A Gaggle of J15s

[Tullygrainey]

6 hours ago, Mayner said:

I have began to prefer the tapered hornblock alignment jigs as the original stepped alignment jigs were less accurate, sometimes leading to binding coupling rods. The step diameter was inconsistent between different sides of the jig. With the tapered version the rod can be pressed home until it stops.

 

This resonated with me John, having come up against the same issue only a day or two ago. I think I might follow your lead and start using my London Road Models tapered jig axles again.

[jhb171achill]

Outstanding stuff, excellent!

[Mayner]

Read through the thread and in some cases seemed like groundhog day or re-discovering things/problems I wrote about nine or so years ago, each day is a brand new adventure.

Anyway this mornings 'lightbulb' moment was my planning to number the supeheated J15 191, I built a model of 191 a saturated J15 based on a colour photo in Irish Railways in Colour a second glance" over 30 years ago. Looked up the 'bible" Locomotiver of the GSR and sure enough she is listed as a saturated loco. Turned out I was using a photo of 181 a superheated engine from Irish Railways "Transports of Delight" website.

Anyway almost finished soldering the main components and some detail work on 181 & 229 (apart from brake gear) before cleaning up the models for final detailing and painting stage.

Almost but not quite there todays progress with 181 & 229

Mainframe assembly complete 191, lamp irons fitted front end both locos.

Classical TMD J15 front end, shallow mainframes, guardirons/cosmetic front frames intergral with loco body (mainframes end more or less flush with smokebox front hiden behind cosmetic frames/guardirons.

3/4 front view saturated J15, open area between bufferbeam and cylinder block/smokebox front!

J15 as rebuilt with new heavier frames and superheated boiler 1930s, some superheated J15 notabably 101 retained their original frames!. Frames & guardirons on this model are based on photos I took of 186 during a short visit to Ireland from Scotland in 1994.

Not the most noticeable feature, I have infilled the area between the bufferbeam and smokebox and modeled the franes projecting above the running board in this area.

Buffers (Markits?)  just temporarily fitted after opening out holes in buffer beams with needle files/broach, but foul on tender brake hangers so possibly substitute with Alan Gibson

Thankfully I located enough crankpin bushes to complete 181 and have sufficient detail parts in stock to complete both locos.

 

Edited May 2 by Mayner

[Patrick Davey]

Fabulous stuff John!

[Mayner]

Progress continues on 181 & 229, most tedious job was opening up the holes in the brake gear frets with an 0.55 drill held in a mini-pin chuck. It was necessary to shim the collet with paper and constantly re-tighten to stop the drill slipping!

 

All holes bored out to size one set loco/tender brake gear 50% second loco.

Anyway 36 holes opened out in the loco brake hangers alone, helped keep the mind diverted. The hangers are basically a beefed up version of the hangers used in the origonal TMD J15 kit over 40 years ago.

Brake gear as fitted to 124 6-7 years ago

I am one of those people who enjoy assembling chassis & brake gear

Some cosmetic stuff.

Plumbed up the leading splashers "Coey 15" 229 which were not quite plumb, got to sort out the RH buffer shank while I am at it, also re-set the chimney and fitted the lamp irons. one of those niggling details.

 

A bit more work on 229s tender, fitted the coal plate/tank top and added tool boxes I had in stock from the origonal loco kits, replaced axleboxes from my own #D prints I'll probabably add a 3D printed tank filler.

Some more work on 181s tender added sandboxes I had cast in brass from 3D master for use with the 52 Class kit and added whitemetal toolboxes. I'll probabably replace the toolboxes with 3D printed or brass toolboxes used with the 52 Class. I have to add axleboxes and spring castings supplied with the origonal kits.

 

[Mayner]

One of the most significant remaining jobs in completing 181 & 229 is assembling the loco & tender brake gear. I had what was basically a beefed up version of the TMD/SSM gear etched to complete 124 as the brake gear was missing when I bought the loco as part of a job lot of part built TMD/SSM at a UK exhibition about 25 years ago and I found the brake gear quite challenging to assemble when I completed 191 about 31 years ago. 

 

These notes may be of use to people who bought my Superheated J15 conversion fret as it includes a set of brake gear parts.

191 assembled in the UK 1995, once my pride and now beginning to show its age.

124 completed in NZ approx 5 years ago, my own brake gear.

I wrote about how I soldered the brake shoes to the hangers on this thread about 5 years ago, my description of how I held the components in place did not make sense and I had forgotten how I actually achieved it, so quite a bit of experimentation before I actually figured out how to keep the shoes and hangers in position when soldering.

 Fiddly not quite the word shoe on left hanger on right, holes drilled out 0.5mm  Hole in the centre of the hanger is significant.

Components folded for assembly, 0.55 hole in the piece of wood is part of the assembly jig 

Piece of 0.45 brass wire pushed into 0.55mm hole in piece of wood, threaded through hole in centre of hanger and soldered in place to form part of assembly jig.

Shoe threaded onto wire, short end of wire fits into hole drilled in strip of wood (my tumblehome forming jig) possibly pine, more stable for this type of work than balsa.

Hanger threaded onto wire, bent over at approx 90 using X-acto blade as guide shim, loose end of wire threaded between forked ends of hanger. (thinner end of shoe is at the top)

Piece of stripwood holds the loose end of the wire and brake shoe in alignment while soldering. 

1 completed brake shoe and hanger assembly, only 11 to go!

Test fitted to 229.

Two sets of brake shoes and hangers plus some spares. In early days GSR a committee was tasked with auditing Inchacore 'piecework' records as part of a money saving efficiency exercise. Apparently some of the the records bore little resemblance to reality, some J15 fitted with more than 6 axleboxes (at the time crews paid to repair locos on a piecework were paid for refurbing individual components on a loco. The same committee was tasked with recovering name & number plates etc. from pre-amalgamation possibly melting down into GSR stock of non-ferrous metal or sale.

I'll assemble the brake gear as separate removable sub assemblies that fit to the loco, what I find the relatively straight forward part

 

 

[Tullygrainey]

That's tricky stuff alright!

[jhb171achill]

Re that GSR committee, I believe my grandfather had some part in it but I don't know any details. All I know for certain is that a whole lot of recommendations resulted re the J15 class in particular, and he was tasked with doing the design work for a number of hopefully standardised ways forward. Mind you, by the time the last J15s were withdrawn, hardly any two were identical in every detail, an issue with any numerous and long-lived class.

Family folklore suggests that the main bugbear was money, as a result of the lack of which, serious attempts at all sorts of standardisation were curtailed or never properly completed, and even where attempts were made, it was too little. They had similar thoughts on standardising passenger stock, which would have included replacement of most 3ft gauge passenger stock with a GSR standard, had money be available. But it wasn't. The "standard" GSR passenger coach for 3ft gauge would have been bogie vehicles of 35-40ft long, broadly based on Cavan & Leitrim types, with end balconies (possibly enclosed). I would love to see a drawing of a thing like this, as many PROPOSED locos, wagons and coaches DID have drawings made - but again (through family folklore, anyway) it seems this vehicle was not even drawn. There just wasn't the money.