Isaac Dixon

[spikey faz]

I've been collecting some parts for my next project. No kit-building this time, so I can only blame my own incompetence for any errors during the build.

I've owned 'The Chronicles of Boulton's Sidings' book for ages and keep coming back to a certain locomotive. Actually there's two, but I previously built a P4 model of Hercules in my youth, so I thought I'd have a go at: Isaac Dixon. Built by Hughes & Co.

The picture below shows what I'm trying to model.



I had to go a bit radical with the wheels as Slaters don't list anything with the right amount of spokes. So, I bought some Gibson 4mm wheels and modified them!



I like to think Mr Boulton would approve.
Will it all work? Will it fall off the track? We shall see.

Apparently there is a photograph of Isaac Dixon taken at Landport (Portsmouth?). I've not been able to find it on t'internet, so if anyone happens to have a copy lurking in a dusty drawer, please let me know. (Wishful thinking).

Mike

 

[Eastsidepilot]

Mike,
Is this of interest ? Henry Hughes and Co - Graces Guide

Col.

 

[spikey faz]

Mike,
Is this of interest ? Henry Hughes and Co - Graces Guide

Col.

That'll help.

Thanks Col.

Mike

 

[spikey faz]

Frames have been cut out. Coupling rods are Slaters. MJT hornblocks.


Mike

 

[spikey faz]

In between grandparenting duties and trying to sort out a decent care-home for my aged Aunt, I've been able to fit in a few minutes on the modelling bench.

We now have a chassis!



I discovered that 1/8" axle bearings are not all created equal. The ones I had to hand had an alarming amount of slop when offered up to the axles. I finally settled on some Gibson bearings.

Likewise not all piercing saw blades are created equal. I made a start on cutting out the footplate, but couldn't work out why the blade was wandering all over the place. Turns out the blade in question had a manufacturing fault which had introduced a twist in the blade. Hard to spot. A replacement blade sorted the problem. I'm a bit embarrassed to post any pictures of this as it's pretty bad even by my standards!

 Mike

 

[Crimson Rambler]

@spikey faz - Every now and again you come across a piecrcing saw blade that will not cut straight - the only cure as you found is to throw it away. I wonder if your 1/8in axles were in fact 3mm?

Crimson Rambler

 

[spikey faz]

@spikey faz - Every now and again you come across a piecrcing saw blade that will not cut straight - the only cure as you found is to throw it away. I wonder if your 1/8in axles were in fact 3mm?

Crimson Rambler

The MJT flexichas bushes on the front axle and are sold as 1/8 internal diameter. They're a nice snug fit. I did double check the rod I bought for the axles and it's definitely 1/8. Just down to manufacturing tolerance/variation I guess.

Mike

 

[spikey faz]

I wasn't entirely happy with how the chassis turned out. Alignment seemed way off and I couldn't seem to get everything square. I started to de-solder it and it ended up a bit bent! So, one new set of frames later and three attempts to get the hornblocks correctly aligned I'm more or less back where I started.

I did manage to sort the splashers out though.



I've noticed the wheels seem to lose their grip on the axles a bit too easily once they've been on and off a few times. I'm wondering if a slow setting Loctite might be the answer. Get the wheels quartered on final assembly and then let the Loctite do its work.

Mike

 

[spikey faz]

I've been preparing some parts to represent the firebox and boiler. I'm having to take a few liberties in interpreting the drawing as some of the dimensions appear a tad erratic!



Hoping it will still capture the essence of the prototype.

Mike

 

[spikey faz]

Next step is the smokebox.


I've done my usual thing with using nuts and bolts to hold the sub-assemblies together. It makes fine adjustments prior to finally soldering a lot easier.




Electro-mechanical propulsion unit is
courtesy of High Level Kits. I'm reasonably confident it'll fit!



Mike

 

[timbowales]

Mike, which gearbox are you using?

 

[spikey faz]

Mike, which gearbox are you using?

It's a Roadrunner with 60:1 gears.

Mike

 

[spikey faz]

There's going to be a lot of filler needed to help create the illusion of a well engineered smokebox and chimney! As usual the parts I made/bought in put up a fight and the result is a less than harmonious union of said parts. Even the riveting went a bit awry, but I was already on the second smokebox wrapper by this stage, so another attempt was not really on the cards.


Nothing is fixed in place yet. Final adjustments will be made in due course.

 Mike

ps I'm aware that the boiler is not properly aligned with both the firebox and smokebox. The fixing bolts are a bit loose!

 

[RichardG]

There's going to be a lot of filler needed to help create the illusion of a well engineered smokebox and chimney!

If you use some brass wire and low melt solder to fill in the gaps and cracks then it all becomes "crafted" as well as "engineered", and the whole becomes more than the sum of its parts. It all looks great to me.

 

[spikey faz]

If you use some brass wire and low melt solder to fill in the gaps and cracks then it all becomes "crafted" as well as "engineered", and the whole becomes more than the sum of its parts. It all looks great to me.

Cheers Richard!

Despite a few setbacks, I'm reasonably pleased with how it looks (so far).

I should really get back to the chassis, but I need to flesh out the bodywork first in order to see how things would look.

Remember, I've got no reference photos and just the side elevation line drawing to work from. If anyone has any suggestions as to how the front profile should look, please let me know. The saddle tank is presumably a square box rather than curved. The one picture of the sister loco Liverpool (which looks only vaguely similar! ) I've found seems to confirm this.



 Mike

 

[RichardG]

It seems to me, Henry Hughes never built two locomotives the same, but there are family likenesses.


This is one of the images from Grace's Guide, flipped L-R.

It has splashers like Isaac Dixon, but also brakes on the rear wheels. So perhaps this loco is newer.


Here is the drawing of 'Isaac Dixon' overlaid and rescaled so the wheels line up.

I think there is a family likeness, so if we found a front view of another Henry Hughes loco, it might be useful.

I can try this with other images if this might help.

 

[Osgood]

But are you taking into account the Isaac Watt Boulton effect?

What goes into the siding does not necessarily come out looking the same......

 

[spikey faz]

It seems to me, Henry Hughes never built two locomotives the same, but there are family likenesses.

View attachment 228600
This is one of the images from Grace's Guide, flipped L-R.

It has splashers like Isaac Dixon, but also brakes on the rear wheels. So perhaps this loco is newer.

View attachment 228601
Here is the drawing of 'Isaac Dixon' overlaid and rescaled so the wheels line up.

I think there is a family likeness, so if we found a front view of another Henry Hughes loco, it might be useful.

I can try this with other images if this might help.

Thanks Richard. I think though that as Osgood has alluded to, the Boulton effect possibly erases much of the original builders DNA.

Cheers
Mike

 

[PhilH]

If the drawing in 'The Chronicles' is correct the loco only had a brake shoe on the right hand trailing wheel, the bottom of it is just visible below the firebox. Apparently the drawing was made from photo taken at Landport, i.e. Portsmouth, where the previous owner to Boulton had a contract with the LBSCR, so might depict the loco before any modifications were carried out by Boulton who fitted larger diameter cylinders.

According to Bennett the loco was sold to the Roughdale Fireclay Company, Liverpool in June 1874. This company began operations in 1868 with a works at Lea Green near St.Helens. A branch line from the company's works to the Liverpool to Manchester Line at Lea Green - which had a length of 587 yards - was formally opened at 2pm on July 14th 1870 at Lea Green Station (the old Lea Green Station which was West of the present one). An account of the ceremony then states: "The chairman of the company Isaac Dixon and its directors, officers and shareholders then commuted on their new line to their works, where speeches and celebrations took place. The latter included dancing to a local band and a footrace", which all sounds rather grand for the opening of a private siding ! How the party actually "commuted" on the line or what worked traffic on the line until the arrival of the locomotive from Boulton remains a mystery. (maybe the loco was on hire by Boulton to the brickworks before its sale to them ??)

​

The siding actually ran alongside the Liverpool & Manchester Line for a short distance before the connection was made at Lea Green Station just off the map to the right. (OS of 1893/4 per NLS Collection)

A locomotive was offered for sale by the Roughdale Brickworks in 1877, which may have been the ISAAC DIXON, but there's no information about what happened to it or what may have replaced it on the brickworks siding. The owners of Sutton Manor Colliery acquired a financial interest in the brickworks about 1910 and a connection was made south from the brickworks to the Sutton Manor Colliery system and thereafter the brickworks traffic would have been worked by the colliery locos.

Its an interesting subject for a model.

 

[RichardG]

Boulton's Siding is new to me. Essex Libraries don't have a copy of the Chronicles but there is a copy online here:

The chronicles of Boulton's siding ...

The Chronicles of Boulton's Siding
by Alfred Rosling Bennett

Something for everyone! Hard work to read on the screen but it looks like a wonderful account. 'Isaac Dixon' is figure 46, page 158.