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LNWR Coal Tank cab detail
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There are two 9" high wooden boxes inside the cab of a Coal Tank for the crew to stand on. The vacuum brake pipe enters the cab on the left, runs along the splasher, then kinks downwards to disappear through a hole in the left-hand box into the floor. There's a lot more pipework to go in the cab yet.
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| Coal Tank smokebox details |
The sanding mechanism was difficult to make and the LGM castings I had were misconcieved; they were both left-handers, so I cut them up into their component parts. The tiny elbows were nicely modelled and ultimately proved invaluable; I sawed them off their cast rod and mounted them on a new vertical rod. The mount that held this rod to the side of the smokebox was the most difficult part of the assembly; I fabricated the part of the mount that held the rod from tube, which you can see below the lower elbow, then I made the mounting plate from strip, into which I pressed rivets at the ends, then I soldered it in place and joined the two parts with a tiny wedge of n/s sheet. Most of this work is hidden by the lower elbow. The upper elbow attaches to the boiler hand-rail which operates the sanding mechanism by means of a handle attached to it in the cab.
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| Coal Tank sanding mechanism and front step |
The left-hand sanding mechanism is rather simpler than the right-hand one but nevertheless it took a lot of fiddling with. The front coupling hook is soldered direct to the buffer beam as it was not sprung, it was simply held in place behind the beam by a cotter. The couplings are CPL castings, modified to take a tommy-bar, though I made the hook myself. The smokebox door assembly will be glued in place at a later stage, after the soldering is complete.
