A Better Roof for HR57

Milliput roof (above) and metal former (below).

The roof in this picture is made by filling the spaces between the ribs of a former similar to that pictured below it with Milliput and soldering an edging of 1 x 1mm angle strip onto the base plate. It looks good from the outside but has a flat roof inside the cab, hardly noticeable really. But...it was noticed at the CD0GG running day in Carlisle and commented on which prompted me to re-open the case!
The bottom illustration shows the start of the new sheet metal roof. I made a former from the drawing and bent four triangles of 0.3mm nickle silver sheet to fit the four sides very accurately, butting up against each other nicely. One segment is in place on the former in the photo. The former of course could have been made out of wood or of Milliput. I then cut a voided rectangle of 0.45mm metal as a base plate which slightly overhung the sides of the cab. Then, with a scrap wood support in the middle, I tack soldered the four plates together and onto the base. When all was accurately assembled I flooded solder onto the underside to ensure a robust structure. The 3" strip of metal that runs across the top helped strengthen the roof too. Finally I added an edging of 1 x 1mm brass angle strip and a lamp bracket.

The concave metal roof inside the cab

The roof is soldered to the rear of the cab to form a solid assembly which is held in place on the footplate by screws from below. The front of the roof locates against a tongue attached to the cab front plate by means of a slot formed under the base plate of the roof.

HR57's new sheet metal roof in place.

And... as a final flourish to the project, I'm sculpting a crew who'll do nicely for any of the Stroudley Tanks, they're well under way at this moment on my desk and will be featured on this Blog as soon as they're finished.

HR57 Construction complete

HR57 Construction complete

I made a more accurately profiled roof for the engine with sheet nickle silver and Milliput modelling putty.
Here's how...
I first cut a rectangle of metal to overlap the cab slightly then soldered on an upturned rim all round from right angled material. I cut profile shapes, using the drawing as a guide, in sheet n/s fore and aft and corner to corner, soldering these in place to form a shape reminiscent of the Union Flag. Then I simply filled in the spaces between the formers with Milliput and smoothed it into shape. A little cleaning up and fettling when the Milliput hardened finished the job. 

HR57

 Note the brake cylinder and return-spring nestling beneath the footplate and partly obscured by the cab footstep. The brake pull-rods were a sore trial to get right. The coupling rod bosses just dip into the angled alcoves of the pull-rods without the crankpin nuts touching them.

Cab interior detail.

 Most of the cast detail on the backhead came from LGM, the rest was scratch-built. The floor is made from planks from a model ship kit, coal tumbles onto the floor from the bunker on the right of the backhead. 

HR57 from above.

HR57

Transfers for the name "Lochgorm" are a problem as there are none on the market; I hope to rectify the omission. I've had one false start already, a set of transfers which I returned as of too poor a quality to use. My second contact though promising the world has as yet produced nothing and seems to have gone to sleep on me. I'm working on it...

HR57 at CD0GG Kinchley Lane Station.

The engine ran very smoothly on the Carlisle Club's layout today despite picking up on only the four outer wheels and running with solid rather than jointed coupling rods. She pulled a quite prodigious train for her size though of course she was never designed for such feats being a little shunting engine, a role to which she'll adhere in future. Here she stands at Kinchley Lane Station with her train headed by a Caledonian Railway horse box.

Ben Klibreck and Ben Clebrig

Pete on Ben Klibreck 927m

I have been asked why I chose Ben Clebrig, as Ben Klibreck was known in earlier days, as the name for my 7mm HR Small Ben. I climbed Ben Klibreck in the summer of 1996 with my wife and our two Jack Russells,  it was one of the earliest of our Munros in a long campaign that started on Carn Dearg in the Monadliath in '93 and climaxed on Ben More on Mull in 2012. Ben Klibreck is one of the most northerly Munros and stands in uncompromisingly Highland territory, it's simply a great name for a great little engine.

HR57 at Preston G0G

HR57 on the Main Line at Preston G0G.

Today HR57 was put through her paces on Preston G0G's layout. The Preston club is a large one and their extensive layout mirrors this. It was a busy Saturday and I was lucky to be offered a free line to run the engine almost as soon as we arrived. Though dwarfed by most of the locos on show she's nevertheless proved her ability, running with a heavy train of eight assorted coaches, a task she was never really designed for. Though some slipping was evident on the notorious "uphill corner" of the layout she invariably recovered herself and ran smoothly over the rest of the circuit with elegant ease...diminutive in stature she may be but not in prowess!

HR57 on the Branch Line

Construction of HR57 is almost complete, it has taken me since early July to get to this stage and there are still a few things to work on...a new roof with a more accurate domed profile is sitting on my desk nearly finished.  And...The brake pull rods are a bit low for comfort, though I may be able to fix that this week. Here the little engine is seen in one of the scenic sections of the layout away from the busy main line, she has come into her own, quietly working a goods train on the rural branch line... just her line of work.

HR 57 Details

HR 57 mechanism and wheels.

I commissioned an etch from John Firminger, from drawings I made, to simulate the solid center drivers. The spokes have to be cut away a little towards the crankpin boss to seat the etched plate which is then glued in place.

I used part of the same etched discs for the outer wheels though I reversed them and cut them to shape so they covered the four spokes opposite the crankpin. I filed the irregular (trapezoid) opening between the outer spokes to shape, cut the spokes down to seat the plates and glued them in place. Later I filled the openings with Milliput, filling between the spokes with the modelling putty, then I made the shallow recess behind the openings with the wrong end of a small drill which made a good modelling tool for this job.

Behind the rear wheel, inside the frames, is the vertical brake shaft which connects to the brake standard in the cab. Just outside this is what I think may be an injector, I can't see the complete mechanism in any photos that exist, so as I didn't want to leave it out, I resorted to "imaginative reconstruction". It will lurk behind the cab steps in the shadows under the footplate so I think I'll get away with it!

The coupling rods are not the correct profile, they should have raised bosses, however I think the rods need to be filed away between the crankpins to make the bosses, otherwise, if I add metal, they'll be too wide.

HR57 chassis details

At the back, behind the rear wheel, a brake cylinder connects to an arm which is attached to the horizontal brake shaft which runs just in front of the rear well tank. A return spring passes from the arm under the cylinder and anchors to a vertical plate. I'm uncertain about this last detail as it's hidden in shadow under the footplate on photos which are the only reference. Charles Wrigley brought my attention to this mechanism and provided me with information to help model it from his forthcoming article in the HR Journal on braking systems of the Stroudley Tanks.

 

 

 Lochgorm Tank backhead arrangements.

Photos provide only a tantalising blurred glimpse into the cab of the Stroudley tanks; however, I think the reversing lever on the left is correct and so is the gauge on the cab front plate, though the rest of the detail is of necessity a "reconstruction". Some castings from the LGM range were used on the backhead, helped along by some scratch-built parts. The irregular plate on the cab floor will support a wooden planked floor soon ; a suitable crew is under way too.

HR 57 More Progress

HR 57 Stroudley 0-6-0T "Lochgorm"

The smokebox assembly is held in place by a screw passing through the front of the tanks, the front sandboxes are separate castings and will be fixed to the running plate. Detail beneath the running plate is at an early stage though information based on a forthcoming article on the braking systems of the three Stroudley engines, to be published in the  HR Journal, has proved both timely and useful...there's more to it than I thought! The author, Charlie Wrigley, also provided me with information on the inside motion, part of which can be seen in photos of the prototype through the pear shaped cut-out in the frames in advance of the center driver  

HR 57 roof details

The rear of the cab is a separate assembly, fixed in place by screws passing through the running plate.
The roof plate seen here will be soldered only to the rear of the cab and locate onto an angle section affixed to the top of the cab front plate. This arrangement which allows the cab to be dis-assembled greatly assists building the cab interior and will help later when the crew are posed.

HR 57 with roof casting in place.

The white metal roof casting will be glued to the underlying roof plate which will form a slot at the front to locate into the tongue protruding from the top of the cab front plate which can be seen in the following photo.

HR 57 Cab interior details.

I know that the gauge on the cab front and the reversing lever are in the correct position and so is the rod that leads into the cab from the whistle, but apart from these details I'm in the dark and have had recourse to drawings of the Stroudley "Terrier" for the remainder of the cab interior. The floor has a sheet overlay which will form the base for a wooden floor which will be made from miniature wood planking.  LGM castings provide the basis of the backhead detail which, when the pipework is added, should add to a convincing and busy interior. And there'll be a crew, coal on the floor, tools and a shovel too, to help bring the engine to life.

HR 57

The lamp, an LGM casting, seen above the smokebox door is soldered into its holder then the assembly is drilled, threaded onto the handrail and  soldered in place.

Detailing the Lochgorm tank.

Lochgorm Tank  detailing in progress

The backhead of this engine remains an insoluble mystery due to lack of reference material, however I bought some parts from LGM's "HR Boiler Back Pack" which I think will help create, if not an authentic backhead, at least a believable one. The cab is spacious and much of the interior detail will be visible so it needs to be fairly busy inside. Of course there'll be a crew in the cab too which will help, I'm working right now on them and have a couple of good poses in mind for them.

HR Lochgorm Tank... detailing in progress.

The dome is surmounted by an 8BA screw which, with the addition of a washer or two, will serve nicely as part of the Salter safety valve assembly, the uprights of which are from "Hobby Horse". The cab roof is a white metal casting from LGM which fits snugly without any modification. There's a hole in the chassis through which the inside motion can be glimpsed in photos, so I may have to make some representation of this myself.