An American in England

[tedp]

Probably the same - any poor farming community produces thrifty people. Goes back ages, before industry came along.

[tedp]

Instead of going on and detailing the model as I planned, I spent today fitting lights. I decided to use the blanking plug in the DCC socket as the basis for two springs carrying the power to the lighting wires in the body of the loco. There are two contact pads on a piece of PC board glued inside the body shell. From there, the wiring and series resistors for the headlamp LED and the firebox LED lead further into the loco body.



Here are the springs soldered on the blanking plug. They are phosphor bronze springs cut from an old sheet, curves and soldered to two appropriate leads on the plug board. Note that the plug has been bent back and laid flat.



A close-up of the contact pads and the insulated leads of the red firebox LED.



The headlamp is a LED with two insulated leads through the top of the smokebox. I cut a short section out of the rim to get the LED in place, since the leads have to go through the back of the smokebox as well. The lamp will be camouflaged in the style of the lamp from the kit.



The 1K series resistors and the leads to the smokebox.



Trial run, showing the lights in the semi-darkness.





More later!

[tedp]

I have been struggling a little with the blanking plug today - it takes up valuable space under the boiler backhead. I even cut down the backhead, finding the plug and the chokes mounted on it is too tall to allow the LED to shine out of the firedoor. So the plug will have to be modified. I found the wiring diagram needed to replace the plug, and even jury rigged the chassis so it would run without a plug, but since it's a good base for the light contacts I decided to cut it down, then re-wire it so the motor and the lights get their power.

The chokes were cut off and I added two bridge wires to connect the track to the motor. The lighting contacts appear to get their power from the chassis. The loco runs again and I added the boiler backhead.

Now this hurdle has been taken, I have to complete the cab interior and fit all the etched detail around the cab. Then the interior will be painted and I can turn to the outside detail. More will follow, including photos.

[MickT]

I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about Ted, but it sounds very impressive and I'm sure it is for those who know about electrons and amps and things! The model is taking shape very nicely indeed, I look forward very much to more progress reports.

I've also added one of these Liliput diesel locos to my "keep an eye out for one" list. They sound as if they are well worth their purchase price.

Mick

[tedp]

To answer your question:

The Liliput loco has a socket for a NEM 651 standard DCC decoder. If you insert a decoder, it will respond to digital control. The blanking plug is a tiny piece of PCB with 6 connector pins inserted instead of the decoder. This converts the loco to DC operation - it can be seen in the centre of this photo (the green object with two black choke coils at the top):



The 6 pins of the socket are arranged (1 to 6)

1 - right motor lead
2 - left motor lead
3 - right rail
4 - left rail
5 - front light
6 - rear light

Since the blanking plug, even when folded flat, interfered with the light out of the firedoor, I decided to cut the plug short by removing the choke coils. Then all the connections were severed, so I connected pins 1 to 3 and pins 2 to 4. For some reason, the other pins were already powered from the print in the chassis. So the springs for the lights were still powered after the operation. The next photo shows the jury-rigged blanking plug. Also, the regrettably mutilated firebox backhead (I tried to fit it over the coils on the plug and failed) and the etch that goes over it. I installed the etch and the mutilation doesn't show (photos of the cab will follow later).



Next I looked at the pony trucks. These come as a flat etch that has to be folded up. A second etch is folded up and fitted to the first to represent the axleboxes. I'll show the rear truck first as this is the one I did this morning. As it comes, it includes a shortened representation of the long compensation lever from the hanger of the rear driver spring to the axlebox of the rear truck.

I looked at the truck etch and decided to INVERT the truck so the pivot could go under the keeper plate of the main chassis. This is easily done if you remove the compensation lever flaps from the etch, and cut it down to a sensible size. The pivot is a small screw with a very flat head from the scrapbox. I drilled a hole in the keeper plate and just threaded it in.



The compensation levers will be rebuilt later to preserve the looks of the prototype:



source: http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?115901-Small-American-Steam-Locomotives&s=4e2de608283c4f4bb7ae08d9ea629350

This is what it looks like now. Note that I reinforced the etch folds with a little solder.



I added the axlebox detail etch and replaced the plastic wheels by an old Lima wheelset which has the same diameter wheels, but they are metal and as a result run better than the originals. I found the new truck runs beautifully - there is a slight spring action and the deep flanges of the Lima wheels track very well.



Next will be the leading truck.

[tedp]

The leading truck took a while as the flanges shorted against the bottom of the front footplate. So I filed away a lot of whitemetal so the wheels would run clear. The loco will run through 9" radius curves without trouble.

Now finally we have a 2-4-2!







Off to watch a film on the telly, with the missus. Outside it blows a full gale, and I put another block on the stove and switched on the coffee machine!   

More later.

[tedp]

By the way I noticed the front footplate has become very thin, so I expect some cosmetic work is needed to the edges, which in the prototype were very deep. The truck wheels probably won't touch them when fitted.

The last difficult job will be fitting the cowcatchers and couplings. Some provision must be made for the couplings to swing, due to the long overhang. Inevitably this will interfere with the cowcatchers. The kit has pivot points for the couplings just beyond the trucks, but my preference lies with couplings mounted on the trucks.

In several other cowcatcher fitted locos I fitted the cowcatcher on the truck so it moves sideways. In another I cut a slot through the cowcatcher, but then I lack space for a sprung coupler socket.

However... I came across several couplings from the Kato 4-w mechanism, probably handed down to me by Garry, our esteemed Moderator, who over the years has saved many couplings for me. These are the rigid variety with a loop and a coupling socket. They are not sprung, but they pivot which may be useful to correct for the overhang. So I fitted one to the front, with a cut down socket which just managed to hold on with a few dabs of superglue:



Trial running with a Peco wagon convinced me that the idea had some merit. The Peco wagons have been fitted with Fleischmann N couplers in the NEM pocket. These are rigid - they only move up, not sideways.

So I fitted a second coupler to the rear end:



Now I'm running extensive trials with the part completed loco and the Lynton & Barnstaple stock. I had a few instances of the stock being forced off by the couplers on sharp curves, but I think that a little tweaking of the couplers on the Baldwin will be possible. I finally had the pleasure of running a Lynton & Barnstaple train over the layout!







I will need some time to run the loco with all types of rolling stock, but if these couplings are OK, I can just cut a slot in the cowcatchers without more modification than needed.

More later!

[tedp]

Here is a video of a trial run of the half-completed loco.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI-a_EYZOqQ

I fitted tiny lead weights to the coupler shafts to keep them down better. The couplers now do their work fairly well - perhaps they need a fraction more freedom to swing. I'm surprised the long overhang doesn't give uncoupling trouble on gradient changes - up to now the stock stays on quite well.

Note slight knocking developing in the chassis after running for 3-4 minutes under load. My feeling was this came from an overload on the leading wheels. These must be relieved, so later I added some lead at the bunker end to improve load distribution over the driving wheels. Probably a little more is needed, but it has much improved.

[tedp]

Well - I'm proud to announce Lyn has passed all the tests up to now with flying colours. The loco just took three C&DR bogies, the NWNGR style six-wheeler and two four-wheelers out of Dunalistair to Inverlochan and back, quite a long and heavy train. Currently it is waiting at the Dunalistair home to be allowed in.

Here are two photos of the train passing Glenclachan, showing it matches the C&DR stock well:





The first four-wheeler by the way is Bert van Rhijn's scratchbuilt Tralee & Dingle horsebox. The train is all that could be accommodated in the platform road at Dunalistair, and rather longer than the normal service trains. With road trials completed, I can now continue completing the loco.

More later!

[tedp]

Soldering Baldwin cowcatchers in five easy steps.

The process takes inside half an hour, I promise!

1 - Tin the frame and the strip across the bars. Take care you tin the correct side, and don't tin the bars themselves, so the folding process will not be disturbed.



2 - Sweat one unit together, but make sure the bars are left alone. If they want to stick to the frame, turn them up a little so they stay free of the frame. Make sure the top strip is perfectly horizontal on the frame, just below the coupling slot.



3 - Bend the cowcatcher in the jaws of a vice. The bars will splay out correctly. Correct where needed.



4 - Solder the bars to the lower edge of the frame. They may need to be cleaned up before washing and painting.



5 - Treat the other cowcatcher likewise!



;D

PS - this doesn't take into account any cutting work needed to clear my own couplers. The ones in the kit should fit through the slot.

[Jeff Schumaker]

Excellent method, Ted.

Jeff S.

[tedp]

Thanks, Jeff. I forgot to mention that before soldering the bottom end of the bars, they need to be nipped close to the frame - the folded ends then lie flat on the frame.

Meanwhile, using a slitting disc, I cut out the centre of the cowcatchers to allow the N gauge couplers to pass through. I temporarily glued them to the loco, setting them about 1-2mm above the track. Inevitably they sit slightly higher on the locomotive ends than the manufacturer intended, but the chassis is rather lower than the Graham Farish one. I think it looks about right.







Tomorrow I will do more trial running to ensure the cowcatchers don't catch on the track or the lineside. But by now the loco starts to look like a proper Baldwin!  ;)

[tedp]

This arrived in the mail this morning:



A tin of Maunsell light olive green and some Southern Railway transfers, from Brian Mosby!

Thanks, Brian, much appreciated.

[tedp]

Today I added most of the remaining detail. There are the prominent equalising bars under the cab, between the springs of the rear drivers and the trailing axle. These were made up from scrap brass taken from the cab fret, soldered together, bent to shape so they clear the rear truck and glued to the chassis. The two spare steps for the tank fronts were used for the pivots of the equalising bars.



On the left hand side, the air tank was fitted under the cab. This took some fettling to get the truck to swing far enough. Note the scarred tank sides - these will need a lot of work to clean up. Also, there are the holes in the folds of the brass parts. These need filling before the primer goes on.



The smokebox door took a hard time to fettle down so it would fit. In view of the price of this kit, I confess I have seen better whitemetal parts. Anyway, it now fits.



The windows were put into the cab and the window grilles have been glued on to the rear windows.



To be added still: brake and heating pipes, steps on the tank fronts, footplate stays, handrails etc. And the headlight and smokebox saddle have to be built up with styrene.

More later.

[Brian Mosby]

I to think the Langley kits piece are on the high side
there L&B coach kits are