A Ffestiniog Experiment: part 3 Linda becomes Blanche

[David B]

I’ve reached a bit of an impasse with Blanche: thanks to the weather, adding the Garraway green panels to the cab and tender will have to wait for warmer and drier conditions. Here’s the current state of play:



There’s a couple of extra footsteps I need to add to the front of the cab and I really need to reshape the existing whistles to replicate Blanche’s hooters. That dome cover needs a good polish too. I should also do something to improve the shape of the coupling rods and work out how to reproduce the motion brackets. Oh yes, and there’s the crew to add and (ideally) a replacement 1/4” pressure gauge would be an improvement.

In terms of changes from the original Linda, the whole front end is new, including the reshaped cylinders and the infamous pony truck. Dummy drain cocks, dummy lubricator and its dog-leg drive shaft, new crossheads, much-fattened-up axle cranks and (what I believe to be) a Fairlie-style crash bar under the cab are also changes, together with (again what I believe to be) the snifting valve behind the chimney and new sandbox lid handles.

The cab, including the roof, and the entire tender body are new, while I have also narrowed the original tender frames and repositioned the rear life-guards in line with the wheels. Finally I’ve added a representation of (yet again, what I believe to be) the speedometer drive to the rear offside tender axle and fitted three hex-head bolts to each of the other tender axleboxes as a representation of the characteristic heraldic crest shape of Blanche’s roller bearing covers.



I’m sure there’s stuff I’ve missed, so if anyone has any thoughts on what could make Blanche even Blanchier, I’d love to hear them.

 

[Scale7JB]

Looking great.

Toolbox in the back of the tender might be nice to see.

JB.

 

[Paul_H]

That's fantastic work.
It's so nice to see an actual live steam loco with such attention to accurate scale detail.

 

[Scale7JB]

I have been scouring my photos and this is the best I can find at the moment. Not a toolbox as such but a tool compartment at the rear.

 

[David B]

Thanks so much JB - that’s really helpful. Very much appreciated.

David

 

[Scale7JB]

Thanks so much JB - that’s really helpful. Very much appreciated.

David

Very welcome. Plenty of other shots of Blanche if you need anything.

JB.

 

[David B]

That's fantastic work.
It's so nice to see an actual live steam loco with such attention to accurate scale detail.

Thanks Paul - that’s very kind. Knowing what to include and what to omit is a bit of a challenge - my garden line runs beneath a mature horse chestnut, so there are year-round hazards from blossom, conkers, leaves and their stalks, as well as the various leftovers from squirrels and pigeons feeding above - all of which can cause damage to fine details despite my best attempts to spot falling hazards. So it’s a bit of a compromise between fixing things as securely as possible (which may mean over-scale fastenings) and trying to make as accurate a replica as possible. It’s also a challenge trying to work out how to attach details like the drain cocks without, say, drilling into the actual cylinders. But that’s part of the enjoyment!

 

[Paul_H]

Yes, dealing with outdoor running certainly adds tricky risks to fine scale modelling.
A shame there are so few attempts at proper indoor 16mm layouts.

 

[Chris Veitch]

Oh yes, and there’s the crew to add

Modelu were offering to scan people at Vintage weekend a few years ago and I believe they did a few crew in Linda/Blanche poses (leaning or sitting on cabside etc.) if you want models of actual current volunteers…

 

[David B]

Now that’s a great idea Chris! I’ll see what I can find. Thanks for the suggestion,

Update - found ‘em….two sets of crews for Linda and Blanche. Fabulous - thanks again Chris,

David

 

[Paul_H]

Modelu were offering to scan people at Vintage weekend a few years ago and I believe they did a few crew in Linda/Blanche poses (leaning or sitting on cabside etc.) if you want models of actual current volunteers…

With the advent of sites like Meshy, Tripio and hitem3d, creating your own unique people to print is now pretty straight forward and cheap. All you need is a photograph of the person. Then generate the file, edit as required then print. <Simplifications 'R Us>

 

[PhilH]

I’m sure there’s stuff I’ve missed, so if anyone has any thoughts on what could make Blanche even Blanchier, I’d love to hear them.

New chimney ?

​

I fitted a new chimney to my Roundhouse CHARLES to replace the original

​

The chimney on BLANCHE is slightly different to CHARLES, the base is smaller but still a lot bigger than the Roundhouse version, and of course it doesn't have the brass ring like CHARLES.

 

[David B]

What Cyril Freezer called ‘The Trade’ can be a wonderful thing. A very timely birthday has produced a couple of gifts for Blanche that I would never have imagined would be produced commercially:



On the left we have her crew, produced by Modelu in 16mm scale - huge thanks to @Chris Veitch for the tip off. On the right, we have a sound unit with whistle recordings from the real Blanche. I have several live steamers with real whistles, but they are of, shall we say, varying levels of realism. Now my little Blanche will be able to produce authentic Stanier-esq hoots to order. Deep joy! But I would love to know how and why such a thing is commercially available when there are no available models of Blanche (AFAIK) in any scale above 4mm, and the sound card itself is about as long as the Bachmann 009 model. Either way though, I’m not complaining!

Now could WT-ers please help me out with a couple of questions? Firstly, are the crew themselves WT-ers, and if so, how do they feel
about being immortalised in resin?



And secondly, does anyone have any details of the actual seats in the cab? From the cab ride video posted a page or so ago, it looks as if the seats are removable and they clip over the uprights at the back end of the loco. I’ve made and fitted these elliptical uprights, but I’m not sure what the actual seats themselves should look like:



Thanks in advance for any info.

 

[James Spooner]

I must admit I was trying to identify the crew members from those I know, but have sadly failed…

Nigel

 

[David B]

Blanche is still in the paint shop, so it fell to Merddin Emrys to haul the first train of the season today…

 

[David B]

The sunshine proved irresistible, so even though Blanche isn’t finished yet (no crew and I haven’t yet done the chimney mods suggested by Phil H), I rolled her out of the works for a test run in the sun.



I’ll try to upload a video clip of her in action later. Everything worked well, including the pony truck with its roller bearing ‘wheels’, but the newly glazed fireman’s front spectacle glass has a condensation problem (no doubt due to the presence of the cold gas tank right behind it), which made it look from the front as if poor Blanche has developed a cataract…..

 

[James Spooner]

You’ve done a magnificent job there David; she looks great!

Nigel

 

[David B]

Thank you Nigel - very much appreciated!

 

[simond]

Cracking job!

 

[David B]

Thanks Simon - comments from people who know the real Blanche as well as you and Nigel do mean a great deal.

Here’s a short video of her in action. Some drivers are said to have a heavy hand….I was having to operate the regulator and whistle with my chin while filming, so apologies for the slightly lumpy consequences of my ‘heavy chin’!