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| Test running the chassis through the crossings on my track at home. Mini 7E gearbox with M1830 motor and MSC flywheel. The motion plate is in place though the slide-bar, cross-head and connecting rod are yet to be fitted. |
Undoubtedly the Scrap Tank is aesthetically one of the less appealing of Highland Railway engines, it does not have the elegance and visual appeal of so many of their designs. It nevertheless has a certain fascination which has drawn me repeatedly to consider a model of one of these ungainly yet curiously appealing shunting engines. It's a fascination to which I knew I'd eventually have to give in to and indeed I have... and I've made a start on the model.
The Scrap Tank, though a fairly simple engine, nevertheless presents some constructional problems of its own, probably the most difficult to solve being the lack of clearance between the coupling rod and the cross-head. The slide-bar and cross-head assembly needs to be as close to the side frame as possible to allow the connecting rod to run parallel to the side frame and not be spaced too far out from the coupling rod on the center driving wheel crank-pin; I'm working on it.
As you can see above, I've arranged wire pick-ups on the center and rear drivers, which will be hidden inside the side tanks. The front pick-up is not so simple and as yet I have not contrived it. A wide leaf spring will be mounted behind the front driving wheel, which will make arranging a wire pick-up from this wheel difficult. I've not mounted the spring in place yet, nor have I managed to source a casting for it, so it's not an immediate problem. Watch this space...
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| Cut-out parts and sub-assemblies for the superstructure await the next phase of construction.. A few castings I need are proving elusive, particularly the leaf springs, so I might try having them 3d printed. |
I wanted to have the chassis running before the turn of the year and indeed it is up and running, which is a good point to leave off the modelling as it's New Years Eve...and go into festive mode!
