bluestag

Most of my photos have disappeared as well. On a few of my threads, like when I built some 6 wheelers, I have gone back and pasted in the photos again. Does not really take that much time.

So I moved the left front driver top hat by about ten thou. And the jig axles liked it. While the jig axles on the right side seemed happy. But a new bind showed up, the right side at 9 o clock. Really struggled with that one. The coupling rod seems to have a bit of play either way when the nuts are off, but it remains stiff when assembled. Tomorrow is another day!

Bought a small torch, got the bearing out in about 2 seconds, without disturbing any other joins.

Problem identified: the loco had been sold as a poor runner, and it was. It had a bind in the rotation at each turn. It had been stripped down by John to strip the paint and primer it. It all came back to me today. The first thing I did was to check the relationship of the axles to the coupling rods, using my jig axles. The right looks good, but the left looks to be long by a mm. A sever error. The chassis has no provisions for axle guards. That is how old the kit is. I now don't trust any hand drawn kit to be accurate. I'll have to remove one of the left bearings. Which will take a lot of heat. Happily, I do have a large soldering iron. It might do the trick. Then I need to drift the bearing. I won't open the hole with a reamer. as that will shift the vertical placement of the axle. I'll use a file and drift, check, drift, check and eventually solder. The chassis is rigid, which does not suit me. A four coupled chassis picking up on four wheels is unlikely to have good pick up. And traction is compromised. On its first test, it seemed that if it encountered any dip in the track it spun. That can be attributed to the carrying wheels not having enough vertical movement. But the front one has no room under the footplate. The rear one can have the footplate cut away into the bunker. I don't want to break the chassis down if I can help it. Which is all about unsoldering the bearings. The motor fits the front driver. I'll take out its left bearing for the alignment. The I'll take out both the rear driver's bearings, and replace them with a tube. And install a compensation beam between it and the rear carrying wheel. I'll let the front carrying go its own way, with perhaps a spring. And this will put a steady weight on the rear carrying wheel, which should allow it to have a plunger pickup. Six wheels is much better than four. And there is a hole etched in the chassis for it. The front axle will have side play, the driven none, the second driver has side play, and the rear carrying wheel none. The tubes for the compensated axles will be prevented from turning with a sort of stirrup from them over the compensation beam. Something to keep me occupied for days!

Ah, I missed that. Thanks. My correspondent did not specify a date of death. Regarding the probate, for goodness sake, get your affairs in order, everyone! My wife and I have a trust, and our wealth will transfer directly to our daughter, no probate, no fuss. I don't know the rules in Britain for this sort of thing.

Apparently David Brooks, proprietor of JPL, has died suddenly. He produced cast iron wheels in 7mm. And perhaps other things. I only made this one attempt to contact him, last night. My correspondent said that the business was going into probate, and implied that the wheels would be available again. I assume others know more about him and JPL than I do.

Hehehehe. Turns out that the original build failed to include a front axle spring on the left side. It is present on the right side. John thought maybe he had dislodged it and lost it in the paint stripping. No. A look at the red loco photos posted by Ellis on ebay show there was only one. Now I have to search for a spring, or scratch build one. The only bright spot in that is that it will not effect running in any way. Dying to see this thing run. And pull five six wheelers. John did lose a sand cover (adjacent to the spring) but I'll not have a problem scratch building a replacement.

Huh. This one is also designed for slaters pickups, but only has top wipers. I had not had a chance to investigate the wheels closely, but John tells me they are slaters. Funny thinking of Slaters as 40 years old, but apparently they are. I'm pretty sure the fold up gear box is the culprit. I have a MSC worm box machined from solid brass. Assuming the machining is done properly, it will never go out of mesh.

Primered. Pondering the chassis. My friend John wants me to put in a new gearbox (the suspect in the poor running) and see if it works as a rigid chassis, with a bit of weight on it. That would be the simple approach. I am dubious. I don't trust a four coupled rigid chassis with four pickups to run well, but I'll try many things once. I am thinking of leaving the front axle flopping around, perhaps with a spring. The front driver still rigid, with the motor, the second driver and the rear carrying wheel sharing a central beam. I don't want to tear down the chassis if it can be helped . I seem to remember seeing some Martin Finney six coupleds with tube bearings running across the chassis. Restrained from turning or shifting sideways by a stirrup embracing the compensating beam. The rear axle just needs a tiny bit of its slot opened up vertically. I'll need to turn on the lathe a new tube for the second driver, with an outside diameter to match the top hats in place. Then open the holes up into slots with about a half mm (?) in each direction. One thing I don't trust on such an old, hand drawn design, is the distance for the axles in the chassis matching the coupling rods. I'll need to check that. I don't even trust the coupling rods to be the same length. Any thoughts?

On another topic, exciting news, a new loco! From Ellis Clarke via ebay. What I am nearly certain was Merician's display model of a LNWR 2-4-2 5'6" tank. Currently out of production. And very appropriate to my branch terminus. All built up and painted in a foreign scheme: LMS Crimson. Advertised as a poor runner. It is a dodgy runner, or it was until today when my mate got ahold of it. Now it does not run at all. He stripped the paint and broke down the chassis. The chassis is built very basic. The drivers are both rigid to the chassis, and the carrying wheels just flop around. I am thinking that I'll leave the front driver rigid, as the motor hangs on it. And get the rear driver flexing, and then put a beam from there to the rear carrying wheel. All the while not breaking down the chassis further. There's the trick! The buffers need to go and be back dated to Webb buffers. doable. The body is adequately built, it needs little. The original drawing, which is 30 years old if a day, has the tanks in the cab at prototype thickness. Meaning that the drivers protrude into the cab. That will require some thought. And the question of a speaker and decoder is up in the air. Right now I am thinking a sugar cube on the floor of the cab, if painted black should not be too obvious. Wish I'd have got it a bit cheaper, but Ellis would not relent. It's got wheels and a perfectly good Mashima motor, but the gearbox is probably the villain in the running. I have a much better gearbox for it waiting. Considering that the body is adequately built, I suppose I did alright. And again, the kit is unavailable until Trevor's estate is probated, heaven knows how long that will be. Shame about the paint and lining. It was pretty good, but I run LNWR about 1900. It will be lined black. The pity is I won't see if for a month, as John the chum stripping it lives 105 miles away. The club's next running session is at his house in a month. I suppose I could get him to post it. Hmm. Sort of champing at the bit to get it running. It has long been a favorite prototype. I scratch built one in 2mm fs over 30 years ago. Sold it off to a Brit who says he'll run it at Copenhagen Fields, if he ever finishes it. And I need another passenger engine for my collection.

Thanks.

Angus, Just drop them an email. Thanks, Kevin

Hey guys, I pulled out an Alphgraphics kit just now thinking to start it. I somehow have lost the instructions, and can't find a website or email for them. Anybody? Kevin

Laurie is fine. I got an email from him, it is the Royal Post office kerfluffle that seems to be at fault.

I am wondering if Laurie Griffen is still trading? He produces (produced) a wonderful and full range of lost wax castings in 7mm. I'd not be without him. But I put in an order for a chimney and dome six weeks ago. His page took my money. But I have heard or seen nothing. No response to my email, either. Is he well?

Really? The springs lift the locos off the stop? Possibly you want to try to weigh them down a bit more. Just as long as they slip when up against a buffer stop.

Just a word. Taff Vale Models is developing a 7mm North Staffordshire Class D 0-6-0T. The North Staffs is not a major interest railway. For no good reason. This prototype was the most populous of their classes. It ran well into LMS days. It has just enough rivets to be interesting. It is a tidy looking loco. North Staffs had running rights on the LNWR, which is why I want one. In the off chance that you might want one, please register your interest with Taff. They intend to have it ready for Guidex. BTW I am banging the drum on this with the NSR interest groups. They are moving to subscribe the product. I'll be happy if this post produces one more sale.

I swear by slaters plungers. For small locos I swear by compensation or springing. Even my 0-8-0 is sprung. The American system apparently is dubious for digital installations, although I'm not clear why. I suppose it is the risk of getting a hot wire down a motor wire, which will fry the decoder.

Thanks. It was mostly fun to build. And it is a treat to run, my chum who has built over 80 locos never fails to compliment me on it.

Was the 4mm "coffeepot" compensated? If not, there was your trouble. As I wrote, my 0-4-0 has a rocking axle. Every wheel is in contact with the track at all times.

Man. I could not disagree more. I run Dinghams, and swear by them. My chums all run three links, and spend hours with tweezers trying to couple up. I think it is madness. Kevin

Hehehehe. Another convert! Yes, look at Roxy Moldings for gear boxes and motors. You don't need much for such a small loco. My first 7mm loco was an 0-4-0. I compensated it per classic Sharman principles: one axle fixed and driven, one rocking. And I used Slaters plunger pickups. It runs brilliantly. As long as the wheels and rail are reasonably clean, it just chuffs along. And yes, it is digital and has sound. It's a blast to drive. It even pulls 12 wagons with ease. Welcome aboard. Kevin

Appreciating that the Taff Vale kit is a development of the London Road kit. I don't know what they did, but the London Road kit is quite old compared to the current production of the Taff Vale kit.

I'm not sure that a paint can be both lacquer and acrylic. And I have a massive home builder's supply three miles away. I need to get back to the engine shed, but I'm painting and ballasting my track just now, and finding it a very time consuming and tedious business.

It's an LCUT engine shed that I'm working on now. I don't know where to buy "yacht" spray varnish. I did have trouble with the surface getting wet and breaking up. I'll heed your advice to wait for the paint and varnish to set. And then try the filler. You are getting good results there.