Michael Edge's workbench

[david65061]

Dear Mike

 

Thanks for that it will be very helpful.

 

kind regards

 

David

[Michael Edge]

The Consett A class is now painted as (fictitious) NCB Ashington No.57.

GER Royal blue, transfers from Railtec, ready to go for chip/sound fitting now.

Also on the bench is another Overhead Railway train, with Bristol exhibition coming up soon I thought another train would make operation better. This will make four trains plus the RH 48DS on the works train, there's only really room on the layout for 5 trains.

This is the second test etch, not the production etch and there were a few bits missing but nothing significant. I borrowed a bogie from another set to set up the power car which has a Black Beetle , waiting for wheels now from Gibson to finish it. The other two cars propped up on nuts for this photo. 7mm 48DS rustons are proliferating in the background, no more progress on the Janus yet.

A few more details of the LOR set, this is another of the 40ft motor coach sets, 41-2-42, there were only four of these but by the early 1950s they were all different. On the end here there are two additional end plates for the truss rods, no steps and a patch plate, this set kept the original shape duckets (the other one on the layout has straight sided replacements) and all its top vents above the windows - most sets had lost these by this date.

The roof end over the cab is a bit of a bodge, it works a bit better in the production ones but it's not easy to do - fortunately neat and tidy shapes weren't a feature of the LOR.

Another view of a motor car body, handrails, door handles, waist beading and droplights were all fitted while the sides were flat. In the background is the completed trailer car, this one (no.2 - although the numbers don't appear anywhere on the outside) has plain ends but set 44-6-43 had a trailer with domed ends like the motor cars.

This is a motor car floor, the body is attached with 14BA screws in the corners, the only detail in the cab is the handbrake column. This has a Black Beetle like most of the others but a Tenshodo will fit in the same way.

View from underneath, the wire truss rods thread through the cross members which are laminated from several layers, large air reservoir and brake cylinder are resin mouldings. The bogies pivot on 8BA screws through a plate soldered to the bolsters, the bogie top plates will be fitted with cross or longitudinal wires to allow one to rock lengthways and the other sideways.

The same arrangement under the trailer car but with only one queen post for the truss rods. Some of the LOR trailers had two, having been rebuilt from motor cars but I think all the ones in these sets were like this.

Trailer car with ends fitted, these are soldered to plates bolted to the floor with 14BA screws and nuts, the tops of the bogie pivot bolts can be seen here, also the bolster ends which are laminated from etches and soldered in place. The sides solder to the ends and a flat plate forms the base of the roof but I didn't take any photos of that stage and it can't be seen now.

Most of the LOR cars gradually lost their torpedo vents over the years, in this train motor car 41 still has a full set, the trailer has lost four over one compartment while 42 as lost them all apart from the one over the driving compartment.

Painting isn't to difficult, plain brown all over with a silver grey roof.

 

 

[Sandhole]

53 minutes ago, Michael Edge said:

The Consett A class is now painted as (fictitious) NCB Ashington No.57.

GER Royal blue, transfers from Railtec, ready to go for chip/sound fitting now.

Also on the bench is another Overhead Railway train, with Bristol exhibition coming up soon I thought another train would make operation better. This will make four trains plus the RH 48DS on the works train, there's only really room on the layout for 5 trains.

This is the second test etch, not the production etch and there were a few bits missing but nothing significant. I borrowed a bogie from another set to set up the power car which has a Black Beetle , waiting for wheels now from Gibson to finish it. The other two cars propped up on nuts for this photo. 7mm 48DS rustons are proliferating in the background, no more progress on the Janus yet.

A few more details of the LOR set, this is another of the 40ft motor coach sets, 41-2-42, there were only four of these but by the early 1950s they were all different. On the end here there are two additional end plates for the truss rods, no steps and a patch plate, this set kept the original shape duckets (the other one on the layout has straight sided replacements) and all its top vents above the windows - most sets had lost these by this date.

The roof end over the cab is a bit of a bodge, it works a bit better in the production ones but it's not easy to do - fortunately neat and tidy shapes weren't a feature of the LOR.

Another view of a motor car body, handrails, door handles, waist beading and droplights were all fitted while the sides were flat. In the background is the completed trailer car, this one (no.2 - although the numbers don't appear anywhere on the outside) has plain ends but set 44-6-43 had a trailer with domed ends like the motor cars.

This is a motor car floor, the body is attached with 14BA screws in the corners, the only detail in the cab is the handbrake column. This has a Black Beetle like most of the others but a Tenshodo will fit in the same way.

View from underneath, the wire truss rods thread through the cross members which are laminated from several layers, large air reservoir and brake cylinder are resin mouldings. The bogies pivot on 8BA screws through a plate soldered to the bolsters, the bogie top plates will be fitted with cross or longitudinal wires to allow one to rock lengthways and the other sideways.

The same arrangement under the trailer car but with only one queen post for the truss rods. Some of the LOR trailers had two, having been rebuilt from motor cars but I think all the ones in these sets were like this.

Trailer car with ends fitted, these are soldered to plates bolted to the floor with 14BA screws and nuts, the tops of the bogie pivot bolts can be seen here, also the bolster ends which are laminated from etches and soldered in place. The sides solder to the ends and a flat plate forms the base of the roof but I didn't take any photos of that stage and it can't be seen now.

Most of the LOR cars gradually lost their torpedo vents over the years, in this train motor car 41 still has a full set, the trailer has lost four over one compartment while 42 as lost them all apart from the one over the driving compartment.

Painting isn't to difficult, plain brown all over with a silver grey roof.

 

 

That is, as usual, superb work Mike.
The pannier really suits the Ashington blue livery.
Regards,
Chris.

[Down_Under]

19 hours ago, Michael Edge said:

The Consett A class is now painted as (fictitious) NCB Ashington No.57.

 

Also on the bench is another Overhead Railway train, with Bristol exhibition coming up soon I thought another train would make operation better. This will make four trains plus the RH 48DS on the works train, there's only really room on the layout for 5 trains.

This is the second test etch, not the production etch and there were a few bits missing but nothing significant. I borrowed a bogie from another set to set up the power car which has a Black Beetle , waiting for wheels now from Gibson to finish it. The other two cars propped up on nuts for this photo. 7mm 48DS rustons are proliferating in the background, no more progress on the Janus yet.

A few more details of the LOR set, this is another of the 40ft motor coach sets, 41-2-42, there were only four of these but by the early 1950s they were all different. On the end here there are two additional end plates for the truss rods, no steps and a patch plate, this set kept the original shape duckets (the other one on the layout has straight sided replacements) and all its top vents above the windows - most sets had lost these by this date.

The roof end over the cab is a bit of a bodge, it works a bit better in the production ones but it's not easy to do - fortunately neat and tidy shapes weren't a feature of the LOR.

Another view of a motor car body, handrails, door handles, waist beading and droplights were all fitted while the sides were flat. In the background is the completed trailer car, this one (no.2 - although the numbers don't appear anywhere on the outside) has plain ends but set 44-6-43 had a trailer with domed ends like the motor cars.

This is a motor car floor, the body is attached with 14BA screws in the corners, the only detail in the cab is the handbrake column. This has a Black Beetle like most of the others but a Tenshodo will fit in the same way.

View from underneath, the wire truss rods thread through the cross members which are laminated from several layers, large air reservoir and brake cylinder are resin mouldings. The bogies pivot on 8BA screws through a plate soldered to the bolsters, the bogie top plates will be fitted with cross or longitudinal wires to allow one to rock lengthways and the other sideways.

The same arrangement under the trailer car but with only one queen post for the truss rods. Some of the LOR trailers had two, having been rebuilt from motor cars but I think all the ones in these sets were like this.

Trailer car with ends fitted, these are soldered to plates bolted to the floor with 14BA screws and nuts, the tops of the bogie pivot bolts can be seen here, also the bolster ends which are laminated from etches and soldered in place. The sides solder to the ends and a flat plate forms the base of the roof but I didn't take any photos of that stage and it can't be seen now.

Most of the LOR cars gradually lost their torpedo vents over the years, in this train motor car 41 still has a full set, the trailer has lost four over one compartment while 42 as lost them all apart from the one over the driving compartment.

Painting isn't to difficult, plain brown all over with a silver grey roof.

 

 

 

Thankyou for those pictures Mike. They will help a lot with construction. I had not realized how much they varied from unit to unit. 

 

 

[Michael Edge]

I doubt that there were any two trains the same by the 1950s.

[Michael Edge]

Another job finished last week.

7mm RH 48DS, the Barry Rly 0-8-2T hasn't made any progress recently.

The 48DS again alongside my own DS1169.

This is how the Ruston is powered, Mashima motor fits at the radiator end, gearbox on the final drive axle. From here a chain goes down to each axle, one is fixed in the frame, the other is allowed to rock under a knife edge.

Paintshop for this now, plain green with red buffer beams, plates to be fitted after painting.

[Michael Edge]

48DS painted now

[Michael Edge]

The new Overhead set 42-2-41 is now finished and painted, just needs glazing.

I'm trying a new coupling system for this train, the earlier ones all have drawbar type links which don't always push very well.

One end is a fixed wire hook.

This hooks over a wire bar on the next car, also shows how I've fitted the moulded sideframes to the Black Beetle power bogie.

Coupled together on the test track. This arrangement pulls reliably and is quite easy to connect up, pushing is taken care of by the LOR central buffers but these are mounted on the car bodies so aren't seen in these photos. This is in fact what the LOR actually did, there were no couplings as such, chains were attached either side of the central buffers. Not tested on the Overhead yet since it's all packed away but I'm going to set up at least par of it this month before the layout goes to the Bristol show. We should have four trains and the Ruston 48DS then, one more (I might do another "streamliner") is about all the present layout can accommodate. 

If anyone needs to see any of the earlier photos which have disappeared, let me know and I'll try to replace them.

[Michael Edge]

LOR 41-2-42 now painted and glazed.

My painting isn't quite up to Dave Studley's level and I certainly can't and paint the LOR crests but I think it's OK. I still have to make sure it gets round the very sharp curves on the Overhead. The north end (42) shows Aintree in the destination blind - it will always be Grand National week on Herculaneum Dock, the LOR only ran there when there was a race meeting, the other trains show Seaforth.

Latest test track photo.

Not much movement recently but the EM1 is nearly finished, ready for numbers and lining now. I'll get back to work on the 7mm Janus next.

[Barry O]

more trains for Bristol Show!

 

Baz

[Michael Edge]

More work on the Janus this week.

Both engine casings done, apart from the cylinder head cover panels which don't appear to have been etched. Neither was the cab roof but these won't be difficult to make from sheet. I'll probably do all the running gear next and leave the handrails till last now.

[Camperdown]

On 31/07/2019 at 11:57, Michael Edge said:

The material is mostly steel shim, .010" for the footplate and boiler (I don't usually use steel for boilers but I'd run out of .010" brass), .012" for the flat platework. Shim steel cuts easily (can be scored and cracked like plastikard for straight cuts), stays flat and punches cleanly for rivet detail. It solders easily enough with phosphoric acid flux but does need a fair bit of cleaning up in the corners - phosphoric acid is the basis for rustproofing steel and there tends to be a build up of c**p in the corners. Once cleaned and painted it's fine.

May I ask where you get your steel shim from?

[Michael Edge]

Mitchell Fox in Leeds.

[Camperdown]

1 hour ago, Michael Edge said:

Mitchell Fox in Leeds.

Thanks.  I guess they don't do online.

 

Whilst we're about it, I find 0.008in n/s sheet a useful size.  Nice for rolling boilers, and the like.  Eileen's don't seem to list it, although maybe it's something they would have at exhibitions.  Or maybe it's gone the way of the dodo.  Anybody know of a source?

 

Tinplate is useful stuff too.  Baby formula used to come in handy 0.008in tinplate tubs.  (Maybe it still does?)  Going further back, the 1 gallon tins of motor oil were a good source of tinplate.  Chronos sell 0.5mm tinplate, but it would be nice to have a good source of some thinner stuff, without having to flatten out coffee tins or the like.

[Michael Edge]

They are fairly local to me but it's worth a try - phone number is 0113 2461000, email enquiries@mitchellfox.co.uk. Shim steel comes in rolls, not too difficult to post.

I've not seen .008" n/s, I use .006" for some parts, boilers I usually roll from .010" brass. My first efforts at loco building were from tinplate, Oxo cubes used to come in large square tins which provided useful flat sheets.

[Camperdown]

3 hours ago, Michael Edge said:

They are fairly local to me but it's worth a try - phone number is 0113 2461000, email enquiries@mitchellfox.co.uk. Shim steel comes in rolls, not too difficult to post.

I've not seen .008" n/s, I use .006" for some parts, boilers I usually roll from .010" brass. My first efforts at loco building were from tinplate, Oxo cubes used to come in large square tins which provided useful flat sheets.

I seem to recall Guy Williams recommending 0.008 for boilers at one time.  I'm a fairly later convert, having rolled most boilers from 0.010in.  As you say, 0.006 comes in handy occasionally.

 

Square shortbread tins are still available for a modest price.  And you get the shortbread thrown in for free.

[dan_the_v8man]

On 13/04/2022 at 07:35, Michael Edge said:

More work on the Janus this week.

Both engine casings done, apart from the cylinder head cover panels which don't appear to have been etched. Neither was the cab roof but these won't be difficult to make from sheet. I'll probably do all the running gear next and leave the handrails till last now.

 

I couldn't put my finger on why the wheels didn't look quite right till I looked at a photo and realised it's the massive counter weights have yet to be added 🙂

 

 

Edited April 19, 2022 by dan_the_v8man

[Michael Edge]

Yes - and I've just discovered that neither of the etched sizes I did fit the Slater's wheels.....

[Barclay]

17 hours ago, Camperdown said:

Thanks.  I guess they don't do online.

 

Whilst we're about it, I find 0.008in n/s sheet a useful size.  Nice for rolling boilers, and the like.  Eileen's don't seem to list it, although maybe it's something they would have at exhibitions.  Or maybe it's gone the way of the dodo.  Anybody know of a source?

 

Tinplate is useful stuff too.  Baby formula used to come in handy 0.008in tinplate tubs.  (Maybe it still does?)  Going further back, the 1 gallon tins of motor oil were a good source of tinplate.  Chronos sell 0.5mm tinplate, but it would be nice to have a good source of some thinner stuff, without having to flatten out coffee tins or the like.

Halfords' Classic 20/50 oil still comes in a can, so if you know anyone with a classic car... 

[Camperdown]

1 hour ago, Barclay said:

Halfords' Classic 20/50 oil still comes in a can, so if you know anyone with a classic car... 

I did not know that.  Some empty oil tins on ebay too, but it might be easier (at least in this household) to buy a 2L tin of olive oil, rather than than the usual bottles.  Still probably only gets you 0.008in tinplate.  Then again, it's useful stuff for loco steps and the like.  I seem to recall Stewart (Stuart?) Hine using tinplate in a louvre press for the body of an early diesel loco, on account of it bending more cleanly than the alternatives.

[St Enodoc]

On 19/04/2022 at 01:50, Michael Edge said:

They are fairly local to me but it's worth a try - phone number is 0113 2461000, email enquiries@mitchellfox.co.uk. Shim steel comes in rolls, not too difficult to post.

I've not seen .008" n/s, I use .006" for some parts, boilers I usually roll from .010" brass. My first efforts at loco building were from tinplate, Oxo cubes used to come in large square tins which provided useful flat sheets.

I remember "printers' hards" too - in fact I've still got a few.

[Michael Edge]

7mm Janus finished yesterday.

Ready for a wash and scrub up now, the coupling rods are still fastened with the standard Slater's nuts but these will have to be modified to fit the roller bearing covers. i don't want to do this until the rods are finally fastened though.

[dan_the_v8man]

3 hours ago, Michael Edge said:

7mm Janus finished yesterday.

Ready for a wash and scrub up now, the coupling rods are still fastened with the standard Slater's nuts but these will have to be modified to fit the roller bearing covers. i don't want to do this until the rods are finally fastened though.

Oh my! That is a different animal in O gauge 😁

[Ian Rathbone]

The L & Y ‘Flyer’ and the GER 2-4-0 have now been painted although the latter needs its number plates and the former a crest for the splasher.

 

 

 

Ian R

[Michael Edge]

Thanks for posting the photos Ian - superb as always.

Latest test track photo, some new work under way now. Latest 7mm job is the GCR Zeppelin from a Gladiator kit, in the foreground one of our Brush 200hp 0-4-0DEs (our display model behind), this industrial one will be painted plain green with wasp stripe buffer beams. The L&Y 4-4-0 is back here for some minor adjustments and weight in the boiler. The NZ Eb genset loco should be finished soon, etches on order from PPD to complete the SR 0-6-0DE.