RedGemAlchemist
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Posts posted by RedGemAlchemist
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Just a passing thought, and perhaps I should have let it pass without stopping, but a loco with a Doble type steam engine just to get it moving could do it's main work on a single cylinder with a big counterbalance at the crank.
Ok, THAT sounds like a fun idea.
The Prince of Wales 4-4-0 from LNWR had 20.5 inch inside cylinders ,that is half an inch more than Britania 4-6-2.
A Britania with outside frames/inside cylinders and 7feet 6 between leading driving axle and trailing bogie axle instead of the Britania 5 feet 6 as is.
Lovely and easy to maintain.
Compounded like the austrian 4-6-0 it would also have been the most powerfull british pacific
Hmm. Food for thought that...
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The big tank, what about Mammoth or Mastodon? Needs an imposing name. Hercules or Brutus would be a good choice.
Yes! Mastodon it is! Why didn't I think of that? Thank you!
I have a B12 chassis going spare if you want one, and I'm sure I have some Hornby LMS tender chassis mouldings kicking around somewhere as well if you want them...
Andy G
The tender chassis would be nice, especially as it has wheels too and assuming it'd actually fit a Lima Crab tender body. Always useful to have a spare tender. The B12 one I'm not sure as I don't really need a full B12 - for large passenger locomotives I'm fine with Wild Rover at this moment. Still need a chassis for No.4 (now Mastodon) though. Leaning towards 0-6-2T as that'll be easier to get hands on, though I did originally have an 0-8-0T that was inspiring me. Namely the old KESR's Hecate.
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Ok, now I have No.4 painted, let's look at all the other stuff from the lot of body shells that it came from, in order of how interesting I find them from least to most.
To start off, the ubiquitous Hornby Caley Pug and Triang Jinty. There is ALWAYS a Caley Pug and Jinty. The Jinty has no chimney or front buffers. The Pug also has no chimney. Fortunately, these are the least interesting items of the entire lot.
Next up the list, what appears to be an Airfix Large Prairie. D*mn, why couldn't it have been a 14xx?
I can still work with this but still... Only interesting nore is the rear bufferbeam has clearly been patched up with plasticard. Clearly whoever previously owned this and No.4 was good with their plasticard. 
Next up is a Triang B12. It's been spraypainted black, given new handrails and had the front bufferbeam painted but nothing unu...
Wait. WAIT. Are those O gauge brass buffers?
Literally only just noticed that as I was writing this.
Moving progressively up the scale of intrigue, we get this very forlorn Hornby Thomas. No buffers, no front bufferbeam, no face, no steps. I like the Hornby Thomas sculpt (I know quite a lot of people don't) and I genuinely find myself feeling a bit sorry for it (sad, I know). I think we've found our KLR No.5, and the basis of a nice mixed-traffic 0-6-0 tank.
Next up is a Hornby (former Triang) Princess with one buffer missing. It's a pleasant (if inaccurate) green colour and is otherwise fine.
Then a Lima Crab tender. Nice. New tenders are always helpful.
And then a black unidentified bodyshell of a Peppercorn A1. Nicely detailed, but it's very spartan. No buffers, no smokebox door, no handrails, no whistle, not even a cab interior or floor. I have no idea what company made this, but whatever company did knew what they were doing.
And finally, this... THIS. I was really not expecting this. This appears to be a red plastic push along variant of the Triang Nellie. Some moulding differences, but it's clearly the same locomotive and the same scale. I genuinely didn't know this existed. It's also got no whistle hole or buffers and is painted in Southern livery on the left side and GWR on the right, Corbs style.
All in all, quite a useful lot of little locomotive shells to use. Excellent bashing fodder!
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The limiting factor of an inside cylindered pacific is the bore diameter of the cylinders, limited by the frames unless they bulge out a bit, otherwise there is no reason why it wouldn't work. But the smaller cylinders sort of negate the point of a pacific anyway, which is to carry a big boiler on a chassis that deploys traction well and rides well.
The LNER inherited some 4-6-2 tanks from the GCR and NBR, an IIRC these were inside cylindered. Purely from an aesthetic point of view, probably because I would associate an inside cylindered pacific with a pre-grouping design, a lower less modern looking tender would look better.
Or why not have the driving wheels powered individually by Doble type steam engines; you could then have outside frames if you wanted. Speaking of outside frames, of course these would allow larger bore conventional inside cylinders and make a more practicable loco in terms of T.E. possible.
Hmm. I always thought it was because of maintenance rather than the cylinder bore. Learn something new every day.
And I totally forgot about the GCR tanks.
Also the images were just proof of concept, though I do see your point with the design more befitting a pre-Grouping loco. These concepts are the ones I have no reason to make, so I put them up here in case other freelancers want to give them a crack (so long as they remember to give appropriate credit.)
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The Belgians made class 12 Atlantic thus,so why not a Pacific.
Very fast and powerfull
Yes. We also made stuff like the GER S69 (alternatively known as the LNER B12 of course) as inside cylinder. But no inside cylinder Pacifics. The reason being that it's incredibly awkward to get between the frames of a locomotive that large, so outside cylinders are more common on larger locomotives, especially high-speed passenger locomotives, as they're easier to maintain. Also the reason it's more common in stuff like shunting tanks - they aren't moving as fast or over anywhere close to the distance, so they don't require maintenance so often.
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I was only joking about the whole 'Gordon' thing. But out of those three I think Brutus is the most suitable.
Yeah, I'm leaning towards Brutus myself. But as I said before I'll wait to see if any other suggestions pop up.
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So many name suggestions...
Call it Gordon!
No, not really. I don't know why but I feel that Kelly might be a good name for No. 4....as much as I like big things with ironically unassuming names, I like the I think I'm going to have to pass on both of those, especially as Gordon has already been taken several times, not just by the obvious one.
Rather late I know, (I usually am), but by way of encouragement, have you seen your "views" figure? At 4,754 in less than one month, I would say that there are many others enjoying the thread, me included. Keep up the "bashing"!
Best wishes,
Al.
Edit to suggest a name. Looking at the size of it, how about Hercules, or Atlas?
Really? That many? Wow. Thought it would only be a couple hundred, maybe half a thousand at the most.
I like both of those names. Those are going on the list.Brutus perhaps?
Another excellent name.
G'Day Folks
lots of industrial locos have female names, so how about, Eve, Mable, Joan, Elsa, or if your game ....Fanny
manna
Again, see my reply to DoubleDeckInterurban. Especially not on the last option. Please manna, there might be kids reading this!
So currently a toss-up between Brutus, Hercules or Atlas. I'll wait for some more people's suggestions before making a decision.
Still looking for that chassis as well. Potentially leaning more towards 0-6-2T rather than 0-8-0T.-
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Bit of an update. The unnamed No.4 is now painted. All it needs now is the lettering, which I'll be ordering shortly, and the chassis, when I can finally work out what I need.
That and a name. Hopefully you guys can provide that.
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From what You've put, I suspect you're not far from me. If you need a quick pillar drill session then I have one you can use.
As I've also noted I can't drive. Getting there is something of an issue. Also, not having the materials I'd need to do so. However, the willingness to assist me to such an extent is truly heartwarming.
My crippling social anxiety also doesn't help matters, if I'm allowed to be brutally frank. The mind is willing, but the emotions are unable.
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Theres plenty of cheep triangs on ebay, just take a punt on one and then take a drill to it. its best if you have pillar drill (to ensure verticality when drilling) but you can do it by eye, I did it in post 115 here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/67934-highland-bodgery/page-5
Its all fun and games this bodging lark, and if you don't try you won't know....
Andy G
(the west side of Norfolk)
Yeah, I don't have either a hand drill or a pillar drill. I'm working the most bare bones of bare bones. Literally the most complex thing I have is a set of files and some screwdrivers.
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How about an 0-6-2T? Will a Triang 0-6-0 chassis fit under her? Or better make her an 0-8-0T by modifiying the Triang chassis like a mate did here:
Andy G
Clever. I'm not very good at modifying chassis at all so I prefer premade ones, and I've got none to hand at this time except for the utterly rubbish 0-4-0 ones and an equally crummy Toby one. An 0-8-0T was the hope anyway though.
If it helps, its interior dimensions are: length 98mm (just under 4"); width 32mm (about 1.5"); depth doesn't matter.
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Looks like a beast of a goods/mineral tank to me. Lots of small driving wheels, perhaps; 6 or 8?
Oh, that was the idea for what it'll work with. If you remember I was planning for this to be an 0-8-0 or maybe even an 0-10-0 just before I bought it a little over a week ago. Need a heavy freight engine for the KLR.
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Another find:
Obviously the one on the right is an Airfix Austerity, but the one on the left?
Is it reidpath or hamblings perhaps?
Beautiful little Furness Railway tank!
Bit rough around the edges, but that's how I like my locomotives!Anyway, it has arrived.
I can now confirm that it's a Hornby-Dublo starter 0-4-0 with the cab extended (and really well at that, from the outside it's really hard to tell that it didn't always look like that). Interior dimensions: length 98mm (just under 4"); width 32mm (about 1.5"); depth doesn't matter as this thing is massive and can easily take any motor I can think of. Anyone got any idea what the largest (wheel arrangement wise) chassis I can fit into this behemoth is?
Also if anyone can think of a name for this thing that'll also help.
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I'm just waiting for Sem34090 to get this far so I can tell him to stop reading your topic and get back to work on Derwent!
Nice to see someone other than DoubleDeckInterurban is enjoying it
Anyway, important news!
THE RED BEAST has arrived.
First off, this tank engine is utterly colossal, even bigger than I expected. I have Bulldog in the pictures for scale, but they really don't do this monster justice.
Revenant is not an appropriate name. I need something better. If anyone has any suggestions for No.4 here let me know. (The 0-4-0 chassis it's on, taken from the Caley Pug obliterated to make what exists so far of Peter, is not permanent, it was just added to help get an accurate depiction of the size of this thing.)
Plus, I can now confirm its identity now I have it in hand. And... Nearholmer was correct when he said it's a bash, albeit one that's extremely well done, certainly far better than I can do, at least at this point. It's a Hornby-Dublo starter 0-4-0 with the cab extended, which explains why the proportions of the cab are really off. This underside photo of the body shell should confirm that, as the plasticard used to strengthen the sides of the cab extension are clearly visible.
From the outside it's quite hard to tell it was extended without looking hard at it.
I really like this engine. This is exactly the sort of engine that deserves to be on the KLR. It's strange, but unique, and has an odd charm to it. Yes, it's rather ugly, but just because you're not good looking doesn't mean you're not useful. Take me for example
Now to take some measurements and work out what chassis I'll need to make this run. Also to paint this guy in a nice coat of KLR goods black.
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The ‘large loco, no outside cylinders’ look reminds me of the PRR S2, although that had no cylinders at all, being a steam turbine https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Railroad_class_S2
Funny you should mention that, the PRR S2 was part of what inspired this idea.
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Doing some stock taking. Keeping note of what I have at this time, which I shall list in case anyone is interested.
FINISHED LOCOMOTIVES I HAVE TO HAND
No.1 Bulldog - Triang Nellie repaint/slight modification
No.2 Wild Rover - 0-6-0 rebuild of Hornby B12 (old Triang sculpt)
Partially deconstructed Hornby Toby (for parts)
UNFINISHED LOCOMOTIVES I HAVE TO HAND
No.3 Peter - Bashed saddle tank made from various starter loco parts
LOCOMOTIVES THAT HAVEN'T ARRIVED YETNo.4 Revenant - Hornby-Dublo starter loco body shell repaint on new chassis
ROLLING STOCK I OWN
5x Hornby/Triang open wagons, 1 of which "Charrington's" private owner
1x Hornby starter box brakevan
1x Hornby box van
3x Triang livestock vans
1x Triang LMS suburban 3rd brake coach
1x Triang horsebox
4x Triang blood-and-custard Mk.1 1st coaches
1x Triang crane
Aaaaaand that's everything I have at the moment. Not a gigantic amount of stock at this time, especially as this is probably going to be a big layout.
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I picked up this copy of Edward Beal's 1947 'New Developments in Railway Modelling' in our local retro market, very recently. I remembered having one of his books when I was railway modelling in the 1960s and found it a very nostalgic read. I love the way it is described as being prolifically illustrated by the author and with photographs. It is the line drawings that make it so appealing. The front cover is plain. The title is on the spine. I expect that it originally had a paper dust cover.
Wow. Proper modelmaking pioneering there.
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Another concept for you guys, this time for an inside cylinder Pacific.
Inside-cylinder Pacific concept.pngThis is one of those ideas where I know WHY, conceptually, it's never really happened, but it would be quite interesting to see someone build one just for the uniqueness factor.
(Not necessarily a West Country Rebuild, mind. That was just the locomotive I could use to best depict the concept. Have I mentioned that I much prefer the "Spam-can" ones? Also that I hate the look of smoke deflectors as much the time it ruins the profile of the locomotive?)
On a second thought, with those notes on my own preferences taken into account if I did it it'd look more like this maybe...?
Not that a railway as small as my own Kelsby Light Railway would need a Pacific, of course, but still.
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If you are interested in books of the same era then I would recommend these two. Of their time and a bit dated, but interesting nevertheless. Both of which you can usually find pretty easily for a couple of pounds.
PSL COMPLETE GUIDE TO MODEL RAILWAYS by Michael Andress. A compilation of a series of books about different subjects such as wiring, scenery, operating and baseboard building. Even has sections on narrow gauge and modern image.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Guide-Railways-Michael-Andress/dp/0850597528/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
How About Railway Modelling? by John Craven. Part of a series that he did about different hobbies such as stamp collecting and photography.
Jason
Thanks man. I'll keep an eye open for them. I'm not collecting old books or such, I just like to have lots of reference material. Good to have a general idea of many different techniques so you can always work out a rough idea of what to do in any given modelmaking situation.
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I would guess that an HO mechanism would be required to enable that. There are compact wheelbase North American consolidation model mechanisms that might do. Some years ago a friend found one such and I loaded it into a much modified Lima J50 bodyshell that he had grafted a Patriot parallel boiler into, for an end result that looked not entirely unlike* Thompson's Q1 0-8-0T.
*Correct number of wheels. looked like a Frankenloco.
Wow. Sounds like a bit of a beast.
If I can find mine (we've just shifted loads of stuff about....), I'll measure her up.
I doubt a Lima prairie chassis would fit as the motor fills the cab and the loco is a couple of millimetres too tall to get it to fit. A K's one might be persuaded to go in or perhaps their '1361' chassis?
I always thought the Y4 was rather attractive.
Thanks, man. Get back to me on that. I'd measure it myself, but the bodyshell that started this conversation is currently still floating in Royal Mail's ether.
And I don't know. I'm just not a fan of the way it looks, as much as I am a fan of LNER locomotives.
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And three livestock vans painted.
And just realised there's a brown smudge on the van on the far right. D*mn it.
Anyway, I'm hoping that the wheels will be fine as much of the sets of lines the freight vans will be running on are straight lines apart from only one or two sets of points leading into the three stations' goods yards.-
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Another concept for you guys, this time for an inside cylinder Pacific.
This is one of those ideas where I know WHY, conceptually, it's never really happened, but it would be quite interesting to see someone build one just for the uniqueness factor.
(Not necessarily a West Country Rebuild, mind. That was just the locomotive I could use to best depict the concept. Have I mentioned that I much prefer the "Spam-can" ones? Also that I hate the look of smoke deflectors as much the time it ruins the profile of the locomotive?)
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I'd never seen a Y4 until that point...
Ugly beast isn't it?
That it certainly is.
I'd ( almost ) put money on the body having been stretched to fit one of the 'standard' 0-6-0 chassis - either Triang &/or Hornby or Wrenn..
Hmm. I was thinking of seeing if there's a small enough 0-8-0 chassis to fit. Make it seem like all the power from that massive boiler is going somewhere.
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With the outside cylinders it rather suggests Stratford's magnum opus in the 0-4-0T format, the improbable brick of a locomotive that was classed Y4 by the LNER, (pronounced with a rising tone to emphasise the humour...).
Forgot how ungainly the Y4 was.
Right. Another question. Does anyone know how big its interior dimensions are? And if so, what is the chassis that would fit with the largest wheel arrangement? Want to make it into a chunky goods tank for my KLR freelance line.
Red's Fumbling Bench
in Modifying & Detailing RTR stock
Posted · Edited by RedGemAlchemist
Thanks for the info. Can't tell if that second statement was a warning or not.
Anyway, update time!
My little 0-6-0 mixed-traffic tank takes shape. And I have the perfect name for it.
So, here it is. KLR No.5, Geoffrey Lake, named after my great-grandfather, who inspired my love of railways by telling me tales of his life working for the LNER and reading the Railway Series to me when I was a child. It only seems fitting, even now some 13 years after his passing, to name a rebuild of a Hornby Thomas after him.
Here's to you, Pop.
Apologies for getting a little emotional there. We now return to our usual scheduled programming.