A loco lifetime

[mbrown]

The fairies must have been on piece rates!

But there is a precedent for everything... When a couple of LMS Jinties were regauged to 5' 3" for service in Northern Ireland, it was achieved by pressing the wheels onto the axles back to front and retyring them - the dishing of the wheel centre thus faced outward instead of inwards.

And other LMS locos mixed different wheel centre patterns on the same loco.

So your fairies have an excuse!

Malcolm

[David]

Can't see the valve gear behind the tanks anyway, so who cares? If inspector meticulous wants to hang around under the steaming bays which is the only place he'll be able to notice it, we can give him a kick!

It's a lot easier to just shuffle back a bit to go the other way too. I notice that when driving locos with proper valve gear.

[mugbuilder]

Quite a few of the older NSWGR types had odd wheels put on just to keep them in service. One of the 24 class that I measured for the model had 3 different types of driving wheels and several had disc pony wheels instead of spoked ones.

[mugbuilder]

The job for this week was to machine the cylinders and valve chests. The pictures show progress so far.
You may notice that the inside surfaces of the steam chests have been machined. Many designes for vertical slide valves can suffer from the problem of the valves falling away from the port face when the steam is turned off. I have overcome this by machining the top and bottom inside faces of the steam chests and making the valves a nice sliding fit between these faces and having the bottom sliding face of the valve as wide as the steam chest is deep. This allows the valve to run along the bottom face and keeps it nice and square with the ports as they open and close. Being almost as deep as the steam chest makes it impossible to fall away from the port face more than a few thou and still allows any hydraulic lock to pass through the ports. An added benefit is that the valve doesn't need a tail rod on the spindle as it isn't supported by it. A nice long bearing surface on the spindle gland is sufficient.

[keith1500]

Nice bit work. I am really inspired as my current project to sort Walschaerts on a friends chassis will lead me to sorting out the valve. The valve is so ridiculously wide that it really needs a guide similar to what your have identified.

Hope you post more soon.

Thanks
Keith

[mugbuilder]

The cylinder covers are done and fitted.
it was easier to fabricate the rear covers than machine the casting.
The stuffing boxes are also done.
The valves are next. I will make them to fit the steam chests and machine the exaust cavity but leave them longer than required and trim them off when setting the valves.

[mugbuilder]

The valves and valve rods are in place. You can't beat slip eccentric valve gear for simplicity.
The slide bars are machined and mounted and ready for the pistons and motion brackets.

[Jim]

Hope you're not out in the workshop in this heat Barry. At 40C in my workshop thoughts of wiring up the railmotor had to be abandoned I'm afraid.

Jim

[mugbuilder]

G,Day Jim, The workshop is very well insulated and stays reasonably cool with the help of 2 good fans.
This also makes it good for winter and I can leave bright steel for months without it going rusty.
I like your rail motor project but it is about time that you ran the Brit!
Barry.

[Jim]

Ah yes Barry I must bite the bullet on that issue especially as the Britannia is all ready to go. It's me that's a bit of a laggard.

Jim.

[mugbuilder]

Those faries had done so much work on this engine that I decided to kick them out of the workshop and continue on myself.
The pistons,piston rods,piston rings and crossheads are done and only require the motion brackets made to finish this part of the assembly. There is a small screw in the crosshead to temporarily secure them to the piston rod so as to determine their correct position before loctiting and replacing the screws with propper pins.
You will note that the exhaust manifold is now in place. It may have been better if the 'T' piece in the middle was more streamlined but there is simply not enough space in the smokebox for this.
You may also notice that there is a single 7/32" dia. hole, rather than multiple small holes for the steam passage from the port to the cylinder. I have found this more than adequate in the past for 1-1/12" Dia. cylinders and much easier than drilling several small holes.

[David]

Tearing along!

Assuming you did it in place, how did you solder the exhaust T together without discolouring the cylinders and frames?

[mugbuilder]

Hello David. I slid a thin piece of sheet metal between the frames and under the 'T'.
I also slightly loosened off one of the cylinders to allow for the expansion of the copper.
When it cooled it fitted perfectly.

[mugbuilder]

The motion brackets are fitted and the slide bars have the oil cups added. 4 bar crossheads are simple to make but it is a real pain setting up the slide bars for a reasonable fit. There is not a lot to do before the chassis is running on air but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself before the frames have to have the cut-outs to clear the Bissel truck. I can't do this until I have fitted the tyres to the truck wheels.

[mugbuilder]

That was a fun train to pull. 3 x 2-8-0 Standard goods engines.143 wagons,626 wheels total, continuous 1 in-60 to 1-80 grade curve.

[kipford]

4 bar crossheads are simple to make but it is a real pain setting up the slide bars for a reasonable fit

Barry how do you set yours up. My L and Y Aspinall has them and I am also finding it very difficult to get a reasonable fit. I am using brass shims but it seems a bit like rolling the dice in the effect changing sizes has on the fit. I am probably between the thickness I have available now. Bedding in has helped but there are still tight spots. At the moment I dare not take it all apart in case I loose the fit I have achieved to date.

Your locos are gorgeous by the way.

Regards

Dave

[mugbuilder]

Hello Dave, I prefer them a bit loose rather than to tight. It is well known that the top bars take most of the thrust so it is better if they are a better fit and the bottom ones can be loosened off a bit to make things a bit any real tight spots. No matter what you do it's a b#**##r of a job to get right.
Regards ,Barry

[kipford]

Barry
Thanks for the reply, really useful as I am still learning what bits need to be tight and which can be slackened.
Dave

[mugbuilder]

The coupling and connecting rods are finished and fitted. I received the tyre rings last Saturday and finished fitting them today. I have an almost full garbage tin full of swarf to get rid of now.
There is very little side movement on the Bissel truck so will most likely have to remove a good deal of the front of the frame to improve this as our miniature track curves are often much sharper than the full-size equivalent and we travel at higher than scale speeds. I will take it to our club track next Saturday to see how it goes through our points etc.

[steamer5]

Hi Barry,
It’s a good thing you ARE’T building a loco! I would love to see how you would go if you WERE building one!

She’s looking very good! Any hints and tips on making & fitting tires please?

Cheers Kerrin