Phil Mortimers 7mm WorkBench - Mercian Vivian Style Garratt

[PhilMortimer]

And so we continue.

 

Firstly, the smokebox door has now been fitted. the boiler unit now has its distinctive face!

 

 

Most of the recent work has concentrated on making the loco operable. This has involved installing the pickups and through wiring between the two power units.

 

Each power unit has two phosphor bronze wipers installed on each side of the chassis, wiping on the rear of the driving wheels. these are soldered to copper clad pads epoxied to the inside of each frame. Of course, I forgot to take pictures of these, but will do so later. Wires from these run off to the motor, as well as to the interconnecting wiring that runs the length of the loco and allows both power units to be electrically connected. This means that there is all wheel pick up for the loco, and with the two power units connected to each other, the likelihood of bad running due to electrical pick up problems (such as dirty track or points) is minimized. The problem is that the loco is articulated and the power units may at some point have to be separated from the boiler unit for maintenance, so microplugs were used to electrically connect the wiring on the various units together. A secondary problem was finding a way to route the wires along the boiler unit so that they inconspicuous. The picture below shows that this was achieved by running the wires between the firebox and the cradle frame, and then along the inner side of the boiler frame.

 

 

The wires can be seen if on the inside of the cradle frame at the top of the photo (if you look closely). Three wires were run, as originally it was planned to have both motors running in series for improved slow running. Trials in this configuration shows that the loco did not have enough oomph and so the wiring was changed to have just both units running in parallel. Slow running is still OK. Had I known this at the outset, I would only have run two wires, but having run all three, it was easier to leave the third in place rather than remove it.

 

The next picture shows the wiring being installed - it is held in place by a few strategically placed smears of epoxy and was held in position for 24 hrs until fully cured.

 

 

The wiring terminates in multi pin connecting plugs made from PCB header strip. The wires were carefully soldered to the pins of the pugs, then encapsulated in epoxy for strength and finally encased in shrink wrap. These micro plugs allow the power units to be electrically connected, but the units can be separated to allow disassembly of the loco into its component sub assemblies if necessary. I should point out that it is a faff to reassemble the loc and once finished dissasembly will only occur on a VERY occasional basis. I have drilled and threaded the pivots to allow retaining screws to be fitted to hold the power units to the boiler unit. The whole loco will have to be handled gently to avoid putting undue strain on the pivots. Probably, it will be best if the loco is lifted by holding the power units at each end. the picture below shows the wring at the bunker end with the bunker absent. Its not pretty, but it works.

 

 

Finally, the following pictures are overall views of the loco whilst testing its operation, along with an appropriate wagon.

 

 

 

Finally, I have some video of the loco in action. These were taken on my extremely dodgy test track laid out on my desk and can be viewed below. One is more of a close up, whilst the other is stepped back to give a more overview perspective.  Excuse the messy workbench.

 

 

 

Please note that the yellow tape along the valances is just present during the build to protect the paint work whilst handling the loco.

 

Finally, I have a new supervisor whilst working on these models. I used to have my cat Stewart lying on my lap when I was working on the models, occasionally waking up enough to bat something off the work bench. Now that he has passed away, and the other cat, Ion, is not that interested in working with me, it has been a bit odd working alone. Not any longer! As the picture below shows, I now work under the supervision of Cassie the parrot, who we are long term fostering for her owner whilst she is away and can't look after her. Cassie is fascinated by the movement of the loco. However, for her health, she is not allowed nearby whenever I'm working with anything that generates fumes (such as solder, glue or paint). But for testing and assembly of parts, she is present and quite insistent and vocal about being involved.

 

 

The loco will now be dismantled back to its major sub assemblies (2x power unit assemblies, front tank, rear tank and bunker, boiler unit), to allow fitting of final details and a basic coat of weathering, before final assembly and shipping off to its owner. then i get to finish the other one!

 

 

Edited September 5, 2021 by PhilMortimer
Add video's

[Simond]

Hi Phil,

 

good to hear from you.  It’s been a long road but you’re getting there!  

 

Mine is in bits in a box.  I have purchased the steel that I am hoping to turn into valve gear, when the weather is no longer attractive for motorbikes and boats.  (Actually, given this summer…)

 

atb

Simon

 

 

[PhilMortimer]

I'm afraid that my mojo has been lacking on this project for the past few weeks. Probably due to having lots to do outside whilst the weather is still reasonable, as well as lots of work both for my employer and up at the farm. All in all, its been rather tiring recently and I have not been able to focus onthis project.

 

Anyhow, I will be back on the project soon. But for the moment, here are a few pictures and videos I took recently when we want away for a few days for our anniversary and and visited the N&W J class 4-8-4 loco running at the Strasburg railroad in Pennsylvania. Also running was Strasburg #90, a branchline 2-10-0. A couple of pictures from the adjacent Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania are also included and I do have some more if anyone is interested.

 

Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will say that the crew of the J class seemed to be deliberately smoking it up as they ran past the location where I was filming and taking photos. I hope no-one had their laundry out to dry that day.......

 

Edited September 9, 2021 by PhilMortimer

[PhilMortimer]

Finally! I think we are getting to the point where we are done with the first of these locos!

 

Over the past few weeks, the loco has been weathered. I’ve done it to represent it being in a used, but well maintained state. It is certainly not as filthy as the real thing is seen in many pictures, but if you wish to take it further, it will form a nice base to improve on. The weathering was done using Giles Falvells’ technique where the paint was rubbed down with fine wet-and-dry (applied wet) to smooth off the paint, then over pained with water soluble oil paint (sooty black and burnt umber), which was then wiped off with damp paper towel, in the vertical direction. This leaves a streaking effect and stains the red paint, aging it. Hopefully it will be seen to full effect in the final portrait shots. This weathering took a while, but I’m happy with the way it come out.

 

Following that, the final details have been added. The picture below shows the safety valves and mechanical lubricators being painted. To do that I temporarily stuck these to some brass strip using UHU glue, and then brush painted them black after spray priming them.  After painting, the castings were knocked off the brass backing strip ready for fitting, The whitemetal castings for the lubricators needed some tidying up on the mill to get nice crisp surfaces. Also show are the lubricator hand wheels that were fitted once the lubricators were installed. These were made with some random castings that I had around to which I soldered nickle silver rods. The handwheels will be blackened after fitting. The safety vales were painted a gunmetal colour and have been glued into place.

 

 

 

The next three pictures show the cab steam pressure gauge. Only one casting was supplied for these (I need two, as I have two locos to build!), so I used the supplied casting on the first loco (to finish it quicker!) and fabricated one for mine (on the right), which i think looks better. In the cab, no one will really notice them, but I know they are there. The dial face is a piece of card punched out of a business card with a leather punch and the needle and graduations are just pencil marks on the dial face. The dial faces were glued into the casting and some clear glue dropped over the top to seal the dial face and form the glass dial front. The second and third pictures show the steam pressure gauge in position on the cab front sheet – I think it quite effective. Also seen in the last picture on the extreme left is the hand brake handle. The handbrake mechanism has now been fitted and actually rotates, but is a bit fragile so I would be wary of working it too much!

 

 

 

 

There is a very prominent steam valve on the RHS of the boiler. This can be seen in pictures of the real loco and also on the photos of the surviving loco of the class, “William Francis”, as seen in this photo from Phil Parkers photostream shown here.

 

 

 

I believe it is the shutoff valve for the steam supply to the power reverser mechanism. No casting is present in the kit, so I ended up making one from scratch. The valve and associated piping is shown temporarily in position  in the first picture (minus the valve handle) and with the valve handle in the second one. The valve was fabricated from some brass rod, wire and small diameter brass balls and the flange is a steel washer from Alan Gibson that was lying around. The third and fourth pictures show the valve and piping painted up (again in gunmetal) and glued into position on the boiler. It was a small, but prominent addition and worth making.

 

 

 

 

 

Couplings! This is always the last bit of the build for me. The kit supplied some steel coupling links, but they just didn’t look right – they looked exactly what they were – thin bent steel wire. Coupling links are quite beefy bits of kit – they have the whole train hanging off them! So they need to be and look robust, which the supplied ones did not. This started me down a rabbit hole of looking at 3 link coupling dimensions and eventually I found sufficient information to make my own. the first two pictures below show the first steps in making the couplings. This was to fit two metal pins into a block of wood, at a sufficient spacing to give a scale 10 inch separation. 1mm copper wire was then wound round the posts to form a number of coils, and the coil stack manipulated with pliers to give the correct basic shape. After removing from the “jig”, the coils were cut and separated using a very fine jewelers piercing saw. The individual coils were then interlinked to form a three link chain, as shown in the third picture. This was taken before the gaps in the individual links were filled with solder and then smoothed off to make each link continuous. Following cleaning and degreasing, the 3 links were chemically blackened and then fitted to the coupling hooks. I think they are quite effective and much better (i.e. look much more robust) than the supplied couplings. The final pictures show the blackened and fitted coupling links.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, the cab roof! This is seen in the last picture. I have rolled this to shape to match the profile of the cab end sheets. Some 1/16” angle was rolled to the same profile to form the sliding ventilator hatch runners and soldered into place, as was the roof edging. (I did not like the supplied etching for the ventilator hatch and runners – it looked crude!). The whole has been primed and sprayed black. It just needs some light weathering and the roof hatch glued into the open position to be finished. I’m just waiting for the weather to warm up enough to do that!. The roof will be left loose to be glued into position after the addition of crew. For the roof on my own loco, I amended this slightly and used the 1/16" angle to create sliding runners. I will show this in another post.

 

 

The loco is now fully assembled and through wired. It has been tested and essentially is now awaiting dispatch. I will try and take some final portrait pictures this week, assuming I can get some time to set up the photo booth.

 

Cheers,

 

PM

Edited January 24, 2022 by PhilMortimer

[PhilMortimer]

I think I’m going to call time on the first loco - it is done. I could keep tinkering with it for ever, but it is time to pull stumps and get it out the door to its owner.

 

Below are some pictures of the completed painted and weathered Sneyd garratt for your enjoyment. Please note that the roof is still loose in these pictures at the request of the owner.

 

It has been by no means an easy build, but something of a challenge, which has made for a very long build. Not helped by making two of the blasted things simultaneously! However in the end I think the final completed loco is a good model. I will be in two minds when it leaves. Certainly, I will be sad to see it go as I have invested a lot of myself in it, but I will be glad to get it off the bench and move on to something else.

 

I now need to investigate a means of packing it up so that I can get it to the UK safely without it being destroyed in transit.

 

One final thing. I have really appreciated the work that others did before me, in particular Giles Flavell and Phil Parker, along with all the useful pictures that Phil P has posted on the web of the surviving extant loco. Building a model of a loco that is half a world away is not easy and without access to the documented work of those who came before me, the treasure trove of pictures of the real thing, and the encouragement of others (in particular Simon Dobson and the late David L O Smith), this model would not have come out as well as it has. So Thank You to all who commented, encouraged and critiqued this build. It was extremely beneficial.

 

And so to the pictures! And I make no apologies that there are a few of them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right, now to finish up the blue one!

 

PM

 

Edit - I just remembered that I still need to build the extra tool box that was added to the front power unit at some stage in the loco's life. I agreed with the owner that this will be made, painted and despatched later. I need to study some photo's and draw up the plans before cutting brass. But at least I can test fit it against my own loco during the build.

Edited February 7, 2022 by PhilMortimer

[Simond]

Phil,

 

it’s nice to know my thoughts & comments have been useful.  It’s great to have the support of the hive mind when things are being difficult…
 

I’ll be absolutely delighted if my loco comes out anything like as lovely as yours!

 

Having purchased some bright mild steel sheet in various thicknesses, I have no valid excuses regarding the delay in making valve gear…

[Night Train]

Wow, almost 6 years. But well worth waiting for. I am envious of the new owner.

[PhilMortimer]

 

Thank You.

 

Yes, but I am building two of them. Which means four working chassis, each complete with a full set of Walschaerts  above gear and motion. And there was a lot of kit modifications.

 

Usually I am much faster at kit building, but these have been a real grind to do!

 

Also, to be honest, I find the painting takes longer than the building (assuming the kit goes together well), as I don't have good painting facilities.  (I haven't ever really mastered acrylic paints and my wife is very susceptible to enamel fumes). So I have to spray out doors, which means that the weather and large seasonal temperature variations limit the amount of time I have available to paint models.

Edited February 9, 2022 by PhilMortimer

[PhilMortimer]

Well, I lied. I had to add two more details to the red garratt before it was finished. The cab glazing and a small handle for the top of the reverser lubricator. These are show below. (Not great Pictures)

 

 

 

The loco then undertook one final test using its nearly completed sister as a dead load.

 

 

Before being posed with its sister prior to shipment to the UK. This is the last time these two loco's will likely be together and it has  been a long journey for the pair of them.

 

 

The loco was then dismantled into its components and prepared for shipment to the UK.

 

 

I had to go back to the UK for a visit for family reasons and elected to hand carry the loco with me and hand deliver it to the customer during the trip. I decided to strip it down to its major components and reassemble in the UK to avoid stressing the pivots. Fortunately, it was not damaged in transit apart from one lamp iron on the rear bunker being knocked off. Nor was it taken away from me and destroyed at security, though it did elucidate some nice responses from the TSA security X-Ray guys at Dulles airport! ("Nice Choo Choo!")

 

Upon arrival in the UK, the loco was reassembled and then transported to south Staffordshire for hand over.

 

Here it is with John, who was very pleased with it. He remembers seeing the real thing going past his bedroom window as a boy.

 

 

 

A Happy owner! And I got a Steak and kidney pie out of it after delivery!

 

I'm very pleased with the way this one turned out. It was a struggle, but I think its one I can be proud off.

 

As an aside, whilst delivering the loco, I looked out of John's railway room window and remarked on an unusual feature of the countryside. John tells me its the Fauld Crater -  the legacy of an underground explosion at the RAF Fauld underground ammunition store, where between 3500 and 4000 tons of munitions stored underground in the gypsum mine blew up in 1944. Apparently it was one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions to have occurred and the biggest explosion to have occurred on UK soil. At least 70 people died (possibly more) and there is still un-exploded munitions down there.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Fauld_explosion

 

On the blue loco, one thing that came to light when dissasembling and reassembling the delivered loco was that the wires on the boiler unit that link the front and rear units together electrically were shorter than optimal. So on my own loco, I removed the ones previously installed and replaced them with longer ones. This will make assembling the completed loco easier. Picture shown below during installation.

 

 

Now I'm back home, time to carry on with my own loco and get this one finished, as I want to move on to other things!

 

 

 

Edited May 9, 2022 by PhilMortimer
Will need to convert movie to you tube when i get home tonight

[PhilMortimer]

I have to say that since I delivered the Red Garratt and returned back home, my mojo has been distinctly lacking. Maybe the final push to get the red Garratt finished for delivery was more stressful than I realised, or maybe visiting family and then getting back to work took it out of me, or maybe the thought of weathering the thing was not something I relished. Probably a combination of all of the above. However, I've been lacksadaisical about getting on with finishing my own Blue Garratt. Maybe I just needed a break from the darned thing!. Anyhow, over the past couple of weeks I've come back to it and progress is starting to be made again.

 

First, it was time to seal the boiler and glue the smokebox door in place. This gives the loco its distinctive face. The loco was secured with the boiler in the vertical position and the smokebox door glued into position with 5 min epoxy. You have to take care when doing this as the aperture in the smokebox front is just fractionally smaller than the smokebox door and so careful positioning is required. The loco was left like this for 24 hrs for the epoxy to fully cure.

 

 

 

I then started to weather the boiler unit, using the same technique as used on the Red Garratt. This is the technique described by Giles Flavel when painting and weathering his own loco as described in his own build thread and his thread on weathering locos. He also describes it in his article describing the build in NG&IRM Review issue 103.

Anyhow, in brief, it involves rubbing down all the paintwork to get a really smooth surface. I use a combination of 2000 grit wet and dry, used wet, followed by polishing and buffing with ordinary kitchen towel. The loco paintwork is then brushed with small amounts of water soluble lamp black oil paint along cracks, panel lines, rivet lines, etc, immediately followed by wiping off most of the paint with a damp kitchen towel in the vertical direction. This stains the base paint and leaves residual black paint around raised detail, in the same way that washes do. It usually takes me a number of repeated applications and wipe downs to build up a convincing effect. The whole process can be quite time consuming to do (hence my reluctance to get started on it!) and for the boiler unit it required one complete evenings work to rub down the paint work to smoothness, followed by two or three evenings work applying the actual weathering. However, the result is that the oil paint darkens and "ages " the base colour. I can't claim any credit for the technique - I just followed the directions given in Giles's articles, but it does look very convincing. Because this loco was painted with a darker satin paint (unlike the Red Garratt, which was painted with a brighter gloss paint), I did first experiment on a couple of test articles painted in the same manner as the Blue loco, to ensure that the weathering would work without screwing up the paint job. The satin paint requires a bit more preparation, but with patience does yield a similar result to that seen on the first loco, though it is not quite as obvious due to the darker tone of the base paint colour. I still need to weather the frames and the footplating (for which I will also add in some burnt umber in the same manner), but I want to let the staining already applied to the blue paint fully dry and harden for a couple of weeks before I tackle that in order to reduce the likelihood of any staining being rubbed off by handling during the process. In the meantime, the tank and bunker are up for the rubbing down and staining treatment this week.

 

 

Its difficult to see the difference between the weathered boiler unit and the untouched bunker and tanks in the above photo, since the effect is subtle and the dark blue base colour hides the effect more. However, since the sun finally came out tonight, I took the loco out into the garden to get some "in progress" portrait pictures. These are seen below and the difference between the the weathered and non weathered parts is more apparent.

 

 

 

 

 

In the meantime, I've ordered some parts for the next loco to be built and I'm enjoying some time with the "hot stick" working on some of my part completed OO9 locos to give me a break from painting and weathering (I prefer building!)

 

To be continued...........

Edited May 9, 2022 by PhilMortimer
Typo's from late night posting!