locomotive kits 30368's Workbench SR Loco's with a bit of LNER

[30368]

So, moving on to matters LNER. My DJH Kit of the A2/3 will be built as 60523, here she is on, I think, Kings Cross Shed yard turntable in the early 1950s given the chimney type fitted. Please correct me if I am wrong. Picture from Getty Images.

 

A great image for modellers, very few overhead shots are available. What a huge beastie! I have compared the footplate casting with my just completed MN and a fair bit longer! All down to Thompson's insistance on equal legnth connecting rods etc.

 

Will start build next week.

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

[30368]

Good afternoon if there is anyone out there?

 

Started the build today after a full morning in the garden. We are right next to a farm field and are under observation from a herd of really friendly cows and their offspring. Perhaps the grass is greener?

 

The Isinglass drawing (4/389) for the A2/3 is full of detail about the class, really excellent. I have laid out those components that I will be using to assemble the frames, motor and gearbox. I really like the way that DJH seals all the smaller components in seperate sealed "bags" it avoids so much swearing and searching!

I am using one of High Level's coreless motors which, I'm told are powerful. I hope so it seems so small and the A2/3 is big and heavy!

 

First job is to mark out and then file out the 1mm of material from the frames to eventually locate the motion bracket.

 

Frames now filed down to size so time to start opening out the axle holes for the axle bearings.

 I use a broach to open out the holes stopping frequently to remove burrs from both sides of the frames (DJH frames are much wider than most kits which I prefer) since the broach is tapered, open out from both sides.

 

First bearing fits axle hole, only five more to do. By the way, the "teeth" looking protrusions on the frame should be left, they are the "mounting" points for the leaf springs.

 

Opening out the axle holes takes some time and makes a mess of the skin of the index finger and palm so I clamp the broach in the vice and move the frames - rather like a thread tap holder - around the broach, its quick and saves the hands.

 

Frames now ready for the bearings to be soldered in position. Tomorrow I think - cup of tea and a bun in the garden beckons...

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

 

 

 

[Guest Jack Benson]

Excellent work as ever.

 

cheers and stay safe

[30368]

Many thanks Jack - praise from the praisworthy always special.

 

Kind regards and look after yourself,

 

Richard B

[30368]

Rolling chassis is now complete. Gearbox/motor assembly will be next.

 

I solder from the inside of the frames this makes it easier to ensure the bearings are flush with the frames and therefore square and keeps all the mess on the inside. If you look carfully at the upper frame you can see a solder bead around the bearing as there should be.

 

Poppy gets into the action - lining up the axle journals before tightening up the frame stretcher screws and don't forget to insert the casting at the rear frame before tightening up.

 

The basic rolling chassis is complete. The wheels are old Markits (or even Romfords) recovered from the last build the Merchant Navy. These wheels had etched Bulleid wheel inserts which I removed. I think that they will be ok but if I am not satisfied I will replace.

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

[30368]

Thw High Level gearbox and coreless motor are now assembled. This is only the second time I have used Hiflier gearbox and I continue to be impressed with the design features. The gears/shafts go together so easily however the 1/8" reamer was required to open out the axle holes in the bearings and final drive gear needing to remove a fair amount of material. A drop of oil helps with brass.

I really do like the ease with which you can set the worm/gear mesh by looking through the slot in the gearbox frame.

As to running, so smooth and silent and judging by the testing, the motor has a fair bit of torque.

 

Assembled gearbox, note that the final drive gear/gearbox have not been centred !

 

A small, but poky little motor - view shows how easy it is to set mesh.

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

 

Edited June 24, 2020 by 30368

[30368]

I think it may be too hot to do anything today! My office/workshop is at the front of the house and in direct sunlight.

 

I'm not complaining, it is rather wonderful sitting in the garden sipping tea!

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

[30368]

The sun has moved to the back of the house so I was able to assemble the main elements of the chassis up to the coupling rods.

 

First view shows the painted frames with the plunger collectors in place.

 

I havn't assembled a "modern" improved DJH kit before. Very impressed with the quality of the coupling/con rods and the valve gear is mostly assembled! Incredable, I had all those soft iron rivets lined up and they were not needed. I was uncertain about the crankpin arrangement which requires the centre wheel crank pin hole to be opened out to 2mm. I need not have worried, it all works very well. I will fit some spacer washers under the connecting rod on the front and rear wheels. Now that the wheels have been painted I think they look ok so I will run with them.

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

 

 

[30368]

Basic machanism now complete. Currently being run in - forward and reverse on 10 minute shifts followed by a check to ensure nothing is running hot. I need not have worried about the power of the coreless motor, it is powerfull!

 

The motor and gearbox are also very quiet running almost silently. I am a fan of High Level motors and gearboxes as well as Branchlines products. Well done Chris of High Level!

 

Running in!

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

 

 

 

Edited June 27, 2020 by 30368

[30368]

Spent some time assembling the motion bracket today. I also had a look at the casting for the frame extension beyond the cylinders, a distinctive feature of the Thompson pacifics. The casting is fine but lacks some rivet detail so I made a template and cut/filed two very thin brass covers to add the detail.

 

First stage of motion bracket assembly.

 

Having bent up the motion outer bracket I used 1mm wire and two 14BA set screws to ensure front and rear brackets were aligned before soldering together.

The completed motion bracket reading for fitting to the frame and valvegear assembly.

 

Last image shows the thin brass overlays fitted to the frame extension casings as mentioned above. I have also shown the footplate casting which is very vulnerable and has significant "flash" along the edge of the casting. It will not be possible in this instance to clean up the casting without loosing the foot plating slight overhang so I intend to us some more thing brass sheeting to overlay the top of the footplate (which also has much rivet detail) and restore the overhang and add the rivet detail.

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

 

 

[30368]

Cylinders and valve gear today. The DJH kit is interesting in that the mainframes only encompass the driving wheels rather like a DJH 4-4-0 kit. The relationship between the cylinders, motion bracket and loco body are always critical but in this kit DJH suggest that the basic body (footplate and boiler) is built so that the cylinders and motion bracket can be fixed in relation to the body. In many of the kits I have built you can complete the chassis and run it and then move on to the easy and fun bit, building the body.

Given that the A2/3 looks so long (in fact it is a little shorter that the Peppercorn A1) I thought I would check the footplate casting with my just completed Merchant Navy which are full grown pacifics! A2/3 is a fair bit longer!

 

Slide bars soldered and ready to assemble the cylinders. The cylinder castings - cylinders and stretcher - require careful fitting - by that I mean filing so you end up with a square and tight fit. I always prefer to solder but could not really see a safe way, given white metal has a low melting point, of achieving this particularly with the slide bar tongue so super glue it was!

 

Use the super glue sparingly else you end up with an attractive sculpture (no I did not!) if you know what I mean. The joint between the slidebar tongue and the casting being critical - apply pressure to the joint for 1 minute to be on the safe side.

 

Sorry about the snapshot! I am sure that master builder Tony Wright would have built one or more of these kits. I bet he soldered the cylinders and slidebars together!

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

 

 

[30368]

As suggested earlier, you really need to partially assemble the body before you can complete the chassis so I have soldered the firebox to the footplate and mounted the boiler using a set screw through the smokebox saddle so it can be adjusted and or removed if required. The ride hight of the loco is set by a pad/screw under the firebox and the cylinder saddle. The latter needed a thin shim and some filing of the R/H cylinder casting to get things square. Now I can fit the motion bracket and start to connect up the valve gear, but not today!

 

Some adjustment to ride hight required but not too bad.

 

Valve gear should be strait forward apart from the usual need to trim the leading crankpin securing nut to gain clearance for the connecting rod. What a magnificent beasty!

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

[John Tomlinson]

This is looking like a very good job indeed.

 

Like you, I'm increasingly shying away from soldering smaller bits of white metal, it's just too easy for it to go wrong, and decent superglue will more than do the job provided the surfaces are nice and clean.

 

Interesting comment about the loco lengths. I have a DJH A1 in my cupboard, bought before the Bachmann one came out but not assembled and to me now redundant. I've looked at using the kit to make an A2/2 or A2/3 as I have spare cab etches, frames and motion for these. It requires revision to the running plate, and the frame extensions below to be made as you have done, but firebox, boiler and smokebox are the same, hence the similar length. The tender off the A1 is the same for an A2/3, I think cylinders and Cartazzi truck are as well.

 

John.

Edited July 1, 2020 by John Tomlinson
typo

[30368]

Hi John,

 

Thanks very much, only my third ex LNER loco (Others are J36 and K2/2 for the Bentley Model Railway Group) so still getting used to the "house style" if you know what I mean.

 

I based my length statement on the outline drawings at the back of Peter Coster's really excellent "The Book Of The A1 and A2 Pacifics" to which I constantly refer to during the build. I like your idea regarding the A1 to A2 conversion, it should work well but I suggest going for the A2/3 rather than the A2/2. Its good that the kit included spare frames, my DJH kit includes all the spare etches for alternative cabs etc but only one set of frames. Good luck, go for it!

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

 

[30368]

I have continued to fiddle around with the valve gear today.

Its a bit fiddly because the cylinder stretcher is secured to the frames via a set screw (I reversed the suggested solder the nut to the white metal body simply because it is easier to solder the screw - no risk of filling the nut with a big blob of low melt solder!) soldered to the body. So each adjustment is a bit of a pain. To overcome this I soldered a cross member at the front of the frames with a slotted hole for the body/chassis/cylinder securing set screw. I then used a temporary screw and nut to secure the cylinder stretcher and assembled/adjusted the valve gear with no need to muck around with the body.

I'm pleased to say that it all works and all the bits miss each other! Just!

 

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

 

 

[John Tomlinson]

10 minutes ago, 30368 said:

Hi John,

 

Thanks very much, only my third ex LNER loco (Others are J36 and K2/2 for the Bentley Model Railway Group) so still getting used to the "house style" if you know what I mean.

 

I based my length statement on the outline drawings at the back of Peter Coster's really excellent "The Book Of The A1 and A2 Pacifics" to which I constantly refer to during the build. I like your idea regarding the A1 to A2 conversion, it should work well but I suggest going for the A2/3 rather than the A2/2. Its good that the kit included spare frames, my DJH kit includes all the spare etches for alternative cabs etc but only one set of frames. Good luck, go for it!

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

 

Thanks. I should clarify, for the benefit of anyone reading this thread, that I bought the extra bits from DJH some while ago, they weren't part of the A1 kit. Normally they won't sell parts, but I noticed they had a sale on and managed to pick up a variety of bits and pieces - they must have decided to get some extra cash from offloading slow moving stock.

 

More great progress with the chassis on your A2/3!

 

Best wishes,

 

John.

[30368]

Thanks John.

[30368]

Continueing with the chassis build. The motion runs well during running in sessions. So far I can only be impressed with such a well designed kit. DJH instructions are very good and, for exmple, the valve gear is robust and assembly is very straitforward.

 

Not too clear but the brake hanger part of the brake hanger brackets (only one fitted) need careful filing to clear the wheel flanges. If you are using the later, finer (RP25??) Markit wheels then this will be less of a problem.

 

Footplate support brackets added as ae additional rivet detail (my thin brass sheet again) added to brackets and to Motion plate/frame mounting.

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

 

[30368]

Main part of chassis almost complete now apart from painting which I will do after posting this.

 

Under side of chassis, brake gear soldered together and apart from tight clearance between brake hanger and wheel flanges already mentioned there are one or two fouls between coupling rod and brake blocks. I see from this picture that I need to straiten the centre driver springs and like wise the firemans side eccentric rod!

 

Reverser operating rod now attached now ready for painting.

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

[30368]

I am now satisfied with the chassis - it runs very well and is almoust silent. I have now united the body with the chassis and added the bogie and the extended front section of the mainframe.

 

First picture shows the scratch built bogie side pad assembly, the DJH version lacked a bit of detail and besides I lost one in the quigmire that is the carpet that covers the office floor. Another bit for the vacuum cleaner! A bit more detail to add to the frames yet.

 

Drivers side - motion bracket needs a little adjustment on this side and I should add that boiler has not been fixed in position yet. Starting to look like an A2/3 though!

 

Firemans side.

 

Take care and kind regards,

 

Richard B

 

 

[DLT]

Very nice work Richard, and I take my hat off to you for persevering with some quite old kits!  I've no experience of Millhome kits, but your Merchant Navy looks terrific.  As you say; you can't beat the feeling of saying "I built that".

One suggestion I have is to make up a "cradle" or "jig" from plywood/stripwood/card etc, to sit the footplate on while you work on the body.  Footplates, whether whitemetal or brass, are very easy to bend or twist and a cradle helps to keep everything flat during assembly.

Glad to hear you're pleased with the new Highlevel coreless motor, I've got one on order.

All the best,

Dave.

[30368]

Hi Dave,

 

Many thanks - I don't mind some of the old kits one can always smarten them up as I like to think I did with the MN.

 

Yes a good suggestion I will see what scraps I have and give your cradle idea some thought.

My regard for the HL Coreless motor increases with each running in run!

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard

 

Richard

[30368]

So, today I have returned to the body construction since the chassis is noe complete.

 

As I mentioned earlier, the running plate casting required a great deal of fettling and as a result the footplate plate overlap of the running plate was removed. So back to my thin brass sheet! I have made a footplate section in brass, added the rivet detail and stuck this to the top of the running plate.

 

 

 

Chassis is now a 4-6-2.

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

 

[30368]

At last the brass sheet footplate is complete, four sections each side. I can now start final assembly of the body.

 

 

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

[AJCT]

Following this with much interest as I've got one of these in the "to do" pile.  What thickness of brass sheet did you use for your rivetted overlays ?  I've also got a DJH Peppercorn A2 under construction (bought long before the Bachmann one came out...) which may need similar treatment.

 

Cheers -

 

Alasdair