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Post by John Baguley on Feb 9, 2022 17:21:46 GMT
I decided that I needed a fresh project to get the momentum going again and picked this up from Ebay a few weeks ago. It's a 2½" Gauge Southern Maid that has suffered the ravages of being kept for years in a wet shed.
It's missing half of the cab which is easy enough to replace and also the firedoor which I reckon fell off during transit and I've thrown it away with the packaging as it was there in the original photos that the seller sent me 
Judging by the amount of soot in the smokebox and the firebox it's done a lot of running in the past which is a good sign. Although looking very sorry for itself at the moment it's actually not too bad. The workmanship, although not exactly exhibition quality, is reasonable and it shouldn't want much doing to it.
I'm not going to do a full blown restoration on this. I'm just going to strip it down, clean it up, give it a coat of paint and run it. I don't want another Green Arrow job where I've had to replace many parts and completely rebuild it.
At the moment the chassis is in bits ready for painting, the wheels are ready for painting and the boiler has been tested to twice working pressure. I was a bit worried about the boiler as, although it's quite well made, the firebox crown had sagged at some time but it held the pressure with no problem. I gently tapped it back to shape hoping that this had happened when the copper was still soft after being first built and retested it with no problems at all. It's very easy to distort a new boiler if you are a bit heavy handed with the initial test.
My late friend, Dennis Ede, had a Southern Maid and several of us ran the wheels of that loco. It's a really simple loco that runs well. I'm hoping this one will turn out to be as good.
More to follow.
John
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waggy
Statesman
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Post by waggy on Feb 10, 2022 7:57:45 GMT
Hello John,
Ready for Sunday then!
You must have the patience of a saint!
Waggy.
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Post by davewoo on Feb 10, 2022 8:33:40 GMT
Hi John
Looks like a nice little project the engine has definitely fallen into the right hands, keep us posted on progress. I know what you mean about the Green Arrow situation, my own President Washington has stalled simply because there is so much wrong with some of the original work. I wasted much time trying to rectify bits that should have gone straight in the bin.
You never know your southern Maid could be the inspiration I need!
Dave
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Post by jordanleeds on Feb 12, 2022 23:44:41 GMT
Dave would be interested in speaking with you about president Washington.. I think I have some parts
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Post by davewoo on Feb 13, 2022 10:53:47 GMT
Thanks Jordan
PM sent
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2022 11:06:10 GMT
nice project John... btw we had a chap pop in our club Thursday looking for info on his late uncle's 2 1/2 gauge model. To my eye, it's a speedy, ie 1500 class and I believe was drawn up by his uncle, I forget his name now but E J (or L) Delloo or something like that. The drawings were clearly drawn by a professional draughtsman. I advised him to contact you as if anyone knows anything about this loco it will be your good self. The model itself is a very well-built scale model of a 1500 class, there was mention of 1509 but I can't recall who brought up that number, I didn't see any identification written on the drawings themselves.
Regards
Pete
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Post by John Baguley on Feb 13, 2022 11:28:10 GMT
Hi Pete,
LBSC did describe a 2½" Gauge version of Speedy called 'Speedyette' in 'Mechanics' magazine in 1951. It had conventional slide valves rather than the Speedy piston valves. The drawings are still available from Reeves. It could be one of those.
I've only ever seen one version and the builder was struggling to get the valve timing right. I don't know whether he ever got it sorted as I haven't seen him for a few years now.
John
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2022 15:16:53 GMT
Thanks, John...I do believe that this is slide valve although the fairly comprehensive set of plans where I believe not by LBSC, IIRC one or more on them had the builders name which I can't recall other than name given. The drawings had the quality of a commercial set.
It's an old loco which has sat in the loft for a long time, a decade or two.
If the chap (Alan) does contact you he may be able to give more info.
Kind regards
Pete
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Post by steamcoal on Feb 13, 2022 16:49:17 GMT
Thats a nice find John.
Nothing a dip in primordial soup will not clean up then a bit of elbow grease. Lets just hope those nuts and bolts come apart too.A very gratifying restoration.
Very best of luck.
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Post by John Baguley on Mar 21, 2022 17:42:13 GMT
About time for an update on the 'Quickie'
The chassis is painted and back together along with the wheels and coupling rods. The wheels rotate ok so no problems with the quartering or the rod centres 
The cylinders seem to be ok but the ports were a bit rough with a few little nicks in the edges so I skimmed the port faces and trued up the steam ports with a 2mm endmill. I didn't bother with the exhaust ports as they don't affect any of the valve timing and are just a hole for the steam to escape through.
Fortunately, I only had to take a few thou of the edges of the steam ports to get them straight. They looked as though they had originally been formed by drilling a row of holes and then the metal chiselled away. Whoever did them made a good job considering.
The valves however were decidedly rough and I don't think they matched the existing ports, nevermind the now slightly wider ones, so I made new ones.
I carefully measured the ports on the cylinders and then made each valve to fit it's own cylinder as there are slight differences in the port positions and widths.
The cylinders can now be reassembled and the valve gear fitted. I will be fitting my favourate PTFE rings to the pistons to replace the original graphited yarn.
Incidently, the cylinders are what is known as the 'Averill' type, quite common on early 2½" Gauge locos, with a one piece common steam chest between the frames. There's some doubt as to whether Tom Averill actually came up with this idea as Henry Grrenly had described something similar years before. I think Tom Averill perhaps just modified the idea. They were supposed to be easier for a beginner to machine with only a lathe and no milling machine. LBSC's Ayesha uses them as well.
I've stripped the paint from the boiler and cleaned it up and it looks quite well made actually. it's ready for it's 'official' hydraulic test which it should pass with no problems.
I did have problems getting the inner dome off though. It was held on with steel nuts on brass studs and I only manged to remove two of the nuts - the rest just sheared the studs off! I found out after removing the dome that the studs had been soft soldered into the dome bush which didn't help matters. I tried to get the broken studs out by heating the bush to melt the solder but only one stud came out. I had to drill out the remainder using the dome as a drilling guide.
New studs were made from 316 stainless. The originals had been 7BA but those that came out easily were a bit loose for my liking so I made the new ones 6BA and tapped the dome bush to suit.
I did roughly put the loco back together so it could go on our stand at the Midlands Garden Rail Show last weekend so I had to quickly make the missing half of the cab so I could fit it.
Fortunately, it's a very basic affair so didn't take too long to make.
More to come.
John
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twombo
Seasoned Member
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Post by twombo on Mar 26, 2022 4:08:28 GMT
John. The transformation is stunning! The “maid” sitting with her new “ Friends” is lovely! Your Photos of the Averill cylinder installation Have, really clarified matters for me. The Drive and coupling rods appear to have, cleaned up very Nicely. Great work! my Friend. Now to Drive the wheels off this one too! I’ve a new Lathe, in my new shop, now and Posters of Kingette and Toby to cheer me on! now to dive into the ashes of the old shop for anything salvageable.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2022 6:51:24 GMT
Excellent work John...a little gem in the making. The boiler does look good, hope all goes well with the upcoming tests.
Looking forward to further updates....
Kind regards
Pete
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Post by victor358 on May 5, 2022 11:43:13 GMT
Excellent work. Model-building is a big component of the hobby because a lot of real prototypes don't exist in model form, thus a lot of modelers make their own trains and rolling stock, but scenery is where the majority of the actual model-making happens. I really encourage and enjoy kitbashing, especially because it's so much fun to create trains that are purely fictional and have no real-world counterparts. I recently attempted to move one with the help of some pals, and we used hydraulic cylinders to do so. It turned out fantastically. Many model train fans have ready-to-run rolling stock, but a sizable portion also builds and modifies their own. |
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Post by John Baguley on Jun 29, 2022 22:22:41 GMT
About time for an update on this project!
I haven't had a lot of time in the workshop over the last couple of months so not a lot of progress. I was hoping to have it all finished by now and running but that was not to be.
Anyway, the chassis is back together and running on air.
I'm using my small airbrush compressor to run it and it's probably on about 5psi. It's difficult to tell as the pressure doesn't even register on the compressor gauge. It ticks over nicely in forward and reverse although a bit tight in places yet. The pistons have my usual twin PTFE rings.
Timing the valves is a real pain with the Averill design of cylinder with the one piece steamchest but fortunately, these are to the original design and have a removable bottom plate to the steamchest. By removing that you can just about see the ports to see when they open. The type of steamchest fitted to Ayesha doesn't have this bottom plate and the only way to see the ports is to remove the opposite cylinder and peer through the bore of the steamchest.
I took the boiler to the club last week for the 2X shell test and it passed with no problems so that can now be painted and all the fittings put back ready for putting back on the chassis. I also took the boiler for the 0-6-0 Canadian Switcher for it's 2X test and that passed as well. Good news all round
John
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Post by John Baguley on Jun 29, 2022 22:30:04 GMT
Not sure if this will work but hopefully a video of the chassis running on air.
The coupling rod bushes have quite a bit of 'slop' in them which is probably where most of the noise is coming from. It should be fine on the track. And yes, that front wheel is really wobbly!
John
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2022 22:37:35 GMT
Excellent work John...
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mbrown
Elder Statesman
Posts: 1,718
Member is Online
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Post by mbrown on Jun 30, 2022 17:18:40 GMT
nice project John... btw we had a chap pop in our club Thursday looking for info on his late uncle's 2 1/2 gauge model. To my eye, it's a speedy, ie 1500 class and I believe was drawn up by his uncle, I forget his name now but E J (or L) Delloo or something like that. ............ I have just noticed Pete's post in this thread and it stirred a memory which I have now looked up. In the ME for 17 May 1968, a Mr E L Dellow of Paignton contributed a letter in which he bemoaned the absence of new 2.5" gauge designs and the eclipsing of that gauge by the larger sizes. This sparked off a lengthy correspondence along similar lines from other model engineers and led, in time, to Martin Evans commissioning Don Young to design his King Arthur "Elaine" in 2.5" gauge - rather against Don's inclinations. Later still, the obvious revival of interest stemming from Mr Dellow's letter brought about the creation of the National 2.5" Gauge Association which still flourishes. I strongly suspect that this is the uncle of the chap who appeared at your club - and, if so, he really began something! I don't have a photographic memory for letters to the ME, by the way - but this issue was the first I ever bought and I read it over and over! Malcolm |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2022 17:32:48 GMT
nice project John... btw we had a chap pop in our club Thursday looking for info on his late uncle's 2 1/2 gauge model. To my eye, it's a speedy, ie 1500 class and I believe was drawn up by his uncle, I forget his name now but E J (or L) Delloo or something like that. ............ I have just noticed Pete's post in this thread and it stirred a memory which I have now looked up. In the ME for 17 May 1968, a Mr E L Dellow of Paignton contributed a letter in which he bemoaned the absence of new 2.5" gauge designs and the eclipsing of that gauge by the larger sizes. This sparked off a lengthy correspondence along similar lines from other model engineers and led, in time, to Martin Evans commissioning Don Young to design his King Arthur "Elaine" in 2.5" gauge - rather against Don's inclinations. Later still, the obvious revival of interest stemming from Mr Dellow's letter brought about the creation of the National 2.5" Gauge Association which still flourishes. I strongly suspect that this is the uncle of the chap who appeared at your club - and, if so, he really began something! I don't have a photographic memory for letters to the ME, by the way - but this issue was the first I ever bought and I read it over and over! Malcolm Hi Malcolm Thanks for the info, I'll pass it on to the chap next time he's down. He was there last Thursday with his uncle's loco. IIRC he was getting the steam test done..think it was our chairman taking care of him? Cheers Pete |
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