Metropolitan Class G

[Jarmstro]

For years I've contemplated building a Met Class G. I just can't find the energy to drag myself to the Sheffield Archives to photograph the Yorkshire Engine Co. engineering drawings where they are held. Not under the terms they've set. I've begged, tried bribes and offered pure gold for anyone there to take a photo and WhatsApp it to me but they just won't. I tried the Uni to see if any student would like to earn a few quid but no joy. And it would seem that no one else has ever done this. So an etched kit or a scratch build won't happen.




So I asked ChatGPT "Produce templates for an etched brass OO gauge kit for a UK Metropolitan Railway Class G, no wheels"...



Hmmmm. It would seem that AI isn't all it's cracked up to be! But I have a solution and should be in a position to start building it next week once all the ingredients arrive. More shortly...

 

[James]

It did better than my request!

 

[simond]

I'd be quite impressed with an etched brass chimney.

 

[Jarmstro]

Some basic ingredients...



1) A fairly nasty 3D print. The file used to be available on Shapeways before they went bust. I've had it printed by a firm in Kent. The resolution isn't great. I'll fettle it best I can.
2) Comet Fowler 2-6-4T chassis. The wheelbase/wheel diameter is correct and it will do just fine.
3) Marvelous Markits wheels.
4) Portescap motor/gearbox.

Just before I typed this I got an email giving me hope that I may be able to get copies of the engineering drawings from the Sheffield Archives. So you never know! But the despair I can stand, It's the hope!....

 

[Jarmstro]

Prime, rub down, rinse, dry. Prime, rub down, rinse dry......



Handrails etc next. Firebox is too short. Coal bunker is too long.

 

[Arun Sharma]

What, you mean like this then? - This being a 7mm version of Robert H Selbie but in LNER days - so different buffers, chimney and dome. On my visit to the Sheffield archives, I found them incredibly helpful.
Other versions of this engine in 7mm scale scale exist - "Engineer" of this parish as well as Ken de Groome have also built large scale versions of this engine but in "red" of course.

 

[Jarmstro]

Yes. Just like that. Did you get copies of the drawings? I'd be so grateful if you could let me have a set? I'm strictly OO guage. I've no doubt that they are helpful if you visit the archives but I can't.

 

[Arun Sharma]

The archive drawings were about six foot square and faded which involved me standing on a table and photographing the drawings as they lay on the floor. When I eventually got around to designing the etches and castings, I found that the Isinglass drawings actually had rather more relevant [and more easily extracted] information. The Isinglass drawings, for what became the LNER M2 class after around 1937, contain all the details necessary to build any of the class at any stage in their lives. They are also available in 4,7 & 10mm scales.

 

[Jarmstro]