HR Passenger Tank... construction complete.

HR46 Passenger Tank.

HR46 was built without the aid of a kit, though there are two kits available for the engine neither the current Lochgorm kit nor the old Shedmaster/LGM kit was used, past experience suggested that scratch building this particular prototype was the answer. The model does however rely on LGM  for the majority of the castings required. Construction is now complete and the model awaits the paint shop. HR46 will be finished in plain though dignified Drummond II unlined green livery, which I can manage to paint myself.

The mudguards are fastened to the frames which rather restricts the movement of the bogie so the engine will not negotiate tight curves. At CDOGG on Saturday on the club layout she did not run as well as I had hoped and at times I noticed that the bogie wheels were lifting slightly on curves, a sure sign that all was not well. Back at home in the studio I set about remedying this problem and to this end I filed away as much metal as possible inside of the bogie wheel wells and painted this area with epoxy glue so there could be no problem with shorting out with the result that the engine now negotiates the standard 6ft radius curves and pointwork of my home test track in exemplary fashion, whether the model will now run similarly on a club layout remains to be seen. At the moment the engine runs without a flywheel, which is a situation that I'd like to remedy and one that I'm looking into.

HR46. The cab doors open and close and are fastened shut with a sneck similar to the prototype.   

The Highland Railway Passenger Tank bears many resemblances to HR53 "Lybster" which I built previously and which the design of the Passenger Tank was based on. There are also many differences, the Passenger Tanks were by no means copies of their predecessor.

Cab interior detail.



Detail of door sneck on inside of door, also tablet catching apparatus attached to cab side sheet.

Detail of mudguards attached to the frames. Note also the tank balance-pipe behind the step and the brake transverse shaft attaching to the brake pull-rod behind the mudguard.