2019 - Part 1

Every December I like to take a look back at all that we've achieved between us in the last year. (Mostly Himself, if we're being honest...)

In January of this year our 4th NGG16, 143, was on the test track still in brass.

There were more carriages on the workbench, with brass roofs being made for the second of the superbarn Observation Cars and another of the saloons.

Himself had also started assembling a Worsley Works bowsider 17, to give us a model in the current colours.

February

A few weeks later and the superbarn saloon was almost ready for varnishing.

We'd also begun putting together a Worsley Works NWNGR Gladstone Carriage as the first stage in a WHHR rake.

By this stage the Garratt was well through the painting process.

March

By the begining of the next month it was finished and taking a test run with sister 138

17 had also been varnished and is pictured on Ddaullt.

And we ended the first quarter of the year with Himself starting on the 5th Garratt, destined to be 130.

New This Weekend

In a few hours time (as I write) we’ll be in the process of setting up Bron Hebog for this weekend’s exhibition in Greenock - our ‘home’ show now - and the layout’s Scottish debut!

We’ll have a number of new models getting their first run on the layout.

Garratt 143 brings our active NGG16 roster to four, making life a lot simpler for the fiddle yard operators who should have less of a struggle finding suitable motive power for the two long WHR rakes.

(If only it we’re that easy on the real railway sometimes...)

Our heritage set will be appearing for the first time along with Gelert to take a turn hauling it.

Do say hello if you’re coming along to have a look.

Green Garratt

Today I’m completing the look at our authentic WHR Garratt fleet with the most recent one Himself finished - 143.

This engine has not run on Bron Hebog at a show yet so Greenock next month will be its public debut.

Himself put a lot of effort into making it as accurate as he could with detailed alterations like extending the cut outs at the bottom of the bunkers and tanks.

As I’ve yet to see it in action in the layout I feel I can’t be sure where it fits into my ranking of favourite NGG16’s so I’m looking forward to the show very much.

Green For Go

I’m delighted to report 143 is finished and has had its maiden run around the test track down at the Greenock MRC HQ.

Andy Strathie shot this little movie of the moment, including a double-header with 138.



The build has taken five months - although at least a month of that can be discounted while Himself was in works for a mechanical overhaul.

The club test track is a great facility to let it really stretch its legs and run everything in.

Varnishing Act

Himself is starting on the rather involved process of giving Garratt 143 a coat of varnish.

As you can see, the model has to be broken down into its many sub-assemblies for this.

In the picture above are the footplates and buffer beams of the two power units along with the cab roof and the (genuine) coal insert for the rear bunker.

Out of shot are the two bunker bodies and the main frame / boiler / cab unit which are yet to go under the airbrush.

The chassis are brushed by hand to avoid gumming up any of the mechanism.

Not long to go now, I hope...

Orange Lines

The lining on 143 is complete.

It’s looking rather tasty, wouldn’t you agree?

Cheating

Himself has a neat little trick for getting straight edges to the panels when he paints locomotives - transfers.

He uses thick black lining from the Fox waterslide range.

You can see how effective it looks on 143 here which has had all its coats of green and is now ready to move onto the lining out.

Mixologist

Himself has cracked and done what he said he'd never do - try mixing his own shade of green for 143.

The latest effort is the one on the far left of this piece of brass which is doubling as a swatch card, placed beside the rear bunker which has had two coats of what we now agree is something that's too light.

His reticence about mixing is the uncertainty that you'll be able to perfectly replicate the shade if, for example, it turns out that you've not mixed quite enough.

He's happy enough, though, if it can be a 50/50 mix - which is what we do with our FR carriage red - and what he's come up with here is a blend of Railmatch 'Multiple Unit Green' and Humbrol 'Mid Green'.

The colour of this engine has been driving us gently demented over the last week or so.

It is such a difficult shade because on the real engine it looks very different depending on the lighting conditions, whether that's in a photograph or when you're standing in front of it, and that's before we consider the unfortunate fact that the paint on different bits of the locomotive have visibly weathered.

How Green Is Your Garratt?

It appears my eyes may have deceived me, after all.

I posted a few days ago about how Himself had asked me to help choose an appropriate tin of paint for 143 - because he's not too good with his greens.

In the tin, and on a test patch, it looked like it might do a passable impression of the current colour of the WHR's youngest Garratt, but now I've seen it with the first two coats applied I'm no longer so sure.

It looks a bit too much like an LNER apple green to me.

So, with a little harrumphing, I've sent Himself back to search through his paint store to see if he has anything a few shades darker.

Red And Green

Himself has begun the process of painting 143.

We'd had a debate about whether grey or red oxide primer was the way to go and it appears he's chosen the latter.

I've also been called upon to make the decision on the shade of green it will be finished in.

That's something of a poisoned chalice because it's one of those colours which, to me at least, appears different depending on the light conditions, and even more so if involves a photograph rather than using the naked eye.

There's also the issue that over the years the colour on some parts of the locomotive have faded.

At these points my mind always goes back to the discussions we had on what colour to paint our DLG many years ago.

Various mixes were brushed onto a piece of card which was posted up to me to peruse.

Unfortunately the colour I chose looked very much lighter and brighter when painted on the model that it appeared on the test card, and I've never lived it down.

In Bits

143 has moved into the paint shop (sort of).

The last detailing parts have been added to the main boiler unit and it's been split into the sub-assemblies readying for a coat of primer.

The issue with the two motor units running at different speeds has been resolved by exchanging the slower running one for a spare we had in stock.

Himself did manage to get the metal worm gear off the shaft with the application of brute strength, but it was damaged in the process, so he's ended up robbing one of the unbuilt kits for a nylon replacement and begun scouring the internet to find a source for another one of those.

The only one he's found is from a supplier in Germany who don't ship to the UK - has Brexit already happened? I think we should be told!

So Solid

I popped in to check in on Himself and get the low down on the Garratt test running session the other day.

He was in the process of swapping round motors on the power units to confirm his suspicions that one was running much slower (or faster) that the other, and that is was nothing to do with the chassis.

We do have some spare Mashima motors in stock - and does appear possible to order replacements online - the issue is more that having loctite'd the worm gear onto the shaft of the slow running motor he has yet to find a method of removing it so it can be transferred to a replacement.

So the search is on for a source of additional worm gears.

We'll get there, I'm sure....

I also noticed on the workbench the first signs of something happening towards our fifth Garratt, number 130.

The final batch of Backwoods Kits came with spoked wheels, rather than the solid ones that the real locomotives had, so Himself's plan for that is to fill the holes between the spokes with Millput.

But the time it's painted black and hidden behind the frames and those huge balance weights no one will know the difference.

Go Forth And Multiply

143 is a runner!

After muttering that he was struggling to get the motivation to head back to the workbench after six months enforced break, imaging my surprise when a video shot by Andy Strathie pinged into my inbox the other night showing our fourth Garratt galloping around the test track at the Greenock and District MRC HQ.



Himself tells me that he's not entirely happy with it yet.

The front power unit is running about 50% faster than the rear, which he is putting down to a variation in the motors rather than anything mechanical in the chassis department.

I recall that we had this happen on our K1 and ended up re-motoring it.

More fettling required with this one, I suspect.

Picking Up

Hopefully next week should see the resumption of work on our new Garratt 143.

Himself was taken out of service a few weeks before Christmas for a motion overhaul - having his clock side connecting rod replaced - and the fitter insisted on a six week spell of running in before he could be put back into traffic.

Now he feels ready to sit at the workbench again and finish off the construction work on the kit.

You'll remember that the mechanical work on the bogies had been completed, but they hadn't had their pick ups fitted yet, so that'll be one of the first jobs so it can be put through its paces properly.

On the main boiler unit the outstanding jobs are to fit all the handrails, fix on the chimney and the smokebox door, and the clips which secure the cab roof.

So long as he doesn't drop any bits on the floor while he's doing this we'll be fine.....

Review Of The Year - Part 4

October

So to the final post of the year.

Dduallt was making yet another comeback, appearing at our home club's exhibition over two days in Greenock, and there will be more outings in 2019.

Himself hadn't wasted any time in getting started on the first of the new Garratt kits, which we decided would be 143.

He was making very rapid progress on the power units - here's the front one.

We were also taking apart our eldest Backwoods Fairlie, Merddin Emrys, to try and get to the bottom of its very poor performance.

It turned out that what it needed was new brushes for its Mashima motor.

Fortunately these could be fitted by twisting the motor round in the mounting, because it's impossible to remove it without deconstructing a lot of the locomotive.

November

I was making more progress on superbarn 120 which was having its underframe detail added by this stage.

Himself was adding the valve gear to the first of the Garratt bogies, which was being test run.

I had taken on the job of making up some wagon kits as repeat business for a customer.

December

Progress on 143 had got the point where both power units had their vale gear fitted and much of the detail was in place on the boiler unit as well.

As I write it has yet to be joined together or pick-ups fitted, so there's be no test running so far.

The ballast wagons and B wagons were completed and delivered to the customer ready in time for Christmas, even though there was no deadline on the contract.

Thanks to you for reading the blog in 2018 and all our best wishes for 2019.

Tiny Shiny Bits

More of the very involved detailing has been completed on the boiler unit of 143.

There are a lot of pipe runs and lost wax brass castings to be added around the firebox and along the frames which involves some careful soldering and a lot of precision bending of brass wire.

These are all time consuming tasks but there are a lot of external ancillaries on an NGG16 and the model wouldn't look right if it didn't have as many of them as possible on there.

One of the last things to be added will be the handrails but the holes have already been drilled, as you can clearly see in the picture.

Since the last time I posted the cab roof has also been bent to shape and is resting in place for now.

It's Getting There

You could be fooled into thinking the new Garratt is almost ready to run.

With the valve gear complete on both bogies now, and the pipework being added to the boiler unit which is complete with a dome and chimney now, 143 is really looking the business.

Examine it closely, though, and you'll see it's still missing pony trucks, and there aren't any pick ups fitted yet so it's not going anywhere just yet.

I do like the way the missing smokebox door gives it an authentic 'nearing the end of an overhaul' look.

Double Bogies

A significant milestone has been reached in the 143 project.

Both the bogies have got their valve gear fitted and run smoothly when the motor is connected up to the juice.

Neither have their pick ups fitted test so they haven’t done any running under their own power on track, and there are still those pesky little pony trucks to add.

The inner ones are especially awkward to re-rail if there’s an incident out on the line.

Control Panel

Lots of different bits of the Garratt kit are being built at the same time.

As well as the work on the two power bogies and the central boiler unit Himself has also been doing some of the smaller jobs such as the boiler backhead.

This will be glued into position inside the cab in due course, but it will be painted first because access inside the cab is tricky.

It's not a faithful miniature of the controls of an NGG16, being something more generic, but who's going to see it anyway?

It's still a nice piece of work, though, so I thought it deserved a picture here.

Plumbing

Himself has been working on adding detail to the boiler unit of 143.

Various pipes, manifolds and whatitsnames have been bent and soldered into position but - most importantly - not before the holes for the handrail knobs were drilled.

The chimney is just resting in position for the moment but has been turned down at the top to lose a lot of the flare on the original casting.

There are also various cylinders and rods and levers which live beneath the boiler which have been attached as well.

He's been paying very careful attention to research pictures because many of the things these pipes connect into are in different places compared to sister engine 138.