andrewb
Western Thunderer
Thanks Neil - good to hear from you. It's proving to be a fascinating project, but not without its frustrations, as my design aspirations currently outstrip my CAD skills by quite a margin! I'm getting there slowly, however!Dear Andrew,
I think this is an incredibly interesting project as I’d like to do something similar for a Schools Class loco, as no directly correct wheel exists in the Slaters range for the drivers (I discovered on WT - informed by very knowledgable WTers).
I’ve spoken to Alan Buttler of Modelu about this and he’s already provided wheel centres in 4mm scale that have worked successfully. Also since then he’s got hold of tougher/stronger materials that would hopefully be even better suited to this task of creating wheel centres.
I just need a drawing of a Schools Class driving wheel now!
best wishes,
Neil.
I'm don't have an in-depth knowledge of Southern locos and where you might find details about the wheels, although I did a quick scan of the NRM archive of SR drawings. The listing can be found at this link:
Word-searching under 'Schools', 'Class V', and just plain old 'Wheels' threw up some finds that might be useful. Of the findings, the following two seemed to have best potential:
Box 13, Roll 64 Diagram 7376 titled 6' 7" express engine cast steel driving & trailing wheels, dated 1910/1932 - might help if they used standard wheels for the Schools;
Box 44, Roll 164 Diagram 50039 titled Sketch to show arrangement of wheels & crank axle, Lord Nelson class - which is the same 6' 7" diameter with 22 spokes, although I don't know if they are, or even look, the same.
Sorry - probably teaching you to suck eggs here, but your message tickled the Sherlock Holmes in me! Box 44, Roll 164 Diagram 50039 titled Sketch to show arrangement of wheels & crank axle, Lord Nelson class - which is the same 6' 7" diameter with 22 spokes, although I don't know if they are, or even look, the same.
Looking more broadly at actually producing these wheels in model form, I have also been contacted by a WT-er in New Zealand who shares our interest, and has been making wheels for some time. Let's stay in contact so we can share what we know and what we learn.
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