Lochgorm Tank at CD0GG Running Day

Running through the station at CD0GG

You may have been wondering how my Lochgorm Tank was progressing...well the four accompanying photos should answer that and give you a flavour of the busy running day on the Carlisle 0 Gauge Group's layout today. It has taken three months to get to this stage, busy summer months that offer only limited opportunity for modelling, so I'm pleased with progress. The basic platework of the engine is complete now though some parts were quickly fixed in place with double-sided Sellotape just for the day. And Yes, that is eleven wagons in the train behind her, which she pulled with ease with power to spare.

The station and other buildings in the scenic section of the extensive layout were built by club member David Gibson and took first prize in their section at Guildex in Telford last week, demonstrating that the Carlisle club is undeniably a modellers club.

Lochgorm Tank in action

In the sidings.

The scenic section of the layout.

Though the basic outline of the loco has been built there remains a good deal of detail to be added to bring her to life. The cab area is spacious and the interior will need detailing though pictures of the loco frustratingly allow us only a glimpse inside. Most of the detailing components have been obtained from either LGM or Hobbyhorse with some being scratch built by myself.

Lochgorm Tank progress

Lochgorm Tank "up and running".

You can see the lead weight here which fills the ash pan low down between the centre and rear wheels. The fly-wheel is a screw fitting one and was obtained from MSC Models, it greatly enhances the running qualities of the loco which is running smoothly even though there are no pick-ups on the centre wheels yet and the coupling rods are not jointed.

Wired up and weighted

A cross member at the back of the underframe fits under a retaining angle strip fastened to the inner side of the rear buffer beam; an 8BA screw holds the front of the underframe tight against the running plate by means of a nut which will be hidden inside the smokebox. The ash pan has a rivetted bottom plate and is filled with 200g of lead sheet.

Electrical pick-up is from the brass hornblocks which run in Slaters' insulated hornguides. Wires take the current from the hornblocks to strips of copper clad insulation board glued to the side frame above each axle, the wire acts as a sort of spring. Current is fed to the motor through wires via another piece of CCIB above the center axle.


  

Running plate in place.

Dummy side frames of full scale width are soldered to the rear of the front buffer beam, the slightly narrower working side frames fit neatly between the dummy ones, the joint will eventually be masked by the brakes and sandpipes.
A start has been made on the superstructure... at the moment I'm working on the plate-work in the flat.

Ben Clebrig at CD0GG

Ben Clebrig in action today

I took Ben Clebrig up to Carlisle today to the CD0GG running day at the club room at the Citadel Station for her first real test on a club layout.
Here she is rounding the bend into the station on the scenic section of the layout with a local passenger train of four assorted coaches. Today was a "timetabled" day and the Wee Ben had the privilege of heading the local passenger service...she performed her role in the unfolding drama admirably, gliding smoothly into Kinchley Lane Station right on time.
I spent time the previous evening cleaning wheels, tightening crank pin nuts and checking electrical connections which paid off, she ran smoothly without a hitch and I was most pleased with her running qualities.

Highland Railway No.8

HR No.8 Ben Clebrig;  Drummond II livery 1902-1912

 Crew from the "Heroes of the Footplate" range of 1:43 figures

HR No.8 in ex-works condition

Phoenix P 727 paint has not reproduced well photographically.

I've been putting the finishing touches to Ben Clebrig for some time now, just adding a detail now and then when I've had a spare moment and now at last she's complete; the crew were painted ages ago, they've been waiting idly about for me to get on with the job and now at last they're in the cab and ready for a run. But they'll have to wait until I take the Ben up to Carlisle to a CD0GG running day towards the end of the month. I added a good deal of weight to the engine during her running trials on the test track and I think she'll pull a respectable load now. I'm told that the next running day will feature a "timetable"! No doubt this intimidation has rules and regulations and possibly the CD0GG police to enforce them! The Wee Ben performs well on the test track here in the studio, so I've great expectations that she'll hold her own when pitted against that timetable!

A new Loco project.

Lochgorm Tank... first moves.

My new loco project is a scratch built Highland Railway 0-6-0 Lochgorm Tank. There were three of these engines and the one I've chosen to model is HR57, built at the HR's Lochgorm Works in 1872. The engine was rebuilt in 1897 and it is in this condition that I'll build her. There are a good many castings available from LGM for the engine to help the build along. The essential boiler fittings are available including a "Stroudley chimney" which, with a little modification, should prove acceptable.
I'm using a split-axle pick up system on the outer axles which run in sprung brass hornblocks in Slater's insulated hornguides. The centre driving axle is solid and pick up from the centre wheels will be arranged later if necessary.
The centre wheels of HR57 after the rebuild were "solid" which is a problem that needs to be addressed at a very early stage; I think the solution may be to commission an etching to go over the spokes which will need to be reduced in depth a little for the etched part to fit over them. Well, that's my thinking at the moment... I'll work on it.

HR d.4 van ready for traffic

HR d.4 Box Van complete

Built as a much needed addition to my Highland Railway train this is the second HR goods vehicle that I've completed, it's still a short train! My mate Grahame Brind sent me a jar of Floquil "Tuscan Red" which apparently he'd had for ages. He assured me that it was the best match for HR "claret" in which colour these vans were painted before 1896, and I think he was right. I've dry brushed the van with lighter tuscan red and air brushed my weathering mix from below for a lightly weathered effect.

There appears to be only a single photo of these vans in existence, and that hardly a close-up; it's in Peter Tatlow's "Highland Miscellany"...Plate 230; there is no visible insignia to identify the van as belonging to the HR and it may be that these vehicles simply relied on the cast plate on the solebar for identification. I've similarly allowed my van to display reticence regarding its identity.

Highland Railway D.4 Van

Plate 1. Railway workman RW6 in nonchalant pose beside HR d.4 van

The nonchalant workman is ref: RW6 from Pete's own "Heroes of the Footplate" range of 1:43 scale figures.

Plate 2. HR d.4 Van from a "Lochgorm Kits" etch, with additions.

I made a few additions and alterations to Lochgorm's Highland Railway d.4 Van...

I dispensed with the "rib and stringer" construction inside the roof and simply added a curved rib at each end and doubled the thickness of the roof all round with 0.45mm strip. I think this ensures an adequately robust roof structure. The roof can be removed though I can't see any reason why it needs to be; I think I'll glue it down to stop it rattling over the points.

I added a simple door fastening with a security chain made from twisted 0.2mm wire for the peg.

The ride height of the van needed adjusting which I achieved by adding more metal to the vertical rib that supports the rocking-axle tray.

The upper riveted corner plates when soldered to the side top rail and folded didn't meet the end top rail, they were in the air. I thickened the end top rails with short lengths of 1 x 1mm brass section which allowed the corner plates to seat snugly, you can see this modification in Plate1 above.

I made new brake levers as I found that when I'd removed the cusps from etched levers there was practically nothing left! I added lamp irons to the sides and ends in the positions indicated on the drawing supplied... and I made those little chains and pegs that dangle from the brake guards and are used to peg down the brake levers.

The axle boxes I found were oversize, so I modified them by sawing a square of metal out of the back so the bottom of the spring sat on the axle box. Then I cut away enough of the top of each axle box at the front to ensure that they didn't mask the springs, which I think much improved the look of the van below the sole bar. I had to cut away even more metal from the axle boxes at the rocking-axle end to ensure some rocking movement was retained.

Couplings were made up from CPL castings. Safety chains, which hang from modified hand-rail knobs, were made from 0.6mm n/s wire.

The completed van weighs in at a satisfyingly chunky 250g...possibly a little overweight, but undoubtedly adding to her smooth running qualities.