SR71

Having seen a picture of Cadbury No1 flicking through Industrial Steam Album I went on a bit of a googling mission. There are clearly a lot of people who like this engine and the wider system. There are lots of photos of number 1 plus it's sisters. There are quite a few people who seem to have started modelling one aspect or another of the Cadbury railway... But has anyone ever finished a model of one of the Cadbury engines? The closest I could find was a 7" live steamer but that was just generic small steam loco with outside motion painted maroon to my eyes. (7" not really my thing so I'm claiming no accuracy for calibration of my eyes!). Anyone?

Well I started the D1 chassis but have been diverted onto a secret squirrel project since Feb. I wasn't intending to post it until September but I've been enjoying everyone's increased project updates over the last three weeks and wanted to contribute as I too have been working away. I don't want to give too much away but today's milestone is below.

Minic Motorway with level crossings brought a whole new level of jeopardy though! Interesting to note that both shifted but that Triang's cheaper production methods/thinking enabled them to switch more readily? The Hornby Dublo mail coach for instance is absurdly over engineered compared to its plastic counterpart. And presumably just so the flaps didn't open when there wasn't a mail bag.

The Somerset and Dorset Nellie springs too mind! I had a reasonable amount of triang but looking at it now it's Dublo 3 rail that most evokes the stream era British railways for me. Which I guess makes sense as it's a homogeneous collection from that period. Or it could just be that triang mineral wagons just don't clatter the way HD ones do! As has been said many times they were vastly over engineered and researched for toys.

I've been looking at Dublo recently having fond memories of playing with my Dad's collection in the 80's. Looking at the production dates given on some of the auction items it struck me that the liveries seemed to have moved on with the times. Rather than the big fuss being about nostalgia items - Peckett, Rustin, etc. - today they seemed to be keeping up with the latest developments and dropping older stuff when it could not be seen on the network anymore. This might be blindingly obvious to those that were there but is something I'd never considered before. For instance they don't seem to have done any of the more decorative earlier grouping liveries that would have been current just 15-20 years prior to the model and they haven't done any pre-grouping models at all. In tin printing some of these liveries would have looked spectacular. Is my perception right or was it more nuanced than that? Is nostalgia now better than it was?

I need a typical old style moulded coal load for something I'm working on. The kind we've all cut out over the years to replace with something more realistic. Something like what's in this wagon https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/223943654411 but preferably not mint in box. Anyone not binned everything as I seem to have done? White metal or plastic would work.

Grub screws can be hard if the original supplier isn't able to do spares. (First place is go). Plan B is get a machine screw of the same thread, take the head off it then cut/file a slot in the top for your screwdriver. That assumes you can't get away with having a screw head in the space.

Well I can say... don't file or solder it! It's riveted. This is the other side I popped out. The crank pin is machined with a top hat and then a rectangular section piece which the eccentric fits over and is then pressed down to retain it. Eccentric and crank pin on other side once I'd figured this out... too late. Thanks for the help all and hopefully this thread will now come up in Google if anyone else wants to know.

I think a file is the answer. I've confirmed solder will adhere to the valve gear so it should (hopefully) be reversible. Once it's apart I'm sure the solution will be obvious as always... Thanks again, will update with results.

Thanks Il Grifone. I must be doing something wrong. Had 120w iron and a fairly chunky tip this evening but didn't touch it. Tried melting in fresh solder as that has worked for me in the past but while it went on fine the original solder won't budge.

I'm sure this has been answered before but Google wasn't my friend... How is the valve gear on an 8f attached to the crank pin, it looks soldered but some experiments this morning have been unsuccessful. Older solders seem to have a higher melting point but I don't want to persist and damage something! (3 rail btw)

Not sure of the motor design but check that the screw(s) aren't too long and jamming the armature when you tighten them up. I have seen this in the past and it's only fractions that make the difference. Worth checking before you make your holes bigger as that could potentially make it worse.

Would an off-center turntable do the job for 2 roads (you don't say how many you want to have). Have a turntable centered between two roads and lay the track onto the turntable so that it's offset from the centre by half the distance between roads? Rotating the turntable 180 degrees it would switch alignment between tracks. ...I hope that makes sense!

Thanks bike2steam. Looks like I'd be needing to get the saw out if the kit is accurate then

Yes I'll admit it is an odd request. I'm thinking of doing something (not just a straight build) but don't want to say too much as it isn't for me. Sorry to be cryptic. I think from their website Lytchett only cast to order so I doubt they would have one to measure.

Does anyone have one of these and could measure the wheel spacing the body is based on please? I have an idea for one but can't check suitability without going ahead and buying the kit which could be a bit of a waste...

Having used super glue on white metal kits about 20 years ago I found that during their time in store (in a spare bedroom so not subject to temperature changes) most kits have had some parts have decided to disassemble themselves so beware super glue has a 'life' unlike solvent options.

Thanks Hayfield, I've not seen that video, have you got a link? (A quick look on YouTube and I couldn't find it). I've found that soldering works best with a small gap between parts. If a joint is totally flush I put a small bevel on the back edge to give room for the solder. I think a 2mm gap might be too much for solder alone, around 1mm is where it seems to start to get iffy for me as the solder doesn't want to bridge the gap. I use the glass underneath as a way to stop it collapsing under its own weight which seems to work so far building up the joint in stages. If I was going to extend as you need to I think I would use a scrap of white metal in the gap to give the solder something to form around. If the casting has already broken in that location I'd worry that it's a weak spot and the solder wouldn't hold long term though. I'm still learning (this kit could yet be a disaster) but I try to put cuts where another piece will bridge the gap and brace it. That being said, with spares available, I'd absolutely have a go because you can only really gain. Feel free to add a photo of the footplate to this thread if you want to.

So... cab or footplate? Both! I didn't manage to do anything over the Christmas week but I've made up for that this weekend. And yes those buffers will not be remaining. The cab soldering went well but I did spend a lot of time fettling to make the joint fit up as good as possible before hand. Part of this process was to take out a lot of the locating tabs. They are needed if gluing, to give enough contact area, but if soldering the they end up getting in the way of the joint and also it looks like the driver is smuggling home a load of 6"x4" timber to build a shed. Below I'm checking if it's square before going over all the joints with the iron. It's slightly out but I didn't think i could improve on this to get the tiny fraction needed. Soldered but not yet cleaned up. Next I needed to shorten the footplate. You may have wondered why I am building everything as modules off the footplate casting. One bugbear I have with white metal locos is they regularly end up with a footplate that looks like a gradient drawing of the Somerset and Dorset. This is the nature of the material but I wanted to have the best chance of ending up with a flat footplate so i am leaving it until the last. ...and having carefully kept the casting flat I now need to cut it up... DOH! The PCB is soldered across before cutting to ensure the footplate has the best chance of retaining it's shape and resists the bending action of the saw. The first cut has been made and second is in progress. The 2 parts are then reattached as I did with the cab sides. Below is tacked so I can check alignment. And that's it so far. I need to look at the chassis next I think but I need to get some broaches before I can start on that.

@WaysideWorks Sorry I've been through my spares, where I thought I might have some 0-4-0 wheel sets left, but no luck.

I can't find any details of it online and they aren't mentioned in any of the deals papers I can find on their site. Frustratingly I didn't have time to check in store as I was with family. What's the purpose of the bulb in the circuit when regulating an iron? I've never been sure?

On my post roast walk today I popped into Lidl and saw these and wondered if they could be used to make a regular iron temperature controlled?

I was recommended an Antex iron here; The 120 is probably a bit overpowered for white metal as I usually have it near the lowest setting but I haven't looked back since getting it. Noting that they are a decent chunk of money, if you don't know if you will even get on with gas/white metal soldering, I previously used several gas irons from Screwfix. They did the job but just weren't particularly long lasting.

Beginning to sound to me like it's been dropped or otherwise been subject to ill fortune. I don't think I have any of these left but I'll have a rumage in the spares box.

The Johnster suggests the proper way but I'm going to guess that you might not have access to the tools and they would probably cost more than you paid for the loco. That being the case pick a wagon you know runs well. Hold it so the wheels are flange to flange with engine wheels (aiming at a light source like a window makes it easier to see) looking at one axle at a time. The flanges on your wagon wheels should be the same distance apart as the engine wheels. If not, this is what you are aiming for. To open them out the screw driver method works but you have to make sure you don't leaver the wheel crooked. Alternatively you can support the chassis either side of the wheel set and tap/put pressure on the axle center to push it through the wheel slightly. To close the gap up you can usually squeeze the wheels between you fingers. Before doing this though I would do as Il Grifone suggests and see if that wheel is crooked on the axle as it rotates. If it is I don't know if an easy way to put that right. Anyone?