HR Loch 4-4-0 Chassis Details

HR Loch class 4-4-0 chassis detail

The chassis frames are cut from 0.7 nickle silver sheet. The slide bars and connecting rods are from Laurie Griffin though they have had to be modified to suit the engine. A start has been made on the inside motion which is Allan's Straight Link Motion which is somewhat different to Stevenson's motion. Behind the motion plate can be seen the reversing shaft from which are suspended the levers to which are attached the lifting links that support the valve gear. Eccentrics will be mounted on the front driving axle...at least that's the plan at the moment! I await parts from LGM to enable more progress.







Loch chassis with superstructure in place.

The superstructure is mounted on the chassis here so you can see the position of the M1833 motor which will have to run without a flywheel as there's just not room for one inside the boiler when the motor is mounted upright on the rear axle. The motor is held in place by a fork mounted on the cross member which allows some movement...as recommended on the ABCgears website. There is room to add some weight to the chassis in front of the motor.
The 14BA screws retaining the front axle bearing in its slot can be seen, the axle needs to be dismountable so that the eccentrics and their straps can be fitted. These will be supported by the links depending from the brake shaft (or will appear to be) and the valve rods will pass through the motion plate and locate into a gland in the valve chest. The forked end of the brake lever can be seen on the left of the brake shaft passing behind the splasher.

NBR Covered Van

NBR Covered Van from a Parkside Dundas kit.

I ordered this Parkside Dundas van by mistake, my intention being to purchase an NB open wagon, of which more later. I took the kit on holiday with me to Co.Wicklow and worked on it as much as I could in a gloomy corner of our holiday cottage during the evenings. Later, in better light in the studio at home, I replaced the rather clumsy brake gear with parts I made myself. I also did some artwork for a wagon plate which I printed on the inkjet as described previously in this blog on 10/2/2016 in "Wagons and Wagon Plates". I used transfers from HMRS as these have no surrounding film and definitely give the best results. Apart from the brake gear and the addition of door chains and a little weight the kit is built as supplied and despite being less than an enthusiast of plastic kits I'm quite pleased with it.