The Burnbake and Woodyhyde Railway

[clayliner]

Thanks, Mick, for your reply - I knew someone more knowledgeable than me would come up with the answer! I'm sure you're right, and I may get round to doing a bit of research on it myself sometime. You're also right about the chassis - it is a Bachman (presumably) 0-6-0 - or was.

As for your three options, I didn't fancy (1) as I wasn't confident enough to undertake the radical surgery involved and produce a decent result. Option 3 I am keeping in reserve as a last resort! So here is my take on Option 2:-


'Arne' training axle a by clayliner, on Flickr

Crude, but hopefully effective. Just a pair of wheels in a bearing made of a short section of ballpoint inner tube, short enough for generous side-play, as you say, with a longitudinal slit so I could squeeze the axle in. Then a very thin piece of soft plastic sheet folded around the 'bearing' and glued together to make something to hold it in place. This is what it looks like in situ:


'Arne' chassis with trailing axle a by clayliner, on Flickr

I've anchored it in place simply by loosening the rear of the keeper plate, inserting the plastic between it and the chassis proper and then tightening it up again.

My first attempt wasn't a great success as the wheels I was using were too large and although (as you may just be able to make out) I have narrowed the chassis frame above to clear the wheel-backs the wheels were still fouling the motor mount above (I also filed a transverse groove under the chassis to help accommodate the axle and bearing). To avoid further surgery I found some smaller wheels - they were actually curly-spoked wagon wheels which wouldn't have looked right - though I'm not sure they will actually be visible once the superstructure is in place - so I filled them in with filler, which is why the centres are white in the second photo (the first photo was taken later when I'd painted them black) and you can see the spokes on the back of the far wheel.

Amazingly, this arrangement worked okay, and the chassis negotiated track and pointwork okay, in both directions. At least, it did, before I took it apart again, but maybe it won't next time...

David.

[tedp]

Well done, David. The chassis looks good. From what I see it may be able to file a bigger notch in the chassis to clear the wheels if they would touch.

[MickT]

Thanks David and for the undeserved compliment!

My "solution" option 2 as I mentioned, was really theoretical as I have not yet actually done it on my similar model, however I do have 3 smaller Talyllyn locos that were built by Rod Allcock (who DOES know what he is doing!") that have rigid pony trucks with sliding axles in the same way and they work around 9" curves no problem so it appeared to be something with legs as an idea.

Very pleased (and relieved?) that you have made a working example based upon the idea. Ted's suggestion regarding filing a larger notch in the chassis  is certainly worth investigating as is another approach of using smaller wheels but clad false axleboxes to the pony frame to disguise the smaller size of pony wheel.

I'm not sure about simply clamping the "tail" of the pony truck arm between the chassis and keeper plate however. Will this arrangement be robust enough to stay in situ, I wonder? As the pony truck will be rigid then perhaps it might be a better option to glue it to either the chassis or the underside of the body with strong epoxy and use reinforcing strips for strength as well?

Mick

[tedp]

I would always advise a swinging pony truck over one with sideways movement.

If you clamp a truck pivot between the keeper plate and the chassis, file away slightly more than the truck thickness from the chassis block, then insert a tiny length of brass tube into the enlarged pivot hole of the truck. This will take up the strain of the screw. I have done so on one or two engines and it works OK.

[clayliner]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions, and apologies for not responding sooner - but we've been 'off-grid' here for the past couple of days...

My reluctance to file away any more of the chassis largely arose when one of the poles of the magnet began to disintegrate in the vice. I was so shocked that I decided discretion was the better part of valour and that enough was enough! (What are motor magnets made of? - I had no idea they were so friable.)

As regards using smaller wheels I'm not too worried about the size from a looks point of view - as I recall some of the Welsh locos had rear wheels that were little more than rollers. And as for hiding them behind false axleboxes, I'm not sure they are going to show very much, as there's a downward sweep of the frames at this point which will mostly hide them anyway. That being the case, one might well ask whether there was much point in fitting them in the first place as the whole point of the exercise was to balance up the look of the loco!

I take the comments about swinging pony trucks and how to anchor them. The photo doesn't show how floppy and flexible the plastic arm actually is (it's not rigid plastic) - so soft that I think it just bends with the curves. As to whether my fixing arrangement is robust enough, only time will tell... I'll put my hands up if not and go for something more durable.

David.

[clayliner]

A couple of photos of some detailing in the cab (which doesn't look quite as scruffy in real life as in the enlarged photos!)


'Arne' cab1b by clayliner, on Flickr

My thanks to Ted for the suggestion of using a handrail knob for the top of the handbrake stand, which is just visible here:


'Arne' cab 2b by clayliner, on Flickr

There's also a reversing lever and a regulator handle just about visible.

The handrail knobs came courtesy of Brian Guilmant who gave me an assortment from his bits and bobs drawer. I also bought a small electric drill from the 009 Sales Stand before Christmas so I think 'Arne' will sport some proper handrails in due course (the cab grab rails are simply bent wire).

Also new are a tank filler cap and a pair of safety valves. I wanted to have some safety valves simply to add some clutter (or detailing, if that sounds better) and soon became aware that although they are invariably conspicuous on standard gauge locos on narrow gauge ones they are usually invisible or pretty hard to find, so it was quite difficult to find some decent prototype examples to copy. The best ones I came across were on 'Septimus' which happily of course was a local loco, so these are what I have copied. First I had to take a saw to the dome (which I never really liked) to shorten it and give it a flat top before mounting the valves (which are made from a brass picture hanging pin).

Also visible are some patches of light green paint... been experimenting - more on this anon.

David.

[tedp]

Enlarged photos always seem to look far more scruffy than the model itself - or we tend to blank out the glitches selectively!

But I do like this loco - great character. And the brake stand looks good to me!

[clayliner]

The painters have been at work.

The colour scheme for this loco has been a thorny problem. I admire the beautiful array of loco colours which adorn some railways but am aware that the B&W is supposed to be a distinctly unglamorous industrial line, with a standard livery of dirty black. This loco arrived, of course, as dark green but although bottle green has always been one of my least favourite colours I had more or less decided to stick with that for the final livery. Until I went to buy a can of paint, that is - and saw all the other colours on offer. A paler green rather caught my eye and in the end proved irresistible (colours tend to evoke strong responses in me for some reason - perhaps my synasthaesia working in reverse?) There are patches of it in the previous couple of photos.

Anyway, here is the outcome:


'Arne' paint job 2a by clayliner, on Flickr

and, from the other side:


'Arne' paint job 1a by clayliner, on Flickr

Of course, the colour looks a bit different on the loco from what it looked like on the can, but there we are.

There's quite a bit of touching up to do but I think it's basically okay, given that I've never had the courage to spray a loco before. It does of course look rather too smart and I'll have to think up a back-story to explain it - I suspect it was probably bought from a much posher line (like the C&D) where all the engines are in fine colours and fully lined out. (Yes, I think some lining might look good, too, but I'm just not going there... that would be too much!)

The second photo also shows rather nicely a tip I discovered when I was drilling the handrail holes. Trying to get them level / horizontal was a bit of a game and ruling said line almost impossible, but then I realised that the 'glint' along the side of the tank from my desk light did the job for me. With a bit of care it was possible to use this to mark out the position of the holes directly.

One final question - the chimney (no, I'm not going to give this loco the indignity of a stove-pipe) has a rather scruffy brass cap - should I try to revive this or just go for all-over black? - and should the chimney be matt or gloss?

David.

[MickT]

Replying as a pundit rather than an expert in these things, I would advise to (a) keep the brass chimney cap if the loco is to be presented as a "smart engine" which I think is your intention, and (b) paint the smokebox and chimney either in silk black or my own preference would be to use matt black with a final top coat of silk varnish.

Regarding handrail holes for future projects, you may find that an easier or more accurate solution to the one you found to line everything up against the reflection from your desk light, may be to lightly fix a narrow strip of sellotape or similar onto the loco body immediately below (or above) where you want the holes to be and then drill them using the edge of the sellotape as your guide. Alternatively draw a line representing the handrail onto the strip of sellotape and mark where the hole will be, then lightly fix to the body and drill through the sellotape where the markings are.

The pale green colour you have selected looks fine and will look good with black on the other parts and lots of brasswork!

Mick

[JulienW]

I'm with Mick on the chimney cap. With the rest of the chimney and smoke box I'd  use a very dark grey rather than strait black. Revell do a particularly nice "off black" one which is number 9 (they might call it Anthracite) in their range.

[MickT]

I agree totally with Julien on that one. If you can't find the Revell shade he mentions (I haven't tracked it down in the local region yet) then good old fashioned Humbrol Matt Black 33 let down with a very small bit of pale grey or white would do the trick. Stir the matt black for a long time. Then stir it again! It often comes out "sticky" and dries to a semi gloss sheen unless it is "fresh" and very, very well stirred!

Terminology - I referred to "silk" varnish and paint. Sorry if this confused - picked up the term from TedP. I should of course for the benefit of UK members at least have called it "satin"

Mickj

[clayliner]

Thanks, guys, for your comments and advice.

I'll see if I can a manage to restore the chimney cap - I think there is some gold spray paint in the Christmas decorations box! I'm interested that in its current state the smokebox is matt black while the chimney is gloss - I've always assumed that both chimney and smokebox are usually matt (or very quickly become so) simply because they both get hot (certainly hotter than boilers, which are clad).

I do try to avoid black black and usually produce an ad hoc mixture of black and some greenish-grey which I have. And gloss black will probably be reserved just for the coal in the bunker.

Your tips on drilling holes are most valuable, Mick, and probably much more reliable than my method, although I'm always worried about taking paint off with sticky tape so would probably drill before painting whenever possible. As for silk and satin, I'm not sure I recognise any significant difference so certainly not confused!

David.

[clayliner]

I think we're just about done...


'Arne' 5a by clayliner, on Flickr

As before, it looks as if the paint's been applied with a domestic decorating brush, but it honestly isn't quite that bad in real life. I decided not to paint the handrails green as the combination of steel and brass was irresistible, so I just gave them a coat of clear varnish to keep them looking bright. The handrails themselves were 'bristles' from a wire brush, polished up a bit. And I've freshened up the gold chimney cap (as instructed!)

There's also a reversing lever and some cab fittings -


'Arne' 3a by clayliner, on Flickr

...and what looks like a ridiculously large bucket, and though scaled up it's only about 18" high it's still a bit oversized, I think. Then there's a driver and various boiler fittings and a couple of entirely unnecessary lengths of pipework below the running plate to add a bit of interest, and some cab steps (which I fear may cause clearance issues in due course) -


'Arne' 4a by clayliner, on Flickr

The cab windows have also been glazed and the roof refurbished. The only items painted in the original dark green I mixed up are the cab handrails and the boiler feed-pipe.


'Arne' 6a by clayliner, on Flickr

All that remains to do is to eliminate the daylight above the cylinders and maybe below the cab as well, to make it 'sit' better (visually) on the track. And square up those slide bars... more about the chassis anon, after the naming ceremony!

David.

[MickT]

It's looking very attractive David.

Mick

[tedp]

It does look good indeed - a very clean finish. I notice by the way that the crosshead guides are still off, probabbly for the painting!

How did you fit the trailing truck in the end? Did you manage to get a good fixture on the chassis block?