Galteemore

Never thought I’d see the SLNC dragged into the great debates of steam performance history.....Did ‘Truro’ manage the first 100mph? Does “Mallard’’s record really stand scrutiny? And now, did ‘Sir Henry’ manage 60? Of course, this need not be a purely philosophical discussion. Before ‘Lough Erne’ finally dissolves into rust, it would still be technically possible to try conclusions with an SLNC 0-6-4T on the MGW between Collooney and Sligo..move over, Sir Nigel and your duck!

How tantalising an idea though! And no less an authority than RN Clements comments on the mechanical fettle of the SLNC locos - it was ‘unknown’ for them to be the slightest bit off in the valves - even the ancient ‘Hazelwood’ apparently ran like a sewing machine. So it’s not hard to imagine a summer night just north of Collooney, as ‘Sir Henry’ blasts along the MGWR metals with just the bogie coach and a brake, as the 19:20 sometimes was, I can just see it roaring through Ballysodare! I’d even settle for 50 mph ...

Gorgeous work Patrick. Absolutely captures the location.

Thanks everyone. I have some proper engineer’s broaches as shown so hopefully a smooth running chassis is only a few strokes away ...

Thanks David — am sure you’re right. Do you use a round file or reamer to open the holes? I like the nail varnish idea. Much of my modelling in recent weeks has consisted of loco fettling so the rod hiatus was a good chance to try out some other techniques....track panels after a meths bath a la Iain Rice. Spot the sleepers that need resoldered..,

Lovely work Ken. Already captures look of prototype, and that’s a nicely arranged chassis.

Fair enough Angus! I do have a certain empathy with where you’re coming from, given my own SLNC leanings. It’s a little easier for me in modelling an SLNC might have been rather than an actual location, but I still want it to be historically plausible. One instance - I have a Drewry railcar to build. I had thought of a few finishes for it - CIE green which it never carried, or even SLNC two-tone green. That’s too much of a stretch for me so I’ll do it in genuine GSR livery instead, and just keep my time period flexible from 1945-55!

Fascinating! Another possibility which is slightly closer to real history would be using a Farish SECR C class 0-6-0 to recreate the SLNC’s ‘Glencar’ - pic courtesy of Mike Morant’s SmugMug site..

Good compromise Angus. It may help your machinations to know (if you didn’t already) that one of the last minute proposals put forward in 1957 was to keep Omagh to Enniskillen open purely as a freight line worked by the SLNC. In such a scenario, one can imagine the UTA being happy enough to allocate an obsolete/obsolescent loco (as you say, one of the Jinties was withdrawn quite early) to EKN to assist with the traffic. It could quite happily wander to Dromahair... Having seen many photos, I think they were fairly standard machines with the only big change being the regauge.

Looks like a cracking show !

Thanks David. Looking at it again, I suspect that part of the issue may be that I haven’t tightened up the nuts on the rods beyond what my fingers can manage, so there is probably too much lateral movement in the system still. Nor was the gear dead centre on the axle - as you know better than I, making a 32 mm kit up as 36.75 allows a lot of empty space between the wheels! I am awaiting a 12ba nut spinner so I can tighten the rods up properly and then see where we are. I think the problem, if it persists, is on the rear RH crankpin. So some gentle fettling may happen...but it’s been reassuring to see that we are almost there on the chassis. Much as I’d like to simply crack on, I am going to pause here and make sure it’s totally right before going on to stage 2. I’m also awaiting plunger pickups which Roger recommends. An opportunity to work on the layout while I’m waiting, I suppose!

Great stuff David - and your G2 will look right at home!

Thanks David! More progress tonight. I decided that the Alphagraphix motor mount wasn’t doing it for me. It’s meant to act as a cradle for the motor, and an aesthetic ash pan. But it makes access to the motor very tight (I have already had to Dremel off the rear shaft). And once the brake gear is on that access will almost vanish! So tonight I took out the cradle - including the front axle bearings. I used my Hobby Holidays chassis jig to resolder in new bearings, and will cut up the cradle in due course, to reuse the ash pan as a merely aesthetic feature. The jig is a cracking device and I had mine specially built to 5’3”. It includes a rolling road - the main reason I went for this jig in particular. For some reason, none of the local clubs have a 36.75mm line on their test track so a rolling road is vital when you’re a small layout man like me. Tonight was chassis work. It’s moving but there’s a small tight spot on the rods. Just don’t know how to pinpoint it...if anyone’s got any tips I’m all ears! The motor jumps as it hits a sticky bit and in one direction it is much more obvious.... IMG_1295.MOV

Eight wheels touching the rail. Not easy to get there but it’s a nice milestone. Reaming out the bearings to 4.8mm has also helped the axles spin a little more easily although the front and back are still a little tight. The wheels have the classic Slaters patina beloved of kit builders - I have since cleaned it off!

Looks like Haworth shed on the Keighley and Worth Valley railway, circa late 60s.

Great work! Showed this to my dad who was a regular traveller on the Derry Road and he loved it - well remembers looking into the yard from that platform.

Yes we all owe Roger a huge debt. I wouldn’t have started this project without his range. His brass kits also have some clever little features such as simple compensation devices. Given my own predilection for Connaught, I’d probably have taken an MGWR 0-6-0T instead if he’d still been making them. But this is a lovely little thing and in its rebuilt form looks curiously like an MGWR 2-4-0 G2 round the front end... Anyway, in my little scenario, the Cork lines cascaded their stock to Connaught in the late 50s....look out for another West Cork loco in the build queue ...

David - just a quick one on the axle issue. Reached that stage of build tonight and the trucks have ‘spring’ to allow a bit of movement along various axes....

Lol! Sadly my headshunt won’t even allow me a tender let alone a Decapod!

Thanks David. She is a 2-4-2t indeed but a GSWR one - F6 class. That’s a helpful tip about the unpowered axles - thank you. This will be my first loco built to 36.75 from the start so looking forward to seeing her take shape.,,and I have a 6 coupled loco in the pile as a logical successor!

Last March I went to an 0 gauge trade show and picked up quite a few Alphagraphix brass kits with the proceeds of selling my English outline stuff. Trying out new techniques in other media has meant that these kits remained untouched. I realised recently that I needed to get soldering again before I forgot how to do it! So tonight I started into another loco. Slow progress at first but the mainframes are up..,,

In the past, getting a layout running at all has satisfied me. Anything goes to get the trains moving...I even have a vague memory of coupling a train with paper clips.... But if I’m building my own track, my own locos and my own stock, perhaps it’s time to take the operation seriously too, taking the railway as a whole rather than simply the sum of various component parts. So I have thought much more about issues such as track plan in this project. More on that another time. Previous experience operating my UK outline light railway at a show has told me that I really struggle with 3 links. Iain Rice’s book on Cameo Layouts inspired some wider thinking in this area and so tonight I tried making my first Lincs couplings - they are a bit like Dinghams but with greater tolerance of builder error. That’s the yoke for me! Anyway, here’s a quick vid of my first effort. As you’ll probably realise, uncoupling will be achieved by an under track magnet. The design isn’t not perfect, as the proprietor admits - there’s no pre uncoupling for instance. But it’s looking promising even if I have some fine tuning to do such as working on closing the buffer gap........the loco bracket is only a little long but the wagon bracket is like a giraffe’s neck in comparison with what it should be. Test and adjust...,, IMG_1246.MOV

Absolutely gorgeous. Saw the real thing in York about 10 years ago. Gives an idea of what some of the classic Irish 4-4-0s must have looked like in their ‘company’ liveries before all went grey!

Nice piece of work there.

Thanks Eoin - I’d forgotten about that! My dad was a friend of Drew and I saw the layout in operation c1977. But at the age of six I didn’t have the wit to spot a small tank! What I do remember is the noise of clockwork at speed. I also remember that the layout dominated the house. We are talking holes in the wall ....!