7mm On Heather's Workbench - North Eastern interlude

Kemilway bogies begin

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
I must be mad. As if I didn’t already have enough going on, I’m after starting another project!

Ages ago I made a snap purchase of three part-built Sparmac Gresley coaches. The price they were being offered at was very good, and I thought they’d make a nice project to complete and sell on to a new home. One of our WT inmates said he would like them, so the deal was done.

They slipped on to the back burner due to various things, but I did some research, got some excellent reference material together, and was inclined to purchase a set of Kemilway bogies for them. There followed a further hiatus while production difficulties at the Kemilway end held things up.

Eventually, the bogies appeared. I then proceeded to bungle wheelset orders from Slater's, and it was a further while before I had sufficient wheels for all three coaches. Then I discovered I was short of a pair of lightweight 8ft 6in bogie kits, so I got on to Peter at Kemilway. They duly arrived, had a cursory inspection and were safely stashed with the coaches.

Today, spring sunshine made me feel it was time to take a look at the kits properly. I selected the 8ft heavyweight as my starting point - only to discover the pack contained one 8ft and one 8ft 6in set of etches.

This project appears to be jinxed.

So, while I chase up the Big K again to sort out the muddle once and for all, I intend to make a start with one of the 8ft 6in bogie kits. Yes, I have checked the other to make sure it has the right bits in it, and the errant eight-footer wasn’t mixed somewhere. All is sweetness and light as far as the lightweights are concerned.

So, here’s what I’m presented with:

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One pair of Kemilway/Pring BF5 8ft 6in bogie kits, not forgetting the 19 page construction manual. I may be a while. Send tea and cake.
 

LarryG

Western Thunderer
Rollocks to that just to make a pair of bogies. I suspect you will be working for a mere fraction of the minimum wage just building them ha ha... ;)
 

7mmMick

Western Thunderer
Looking forward to seeing this build Heather, I have a few Kemilway coaches in the draw to build and your build just might make me blow the dust off the boxes :thumbs:

Mick
 

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
Heather,

Why did you decide to use Kemilway bogies?

If the kit included bogie solebars etc., did you consider the sprung, etched, Gresley bogie (internals) from Jonathan Bushell?
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
If the kit included bogie solebars etc., did you consider the sprung, etched, Gresley bogie (internals) from Jonathan Bushell?

The coaches have rather basic whitemetal bogies. I have a set of JB's internals, but I felt it worth the expense/time of doing a nice set of underpinnings. Besides, I’ve never built the Kemilway kits before, and it’s a good chance to see if I like them!

Going well, so far. Importantly, read and understand the instructions! Photos a bit later.
 
Basic construction started

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
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That’s the basic carcasses done.

The hardest part so far has been to follow the instruction that the half-etch crease line is OUTSIDE the fold. Having built any number of etched kits over the years, the traditional, nay standard, is for the crease inside the fold. Fighting this instinctive reaction takes a lot of effort, I can tell you!
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
Not wishing to count my chickens before they’ve crossed the bridge, but I reckon these kits go together a lot quicker than the Slater's Maunsell bogies.

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The characteristic bolted and riveted style of these bogies is represented by overlays. Two 0.5mm wire pegs are used to align the sides, and some careful sweat soldering later…

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These just need a whizz in an ultrasonic bath to clean off flux residues, and some tidying with a file and brass brush in the Dremel.

The kit includes alternate end overlays depending on which side the dynamo belt needs to pass. Not being sure whether both bogies would have been built to cater for dynamos, I assumed they were. Perhaps someone more clued up on this style of bogie might be able to enlighten me as to end treatment generally. This pair of bogies is destined for the Diagram 114 BTK brake third.

I rather think this is the easy bit. The next few steps look a bit complicated, but we’ll see how things pan out tomorrow.
 

Rob Pulham

Western Thunderer
Hi Heather,

By coincidence I have a set of similar etches Marked copyright GPD 1995 that are also marked LH Loveless & Co.

Where yours/Kemilway say 8'6" Light mine just say Light but other than that they have the same BD2/BF2 sheet numbers.
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
Before I get stuck into making the bolsters, I took a few minutes to check yesterday's work. I also to a moment to admire the design of this kit. The main bogie structure consists of just seven parts, four of which are detail overlays.

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Right, reading specs and head on, next section of the instructions here we come!
 

John K

Western Thunderer
Ha! Yes, I’m secretly looking forward to that!
I have built a few of these. The axle box etches will only tolerate being folded once. If you change your mind and fold it back you will have lots of very small components to play with (don't ask).
The wheels on this one are from Peartree (and the whole lot is pretty dirty from having sat on the shelf in my workshop for too long).
John K
Kemilway bogie.jpg
 
Overlays and details

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
The next couple of stages are done. I only forgot about the folding regime twice, but I think I got away with it.

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Upper flanges, spring profiles, shock absorbers all done. I always think the signs of a well thought-out etched kit is parts click into place and only limited tidying of etched cusps is required. This issue of the kit, by the way, provides turned brass shock absorbers to be used instead of the original cast versions.

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I managed to get a little rounded edge done, but there’s limited material available for a larger radius. At least it’s not flat and square any more.

The 'structions reckon it’s axleboxes tomorrow. I might be advised to sort out the wheels and get them blackened.
 
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