A loco lifetime

[timb]

Fantastic work, very jealous!
Well done!!

Tim

[mugbuilder]

2420 is finished and awaits its first fire in a month or so. Some may be wondering what the white binding on some of the pipework is for. Towards the end of steam in NSW asbestos rope was wound around some pipework, not for insulation, but to protect the crew or maintenance workers from burning their hands on the hot pipes. It was a bit different on each engine and there seems to have been no particular directive on how or where it was placed but left up to the installers at the time. It didn't stay white for long and soon became as black as the rest of the engine. The same goes for the weather curtains on the side windows and rear canvas shelter flap. The model will be the same after a while and all ads to the overall effect of the engine. I will post a couple of pictures of the first fire and the following first run on the track.

[mugbuilder]

The buffer heads, smokebox door wheel, and lever, as well as the hooks, were thoroughly cleaned, heated to a very dull red and dunked in dirty sump oil to give a nice blackened appearance and it also protects from rust.

[coniston]

Truly stunning, lovely finish, very realistic.

Chris D

[kipford]

Yes truly great and the finish is great without fancy paint set ups  , there must be a lesson there?
Dave

[Jim]

Having grown up in Katoomba it was common in winter to see similar 32 and 50 class locos coming through with the weather curtains on the cab portholes drawn across and the cab storm flap out. I'm not sure what level of protection and shelter they provided for the driver and fireman in the icy cold westerlies and rain we all enjoyed.

Jim

[JonL]

I wonder why they put the piston rod all the way through? Is that to reduce loading on the crosshead?

[mugbuilder]

I think that it was to help keep the heavy piston from wearing the bore on the bottom. Quite a few of the early NSW engines had extended piston rods but many were removed if the engine was later superheated.

[mugbuilder]

2420 had its first steaming today. All went very well with no problems apart from a small leak in the back left-hand corner of the tender tank which was easily fixed. Both injectors performed perfectly and the engine steamed very freely as you would expect a new boiler to do. All of the fittings worked as expected with no leaks or dribbles. The safety valves were set and a boiler ticket was issued. The paint is now set hard and the engine should get a road test shortly.

[mugbuilder]

Digital cameras sometimes seem to distort the image as seen here. It seems to get bigger toward the back.

[barlowworks]

Just out of interest, how did you seal a leak on your painted tender. Beautiful loco by the way,

Mike

[mugbuilder]

Hello Mike. I never solder the tender joints but caulk them with a waterproof sealer. It was a simple matter to apply a bit more onto the inside corner. I always make the rear filler section to be easily lifted off for easy access and cleaning. Problem solved.

[mugbuilder]

2420 is alive and running. It had its first run last Monday and ran well with no hiccups. The only minor problem was with one safety valve blowing off a little under pressure. Both injectors worked well and picked up with no dribbling. I had fitted red back glass to the water gauge and this was a bit hard to see so I have replaced it with blue-lined shellback glass.
When on the track the engine seems to suffer delusions of grandeur as it thinks that it is a greyhound and not a plodder. It wants to go fast and not plod along like its full-sized sister. It pulls well with as little as 20 pounds on the clock.
Our local track is about 700 meters long and rises about 12-15 Ft. from the lowest point and the engine handled it well with a good load. I ran it for about 4-5 miles and it improved with every lap of the track. All in all a satisfactory result.

[runner42]

Hi Barry a magnificent locomotive, do you still get the same glow of achievement as you did with your first, or is it now commonplace? I assume that when driving you sit on the first wagon behind the tender which carries the hand brake, with your feet on the foot rests at the front of the tender. But the comfort ratio doesn't appear that good on the first wagon unless you have a padded removable seat that was removed for the photo shoot.

Brian

[dhamblin]

Wonderful Barry, a masterpiece in miniature. Thank you for sharing the build with us, it has provided lots of tips and techniques.

It is only the background on those shots that really give the true size away

Regards,

Dan

[mugbuilder]

Hello Brian and Dan, Thanks for the kind comments. The driver's wagon is a copy of a NSW 'S' truck and has a removable padded seat and backrest. I still get a real sense of pleasure when the chassis first runs on-air, when the first fire is lit, and the first run. I think that if there was no 'kick' then it would be time to give the game away. I am now feeling my 78 years and wondering if I should start another engine. for the first time, it seems a rather daunting project.
Regards, Barry.

[David]

The pressure gauge seems to be mounted further down - did that make a difference? I was going to wait until I have cab roof to decide but you've done the experiment now.

[Roger]

What a cracking locomotive that's turned out to be! I really like the wagons too.

[mugbuilder]

Thanks for that fellows,
Just had a great couple of days at a friend's track. We assembled all of the scale wagons that we had into one long train.143 in total pulled by 3 of my engines,5035,5154 and 5507. 626 wheels in total counting the engines as well. 1 Km. of track on an almost continuous curved 1 in 60 grade. The top of the grade is a tunnel at the peak of a balloon loop and we almost met the end of the train at the end of the loop. Great fun but my camera went on the blink and I couldn't record the run. last year with 116 wagons did a similar run with 2 '59s' and I put it on youtube. If you type in 5" gauge goods trains Barry Potter you should be able to find the link.
Barry

[mugbuilder]

THE ENGINE THAT I AM NOT BUILDING!!!
While I was finishing off 2420 I was asked many times what engine I would build next. The answer was always NONE as I had spent a lifetime building and thought that I had had enough. However, not long after the completion of 2420, I fell into a bit of a hole as suddenly I had nothing to do in the workshop. My existing fleet of engines didn't need any surgery and were all running well. What to do?
There was always plenty to occupy me around the house but that wasn't very stimulating. While strenuously denying to my fellow club members that I would start a new project I looked around for something different and my attention was drawn to a NSW Z13 class 4-4-2 side tank engine that had plans available for 5" gauge. There Is a preserved example in the NSW rail transport museum that is painted green and has a polished dome. I thought that this would make a nice change from the black engines that I have already and would make a nice display engine for my wife or daughter when I pass on.
The vast majority of the engines that I had built were to my own design and I thought that it would save a lot of time and brain stress. The plans were for a very complex model and as I am of advancing years I concluded that I could simplify the mechanical details somewhat and make it much easier to build.
While strenuously denying that I was building another loco I joked that I was only building a few random bits and pieces to keep myself occupied. It has become known locally as the engine that I am not building.