Scale7 JB Workbench.
- Thread starter Scale7JB
- Start date
Eastsidepilot
Western Thunderer
Some nice photo's JB, the moggy minor van reminded me of the one my Uncle used on the Family firm, he was the plumber and it was always loaded with copper, brass and lead fittings, must have doubled it's wieght
Love the '37 ( child hood memory's of that livery
....gotta build one
)......... and what's with all the black smoke from the Hall matey, you burning wood instead of coal or was it just to annoy the local residents when they hang the washing out
Col.
Love the '37 ( child hood memory's of that livery
....gotta build one )......... and what's with all the black smoke from the Hall matey, you burning wood instead of coal or was it just to annoy the local residents when they hang the washing outCol.
Buckjumper
Flying Squad
Nottingham and Yorkshire best for the Great Eastern. When Stratford was ordered to try it in '57- '58, the Welsh stuff welded the firebars together. You'd probably wince at the cockney vernacular that ensued...
Eastsidepilot
Western Thunderer
Dog Star
Western Thunderer
What else do you expect? Welsh coal comes with Welsh instructions written in Welsh.... none of your Cockney rhyming slang on those hymn sheets.
Serioulsy, why did good quality steam coal cause the bars to melt and then fuse?
regards, Graham
alcazar
Guest
Anyone?
Dog Star
Western Thunderer
You called?
Dog Star
Western Thunderer
Well - yes and no. Originally the railway was steam operated. At a later date the Central Line was extended to the east of London and took over running of the branch.
The E&O must be unique -or nearly so - in using steam first, then electricity and then steam again (or diesel).
regards, Graham
Buckjumper
Flying Squad
The coal came from 'outlandish' (Dick Hardy's word!) pits like Ocean Park, Deep Navigations and Penrhiweceiber and was introduced as it was smokeless, and the powers that be declared the suburban locos were producing too much smoke. It was the alien properties of the coal which caused the problem. The usual Notts & Yorks coal broke into pieces when smashed, but the Welsh stuff crumbled and took much longer to fully ignite. Instead it just melted, running molten through the firebars where it was cooled by the draught and set solid deforming the bars beyond use. The fire went dead, steam pressure plummeted and that was that. Even lighting up was a problem the usual oily rags and rolled up newspaper failed to get the fire going.
Two things were supplied to try to help - crystallised firelighters and walnut sized pebbles.
The first are obvious, but a few shovelfuls of pebbles were spread across the firebars prior to adding coal, the idea being that as the fire got hot, so did the pebbles which exploded to keep the molten residue from solidifying between the bars. It worked as well as you might expect, and sheds kept on running out of firebars.
With the intensive service, a method of firing was often used called boxing up - the firebox was filled right up at the start of the journey, and providing the timing was right in that it had burned through sufficiently to maintain steam pressure, it was possible to get the hardest part of the journey (especially the long 1:70 out of Liverpool Street up Bethnal Green Bank) without the fireman half-dying from exhaustion. When Welsh coal was boxed up, not only did it cause the problems noted above, but it actually swelled like a Yorkshire Pudding, causing the brick arch to collapse.
Cue locos stalling in the most inopportune places. Of course the secret was to fire little and often on a white hot firebed to ensure instantaneous combustion, and once this was achieved, the high calorific content of the coal was appreciated as it was easy to maintain a good steam pressure. One by-product also appreciated by the crew was that little ash was left to rake out, just a thin bed of clinker.
In his memoirs, Dick Hardy, then Asst. DMPS at Stratford recalls N7 69620 stalled across the junction at Hackney Downs and after much coaxing, it managed to limp down the bank into Liverpool Street, where, having been attached to a 10 coach train, showed no signs of leaving. When Hardy found them, the crew were mightily fed up and rather hot. Dick gave the fireman a break and set to work with the dart until pressure began to build, then instructed the driver to set off and work the engine as hard as he could. By the time they rounded the curve and had entered the tunnel under Bishopsgate the fire was hitting the roof and cascading along the train, and by Hoe Street the firebed was white hot and the loco blew off.
Typically, just as the crews began to get used to and appreciate the stuff, management stopped buying it in and went back to the original coal supplies.
alcazar
Guest
Ah, thanks.
As a boy of 14, I went to stay with my Uncle in London, and took my best friend with me. We spent most of our time following ex-Southern steam about, but did have one day with an all line Underground Rover, as we were fascinated by the underground.
Ongar was one "end of line" we got to, Watford Junction being another, plus Morden, where we tried, unsuccessfully to get a look round the underground depot.
What about the scorpions? Are there any? I'm sure I saw them on a documentary.
Wagonman
Western Thunderer
Scale7JB
Western Thunderer
After yet another hiatus from the workbench for about 3 or 4 weeks... I finally managed to get myself a couple of hours between jobs..
And cobbled this together... It seems to work quite well (on a bit of plate glass powered by 4 of Duracells finest)..! Now where am I going to put the servo for the brake rodding ?!?!
In reply to the questions about Scorpions at Ongar, yes apparently there is a colony of tiny scorpions that live 'in' the platform.. I'll let you know if I see any.. Remember, it's the little ones that'll kill you, not the bigs ones..!
JB.
And cobbled this together... It seems to work quite well (on a bit of plate glass powered by 4 of Duracells finest)..! Now where am I going to put the servo for the brake rodding ?!?!
In reply to the questions about Scorpions at Ongar, yes apparently there is a colony of tiny scorpions that live 'in' the platform.. I'll let you know if I see any.. Remember, it's the little ones that'll kill you, not the bigs ones..!
JB.
Eastsidepilot
Western Thunderer
Don't tell Peter Hunt or you'll be having to make working scorpians living in the WMR platform
Excellent work on the G5 mate.
ATB, Col.
Buckjumper
Flying Squad
Don't tell Peter Hunt or you'll be having to make working scorpians living in the WMR platform
Simples. Just turn up to the following meeting with a GWR OCT.
Scale7JB
Western Thunderer
Hi mate, got you to thank for that. It's the 'Rover' gearbox from ABC. Costs a pretty penny, but it works beautifully.
I warn you in advance mate, it was a bugger of a job. If I were to do it again, I'd make my own eccentrics up from solid. Laurie Griffins, as good as they are for the internal valve gear kits, they aren't at all accurate for this application.
I'd try and work out a quartering jig for them too to ensure square. The layshaft axle had to be rebuilt 3 times, and nearly flew out the window more times than that!!
JB.
Buckjumper
Flying Squad
Impressive end result all the same.