LSWR Adams Radial Tank

[AllWight]

Hi to all i have finally decided to join the forum and to start a thread on the new engine that i am developing the Adams Radial 0415 class 4-4-2T. Those of you who do not know what it is then check out the Bluebell railway website. A very elegant engine with pleasing graceful lines and above all else SOUTHERN.

My prototype which is slowly taking shape will be modelled as the preserved example with stovepipe chimney, single slide bars and in the LSWR Pea Green. The motor is in the chassis now and it runs freely. The next obstacle is the bogie movement and clearance issues with the frames as well as balancing the engine. I am treating it as a 4-4-0 and the rear radial truck will have complete freedom of movement up and down as well as sideways. The ultimate aim is to make it able to cope with 8' minimum radius curves and hopefully not bufferlock. I will try and get some pictures up loaded asap to show the development thus far but bear with me as i am just getting used to this internet thing!      

[IanT]

Welcome to the Forum Mark!

[AllWight]

I would be grateful for any constructive advice and criticism while I develop this locomotive and hope that the radial tank will incite others to create their own locomotive kits preferably from the constituant Southern Railway Companies eg, LBSC, LSWR, LCDR and SECR are welcome. There is with out doubt a strong leaning to all thing Great Western within the locomotive kits available and it would be nice to see more variety in readily available kits. That said I have nothing against GWR engines so please do not take my comments as offensive. 

Other engines I would like to see would include the USA Tank, Beattie Well Tank, P Class and something that could be used across most pre grouping companies as well as the big four would be the Beyer Peacock 2-4-0T of which some found their way to the Isle of Wight.   

[cabbage]

Hmm...

The last time I proposed building Southern Railway tank engine I got royally bombarded with beer mats an screwed up crisp packets(!) It is not my fault I like articulated locomotives...

regards

ralph

[AllWight]

Hi Ralph if it is any consolation you are not the only one who likes the big articulated engines. My dad is heavily into the LGB models and has a variety of big electric Swiss engines including the Krodil and the Chur - Arosa set. As well as that I drive at a 7 1/4 " gauge railway where they have a Garratt called William Rufus great fun to drive and it has a tendency to rock so you can end up with sea sickness but that is all part of the fun or so I am told.

[andrewfoster]

The Adams 0415 is a delightful engine - an excellent choice! It was long lived, hard working, and deserves a good model. It's also a good prototype for those of us whose railway affinities lie well to the north of Hadrian's Wall. Several of them worked on the Highland Railway north of Inverness during the First World War locomotive shortage, and didn't return to their home territory until well after the war. Their flexibility made them ideal for those lines too. Looking forward to seeing the pictures.

Andrew

[blagdon]

Hi Mark,
What you showed me of the Adam's at the AGM looked great. Some more thoughts on 4-4-2T's; there's also the good old Tilbury Tank.
As a matter of interest, did you draw the plans for the frames as I remember you said you were able to get them commercially cut: one-day I would like to get a new set of frames for my 'Chinese' Prairie 4566.

ps. Tomorrow we are having 'Gordon the Blue Engine' (aka 'Spud II' launched at Didcot.

Ian the Gauge '3' Pirate

[AllWight]

As well as the railway north of the border two of the Adams Radials were sold off to private railways. One was sold off to the Brecon and Merthyr Railway and became their No.44 and eventually got taken into Western stock, although how long it lasted is a bit of a mystery. The other radial tank sold off privately was 488 which happens to be the preserved engine on the Bluebell. It was sold the East Kent Railway and became their No.5 and painted in a bottle green with yellow lining. It was later purchased back to suppliment the two other remaining Radials for use on the Lyme Regis Branch. The engines were originally designed and built as 4-4-0T and classed as class 46. They had larger side tanks and as they were put through the workshops modifications were made to make them into a 4-4-2T. After the delivery of the new 0415 4-4-2T the class 46's were all modified to look the same as the later builds by Dubs and Neilson. 

[midnight miller]

Hello Mark
Best wishes with your project , Question please what have you used for slide bars and cross heads ?


                                             John

[AllWight]

Nothing as yet, that is item 3 on the list of jobs to do. The cylinder/crosshead/slidebar assembly will all be created once I have the front bogie operating as I want and both bufferbeams have been attached.
I am open to suggestions or failing that I will have the CAD drawing created and make it out of mild or stainless steel. The cylinder will either be resin or brass depending on the cost and ease of manufacturing costs.
The top of the loco will be created on 3D CAD and will be produced by a company that I had the fortune to see at the Watford Finescale exhibition recently. His design methods will allow me to create the variations of the locomotives such as the stove pipe or later chimney or the Adams or Drummond boilered versions. In addittion to this his demo models he had were incredibly strong for what they were with a very high tensile strength. I was encouraged to try and break a rather fragile looking 4mm scale body top of a crampton and it was surprisingly tough. This is however a fair way off so its probably best not try and run before I can walk for now.   

[AllWight]

Hi Blagdon. The drawings that I obtained were from one of the society members, a Mr Chris Barron who sold me the drawings by F.J.Roche. They were passed onto a friend of mine at Moors Valley Railway who produced the frames on CAD and sent them off to Model Engineers Laser Ltd. The price was quite reasonable partly because i was bulk buying(six frame sets in all).

If it was me wanting a new set of frames for the prairie i would get a group order together of other people who also have the same engine to keep costs to a minimum.

Incidentally Ian you may well remember i had a model of an 0-16.5 Vale of Rheidol tank that i was working on last summer it is now completed but the kit was completely designed and developed by my friend on the Moors Valley Railway. In case you were wondering it is modelled as No.9 Prince of Wales and carrying the Stroudley Yellow livery as it appeared in the 1980's. If you would like me to put you in contact with him i would be happy to do so. 

[John Candy]

Mark has asked me to add these three photos showing progress with his kit for the 0415 class LSWR Adams Radial Tank.

[AllWight]

Progress Report

John Witts has been helping me recently with alterations and modifications to the bogie mount and rear truck radial swing. He has done the drawings and it is up to me to create these next time I am down at MVR where I can utilise their extensive workshop. I hope to have a completed chassis before the year is out and be well on the way with the top half of the engine. The running of the chassis is the last big hurdle and once this is out of the way the rest will be somewhat easier to create. Keith Smith will be helping with the resin top half of the engine with the intention of making it possible to model the different variants of chimney, domes and valve chests. The Drummond boilered Radials had the valves in the dome and were not favoured by the crews as much as the Adams boilered engines.

You may well have seen some pictures in the latest NL of the engine, hopefully next time you see it it will have progressed a bit further and have the completed footplate and cylinders all on.

Mark