"Voiding the Warranty" - Mol's experiments in 21mm gauge

[Mol_PMB]

Well, some success and some failure.
 

I’ve completed the point operating rods, and the microswitches for the frog polarity. 

I’ve had E410 running around the layout for a bit, initially with no problems at all. 

Then it got something jammed in a set of points, and it stopped with a graunch. I think one of the rail sweeps was a bit low and stuck in a checkrail flangeway.

Now E410 doesn’t move and makes unpleasant noises. I think something has come adrift in the gearbox, or possibly a gear has stripped some of its teeth. I need to take it apart and see what’s wrong. So testing will have to go on hold for a while, as this is my only 21mm gauge loco at present. 

Frustrating. 

[Tullygrainey]

Frustrating is right! Hope the damage isn't too severe.

[Mol_PMB]

17 minutes ago, Tullygrainey said:

Frustrating is right! Hope the damage isn't too severe.

The worm had moved along the motor shaft. I think I was relying on a press fit rather than any glue. 
I have got the loco running again though it doesn’t seem quite as smooth - possibly the worm wheel is slightly damaged.
One of the hornblocks also seems to have stiffened up in the horns, and needs a fettle. 

Anyway, back on the layout I am having some of those undesired uncoupling events. I picked a different set of wagons to those I used previously and some are more sensitive than others. Partly due to how free-running they are, but perhaps also influenced by whether they have NEM pockets or Kadee draft boxes. More experiments needed! 
I may try adjusting the magnet positions. 
 

But I think all that is a job for the tail end of the coming week. I’ve got a few busy days at work coming up.  

[Mol_PMB]

Hopefully my ebay ‘bargain’ loco kit (the 650 class ex-MGWR 2-4-0) will also turn up this week. I need to see which variants can be built from the kit I’ve bought. 

Having read through many of @Mayner ‘s threads on the development and building of the kit, I get the impression that the kit evolved and they may not all have offered the same variant options.

The good thing is that I can choose between at least three late survivors that worked railtours (653, 654 and 655) which had different variants of cab spectacles, firebox, smokebox, dome and indeed a host of other details. 

I think 654 was one of the locos painted black (is there a list of those, @jhb171achill ?) but they all seem to have ended their lives in brown filth. Matching the weathering on 655’s tender would be fun!

Here’s 654 which has surely been freshly repainted for its railtour duty:

A comparison with a similar view of J15 193 also on railtour duty. This one is grey, but 654 looks truly black:

(pics from Ernie - thanks)

[jhb171achill]

2 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

Hopefully my ebay ‘bargain’ loco kit (the 650 class ex-MGWR 2-4-0) will also turn up this week. I need to see which variants can be built from the kit I’ve bought. 

Having read through many of @Mayner ‘s threads on the development and building of the kit, I get the impression that the kit evolved and they may not all have offered the same variant options.

The good thing is that I can choose between at least three late survivors that worked railtours (653, 654 and 655) which had different variants of cab spectacles, firebox, smokebox, dome and indeed a host of other details. 

I think 654 was one of the locos painted black (is there a list of those, @jhb171achill ?) but they all seem to have ended their lives in brown filth. Matching the weathering on 655’s tender would be fun!

Here’s 654 which has surely been freshly repainted for its railtour duty:

A comparison with a similar view of J15 193 also on railtour duty. This one is grey, but 654 looks truly black:

(pics from Ernie - thanks)

193 and an ex-MGWR loco were the last two steam locos ever to be painted, as late as 1961 or 2.

However, uniquely, they were given black smokeboxes and chimneys; these were grey previously.

Most of the few steam locos that saw a paintbrush after about 1954 were painted black. Among these were at least one 400 (normally green by then) and three of the MGWR 2.4.0s as above, possibly 4 or 5. 

654 & 655 were two of them. I’m unsure of the others.

One Bandon tank (464) was black at the end. Another 1 or 2 were green. The rest remained grey.

Ex MGWR “E” no. 560, which ended its days shunting in Tralee looks black in photos, but it seems to be heavily oily-ragged grey, as for many years I had one of its number plates and when squeaky-cleaned it was grey.

 

[Tullygrainey]

5 hours ago, Horsetan said:

Maybe having fixed magnet positions isn't the solution. How about a magnet mounted on a handheld spade-type device that you slip under the couplings only when you need it?

Kadee actually include this Heath Robinson contrivance in the instruction sheet for their under track magnets

 

[Mol_PMB]

16 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

193 and an ex-MGWR loco were the last two steam locos ever to be painted, as late as 1961 or 2.

However, uniquely, they were given black smokeboxes and chimneys; these were grey previously.

Most of the few steam locos that saw a paintbrush after about 1954 were painted black. Among these were at least one 400 (normally green by then) and three of the MGWR 2.4.0s as above, possibly 4 or 5. 

654 & 655 were two of them. I’m unsure of the others.

One Bandon tank (464) was black at the end. Another 1 or 2 were green. The rest remained grey.

Ex MGWR “E” no. 560, which ended its days shunting in Tralee looks black in photos, but it seems to be heavily oily-ragged grey, as for many years I had one of its number plates and when squeaky-cleaned it was grey.

 

Ah, that’s brilliant, many thanks for the info. I hadn’t realised that black had been the ‘standard’ for a while, though in a time when few steam locos were being painted. 
I thought 655 looked quite black too, but as you say it’s often hard to tell. Good to know that it was actually black. 

560 is another loco I plan to model and when it hauled a railtour to Fenit, the better-lit photos show that it was indeed a cleaned dark grey.