Siberian Snooper

Laira, for Hemerdon, can't remember whether it was Laira or Newton Abbot that supplied locos to Totnes for Dand Rattery. It would have been Plymouth, before Laira opened.

5 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

And HMS Troutbridge visited the Pool of London ... oops .... sorry pardon !

 

 

Naiad was somewhat accident prone, in that period.

I have to have my old meter replaced and the only option is a smart meter, I'm not happy with that, but I may get the last laugh, as the last time they wanted to change it, the chap took one look at it and said that he couldn't change it as the Western Power fittings were out dated and he'd not been trained on them. He said that he would report back to his supervisor and I should await a call from Western Power, quick as a flash, nothing happened. I'm now waiting to see what happens.

28 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

I think it would normally be the Pilot’s decision as to how many tugs to use (if any). 

The pilot advises the skipper on what tugs he should use and not following that advice is usually foolhardy, but ultimately it's the skippers responsibility.

I watched a cruise programme where the skipper refused the tug(s), because the pilot had no experience of the type of ship and was awestruck when the skipper berthed the ship in virtually a single move, with azimuth engines and a number of bow thrusters.

29 minutes ago, Legend said:

I must admit to being surprised there were no tugs . I’ve been on cruise ships with triple bow thrusters azipods etc which means they can turn in their own length . However there are certain ports where the use of a tug is compulsory even though the ship really doesn’t need them . Given that this was a tricky manoeuvre , ie a 180 degree turn close to critical infrastructure I’m surprised they weren’t required . I’m only a cruise person, I know there are lots of master mariners on here that will know the regulations 

Most cruise ships have at least two engines and props, but an awful lot of merchant ships have asingle massive engine. I don't know what particular ship has. If you have two engines you have a chance to retain some control if you loose one, but if you have only one and loose the lot.

WOT, no filth?

I know that this is closing the stable door after the horse has bolted, but I can see a case of tugs being compulsory where large ships are required to navigate through bridges.

My thoughts are with the missing and their families.

With the gearbox you have, how does the motor look if you mounted it vertically in the firebox? you will need to shorten the end of the motor shaft.

I spoke to Dave yesterday, he has finished casting and all the moulds have gone to storage. All the castings he has are boxed up and ready to go to Brian. 

So far there has been no interest in anyone buying the business, but he remains hopeful. 

After soldering connecting wires to the motor and testing that all was good, I wrapped insulation tape around the end with the terminals to ensure that they wouldn't come into contact with the firebox.

9 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Thanks. The kit came from the erstwhile West Coast Kit Centre (Alan Bunn) and has an unlabelled motor and gearbox. The motor is a cuboid open frame unit 25mm long x 15mm high x 10mm wide. I'd like to use these if I can, rather than shell out for new ones. I'll see whether that will fit vertically.

 

In the meantime, If you wouldn't mind checking the provenance of your motor/gearbox please that would be very helpful.

I can do that, but it will be on Monday, as I'm off to a couple of gigs and a couple of nights in the Smoke. I forgot last night, as I got accosted on arrival at the club last night to sort out electrical faults on a couple of layouts.

Probably the small China clay trains.

I don't see why they can't run at least a few trains into Paddington, during the Old Oak Station build. During initial construction it ought to be possible to keep the mains open and  once stage one is complete, open the reliefs and close the mains. There's no need to open the station.

During the Reading rebuild, the station remained mostly open, I don't think there's been any dramatic changes to elf and safety, since then.

Most woodwork weather's to a silvery grey colour, only new sleepers and timbers are original creosote brown the rest of the trackwork is various levels of rusty brake dust and other contaminants, especially if you model the pre- retention tank era.

I have used have mounted the High Level gearbox on the rear axle and the gearbox vertically in the firebox, I think it's a 12 x 20 motor, I can check later, if I remember. It's a snug fit, it won't need to be torque restrained.

The chassis has been primed and had a coat of mat black, I need to weather it and fit the wheels etc. I'm currently fighting the bodywork.

16 hours ago, Erudhalion said:

I finally managed to get something done this weekend.

 

I made a throatplate/motor support out of brass and soldered it on to the top of one of the frame spacers. I'm in the process of making a curved plasticard piece I will epoxy to the front of the throat plate, in order to close off the bottom of the boiler and hide the motor and flywheel completely.

 

The reversing rod, sanding rods, handrails and toolbox to the running board went on next, followed by all the various tank fittings. I drilled all the way through any locating dimples (like the ones for the handrail knobs or the buffers for the tank fillers) so I didn't have to solder them from the outside.

 

The instructions don't mention the four tank supports or the handrail knobs, but it seemed wise to do them at this stage so I could solder them from the inside. As I was doing this, I realised I should have done the same for the handrail knob at the top of the smokebox (and possibly the smokebox door darts too), but at this point they are inaccessible from the inside.

 

 

The photo above also reveals the other less than ideal choice I made: soldering the injectors on at this stage. The castings are very fragile and because they are mounted between the running board with the overflow pipe gping through a hole in the running board itself, they made place the tanks in place very fiddly. Ine consequence of this is that the left hand injector got somewhat mangled in the assembly process and doesn't line up properly with the hole in the running board anyway, so that will need sorting out somehow.

 

Having done all that, I fixed the chimney, dome and safety valves to the top of the boiler, and checked the clearance between it and the motor.

It is a bit tighter than I hoped, but there is a small gap, so it should all work. (The photo looks like the motor touches the top, but that isn't the case, although I did file a bit of a dimple in the underside of the top of the boiler just in case.)

 

 

After soldering the tanks and boiler top on, it is starting looking like a loco. Exciting!

 

 

Although now that I'm looking at this photo, I've noticed some rather messy soldering of mine around the front corner of the tank. That will need tidying up.

 

Having said that, I think I'm finally getting the hang of soldering whitemetal. I was a bit worried of melting holes in stuff, but I realised that you can actually leave the iron in contact with the metal for a pretty long time and get the solder to flow nicely.

I too have found that the tank castings and the joint with the front casting to be a bit of a mess, I'm going to wait until I get some primer on it before deciding what to do about it.

For the injectors, I used lost wax castings from Alan Gibson.

5 hours ago, Tim Dubya said:

 

 

I'm the same with Templot tbh, I only "draw" crossovers and single points to be printed as track templates.  A whole layout, even the small one I'm planning (in my head), feels daunting to create in Templot.

Take it one step at a time, draw your 1st plain line track from end to end and then add the 1st turnout or crossover, just a couple of clicks these days. If it's a crossover, you can extend the track in either or both directions. If you want to add another turnout you split the plain track from the original turnout, you can then put a new turnout in the new bit of plain line, repeat as required.

It's been a lot easier to make diamonds, single or double slips and even tandem turnouts, with just a couple of mouse clicks, these days.

2 hours ago, adb968008 said:

Finding someone to make a claim against is easier in a car, than a passenger on a train.

i wonder how much the carpark at Luton airport cost ?

Only if they survived!

46 minutes ago, phil-b259 said:

*Which has more to do with Willy waving about how ‘tough’ Governments look than a realistic assessment of threats - a terrorist setting off a bomb on a Ro-Ro passenger ferry would be just as catastrophic as someone doing the same on the channel tunnel - yet I don’t see all motor vehicles and their occupants requiring to pass through x-Ray scanners etc.

Just as a matter of interest, what security measures do vehicles and passengers go through before embarking on the Shuttle?

With the lack of space in central London, I think that with the connectivity that Stratford has these days, shift the whole lot out there to a new station with more than enough capacity to handle todays requirements and to expand to take care of future needs.

St Pancras can then be given over to domestic travel.

I  can't see that solution happening in my lifetime.

I have used Kings Cross Royal Scot travelodge on several occasions, about a 15 minute walk from St Pancras. Some rooms are better than others, but you get what you pay for, in that part of London. The grub has always been acceptable.

12 hours ago, roythebus1 said:

Looking at this logically, the six foot in 00 should actually be 28.46mm between rails. 18.83-16.6=2.23

2x2.23=4.46+(6'x4mm)28.46. if my maths are right.

 

None of whic answers my query about Wane's single slip curving to about 60" radius...I've got a tracing of the hand-built one but as usual computer won't let me load it to Templot, blame Apple for that!! Pah.

Can you save or convert the tracing as a jpg or a png? Either will load into Templot.

I tried to ring,  both Brian and Dave on Friday, but I forgot that they may be at the Ally Pally, this weekend. I will try again on Tuesday, to give them time to wind down after the weekend.

10 hours ago, Coach bogie said:

Unfortunately my 2021 is in the UK and I am in Brisbane and cannot measure until my next trip home. If you have some spacers, the dimensions could be calculated using the 16mm driving wheels as a guide.

 

Sorry

 

Mike Wiltshire

After I posted my question, I did wonder if you would have the loco at your current location.

Thanks, anyway.

On 13/03/2024 at 09:13, Coach bogie said:

I think mine has been waiting a similar amount of time to replace the missing foot step.

 

Mike Wiltshire

 

Hi Mike,

Could you please measure the gap, between the cab side sheet and the bunker, please. I have two panniers and a saddle tank on the go and the initial gap that I got was 4mm, which is obviously too small.

Many Thanks.