Don Young HUNSLETTE

[Nexuas]

Has anyone made or had experience of the 3 1/2" Version of Don's popular "Alice" Hunslet design. I am thinking of starting my first loco from scratch and it is a toss up between

Hunslette by Don Young
Hunslet by Don Young
Lilla by Ross Harrison
Conway by Martin Evans


I will say Conway is not high on the list, but just added it as I am sure someone would suggest it. As you can guess I have a fondness for narrowgauge hunslets. (I already have a 3 1/2" WHR RUSSELL)

I think I would prefer the 3 1/2" version of the Alice hunslet for a couple of reasons...

• The slate waggons I am making to go with RUSSELL will fit behind Hunslette
  
  
• There are loads of 5" Hunslets out there and I like to be a bit different
  
  
• I could lift the 3 1/2" version in and out of the car on my own, it would fit in the boot without the back seats having to be down freeing up seats for the other half and sprog and luggage
  
  
• The boiler kit is half the price of the 5" version!!!!
  
  
• It is cheaper overall(€less money wasted if I stuff bits up[highly likely as this is my first scratch build])
  
  

Opinions/ suggestions/ cash donations welcome...

[dscott]

Dear Nexuas,

I have almost built 2 Hunslets quite beasts and often whished Id done the smaller one.
I left my frames straight the same as the Port class Lilian is our preserved example 28 miles away at Launston. As drawn there are lots of mistakes which if you follow the full sized ones, if you can call them full size, are much easier to build. I have almost a full set of patterns with the correct webbs on the cylinders if you would be interested. Reeves prices even 8 years ago put me off. The other bits from solid. Talking of solid, Don has thin cranks at 1/2" I did 5/8" ones.
Conway is out of proportion, and Lila very complicated for what are simple engines.
The boiler is a bit on the big side in 5" and I have had problems. Again flanging plates I have,
But I would go for the Hunslettie if I was doing it all again. Unless I wanted to do public running. I have a lovely photo of one loaned to Nigel Bowman of L.S.R. who said it was Covertcoats baby.

David Scott.

[Nexuas]

dscott said:

I have a lovely photo of one loaned to Nigel Bowman of L.S.R. who said it was Covertcoats baby.

David Scott.

I saw this model in the summer and was one of the things that made me think HUNSELETTE would be a nice build, it is a beautifully finished model.

I am considering making a model of either Veilnheli with a domed boiler, or Nesta both will require a small modification to DY plans. I will run the domed boiler past our Boiler guy next week and see if he will accept this as a modification to plan. Nesta will require straight frames and deep buffer beams and also Slater safety valves which I will take from the Lilla plans (Have the drawings in EIM).

Other than that I will loose the axel pump and fit two injectors so will add an extra clack entry point to the boiler (In the correct place under the side tanks rather than on the backhead...)

Hell I may even start to build a pair? could do both that way???

Think I may order the Hunselette plans from Reeves as they are only £18...

[greasemonkey]

HI Nexus
What about Charles, then you could model Blanche or Linda with the additon of a front truck and pistons valve cylinders as aproppriate.

Andy

[Nexuas]

greasemonkey said:

HI Nexuas
What about Charles, then you could model Blanche or Linda with the additon of a front truck and pistons valve cylinders as aproppriate.

Andy

Linda will follow the first 0-4-0 hunslet possibly as built or maybe early FR not sure I like the idea of adding pony truck to sort potential stability problems...

The I will have a look at Mountaineer...

and if I am still alive and doing ME I will do Talisein in 3 1/2"

That should cover the next 30 years or so??? Although I have a tendancy to do periods of major modelling followed by long droughts, if I can get enough modelling next year I would like to get Hunslette complete in about 18 months. (RUSSELL's boiler took me 8 weeks start to finish....)

[dscott]

Dear Nexuas,
I understand that Hunslette was reduced from the 5" plans, so the following not to scale, lets make it more difficult bits would have been transfered.: The most obvious is the valve extentions that should be in line and saves making an N shaped bit each side if you bolt on a packing piece,
the handbrake should be just above the frames so needs swapping with the reverse lever. The bracket needs a large hole and only 2 bolts. There saved you 3 bolts and 3 holes to drill twice. The weighshaft bearing only needs 2 bolts, on the drawing its the same as the brakeshaft which is now also much shorter. The draincock lever is just a strip of metal with a bend in the end, not a fancy copy of the reverse lever. One very important visual bit from a Dorset builder, the tank shape is too small a radius. On the frame, the firebox stay is straight as is the valve stay I did mine with angles and not silver soldered end pieces, with the second set of spring hangers being seperate parts not added on bits to the stretcher.

There saved you a whole month in not making the wrong parts for the scrap bin and easier too.
David Scott.

Just a quick check on my model upstairs, the reverse lever reach rod is an offset fork, not a Y shape one, plus even more saving on castings, the horns are two piece on the full size with 4 holes each side. Don put 6 each side and used castings.
Have fun.

[Nexuas]

I had heard that there were some issues with the DY drawings, but had assumed that these related to the earlier editions and the new drawings i.e. LLAS no.1 1979 onwards were corrected to as built?

Thanks for the advice I will look out for these issues... I am just about to order a set of drawings now...

They must be OK as there is many, many examples of the DY hunslet round the country, and some are really beautiful examples. The model at the LSR being one example and also Don Thorne's ANN MARIE is a lovely example which has been around for 20 odd years now (Inspite of my dad having a major accident with it in the mid 80's [DY has the wheels just loctited onto straight axels, well the loctite gave way and the wheels changed gauge and it dropped a couple of feet from the rasied track onto the floor taking the passenger car with it!!! ]) I suggest if you have used this method of wheel attachment to also drill and pin the wheels on the axel!!!!

[dscott]

Dear Nexuas,

Several very good friends of mine and I have come to the conclusion that drawings done by Don young, Martin Evans and to some extent Lbsc, have to be used as a guide to the overall size and shape of an engine. The reason being that they had publishing deadlines and would cheat on the drawing board. Some even got their wives to do the drawings for them.
I am lucky that for my degree in Industrial Design drawing and passing on exactly what was needed via the drawing medium,got practiced every week. Later in industry working in prototype building, feedback to the drawing office next door was an almost daily happening. ( usually during tea breaks )
Now most of the published designs are done in ink on drawing film which is a very hard job to correct, and these sheets usually stay at the printers and Reeves and Blackgates etc... just order more copies when needed.
It would take an enormous resorce to re-do our drawings to be correct but there are web sites with lots of corrections thankfully these days.
Wheels, yes loctited and pinned with 1/8" pins.
David.