Chopper Tank & Crew

LNWR 2-4-0T Chopper Tank and Crew

This project is running in parallel with the HR d.39 brake van. I've just sprayed the engine with Halfords' Acid 8 etch-primer. The crew are painted and ready for action; they look exasperated at the time it's taking to get their engine on the rails. The fireman and driver are from my "Heroes of the Footplate" range; they are... Ref. R2 and RW3.

HR D.39 Brake Van

HR D.39 4-wheel Brake Van from a "Lochgorm" kit.

I plan to model fully the interior of this Brake Van. I've made a start by double-skinning the outer ends so the glazing will slip between the inner and outer walls. I plan to do the same to the sides, though at the moment I'm not certain about the construction of the van. Did it, as suggested by the drawing accompanying the kit, have a double skin, being boarded over inside or did it have a framework that was visible inside as is the case with many brake vans I've seen drawings and indeed photos of?

I've soldered the ducket sides in place but I'm not at all convinced about the way they protrude inside the van and extend all the way to the roof. I've tentatively drawn an outline in pencil on the ducket side to suggest how I think they might more likely have been. At the moment I'm not sure how to proceed. I know that information is scarse but can anyone help with any detail of the interior?

It's a curious little van as it has four doors, I can't imagine why it needs so many. 

Paint Shop for the Wee Ben

HR Small Ben frames with inside motion and balance weights.

While stripping down the Wee Ben ready for the Paint Shop I realised that the motion plate was in the wrong place and that the balance weights were back to front. This came about when I chanced upon a drawing of a projected enlarged Small Ben in Cormack and Stevenson's "Highland Railway Locomotives 2". I've had this book on my shelves for ages but never looked at these drawings of engines that were never built before. Anyway, there it was...a drawing that included enough detail of the inside motion to show me that I'd got it wrong. So I put it right and I think it looks better now with the balance weights the right way round. The frames of course are not prototypical in the area of the bogie wheel arch, they are cut away to allow the wheels clearance, which was not the case with the real thing, the frames should curve down to support the motion plate. When the pistons are mounted in the slide bars the motion will be complete. You can see the earlier erroneous version of the inside motion under the Blog sub heading for the Small Ben which contains more construction details and photos.

HR Wee Ben; details of boiler mountings and spectacle plate.

I comissioned an etch for the stepped circular lookout surrounds and I think they improve matters; I have a few left if anyone wants a set. The engine is to be HR No.8 Ben Klibreck. Ben Kilbreck, as it's now known, is a remote mountain in the far North which I climbed a few years back with my wife and the dogs when we were chasing the Munros. I'm pretty sure that No.8 carried an early style brass number plate with the lettering and numbers incised and inlaid in black. As you can see I've mounted the number plate on the cab side already, I'll mask it with tape when I spray the engine.