HR 123 Loch an Dorb.

Loch an Dorb, from the Gallic meaning possibly Loch of the Minnows or more likely Loch of Troubles. The model is complete now apart from coal in the tender which I have in hand. The basic colour is Precision P727 which is now no longer available, I only have enough left for touching up now. Etched number plate, name and buffer beam transfers are from Guilplates, the latter are no longer available either. Footplate crew are my own sculpture, designed for this particular engine and now available from Invertrain. 

The cab interior is as complete as I can make it, I took the details from the drawing in Peter Tatlow's "A History of  Highland Locomotives". The backhead casting and many of the small fittings are from LGM though both have been modified to suit. 

Cab interior and crew with the roof removed for a better view of the works.

 

The superstructure owes a debt to some specially commissioned nickle silver etches from Lochgorm Kits, the chassis however was scratch built. Wheels are cast and turned by JPL Models as Slaters have no correct ones in their list. Motive power is provided by an M1833 motor mounted in an ABC Gears Mini Gooch gearbox. Loch an Dorb's debut on the club layout in Carlisle will be much delayed I fear by the renewed Coronavirus outbreak, I won't be going up to the clubroom this side of Christmas and probably for some months after, neither will I be able to photograph her in a realistic setting hauling a train, she'll just have to wait.

HR 123 Loch an Dorb; construction complete.

Though the superstructure of the Loch owes a slight debt to a Lochgorm Kits "Aid to Scratchbuilding" etch the model could be said to be almost entirely scratch built. A fair number of LGM lost wax brass castings have been used and these are easily identified on the photos following.

Showing the arrangement of the brakes and brake pull rods. I've simplified things under the tender, there was more to it than this!

The Jones Goods and the Lochs ran with identical tenders so I took some of the details of the tender front plate from the example on show in the Transport Museum in Glasgow. Note the bi-fold doors to the tender with a cut out on this side for the tablet catcher. 

Vaccum pipes always present me with a problem, here I've used n/s rod with the bend from a lost wax casting and a spring to simulate the hose.

The upright stanchions that hold the coal rails are from "T" shaped brass extrusions, coal will disguise any shortcomings in representing these fully. The bi-fold door can be seen clearly here, it needs some sort of restraint to hold it closed.

The bi-fold doors are closed, however the engine will not negotiate the curves on an average club layout with them in this position so they'll have to remain open when the engine is in action. 



The fall plate has rather large cut-outs so that the engine can negotiate curves, the bi fold door on this side is held in place by a length of chain. The cab floor is made of wooden slats from a model ship kit. 

Most of the rivets here are brass ones soldered into appropriate locating holes. The hinges of the inspection covers over the slide bars are short lengths of wire held in place with Super Glue.
 



 

 

Crew on the alert watching the road. The figures are available from Invertrain. At the moment the cab roof can still be removed so that the backhead can in turn be removed for painting. 



HR Loch class 4-4-0...the complete engine and tender.