more pics of 5" Stirling single

[simonwass]

My dads 3 1/2" Doris tender is steel sealed with araldite. One of the twin plastic dispenser tubes is enough to do it (a 5" tender would need more), mix it up and pour in, warm to make it runny and roll it around until all is sealed (and glued!). It'll soon go off enough to stop runs but just keep repositioning until it stops causing runs.
Boat building epoxy is another useful source, I've got a half full 20kg drum left over from 12"/ft boat work, I use it for everything that needs glueing/sealing and it never seems to get lighter. A 1kg bottle of resin is about £20.

[welshy]

Thanks Simon for confirming my thoughts i have toyed with the idea of epoxy but wasnt sure whether or not it would last any time without leaking. It will certainly be food for thought.
Mike

[Deleted]

Back in the 60s when British Railways were welding rail joints together and dispensing with fishplates I did the same with my 4mm scale railway. I used soft solder to fill the gap and then filed the solder flush with the rail. It worked brilliantly and there was of course minimal voltage drop over long lengths. Come the winter when the railway (in the attic) cooled down the rails contracted and the soldered joints split. The fishplates had to go back in.

If you soft solder joints in a tender and then sit on it to drive is the resultant flexing not likely to split the soldered joint ? There is no "give" in solder and it must be the weakest point. Boat epoxy I would think would allow the joint to flex a little as I am sure when at sea there must be movement in the joints which the epoxy would cope with.

I am speculating only on this but I imagine many people have practical experience of this.

Regards

Jim

[garethp]

Another option is fuel tank sealer which is flexible.

Just got my copy of the RCTS book - full of info and a lot of photos, I dont plan to make an exact replica of a specific engine but I dont want to make an obvious cockup!!

[welshy]

Gareth is that the Stirling locomotive book?, will you be completing the stirling your father sarted?
Jim i plan to sit behind the tender so it will only have to hold its own weight with the water and coal of course. The soft solder would only be applied to the joints to seal them the joints are all held by closely screwed brass angle inside, expansion/contraction should not be a problem as all the materials are brass.
Regards Mike

[garethp]

Hi Mike,

Its the book covering the GNR from "1867 - 95 The Stirling Era" There's a few things I'd like to find out about such as the different tenders, it seems the earlier ones had a lot of wood in the frames. Another thing I've discovered is there is lots of variety between the different engines, I think I might pick a certain engine and copy it.

I'd like to try and finish my dads engine but its going to be a long process as I've got the two Scamps to do as well - plenty of variety and definately plenty of work! I suppose once I get going on the Stirling dad may decide to do some more bits for it - he's more interested in vintage cars at the moment!

Regards,
Gareth.

[drumkilbo]

Hi Mike,
I've just been looking back at the pics of your lovely Stirling Single, any more progress to show us ?
Ian.

[welshy]

Hello Ian,
Yes there has been a lot of progress on the Stirling since i posted those photos, I
have in the past week or so stripped down the chassis in order to sort out a few niggles and to rebuild it with the correct screw lengths etc, I re-machined some new pistons a couple of days ago so i could fit them with proper rings instead of the original o rings i intended to use as they seemed to cause too much friction. I have also solved the clearance problems with the front bogie and sorted out some other design issues.
I will post some more photos of progress quite soon as soon as it is re-built if you and others are interested. I am at this moment drawing out the cylinder and valve gaskets out on CAD so i can cut them out on the LASER cutter tomorrow (i cut the original ones by hand and it took ages).
Watch this space (in a couple of weeks) to see the progress pics.
Mike

[drumkilbo]

Thanks Mike, I'll look forward to them.

Ian.

[sapper]

Sorry I am a bit late with this. Jimmymac is right epoxy is brittle. I sealed my 5" gauge black 5 tender with it and when I bolted it down on to the frames it cracked along the seam between the sole plate and sides. I finally sealed it with great difficulty using warm roof sealer.
My other locos are all sealed with solder and have not given any problems.
Sapper

[welshy]

Yes i decided a while ago to seal the tender with solder, i havent got around to it yet but when i thought about it i didnt like the idea of epoxy or other similar sealants, it was the thought of having to strip out all the epoxy out if there was a leakage problem, at least soft solder is tried and tested and should be pretty permanant.
Mike

[qreidford]

I am building my first loco a 5" stirling Single and would have liked to see the photos which are discussed in this thread but cannot as the link appears broken.
I really would appreciate if welshy could re-post them - I need all the help I can get.
I am using the Reeves (Piddington) drawings but also have the Scaife drawings as well which fill in some blanks. I have two sheets of the 5" Clarkson drawings which to me answer some areas better - such as the arrangement of the springs to the bogie - the Reves drawings which I have built to, will de-rail the loco I am sure and will have to be modified.
I wonder if a Stirling Single discussion group would be possible?

[feo2man]

You must be so proud of your work-congratulations

[welshy]

Thank you for the kind comments feo2man.
The loco is now well advanced from those photos, I am in the middle of a very long drawn house move at the moment but hope to be back in full swing by early january the loco is packed away at the present time, I will post some more pictures as soon as it is unwrapped and re-built.
Mike

[angleseyrailway]

What beautiful work! Very envious!

Daniel

[welshy]

Thank you Daniel for the kind words, I have'nt done much lately due to a house move but am going to sort out the new workshop in March so will be getting on with the finishing touches and painting then.
Will keep up with the posts then.
Nike