springbok
Statesman
Building a Thompson Class B1 in 5"g Plus restoring a 3" Fowler steam road Engine "The Wanderer".
Posts: 570
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Post by springbok on Jul 30, 2011 2:38:14 GMT
Hi everyone
I am starting this in the hope that anyone who is building or has built a 5" B1 could post any problems with either the drawings or snags that they have encountered I will be posting all the problems that I have come up with so far including missing details in the drawings
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Post by RGR 60130 on Aug 2, 2011 13:19:18 GMT
Check out Alan Stepney's web site as a starting point. Phil, at Blackgates Engineering once told me he had a list of errors too though I have never seen a copy.
Reg
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springbok
Statesman
Building a Thompson Class B1 in 5"g Plus restoring a 3" Fowler steam road Engine "The Wanderer".
Posts: 570
|
Post by springbok on Aug 5, 2011 1:51:55 GMT
Reg,
Thankyou for reply,
From Alan Stepney's web site
The boiler is pitched .375" too high, this makes the cab height out of scale. On the full size engine there is virtually no gap between the frame and boiler. The cab and running boards are approx .75" too wide as is the tender. I have seen one built using Martins drawings but scaled correctly, a big improvement on mine. Have no fear though, it is fairly easy to build and steams and pulls like a good'n. If you have an old set of drawings you may find a stretcher trying to fit between the frames where the middle tender wheelset sits. This corrected on later drawings.
Reg Rossiter says:
The cut outs in the main frames for the boiler blow downs need to be about 1/2" further up and about 1/8" further forward.
The reamed 3/16" hole near the front coupled wheel should be 7/32"
There are 2 different boiler drawings in circulation. The one you want has the girder stays on top of the fire box wrapper attaching to the outer shell of the boiler.
Check the thread sizes of the boiler fittings agree with the thread sizes for the boiler bushes.
The steam manifold is shown twice with discrepancies in the measurements.
I steward at the Thornbury Exhibition as member of BSMEE and blackgates will be there
will contact Phil in advance and hope that he will bring the info in the meantime as I am about 60% there I am finding lots of holes to drill not in drawing which I will be listing.
have a lovely chuffing day
Bob
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springbok
Statesman
Building a Thompson Class B1 in 5"g Plus restoring a 3" Fowler steam road Engine "The Wanderer".
Posts: 570
|
Post by springbok on Aug 14, 2011 14:00:42 GMT
On the main drag beam drawing there is only the rivet holes but if you refer to drawing 8 it shows 6 holes for l/h r/h injector water pipes and union for water pipes before you start riveting wish I had spotted this.
more to come
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Post by RGR 60130 on Aug 14, 2011 18:04:47 GMT
I routed my injector water pipes through the brackets for the brake shaft using a sort of bulkhead fitting. there is a 90 degree elbow on the inside. This avoids a couple of brackets on the drag beam. Reg Attachments:
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Post by RGR 60130 on Aug 14, 2011 18:08:17 GMT
On the original design the frames extend above the drag beam which doesn't make for a tidy cab floor. Attachments:
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Post by RGR 60130 on Aug 14, 2011 18:15:40 GMT
I cut the back corners out of the frames which I thought improved things a bit and made it more like the prototype. If you Google for pictures on the net you should find one showing a view into the cab of Springbok and the correct shape of the cab floor is clearly visible. I was pushed into my compromise because the frames were already erected and painted. If you are starting from scratch then you will have more possibilities. Reg Attachments:
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Post by chris vine on Aug 14, 2011 19:19:03 GMT
I think there are two things on the springbok and roedeer designs which spoil them a bit and both can be fixed with a bit of cunning.
First is simple. The steam pipes from the smoke box down to the cylinders, on the original are nearly vertical. However on the Martin Evans designs, they sprout out of the smokebox radially. This looks very different from what it should
Second is not too bad if you know about it soon enough: The expansion link/motion bracket are much too prominent. The expansion link should not stick up through the running board and the motion bracket should not stick out sideways, proud of the running board.
This will take more effort to fix, but is well worth while I think. A combination of narrowing the motion and, perhaps, making the running board a bit wider???
Chris.
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Post by chris vine on Aug 14, 2011 19:21:16 GMT
Steam pipes at front. Attachments:
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Post by chris vine on Aug 14, 2011 19:24:30 GMT
motion bracket. The picture is not quite at the right angle, but shows it ok I think. The bracket should in fact be further in than I managed. The outside plate should be inside the angle at edge of running plate. Chris. Attachments:
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Post by RGR 60130 on Aug 14, 2011 19:29:42 GMT
Not the best picture but I think it shows that I kept the running boards flat throughout their length. The valence is touching the motion bracket and looks OK. The two lubricators are partly above and partly below the running board. Attachments:
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Post by RGR 60130 on Aug 14, 2011 19:36:30 GMT
The front of the running boards came out as shown. Not perfect scale but not too far away from the mark. Attachments:
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Post by RGR 60130 on Aug 14, 2011 20:28:40 GMT
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springbok
Statesman
Building a Thompson Class B1 in 5"g Plus restoring a 3" Fowler steam road Engine "The Wanderer".
Posts: 570
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Post by springbok on Aug 21, 2011 23:53:18 GMT
Well disaster struck on thursday my 2 strapping big grandsons picked it up for us to take to the BSMEE exhibition at Thornbury and the bogey litterally fell of. on inspection the casting had a massive blowhole and haveing had enough fell apart. Comment was well just as well it happened now and not on the track. Am going to make it in BMS this time but annoyed as had painted all this area. Ah well such is life.
Bob
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Post by jones1972 on Aug 27, 2011 21:08:02 GMT
Hello all,
i am building a B1 for a friend to Martin Evans design.I have just about got to finished chassis stage of which i have not found to much problem except that there ain't a lot of clearance between con rod at highest position and bottom two guide bars . I have put the beveled edges in as shown on drawings but i have also been given the M E's with original construction articles in and it shows the slide bar length in at 1/8" shorter than on the drawings! Will have a think but has anyone else noticed this? i will try to post a picture or two in images of engine in image section if i can work out how to do it!!
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Post by jones1972 on Aug 27, 2011 21:28:23 GMT
Here are pictures of B1 currently building.[img src="[/img] ![]() "] ![]() [/img] Attachments:
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Post by jones1972 on Aug 27, 2011 21:30:53 GMT
![]() [/img] and another picture of the B1 Attachments:
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Post by jones1972 on Aug 27, 2011 21:34:20 GMT
![]() [/img] one more of B1 !! Attachments:
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springbok
Statesman
Building a Thompson Class B1 in 5"g Plus restoring a 3" Fowler steam road Engine "The Wanderer".
Posts: 570
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Post by springbok on Aug 28, 2011 22:08:41 GMT
 Thought this old photo I found may interest everyone. Am going to attempt to get my one running on air this week have made up a bit of a heath robinson attachment linked to a compressor. will post a photo when I have got it ready Would appreciate any advice on this before I start Bob Attachments:
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Post by RGR 60130 on Aug 28, 2011 23:20:48 GMT
That's an excellent picture Bob.
Regards running on air don't forget to make sure everything is lubricated including the cylinders. Putting spacers between the main axle boxes and the horn stays will keep the axles at the correct height (running position) and give you a better idea of how even the valve timing is. If you try spinning the wheels to start it again when the air compressor is down to it's last couple of pounds of pressure be very careful. I almost lost the end of my finger between the rods. Excitement and common sense don't always coincide!!
Reg
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