Daves C & W Works

[Dave]

A quick update on the H4.

All rivets I intend to apply now done. The GA drawing shows a lot more but the photo shows many of these
were flush. The end steps have been fitted and lamp irons done.
The body has had a coat of white primer.

[Chas Levin]

Very neat looking work Dave; will you be adding weight as it's plastic bodied, or did the previous 'H' run without?

[Dave]

Thank you for your kind comments Chas, the photos are rather cruel.
I have spent part of the day sorting the imperfections out.......hopefully.
Weight will be a problem, I have just made the gas reservoir tank from an old pen that was the correct dia. this
has been filled with liquid lead, and is supprisingly weighty for its size. More flat sheet lead will be glued to the underside of the
floor between the solebars. First thinned coat of LNER oxford engineers blue applied to the body.

[Dave]

H4.
Gas tank fitted, with pipework added to the filler points and regulator which I will not add as |I don't think you can see it.
Plus the linking pipe to the 2 tanks.

[Dave]

Well, after posting the last lot of photo's I thought that gas cyl is not correct.
I consulted my drawing and the GA drwg and sure enough I had mounted it on the wrong side.
This is due to me being an idiot and the fact I had marked it out by turning the body over and looking at the underside, doh.
My drawing and the GA both show the cyl looking down through the floor...........if all that makes sense.
Anyway all removed and refixed inc new pipe work...bugger. You can see the mounting strip on the floor where the cyl was fixed.
I have also made the first of 4 tank outlets with valve handles, the valve body is made from a drop of clear UV resin with the handle
dilled and glued in place.
I think the pics show it all.

[carlislecitadel2]

The H4 is coming along great. Looking forward to seeing that finished. I might be that on the long term wish list of stock I would like to model.
I got my 3d printer home again and have switched to using the Cura slicer package at 0.08mm standard settings and slowed down the retraction speed. I’ve printed a few of Johnny Duffett’s BR wagons which I had tried previously using Creality’s own slicer which is a cut down version of the Cura package. They had failed to print the webs along the side of the likes of the BR pig iron wagons and low fits. I had assumed a .4mm nozzle could not cope with that but using the Cura slicer it’s worked out. So I tried Sascha’s LMS steel D55 container, very similar to the LNER designs, and it printed much better than my previous efforts on the Creality slicer. It’s not a perfect print but it’s good enough that I can tidy it up. I’m sure a resin printer would make an even better job of it. I’ve attached pics of it as it came off the Build plate last night before I attempt to remove any stringing or replace the top lifting eyes, etc. I’m very pleased with it compared to my previous efforts on my Ender 3 S1.

[Dave]

Been a while, I've been on my hols and busy so I've not had a lot of time to get things done but things are progressing again on the H4.
Brake wheels added, top steps fixed and made from 1x3mm brass angle, plus the 4 side pipes completed and fixed in place. These have
have had the valves made from 2 14ba nuts reamed out to slip over the .9mm ns wire pipes. the gap between was filled with a dab of uv resin
which was drilled to take a .33mm bras wire, this had been heated and flattened to form the lever.
the body has since had a seconed thinned coat of enginners blue.

I also got a package of containers and other bits very kindley sent by carlislecitadel2, which I've given a coat of grey primer as a start.
Thank you.

I also managed to go to our first Copmanthorpe village model railway show and was very impressed such a good show was put on by our small village and that there were so many railway modellers living here.

[Chas Levin]

Very nice work Dave!

Apologies if this is a stupid question, but I haven't come across external brake wheels on vehicles before so firstly, is this in effect the equivalent of a wagon's brake lever?
Secondly, as this is a closed van type of vehicle and NPCS, why didn't they have a brake column inside the vehicle as they would in brake, luggage or similar vans? Was it because this was more like a mobile storage unit, in which staff seldom rode, but which might need to be parked up in a siding and secured, perhaps without opening and boarding it?

[Dave]

Thank you Chas.

Not a stupid question, yes you would have thought it would have had a handbrake column inside, like
a normal brake van/compartment. I've attached parts of the GA which I hope
explains how it all works, you should be able to follow it. The van also has
Westinghouse air braking, but I'm assuming this was removed in the early 30's when
the LNER moved to vacuum braking. I have no details of this and I'm debating how this may
have been completed. Several other stores vans were converted to vacuum braking, and the
underframe GA for the H3 van shows the Westing house brake acted on only one bogie. So this
is what I'm assuming happened on the H4.

The vans had the handbrake for when the vans were not in use or stabled overnight. My understanding
is they were used on a cyclic route servicing stations, signal cabins etc, so would be stabled without
a loco at times when the loco/crew needed servicing etc. But I don't know why a handbrake column was not
provided inside, I assume it's the same reasone some departmental carriages were provided with external
handbrake wheels. I'm hoping others may have further info on all this.

Edit: I could not spell column.....idiot.

[Chas Levin]

Very interesting thanks Dave.

[Dave]

H4.
the body have been given another thinned coat of blue, and the gas valve pipes added to the pressure gauges.
The pipe is 0.33 brass wire but it seems to look a lot thicker in the photo's.

[Dave]

H4
Glazed, roof on., gutters and downpipes added

[Chas Levin]

Lovely looking job Dave!

I have (another!) question - sorry, I seem to have asked a lot...

Do you mean those are downpipes from the guttering, like the downpipes you find on buildings? If so, I can't recall ever seeing that on a railway vehicle before - was there a special reason why they were fitted to these vans?

[MikeTrice]

Do you mean those are downpipes from the guttering, like the downpipes you find on buildings? If so, I can't recall ever seeing that on a railway vehicle before - was there a special reason why they were fitted to these vans?

Down pipe on Gresley Buffet Car:

[Chas Levin]

Good grief - never noticed them before! Is my eyesight deteriorating faster than my memory, or vice versa?! Thanks Mike - I'll have a read up tomorrow as to other uses... I must have seen but not observed them, as Holmes would say.