BOXHILL by Martin Evans

[jma1009]

here are a few more pics of slow progress on the 5"g terrier side tanks for Stepney.

the tanks were photographed 'back to back' to check all was 'square' and 'level', and both the same length and height. the L-H one has a bit of a twist in the outer cover which will require a bit of brutal remedial work before progressing further.

hopefully you can see just the minimum of 1/16" dia rivets required for the various bits of angle. the rear end plates are secured with 10BA brass screws rather than rivets. the bottom plates can be seen in the middle and will also be secured with 10BA screws.

the outer side plate to top plates joint is a lap joint and so done with Jim Scott's ARAX 96S soft solder, even though riveted as well. the remainder will be done with old fashioned large sticks of plumber's soft solder (of which i have a lot) plus Bakers Fluid. for ordinary soft solder on such jobs i think the added angle riveted up or fixed with screws is essential.





if you look closely the holes have been added on the front end plates for where the condenser pipes once went. the driving wheel cut outs in the base plates have been nearly finished. the cut outs at the trailing wheel ends have only been roughed out to minimum at the moment.

you might be able to see how i have done woodwork type lap joints with brass angle in certain position.

cheers,
julian

[jma1009]

a bit more fettling and the proportions are looking good and as per fullsize...





the angle for the base plate to outer side plate has been riveted on to both tanks since yesterday, and the base plates fitted with 10BA screws. 5 rivets and 5 10BA screws over a slightly under 9" length seems quite adequate.

this is all pretty much bread and butter stuff and nothing special. but keeping a check on the overall proportions for such distinctive tanks in fullsize is what has occupied most time!



cheers,
julian

[springcrocus]

Dec 31, 2015 22:41:27 GMT jma1009 said:

this is all pretty much bread and butter stuff and nothing special.

cheers,
julian

I disagree, Julian, I think it is a little bit special. There are many on here, myself included, who learn a little more each time you post and your attention to detail is to be applauded. I would be pleased if you gave a little more detail of your procedures for those of us who wish to improve.

Steve

[jma1009]

hi steve,

that is very kind of you.

i think with things such as side tanks it comes down to awkward set ups for drilling (none of which ive taken pics of) with clamps getting in the way of drilling a 1/16" dia hole for rivets or No. 54 hole for 10BA screws. plus of course very careful riveting of the 1/16" dia copper rivets to reduce 'dings' to a minimum. i find such jobs very laborious with clamping everything up with the few suitable clamps i have, constant alteration of pillar drill table height, deburring holes etc.

however i have taken onboard your comments and will supply a fuller description of further stages. there are lots of things i do without thinking such as when riveting have a thumb near the rivet head to sort of guide the ball pien hammer head and angle of attack. i tend to do riveting for at least a 180 degree work angle if that makes any sense.

i am rather impatient where platework is concerned. i ought to take more time and care.

cheers,
julian

[dscott]

This gets round the need to fit outside tank covers which I have been contemplating while I get on with other house and workshop build related projects!!
Yes the tops of our locos are the most looked at!!
Happy new year.
David.

[mbrown]

Lovely work, Julian,

Am I right that the Terriers, like most (all?) Stroudley tank locos, had a single sheet metal plate across the tops of both tanks and the boiler, effectively hanging the tanks together and allowing the boiler to bear at least some of their weight? I imagine that is going to be a tricky bit of sheet metal work, getting the radius over the boiler and the flat sections across the tops of both tanks all at the right levels, not to mention getting the hole for the dome in the right place.

Whenever I try and bend up sheet metal I find it a very hit and miss process (mostly miss...) - I would be intrigued to know how you plan to achieve this distinctive Stroudley feature.

Keep up the good work!

Malcolm

[jma1009]

hi malcolm,

you are quite correct about the cleading between the side tanks and the way it is fixed, but whether a thin sheet of iron actually does anything to hold the tanks together is debateable. in fullsize both Stepney and Fenchurch have their original cleading between the tanks, patched considerably for different dome positions and steam valves.

i made a bit more progress yesterday cutting up with hacksaw and filing to size the inner side sheets. i have gone for the easy option of making these plain flat plates rather than curved at the top to follow the boiler outline. only a negligible amount of water space has been lost and construction much simplified.

i have made up a sort of angled cover plate to deal with the intersection of the filler hole with the inner side sheet (pic to follow of this tomorrow).

anyway here is a pic of the R-H tank upside down with its inner side plate trial fitted.

cheers,
julian

[jma1009]

here is a trial angled cover plate between the inner tank side sheets and the tank filler hole it intersects (see previous pics). i am not entirely happy with the trial being a bit of a bodge of 5/8" brass angle with copper bashed up inside and silver soldered together.

cheers,
julian

[Roger]

It looks fine to me Julian, simple yet effective. When I was looking at Bill Perret's SPEEDY I was surprised to see that the opening was restricted by the curve of the boiler. I guess many are like that, but it does bring home why the tanks get hot is they're that close. At least you can get plenty of insulation in between the tank and the boiler.

[jma1009]

i have been quite busy the last week on Stepney's side tanks. virtually all the angle has been made and fitted, both angled covers for the filler hole, everything double checked for clearances for the boiler and reach rod etc.

so i started on the splashers.

i decided to have these 'open' on the inside. the inner side plates anyway are too far out for the frames and wheels, plus i can slide the tanks in position if need be.

the splashers are made out of odds and ends of 1/16" brass plate.



here is trial of the rolled section. i deliberately left the front ends long to fit in between the internal angle to act as a stiffner.



the above is the silver soldered L-H splasher.

here is the R-H splasher showing how it fits into place after fixing it with 10BA screws to the inner side plate. tapping of the holes to secure to the bottom plate in progress of being done



cheers,
julian

[jma1009]

here is one more pic.

from time to time i am a great user of my dremel with dental burrs. they make lots of awkward jobs very quick and easy.

the cut out for wheel profile profile on the inner side sheet was deliberately made the bare minimum, and the open side of the splasher deliberately large so that there was something to hold onto with toolmakers clamps to drill through the inner side sheet and splasher (also much easier to silver solder the splashers up if the sides are left oversize).

anyway the excess then needs removing, so free hand chain drilling and then the dremel .



in the pic above in the previous post of the holes being tapped, you can just see to the right how close the inner side sheet is to the cut out in the end plate for the reach rod.

usually i would put a 10BA tap in a small drill chuck fitted with a wooden round handle rather than in an eclipse tap holder. however this is currently fitted with a 3mm drill for de-burring. countersunking of holes is done with a 'hand lathe' (hand drill) fixed in the bench vice - which i find very quick and accurate and avoids chatter and problems of getting the countersunk depth ok in the pillar drill.

cheers,
julian

[jma1009]

at long last a bit of further progres on Stepney...



this s the dummy vacuum reservoir which is the tank underneath the cab floor to which all the water pipework will get fitted and will act as a small well tank off which the 2 injector supplies come off, plus the LBSCR wagon feeds into plus the side tanks.

inside is a 'finger' type filter of fine phos bronze gauze which screws into one end via a 3/8" x 32 tpi fitting. attached to this (and removable via a 1/4" x 40 tpi thread) is the elbow to which the pipes to the injector water valves will connect. the copper tube is 1 1/4" dia.

a bush which i havent made yet needs adding for the sidetank and LBSCR wagon feed pipes.

i seem to have spent a huge amount of time trying to fathom out pipe runs and making sure everything is 'get-at-able'. there is very little room underneath. plus not helped by Stepney in fullsize having the reservoir across the frames.

cheers,
julian

[stephen]

Hi Julian

i have sent you a pm

many thanks

Stephen

[jma1009]

at long last i think ive worked out all the pipe runs for Stepney.

it may not look much, but the connections for the dummy vacuum reservoir that is a well tank with everything piped off it has been a nightmare.

there is no point having a pipe connection with a union nut where you cant get access with a spanner unless you remove the cab etc.

anyway a few pics.



this is the tank on top of the rear of the loco in the approximate position it will go underneath the frame stay it is sitting on. a bit of lead solder wire shows the approximate run of the pipes from the side tanks that also acts as a balance pipe.

there is quite a lot underneath that horizontal frame stretcher already including the steam brake cylinder.

in case the filter in the tank needs cleaning (the 2 injectors are quite small at 12 oz per min) i need to remove this tank without removing the cab or brake gear or steam brake cylinder etc.

another with a few pipes attached...



here is another showing the silver soldered joints. you can just see the drain cap on the bottom of the tank which is in a silver soldered bush.



if you look at the top of the first pic you can see a 'T' piece which is quite compact for 3 connections. some careful silver soldering there as the union on the bottom of the 'T' needed adding first.

cheers,
julian

[Roger]

Very neat as always Julian, and I like the idea of using solder to experiment with pipe runs. I've got some chunky plumbers solder that I may well do the same with. That's a handy way to get a good idea as to where the bends starts and what overall length the pipe needs to be. I guess you could mark the start, middle and end of the bends with a felt tip pen.

[jma1009]

here are a few more pics of the dummy vacuum reservoir fitted to the loco...





as mentioned before, the reservoir is a well tank to which all the pipework is connected and there is a filter inside.

it looks like there is plenty of room but in fact it is a very tight fit to clear the steam brake cylinder and be in a position to give the correct pipe runs. plus the union connections need to be accessible from underneath and the tank be easily removable in the event the filter needs cleaning.

it is pretty much in the fullsize position and orientation.

it is fixed in position by 2 brackets silver soldered to the end caps, and these brackets are secured to the horizontal stretcher above by 2 of the same easily accessible bolts that hold down the cab and bunker.

i have also made a start on the pipework. the following is my version of the balance pipe for the side tanks and feed to the well tank. 2 small notches are cut in the frame tops for the pipes. these could not be further forward due to the wheels, and could not be further back because further back the frames are very shallow



cheers,
julian

[Deleted]

Lovely work Julian....having seen Stepney in person I can appreciate how confined this space really is.....grand job sir...

cheers

Pete

[Cro]

I think tight is an understatement! Nicely done though

Julian is the filter located in the end of the tank??

Adam

[jma1009]

hi adam,

many thanks for your comments plus those of pete.

yes, the filter is screwed into the left hand end cap. it is the end with the separate elbow connection -this feeds the injector water valves which will be the next job.

cheers,
julian

[Cro]

Julian,

So I guess to clean the filter it all has to be moved or removed completely?

You say that feeds the injector water valves (could be a typo) but if running two at the same time would you ever expect to see them fighting for water supply? Just a curious thought that's all  


Adam