West End Workbench

[jwealleans]

Cheers, Bill. That'll be a candidate, then, once the book turns up.

[mistahjim]

Ha, I knew I shouldn't try thinking too hard late at night!! Yes of course, 3'' on both sides leads to an increase of 6''. Doh

[jwealleans]

Slow and desultory progress on the tank, I'm afraid; too much work and good weather (meaning 'outside jobs' for some of us). Mainly Trains have also been on holiday meaning that a number of bits I would have had ready to fit haven't arrived yet. Rob P was kind enough to drop me in Vol 9A of the RCTS Greenies and 52D was also good enough to let me have the relevant section of Ken Hoole's book. Based on those we're going to go with 52D's suggestion of No. 861. That meant the piano front was indeed wrong on this loco, being one of the curved ones like a G5. I removed it and made up a replacement of 60 thou square rod rounded on one edge and two bits of brass strip profiled to look like the frame tops.



I've also added boiler clacks (these were not on the original model) and reinstated the bunker coal rails and chimney top. I may discard those coal rails and try to make some more as they've got badly bent and aren't easy to get to stick to the brackets. I notice it's also sitting nose up - I'm not sure whether it's always done that or not but it will have to be attended to. There's some packing at the front under the smokebox so I assume it's the back that's low, but we'll check that out later.



The other thing I did was add brakes. The chassis had the wire stubs for the brake hangers but no evidence of any having been fitted. I dug out some of the Alan Gibson plastic brakes and used those. I think they were actually GE, but, hey, they're all Worsdells at the end of the day. These also remove the possibility of shorting the loco out across the brakes.

[jwealleans]

Almost got where we're going with the N8 now; I had a package from Mainly Trains the day after they resumed delivery - nice to see the service hasn't fallen off even if the range is nowhere near what it was. Sadly they didn't have any of the spectacle grilles I need for the rear cab windows but I got everything else.



Buffers are from the Alan Gibson Workshop, steps are altered from a Mainly Trains etch - the originals were very poor and badly bent - and I found some useful odds and sods on their Loco detailing etch as well. The sandbox lids are actually washout plugs - they're round and from normal viewing distance won't show - and I used half a destination bracket holder to make what I believe were the hingeing arrangements for the tank lids. One of the whistles had disappeared, but a shoulderless handrail knob soldered in upside down looks pretty close. Just needs vac pipes, lamp irons, those grilles and cab doors and the bits I seem to have bent straightening out and it can go to the paintshop.

I then felt in the mood to start a new project which has been pending for a while. No prizes for guessing what this is:



I'm going to build it as I do my coaches, with a paxolin floor and the body as a lift-off shell. The fit of the parts was very poor, especially the roof, but having it all solid should allow it to be tidied up.

The power unit has been on the bench since December and will be this:



After the poor experience with the one at Ormesby and Mick's comments about spuds I wanted something with enough grunt to drag all that whitemetal about. This is a BullAnt Major and if it performs as well as its smaller equivalent then I will be well pleased.

[jwealleans]

In a fit of enthusiasm I made up the floor tonight. It's deliberately an interference fit as the body is a bit bendy. Hopefully that will sort itself out once the roof's on, although that's just as bent, frankly.

Here is the floor in place inside the body shell with the hole for the BullAnt cut out.



Here it is in place - the hole will need extending to allow the unit to pivot but the fixings have plenty of floor to go through.



The ride height isn't a million miles away even without any packing or adjustment.



The unit is also much less obtrusive than you might think - they're surprisingly low inside a vehicle. You can also see how bent the roof is. That's had another layer of filler after a sanding this evening. This is when I admire Atlantic and his patience sanding all that plastic on those W1s.

[jwealleans]

While the N8 awaits its final details, a question about livery; were they lined after 1928? I wasn't planning on lining it but there seems to be a bit of a feeling that it should be at the club. Whether this is just because it was before I'm not sure; RCTS 9A doesn't mention liveries and the photos aren't conclusive.

Anyone any strong feelings?

[coachmann]

After looking at photos I doubt the N8s were lined (apart from a BR example). In LNER days, white lining on the bufferbeams was often the clue to whether that loco carried red lining on the body. At least that was what I used to go off.

[mick b]

Plain Black that is presuming it had been repainted after 1928 !!!

[jwealleans]

Cheers, chaps. Like you, Larry, I look for the white edging if there's nothing else to go on. Looks as if plain black it is.

[Atlantic 3279]

Hi Jonathon,

Re: That Bull Ant Major

I thought the Bull ant drives came with belts instead of multiple gears on the ends now .
Did you manage to get one with the desired gear ratio? A friend of mine a while ago apparently very clearly ordered a 60:1 unit for a Sentinel shunter and was sent a completely inappropriate 15:1 version. I gather it took him ages to get it exchanged.

[jwealleans]

Hello Graeme,

I don't know whether Geoff is feeling his way gradually into the belt drives. I went with his recommendations for both models after explaining what it was I wanted (and how heavy the railcar is). I see both drives are available for the Major.

It doesn't actually say on the Major what ratio it is - I assume it's the standard 32:1.

The shunter has a 38:1 belt drive and isn't terribly quick - I imagine a 60:1 would really creep. Again, the ratio was Geoff's recommendation based on one he'd already done. It's certainly quieter than the gear tower.

The only specifications I made were the wheelbases and fixings and they were correct.

[Atlantic 3279]

Interesting information. Perhaps manufacture and distribution are more smoothly co-ordinated than they were when my friend ordered his Sentinel drive. I quite like the way that the Can motor and flywheel stand clear of the piece of channel that forms the backbone of the unit, allowing (as you have) quite a narrow slot in the floor of the railcar since there is space for the motor to turn above the floor as the bogie turns below the floor. Quite neat.

It's shame that these units don't compare more favourably cost-wise, as they might then become very attractive better-quality substitutes for old Ringfield tender drives.

Can I now display my ignorance and ask who is Geoff? Is he the best source for Bull Ants?

[jwealleans]

Geoff Baxter is Hollywood Foundry and as far as I know makes all the BullAnts himself. He's a regular poster on RMWeb. Very friendly and approachable chap in my experience. I contacted him with a question about the unit which his UK reseller was advertising as specifically for the Sentinel shunter. This came as a bit of a surprise to him and so we started a correspondence which led to the units I finally bought.

The unit I first looked at is here. Was this what your friend bought for his?

[Atlantic 3279]

I suspect that is the unit he ordered, but instead got something that produced a "ton up" Sentinel.

[jwealleans]

.Bits of fiddling about with this and that; the N8 still awaits those grilles from Mainly Trains, but I did have a thorough read of the RCTS book and discovered that the coal rails were all plated over well before my chosen era. They have therefore been discarded and a new set made up in plastikard.

The Sentinel is making some progress in that I have it fully wheeled and (hopefully) it will move under its own power tonight for the first time.



It is high at the unpowered end because that's the end I've so far checked and packed to the correct height. I will do the same to the Ant the next time it comes out.



Closer shot of the driving end. The motor is very unobtrusive and with ~1mm of packing to add will be even less so when completed. Those plastic pieces on the sides of the BullAnt are also ideally placed to receive the cosmetic sides from the kit.



This is what holds it together. When it's complete I'll replace these bolts with the 1/4" ones from Eileen's. The retaining plates for the BullAnt are Araldited to the top of the floor; the unit mount sits underneath, so it can drop out if required. I will see how it runs before deciding whether I want the other bogie to pick up. You can also see where I had to extend the slot sideways to allow the bogie to turn without the gear tower fouling. The body securing mount was easier to make than I thought; it was quite easy to introduce a slight bend into the brass angle, which is soldered to the inside of the front and then bolted up into the captive nuts from underneath.

I may put a further body fixing at the end of the passenger compartment. Two reasons for this - firstly the sides have a tendency to bow out and this will pull them back together; secondly there are a lot of whitemetal undergubbins to fix to the cobex and I don't want it to sag. Putting a cross piece between the doors will not interfere with the separate interior for the passenger compartment.