It started with a buffer

[barlowworks]

Hi Everybody, more shenanigans from Barlow Works. Last time I showed you the modifications to the horn guides and the grease points. Here is the bogie with the grease pipes fitted to the greasing point between the wheels, all dummy of course but its surprising how noticeable they are between the wheel spokes. I also decided to paint the bogie as I progressed.

IMG_2803 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

I wanted to show a representation of the ATC shoe on the front of the bogie. It is hung from the front cannon box and is bracketed out from the front over the track. This is the only photo I have been able to find that showed any detail of the shoe and I decided that there was just about enough detail to make a reasonable job of it.

ATC crop by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

This is my representation of the cannon box and the front bracket. Basically its a turned up tube with a couple of end plates the same size as the axle boxes silver soldered to the ends, taking care to get the everything square. The bracket is soft soldered to the front, I thought that it might be prudent to soft solder all the ATC parts, it is quite close to the rail top and I figured that if it was caught for whatever reason it would come off rather that toss me off the raised track with the engine on top of me.

IMG_2806 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

This is the bracket for the ATC shoe, again soft soldered together.....

IMG_2809 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

....and this is my representation of the ATC shoe and connecting brackets. I was after something that looked right but had no dimensions to work with, only the very grainy photo.

IMG_2810 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

This is the completed bogie all painted up. The cannon box bolts to the insides of the axle boxes.

IMG_2812 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

This is the ATC shoe in its final position. Its about 7mm above the rail height which should give plenty of clearance. I quite like the flexible hose which should disappear up into the frames when the bogie is fitted. It is actually a piece off a long spring sold for making drive bands on Mamod traction engines. It is what we used to represent hoses between engine and tender when modelling in O gauge. I was curious why the connection was on the right hand side looking forward when the battery boxes and wiring conduit is on the left on the loco. I can only assume it is because Great Western engines, I think, are right hand drive and the ATC equipment was fitted extra to the Western Region Britannia's when new and it was originally Great Western equipment. Britannia's are left hand drive.

IMG_2815 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

Well that completes the bogie. I'm glad I added the extra detail, I think it makes the loco a bit out of the ordinary. Of course I'm lucky that quite a lot of the bogie was already complete so progress seems to be quite quick. I know it would take a lot longer if I was starting from scratch.

Next on the agenda will be the pony truck which is about 60% complete, more on that next time.

Take care.

Mike

[delaplume]

Hi Mike.....your assumtion is quite correct ie}----GWR locos are indeed R/H drive and your reasoning regarding the fitting of ATC is quite feasible....It's this attention to detail that gives a model more credibility I think....Nice job !!

[Deleted]

Excellent work Mike, the extra detail that you're adding really brings the model to life..

Pete

[delaplume]

PS}------ is that photo of the Brit that was de-railed on the Didcot avoiding line ??

[barlowworks]

That's right, 70026 Polar Star at Milton 20th November 1955. On an excursion it took a low speed crossing too fast and overturned, rolling down a bank. 11 dead and over 150 injured. Not the way I would like to get a picture of the Western Region ATC shoe.

Mike

[JonL]

Our MES has signalling sensors and crossing ironmongery between the rails, might be worth scoping out your intended track to see if the same applies. I'm fairly certain it wouldn't clear ours.

Very elegant work that aside.

[barlowworks]

It's about 7mm above rail height so should be ok. We have signalling sensors on our MES but they are just below rail height. That is the reason I chose to soft solder it on, if it should clout something it should come off rather than cause a derailment.

[JonL]

Jul 23, 2020 11:18:18 GMT barlowworks said:

...that is the reason I chose to soft solder it on, if it should clout something it should come off rather than cause a derailment.

Good planning

[oldnorton]

There is supposed to be a rule in track laying that nothing in between the two rails may come above the level of the track. I do not think this is followed or even thought about by many clubs. I have come across two where vehicle/pedestrian crossings had planks of timber sticking up, and in one case beyond 6mm. That one brought my 0-6-0 to an abrupt halt as the coil spring mounts grounded.

Norm

[barlowworks]

Good point Norm, I know my own track very well and know it won't be a problem. If I manage an invite to any other club I think I would like a trip round the track behind someone else first to get to know the road and look out for any problems like that. Sod's law being what it is, you can bet I won't spot the offending problem until it's too late. If the worst comes to the worst I can always unbolt it.

Mike

[steamer5]

Hi Mike,
The tracks are generally not the issue, it’s the LITTLE ( & sometimes THE NOT SO LITTLE) S..TS that put rocks, or anything else on the track for FUN! 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
Nice work on the ATC shoe.

Cheers Kerrin

[JonL]

We tend to do a track walk first but our track isn't that large and we don't usually find an issue.

[steamer5]

Hi Nobby,
Yep a walk before is a good idea, it’s when they do it when you are running that becomes the issue!
My home track is fenced both sides, 1 day when driving, somebody had managed to drop a rock from the walk way over the tunnel & got it to land & stay, ours is an elevated track, on the track! 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 to make it worse it was on the down slope!

Cheers Kerrin

[barlowworks]

I suppose in a previous time a good clip round the ear by a vigilant parent would be the best possible outcome. Alas not in these politically correct times. I suppose that means the self targeting lasers mounted on the riding truck are right out.

Mike

[JonL]

It's easy to go down the "it's the current generation" path, but as mentioned in a facebook group the other day MES have been suffering track and site vandalism right from the very creation of the hobby; someone had some rather sad newspaper clippings from the 1930s stating as such.

However we are deviating and nattering on this build thread, so we should probably steer it back!

[barlowworks]

Hi everybody, just a quick update from Barlow Works. As I hinted last time the next item would be the pony truck. This is the item in question, about 60% complete and built to the drawings as usual. I can see that there will be a lot more work required on this item and the first thing was to strip it all down and give it a good clean.

IMG_2816 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

These are the side frames complete with 10 ba fixing bolts on the outside.

IMG_2820 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

This is a cropped shot of the side frame that I am using for reference, you will notice that the pony truck is a combination of welded, riveted and bolted construction.

116_9029 crop by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

The first job I tackled was to clean and paint the wheels, they should be all black without shiny rims. They were then put to one side and a start was made on the spring castings. These were fettled up and the outside edges of the springs filed at an angle like the prototype. I didn't bother with the inside ones as the springs are buried inside the side frames. The plunger holes for the coil spring suspension were drilled and the plungers were turned up to fit. I ordered some springs for the suspension to the same specs as the drawing but they are quite stiff, I may have to re-visit that when the loco is nearing completion and check the spring rate on the full weight loco.

IMG_2818 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

These are the two side frames after being fettled in Barlow Works. You will notice that one of the holes has mysteriously become square, just like the prototype. There are also extra pieces of brass added to better represent the real frame and the strengthening ribs have also been added. Finally the relevant bolts and rivets have been added. The 10ba bolts have been replaced with countersunk screws and the holes filled. It was a case of adding to what was there rather than scrap it all and start again.

IMG_2831 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

The latest job in the workshop was to make these spring bearing plates for the top of the bearings. They will have holes in them eventually for the spring plungers to pass through but that will have to wait until the springs are fitted so I am sure that they locate correctly. There are little brass 12ba nuts and studding to represent the grease nipples, the work of minutes but quite noticeable when fitted.

IMG_2834 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

If all this looks vaguely familiar then just check back to page 3 on this thread, it's pretty much what I did for the tender springs and axleboxes.  So following on from that the next job will probably be the modifications to the axleboxes themselves.

All the best

Mike

[barlowworks]

Hi everybody, here are the latest parts from the workbench, namely the axleboxes. These have been modified like the ones on the tender shown in more detail on page 3, the only difference being, on the originals there were the four 8ba bolts on the front face that can not now be seen. The spring bearing plate on top is shown in place to give an idea of what it will all look like. All finished of with one of Adam's lovely Timken bearing covers.

IMG_2840 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

Next on the to do list are the springs and their spring hangers etc. These will be rectangular in section like the real thing, not a length of rod with a big nut on the bottom like on the drawing. I think they will require a good dose of looking at and thinking about before I start cutting metal.

All the best

Mike

[barlowworks]

Hi everybody, a bit more progress on the pony truck today. These are the component parts for the springing arrangement, a ridiculous amount of work for such small pieces...

IMG_2846 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

...and here they are all assembled together. I think if you compare them to the prototype photo above they aren't that far out. I'm quite pleased with that.

IMG_2847 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

The next parts to get a good dose of looking at are delightfully named centering bar bushes. These are the ones that came with the loco, made to the drawing and perfectly serviceable,

IMG_2850 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

Unfortunately, as you can see here, they only bear a passing resemblance to the real thing. I thought that with a bit of work they could be made to look a lot better.

Britannia - Truck Left Rear by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

This is my attempt a something closer to the real thing. The first thing I did was fill the redundant holes in the side frames ( I assume they were drilled incorrectly in the wrong place as the drawing was drawn 45 degrees out. Once the holes were filled I could then re-profile the flanges to follow the real thing. The centre of the bearing was then extended with a brass turning pressed in. The weird selection of fixing bolts were then fabricated and fitted and finally the centering bar was cut to length, turned down and threaded on the ends for the fixing nuts.

IMG_2854 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

This is the progress so far, the rear frame with the centering bar was already made and can now be held in place with the bushes. There is a bottom plate held on with 10ba bolts to make up the completed frame. The springs will need to be fitted later but can be fitted by removing the end nuts and extracting the bar. There will also be a centering post fitted that is connected to the mainframes but I will fit that when the pony truck is completed and I can offer it up to the mainframe to check location.

IMG_2858 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

So next will be the A frame that goes on the front of the pony truck, already cut out by the previous builder but unfortunately bent in the wrong places. There was a casting available for this but the drawing does show how to fabricate it so that is what I will do. But first it will get another dose of looking at.

All the best

Mike

[timb]

All looking very good, well done Mike!

Tim

[Deleted]

I love the attention to detail Mike... this is going to be a very fine model...top marks sir.

Pete