The Heybridge Railway, 1889 to 1913

[JimG]

The lathe pictured on your workbench looks nice and compact. Do you mind me asking what make it is and how big it is?

Thanks
Mike

Looks like a Cowells ME90.

Jim.

 

[Richard Gawler]

The lathe pictured on your workbench looks nice and compact. Do you mind me asking what make it is and how big it is?

Yes, it is a Cowells machine from the time when they were branded as a "Model 90 M.E."

The base is about 490 mm long and 280 mm deep, and the whole machine stands about 240 mm high.

So really, the machine is the size of an old-fashioned Singer sewing machine, and rather heavier. It is about the smallest machine I could find useful for modelling, and the largest I have got room for. It lives on the end of the bench underneath a wall-hung layout and slides out for operations.

Brochure:
https://cowells.com/docs/90me.pdf

The current machines seem to be much the same size but slightly longer and deeper. The design hasn't changed much over the years except for the motor and switchgear, but the price new is eye-watering. Especially when you realise the prices on the Cowells web site are subject to VAT

 

[Richard Gawler]

31. Test Running (2): Radio Control

This seems to have happened all of a sudden, but I have put the power switch into one of the coal bunkers and wired up the model, and tried it out on a track. And it all works beautifully.


The loco can propel seven small wagons and a brake van at a scale speed of 16 mph. I say 'small' but all of my 9ft wheelbase wagons are larger than the loco. Starting speed is a consistent scale 0.5 mph, and the top speed light engine is a scale 20 mph. Controllability is excellent.

The range of the radio equipment is at least five metres, with this degraded in my house by passing it through a ceiling and a stud partition. This is with the receiver tucked inside the brass boiler and smokebox and its aerial hanging down underneath the model. I need a bigger building or a garden railway to investigate the range further.

I can imagine a small shunting layout without any wiring at all, perhaps folding up to carry on public transport. Everything needed to control the loco is in the model and the transmitter. This is using the Micron MR601a receiver (released last month) with their Tx20 controller. This all seems rather promising.

 

[Richard Gawler]

I have finally fixed the firebox assembly onto the model.

This is the illustration I really wanted to find in the kit instructions because the clearances are so tight. I made the spectacle plate from the cab front because the supplied spectacle plate is wrong; reduced the thickness of the quadrant; made a new reverser lever and made the Salter springs. On the other hand, the bunkers fitted well and so did the rest of the detail on the backhead. The firebox build was totally infuriating (I usually try to put on a brave face here!) but I am happy enough now.

This photo also shows one of the shims holding the power switch into place. I am relying on friction here until after painting, then I can add some glue.

 

[Richard Gawler]

Exquisite butchery - just fabulous

I think I've pulled it off. Putting a wallop into a model won't hide shoddiness, but it works when everything else is fairly straight and true. It is better than having a ripple in the bunker skin (because I formed the bend in the wrong place) and there won't be another class F quite like this one

The sand box is stting loose and will be fixed down flat after painting.


Temporary coupling hooks for test runs because the buffer beams will go on after painting or perhaps after the final clean of the running plate.

I have a snag list but it is a short one: levers for sanding gear, the front lamp iron, buffer springing, and an inspection hole somewhere discrete to let me see the LED on the receiver board. I can do these after dismantling the model. The test running is more important at the moment and so far, this is turning out okay.

 

[spikey faz]

View attachment 203450
I think I've pulled it off. Putting a wallop into a model won't hide shoddiness, but it works when everything else is fairly straight and true. It is better than having a ripple in the bunker skin (because I formed the bend in the wrong place) and there won't be another class F quite like this one

Hi Richard

I can't imagine many (if any) of these locos stayed the same once they left the manufacturer! I don't think any of what you've achieved is shoddy. It's all character, which the real thing definitely had. Looking forward to seeing it with some paint on.

Mike

 

[Richard Gawler]

Looking forward to seeing it with some paint on.

I finally decided on the name and colour yesterday. The loco will be "Lady Marion" after my nearest and dearest, and will be burgundy rather than black because she hates black and never wears it. The works number will be MW number 1050, built in 1888 and conveniently shipped off to South America. So hopefully there won't be too many prototype photos turning up

 

[Allen M]

I can't imagine many (if any) of these locos stayed the same once they left the manufacturer!

I totally agree.
Think back to the 1950s to the early 80s with tinkers Transits and Land Rovers. Before the current level of MOT they where fixed and/or modified to suit the task using whatever was available.
There is a man near me who must be close on 90 who has a Transit tipper truck. The aluminum tipper body has been on 3 different chassis to my knowledge and may be more.
Same thing applied to locos in industry

Regards
Allen

 

[Richard Gawler]

Photographs show the sides of the sand boxes flush with the outside edges of the running plate. The sand pipes need to drop vertically, ending up above the rails, and this leaves the sand box castings too shallow to drill out for the pipes. So I put the pipes into grooves in the inner sides of the sand boxes.

I can glue the sand boxes onto the running plate after painting.

32. Sanding Gear

However hard I try to organise the build, some assemblies need one or two iterations.


The kit omits the parts to make these sanding mechanisms. I used long handrail knobs from Markits for the vertical levers, and nickel silver wire for the reach rods.


I ought to be able to solder the left-hand reach rod onto the top of the injector to make this area a bit more robust. This has worked out by good fortune not any planning on my part


I copied the handles from my Minerva K class because the GA drawing reproduced by Mark Smithers in his book, "Locomotive Builders of Leeds" doesn't show any sanding gear at all.

 

[Richard Gawler]

33. Test Running (3): Endurance

The loco had its first prolonged run with a train yesterday. This seemed to be a complete success; the loco stayed on the track, hauled its train, and nothing fell off it.


The loco weighs 254 grams now it has its sandboxes, and the train of nine wagons and the break van weighed 1.4 kg.

I reduced the starting speed from 12% to 8% of maximum power a few days ago ( menu 1, 1, 4, 0, 8 ). This gives a scale starting speed of 0.3 mph for the light engine. This is about the slowest the Mashima 1420 can run smoothly. We saw the mildest wheelslip starting the train on the gradient at NEEGOG, this seemed fine to me.



I suspect (but I will never know) the rocking front axle improves traction, because all four wheels are always on the track. The points here are Peco ones, and to be honest I forgot to look for wheel drop. So either there isn't any, or the suspension is hiding its effects.

Anyway, the loco hauled its train at its maximum speed (c.15 mph?) from 14:25 to 16:05 with hardly any stops in between, so I will say a total of 1hr 40 minutes including a few minutes at home before I set off. Really, the battery ought to manage a full day on a shunting layout at a show.

Thank you so much to everyone at NEEGOG who is reading this (at least three present will own up to being on WT) . . . I feel I am doing something new here (certainly the MR601a is a brand new product) and your encouragement really does help

 

[Richard Gawler]

@Allen M has sent me some scans of an article on the class F owned by the Southern Railway, written by Colin Binnie and published in 'Model Railways' in 1972. This article is also online on a web site dedicated to Colin's work:
Sothern Railway Loco` 225S by Colin Binnie.

I love the roof, I want one of these.

Indeed, and far more elegant than the later full cab - which looks like what one might imagine a Victorian Steampunk urinal......

34. Cab Roof (omitted)

I can hardly believe three months have passed. I must be enjoying the build, or re-working lots of it, or I suppose a bit of both.

I forgot all about a roof for the cab. I do admire the roof on the SER number 333, but such a structure will obstruct removal of the saddle tank for battery charging and renewal. Yes the four posts could plug into little sockets but things will work loose and look wrong.


Much better to arrange a similar roof for 'Blackwater', where the straight bunker back makes the shape a great deal easier. (Figures here painted by Dan Evason!). This could be a Christmas project if I actually finish the class F.

 

[michael mott]

Nicely done Richard. The test run certainly is a testament to the quality and skill that you have poured into this loco.
Michael

 

[Richard Gawler]

Thanks Michael. I don't want or need a great many locos for my Heybridge Railway project, so I am trying to make the best I can out of this one.

Something I should mention is, the Slater's castings are of a good standard. Yes I made the tank filller and the springs for the safety valve, and I reworked the chimney, but I haven't wanted to buy in any new detailing parts. So I have used only the kit, plus some scrap brass, pins and wire to make the model. It should be quite a pretty loco when it is done.

 

[Richard Gawler]

35. Dismantling and Snagging

Three months to build the model, and an hour today to take it to bits for minor detail work and painting.

The front lamp iron is worth a mention. The outer (cosmetic) front of the smokebox is slightly smaller than the inner (structural) front and I filled the gaps with 145 and then 100 degree solder. This created a problem for attaching the front lamp iron because prolonged heat would most likely cause this solder filling to run away.


The sensible way has got to be a peg, even if it is very small. Thanks to @Rob Pulham for suggesting this to me.


Trimmed and cleaned up, the camera just manages to catch the peg. This lamp iron may well get bent but it won't break off in a hurry.

The camera also catches the swarf from drilling the hole, so another trip to the u/s bath soon.

 

[Richard Gawler]

The radio receiver (Micron MR601a) has a LED, and I have to be able to see this during programing. I might also want to see it during normal operation (because it shows the receiver is bound to the transmitter) but I don't want it to be too conspicuous. All of the sensible locations to put a light pipe, like inside the safety valve cover, inside the chimney or behind the firebox door are obscured by solid metal or the motor because I didn't think about this early enough in the build. Well, I didn't have the receiver at all until a few weeks ago.


During test running, the light from the LED has been clearly visible through the hole for the clack valve. I have drilled a hole nearby, tucked in below the battery bracket, and filled this with epoxy glue. The idea is, the glue is translucent and the light will shine through it. The light might even shine through the paint, probably wishful thinking but if it doesn't then I have a soft spot here where I can put in a tiny hole.

If I need to see the LED better for further programming, I can remove the saddle tank and the battery, connect the battery with flying leads, and see the light clearly. Well, this is the plan anyway.

 

[Giles]

You can always fit a front lamp with an LED ( one of those pre-wired 1mm x 0.5mm ones...), and that can mimic the board's LED - or failing that, a firebox LED doing the same thing..... I use these a lot, and very useful they are......

5 or 10 Miniature Micro LEDs 0402 Light wired SMD 2V 3V Model Diarama Railways | eBay

<p>Super High Quality Packs of 5 or 10 Miniature Micro LEDs 0402 Light wired SMD 3V diarama railways, models etc.Size 0402: 1x0.5x0.4mmForward Voltage: 2-3V DC onlyWire length: approx.</p>

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Richard Gawler]

I worked through most of this in my head in the last week or so and Micron even told me how I can arrange an LED to light during binding and programming, but not during running. But I keep on coming back to the same thoughts: (1) I am going to find it really difficult to solder onto the 1.25 mm pitch pads; (2) I will have to put new heat shrink onto the board; (3) I think I will find the programming so difficult I will end up altering the wrong setting; and (4) fundamentally, I don't want a visible lamp.

I know this all looks like a load of excuses to not try (and maybe it is), but the lamps on a class F would surely be headlamps hung there to enable working at dusk. They are not the lights used on a public railway to describe a train, and I wouldn't expect to see them on a layout set in broad daylight. And truly, the firebox is full of motor behind the firebox door.


Photo taken 10 Dec 2023, just before dismantling.

So I want to try the simplest option, which is either no light at all or use the built-in LED in a way only I can see if. Of course, the option to add a headlamp remains as long as I am prepared to drill the holes for the wires and attach them to the receiver. Next time, I would buy the receiver board with the auxiliary lead wires attached, and coil them up if I don't use them.

 

[Osgood]

What is the purpose of the lamp, and why would you want to see it when the engine is moving?

 

[Richard Gawler]

The radio receiver (Micron MR601a) has a LED, and I have to be able to see this during programing. I might also want to see it during normal operation (because it shows the receiver is bound to the transmitter) but I don't want it to be too conspicuous.

What is the purpose of the lamp, and why would you want to see it when the engine is moving?

The LED on the receiver board flashes during the binding process between receiver and transmitter; it lights up constantly to show the receiver is bound to the transmitter; and it forms the sole visual part of the user interface during programming.

I am discovering other behaviour of the LED. For example, if the model is switched on and left static (and within transmitter range) for around 45-50 minutes, the receiver appears to shut down. Certainly, the LED goes off. The model then needs to be power-cycled to restart the receiver. If I know the model is switched on, the lit/unlit state of the LED can show me whether the receiver is active or in this 'sleep' condition; but quite how useful this would be during operation on a layout I'm not sure.

During trial runs last week I found the LED pretty much vital because an intermittent short circuit in the wiring was tripping the overcurrent protection in the LiPo battery and causing the battery to shut down, and I found it incredibly difficult to work out why the loco would not move. Thankfully this is resolved now.

So I am hoping, when the system is up and running reliably (as it was last Saturday) I will not need to see the LED at all. Hence the blob of epoxy glue I can drill out if I find I cannot quite manage without it.

 

[Osgood]

What is involved in power-cycling (another phrase for re-establishing the link between transmitter and receiver?) and how long does it take compared to waking up a dozing DCC-fitted loco?

Apologies for the apparent ‘inanity’ of the questions - just trying to weigh up the usability of this interesting tech!