Jump to content
 

Sailor Charon

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    397

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Sailor Charon

  1. Sailor Charon
    Well, I've had a few sleepless nights recently. At least, I think they were sleepless.
    A little background...
    In 1914, the Baldwin Locomotive Works designed a... rather large loco for the Great Central. It was unusual not just in terms of size, but for its cylinders which were arranged in pairs. That is, it had four external 18" x 30" cylinders.
    Oh yes, and the S200 2-8-2 was another American loco made to fit to the British loading gauge.
    Now, one of my favourite locos - that isn't British is the Pennsylvania Railroad's I1. Some of which were built by Baldwin...
    I think you can see where this is going.
    Could you build a loco with the [Jeremy Clarkson] power [/Jeremy Clarkson] of the I1 that would... be usable in Britain? Never mind why you'd want to, Never mind that it could replace double-heading 9Fs. Never mind that the Great Central loco would have needed the top taking off the Conisborough tunnel... Could it be done?
    So I got to thinking. Well, when you can't sleep you think of all sorts of things.
     
    We start by taking the cylinders from the Baldwin GCR loco - and make them a little bigger. 20" should be doable. Certainly, I've seen locos planned (for use in Britain) that had 20" external cylinders. (I thought the 9F had 19 1/2" cylinders, but apparently they had 20" cylinders) 22" would be nice, but I have a feeling that we'd be pushing it too much for width. And also for clearance from the ground... So, 4 20" x 30" external cylinders. Could it be done as a conventional 4 cylinder design? I'm not sure. My instincts say... no. Again, I've seen designs for British locos with internal cylinders at 20 1/2" but they only had internal cylinders.
     
    Next, we borrow the chassis - or at least the wheels and general arrangement from the 9F. On top of this, we're going to need a really good boiler to feed those cylinders. Also, we'll be moving it backwards and down to sit behind the last set of drivers, and also to give us a little more height. The I1 has a boiler that tapers from 7'9 to 7', and a firebox that's 10'8" long and 6'8 wide. These should fit within the British loading gauge- well, width-wise at least . (The boiler is 7" bigger than the Baldwin GCR loco.) Oh yes, and we'll want a mechanical stoker. This is going to be one really hungry engine. And thirsty too. Not sure what kind of tender you'd need, but I'm guessing it's going to have bogies.
     
    Oh, in terms of power... I have no idea the tractive effort should be.
    I have plugged the numbers into the relevant formula, and get an answer that feels wrong (too large.) I've also taken the relevant figures for the 9F and adjusted them for the differences (again, according to the formula) And that too feels too large. I'm prepared to believe a figure of between 80 and 89 thousand pounds of tractive effort, but not the figures I get. Especially as I put the figures for the I1 into the formula, and it too came out too high.
     
    So, what do we call it, this... monster?
    I've had a few ideas for loco names... [in no particular order]
    John Michael Osbourne
    Randall William Rhoads
    William Penn
    George Fox
    Yui Ikari
    Matthias W. Baldwin
     
    As for class names... No idea at all.
     
    Source: Imaginary Locomotives
  3. Sailor Charon
    Well, I've finally got some modelling done. Not much admittedly, but I've nearly finished a row of 8 small terraced houses. Which is nice.
    The depressing thing is that I'd got the bits printed and cut out a while back, and I lost some bits.
    But yes... Something is happening again.
    Also, I've extended the running boards on the pacific Jubilee and filled in the rear splashers. I need to solder the wire the connects the wheels - or one side of the wheels anyway as it's come off. And then, when that's done, I can finally unite body and chassis and apply the last filler to round off the bottom of the boiler.
    So... Yes. Things are moving again. Just not sure what the next thing to do is...
  4. Sailor Charon
    Well, I've got to a point with both the Grange - I need to get a bow pen to line it, send it off to be chipped, and then order some handrail knobs, and then it's done. And the streamlined B17 - I need to get some liquid lead (ordered) to get some weight over the rear drivers so it's not front heavy, paint it, line it, fit handrails. Apply transfer. Order transfers first, obviously... That I can start planning what to do next...
     
    No 1. 4-6-2 Jubilee from 'Living with London Midland Locomotives' Probably either use the name and number provided, or else opt for Kashmir (after my favourite Led Zeppelin song. Well, no, but I could hardly call it 'Since I've Been Loving You' could I?) It's a Britannia boiler on a Jubilee chassis. I think I've figured out how to connect the tender - well, I can't use the connection on the chassis, it's going to be too far forward when the trailing bogie is fitted... And also how to get an electrical connection too. So that opens up a whole can of worms... I mean realm of possibilities... (That Princess looks more doable every day)
    No 2. 4-6-2+2-6-4 Garratt (same book). Using two Britannia chassis. I'm probably going to have to modify things so that they're driven on the gear between the first and second set of drivers. Also probably going to have to switch to direct drive - no cardan shaft - which, to be fair, would just take up room. And probably going to have to switch to a pair of Mashima motors. There's going to be quite a bit of part making with this one. Two water tanks, boiler, cab, bunker... This is probably going to be quite a long term project. And at nearly 100' long, quite a long engine too.
    Wish me luck.
  5. Sailor Charon
    Well, I'm torn.
    On the one hand, I've got a nice little N gauge layout. I'm quite happily modifying locos. Whether we're talking streamlined B17s, Granges, pacific Jubilees...
    On the other hand... I get frustrated. I'd love to be able to build (say) one, or both, of the two 2-8-4T locos that never got off the LMS drawing board. Or the 2-10-2T that the GWR didn't make... (I suppose I could use a Dapol 9F chassis for that one, so maybe that's a bad example) or maybe a 72xx or 42xx. Or maybe the LNER 4-8-4... Or... But I can't because I can't get the wheels. Well, I can for a couple of them, if I don't mind buying two locos to butcher them [i mean, yes, you probably could use a Farish B1 as the starting point for a P2 (as a for example) but you'd need a second one to get the last set of drivers. And then you'd need to fiddle with the coupling rods. And, as has been pointed out, when you're going to that much effort, you might as well make a new chassis...]
    The obvious answer is to go to 2mm finescale. Except that means that all the track would need to be ripped up and relaid. [mods to locos and rolling stock go without saying.] It also means that I'd need to make all the points...
     
    I think the next step is to have a go at a loco in 2mm. I'm torn between the LNER A8, and either the 42xx or 72xx. And also have a go at putting together a set of Walschaerts valve gear. If I can do those, then that... makes the decision harder, because it means that I could go down the 2mm route.
    Of course, if I'd known where I was going to be now, I would have made some different decisions. Because I have a horrible sense of 'well, if I were you, I wouldn't start from here.'
     
    Or, to put it another way... Has anybody got any good advice? Or to put it yet another way... Help!
  6. Sailor Charon
    Well... Here I go again...
    The various bits have arrived. And it has to be said that things could be simpler.

    As you can see, the boiler and firebox are part of the footplate - the cab, which, alas is not correct for the rebuilt loco, detaches. Removing them is not going to be as straight forward as it was on the Manor. On the other hand, the body is just made of plastic - the weight is part of the chassis. On the gripping hand, nothing's impossible, and while it's not going to be a case of just sawing away, a little careful drilling should solve a few problems
     

    This is the new boiler. It's going to need a new smokebox door - yes, that's right, it doesn't come with one. Smoke deflectors I can take or leave. Actually, since I don't like them very much, I'm quite glad that they weren't included, as they might have been difficult to remove.

    And here's the bottom part of the firebox. I had to remove this from the Britannia chassis - although compared to the B17 at least it didn't affect the pickups, which are now... a different sort of pickup. I would have had to remove this anyway, as there isn't a firebox there on a Garratt.
     
    [With regard to the Garratt, at least the pivot isn't exactly where the worm was, which I thought it was at first. Also, it looks as if the drive shaft will go under the smokebox, so the motor can fit in the boiler. Possibly fit both motors under it and drive both ends. Whether I'll be able to get away with just one chip... One thing that may be a fly in the ointment is getting the trailing bogie close enough. ]
     
    Oh, and the drawbar hook is exactly where I'd want to put the trailing bogie... Which is possibly awkward.
    Anyway... onward Christian Barnard.
  7. Sailor Charon
    There wasn't really much to say about any one thing, so I thought I'd just put them all in a sort of hash. (No rude comments, please )

    I've not quite attached the front end. I had to trim a lot less off the body than I thought I'd have to, indeed I didn't have to slice it in half as I'd feared. [fast show]Which was nice. [/fast show]. I think I've got the height about right too. The one potential problem is that it's too narrow, but it could be worse.
    The next job will be (ok, after stripping the paint) making the cuts needed to the back so that that fits.
    Oh, and in case this becomes a bit too tricky, I've just managed to get a Minitrix A4 body. Though I may have to find an alternative use for that. I certainly hope I do...
     

    I've got as far as applying the base coat to the grange. I'm hoping to get a bow pen soon. Actually, it's an attachment from a rotring compass... (and I'll have to buy the compass set to get it ) And then I can apply the lining (it dazzles, it excites). I've got the name and number plates off.
    With regard to the name, Derwent Grange isn't one of the ones that are available in N. OO yes, N no. I got a set of names and numbers for Manton Grange, so it may end up with that name instead.
     

    The camera is horribly cruel at times. And it is in this case. This is the coach whose bogies gave me all the trouble with bearings going bye bye. It's an Ultima 50' Restaurant Car (LMS Period III Diagram 1912) and it's been fun to build... mostly. It's the first (brass) coach I've ever built. I had a go before in O, but only got as far as one bogie. This is the corridor side.

    And this is the other side...
    One question, how do you attach the bogies?
    Edit: They're the LMS 9' bogies as sold by Ultima.
     

    And this is the picture of the Mink C that I didn't manage to upload last time. It probably does need another coat..
  8. Sailor Charon
    Well, I know the body needs sticking together - it's still in two... no three parts. Front, back and cab. But... they're on the chassis.

    And they don't look too bad, all things considered. Still need a fair amount of work, but all the major sawing is now done. All the surgery on the chassis is done too. A few little bits still needed removing, nothing major just a couple of little bits that stuck out between the wheels.
    And I've had it going round too. Forwards and backwards.
    The one potential problem - or rather the one thing that could be improved is that there are no pickups on the drivers, so it's reliant on the tender for that. So that could be better. I'm thinking what I can do, but I'm at a bit of a loss. Still... it works.
     

    I was going to fit valences. But, having put the back of the body on, I've changed my mind. The valve gear sticks out further than the body. Not much, but enough to make me think it's not going to be worth doing. Besides which, if they'd still had the streamlined casing in 1967 they probably wouldn't have had valences anyway. The A4s didn't after all...
    And yes, I know that the body isn't quite on straight. It's only resting on top at the moment. And in three pieces.
  9. Sailor Charon
    Well, first, just in case the change hasn't been flagged, I've added an updated picture of the Grange in the Part 4 entry, and added a comment too.
     
    With regard to the streamlined B17... Things have been slightly awkward.
    First of all, with the Dapol B17 chassis, the bit on the loco that the tender drawbar is attached to... isn't attached to anything, so it drops out. On my old B17, it was attached to the cab, but on the chassis it isn't. Secondly, the boiler is just the plastic moulding, that is, without the weight inside - that's not a complaint, just an observation. Oh, and it isn't attached either.
    The good news is that suggests that it would be fairly easy to convert it using the Langley B2 body kit and just using the cab and boiler.

    Now, while the cylinders aren't attached to the footplate, they aren't attached to the chassis block either, and as I'm going to have to start hacking away large parts of the footplate... (Maybe the B2 conversion would have been a better bet. ) that's a bit of a worry, as there's nothing to keep the cylinders in place.
     
    What am I going to do next?
    Well, I had planned to do a V2 using a Farish B1, a Minitrix A3 (for body and trailing bogie) and a leading bogie from... it doesn't matter because the Minitrix A3s I'd been keeping an eye on on eBay went for more money than it was worth me paying for them.
    Other possibilities are for an unrebuilt Royal Scot using the BH Enterprises kit and the Farish Royal Scot. And yes, I know it should, technically, have a Fowler tender. Then again, technically it should have been rebuilt before 1967, so . There are two reasons for this. One, I'd like an unrebuilt Royal Scot. And two, I'd like a couple of Fury types (One in green, one in lined black). Just enough to suggest that it became a class (Probably called Warships The second one I'm thinking of calling Fearless). And the BH Enterprises unrebuilt Scot seems like a good starting point...
    Other than that...
    Well, the wheels are only one mm too small to turn a 3MT tank into a V1 - or an N2. They're about right for an L1/L3 too. (Which would have given me a spare leading bogie for the V2) Come to think of it, they're only 1mm too small for a 4MT tank...
    Oh, and the GEM Garratt might work with the 3MT chassis, although the front loco would probably have to be demotored...
    A princess would be nice, based on the Jubilee, or possibly a duchess, or possibly the Jubilee-rebuilt-as-pacific from Living with London Midland Locomotives.
    Oh yes, and there's the option of turning a B17 into a B2.
  10. Sailor Charon
    Well, here's the current state of construction.

    I'm a tad worried that I've got the boiler sitting too high. And yes, I know the smokebox door needs adjusting, there's a gap, and I'll be sorting it out.
    But enough of my whittling. I finally got some milliput and filled out the bottom of the boiler. It's still lighter than the old Manor one, but hopefully that won't matter...
    You know, the more I look at the picture, the less happy I am. I have a feeling that I'll be having to remove the... coffee pot shaped thing, it doesn't look straight. But I think I'll wait to see what you guys think I need to do about the boiler.
    Anyway, assuming the boiler's been fixed (and the smokebox door. And the coffee pot thing (Safety valve cover?) the next job is to paint it. Or possibly to drill the holes for taking the handrail knobs - now there's something that makes me nervous. I'll wait till I've had it chipped before fitting the handrails...
    Oh yes, and I need to remove the name, number, and GWR letters on the tender. And then order the transfers and nameplates... So still quite a way to go.
     
    Oh yes... this is the tweaked version.

  11. Sailor Charon
    I've finally bitten the bullet, and started sawin' (as the saying goes). I've managed to separate the boiler. I had to cut all round, and then pull, twist, etc to get the metal block out of the firebox. I don't know what the metal is, but I couldn't cut it with my razor saw.

    I've just blu-tacked the boiler in place to take this photo. As you can see... well, it's a shade too long. About 1.5mm too long. I'm going to cut it just after the first boiler band, as that should get the front of the boiler/back of the smokebox in line with the back of the cylinders. I'm going to need some sort of extra weight in the boiler, as, compared to the Ixion one, it's a bit of a lightweight. Also I need to finish off the bottom of the boiler as well...
     
    Hopefully, it's going to work out.
  12. Sailor Charon
    Well, today has been a bad day. Nothing to do with modelling, just been really paralysingly down. The sort of day, in fact when anything you try will probably go wrong.
    So... I decided that (since my old B17 is deader than... something that's very dead indeed) I'd perform a dissection on that, rather than on my nice shiny B17 chassis.
    It was instructive.
    1. The cylinders and valve gear are not attached to the footplate/runningboard. However, the footplate/running board is attached to the chassis at the back.
    2. The boiler/firebox/cab comes away from the chassis fairly easily. If you remember that there's a screw at the back of the chassis as well as one under the smokebox. This is nice. It suggests that you could use the Langley B2 kit to... well, do much the same as Thompson did and rebuild your B17 into a B2.
    You could, possibly, turn your B2 into a V2 (although the wheels are too big)... Or maybe even the planned LMS 2-6-2. I know (sacrilidge!)
    3. You can turn the gearbox round on a Dapol chassis - and have it work. So, if you're looking for a chassis for a tank engine, the Dapol stuff should be a good starting point. Of course, finding a tank engine with 6'8" wheels might be tricky...
    4. There's no real issue with the amount of space under the body of a B17.
    The only possible problem is deciding the amount of runningboard/footplate to remove from the chassis. So, things have turned around a bit...
    Oh yes, and thanks to Will J for putting me onto a Minitrix A4 body on eBay.
  13. Sailor Charon
    So, I've managed to get my camera going. And... well, I apologise in advance for the crummy nature of the pictures.

    This one is a quick snap of the A4 body - with paint partially stripped. (In case you were wondering, the cab's made of plastic) next to a B17 so you can see how much needs to be removed (length ways) The B17 is my old one, which is, alas, dead.
     

    This one is the removed Manor body, with the boiler from the Grange underneath. As you can see, the boiler for the Grange is a fraction too long. (only a mm or two) I'll probably remove the saddle from underneath, and use the Manor one. The one thing that is a slight concern is removing the boiler from the Manor body assembly. A razor saw will be needed, but it doesn't look to be totally straightforward, as it's just at the point where the whole assembly becomes solid.
     

    This is an NGS Mink C. Not terribly well made, alas, but with a coat of bauxite paint, some transfers, and varnish, it'll look better. Honest.
     

    And finally, this is an NGS Mk1 Horsebox. Apologies for the glue on the left hand door. Still, once it's painted, it will look ok. Not great, but ok.
     
    Anyway, those are the pictures I managed to take. Hope they're interesting.
  14. Sailor Charon
    Well, I now have the parts. I have the body, and the chassis... And at first sight, the boiler is a tad too long. Maybe a mm or two, as the back of the smokebox should line up with the back of the cylinders. That probably means moving the chimney back a little also. But all in all, nothing like as bad as I'd worried. I guess the next thing to do is to check a reliable website to get the proper length to help decide.
     
    Oh yes, photos. So far, I have 1 halfway acceptable picture of the Mink C. (Which still isn't painted because I haven't been able to get to my friendly local model shop. I went to Modelzone in Derby today (Had to go to the eye clinic with my Mum) and while they had a wholebuncha different kinds of paint, they didn't have either Humbrol rail colours, or Railmatch.) Part of it is that all the other pictures I took were out of focus. But lying everything on its side is not a very useful way of taking pictures.
     
    Anyway. I'm not quite making progress yet, but it won't be long...
  15. Sailor Charon
    Well, my B17 chassis arrived this morning from Dapol.
    [unfortunately my second B17 has got to go back to (well known model shop) because it doesn't recognise when there's a chip in it. My first B17... had, in the words of a 16th century list of deaths, 'several ailments'] I can't help wondering if I'll ever have any LNER locos running... Maybe I've been cursed. ]
    Task number one is to take...
    Task number one is to make sure that it works. That I can put a chip in it and have it running round. Then, when I'm happy it's ok, then the next task is to remove the body. Hopefully without removing the footplate/running board, as the valve gear attaches to it. Now if I was going for a B12, this wouldn't matter. (The wheelbase is slightly wrong for a B12, but other than that...) So we have a headache. And if the cylinders are also attached to the footplate/running board then we have a bigger one.
     
    Oh yes, I've measure both the B17 from the buffers to the back of the cab, and also the A4 body (likewise). The A4 body needs 13mm removing - indicating that my initial guesstimate of half an inch was pretty good, The problem is, as I said before, from where?
    Based on the locations of the domes on both bodies, it suggests that it should be cut from the front. And mess up the streamlined profile. And probably create a lot of work.
    On the other hand, if I cut it from behind the dome... The front part of the A4 body is solid, with no room for anything to fit inside. Cue much sawing and drilling out of material to hollow it out.
     
    With apologies to Lionel Bart...
    'I'm reviewing the situation,
    while I ponderise exactly what I'll do.
    I need to first off, remove the body,
    And leave behind the valve gear and cylinders too.
    The new body I then must split,
    But where? It makes you want to spit
    Cut here I have to hollow out,
    Cut there I have to fill and grout...
     
    I think I'd better think it out again.'
     
    Oh yes, I'm thinking of naming it 'Derringham County' As to the number... probably 62851...
  16. Sailor Charon
    I got a slightly unexpected parcel today. That might seem unkind, but it was the last thing I ordered, so it really isn't meant that way.
    So, today, I have been mostly building... The N gauge society Mink C.
    I thought I'd start with something simple, and this was. A big thumbs up for that, A small thumbs down for the documentation, I know times are hard, but surely it would be worth reprinting the instructions rather than include an 'oh, by the way, half the instructions are now out of date. Ignore them.' And the assembly diagrams on the main sheet are... also not right.
    Ok. Enough moaning. Like I said, this kit went together well. I don't use liquid glue anymore. I used to, but I had a Scopedog fall apart which I used it on, and I've never had the same trouble with the more gloopy stuff in tubes. A quick turn of a drill opened out a couple of buffer holes which wouldn't take buffers. But yes. Nice and simple. Ok, so it's just a van, but...
    I think that I'm going to paint it bauxite - because BR didn't use dark grey. But yes, I'll probably be buying a couple more, since it might feel lonely.
     
    Oh yes, I said a couple of wagons. The other is another N gauge society kit, the Mk1 Horsebox. Apart from the handrail - which I'll probably make out of fuse wire - it too looks fairly straight forward, and probably less likely to cause swearing than some of my Gundams did.
    I'm not quite sure what colour to paint it. I'm thinking of painting it crimson, if only because I'm running coaches in blood and custard. Of course it might be a coincidence that BR changed their coaching stock to maroon...
     
    It goes to show one thing, I suppose, like riding a bike, you don't forget how to do it.
  17. Sailor Charon
    I don't know. But I've got another break in the wallpaper stripping schedule. In fact I've finished for today. So, I figured it was as good a time to... get back to talking about my layout.
    For various reasons, I've not done much at all with it over the last few months. Part of it is being busy with decorating, part of it is being busy writing, part of it is being busy doing cross stitch, and part of it is... not something I really feel like talking about. Suffice it to say that I've got some locos that hadn't run in over four months, and improvements to the wiring have been on hold for even longer. The good news is that, apart from the two 9Fs, everything is running well. (Touch wood) As for the 9Fs... well, one has developed a click in sync with the wheels going round. At one point it locked up in both directions. It isn't now, but it clicks, and I can't quite figure out where it's coming from.
    The other one... well, the chip has gone wrong, and it will only go forwards. The problem with the 9F is that it's quite restricted in terms of chips, and the DCX75N is probably the most expensive chip around. Oh, and there's always the worry that the loco has something wrong that might have caused the chip to fail. So I'm probably going to have to send it off to be looked at.
     
    My layout's set in the late 60's. Except for the fact that I don't worry about whether a loco would have been withdrawn. Oh, and all the coaches are still in Blood and Custard... because I think it looks nicer. Why the late 60's? Well, mainly because of the music...
    I have a few diesels, class 37, class 24, red Warship, green Warship, Hymek, and a two car class 108 DMU.
    But mostly steam locos. 2... unwell 9Fs, a Manor, two Royal Scots, a Jubilee, a Britannia, a Black 5, a Terrier, and a Q1. Coaches are a mixture... well, not really a mixture since they're in separate rakes, of Dapol Gresleys and Colletts, and Farish Staniers. I've got a couple of Ultima kits on order as well...
    As for wagons, well, an odd collection of vans, conflats, and others.
    Buildings are mainly - actually at the moment, are all - Scalescene. I need to print some more out, but at the moment my printer's out of ink, and it's not fully compatible with my (new-ish) laptop. [More precisely, OS X version 10.6.5] so I don't know whether to replace the printer or not.
     
    Derringham station (Derringham Lime Street) was meant to have an overall roof, but, due to bad planning, will have two smaller roofs. [And due to bad construction, it doesn't have them yet. I made a start but cut the arches out badly, and they twisted. So I need to try again. Cricklestone will probably have an overall roof, if it doesn't clash with the fact that the main buildings are at a higher level, partially on a bridge over the lines. (For which I need to get the hills made.)
  18. Sailor Charon

    Crumbs...

    By Sailor Charon,

    Well, I've not tried blogging before, so please forgive me if I ramble.
    Where do I start? Well, I guess with a quick run down of my current layout.
    It's a four track mainline with two through stations (Derringham and Cricklestone) that, apart from being a roundy-round thing, is based on the idea that somebody laid a line that follows (roughly) the cross country route from Edinburgh to Weymouth. (I know, there isn't one. Equally it doesn't go anywhere near Cricklewood either. But I'm a fan of The Goodies. (And Alan Coren). So the route would be Edinburgh to Leeds to Sheffield to Cricklewood to Reading to Weymouth.)
    Where was I? Oh yes, it models the Derby to Cricklewood section - except changes the names because Derby's too complicated and I don't think there was a station at Cricklewood. Anyway, the main reason for picking the cross country route is that it (at least in theory) it lets me run pretty much anything I like.
     
    The next thing to do on the layout front is to get a couple of extra bits of baseboard. I messed up when I ordered the boards in that I overestimated the space-in-the-middle that I'd need, and so didn't leave any room for Cricklestone Goods Yard. (D'oh) Once I've done that, there's a little more track to lay (oh yes, and finish the engine sheds at Derringham.) After that, I can start to think about getting the hills down. Or up.
  19. Sailor Charon
    Those of you of a nervous disposition should look away now.

    This was the most nerve wracking thing I've done... maybe not ever, but certainly for a long time. Actually no... but yes, it was more nerve wracking than cutting the boiler on the Ixion Manor. You see, to get the A4 body to fit, I had to cut the footplate away from the chassis.
    The cylinders came loose, and one of the rods came out. And the valve gear came away from the bit where it slots in further back as well.
    I thought I'd absolutely messed up. I put it on the line, and, apart from a lack of grip - well, as you can see, there's almost no weight over the drivers, it ran fine. [Victor von Frankenstein] It lives! [/Victor von Frankenstein]
    I'm more relieved than Mafeking.
    Of course, the body still doesn't quite fit, but I've got it to a point where the only thing that needs cutting now is the body.
    And I really wish I'd gone for the B2 conversion instead...
    No I don't. It would have been easier, but [JFK] we do not do these things because they are easy [/JFK] but because the results are really neat.
    So... this is what progress looks like. Hopefully from here on in, it will be less painful and nerve wracking.
    [And no, I'm not sure how I'm going to handle the electrical pickup from the drivers. I'll need to redo it (obviously) but as to how... All advice gratefully received.
     
    Oh yes, as you can see, I've opted for a name. Since there is no Derby on my layout, (There's a Derringham, which is a combination of Derby and Nottingham.) I've borrowed the number for Derby County.
  20. Sailor Charon
    Well, it's been... a tricky few days.

    Partially, it's been a case of trying to get the bottom of the boiler round. I've tried it with, and without the... is it a weight? I don't know. Well, whatever it is, it sits on top of the chassis and is screwed down. The problem is that whether it's there or not, there's stuff on the chassis that sticks up into the bottom of the boiler. The fact that the Brit boiler isn't quite as rounded at the bottom as I thought...
    (Argh)
    I've tried about five or six different ways of rounding it off. At least two of which interfered with the running. As in they stopped the wheels turning. I think at number three or four I gave up. Anyway, I put the weight back. If it is a weight. Even if it isn't, I put it back. I also put a little bit of blu-tak on top of the back end, and now the boiler doesn't point slightly upwards anymore, this lifts the back end a little, so the trailing bogie can turn without getting tangled up.
     
    As for the drawbar hitch. Well, I can't use the existing one. It's in front of the trailing bogie. My plan is to get a countersunk nylon bolt, and put through a hole in the back of the cab floor. Or maybe a little bit further forward. As for power, the plan is to solder a pair of wires onto the existing hitch and also a pair of handrail-type wires. And then make a hitch that uses those wires...
    I'll probably mock up a cab out of card to begin with. I might even use it if it looks ok when it's been painted.
     
    But now for some slightly better news...
    I've been building an Ultima 50' full brake.

    The steps are made from card. I like card. Oh, and the door vents will be card as well, the same as the kitchen car. I need to order another pair of bogies (and some more bearings - oh, and couplings as well...) because I botched the first one.
    I have to say that this one went together more easily than the first one. If only because I had a better idea what I was doing.
    Oh yes, and the ribs are masking tape...
     

    Oh, and here's a view of the bottom. I soldered the underframe and v hangers on this time rather than gluing them. And yes, I need to move the dynamo...
  21. Sailor Charon
    Oh well, as things have been getting somewhat... tricky what with one thing and another. I figured it was a good time to get back to talking about the real point of the exercise. After all, every loco needs somewhere to run (to).

    Here's a picture of the down end of Cricklestone Station. I haven't decided whether the lines are fast-slow-slow-fast, or slow-fast-fast-slow yet. I also made the mistake of putting the short inset platform at the same end as the entrance to the goods yard. So when I start fiddling with space and time (it will be easier to shunt some trains into Derringham rather than Cricklestone... Yes, that was a bit dim) it will look really odd...
    There was (is) going to be a row of arches at the back of platform 1 with shops underneath. That is if it doesn't clash with the big roof. That is assuming that the big roof isn't too much of a pain in the backside when it's in place.
     

    Here's Derringham Station, at the... down end? As you can see, platforms 2 and 4 stick out a way from where the roof will be... if there is a roof, that is... You can just see the ends of the coach sidings, although they're being used for pretty much anything at the moment.
     

    And here's the down end, with a view of platform 3. This will possibly have a double overhead roof - will that improve performance? Otherwise, it could do with small waiting rooms, cafes, shops, etc. Possibly have stuff on a big overbridge like New Street. Dunno yet. That doesn't preclude the roof though...
     
    Oh, and here's a quick shot of the progress on the Garratt. I knocked together a quick mock up of the front end out of card. I need to cut the foot plate back some more so that it lines up with the back of the tank. Other than that it needs a couple of holes cutting at the front.

  22. Sailor Charon
    Not much has happened recently. I've made the new drawbar hitch for the Jubilee, and, at least in principle, it works. The only problem is, it looks as if I'm going to have to solder the wires to the old hitch - and that either means removing the wheels, or else trying not to hit them with the iron. (Both fill me with dread.) and then onto the new hitch, which either means removing the brass bits and then reattaching them, or else... actually, that's exactly what it involves, since you shouldn't solder anything with superglue on it... (argh)
     

    As you can see, it needs a new shorter drawbar. Which is ok, because the current one's a little damaged anyway.
    There's a big gap under the boiler, but once I've got the boiler attached to the footplate, and the footplate attached to the chassis I'll have another go at rounding it off with milliput.
    Oh yes, and I know the cab needs a new front.
     
    In the meanwhile, I'm thinking about turning a 3MT into the Bullied 4-6-4T from Locos that never were, on the basis that it should just be a case of cut down a West Country body, add tanks and a bunker, remove the valve gear from the 3MT and then... (Yes, I know it doesn't have Boxpox wheels.) But it should be reasonably simple and hopefully let me get my confidence back a bit...
     
    I haven't got to B&Q yet, if only because the local ones don't cut MDF to size, and I don't have any transport. But none the less, it will happen!
  23. Sailor Charon
    Well, there is good news to report. I ordered two - well it's always good to have a spare - V2 trailing bogies from BRLines. The nice thing is that they have a drawbar attached, and the even nicer thing is that it reaches the original hitch. The nicest thing of all is that it carries electricity. Yes, folks, the Jubilee pacific lives! And the tender is closer coupled as well. So close coupled, in fact that I had to trim the fall plate down a bit. Which was good because it was possibly a bit too long. Now I can get on with finishing the body without worrying. So job number one will be to fix the boiler/cab assembly to the footplate. And I'll need some plasticard to extend the running boards further back. And then it's a whole lotta filler to make good. And then it's handrails and assorted gubbins. Painting and lining. Renumbering and getting nameplates.
    But yes, we have progress, and it is good.
     
    Meanwhile I've been making some Scalescenes terraced houses for one of the streets on the Derringham side. They run along Cockbill Street up to its junction with Heavyside Street. And there's eight of them, so it's taking a while.
     
    Anyway, things are looking up.
  24. Sailor Charon
    Well, just a brief update to say... nothings' really happened for the last three weeks
    I've got pretty much tied up with my writing, although I've bought some styrene strips to finish the running boards on the pacific Jubilee... I haven't had much chance to do anything with them yet. And I still haven't ordered the handrail knobs... Hopefully I won't have to wait till I've got one of my writing projects finished, if only because that's going to be about another five or six months.
  25. Sailor Charon
    I know, I know, I should, perhaps have folded this into the Derwent Grange entry earlier, but it didn't seem to fit too well.
    I've not done much in the way of fettling to be honest, but since the last time I mentioned them, they were unpainted, and they've been painted - although I haven't got round to applying transfers yet... Come to think of it, I've not got round to ordering the transfers for the Mink C.
     

     
    Apologies for the out of focus-ness of this picture. I might have another go at it, but it's good enough to get a good impression of how it looks.
    Once it's had transfers applied, I'll be applying some matt varnish. When I can figure out what sort to use.
     

    As I said earlier, I opted to paint it in crimson to go with the Stove R, but it seems a bit too... I'm not sure to be honest. It's had three coats. Whether it's the shade, or whether it's too matt, or whether it's something else, but it doesn't look quite right. Maybe when it's varnished?
    The other thing is, looking back, I would have used thinner fuse wire for the handrail. Maybe it would look better painted black (black as night, black as coal) The nice thing about fuse wire is that it's flexible, and if you bend it and you're not happy, it's easy to adjust it.
    If you think the windows look... milky, they are at least better than the last time I tried to fit windows - which was in an O gauge 4MT tank loco. There they came out completely opaque.
×
×
  • Create New...