MPR

The horn-guides were even easier than I thought - four folds and you are done on each. As the front ones will need to be filed a little to clear the inside motion etch, I'll add a little solder to them, but it is certainly not required for most applications. Even with final tweaks and polishing yet to be completed, the axle boxes are sliding freely.

Thanks , I think it’s down to the 145 solder and Green Label flux combination, I find 183C PbSn or 220C CuSn solders much messier, even the versions with added silver. I’m definitely going for the full inside motion option, it would be a shame to compromise with a kit as well designed as this. I’m taking it slowly, I just do one or two steps each modelling session and walk away if it isn’t going well until I am in the right frame of mind. I’ve started on the horn blocks - I’ve bought some spares ready for another project, but expect them to work at the first attempt. I think that these kits are very good value for money - certainly on a cost per hour of enjoyment basis. They are thoroughly well executed.

The rear axle boxes are a very neat three layer assembly. The first step is to ensure that the centre is a good sliding fit in the horn guide - this requires some filing of the cusped edges of both pieces. The front piece on the left has a tongue that is bent through 90 degrees and pins all the layers together. Each was carefully cleaned up with 600 grade paper, then all three pieces were pressed together with tweezers, aligned by the tab and the axle bush. A brush load of green label flux was applied to the edge, then was touched with the tinned soldering iron bit - the flux boiled off and solder flashed into the joints. A little more flux and a second application of the iron completed the joint. The assemblies were then rubbed with the 600 grade until they were an easy sliding fit. When I was happy with the axle boxes, the outside frames were soldered in place. Next… driving wheel axle boxes and coupling rods.

Hi Ian The comprehensive description set out above is a good one, but if by CA you mean cyano-acrylate adhesive (super glue), I would not recommend this. It’s much better to use Loctite threadlocker adhesive. This is an anaerobic adhesive which bonds well to steel, and ok to nylon. This cures very slowly - and crucially only where there is a good seal between surfaces. I find it easiest to squeeze a good drop onto a flat surface and then pick up a tiny drop on the end of a piece of wire. This is then applied within the bore of the wheel from the front. Once the first wheel is mounted on axle, wipe away any excess with a tissue and set the assembly aside to cure. Don’t leave any on the axle free surface as it won’t go off in the air and then will bind equally well to the axle box! When you come to mount the other wheel, roughly quarter it and push the wheel half way home, then apply a drop of the Loctite on the axle end so that it wicks around the wheel edge. Push the wheel in all the way and again wipe off the excess. Check by eye that it is roughly quartered and tweak if necessary. Set the assembly on one side to cure. The final, driven axle is then assembled the same way, with the gear wheel loose on the axle. Assemble the coupling rods and adjust the quartering until the loco runs freely - you will have plenty of time to do this. Finally, allow the whole thing to cure. Regards Martin

I’ve seen gentle use of dental floss under the print suggested for removal - it avoids the use of unpleasant organic solvents, which are also sold for this purpose.

After a couple of false starts, the frames are now finally erected. The front spacer folds up into a lop-sided “u” shape, which makes for a precisely located and torsionally stiff setup. In my haste, I did not check that the “u”was evenly bent, which introduced a degree of twist that could not be tweaked out. The only way out was to desolder the chassis, correct the bending, then clean up and start over. Fortunately, the etched slots in the frames allow the whole lot to be clipped together for checks - once I was satisfied with the angular alignment I soldered one side, checked, tack soldered the other side and rechecked, then added the rear frame spacer to lock everything in place. Lastly, I refluxed each of the joints and made a full seam joint on each, followed by the three middle spacers (the very centre one is only slotted in place for now) I am now happy with the alignment and can move on!

I have made a little more progress with the 14xx chassis… The springs were folded over with the half-etch on the outside, and crushed flat between two pieces of plywood. I then introduced a little Carrs green label flux into the gap with an old paint brush, drawing the flux in by capillary attraction. The bit was well tinned with 145 solder and I touched the gap with point of the iron, holding the spring laminations together with an old file. The flux fizzed and flashed to steam and the solder flowed to fill the gap. The frame location and spring fronts were now fluxed and tinned in the same way - the final assembly made by holding the two sides together, fluxing in the gap, and applying a hot soldering iron until the fizzing stopped and solder was seen to flow. This made the assembly strong and stiff enough to remove the axle holes without fear of damage - I filed up and down from the holes to split the axle location into two, then bent the halves back and forth until they snapped out along the half-etched lines.

Hi Tim, the 94xx seems very similar in design to the Bachman 8750 - & the two High Level Chassis designs are identical in the key dimension (ie wheel centre to frame top). The splasher front-splasher front interior dimension is a little narrower at 21.45mm rather than the 22.83mm of the 8750 ( Mainline 57xx was 22.73mm, Bachmann 64xx was 24.32). The other key dimension was footplate underside to splasher top interior, where the 94xx is 5.57mm deep, compared to the 5.06mm of the 8750. (The 57xx was 5.93mm, the 64xx was 4.78mm) So I think that it should all fit ok, with some thinning of the splasher fronts if necessary. In the worst case, all you would have to do is remove the splasher fronts entirely and fabricate a new front for each - you wouldn’t have to hack the splasher tops away from the footplate!

An alternative supplier of watchmakers' and jewellers' tools is Cooksons Gold. https://www.cooksongold.com/Jewellery-Tools/Vallorbe-55mm2.1-Escapement------Pillar-File,-Cut-6-prcode-999-550

Hi Tim, Yes, I bit the bullet and ordered a body shell from Bachmann spares. The body split seems similar to the 57xx/8750 but I don’t yet know how the fit around the splashers will work. I'll measure up and compare with the 57xx over the weekend to see if the splashers will need thinning. Thanks for the broach suggestion (just ordered a set). Regards Martin

Thanks Tim, I’ve bought a few of these over the years whenever I came across suitable spare bodies (most recently a 94xx) and thought I should actually build one up rather than open the box once a year and put it back in the cupboard! I’m going to try out plunger pick-ups on this one, although I will fit top acting wipers if they are not fully satisfactory. The only thing that worries me about the build is fitting the worm to the Mashima motor without bending the shaft!

Another pleasant half hour saw the springs removed, cleaned and folded up. Next, all the major components were labelled by number (or marked with an “x” if not required) and the spacers removed, cleaned up and drilled out where appropriate. I’ve taken the hint in the instructions and selected the P4Wide option for the rear frame extensions to allow a little more room for manoeuvre, at the expense of another 0.5mm width on each side.

Next on the list is a long delayed chassis upgrade for an Airfix 14xx. It was converted to P4 years ago, with a Perseverance chassis, DS10 and Gibson wheels, very much according to that early MRJ article by the late Iain Rice. The body was also modified with the Mainly Trains detailing kit that he designed.By the time I had got it running, realised that the frames were too tall, had modified them and then reassembled, the whole lot was, well, somewhat wobbly! I ordered a set of Ultrascales, and then a High Level chassis and there the matter stopped for some years. So far, I have reread the instructions, found all the parts and cut out the mainframes, pressing out the rivets with a suitable compass point by lightly tapping with my back to back gauge. Next step would have been to open up the horn blocks and add the cosmetic springs, but work stopped when Poppy the spaniel decided that she wasn’t getting enough attention and started pawing me to go for a walk!

So, should the Hymeks have been kept in service and refurbished / upgraded in the 1970s? What would a "Hymek 2" have looked like? (National Traction Plan / B-P closing down being ignored for this question)

Four days earlier than my photo above, the original Corris locomotives were both in steam on the Talyllyn (12th July 2022). Its fascinating to see both the attention to detail of the new-builds and the tiny differences between them and the originals!

I'm looking forward to returning to Corris to see No.10 - this is a lovely little line. Here's the one they made earlier...

I picked up this model very cheaply s/h around the period that Hattons were selling them at below £50 new. I don't understand that choice of identity either, particularly with the evocative names applied to others in the WR fleet. I’m not surprised the prototype locomotive was written off ( I presume that most of the equipment was recovered and reused on the production line similar to the reuse of key components from DP2), the photos of the remains showed just how widespread the structural damage was, including both cabs. My understanding is that the earliest visit of a 47 to the branch was the adjacent D1733 with the XP64 train.

The Brush Type 4 is now as finished as it is going to be. It has had its buffer beams replaced and painted and the pipe work added. The bogies and fuel tanks have had a once over with a mixture of Matt black, grey and leather. I also sorted out an issue with the wiring that was stopping one of the bogies turning freely. Like the Hymek, this locomotive will have a proper weathering exercise at a later date. I’ve always been fond of the Heljan 47 and it is good to finally have one running (albeit under “rule 1” on Torre) as long as I don’t look too closely at its shortcomings.

I've seen it stated that the advantages of buckeye couplings were traded against the advantages from faster roll-out of ATC and that ATC won out for investment (ie. it is better to avoid the collision, rather than deal with the consequences) Is there any truth in this?

Like this?

Couldn’t get the wayleaves sorted to cross the Royal Albert Bridge now that CK has retired!

My garden hose pipe works perfectly. It is wound onto a drum for storage and has lasted for many years. Unfortunately, I am not allowed to plug it in due to water shortages here in Devon.

In a previous life I had to hunt down and physically destroy a large (and by the time we had noticed, well-distributed) consignment of screws that had been obtained for a very good price, but had the yield stress of mild cheddar. The rework process after fitting one of these to an expensive CNC machined product housing was time consuming and costly.

Hattons have a single image of the EP on their website, for those of us who haven’t managed to get to the newsagents (yet) to pick up a copy of the magazine!

Another fine Saturday, another visitor to Kingswear.