The Heybridge Railway, 1889 to 1913

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spikey faz

spikey faz

Western Thunderer
Richard Gawler said:
'Blackwater' threw a crankpin screw at NEEGOG last weekend. Amazingly, she ran on for another 20 feet or so before coming to a very abrupt stop. Even more amazingly, someone found the crankpin where it fell.

View attachment 187147
This isn't really an ideal design, the side rods are forever trying to loosen the crankpin screws on one side and the action swaps sides every time the model changes direction.

View attachment 187148
This is the underneath in case anyone is interested to see inside a Minerva Manning Wardle. The pickups are usually concealed by the wheels so I took the chance to clean them.

View attachment 187149
Everything is back together and working. The loco still runs forwards perfectly but has developed the tiniest tight spot running in reverse. I think the hard stop has put a bend in one of the two rear side rods but I cannot see anything amiss. I have eased both rods outwards a few thou', the tight spot is almost gone but it is still there. Running is perfect on a feedback controller.

The side rods are too slender to let me put in some Slater's crankpin bushes. I have secured all six screws with Loctite, I don't like doing this or even recommend it but this fault has happened before and I want to stop it happening again.
Click to expand...
Is it possible the 'hard stop' has shifted the quartering on one of the wheels?

Oh, and Slaters do a smaller crankpin bush as supplied with their smaller diameter wheels. I converted a Minerva Hudswell Clark to Scaleseven using Slaters wheels (turned by Col) and I was able to re-use the Minerva coupling rods (which are fairly slim) with the Slaters smaller bushes.

Mike
 
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Richard Gawler

Richard Gawler

Western Thunderer
spikey faz said:
Is it possible the 'hard stop' has shifted the quartering on one of the wheels?

Oh, and Slaters do a smaller crankpin bush as supplied with their smaller diameter wheels. I converted a Minerva Hudswell Clark to Scaleseven using Slaters wheels (turned by Col) and I was able to re-use the Minerva coupling rods (which are fairly slim) with the Slaters smaller bushes.
Click to expand...

The model runs forwards sweetly at low speed drawing 40mA and, with the same controller setting, goes backwards at barely half the speed drawing 60mA. Something is binding and I suppose, with a rear wheel locked solid and the motor trying to turn its axle, the quartering of this wheel is the weakest link. I need to drop the wheelset and look very carefully. I will report back.
 
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Richard Gawler

Richard Gawler

Western Thunderer
Yes, there was a quartering problem and I have fixed it.

The Minerva wheels are a force fit onto 3mm axles. Scrutinising the three wheelsets, the leading and centre wheels had matching 'quartering', while the trailing wheels (which have the axle carrying the gear) were 'different'. A bit worryingly, I can twist theses wheels relative to each other with my fingers and without resorting to the rubber gloves. I now have a model which runs at the same speed in both directions for a given throttle setting. The motor is drawing 42 mA forwards and 50 mA reverse but I cannot see or hear any difference in performance between the two directions.

So I think this is fixed for now. I have a lathe and one day I could bore out the axle bushes to 1/8 inch and install some Slater's wheels. I am inclined to leave doing this until slippage of the factory wheels becomes unbearable.
 
simond

simond

Western Thunderer
Richard,

Whilst boring the bushes might be easy, how will you fit & fix the drive gear to the thicker axle?

if the whole axle, wheels and gears assy can be removed from the loco, would it be practical to pin the wheels (and drive gear maybe) to the axle? If you can hold (in a fixture, not by hand!) it at a suitable angle, you can probably drill the hub & axle with an 1.0mm solid carbide drill like these, and just push in a wire pin, with a drop of cyano if required.

www.ebay.co.uk

Quality Carbide PCB Dremel Jewelry 10 x 1.0mm 1mm Drill Bits | eBay

1x Box (10pcs) PCB Drill Bits. Drill bit chip evacuation space large, chip evacuation resistance small, chip removal smooth. QTY: 10 pcs. Total Length: 38mm.
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Very fast, gentle feed, very rigid fixture!

atb
Simon
 
Richard Gawler

Richard Gawler

Western Thunderer
Simon I like your idea but not for this model. The wheels are metal and the insulation is at the hub. This probably explains why it is so easy to turn the wheels on their axle. I guess the gear for a 1/8 inch axle would be a custom job.
 
Richard Gawler

Richard Gawler

Western Thunderer
A year on WT!

Thank you to everyone for your kindness and support during my first year here. This is a fine place and I am thoroughly enjoying myself both here and in 7mm scale. A special thank you to the members of the Flying Squad who are obliged to read every new post and therefore had to plough through my back-story and other ramblings.

Trying to post something suitable for everyone, here is an illustration from a children’s reference book I bought to help my project.

dk.jpg
From “Eyewitness Victorians”, abridged edition published in 2021 by DK / Penguin Random House.

There is no mention of a water tank, though a caption above the tender explains, "coal was stored in this truck". Which is true. I bought my copy remaindered in Chelmsford Market, the idea was to get a simple introduction to Victorian life :)
 
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spikey faz

spikey faz

Western Thunderer
Richard Gawler said:
Simon I like your idea but not for this model. The wheels are metal and the insulation is at the hub. This probably explains why it is so easy to turn the wheels on their axle. I guess the gear for a 1/8 inch axle would be a custom job.
Click to expand...
There's a few articles in the Scaleseven Society on converting Ixion/Minerva locos to accept Slaters wheels.

When I converted my Hudswell Clark I reamed out the axle bushes and gear wheel to accept the larger Slaters axles. To help the gear stay put on the axle the article said to centre punch the axle several times where the gear sits. The centre punching actually raises the surrounding metal a bit and provides a bit more grip for the gear. It's all covered in the articles and I've not had any issues since with gear slippage.

Mike
 
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chigley

chigley

Western Thunderer
Richard Gawler said:
A year on WT!

Thank you to everyone for your kindness and support during my first year here. This is a fine place and I am thoroughly enjoying myself both here and in 7mm scale. A special thank you to the members of the Flying Squad who are obliged to read every new post and therefore had to plough through my back-story and other ramblings.

Trying to post something suitable for everyone, here is an illustration from a children’s reference book I bought to help my project.

View attachment 187367
From “Eyewitness Victorians”, abridged edition published in 2021 by DK / Penguin Random House.

There is no mention of a water tank, though a caption above the tender explains, "coal was stored in this truck". Which is true. I bought my copy remaindered in Chelmsford Market, the idea was to get a simple introduction to Victorian life :)
Click to expand...
thank you for your input Richard

Ken
 
Richard Gawler

Richard Gawler

Western Thunderer
spikey faz said:
There's a few articles in the Scaleseven Society on converting Ixion/Minerva locos to accept Slaters wheels.

When I converted my Hudswell Clark I reamed out the axle bushes and gear wheel to accept the larger Slaters axles. To help the gear stay put on the axle the article said to centre punch the axle several times where the gear sits. The centre punching actually raises the surrounding metal a bit and provides a bit more grip for the gear. It's all covered in the articles and I've not had any issues since with gear slippage.

Mike
Click to expand...

DSC_3042.jpeg
I do like the idea of using centre punch marks to raise the surface of an axle. I did this on Nellie my crane tank to add some resistance to the rotation of the crane jib. It was a partial success, using multiple marks instead of one would be better. I never imagined I could use it to make something an interference fit.

I added the screw to resolve the jib's tendency to swing out of gauge, I can remove this to pose the jib for photos.
 
PhilH

PhilH

Western Thunderer
The late George Mellor of GEM showed me this method of fixing a gear on an axle after I'd bought a gear set from him and took it back complaining that it wasn't a tight fit on the axle.

Sketch.jpg​
Mount the axle (coloured yellow) vertically in a vice and clamp against it a flat file (coloured blue). Flat files usually have one edge with teeth and one edge smooth, so fix the edge with the teeth against the axle and the smooth edge against the vice jaws. Then tap the file gently with a hammer so that it turns the axle and makes a series of knurls round the circumference of the axle, the amount of pressure applied by the vice jaws determines the depth of the knurls. If the gear wheel is still not tight enough repeat the process with more pressure from the vice.
 
GER Y14 - assembly after painting
  • Index
    • Richard Gawler

    Richard Gawler

    Western Thunderer
    DSC_2353.jpeg
    To recap slightly, this is my Y14 and its tender on 15th March this year. I bolted the subassemblies together before sending them off to Warren for painting.

    I have now completed the subassemblies for the tender, so here are some photos of this activity.

    DSC_2978.jpeg
    The r/c speed controller has no output protection. A dead short across the motor terminals is Unlikely but if I fit a fuse and it never blows I will have some peace of mind.

    DSC_2983.jpeg
    As an apprentice in the 1980s, machine screws were not only still used, but were tightened so the slots matched up.

    DSC_3007.jpeg
    I like this palette of black and bright metal with red highlights and it is going to continue thoughout the model.

    DSC_3020.jpeg
    Warren asked me to leave the axleboxes and springs off the footplate assembly to make his lining task easier. I have now put them, I used epoxy glue straight on top of the paint.

    I found some daylight between side frame and fooplate. I suppose, I never looked for it properly :rolleyes:. It's a bit late to get the torch out so I put a narrow bead of the epoxy along the inside of the gap. I used masking tape to keep this tidy.

    DSC_3028.jpeg
    I warmed the glue with the hair dryer and this is where the glue crept through to the outside. It won't show from usual viewing angles.

    DSC_2986.jpeg
    The bosses on the backs of the axleboxes fouled the hubs of the wheels so I filed them down to suit.


    DSC_3022.jpeg
    There isn't enough room for 10BA nuts on the buffer stems but there is room for some small bore tube with a flat filed onto one side. The stems are steel and the tube is brass, so I simply let the buffers cut their own threads and screwed them into place.
    DSC_3030.jpeg
    This is the completed footplate assembly. The lining on the buffer beam and buffer stocks is almost unbelievable. I have left off the coal regulator, this can go back at the very end after the wiring is done :)

    I put a lot of planning into this build. Time will tell whether I did enough, but the shortened flange on the fooplate between the leading and centre axles makes a space to let me reach the programming button on the speed controller board.

    DSC_3015.jpeg
    The rear handrails go into small-bore tubes soldered into the body, so it was easy to fix these into place (nail varnish) and hopefully they will stay put.

    DSC_3044.jpeg
    The prototypes had a visible line between the flares and the tank sides but I found it difficult to provide something right. This looks a bit rough here but it will look better when the model is moving on a layout :D

    DSC_3047.jpeg
    I found the equivalent joints on the top much easier, lots of 100 degree solder filed to shape.

    This completes the work on the tender before adding the r/c equipment.
     
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