HR 53 Lybster Complete.

HR53 served on the Wick to Lybster Light Railway from the line's opening in 1903 to withdrawal in 1929 running the 13 miles between the two towns several times a day. I have modelled the engine in the plain unlined green livery of the Highland Railway in which she ran throughout her service on the Wick to Lybster until repainting in LMS passenger red after the grouping of 1923.

 

Lybster had her first outing on the club layout at Carlisle at the weekend and performed very well indeed apart from some squeaking which I'm sure is coming from the wire pick-ups. I'll need to fix this before she turns out again I can't keep attributing it to wonky wheels on other members' stock.
Almost the first remark that greeted Lybster's appearance at the club was one that called attention to the fact that the name transfer on the left hand side of the engine (out of sight) might be a bit high, and indeed much to my chagrin it proved to be so.  How that happened I just don't know but it'll have to be fixed. I've detailed the cab interior which shows up well in these pictures but have still to model the crew. 

HR53 Lybster construction complete

Lybster's "Drummond" backhead

Cab interior details are creatively reconstructed from what little information can be glimpsed in photos or derived from Peter Tatlow's drawing of the engine after rebuilding by Drummond in 1901. There may have been more to the backhead than I've modelled but viewed from outside the cab I think it looks the part as you'll see in the next picture...

Cab interior details.

The hinged cab doors can be open or closed, the curved topped rod behind the door holds it in position by locating in a hole in the footplate. The hinges are mounted slightly proud of the side sheet on a slim strip of n/s to enable the door to function. In the bunker is a removable block of Milliput to which the coal will be added later.






Lybster construction complete

Lybster will be painted in Drummond II plain livery in which she ran on the Wick and Lybster Light Railway from the opening of the line on 1 July 1903 to withdrawal and scrapping in 1929. A suitable driver and fireman, based on a photograph taken of the engine with its crew posing on the footplate sometime after 1917 are under construction.

Lybster ready for the paint shop

 

The circle of rivets behind the smokebox, along the edges of the tank top saddle and round the chimney are from Archers' Surface Details. They are relief transfers, easily applied and seem to stand up well, the success of this experiment remains to be seen after painting, however I'm sure they'll be better than no rivets at all which was the alternative.


Lybster performed well on the Carlisle club layout recently and hauled a respectable train, so I plan to take her through to the painting stage now. I don't want the engine to join the other neglected projects standing in the sidings of despair despondently wondering when their turn to be painted will come.

HR53 Lybster 1890-1929 (rebuilt1901)

Lybster at CD0GG

HR 53 Lybster on the CD0GG layout.  

I added as much weight as possible to HR53 before her outing at the club running day at CD0GG on Saturday. Though she performed creditably she proved not to have the hauling power of my little LNWR 2-4-0T Chopper Tank which romped round the layout with six full size coaches, a feat that Lybster could not match, she simply didn't have the traction, the wheels revolved but there was no forward movement! I noticed that in reverse however, that is running in effect as a 4-4-0, her performance was noticeably better, so there's still some work to do to improve matters.

Construction is almost complete though I've not finished the cab doors, sand pipes and the brake rods and linkages which I've taken pains to construct even though much of this detail is masked by the cab steps. Then there are more rivets which I plan to add with Archers' surface detail transfers, I hope they're as good as it says on the packaging...

Lybster Tank...a question of weight.

HR53 "Lybster"

I took these photos of HR53 as I was assembling  her ready for the monthly Running Day at the Carlisle club yesterday. I was however disconcerted to discover that her tractive effort was rather feeble. I know that my rolling stock is mighty heavy... nevertheless I'd not expected that a four truck train would be beyond her! Though the motor whirred and the wheels went round, nothing was moving, I didn't want this embarrassment at the club, I wanted her to make a good showing, so I spent the rest of the evening experimenting with various lead weights in various positions and found that weight was needed up front. I packed a roll of lead into the boiler, 125g in all, and matters improved. Another similar weight, experimentally carried over the buffers, had even more effect, so though I was only able to add the weight in the boiler I had at least found the solution. Ultimately, in addition to the weight in the boiler, my intention is to pour "liquid lead" down the chimney into the smokebox to get weight over the front driver.
On the day, at Carlisle, she performed very well despite carrying only half the weight I plan on adding, effortlessly cruising round the layout with a creditable ten wagon train.

HR 53 

The backhead and cab interior detail is at an advanced stage as is the superstructure. I've modelled one of the tank top water fillers which will serve as a pattern from which I'll make a mould next week to cast out its companion. The brake cylinders, which sit under the footplate between the rear bogie wheels, will similarly be cast from a silicone rubber mould in the workshop.

In the unlikely event of there being anyone else out there who's making a "Lybster" and who would like castings of these items... they will be available, just give me a ring or send me an e-mail.

Lybster Backhead

Backhead for HR53 Lybster.

Lochgorm Kits supplied the etches that make up the basic shape of the backhead, the castings are from LGM's "Jones" backhead set. There's little information available to work from, photos that show part of the cab interior are tantalisingly blurred so the model is a reconstruction based on minimal evidence. I think there should probably be a driver's brake valve in there somewhere but I'm really not sure and there's no room for it anyway!

Lybster HR53 Recent Progress

Lybster HR53 ready for a run at the CD0GG Running Day

The sheet-metal work of the superstructure is nearly complete now though it's been a case of one step forward and two steps back recently as the shape of the cab cut-out is still not right and needs to be carefully re-shaped to capture the character of the prototype. Before I took the engine to Carlisle to the club running day today I cleaned the wheels, which were starting to show signs of rust, due I'm sure to fumes from the flux I'm using, I'm tempted to return to "Fluxite" though the greasy nature of this is in turn a cause for concern, it being difficult to eliminate entirely .

Lybster's previous outing on the club layout revealed a problem which hadn't showed up at home on my test track. Each time the engine passed a particular place on the layout she faltered slightly, or at slow speeds stopped entirely! Opinion leaned towards a short caused by the bogie wheels coming into contact with the splashers and indeed it proved that this was indeed the case when I experimented back at home...too much play on the wheels. A simple slim washer remedied the situation. Today on the club layout she ran smoothly past the place which had so recently proved her nemesis and, despite carrying little weight as yet, she made light work of a dozen chunky wagons.  

Lybster HR53 superstructure progressing well though the shape of the cab opening remains to be refined.  

One of the benefits of being a member of a club is the expertise among the members that can be called on to help a project along; both chimney and dome in this case were turned for me by club members with more engineering skill than myself. I drilled the dome for the safety valves which are mounted on top, these are short lengths of tube to which washers will be soldered to form the upper rim. It is my intention to use rivets from the "Archer Surface Detail" range of relief transfers to represent the circle of rivets on the rear of the smokebox and indeed in several other locations around the engine including the long row of rivets along the tank tops that hold the outer casing that bridges the boiler in place. I've done a little experimenting with Archer's relief transfers and I think they're robust enough for the job as well as looking the part.
The brake cylinder is in place beneath the cab and so is the transverse brake cross shaft, there's a good deal more detail to make in this area.
I'm working on a master pattern for the tank top water-fillers as there is no commercial casting available. I'll make a Silicone Rubber mould from the pattern and cast them in white metal though the upright closing handle will have to be made from brass due to its vulnerability.

HR 53 Lybster, progress.

Lybster pick-up arrangements.

On the right side of the engine all the wheels, both drivers and bogie, are shorted out with a wire soldered between the tyre and the brass centre boss. Pick-ups on the left side are wipers bearing against the back of the wheels and mounted on copper clad insulation board. The bogie pick-ups can be seen clearly above, the red wire is soldered to a metal tab which is screwed to the copper clad and is easily removable. The screw goes through a hole larger than itself in the metal mount to which the CCIB is glued. The red wire leads to another piece of CCIB near the motor from which it is also dismountable.





Base of roof in place

 

The bunker and cab rear unit is held in place on the footplate with two screws inside the bunker, the roof, of which only the base is in place above, will be attached to the cab rear and will slot into a tongue on the top of the cab front plate. 

 

 

 

 

Domed roof and jig.



 

 

 The domed roof was constructed from four triangular pieces of 0.4 n/s with the help of the jig on the right. When all four pieces were accurately lined up on the jig they were soldered together using thin paper as a barrier to prevent the roof being soldered to the jig. The roof was then removed from the jig, squared up and finished with files and abrasive paper.

  

Lybster with domed roof in place.

A raised edge to form a rain channel and a transvers strengthening strip need to be added to the roof before it is complete. The backhead can be seen in place inside the cab, the flywheel fits neatly inside this, however it had to be made a little slimmer before it would fit inside on my mate Bob Goodyear's lathe.
The backhead itself is constructed from a Lochgorm Kits etch, it fitted well and needed no alteration, it's a good starting point and will be detailed with LGM components which are on order.

HR53 Lybster...update

HR53 Lybster with cab rear in place.

I added pick-ups to the bogie by gluing a strip of copper clad insulation board to a support on the underside of the bogie to which n/s wiper pick-ups were soldered. I ran a wire to the motor and ensured that both ends of the wire could be removed easily so the bogie in turn could be removed without fuss. The wire was soldered to a small plate with a hole in it through which a 10BA screw passed into a threaded hole in the copper clad board. The extra pick-ups have definitely improved the running quality of the chassis.

I ordered some conductive paint from Maplins to experiment with as I thought it might be a quick way of shorting the bogie wheels on the return side. However my impatience got the better of me and, though I know it's in the post, I did the job the conventional way just now with a wire soldered between brass centre and rim, running in a groove cut behind the wheels.

HR53 Lybster

The cab is double-skinned to facilitate glazing later on, though I've only made the extra front plate of the cab as yet. I intend that the cab rear will have the roof attached permanently and will be screwed in place on the footplate to be removable so the glazing can go in from underneath.

Meanwhile...I added pick-ups to my Yankee Tank's front bogie and intend to try the conductive paint on the return side wheels when it arrives...I'll let you know how it works.

HR53 Lybster progress

HR53 Work in progress

The chassis runs smoothly, though as an 0-4-0, as I've made no provision as yet for pick-ups on the bogie wheels. I have all the parts I need to hand now including the dome which together with the chimney was turned by pals at the Carlisle club. These need a good deal of file work to finish them, nevertheless they're looking the part. When the front splashers are in place they should mask most of the area under the boiler so I don't plan to model any inside motion. A metal fillet will be added inside the cab corners which will help when I round the corners off . The front and rear of the cab will be double-skinned to facilitate glazing.

HR53

The MSC fly wheel much improves the running quality of the chassis. It protrudes into the cab and will run partly inside the backhead though it will have to be reduced in width to fit. There is a circle of rivets behind the smokebox, clearly visible on photos of the prototype. I've left room for them on one of the rings behind the smokebox and plan to use resin transfer rivets from Archer Surface Details to model them. There's an instructional video linked to their website which shows how to make a circle of rivets. I made a trial circle and thought the results were encouraging, the backing to the resin transfer rivets is very fine and won't show behind the smokebox and the rivets themselves seem robust enough for the job. I plan to use these transfers to model the little lines of rivets that surround the window openings too.