Tullygrainey

Beautifully crisp work with the plasticard David. Now the loco is painted, it would pass for a brass photo etch.

I used LSWR/SR ones too on my BCDR locos. Not strictly accurate but I'm content with them and nobody's pointed out an error yet! These are from HMRS Sheet 9.

I'd need to consult the owner about that. Kieran will take over from here to do the paint, transfers and finishing so the final decision will be his. There are still a few things to sort before that, including cab detail and deciding on a home for the decoder. It's in the bunker at the moment but could conceivably fit in the boiler, though getting a stay-alive in there too might be a bit of a squeeze. Don't rush your build! The detail you're putting into it is worth spending time on.

The J26 is getting there. Basking in the sunshine after a good scrub.... ... and together in all its brass brassiness. Some Railtec rivets... ... and turned out in builder's photogenic grey. Roof will be fitted properly in due course. First runs under DCC at Loughan Quay.... IMG_4839.MOV ... and again on its home turf, Kirley Junction. J26.mp4

Love that DIY brass clamp. Inspired! So simple, so effective

That is just a delight!

So very sorry to hear your news. I'm sure I speak for every one here on the forum in sending condolences on your loss and best wishes as you deal with the daily challenges. Alan

The Kirtley lives! IMG_4832.MOV My first attempt at a live chassis arrangement. Loco needs some proper body mounts and the tender needs attention to level it up but now I know it works, it'll be worth some more effort to make it look and go a bit better. Alan

Very tidy Paul and great attention to detail. Ross pop valves do seem to be hard to come by. I had a small collection pillaged from second hand Hornby 0-4-0 Smokey Joes and the like but I've used them all up now. These from A Gibson aren't quite right but might be usable with work though it might be just as easy to make some from scratch as you suggest!

There’s always the desire to conceal them as much as possible for cosmetic reasons but from a practical point of view this makes sense. It’s also a good argument for placing them underneath the frames.

You might get away with contacts hooked over the flanges - depends how much deflection your CSB allows - but it would be tight. It's only the front axle that's a problem. There's plenty of room above the other two. You could consider having the hooks make contact with the wheels a bit further down from the top. There's slightly more room there. I considered going underneath with this one. You have the brake pull rods to contend with but it should be possible to work round them. As I said, a pain!

Thanks Paul. Pickups are a pain no matter how you approach them which is why I’m exploring a live chassis approach with the old K’s Kirtley. But you can’t really do that with a tank engine. At least I’m not sure how you would.

Back to the SSM J26. Brakes 7mm brass rod for the top brake cross members slotted through pre-etched holes in the frames and short brass tubing spacers slipped over each to help position the brake hangers. Nothing soldered. The sheet of foam plastic packaging helps keep everything roughly in place. Brake hangers then added and more brass rods passed through the bottom of the hangers and through two brake pull rods. Moving the pull rod back and forward then allows all three brake hangers to move together and be positioned as close to the wheels as short circuit avoidance will allow. Each brake hanger is then soldered into place at the top. Once the first one is done, the whole arrangement begins to firm up. Then it's just a case of working round the various joints. One side soldered up and the other ready for the same procedure. All soldering done now. Cross rods trimmed back and filed. Pickups Deciding how to arrange pickups took a bit of thinking about. Space is tight and it was a challenge to avoid contact with the bodywork and the brake rigging. Pickups are 31 swg phosphor bronze wire soldered to small pieces of printed circuit board superglued to the chassis frames. These bear on the wheel flanges and are hooked at their ends to help keep them in place. I always find this job a trial and it usually takes a lot of fettling to get them working well. It's always a compromise between getting sufficient tension in the wires to maintain contact but not so much as to cause too much drag. First attempts with this one just about stalled the motor. It's still not quite right in the video below but getting there. IMG_4785.MOV Another bit of pcb between the frames just ahead of the motor allows the pickup wiring to come together and these and the motor terminals were connected to a 6pin DCC harness. Alan

Lovely neat work , as always.

Lovely model. Looks and sounds great. Layout looks pretty good too!

The only livery details available pertain to the size of the stall, and the quantity of hay provided each week.

I know very little about the skills and techniques in use here but I can appreciate how much work has gone into this. Fascinating stuff! Looks great. Keep us posted.

That's lovely work Paul. Did you use a jig to position the horn guides? I'm impressed by the space between the frames. So much easier to place things and get at stuff. I think I'll have to try this 21mm malarkey

Me too

I think the majority of us are exponents of SABLE. Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy.

Shaping up well David. Nice straight cab handrails

More on the reclamation of the K's Midland Railways Kirtley kit about which I posted back on 11 February. I think at last I've got a viable loco chassis. The intention is to build it with live chassis, picking up one side on the loco and the other on the tender. To that end, the original wheels were cleaned up, then 3 loco wheels and 3 tender wheels were shorted using etched spiders from ScaleLink. For the loco wheels, the central square hole was reamed out to a tight fit on the 1/8'' plain axles. The legs are soldered to the back of the wheel rims. Chassis frames are in 16 thou nickel silver. No detail needed since they won't be seen on this outside framed loco. Hornblocks from High Level. RoadRunner Compact+ gearbox and iron core motor, also from High Level. Outside cranks with extended axles from Alan Gibson (Code 5000). Coupling rods are ex-Lanarkshire Models, now available from High Level (Fowler 4F, 8' + 8' 6"). Just noticed on the pic above that a couple of crankpin nuts on the far side are about to ping off into the ether! The wheels' centre holes are worn and it's been difficult to secure them on the axles. Superglue is doing the job at the moment. We'll see how long that lasts. IMG_4773.MOV Next job will be to arrange chassis mounts inside the K's whitemetal bodies. Alan

Great lineup Patrick.

Sorted now David. Only took three quarters of an hour First, while trying to adjust the bottom soldered joint the whole rail came adrift. Then predictably, it pinged off the tweezers straight into the maw of the carpet monster. Actually I think I also have a bench monster. So I had to make a new one. Another member of the 'little things sent to try us club'

You're right! Well spotted David. Didn't notice that. Because I made the various sections separable, I couldn't solder the bottom of the handrails into holes in the running plate. Instead they're bent at right angles near the bottom and soldered to the bunker floor. That one will need desoldered and moved in a bit at the bottom.