Caley Jim

Well, progress has been rather slow over the past few weeks for a number of reasons. First, as i noted in an earlier post, I discovered that I had omitted to include the cosmetic frames in the etch on which I included all the other parts. Fortunately I had a number of etched things which I had been asked for and also a couple of ideas I wanted to try, so I had to spend some time getting all the artwork together and sending it off to PPD. The footplate which came with the original body etch required a lot of it cut away in order for the mechanism to fit through it and so one of the parts i got etched was a layer to go below this which has the buffer beams folding down from either end and fits between the valences. The splasher sides fold up from the original footplate with the tops of the front sand boxes, and the front splashers, folding down from the former. This didn't produce a very sharp angle between the top and the sides, so I separated the former and soldered them on as a separate part. I also soldered a little piece of scrap etch into the front as the front of the smokebox will be part of the smokebox/tank/cab assembly, with the front fitting between the front of the sandboxes and the rear of the 'piano front' valve chest cover. The footplate assembly was attached to the firebox sides and a couple of strips of scrap etch soldered in to brace the front of the footplate against the motor mount front. Then came two steps back! I discovered that the chip was blown, registering as a short and getting very hot! The stay-alive/chip assembly was only held by the wires and the chip was only held in place on this by the PTFE tape wrapped around it. During checking the opening below where the bunker would be to see that this fitted through it had been waggling about. The wire I had used to link to the stay-alive was very fine cotton covered, multi strand, enamelled wire which was difficult to solder and I can only assume that one or two strands had come adrift and touched something else on the chip, shorting it. I tried to source a replacement chip, but it would appear that CTelektronik chips are all but unobtainable at the moment. I therefore looked around for an alternative and settled on a Zimo MX616 which is only slightly larger, but has the advantage of having relatively generous pads in one corner to which to attache the stay-alive wiring. In fact, the way it sits, i was able to connect the +ve pad directly to the circuitry via a wee piece of copper shim, with a piece of the decoder wire making the -ve connection. Meanwhile I assembled the bunker onto the footplate and then discovered that the capacitors were a fraction too big to fit lengthwise into the bunker as intended. Yet another change of plan! I worked out that the whole assembly, with the new chip, could sit vertically in the bunker, albeit projecting a couple of mm above the sides. This is not too much of a problem,however, as most photos of these locos show them with a variety of makeshift extensions to the bunker sides to increase the capacity. So, the new chip has been fitted and tested and all seems to be well. This time a small piece of blu-tack attaches it to the capacitors and the whole thing is again wrapped in PTFE tape. In addition the inside rear of the bunker has been lined with tissue paper attached with cyano as additional insulation. Here we have the footplate/bunker/ motor mount assembly with the frames sitting in front and below shows the footplate mounted on the frames. The wiring will be hidden under the cab floor. Jim

Thank, Nick. I've sent a sample to the Association Products Officer to see whether he would see it as a shop item. If not I will add it to my Buchanan Kits range.

I agree with everything Izzy says. As has been said, it's difficult to diagnose the fault without having the chassis in your hand to study closely. Sometimes you never get to the bottom of the problem and it just works its way out as the chassis runs in. Can you lubricate it and then sit it wired up and just let it run for an hour or so and then see what it's like after that? Jim

Note also that in the photo the arms are alternately long and short. A common feature in the late c19th. This was to avoid interference in the telegraph signal if the wires in one circuit were close to those in another. Jim

Once it's glued to the end it will be OK. Jim

You could shellac the card after assembly and then paint it, either that or give it a thin coat of watered down pva. Jim

That should have been ".....wae a teardrap......" Jim (b****y predictive text again!)

A wedding wish: May the best you've ever seen be the worst you'll ever see May the moos ne'er leave yer girnal was a teardrop in its e'e May yer lum keep blithely reekin' til you're auld enough tae dee An' may ye aye be just as happy as I wish ye now tae be. Translations on receipt of distillary products! Jim

It also looks to me as though the motor could be moved forward a couple of mms and still be clear of the final drive gear. Jim

One certainly wouldn't want to get them mixed up! Jim

The CR had several diagrams of meat vans, including some refrigerated, all of which were passenger rated. they also had a number of 6-wheeled fish fruit and milk vans which were of similar construction to luggage vans and also fully fitted for running in passenger trains. Jim

Surely you could have made it the Vital Spark! Jim

How does it run with the rods off? i.e. only driving the centre axle? If that is OK, my next step would be to fit the rods upside down so that the front crankpin hole is on the centre drivers and the centre hole on the front drivers, with the rear part of the rod projecting forwards, so that you're only driving the front axle with the rods If the problem persists, then it's probably the quartering of the front wheels which is at fault. If it runs OK then swap the rods over to only drive the rear wheels and see what happens. Jim

An email to Alisdair Campbell brought the following response: As far as I am aware (which is based upon Peter Tatlow's book), the Highland did not have any specialised lime wagons. I expect it was put in sheeted opens, whether bagged or in bulk. From the size of the quarries at Shinness, I suspect that the quantities of lime from there were pretty small. From the NLS map site, the 6 inch map series 1843-1882 clearly show the quarry, probably in operation. The actual date of the map is not shown on the NLS website, but the Sutherland Railway has been built. It was opened in 1868. The later 6 inch series (1888-1913) map shows the quarries as disused by that time, so clearly the trade was dead by then. There was a lime works beside Lairg station, function in the earlier series and disused in the later. Interestingly, limekilns were present, but disused, at Shinness in the later series, but do not appear at all in the earlier series. It would be a fairly laborious walk these days to get to them, as the raising of Loch Shin for the hydro scheme has cut off the access track meaning a bog trot round the head of an inlet where once there was a wee lochan. There are no other outcroppings of limestone in the area round Lairg, although there was a kiln near Lairg station. Again, it was disused by the date of the later series. Perhaps the 1930s-1940s traffic was inbound, although another possibility is that it was being trucked from the Assynt or Durness areas by that time for export. HTH, Jim

And the lining is the wrong colour! Should be black edged white! Jim

Another possibility is that the final gear might be very slightly eccentric, causing a tight spot when running forwards (as the gears get slightly pulled together) but freer going in reverse. Alternatively it might not be quite square on the muff and so binding against the worm wheel at one point. This will happen in the direction when the worm is pushing the worm wheel slightly to the side on which the final gear lies. Running it with the body off as suggested will eliminate any binding against the body. Because it happens at the same point in the revolution, the problem must lie with the final gear/wheels. Jim

An overhead view of the electronics wrapped in PTFE tape and sitting at the rear of the frames. I wanted to be able to remove the motor without the need to un-solder the wires. A strip of ultra thin pcb, narrow enough to fit between the tabs attaching the frames to the pcb spacers and with the copper removed from one side, was gapped down the centre of the other side. A couple of fine tubes were made by wrapping fine copper wire (one strand from multi-flex cable) round some 0.3mm stainless steel wire and flooding it with solder. One of these was soldered to each side of the pcb strip and it in turn cyano glued between the aforementioned tabs. A short piece of 10thou p/b wire was glued to the end of each motor lead, these having been cut to the appropriate length. These wires then fit into the tubes, making a removable connection from the motor leads to the pcb. A thin strip of tissue paper was wrapped around the leads just behind the wire 'pins' and fixed in place with cyano, securing the two leads together at the correct spacing to effectively produce a 2 pin plug. The decoder leads to the motor are then soldered to the thin pcb and those from the frames soldered to the tabs on top of the frames. A view from the side showing that the electrical connections will be low enough to be hidden under the cab floor. Connecting the chassis up to my SPROG showed that everything works as intended and that it runs smoothly down to a slow speed - once I had removed the temporary front axle! (why did it keep showing a short?!). What effect the stay-alive has remains to be seen when the wheels are fitted. So far, so good, but....... an unforeseen problem has arisen. The observant among parishioners will note a small spigot projecting from the boiler near the front, one on each side. These are to mount the clack valves which, being polished brass, will be glued in place, along with their associated piping, over these spigots after painting is complete. However, my original plan was that the footplate with the smokebox, saddle tank,cab and bunker attached to it would slide over the motor mount from above. I now realise that once the clacks are in place this won't be possible unless an unsightly gap is left in the footplate and splashers to clear them and their pipes. My alternative plan now is to attach the footplate, with the splashers and bunker, to the motor mounting and then have the smokebox, saddle tank and cab as a separate unit. Watch this space (but don't hold your breath!). Jim

Apologies for the delay in reporting further progress, but the latter has been hampered by a number of things getting in the way. The main one of these was the realisation that i had omitted to put the artwork for the cosmetic frames, which will sit outside the functional frames and carry the brake gear, on the sheet for etching! I've therefore spent some time sorting out artwork for some other ideas I've had and also a few things that I've been asked for. That sheet (including the cosmetic frames this time!) has now gone to PPD and should be here in the next 10 days or so. There has been some progress, however. The stay-alive components have been wired up and attached to the chip. This comprises 4x220µf tantalum capacitors lying on their side. These are connected by two L-shaped strips of copper shim , the short legs of which bend up onto the top of the pcb seen at the left. this carries the diodes and resistor and is in turn wired to the CTElectronik DCX 76z chip via some fine varnished and double cotton covered wire I have. (The white and yellow wires for lights have been removed from the chip as, for my purposes, they are redundant.) This has all then been wrapped in PTFE tape to insulate it all from the bodywork and will sit, with the capacitors to the top, in the bunker. Photos of this in the next post which will have to wait until this evening as we now have to go and collect the grandchildren from the school. Jim

The CR had some 40 8T lime wagons (Dia 25) which were basically Dia 22 open wagons with peaked roofs. They were for carrying quicklime in sacks, this being the basis of the disinfectant used in cattle wagons. The limestone used as a flux in the iron and steel industry was carried in ordinary mineral wagons. (Caledonian Railway Wagons and NPCS by Mike Williams; p161) Jim

Autocorrect and predictive text are posters worst enemies. As one whose spelling was (and is) never good I refrain from making comment. As Alan has said, it's the content that is important, any comments on mis-spellings are very much tongue-in-cheek! Jim

My condolences, Jerry. My daughter recently lost her beagle, so I know how it feels. Jim

My understanding is that in Victorian/Edwardian times most fish was transported in barrels, often salted. Jim

I'll speak to Alisdair Campbell next time I see him (probably at our next group meeting on 21/9) and see if he can explain. Jim

Can't comment on how it was on HR locos, but on CR 'Crewe Type' 2-4-0's the footplate rose above the cylinders and stopped in line with their front. The buffer beam was attached to both inner and outer frames, leaving a gap between it and the front of the cylinders, which would allow the front covers to be taken off. Jim

I would suggest that assembling wagon kits would be the way to go. put together a small toolkit with what you normally use, including a soldering iron if they're etched kits. Ideally do one before you go and note all the tools you find you use for that. Jim