Alan's Workbench

[Mol_PMB]

Beautiful work! Thanks for the inspiration. As for the track gauge, I think it’s worth it. 
Mind you, I haven’t yet built much track. We could really do with some basic mouldings for 21mm flexitrack! 

[Signal Post]

Stunning work Alan, just stunning.

[Mol_PMB]

18 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

Wow x 3. What a treat. Beautiful little engine which runs as nicely as she looks. Well done indeed!! Backheads are interesting, and I think you’ll get away with this one. There are often far more dull and unobtrusive in real life than modellers portray them (inc myself before I took the trouble to look at the real thing). This is one of my pics of 131 last year. Note how dull and non-shiny it is. None of the bright red and brass fittings we often see modelled……and as for out of scale gauge, your craftsmanship distracts away from that. 

That disembodied hand on the left looks like something out of a horror movie  

[Galteemore]

1 minute ago, Mol_PMB said:

That disembodied hand on the left looks like something out of a horror movie  

Shades of the Addams family….he was a real living person, honest 

[Tullygrainey]

3 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

That disembodied hand on the left looks like something out of a horror movie  

I'm still trying to work out whether the two items in the centre of the picture are oil cans, teapots or mugs.

[Galteemore]

18 minutes ago, Tullygrainey said:

I'm still trying to work out whether the two items in the centre of the picture are oil cans, teapots or mugs.

That depends on whether you enjoy drinking oil or applying it as a lubricant  Loco tea mugs tend to be white enamel. The colours may denote different grades of oil. For certain high temp applications, for instance, you need to use heavy grade steam oil which won’t separate under heat. A memory from my days in 16mm live steam when we used heavy oil for cylinder lubing and light oil for bearings. 

Edited January 31 by Galteemore

[Mike 84C]

From my days of buying said oils from Morris Lubricants of Shrewsbury, the stickyness/temp range is measured in centistokes and the higher the number the higher the steam temperature the oil can cope with. I believe rape oil is added to help the stickyness needed for valves and pistons.

I had not thought about that subject for 25yrs!

That little backhead needs some asbestos tape secured over the piping from that right hand injector not a piece of old rag!

[Mike 84C]

Just looked at the little video of No6, stunning! I have engine envy! And my swmbo, who is a train person liked No 6 even better pulling its coaches. The bar has been raised higher!

[leslie10646]

Terrific model, Alan. I had to smile when you announced that you were going to fit a sound chip.

You're on a safe wicket of course, as no-one alive will know what she sounded like and certainly not me - am I the oldest here? I was four and living in the Sergeant's quarter of Carrickmore RUC barrck when she was withdrawn!

Downpatrick Loop line platform for your next layout so that you can show her rolling through with the Golfer's Express on a Saturday?

[Tullygrainey]

8 hours ago, leslie10646 said:

Terrific model, Alan. I had to smile when you announced that you were going to fit a sound chip.

You're on a safe wicket of course, as no-one alive will know what she sounded like

Ha Ha, thanks Leslie. Yes, I knew I was winging it with this one but came to the same conclusion. For the time being, number 6 is impersonating a LSWR Beattie Well Tank.

8 hours ago, leslie10646 said:

Downpatrick Loop line platform for your next layout so that you can show her rolling through with the Golfer's Express on a Saturday?

Have you been talking to @Patrick Davey? He's lined me up to build the BCDR ex-Royal Saloon next. He'll be packing me off to Downpatrick with a tape measure any day

[Mayner]

Brilliant model Alan, I guess I'll have to learn to stop worrying and fit a DCC chip to one of my 2-4-0s 

I wired a number of my 2-4-0s for DCC with a socket in the tender (similar motor and gearbox to yours) but ended up with fried chips, though they run fine on DC.  

[Galteemore]

52 minutes ago, Tullygrainey said:

Ha Ha, thanks Leslie. Yes, I knew I was winging it with this one but came to the same conclusion. For the time being, number 6 is impersonating a LSWR Beattie Well Tank.

Have you been talking to @Patrick Davey? He's lined me up to build the BCDR ex-Royal Saloon next. He'll be packing me off to Downpatrick with a tape measure any day

Roger makes a 7mm kit which also means he has working scale drawing which might help you …he’s very amenable….. 

Edited February 1 by Galteemore

[David Holman]

At least it is a 2-4-0, so a Beattie Well Tank should be fine for sound and good luck to anyone trying to replicate the original

 As for the model, to steal a quote from Strictly: one word, three syllables: fab- u -lous!

[Tullygrainey]

6 hours ago, Mayner said:

Brilliant model Alan, I guess I'll have to learn to stop worrying and fit a DCC chip to one of my 2-4-0s 

I wired a number of my 2-4-0s for DCC with a socket in the tender (similar motor and gearbox to yours) but ended up with fried chips, though they run fine on DC.  

Thank you John. I wonder what caused your chips to fry. That sounds like very bad luck.

[Mol_PMB]

One way to fry chips is to inadvertently feed track volts into the output connections to the motor. With metal models, especially if the chassis is 'live' to one rail, there's a risk that a wire to the motor can accidentally contact live metal, if it gets trapped or the insulation becomes damaged.

Over on RMweb there are ongoing arguments about whether metal models should be fully-insulated for DCC to reduce this risk.

[Tullygrainey]

I must admit I tend to wrap the chip in masking tape and cover all joints with heatshrink sleeving but it’s all too easy to trap a wire and break through the insulation when bolting everything together. 

Edited February 1 by Tullygrainey

[David Holman]

Mmmm....,  been there and got that t-shirt during my own dcc phase. Surprised in a way that the chip makers don't fully insulate the things in the first place - especially the sound equipped ones which are well into three figures.

[Mayner]

On 2/2/2025 at 4:42 AM, Tullygrainey said:

Thank you John. I wonder what caused your chips to fry. That sounds like very bad luck.

Initially though the DCC Concepts 6pin chips were not capable of handling the current draw & friction from a combination of Mashima motors & High Level gearboxes. One chip blew when testing the installation on DC after approx 30 minutes running, but ran fine on DC when I removed the decoder & fitted a jumper in the DCC socket.

Didn't burn any more chips but poor running with 6 pin Digitrax and TCS decoders although when tested motors did not exceed the decoder current rating. Locos are wired similarly with a DCC Concepts harness with a 6 pin socket in the tender, motor insulated from the chassis power pick up on one side from the loco with return through the tender.

My worst experience was burning out several chips on evening about 25 years ago while converting some N Scale locos to DCC. This was back in the day before "DCC Ready" locos when it was necessary to mill/grind away part of the chassis block and hard wire the decoders to the locos. Digitrax graciously replaced the zapped decoders. I still have my collection of N Scale locos though the chips may be well past their use by date and have not been run in about 10 years!

[Tullygrainey]

The long and the short of it. One of the inspirations for the building of No.6 in 4mm and a source of many clues and references was this 7mm version built by Tony Ragg using the Alphagraphix kit as the basis. Contrasting interpretations of BCDR green!

[David Holman]

One (fairly) straightforward Alphagraphix kit v a total scratchbuild. Fine work by Tony, but no contest in the difficulty stakes, methinks. As for colour, one is clean and ex works, the other has been cleaned with the proverbial oily rag, but both look stunning.

[Galteemore]

I was composing just such an answer! As a veteran of 4 Alphagraphix loco kits I quite concur.

[Tullygrainey]

I’ve no experience of building in 7mm apart from one diminutive narrow gauge scratch-build and a few O:16.5 conversions using proprietary OO chassis but I’ve recently had a chance to look quite closely at a variety of standard gauge 7mm locomotives, both kit-built and scratch-built. What I’ve seen suggests to me that while 4mm work can be described as model making, some of the work that I’ve seen in 7mm approaches miniature engineering, especially when it comes to things like suspension systems, gearboxes and working inside motion. Respect!

Alan

[David Holman]

 7mm scale can be more like engineering, Alan, but certainly doesn't need to be and I should know! Indeed, am sure your own practical, methodical approach would be very well suited to the larger scale. 

 Size makes some things easier, but it can also demand finer detail. Having started in EM and then gone through 7mmNG and standard gauge before being bitten by the Irish scene, would say 1:43 is very well suited to 5'3. Therefore always surprised there seem to be so few of us doing it, though can also appreciate why too.

[Tullygrainey]

Something slightly different. My first attempt at a Belfast and County Down locomotive a few years back was a model of 4-4-2T bogie tank No. 30 (the one preserved at Cultra) using an Oxford Rail Adams Radial as the basis. Apart from removing the outside cylinders, the chassis was left as was.  The superstructure was remodelled in plasticard. I was reasonably happy with it and it's a nice runner but in truth it strains the limits of the 2 foot rule.  The proportions aren’t right.

 

At the time I bought a second Adams Radial with the intention of doing another one and it’s lain in a drawer until now. Time to have another go.

Comparing the Adams chassis with a BCDR bogie tank, we can say that:

• the driving wheel diameter and wheelbase are fairly close. Best left alone. May as well scratch-build a new chassis as tackle that, which defeats the object of this exercise.
• the leading bogie is too long and its leading axle too far ahead of the leading drivers.
• the trailing truck is too far behind the rear drivers and the wheels are too small.

These things ought to be remediable.

Starting with the front bogie, it was cut in two across the middle, 2 mm removed from the centre and the two halves glued back together. Being plastic, it was fairly easy to do. The front of the chassis block needed cut back to allow clearance for the front bogie axle.

The rear of the chassis block was cut off and discarded about 10mm aft of the rear drivers and replaced with a new section made up in nickel silver to bring the axle line forward. This is glued and pinned to the chassis block. The Oxford bogie wheels were replaced with larger 17mm 12 spoke wheels (Alan Gibson 4851). The new axle is sprung with 0.33mm brass wire.

 

Sawing through the chassis block destroyed the printed circuitry attached to it so the chassis is no longer ‘DCC ready’ but that’s not the end of the world.

The intention is to discard the Adams bodywork and scratch-build a body in brass & nickel silver. A running plate in 16 thou brass with valances made from 1.5mm square brass rod is as far as I’ve got.

 

We’ll see how it works out.

Alan

[David Holman]

Sounds like, indeed already starting to look like a very good thing. Have fond memories of the County Down tank as it was on the turntable at Cultra when I took Arigna Town there  and the layout pitch was right in front.

[Tullygrainey]

8 hours ago, David Holman said:

Sounds like, indeed already starting to look like a very good thing. Have fond memories of the County Down tank as it was on the turntable at Cultra when I took Arigna Town there  and the layout pitch was right in front.

 I remember talking to you there and being mightily impressed by Arigna Town. I took these photos on the day. 2016 I think.

[Broithe]

40 minutes ago, Tullygrainey said:

 I remember talking to you there and being mightily impressed by Arigna Town. I took these photos on the day. 2016 I think.

I think I can hear the turntable squeaking...

[David Holman]

Took hours to get that squeak right! Was it really that long ago and I obviously didn't know of your models at the time, Alan, otherwise operations would have to have been suspended while I learned more.

[Tullygrainey]

Belfast and County Down Railways 2-4-0 Number 6 was recently spotted in the vicinity of Kirley Junction, on the scenic route to Queen's Quay with a passenger working and demonstrating its reputation as the BCDR's fastest locomotive. The Station Master and Principal Traffic Controller at Kirley Junction very kindly cleared the line for this unscheduled working and permitting line side photography of the event. Many thanks Kieran.

 

 

[David Holman]

That is just lovely.