos. bronze wire pickup wires were bent to shape and soldered in place. A metal tag was fitted to the space originally occupied by the magnet bolts, using a nylon bolt/nut/washer, to which was soldered a greencap capacitor, a phos. Bronze pickup wire for the rear driving wheel and wires connecting the motor to the pickup assembly.

 

The remaining motor wire was connected to the chassis.

 

Connecting rods were then installed.

 

A new axle hole was drilled in the replacement pony truck for the rear wheels and they were fitted, together with a slimline tension-lock coupling.

 

The chassis now looked like this:

 

 

 

Running trials showed that this chassis ran sweetly and could easily haul a long string of PO coal wagons.

 

Time to move on to the body!

 

Body

The cab was completely removed, together with most handrails, smokebox dart, front sandboxes, chimney, dome and safety valves. After wire brushing, it looked like this:

 

 

After filling of the obvious holes with 5-minute epoxy, rubbing back, filling again with automotive body filler and again rubbing back, it looked like this:

 

 

 

A new cab and bunker extension unit was soldered up from brass and copper. This was fabricated with reference to the drawings of two related RR classes, published in Refs. 4 and 5.

 

 

 

The front frame extensions were filed down to the shape of the RR loco, the space between them was filled with 5-minute Araldite, which also covered the top of a 6BA screw chosen to attach the body to the chassis.

 

The same batch of Araldite was used to glue the cab to the body and fill the gaps between the boiler and cab, as well as between the coal rails and bunker. Before it completely cured (ie while it still had the consistency of cheddar cheese), excess epoxy was carved/filed away.

 

A new dome and a new base for the safety valve were turned from brass rod. A Hornby safety valve (for their 8751 class pannier tank) was modified to accept a spare Romford axle nut, which had been itself modified with a second slot. This was to ensure that the installed valve body had a representation of the four valves contained in the prototype’s.

 

A spare commercial brass chimney (possibly meant for a Grange class), together with the safety valve base/body and dome were then glued to the boiler with contact adhesive.

 

A top feed clack valve cover was fabricated from a rectangular cross-section piece of brass tube, filled with solder and then carved to shape, using Ref. 4 for detail.

 

Feed water tubes were then made from brass rod, bent to shape using circlip pliers to avoid snapping them around the small radius curves. What are probably the injectors, just in front of the cab, were represented with some small glass beads, “borrowed” from my wife’s stash of spares, together with some 10BA washers.

 

In the same way, a vacuum ejector pipe was bent to shape and installed on the driver’s side, as shown in the few photos I have seen of similar unrebuilt Stephenson engines of the same period (eg Fig 571 in Ref. 2 and B&M 43 on p.10 of Ref.3). (I am yet to see photos of this side of the unrebult P class – but such fittings had to have been installed and they are not evident in photos of the fireman’s side.)

 

The original handrail knob holes were filled and new ones drilled, as well as holes for handrails that did not require knobs. Their positions were worked out with reference to photos of the P and other related classes.

 

Holes were drilled and opened up above the moulded top cab steps, to represent the actual last step into the cab. Pieces of thick household electrical cable were cut, shaped and glued behind the cab steps to represent the water balancing pipes.

 

New whitemetal cast tank fillers were superglued to the tops of the side tanks.

 

Tank vents were made from small steel nails and glued into holes drilled in the tank tops.

 

Scale couplings and vac brake pipes were fitted to front and rear buffer beams.

 

A smokebox door dart was soldered up from a brass handrail knob and some phos bronze wire, then fitted to a 0.8mm dia hole drilled in the smokebox door.

 

The roof hatch and rainstrips were made from Evergreen polystyrene rod and sheet, then glued into place with Revell Contacta Professional adhesive.

 

The whistles were then glued to 0.8mm holes drilled into the cab roof, using impact adhesive.

 

Lamp brackets were bent up from domestic staples and glued into place with Superglue.

 

The model now looked like this and was ready for paint:

 

 

The body was again removed from the chassis and primed with automotive grey spray primer.

 

The wheels and pony truck were removed from the chassis, then all chassis components were painted with Humbrol 85 satin black enamel.

 

The body was then painted with Humbrol 33 matt black, 85 satin black and 19 gloss red. Once these had cured, HMRS transfers and home-printed numberplates were fitted. All of the body (except flat black areas) was then varnished with Humbrol 135 satin clear. A day or so later, the windows were glazed and coal loaded into the bunker.

 

 

Reflections

This project was never about making a model accurate in all respects. Rather, it was about adapting components already to hand to capture the essence of a long-departed prototype. (Most of these parts had been snapped up as bargains as and when they became available over several years.) My wife has commented that it might have been easier to completely scatch-build the model. Had I done so, what would I do with the Dublo components?

 

For the rivet-counters, there are many discrepancies, including:

• Wheelbase
• Overlap of front wheel splasher over smokebox
• Lack of front springs
• Rudimentary brake details
• Lack of cab interior details
• Incorrect buffer shape
• No "daylight" under the boiler

Even so, the model works and doesn’t look too bad from a distance. It provides an interesting contrast to the otherwise standard look of GWR locos.

 

Most importantly, it was fun to research and construct.

 

Here it is, passing ex-TVR 411, with ex-B&M 1670 and 6667 watching on from one of the shed roads:

 

References and Other Relevant Links

1. RCTS “The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway – Part 10 – Absorbed Engines1922-1947 (RCTS, 1966)
2. J.H.Russell: “A Pictorial Record of Great Western Absorbed Engines” (OPC, 1978)
3. Mike Romans et al.: “Locomotives Illustrated  66: Great Western 0-6-2Ts” (Ian Allen, Jul-Aug 1989)
4. Railway Modeller, Aug 1988
5. Railway Modeller, May 1968
6. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/90340-taff-vale-railway-o3-class-0-6-2t/
7. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/115437-gwr-ex-barry-railway-g-class-0-4-4t/
8. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/107593-gwr-1076-class-double-framed-pannier-tank/
9. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/70468-gwr-absorbed-locos-on-carmarthen-junction/

[Mikkel]

What a great build. Very creative use of components and materials, I think. I know what you mean about "what would I have done with the Dublo components". Some spare parts just can't be thrown out, it's almost as if they have a soul and demand to be reborn! 

 

It's an interesting prototype. Like many of the Welsh classes it looks better in pre- Belpaire firebox condition, in my opinion.

Edited June 3, 2017 by Mikkel

[timbowilts]

As the OP of the blog referenced at the start of the thread may I say how impressed I am with what you have achieved here..

 

Well done and more power to your soldering iron

 

Tim Tumber

[Darwinian]

I have to say that from where you started I wouldn't have been too hopeful but it really does capture the essence of the Rhymney passenger tank rather well. 

 

Nicely done.

[BG John]

I've got a Wrenn body, and the chassis from it that I re-wheeled and put under an Airfix Prairie a very long time ago. This may be a suitable use for them .

Edited June 3, 2017 by BG John

[Penrhos1920]

No be familiar with Craftsman, which Craftsman kit did you use to convert to your Barry tank?

[RosiesBoss]

G'day, all,

 

Thank you for your interest in my old-fashioned kitbash.

 

I used the Craftsman LSWR/SR T1 class 0-4-4T kit for my ex-Barry Railway G Class 0-4-4T, as described here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/115437-gwr-ex-barry-railway-g-class-0-4-4t/

 

Regards,

 

Rob