Johns LNWR gallery

K

Kevin MH

Western Thunderer
Paul,

Well, it's a little late to worry about it now. How does it run? It looks as if you used the kit's coupling rods and by extension that it is rigid. Mine is sprung, although the motor is jammed pretty firmly in place, and does not move around. Did you find that the castings fitted the footplate? Mine were about 2mm short.

Kevin
 
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paulc

paulc

Western Thunderer
Hi Kevin , i decided to build this one out of the box so you are correct that it is a rigid chassis . I did read your build notes and the problems that you had with the fit and i seem to remember having a lot of clean up so parts fitted against each other correctly but didn't have your issues .
The only part that i had trouble trying to fit was the Zimo dcc decoder which eventually ended up in the boiler after cutting a slot through from the firebox . The obvious place for the decoder was the coal bunker but i couldnt get the trail of wires to sit out of site to my satisfaction . It runs sweetly through an Escap motor/gearbox and is quiet in reverse but has a slight whine going forwards but i can live with that .
I have a Chowbent L & Y saddle tank kit built loco and it is rigid chassis , it runs fine as well and if either of them gets kicked off the rails its usually a kink in the track that is causing the fault .
Cheers Paul
 
K

Kevin MH

Western Thunderer
Paul,

I had to cut away all the obstruction between the firebox and the boiler, to allow the motor to tilt down. My Zimo decoder and its stay alive do fit in the boiler. The speaker fits in the firebox below the motor. I fitted a bit of tin can lid to the chassis and the speaker clings to it magnetically.

I ask about the rigid chassis as I am convinced that pick up and traction are improved with springing or compensation. My Ramsbottom 4' shunter has a rocking axle, picks up remarkably well, and can pull 11 wagons and vans. Amazingly I was able to jam a speaker under the cab.

Kevin
 
paulc

paulc

Western Thunderer
Hi Kevin , being an LNWR/L&Y modeller i have a few 4-4-0 and 2-4-2 locos and these are scratch built and all have sprung chassis . I was taught the black art by a good mate who had been building locos & rolling stock since his teens and his reasoning went something along the lines of , if there are 4 pick up wheels and one is lifted up then you only have one pick up on one side , not good so spring the chassis . If you have six pick ups and one is lifted you should still have two on one side picking up , much better so springing is an option .
In saying this i should state that most of his locos , scratch or kit built were sprung but a lot that he had purchased over the years from deceased estates etc were not but all ran faultlessly . He wasn't a stickler for cleaning wheels but his track & pointwork which was all hand built was excellent and if something came off or stalled the trackwork was checked and if given the okay then the loco was inspected for faults until the problem was found .
I have tried to follow his example and dont have too many problems so something must be working .
In short if you are happy to spring or compensate all your locos then do it , it will have no detrimental affects on your stock and will help with any dodgy trackwork .
Cheers Paul
 
K

Kevin MH

Western Thunderer
John,

Any headway on your cauliflower? I'm starting mine and I'd love to read your thoughts on it. The chassis is remarkably wide, but if you are in Scale 7, you get an extra mm, which will come in handy.

Kevin
 
K

Kevin MH

Western Thunderer
IMG_0119.JPG

A purposeful looking loco. The boiler was not included in the kit: I had to roll my own, first time I tried. Happily a friend has a rolling mill. The tender is only an 1800 gal, from Gladiator, It is supposed to be the larger 2000 gal tender, but Gladiator does not make one yet. They apparently intend to produce one. Their tender is a bit tricky to bend, but that would be said of any approach to a LNWR tender. The sides and rear are made of seven components. One needs to get the bends vertical and square, and at the front should be spot on, There is play in the rear corners. The Mercian kit is all one piece, and etched from silly thin metal. John, I think you will find that with your Cauliflower. I may replace it, if I build another loco that needs an 1800 gal tender. On the telly in the background is The Girl With a Pearl Earring.
 
K

Kevin MH

Western Thunderer
john lewsey said:
Excellent Kevin, how does it run
John
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Right now? Not at all. In the before times? It was a challenge. I repeatedly did not get the rear most axle spaced correctly, and the coupling rods bound up badly. Eventually I got it right and now it is not bad. I should have weighed it down even more. Currently the motor and gear box are out of the loco. It features an MSC Helical three stage gearbox. The helical gear on the motor is steel, and very well cut by the looks of it. The wheel it turns is brass. The rest of the gears are steel. I may have failed to oil it properly, as the brass gear wore dramatically. It is currently winging its way back from Britain where it was rebuilt. At a non trivial price. I'll be much more careful with the oil. When I get it back I'll pack the firebox with as much lead as the motor will permit. I need to take it to Mitch's layout, which is out of doors, long, and he has 40 wagons and vans to test the haulage.
 
john lewsey

john lewsey

Western Thunderer
The tender is available from Dragon models. I believe it is blown up from a London Road Models (George Norton) kit
John
 
K

Kevin MH

Western Thunderer
john lewsey said:
The tender is available from Dragon models. I believe it is blown up from a London Road Models (George Norton) kit
John
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Yes, you are right on both points. I don't know how it builds. If I buy a Greater Britain (don't put it past me) I'll learn. As I should have said, I had the 1800 to hand, so that will be the one for the time being.
 
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K

Kevin MH

Western Thunderer
2022-05-04 16.05.37.jpg

My latest: the Gladiator Coal Engine. It has moved on from this photo. The chimney, dome and safety valve are mounted, and the handrails and right side oiling pipe are in place. I'm not sure about the boiler bands. They are a bit thin at 1.1mm, and the Fox transfers that I have seem to be about 1.6mm. Plus the placement of them, and by extension the dome, are suspect. I think the dome and the two framing it should be three or so mm to the rear.

It ran brilliantly from the start with a Mashima 1833 and a very old gearbox with a nylon worm. I was much more aware as I set up the horn guides. It is near flawless in its running and debuted at Mitch's running session last week where it pulled 40 RTR wagons and vans, all that Mitch had. Next time I'll take an extra 10 wagons and vans, and test the A Class as well. I have the Gladiator SDX coming in the mail soon. It will be a productive year for me. On the distant horizon is a Dragon Watford tank. At some point I need to paint the bally things.
 
john lewsey

john lewsey

Western Thunderer
Hi Larry, magnificent.
Kevin you have done a nice job on the smokebox wrapper and she looks really good. On the coal engine I dont use the boiler bands, I Just use transfers.
 
K

Kevin MH

Western Thunderer
john lewsey said:
Hi Larry, magnificent.
Kevin you have done a nice job on the smokebox wrapper and she looks really good. On the coal engine I dont use the boiler bands, I Just use transfers.
Click to expand...
Yes, I could have skipped the boiler bands. Sort of wish I had. You may note that the A class has none. Only because the kit does not provide. The smokebox in the kit is pretty well thought out. Except that the rivets come further down than they should. Larry got it right.
 
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