It started with a buffer

[barlowworks]

Hi Everybody.

It's been a few months since my last post but things haven't been totally quiet in Barlow Works. The last entry had us preparing the cylinders for fitting to the chassis. This has now been done and I turned my attention to the slidebars and crossheads. Firstly they were given a good clean and checking over. One of the things I found was the play on the crossheads was a little excessive but by stripping down the slidebars I was able to mill the spacers to a good sliding fit. The slidebar support brackets were already machined and just needed to be drilled to match the existing holes in the frames and this was were my fun and games started.

IMG_3137 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

The left hand side one fitted perfectly and was a good sliding fit with the piston in the cylinder, the problem was the right hand side one. When I tightened up the fixing bolts the crosshead and piston refused to slide and locked up. I eventually found out that too much had been removed from the casting and it was tightening up lopsided, locking up the crosshead in the slidebars. After a lot of Anglo Saxon I eventually resolved the situation by silver soldering a piece of brass to the back of the casting then milling it back to the proper shape.

IMG_3139 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

Finally I added the dummy oil pipe connectors to take the oiling pipes when I eventually fit the cylinder oilers, another detail that is easy to see on the real thing but never included.

IMG_3144 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

The next thing to complete were the spring hangers and springs. Firstly the hangers were secured using rivet screws, much better than the original 6ba bolts and were secured with nuts on the other side of the castings.

IMG_3148 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

After a lot of pondering I finally realized that the coil spring mounts that attach to the axle boxes would never work as per the drawing (not that I could see anyway). The drawing showed the shaft being attached to the mounting plate and then silver soldered in place. This is how the previous builder had done them but made like this it is impossible to fit the horn keeps and spring castings. I eventually decided to cut off the original shafts and make some new ones that just screw in.

IMG_3153 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

I could then make up the remaining parts and start to assemble the suspension. New fixing bolts and rubber washers were made up and the suspension was slowly assembled with many grazed knuckles and yet more Anglo Saxon.

IMG_3161 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

Finally the springs (made by the previous builder) were fitted, the spring collars were turned up and finally fitted, after I found the ones on the floor I sent into orbit when trying to fit the retaining nuts.

IMG_3165 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

That means we have reached another milestone. There are retaining brackets that hold the horn guides apart. They are made ready, but I think I will fit them later when I have fitted the piping and any other things that need to go between the frames. You can bet your life I will have to take it all off again because I will have forgotten something.

I think the next thing will be to complete the fitting of the front bogie and the pony truck to the chassis to make it look more complete and then have a look from there (possibly the rods next).

All the best

Mike

[barlowworks]

Hi Everybody, I've managed to get a few more hours in the workshop and made a bit more progress on the chassis. One thing that was already made in my box of goodies but not fitted was the expansion links. The brackets took a fair bit of fettling to get the links to run freely but I eventually managed to get them to operate to my satisfaction. That leaves things ready for fitting the rods later.

IMG_3170 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

One of the other jobs that required completion was the side control arrangement on the pony truck. This is made up of a bracket with a side control pin that is bolted to the under side of the chassis. I made it up as per the drawing only to find the pin was much too short so had to make another pin slightly longer to fit. This was eventually bolted underneath on the drag box ready for fitting.

IMG_3174 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

Here the already completed pony truck is offered up for a trial fit on the pin. At the same time adjustments were made to the pony truck pivot so the fit was just right.

IMG_3176 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

This is my arrangement for the side control springing. I had some stainless steel springs of about the right thickness and diameter so used a couple on each side. I made up some spacing washers to take up the play and they seem to work o.k. Only time will tell. If not it all comes apart so I can always get some replacement springs if they are not suitable. Once I was satisfied everything fitted o.k. the pony truck was removed and packed away ready for the final assembly.

IMG_3179 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

I also test fitted the bogie to make sure everything fitted o.k. That was also packed away ready for the final assembly. I'm not sure what to tackle next, either the rest of the rods and motion or I might have a look at the cladding for the cylinders which will require some detail work to finish off. I'm not sure yet, we will have to see.

All the best for the New Year

Mike

[timb]

You are making this look fantastic, well done Mike!!

Tim

[barlowworks]

Hi Everybody, just a follow up to the last post and an update of what has been happening in Barlow Works recently. In the last post I finished fitting the pony truck and its side control. Here we have a trial fit on the pivot of the bogie which was completed earlier, just for piece of mind. I was able to finally fit it when the 1/4 BSF nuts I ordered finally turned up. The bogie has now been removed and put in a safe place next to the pony truck (where I will probably forget I've put them ) ready for the final assembly.

IMG_3186 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

I decided to have a go at the cylinder wrappers next. This is what they looked like as made by the previous builder, perfectly serviceable and built to the drawing but you know by know I would never be happy with that. There are a couple of straps round the cladding at the edges ( which are where the cylinder lining goes) and some plumbing at the bottom I fancied having a go at.

IMG_3182 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

First I drilled the holes and added some 18 thou backing plates inside ready for fitting the valves. I then cut some 4.5mm x 15thou nickel silver for the bands and tinned one side of the bands and the cladding with 224 degree solder. As the bands are actually bolted in place I'm hoping this will be o.k. I then scribed the edges of the bands onto the tinned edges to help alignment.

IMG_3188 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

Here we have everything set up for fitting the bands. With everything set up in place with clips to hold everything in place. The end of the band was first soldered in place to hold it.

IMG_3213 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

And here the Cawthorne digits are wielding the RSU probe ( as now much loved by Mr Greenglade ) and spot soldering the bands in place. I think the RSU, on its highest setting was just about able to cope with the metal thickness. A handy tip is to keep the carbon end of the probe to a sharp point as it generates heat better that way.

IMG_3211 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

And these are the two bands soldered in position. At this point I held the bands securely with clamps and carefully played my small portable blow torch over the bands to make sure the solder had fully penetrated under the bands, a bit heart in mouth but by going carefully I managed it without incident.

IMG_3189 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

As with any soldering job the hardest part is getting rid of all the solder you don't want, so that will be my next job. Considering the amount of plate work being done by various people on the forum at the moment I will cover the clean up process in the next post. You never know, you might find it interesting .

All the best

Mike

[Roger]

Jan 9, 2022 12:11:06 GMT barlowworks said:

Hi Everybody, just a follow up to the last post and an update of what has been happening in Barlow Works recently. In the last post I finished fitting the pony truck and its side control. Here we have a trial fit on the pivot of the bogie which was completed earlier, just for piece of mind. I was able to finally fit it when the 1/4 BSF nuts I ordered finally turned up. The bogie has now been removed and put in a safe place next to the pony truck (where I will probably forget I've put them ) ready for the final assembly.

IMG_3186 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

I decided to have a go at the cylinder wrappers next. This is what they looked like as made by the previous builder, perfectly serviceable and built to the drawing but you know by know I would never be happy with that. There are a couple of straps round the cladding at the edges ( which are where the cylinder lining goes) and some plumbing at the bottom I fancied having a go at.

IMG_3182 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

First I drilled the holes and added some 18 thou backing plates inside ready for fitting the valves. I then cut some 4.5mm x 15thou nickel silver for the bands and tinned one side of the bands and the cladding with 224 degree solder. As the bands are actually bolted in place I'm hoping this will be o.k. I then scribed the edges of the bands onto the tinned edges to held alignment.

IMG_3188 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

Here we have everything set up for fitting the bands. With everything set up in place with clips to hold everything in place. The end of the band was first soldered in place to hold it.

IMG_3213 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

And here the Cawthorne digits are wielding the RSU probe ( as now much loved by Mr Greenglade ) and spot soldering the bands in place. I think the RSU, on its highest setting was just about able to cope with the metal thickness. A handy tip is to keep the carbon end of the probe to a sharp point as it generates heat better that way.

IMG_3211 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

And these are the two bands soldered in position. At this point I held the bands securely with clamps and carefully played my small portable blow torch over the bands to make sure the solder had fully penetrated under the bands, a bit heart in mouth but by going carefully I managed it without incident.

IMG_3189 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

As with any soldering job the hardest part is getting rid of all the solder you don't want, so that will be my next job. Considering the amount of plate work being done by various people on the forum at the moment I will cover the clean up process in the next post. You never know, you might find it interesting .

All the best

Mike

Hi Mike,
I wonder if Desolder braid might be a good way to get rid of the bulk of the solder?

[barlowworks]

Hi Roger. The problem with desolder braid is the solder needs to be molten to wick up the braid. I would probably reduce everything to a kit of parts in the process.

Mike

[Roger]

Jan 9, 2022 18:01:41 GMT barlowworks said:

Hi Roger. The problem with desolder braid is the solder needs to be molten to wick up the braid. I would probably reduce everything to a kit of parts in the process.

Mike

I don't think that would happen if you used an iron. You only need to melt it locally, through the braid. You've got long lengths that are soldered, so melting locally isn't likely to cause an issue.

[barlowworks]

I'm hoping to show the cleaning up process in my next post, a little more agricultural but I have got good results in the past. Stay tuned for my next update.

Mike

[stevep]

IIRC, when I soldered the beading on the tanks of my Stanier, I cleaned most of the excess solder off with a wood chisel. The solder, being soft, came away quite easily with the blade of the chisel flat against the brass.

[ProfMike]

So "the mighty erection" lives on. Still waiting to bring beer and locos ....

[barlowworks]

Jan 10, 2022 10:02:26 GMT stevep said:

IIRC, when I soldered the beading on the tanks of my Stanier, I cleaned most of the excess solder off with a wood chisel. The solder, being soft, came away quite easily with the blade of the chisel flat against the brass.

Stay tuned for my take on this process. 😉

Mike

[barlowworks]

Jan 10, 2022 10:49:26 GMT ProfMike said:

So "the mighty erection" lives on. Still waiting to bring beer and locos ....

Bit cold at the moment Mike, though the invite is still there. Perhaps beer and locos when it’s a bit warmer and I have a full loop round the garden. 

Mike

[barlowworks]

Hi Everybody, just a quick entry to bring you up to speed with the cylinder cladding. This is a cropped shot of the bottom of the cylinder taking from Nobby's excellent photos of Oliver Cromwell. This shows the two valves at the bottom of the cylinders, I have no idea what they are called or their use but I thought they looked quite prominent and decided to have a go at representing them. More on that later.

Cylinder 1.jpg by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

This is where we got to last time with the cladding bands soldered to the cladding. These are a selection of the tools I use to clean it all up, a hacksaw blade ground up to a chisel tip and I have a selection of cheap jewelers screwdrivers bought from an exhibition that are also ground up to a chisel tip. Finally a good selection of emery and wet and dry and a fibre glass brush and plenty of refills.

IMG_3215 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

Here is the edge of the band after cleaning up.

IMG_3217 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

And after the band had been cleaned up with the fibre glass brush. After that the existing bolt holes were re-drilled from the back and some extra holes drilled and tapped so there were the correct number of fixing bolts in the cladding band (some of which are dummy). I forgot to take a picture of that.

IMG_3218 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

These are the two valves mentioned earlier, both dummy fittings but I think looking the part. They will have the relevant pipes fitted on completion.

IMG_3222 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

IMG_3225 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

The next thing for the cladding will be a coat of black paint and then the lining on the edges of the bands. One of the reasons for fitting the bands was so I had a good hard edge to use as a guide when it comes to lining. That will have to wait until the weather warms up a bit then the cladding will be stored away safely with all my other goodies ready for the final assembly.

All the best 

Mike

[David]

Nice cleanup & the dummy valves are a great touch!

[barlowworks]

Hello everybody,

                        I had to go back to page 6 to find my last post, much to long. In my defense I have been doing the brake gear. I always hated doing brake gear when I modeled in O gauge and always thought it was this aspect of the O gauge models I could not get on with. Now I am doing it in 5 inch gauge and I still hate it so I have come to realize it is brake gear in general I can't get on with. I had intended to do a post dealing with all the brake gear but as my son as borrowed my camera I thought I would do a quick post to cover progress so far with the photos I already have.

Brake hanger jpg by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

This is the one of the offending items, taken from the excellent series of photos posted by JohnL, formally known as Nobbysideways, an excellent resource for all Britannia builders, many thanks John. One thing soon became evident, the brakes and hangers on the drawing are totally wrong, to the extent that the hangers are actually drawn upside down. I wonder how many Britannia's have upside down brake hangers without knowing it, or did everybody else spot it as well and its just me being a bit thick. As most of the brakes were already made by the previous builder to the original drawings I decided to make the best of the parts I had rather than start again from scratch.

IMG_3231 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

The first thing to be tackled was the steam brake cylinder (already fitted) and the linkage. It also has a return shaft with return spring that I had to fabricate.

IMG_3229 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

Another shot of the linkage.

IMG_3233 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

This is a photo of one of the hangers and brake shoes (upside down). I have chosen to fix the brake shoes and pull rod ends with split pins as on the prototype. The two holes below the brake hanger pivot are for fitting retaining brackets over the retaining pins. As usual the prototype is totally different to this but I reasoned that this subterfuge would make the deception less noticeable. I also decided to fit the brake hangers upside down to make the final shape nearer to the prototype.

IMG_3234 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

And this is as far as I have got so far, fitting the break pull rods. Most of the other parts are already made and just need fitting ( apart from being 2 short in the the brake fixing pin department, I didn't make enough ) I will do another post when the other parts are fitted and adjusted with the pull rod adjusters I have fitted into the middle of the pull rods to ensure all the brakes pull on at the same rate. Then I will have to work out how to make the brake cylinder water valve with its ball valve, something totally new to me.

All the best

Mike

[springcrocus]

Jun 8, 2022 18:55:08 GMT barlowworks said:

Hello everybody,

Brake hanger jpg by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

Another shot of the linkage.

IMG_3233 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

This is a photo of one of the hangers and brake shoes (upside down). I have chosen to fix the brake shoes and pull rod ends with split pins as on the prototype. The two holes below the brake hanger pivot are for fitting retaining brackets over the retaining pins. However, your upper picture of the full-size item clearly shows the

All the best

Mike

Mike,

I think you actually have your brake hanger bars back-to-front. The bulbous part of the hanger should be into the brake block and the straighter edge should be away from the block. I've just checked my own write-up and realise that I never included these parts in the construction log so can't offer a link for this.

Regards, Steve

[barlowworks]

I’ll check it out, you could be right.

Mike

[barlowworks]

High everybody

As Steve so rightly pointed out, I had mounted all the brake hangers the wrong way round. I'm not sure whether to blame a rookie error or a senior moment so will blame both. Unfortunately I had done all 6 brakes before I was aware of the mistake . All the brakes have been corrected now and the fixing bracket fitted to the top of the hangers. This is to replicate the bracket that holds the pivot pin in but is incorrect on the drawings. A slight of hand I can live with when the alternative is to remake all the brake gear. The split pins have also been added as per the prototype.

IMG_6351 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

The chassis has also been turned the right way up for a change ready for fitting the steam connections.

All the best

Mike

[barlowworks]

Hi Everybody, just a quick update on what as been happening in Barlow works recently. Firstly I made the brake cylinder water relief valve and fitted it to the brake cylinder. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of this. That finished the steam brake assembly so I looked around for something else that would be inaccessible later on and decided to have a go at the whistle. Britannia's have a chime whistle and fortunately Jim in Australia was good enough to send me  a drawing of the chime whistle he made for his Britannia.

IMG_6355 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

The three whistles were made from 1/2 inch tubes to the lengths indicated on the drawing and soldered together. An adapter was made to connect the three whistles as Jim found this arrangement to work the best

IMG_6359 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr                                     After the whistle was assembled it was fitted to the chassis stretcher with a tapped hole and a lock nut.

IMG_6360 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

Here is the chime whistle temporarily fitted between the frames and hopefully out of the way. When I fit it permanently I will make sure to fix the holes in the whistles so they drain down between the frames and don't fill up with water. Many thanks to Jim for providing the drawing.

All the best

Mike

[barlowworks]

Hi Everybody.

                    Continuing things that require completion between the frames, I decided to complete the axle pump. As you will have noticed, I have quite a few items that were partly completed by the previous builders of this engine, the axle pump being one of them. The pump body and eccentric strap and eccentric were already complete and I just needed to make the operating arm and pin to complete it. I know that axle pumps can divide opinion but considering most of the parts were complete and also I am novice when it cums to driving and firing I definitely wanted an axle pump. I reasoned that I could always disconnect the pump when (if ) I become proficient. 

IMG_6373 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

The only thing required to make the pump operational is the operating arm to the plunger and the mounting pin so they were duly made and fitted. It was then duly fitted and tested and rotates quite nicely. The packing in the piston is currently cotton wadding which I am happy to leave for the moment until I can see how well it works. I can always change it for an O ring later.

IMG_6375 by Michael Cawthorne, on Flickr

The other thing requiring refitting are the axle box braces that are again already made. I removed them when I originally stripped down the chassis and was even able to find them in the "somewhere safe" place I had put them. This was just a simple reassembly job with a good dose of Angle Saxon because of my flipper sized hands in the confines of the inner frames. I am sure there will be other things to fit that I have not thought of and I know there will be some piping up to be done later.

I think the next thing on the list will be refitting the rods and then assembling the cylinders and valves, another voyage into the unknown for me.

All the best

Mike