A West Midlands Works

Scanlon

Western Thunderer
Day 2 on the E2 and now the gremlins are coming out from under the carpet. The smokebox saddle was completed using the etched parts provided. Included in the castings is a whitemetal steam chest cover but it was too small to serve any purpose. Construction of the bunker and cab back presented no problems other than blending in the lower edges of the bunker to the reverse curves.
Loco 3a 081018.JPG
An etch is provided for the protecting bars over the rear windows but they looked very crude. I chose to drill out the marked holes for conventional bars, 0.5 brass rod being used. The coal rails are yet to be correctly put in place and backing plates will have to be made from scrap etch to represent them as they were in later days.

A start was then made on constructing the tanks. Being the longer type it is necessary to put a floor into the tank extensions using pieces of scrap etch. It was at this stage problems began to arise. Slot and tab is used to locate etches but often they are not where they should be. :rant:Having built up the first tank side none of the 3 tabs would line up with their respective slots. Referring to drawings I did establish the tab at the cab end of the tank would go into the appropriate slot and locate accurately but not the other two. If I'd have relied upon the slots in the running plate the front of the tank would have been halfway along the smokebox! With the two other tabs removed the left hand tank was then soldered in place. The right hand tank was then built up. Armed with the knowledge that the rear tab was in the correct position it was located in the appropriate slot. Wrong, this slot was in the incorrect place and if used would have resulted in the tank being located about 2mm ahead of the other. I chose to dispense with all the tabs and using set squares and clamps ensured the right hand tank lined up exactly with the left hand one front and rear!;)
Loco 5  081018.JPG
These photos give an idea of how large these shunting tanks engines were.
Loco 3 081018.JPG
Loco 4 081018.JPG
I remember them as being small locos but then memory always plays tricks and it was over 60 years ago.

A trial fit of the upper cab sides and the cab front reveal the locating tabs for the cab front are at least 2mm out of place. I will ignore the slots and build up the cab using the upper cab sides which are accurate etches, as the guides. Once installed the tank sides will need slight modification, the cut out at the cab end as etched is not long enough and will have to be extended towards the smokebox by 2mm. The boiler etch has also been tried in place and at this stage it will correctly locate on the saddle.:rolleyes:
 

Peter Cross

Western Thunderer
I had forgotten about the tab and slots, which then reminded me the cut out on the tank extensions were different, as were the half etches for the front curve. William also doesn't allow for the bunker corners to be radiused like the prototype.

Doing a grand job there.
 

Scanlon

Western Thunderer
The build of 90750 is now well into the detailing and the loco has reached this stage
Loco 7 091018.JPG
the cab roof and the smokebox door are just in place for show.

The ejector pipe, blower pipe, reverser rod and its support plus the lifting links for the valve gear have been installed. This was followed by the delivery pipes above the running plate, outside steampipes fitted and reverser put in place in the cab. In addition covers have been made for the clack pipes on the boiler.

The cab to firebox etch was not very good with a small gap on the drivers side but a much larger problem on the firemans side.
Loco 2a 041018.jpg
Fillets of etch were made to close up the gaps in the front of the cab then the whole assembly was soldered to the boiler.


The build has reached the stage where I can see what needs to be done towards completion.
Loco 6 091018.JPG
There is a list of over 20 items from fit the whistle to build the valve gear. The main priority will be to fit the drain cocks and pipes, the brake gear and the injectors and pipework. Then I can spray the frames and from there put in the plunger pick-ups, motor and gearbox and then wire everything up.
 

Dikitriki

Flying Squad
Given that I only rolled the boiler and smokebox last Wednesday, and you've part built a *ALTRT kit in addition over the weekend, that is astonishingly quick progress. Not only quick, but neat too. :thumbs:

Richard
 

Ressaldar

Western Thunderer
Given that I only rolled the boiler and smokebox last Wednesday, and you've part built a *ALTRT kit in addition over the weekend, that is astonishingly quick progress. Not only quick, but neat too. :thumbs:

Richard

are you sure that Roger didn't already have a boiler and smokebox stashed away and those that you did are for his next build?

Well done Roger, the Ace Products kit after this will be a cakewalk:thumbs::thumbs::thumbs::bowdown:

kind regards

Mike
 

Scanlon

Western Thunderer
Richard and Mike,
Thanks for your comments, I just wish I had a magic wand to complete this loco and get to that cakewalk and progress the E2. The only reason there has been "astonishingly quick progress" is simply the many many hours spent on this build. In my humble opinion the WD locos are not for the faint hearted. It has been very frustrating at times but now the finish line might be in sight, but heaven knows what my position will be. Flat on the floor looking for medical help probably:D.
Cheers
Roger
 

Scanlon

Western Thunderer
It had been pointed out to me that I had incorrectly formed the lower part of the front of the side tanks and I could not live with this. Consequently today the tanks have been stripped off and reworked. My error was to have form curves on the lower part of the tanks whereas photos clearly show this should be a right angle. They are considerably better now than a week ago and at the painting stage I'll improve the look even more with some filler to sharpen up that area even more. The bunker has rounded corners so the inside of the etch was beefed up with solder and then the angled corners rounded off.

On the tank tops there are various holes for tank fillers and various other accoutrements desired by the LBSCR but not SR or BR. A rummage through the spares box produced four small etched patches which have been soldered over the relevant holes. The cab doors have also been put in place, I had hoped to have them in the open position but had to solder them closed to ensure the bunker remained upright. The etches are quite “thin” and the footplate will warp with ease in this area so soldering them in position has beefed everything up.

This afternoon work has concentrated on the frames, the left hand couplings rods required considerable attention before the chassis would roll freely whereas the right hand side needed minor attention from a round file. With that problem resolved the brake gear has been installed. The etched brake blocks did not look right so I have substituted them with Slaters products. There are no detailing parts in the kit for the transverse brake beam under the cab so this has been made up from parts in the spares box.
Loco 6 141018.JPG
The little loco is starting to look good and now attention can turn to the cab and boiler.
 

2-Bil

Western Thunderer
A question re E4s-------on the Rail-online photo website E4 32515 & 32484 are clearly carrying lamp irons between the rear spectacle plates inside the cab.Was this a likely feature of the class as a whole?_________Regards etc
 

Steph Dale

Western Thunderer
A question re E4s-------on the Rail-online photo website E4 32515 & 32484 are clearly carrying lamp irons between the rear spectacle plates inside the cab.Was this a likely feature of the class as a whole?_________Regards etc

Yep:
473frames_derekh_27jun09.jpg


Steph
 

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
A question re E4s-------on the Rail-online photo website E4 32515 & 32484 are clearly carrying lamp irons between the rear spectacle plates inside the cab.Was this a likely feature of the class as a whole?_________Regards etc

And other Brighton classes.
 

2-Bil

Western Thunderer
thats ALL the E classes Dave? and wot other ones?I ask cos in virtually every photo that passes my way the thing I mostly see in a cab for sure is a bloke with a snout in his gob..........and im very covetous of Mr Scanlons D1 too...........Respects etc
 

Scanlon

Western Thunderer
Well the WD is just about to go to its owner. This has been a frustrating build and without doubt one of my biggest challenges for years. Despite having built other 2-10-0's this loco required protracted running trials on Heyside.
Heyside 221118 (1).JPG

The model kept going rigid between the engine and tender and derailing at just one location. To overcome the problem the drawbar was extended by 1mm and was also reduced in width to give additional "play" in the drawbar boxes. Finally satisfactory running has been achieved and the last of the detailing put in place. This is the loco a few days ago.
P1010414.JPG
Despite trawling through the web, books and various photographic collections I have been unable to find any photos of 90750 in BR service. To ensure the spacing and layout of the cabside numbering etc. was accurately positioned I copied a Thornton Junction WD 2-8-0 which was just ex works from Cowlairs in 1961.

The somewhat extended buffers on the front bufferbeam have had small washers added behind the beam to pull them in tighter.

Now to get back to my latest West Country and the little E2 0-6-0t.
 

Scanlon

Western Thunderer
You may have gathered that my silence on the WD build reflected my opinion of the kit. Well at least the etches only required minimal cleaning up and nearly always located where they should, whereas the Ace ones need major work. Are you surprised?:'(

I have not done anything to this loco for a few weeks and therefore thought the upper cab construction would be straightforward, no. The two upper sides were different lengths and heights, the only area which was the same was the actual opening. Even the beading around the opening was different and as you can see one side was short. I have inserted a small piece to fill the gap but the photo shows I still have more work to do here.
Cab issue.jpg
Eventually the cab was built using set squares to ensure all angles and heights were correct. Then came the next problem, in the red box there is a cut out, apologies for the rather indistinct photo. This is too short and has to be extended to where the green line is. Fortunately there is an etch for the beading and I will locate this in the correct position and then file the cabside to achieve the desired result.

Today has seen the boiler installed and at the close of play the loco looked like this, the castings etc. are just put in place to give an idea of what the model may look like.
Loco 8 301118.JPG
The boiler is in its correct location but the extended tanks are obscuring holes for handrail knobs on the smokebox, these will have to be relocated slightly forward of their intended positions. In addition the leading boiler band should be in front of the extended tanks so this too will have to be relocated, ah compromise, compromise.:headbang: During trials with the boiler in position the tanks were pushed out of the vertical and to overcome this the front of them were slightly ground out until the tanks resumed their vertical positions.

A start was made on building the etched boiler backhead. It locates in a slot in the floor but a trial fit shows there will be at least a 6mm gap between the backhead and the boiler! Glad there is a lot of scrap etch around.
Loco 7 301118.JPG
Happy Days:rant:
 
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