Weight Watching

With the prototype chassis complete and working well, Himself has been beefing up the Bagnall, Gelert, to give it a little more tractive effort.

One of the challenges with 3D printed bodies is their extreme lightness, especially in a scale which has previously got used to heavyweight white metal locomotive bodies.

So he has stuffed lead into every available orifice.

The only visible bits are these pieces you can see in the bunker, which has yet to be filled with coal.

Lead has also been fitted inside the side tanks and also stuffed into the smokebox and the front section of the boiler, which all helps with the weight distribution on a model which runs the risk of being tail-heavy.

The chassis we've test build for the developer has an very clever roller system above the bogie truck which provides excellent support and a smooth swing.

If you look carefully you'll also notice that the nuts to secure the motion have been fitted now, and Himself has also created a firebox piece to fit inside the cab.

The fixed rear coupling will need to be replaced with one that swings before it can haul anything around our tight curves going boiler-first, but visitors to the Troon show this weekend might catch a glimpse of it having a - rather improbable - test run around the Dduallt spiral.

LED There Be Light

Ahead of us taking Dduallt to the Troon exhibition next weekend Himself has decided to upgrade the lighting.

Ever since we first took it on the road, around 25 years ago, we'd used traditional spot lamps which gave everything a slightly yellow glow.

Now he's fitted the stanchions with LED versions the same as we have deployed on Bron Hebog.

Already I can see they are a big improvement, and because they're much smaller, they are also hidden behind the name boards.

All the details of the show are on the Exhibition Diary page, so if you're anywhere near the Ayrshire Riviera next weekend we'd love to see you.

Parliamentary Train

I've done a little work on the interior of the Gladstone Carriage, making the long upholstered benches for the glazed centre compartment.

These are going to be a little awkward to fit because of the way the floor attaches to the body.

There are two brass boxes, which have captive nuts inside them to hold the floor in but they are fixed to the body not the chassis.

So I can't fix the seats to the floor in my usual manner because these boxes would be in the way.

It also means that the whole carriage will need to be painted and glazed before the roof is fixed on, which Himself is not going to like very much.

I wonder if I might have to end up splitting each into three sections?

Making these seats also got me thinking about the history of the carriage and its claim to fame in being used by the former Liberal Prime Minister.

I'd always assumed it would have been selected for him because it of it's observation car qualities to admire the Snowdonian scenery - but now I wonder whether it was chosen because the layout, with the benches facing each other, would make him feel like he was back in the Commons?

Chequers

Himself got to an advanced stage with carriage 20 - having given the body a coat of primer - when he spotted something that wasn't quite right.

This is one of the bowsiders which still bears the evidence some of the more practical overhauls they've had to keep them going after 140 years or more.

In this case it's the chequer plate which covers the step on the balconies, while others have been rebuilt with wood in more recent years.

It was quite a simple job - for him at least - to cut and bend some etched brass sheet to shape and get it fitted.

As always, it's the little details...

In Da Hood

I must confess I’d overlooked how much there was still to do to finish carriage 20.

Since I handed it back with the interior done Himself has added fixed on the roof and put on the ventilator hoods above the doors (made from wee bits of styrene) and what I’ve always assumed to be the communication chord actuators on the ends.

If I’m wrong it won’t take someone long to correct me....

Northern Exposure

Now that I’ve got number 20 finished there’s not really any excuse for tackling the other outstanding brass carriage: the Gladstone Car.

The sticking point is the wooden slatted bench seats in the semi-open compartments at either end.

I was considering trying to design something to be etched in brass, but I think I’ll just settle for scratch building as I usually do.

Gelert Goes To Dduallt

Gelert has moved under its own power.

Himself sent me a short video of it undergoing a test run on Dduallt.



As is self-evident from the film it now has the motor wired to the pick-ups and the motion fitted, although on the rear axle the rods are just held in place with a bit of plastic sheath for now because we don't have any 16BA nuts yet.

The motion looks very skinny under a relatively large locomotive, and Himself tells me that assembling the slidebars, crosshead and connecting rod made making up Garratt motion seem like working on 7mm scale!

It's encouraging to see that it will haul a pair of plastic carriages up the slope quite happily which makes me believe that it will be up to the job I have in mind for it on Bron Hebog, where the gradient is less severe.

(I know, I know....)

In any case I'll be encouraging Himself to try to stuff as much ballast into the lightweight 3D plastic body as he can.

Those big side tanks are a prime candidate, as is the hollow smokebox.