Tullygrainey

Every one a gem! Such a pleasure to see this develop.

A great start. Beautiful building. You don't pick the easy ones Kevin!

One element that might make the idea attractive is ready-made EM gauge track available through the EM Gauge Society and manufactured for them by Peco.

Thanks David and you’re right. It needed a fair bit of thinking through to avoid having inaccessible joints that needed soldered. As it was, I’d intended to bolt the bodywork to the frames bur realised too late that I’d missed the opportunity to put in captive nuts. They ended up soldered together.

You're making me blush Patrick. Thank you. This one's been quite a challenge but the crises along the way haven't been too severe (he said with hindsight). Mind you, it was threatened with the big hammer last night when the pivot wire for the compensation beam came adrift and the loco developed a limp. Another example of that fitter in charge of the soldering iron doing substandard work. He's been warned before. This was the first loco I've built where the wheels went on for the first time and didn't have to come off again. Until last night. The front drivers had to come off in order to get at the beam and re-solder it. So, an aspiration still to be achieved. When refitting them using a GW Models quartering jig, the magnet in the motor kept attracting the wheels and making them jump out of the jig. I seemed not to have enough hands for the job. Hence the stirring of the big hammer. Got there eventually and thankfully, it still ran ok after all the messing about. On this loco, more than any of the others I've done, it's very apparent how out of scale OO 16.5mm gauge is. It may be because No.6's splashers are so prominent. The driving wheels are quite clearly a long way inside them. It would be good to model in 21mm gauge but I'm not sure I'm up for making track. A long finger project, that one. Alan

Thanks David. I agree, nickel silver does look good. Also, less heat transfer when soldering- less likely that adjacent bits will fall apart. Doesn’t tarnish as badly as brass either.

Riveting done, the tender is now largely assembled. A lot of edge to edge soldering at the corners which is always fun . Keeping the solder away from all my lovingly embossed rivets was a challenge. Complicated little beast. Still a few details to add. I've built it almost entirely in nickel silver. The springs were cobbled together using white metal wagon spring castings from MJT (Dart Castings), cut down and soldered to brass rod with low melt solder. I vaporised one and broke another before I got 6 usable ones. They'll go on like this but won't be finally attached until the paint and lining is done. Axle boxes are also MJT castings. Undoubtedly not accurate but they'll do until something better turns up. If ever. The coupling between tender and loco involved a bit of faffing around. I'm using a simple hook on the loco locating into a hole in the tender and that seems to work ok but it might not be the final arrangement. IMG_1634.MOV Alan

Those coaches are shaping up really nicely David. Neat work with the panelling.

Now there’s a thought…

That is magnificent!

Thanks David. Yes, I did use scribed lines to guide the work. The screw up came from not paying proper attention while merrily punching rivets! As you say, very addictive.

Back to No.6's tender. Taking a leaf from @Mayner's book (thank you John), I attacked the tender chassis again and fitted patches inside the frames to give it two sprung axles riding in slots. Bit of a dog's dinner by the time I'd finished hacking it around but it works and it won't be seen. Tender frames cut and shaped as a pair before being separated... ...then a role for my new toy, a GW Models Universal Rivet Tool. A lovely bit of kit and quite addictive. Tender body sides cut and shaped as a pair then separated for another riveting performance. I made a mess of the second one - that diagonal line of rivets strayed off line and trying to fix it only made things worse. I had to cut another side and start again. Eventually got a matching pair. The beading along the top edge is 0.33mm brass rod. I thought this tender would be fairly straightforward to assemble but the more I look at it the more complicated it becomes. More soon. Alan

Sorry Leslie, yes, I was thinking of DC powered locos when I mentioned the battery trick.

Leslie, if it’s the kit-built loco in your photo that’s causing the short, I would check if a brake shoe is touching a wheel somewhere. Easy to disturb these while cleaning wheels.

To turn the wheels a little at a time for cleaning or painting behind the rods, the terminals of a PP3 battery applied across the wheels on one axle works a treat. For 4mm that is. Not much use for you 7mm lads!

Some small stuff for No.6. Step this way… A nice little hand wheel etch from Wizard Models (51L CWSHB)... Smokebox door casting also from Wizard (MT329)... Slight flaw in this one. Never mind. Scrap etch for a reverser lever... Some cut down wagon springs from Dart Castings (MJT 2284) plus 0.45mm brass rod Over time I have gathered a small collection of chimney and dome castings, none of which were right for No.6 of course so it was back to cobbling together bits of brass tube, washers and dowel. The old Black and Decker earned its keep yet again. Trial fitting of some of the bits. Fussy little blighter isn't it. Back to the tender now, I think. Alan

Beautiful. The colours of the square setts are spot on

A compelling back story. Love it. Good luck with this one David.

Some pretty sharp curves there David! Nice bit of riveting.

A smokebox for No.6. I don't think I've managed to make a smokebox the same way twice. The smokebox and saddle for this one were built as a single piece made from two matching formers, a front plate which is wider at the bottom than the saddle, a baseplate and a wrapper. In order to make as much room as possible for the DCC gubbins, the centres of the formers were cut away to keep an open space through the boiler and into the smokebox. The downside is that the smokebox can’t then be easily bolted to the front of the boiler. The wrapper is 10 thou brass, all the rest is 15 thou nickel silver. A captive nut inside the baseplate of the saddle will allow it all to be bolted down to the running plate, with peg into a hole in the cab front locating the firebox end. As is becoming standard with this build, it took a couple of goes, the first pass generating the mistakes to inform the learning process. Getting the wrapper on neatly was the hardest bit. !**!*!!? If at first you don't succeed, have a cup of tea before trying again. It keeps the big hammer at bay. The finished item was seam soldered to the front of the boiler. A few other details added and some holes drilled, mostly in the right places. We're getting towards the small bits and pieces now. Cab steps Alan

Sound advice here from @BosKonay and @Georgeconna. It's likely that the pickups make their contact with the backs of the wheel rims so make sure to clean these as well as the wheel treads.

Thanks Patrick. Something to look forward to.

Looking forward to watching the transformation of Fintonagh into Swillybegs. Perfect new name!

A boiler for No.6 The Belpaire firebox needed two goes. By the time I'd finished hacking away at Version 1, it was too battle scarred to be useable. With lessons learned, the second one went together a bit better. The top and sides were bent up from 10 thou brass. Straps are from a Mainly Trains etch (Wizard Models MT570, etched brass strips). The front is a separate piece, soldered on and filed back flush round the edges. It needed cutting away to clear the motor. 1.5mm square brass rod soldered inside the joins makes it possible to radius the edges using a file without breaking through into open space. The boiler was rolled in 10 thou brass with boiler bands added from the same Mainly Trains etch. Firebox and boiler soldered together. The firebox has a peg at the back which locates into a hole in the cab front. The modelling of the washout plugs is pretty rudimentary but... 2 foot rule and all that. Splashers needed inside the cab. I might chicken out and make em from plasticard. Alan

Cab Control The cab for No.6 is quite complicated - certainly trickier to do than the BCDR tank locos. Time for the piercing saw and the needle files. The cab flatpack, this time in 15 thou nickel silver rather than brass. I find it easier to solder. Roof is 10 thou brass. Grab handles are 0.45mm brass rod. Cab beading is n/s strip cut wider than needed then filed back after soldering into place. Lots of burnt fingers doing this. Splashers for the rear driving wheels are part of the cab front. These needed a few goes and half the evening to get them right. Like the cab beading, made over-wide and filed back. More charred fingertips. What an ugly duckling! It'll look better once it gets a boiler. I hope that motor fits inside. Alan