A new G1er has arrived

[ace]

Hi all

I will be very soon starting on work on a part built loco. According to the plans the prototype is the ubiquitous L.B.S.C 4f an 060. I have a couple of questions.

1 what is meant by 060?
2 and L.B.S.C 4f means what

Like I said I am totally new to the loco side of model engineering. I fancied something totally different from live stationary engines.

I am aware that G1 is not so popular and wondered if the suppliers for bits and pieces will also be unpopular.

I will as soon as I have made some headway post some pic's of it now and later when I have achieved something worth showing.

ACE

[steam4ian]

G'day Ace.

By 060 I understand loco has an 0-6-0 wheel arrangement. That is it has no axles, bogies or trucks before or behind the driving axles hence the "0"s. There are 6 driving wheels, three each side, on 3 axles.
LBSC means either London Brighton and South Coast railway or in this case more likely it is the pseudonym of the designer Curly Lawrence.
4F is the class of the loco, the prototype was designed by Fowler for the Midland and then LMS railways in the UK.

It is a chunky loco with inside cylinders and had a tender.

Regards,
Ian

[steam4ian]

G'day Ace
Me again. Only the other day I was surfing around and found a supplier of boiler fittings etc for G1 and O. Keep searching.
Regards,
Ian

[Shawki Shlemon]

Hi Ace
just to add a little more about 4F , F stands for freight , P for passenger and MT for mixed traffic .The number before the letter stands for power of the locomotive for example 3f is less powerful than 5F and so on .

[ace]

Hi Ian

Thanks for the info, I thought 060 meant something to do about the three main driving wheels but wasn't sure. I have purchased the loco from a member of this group 'staride' and am looking forward to getting stuck in. I have the instructions and detailed drawings so it shouldn't be to hard to follow. There is a tender as per the photo and most of the work on this is complete I think, just need to do some reading to make sure. What I do need to know and it may sound dumb but when completed and ready to run on the track.... wait for it....... how do you start/stop these things as I imagine it will hurtle around the track, do you run after it or wait for it to run out of fuel. By this time you more experienced G1er's will have stopped laughing picked yourselves up and will be able explain this one to me!.

ACE

[havoc]

Well it is likely alcohol fired. So first you pop a fan in the stack to provide draft. Then you light the fire and wait for pressure to build. Once you have enough pressure you switch to the blower so the engine provides its own draft.

When it is at normal working pressure you open the regulator and the fiddle about until the condense clear of the cilinders. Often this goes along with squirts of water out of the stack, shouting of unpolite words etc. Once it starts to move you can close the blower as the exhaust provides the draft. If you stop then you need to put on the blower.

Alcohol locs have a tendency to work better with a good train behind them. Otherwise a bit of helping from the blower. Once you get the hang of it they can be well controlled.

Once it is running, you can run along if you like... I think that until you know the engine well following it around is a good idea. Most of the crowd just let the engines run round keeping an eye on alcohol and water levels and the pressure. Lot of what you can do depend on the track of course.

[ace]

Hi Havoc

When you say switch to the blower from the fan can you expand on this, sorry this may seem like a daft question but I have never run a loco before.

ACE

[steam4ian]

G'day again Ace.
Regarding operating of the loco, have a google for "sidestreet bannerworks" and go to " loco of the month". There are descriptions of almost 60 guage 0 & 1 locos including a review of their operation. Lighting up of the locos is described. It is good reading.

Many small models only have two valves, the blower and the regulator/throttle. Many need something to assist the draft for the fire. When the loco is operating the blast from the exhaust steam sucks the combustion gases through the boiler and ejects them up the stack. When the loco is not operating there is no exhaust blast. To maintain a draft there is a small steam jet/s beside the exhaust blast nozzle. Steam is directed to these jets and which suck the combustion gases, the system is called the blower controlled by the blower valve. The regulator/throttle controls the steam flow to the cylinders.

Regards,
Ian

[ace]

Thanks Ian

Found the site and will have a good read later after work.

Cheers mate


Steve

[abby]

Welcome Ace , I hope you find G1 to be more popular than you expect , I am building LBSC'S "Dot" at present and I may be able to help if you need it.

[ace]

Hi abby

Looking at the photo I put up you can see thats there's quite a bit of work to do. So yes I think I will be firing a lot of questions on this site. There is a lot of rust to shift first and I have just come in from the workshop after giving the thing a good looking over and freeing off the middle axle and crank. The thing is with this is it appears to have a form of suspension on each axle, yet the plans give designs for fixed axles. So there is some work on this to as the middle axle has a few bits on it and they are stiff. So yes please keep youe eye on this section.
I found some web sites for G1's and there is mention of the 'Dot' there. Hope your having fun on yours. ;D

ACE

[abby]

Post some more detail pictures ace so we can have a good look.

[baggo]

Hi Ace,

Is it the single cylinder 'Project' from the Gauge 1 Society? Looks very much like one.

John

[ace]

Hi John

yep thats the one, but it appears to have been modified on the axles and I will post some pics later today if I can to show you the set up and may be someone can explain how it works and what it should have on it that missing.

Cheers


Steve

[ace]

Abby

As requested, I have taken a pic of the axle bush and its set up. Can you explain whats supposed to happen here. My thoughts are that there should be a spring on the long stud and that it will raise the chassis from the axles a bit like a cars suspension. I have stripped down the crank axle and the slip eccentric gear and cleaned it all up. there is a stop collar that I'm not quite sure of its purpose. something to do with the timing???.
I have made a new drag beam and buffer beam and filled the rust from the main frames. Thats about it for today I will be in the shed first light and back at it again. The coupling rods are next as there is one missing, so there's an hour of marking milling and most of all.... filing.
Will keep ya posted.





ACE

[abby]

Quite right Ace there should be compression springs on the studs which are adjusted by the nuts , the stop collar is the means of providing forward/reverse and its timing is critical as the valve timing is controlled by it. The eccentric sheaves are free to move on the axle , their movement clockwise or anti is checked by the stop collar , so if the loco is given a push forwards the valves go to the forward running position and with a push backwards - you can guess.
You loco is built very much like DOT but with a single inside cylinder , BAGGO very kindly sent me a scan from ME regarding setting up the timing , the principle will be the same.

[ace]

Hi again

That's the main frames, buffer and drag beams done. I have decided to replace the axle bush retaining brackets with new ones and keep the new look going. Unfortunately I broke my 6BA tap in the drag beam so there it will have to stay. At this point I only have one concern and that is will the movement of the driven axle have an affect on the cylinder, knowing that the movement will be small and only in a vertical way. Given chance tomorrow I will replace the old brass axles with mild steel ones and then tackle the missing connecting rod.





[ACE

[baggo]

Hi Steve,

I shouldn't worry about the movement of the crank axle. As you suggest, it's effect on the valve timing will be very small, especially if the eccentric rod is fairly long. As long as you run on a reasonably level track the axle will move very little anyway.

John

[ace]

Hi John

Thanks for the reply, I just needed someone to confirm my thoughts, I would have hated to have to start all over again. I haven't given any thought to the track yet but yes my aim would be to have it a level as possible and preferably at knee height, so it would supported and level. Just a quick note on the track what is the smallest radius I can have on a G1 track.

The new coupling rods now complete with bushes.


Cheer
Steve

[ace]

Hi again

Does anyone have the following.........
A picture of the completed g1 loco 'the project by the G1 MRA by R.E Hines & R.G Poulter'.

Cheers
ACE