B1 - 61161

[Dave Holt]

The front end of the tender body is now complete, with the addition of the detailing parts.

At the rear, only yhr lamp irons remain to be done. This loco had irons to accommodate electric lights, which were never fitted. The kit provides for these as two small etches to be soldered together before fitting to the body. I think the chances pf achieving the latter without the two parts becoming dislodged is small, so I will glue them in place.
The plan is to make the initial attachment from the outside with cyno and then apply epoxy to the lamp iron tails which protrude through to the inside of the body to retain them properly.
Dave.

 

[65179]

This loco did receive electric lighting. Just not for very long. This Vulcan Foundry batch received lamps powered by a Metropolitan-Vickers bogie axle-mounted generator. Here it is fitted to sister 61162 (note conduit to the top smokebox lamp on opposite side to that for the Stones generator powered version):

https://flic.kr/p/9ro2Hj

David Ford collection Flickr image

The generators are said to have had a tendency to come adrift. The generators were removed c.1950 with the lamps going in due course. Locos that had recently lost the generator may be seen in photos either with a stub axle where it was fitted or with a hole in the axle end where the stub was formerly fitted.

Sorry for the diversion. All a bit early for your model 61161!

Simon

 

[Dave Holt]

The rear end of the tender body has been completed with the fitting of the lamp brackets. I did try to solder thaes on but couldn't get a good enough contact for the tip of the iron between the bracket and the extended foot plate to get a sound joint, so I reverted to my original plan for gluing. First using cyno to hold position and then epoxy on the inside, where the tails of the locating tags protruded through. Probably not as strong as a good soldered joint, but should withstand painting and normal handling.
The rear buffer beam has been attached (to the chassis), complete with buffer stocks and coupling hook.

Can't fit the front beam yet because I'm waiting for a half-etched packing plate to fit behind it. I failed to check the length of the lower foot plate layer against the chassis lenght before laminating the footplate (it's in the instructions!) so, now, at the front, the rebate at the front of the footplate protrudes very slightly beyond the frames. Hence the need for a packer. Doh!
Dave.

 

[Dave Holt]

Actual progress on the tender has slowed over the weekend as I've been turning my thiughtd ti the loco external sand boxes and platform support brackes each side of them.
Despite the distraction, I have managed to fit the inner frame/brake hanger units, the scoop and its operating shaft and bracket and the water feed pipes from the sump to their support brackets.

Regarding the loco sand boxes and brackets, these are part of the plastic body moulding and don't look very good, especially when compared with the 3D rendition that Mickoo posted recently in his Finney7 B1 update. This made me think of creating some etched brackets and printed sand boxes. There's rather a lack of decent ptototype information available to me but Dave Bradwell and Mickoo have both very kindly supplied me with some drawing extracts and close-up photos of the relevant bits. From known dimensions and some scaling from drawings and photos (naughty I know), I think I've come up with something very much better than the original model, even if it's not dead accurate. Interestingly, when checking the position of the filller pipe holes in the Bachmann footplate, I discovered that the support brackets on the two side are nearly a millimetre different. How's that for tool making?
Dave.

 

[Dave Holt]

Some further details have been added to the tender chassis. Here, an axle is being tried in place to determin any need for packing washers under the pin-point bearings to remove end float. The lower chassis cross beams are just loosely placed to ensure the frames aren't bowed in.

I may have created a problem by fitting the brake shaft across the front before inserting the wheel sets. Time will tell.
Dave.