Mechanical delights

Coal Tank; Progress 

Horizontal balance weight shaft in place

The balance weight shaft is part of the chassis and spans only between its supports, it is divided at the reversing arm end to enable the chassis and superstructure to be taken apart. The reversing arm is soldered to the inside of the side tank and the lever, with its stub of weight shaft, is fastened to the footplate. The boiler assembly has to be removable at this stage so I can work on the sandbox operating mechanism.

Boiler assembly in place

The vertical rod beside the smokebox is the key element of the sanding mechanism and is now in the right position after some trial and tribulation. There's a hole in front of it in the smokebox with a tube soldered in which will house the elbow that connects to the mechanism on the other side. The LGM castings I bought for the sanding mechanism looked the part but when I tried to fit them they didn't fit and the right hand mechanism was made as a left-hander. I couldn't use them as they were so I cut them up as the elbow pieces are useable though I'll have to devise some way of making the casting that supports the rod and attaches it to the smokebox. 

A Running Day at CD0GG

Pete's Coal Tank on her first run on the CD0GG layout

I was pleasantly surprised when the Coal Tank ran round the outer circuit of the CD0GG layout at Carlisle today without a problem on her first outing in public. Here she's running through the station pulling a single LNWR coach. There's very little weight in the chassis yet so a longer train proved beyond her capabilities.
Although the engine was only fitted with two wiper pick-ups each side, and ran in effect as an 0-4-0, she performed smoothly.

Two Coal Tanks in differing stages of construction

Behind Pete's engine stands a partly constructed Coal Tank, built from a Mercian Models kit; construction has stalled due to "dimensional problems". For my own part I've side stepped the pitfalls of Mercian Models' kits by simply scratch building the engine.