It started with a buffer

[don9f]

Next time I get the opportunity I’m going to look closer at those....I’ve never seen them before you mentioned them!
Just for the record, 9Fs that at first glance are so similar to Brits, have “proper” oil boxes in that position for the pony truck slides/pivot. These hold plenty of oil and include worsted trimmings etc. (and have a lid!).

Cheers Don

[barlowworks]

Such little details are sent to try the patience of the smiling 10%. 😭😉

Mike

[airspeed]

Good evening and also hello to you all, first post from myself.

I am familiar with similar oil trays on some ex-LMS designed locos and whilst these look like a reservoir with a lid, they are in fact merely fittings to group a number of delivery pipes to oil points on the front and rear trucks. Under said lid is just the ends of the copper pipes. There is no capacity to hold oil in the fitting and no trimmings. A little oil poured directly into each pipe is all that is required to satisfy the lubrication needs.

Could these fittings on the BR7 class be similar?

GD

[barlowworks]

I suppose, when things get a bit more sensible I will have to organise a trip out to finally find out for curtain. Thanks GD, it’s the most plausible suggestion so far.

Mike

[44767]

These oil trays did have lids. I think what you're perceiving to be a slot is a face of the hinge on the body. Here's the CAD model we used to produce Adam's oil trays, open and closed.






I'm not expecting you to remake them, Michael but it's to clear up the thought that these had no lids in full size, in such a dirty environment.

Cheers, Mike

[barlowworks]

Thanks Mike, that does tick a lot of boxes. I think the only way I will be happy is to track down Britannia or Oliver Cromwell and have a look. Perhaps in more sensible times.

Mike

[Cro]

Thanks Mike, every time I came on here is after I had left the workshop and forgot to photograph the ones I have!

I have wondered the same if the slot is what appears to be the lid.

Mike we will eagerly await your findings one day in the future.

Adam

[springcrocus]

Mike (UK),

I took this 35mm photo of Oliver Cromwell at Bressingham sometime around 1998.



I've scanned it at as high a resolution as I can and this is a blow-up of the relevant part. I fear, however, it may not be of any more use than the other pictures you have. If you view the source, you can view it at a higher resolution than shows on the forum.



Regards, Steve

[barlowworks]

Thanks guys for devoting so much time to an obscure oil tray. I suppose time and access to the real thing will tell. The thing is it’s a bolt on detail, if I find out it’s wrong I can always unbolt it and make something more accurate. Lord knows what the response will be if I add something important. 😉😂

Mike

[dhamblin]

Just to add to Steve's photos there is this one from Fraser Ker:

www.fraserker.com/britannia/11dec2007/_MG_0268.jpg

Unfortunately the focus is on the chisel, but it does look like Mike's model is correct.

Regards,

Dan

[robgreenwood2018]

Good Afternoon, 

i have just had a look through my photos, i hope this helps. Mike, if you want me to send the full size let me know?

Kind Regards

[barlowworks]

Thanks for that Rob, I think I’ve got it near enough for the minute, it is a bolt on detail after all. I’ll just wait until times are more normal and have a good look at the real thing before finally deciding what to do.

Mike

[robgreenwood2018]

I agree! what you have already created looks very good. Top work

[barlowworks]

Hi everybody. Not much has been happening in Barlow Works recently, its been a bit cold and my mojo has gone walkabout. But to quote The Fast Show "this week I have mostly been watching paint dry". By leaving the heating on for a few days I was able to get the workshop warm enough to spray up the chassis. The last job on the chassis was to fit some countersunk screws through the frames and file smooth ready to mount the running board supports for when the time comes to fit the running boards. The real supports on the full sized loco are actually attached to the boiler which is not really practical in our scale. It was then a matter of priming the frames and finally paint the insides red and the outsides black.

IMG_2971 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

Next I will have a ponder and look into making a lifting cradle to help as the engine gets heavier. I have some square section steel tube and a couple of car scissor jacks so I will have to see what I come up with. Of course any suggestions would be most welcome.

All the best and stay safe.

Mike

[barlowworks]

Hi Everybody, its been quite a while since I posted on here, I had to go back to page 5 to find my thread. I have been waiting for some metal so was looking around for something to occupy me while it arrived. I ended up looking in my bag of garden railway goodies and found this motley crew of projects. Funny what you come across when you are looking for your lost mojo. Firstly are a pair of Rushton I/C engines from I P Engineering. They are made from white metal castings which I soldered together which made a change, I've not done any low melt soldering for ages so really enjoyed the trip down memory lane. Why two, well I originally bought one but when I unpacked it there was no chassis so I wrote to I P Engineering to inform them and they they sent me a complete new kit. I figured after modelling in O gauge for 40 years I should be able to knock up a 0-4-0 chassis so I ended up with 2 for the price of 1.

IMG_2974 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

These are a selection of barrels, oil drums and churns, some from turned wood and some in cast resin, Just an exercise in painting really.

IMG_2976 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

This is a nice little cast resin buffer stop painted and weathered similar to the truck I made earlier in this thread. Even the lamp works.

IMG_2980 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

And finally this motley crew are going to be passengers in my Isle of Man coaches eventually. They all have a pin inserted in their nether regions so they can be glued into the coach seating. I've not gone to town on the painting as they will only be seen as they hurtle past being pulled by my Roundhouse Lady Anne.

IMG_2982 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

IMG_2983 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

You will be pleased to know that the metal has now arrived so I can get on with my chassis lifting cradle which is the next project in Barlow Works. So an end to this garden railway nonsense for the time being and back to something sensible.

All the best and be safe

Mike

[barlowworks]

Hi Everybody, back in the workshop and working on the Brit, or to be mode correct, parts for the Brit. This latest project was to build a lifting and turning cradle for the engine to fit onto my lifting table but before that I made and fitted some square section tube spaced with threaded rod to the track gauge to convert it to a loading trolley when it is completed. With the holes drilled for this it was put somewhere safe where I will never find it when it is needed. The lifting cradle is based on a couple of ideas I logged away in the old gray matter, the lift uses a couple of car scissor jacks from eBay to raise and lower the chassis, an idea I saw at an exhibition in Manchester and the rotating part is copied from a lifting cradle on the YouTube channel of no23mk2. It is mostly made from aluminium as I have never worked with it and wanted to give it a try. Also it turned out to be cheaper than the equivalent sizes in steel. After filling my workshop with aluminium swarf, this is what I came up with.

IMG_2989 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

This is the buffer beam end with the chassis up side down. It is locked in place with the brass headed locator pin into the indexing disc to give eight locations in total. There is a channel that clamps onto the buffer beam that is lined with rubber sheet to protect it.

IMG_2988 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

This is the one at the drag beam end. It locates into the drawbar slot and is locked in place with a pin. This is also covered in sheet rubber to protect the drag beam. The jack is held in place with wing nuts underneath for easy removal and the whole lot slides back to remove it.

IMG_2991 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

The same set up with the chassis the correct way up.

IMG_2994 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

And the drag beam end again. I modified the lifting hook that raises and lowers the jack to fit in my drill so raising and lowering is the work of moments.

Now this is complete I can get back to working on the chassis. It does make you realize how long the chassis is, the whole set up hangs over my lifting cradle by about two feet. I think that next will be the spring hangers and brake fixing brackets.

All the best and be safe

Mike

[rrmrd66]

Hi Mike

Like your "little people" for the Isle of Man.

I too have used the car jack system. Maybe my bearing arrangement is a bit more "agricultural" than yours. However it works.

Good to see you back. I love your attention to detail.

Regards

Malcolm

fullsizeoutput_67c by Malcolm HARWOOD, on Flickr

[barlowworks]

Nice one Malcolm, great minds think alike. You don’t realise just how heavy these things are / are going to be until you try to turn them over on the cradle.

Mike

[oldnorton]

Mike

That's a nice rotating frame, and sensibly made from the commercial jacks. I see that you have got an offset so that the C of G of the finished engine will be in line with the rotation bearings. If this information is of any help to you I will add that holding my nearly-finished Britannia the bearing line sits about on the top of the smokebox saddle (i.e. bottom of smokebox) and it will rotate by hand and stay in any position. I have got aluminium clamps around steel bearing pins and the friction can be adjusted. I did think of fitting a rotation gearbox but if the C of G is in the right place they are not needed.

Norm

[barlowworks]

Hi Norm, the offset was copied from the YouTube channel on no23mk2. He is building a 9F and I figured the centre of gravity would be about the same.

Mike