The Heybridge Railway, 1889 to 1913

[RichardG]

Marion is a whole lot better today and we are expecting to return to our usual routines and hobbies

 

[RichardG]

The last month has seen me build a lighting rig for Heybridge Basin but little modelling. This trend continued today by taking Lady Marion to the club track. A beautiful day here in Essex.


The garden railway was set out by a retired bridge engineer using a traditional theodolite and with assistants placing sticks in the ground.


The "baseboard" is so level, Lady Marion hauls eight wagons without difficulty. This is two more than she can manage at NEEGOG, which is a bit up and downy.


Lower level shot to lessen the impact of the track.


The MW manages a scale 15mph maximum (timed at home) and a lap here takes five minutes or so. Enough time to forget the train has passed before it reappears.


A frame from a video to illustrate "scale and gauge"


I wondered if my stock would pick up some real-world smuts to start the weathering but I've found only a blade of grass so far.

The Peco SM32 points are very good with Slater's FS 7mm wheels, yes there is a wheel drop at the crossings but the trains stay on the track. This is the first time I have brought my Heybridge Railway wagons here so I will call this successful test running as well as playing trains

 

[RichardG]

I wish to unleash my inner pedant and, given this is my own workbench thread, I will. The RSU causes the generation of heat, it does not apply heat. So there!

View attachment 231660
I put this piece on with the RSU.

I tinned the strapping with 145 solder wire. The obvious overheating came about during the tinning not the application of the part. The main thing for me is, there is no solder running into the etched lines between the planks. Also I found this really easy to do, indeed the heat was so localised I held the part down with my fingers.

As an aside, we can see where I managed to burn through another piece of strapping near the corner of the window. This piece went on with the iron . . . I've since turned down the temperature.

I have some solder paste on order and I want to have a go with this after it arrives.

I have taken myself back to the LT&SR horsebox (Gladiator), with some more sessions with the RSU.


I am evolving a "method" by which I tin the strapping while it is still on the fret, using solder paint and the iron. Then apply solder paste to the bare body side using a cocktail stick. Finally fix the two together using the RSU.


I am finding the half-etched strapping and other detail parts rather intricate, a bit too intricate to be honest. However I do think I would not be able to build this kit without the borrowed RSU. It is difficult to judge a suitable amount of the solder paste, maybe there is a better way.


I have manipulated these photos to ephasise the solder, but at least things are fairly straight and neat. The paint will hide an awful lot of mistakes.

The second side is underway

 

[RichardG]

The four sides have fitted together really well without needing any adjustments.

Along the way I have added the hinges for the groom's doors (scrap etch) and some latch pins and hinge pins from scraps of wire. The instructions suggest about twenty of these bits of wire . . . I have done the ones I can cope with.

I have just found a piece of strapping in the bottom of the ultrasonic bath. So the bath has caught some inadequate soldering, better now than after painting.

 

[RichardG]

Up until now I have done all of the RSU activity with the sides clamped flat onto a steel plate which completes the electrical circuit. This approach is no longer practical so I have given the model a temporary "ground terminal" on the mounting plate for the brake cylinder.

I did wonder if the current flowing through the mounting plate would melt the solder holding the plate into place but this has not happened. The heat gets generated in the spot of maximum electrical resistance, which is always in the next solder joint about to be created.


The ironwork for the hinges on the main doors (the horse access ramps) should be thicker at the bottom. I have added pieces of brass strip to represent this. I found this straightforward, and in a way it makes the model "mine". It was certainly much easier than trying to represent the hinge pins and get them all in a straight line.

The sharp-eyed will see I forgot which "safe place" I chose for the loose bit of strapping, and I had to improvise a replacement. I expect I will find the original when I am building the next model. Bolt-head counters will just have to look away.


The soldering on the inner vee brackets is with the RSU, I really couldn't ask for a neater result. The RSU is so easy to use too. This work is with the solder paste and no pre-tinning nor additional flux. The solder in the paste melts, tucks itself into the join and settles into a neat blob.


The outer vee brackets needed a transverse bit of wire to align them. The ground terminal got in the way so I had to turn it round.

 

[simond]

I have a set of cheap steel G cramps, sort of 1/2”, 1” & 1.5” things. I drilled a 4mm hole in a couple of them, and the earth pin can plug into that. Very, very much better than a large croc clip…

 

[RichardG]

I have a set of cheap steel G cramps, sort of 1/2”, 1” & 1.5” things. I drilled a 4mm hole in a couple of them, and the earth pin can plug into that. Very, very much better than a large croc clip…

At the moment I am happy with the ring terminal. It has plenty of contact area (unlike a croc clip!), it cannot fall off and it fits the bolt on the steel work plate too.

It is rather nice having the model tethered like this. It stays on the bench, and I cannot use the bench for much else, so I am focused

 

[RichardG]

Richard,
The horsebox on the Middy is an early GER vehicle on a modern underframe. The original MSLR horsebox is usually quoted as a second hand LTSR vehicle so photos of that may be useful.
View attachment 230745
Quick snapshot from Vol 2 of Midland Wagons.
Rob

The roof of the horse box gets a mention in the parts list but not in the instructions

I am not too sure how to fix the roof into place (I want it to be removable so I can put details inside the groom's compartment) so it seems sensible to have a go at this next. Things could be going better . . .


The kit roof just about meets the sides of the vehicle, a bit too narrow. A want a small overhang all round.


So I cut a new roof from 0.3 mm brass. Borrowed the rolling bars from my mate who has lent me his RSU.

My own brand-new RSU arrived two days ago and I was able to be quite clever and use two carbon probes to attach the lug for the ground wire. Then roll some support ribs from FB rail, connect the ground wire and use my own RSU to attach the ribs.



Then I was too clever indeed pretty STUPID. When I fixed the last length of rail, the handle of the RSU proble melted and its electrical connection went open circuit. And the roof bowed away from the rail at the last moment.


This is what comes from over-confidence - I've been attaching loads of little bits of detail and then found the limitations of the new RSU (or at least its probe) on the very first day of use. At least it was my own probe.

I need to enquire with the vendor, find out if anyone else has done this.


So I reflowed the last piece with the microflame torch, and all is well. At least with the roof.

The rails provide a close but not perfect fit for the roof onto the body. I was thinking of magnets but I suspect Blue-Tak will do the job. I once used it to fix stereo speakers onto their stands, it set rock-solid.

 

[Osgood]

...... I once used it to fix stereo speakers onto their stands, it set rock-solid.

Oh please....

 

[RichardG]

Oh please....

Please Tony, do not ever take up modelling (or perhaps, admit to doing any). You are too valuable here without all the distractions it creates.

 

[simond]

The roof of the horse box gets a mention in the parts list but not in the instructions

I am not too sure how to fix the roof into place (I want it to be removable so I can put details inside the groom's compartment) so it seems sensible to have a go at this next. Things could be going better . . .

View attachment 237397
The kit roof just about meets the sides of the vehicle, a bit too narrow. A want a small overhang all round.

View attachment 237395
So I cut a new roof from 0.3 mm brass. Borrowed the rolling bars from my mate who has lent me his RSU.

My own brand-new RSU arrived two days ago and I was able to be quite clever and use two carbon probes to attach the lug for the ground wire. Then roll some support ribs from FB rail, connect the ground wire and use my own RSU to attach the ribs.

View attachment 237399

Then I was too clever indeed pretty STUPID. When I fixed the last length of rail, the handle of the RSU proble melted and its electrical connection went open circuit. And the roof bowed away from the rail at the last moment.

View attachment 237401
This is what comes from over-confidence - I've been attaching loads of little bits of detail and then found the limitations of the new RSU (or at least its probe) on the very first day of use. At least it was my own probe.

I need to enquire with the vendor, find out if anyone else has done this.

View attachment 237400
So I reflowed the last piece with the microflame torch, and all is well. At least with the roof.

The rails provide a close but not perfect fit for the roof onto the body. I was thinking of magnets but I suspect Blue-Tak will do the job. I once used it to fix stereo speakers onto their stands, it set rock-solid.

mine appears similar, but has a white handle, which has charred a bit, but not melted (yet). Lathe job, I think...

Tufnol or some higher temperature plastic, and make sure the wire attached to the tip has a good solid solder fillet before you push it back into place. PET, PBT Nylon or Polycarb, or PTFE if you can get some. Or probably a decent bit of oak.

 

[RichardG]

Tufnol or some higher temperature plastic, and make sure the wire attached to the tip has a good solid solder fillet before you push it back into place. PET, PBT Nylon or Polycarb, or PTFE if you can get some. Or probably a decent bit of oak.

These are the innards of my RSU probe. There was a good, tight fit between the carbon rod and its holder.


I reckon, the connecting wire was twisted during assembly, and it simply gave way. Certainly, the insulation on the wire was a tight fit inside the handle when I dismantled things.

I have rebuilt the probe using its original parts. I put some silicon lubricant (for curtain tracks) onto the insulation before I installed the handle.

But yes, a rebuild with a nice oak handle would be good to try one day.

 

[simond]

I expect a bit of heat from the job, and a bit of heat from a damaged joint between wire and brass would get it very hot.