What do you mean, "I have never heard of it?!?!?" Now that construction of the NER EE-1 is complete, (bar painting and final assembly), I can start on my next locomotive. This locomotive exists under various names and designations depending on which railway company owned it. The design of the mechanical side of it is pure SLM, (Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works), and anyone just looking at this part would say "ah ha! - it's a Krokodil!!!" However this is just the beginning... Above that is a classical Edwardian English bodywork and Pierson 1500V DC power pickup system(???)
However this "Swiss Miss" was built in Newton-le-Willows!!!
I have a back door into the SLM archives and the dedicated drawings for this loco. They have been through the GIMP treatment and these along with some photostat drawings of the NLW General Assembly instructions -have produced a real headache... The SLM is pure Centimetre, the NLW is pure Imperial. However help was at hand as I re-drew the main drawings with my now much loved G3 rule from the Imperial dimensions and then divided the SLM by 22.6 to see if they matched. Mostly they did!
Having successfully carpeted most of the living room floor with sheets of A3, several problems rapidly emerged -chiefly that the SLM bogie drawings did not match the NLW ones... There were a few days when I honestly wondered if I had the right drawings. However the solution was in the scribbled notes at the side of the photostated NLW drawings. Translated by a friend the scribble reads "These drawings are <expletive> the idiots have used 1 inch = 2 centimetres in some of the dimensions -use the SLM ones"
So, following my normal practice I have duly marked up a couple of sheets of 3mm birch ply and hacked the "primitives" that will become the bodywork and bonnets. Once everything is re-enforced and set then it gets "plated" with ABS sheet.
I think, (he says!), that this will be an easy locomotive to build after the nightmare that has been the EE-1.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic1.jpg)
regards
ralph
Well construction has begun... But what I think might be useful is, for once and for all to prove, (or disprove), that a Gauge 3 locomotive can be built on a shoe string budget. Admittedly some of the things are going to be "to hand" and relics of the "scraps pile". If we discount such things as postage, parking, etc -then it is going to interesting to see how much it actually DOES cost.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic5.jpg)
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic6.jpg)
Items: one sheet 3mm birch modelling ply £4.99p
one bag of 6mm sq pine strips £4.85p
regards
ralph
running total : £9.84p
A Saturday morning trip to the local model shop, a real one that sells things not in boxes(!) has garnered me a couple of sheets of ABS to begin "plating" my loco body with. It is one of the certainties of life that you come home with sheets of differing colours. In short I had two sheets of white and one of black... All the putty that I have to fill the holes in in my creation is of course GREEN. It is thus always somewhat of a relief (visually) that everything gets sprayed in a neutral grey primer!!!
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic7.jpg)
The shot above shows the 40 thous thick sheet after having been persuaded to curve at the end -initially with the aid of a rolling pin and then a length of steel tube wedged into the end of the hot tap. The chassis formers are finely sanded down with 800 wet&dry to give a smooth surface for the ABS to be veneered to. Once the thick CA has set the top of the sheet solid to the chassis, the rest of it is then bent over the carved Balsa wood "nose" and then saucepan of hot water placed over the nose to complete the shape forming. The formed nose is then bonded to the chassis with more thick CA.
Cost of 40 thou ABS sheet 98p
Cost of 60 thou ABS sheet £2.20p
regards
ralph
running cost £13.02p
Now that things are (nearly) back to normal I can return to playing with my models. After a couple of slow evenings work I have finished plating the sides of the body with the 60 thous ABS sheet. The doors and grills are emerging from the oddments box -so I will say that they are free.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic9.jpg)
I have built the flange that holds the bellows to the front and rear "bonnets" of the loco. The bellows will actually be made from glued strips of folded cartridge paper -the originals were rubberized canvas.
regards
ralph
running cost £13.02p
Well after an evening of playing "crack and snap" with ABS offcuts I have reached the point where I have to order the "twiddly bits". The first of these are the Finestruct mouldings from Squires. I have ordered the "L" sections, "I" beam sections, and the flat strappings that form the framework that the bodywork panels are rivited to. I do have (somewhere!) some Cambrian Models stick on rivits from building the "S" Motor. But given the number used I am definately going to have to get some more...
The doors have been fixed to their places and the rectangular slots for the louvres punched through. The saddle grabs for the bonnets have been fitted -but not yet punched through. Next thing on the list of, "things to do", is to make all the window frames and the sun visors for the cabs. These will all have to be punched through and glazed -after painting...
MS-419 F/LINE MICROSTRIP 1.00 X 4.76 10 PACK £3.10p
AFS-6P F/LINE ANGLE 4.8 X 4.8 X 0.75 5 PACK £4.99P
BFS-10P F/LINE I BEAM7.9 X 4 X 0.96 4 PACK £5.35p
running cost £23.36p
After another gentle evenings playing "crack and snap" with the nice lengths of Finescale Plastruct lengths supplied by Squires -in under 24 hours(!)
Here is the Windows side of the model.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic10.jpg)
You can see that the 5mm wide strapping has been applied to the outside of the bodywork and the windows punched through with a die cutter -which is an L profile chisel. The holes in the saddle grabs have been punched through with a cutting needle and a scalpel blade. The doors have been affixed and their holes punched through with the die cutter. The window openings have been "lined" with the 5mm L section strip.
Here is the Power side of the loco.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic11.jpg)
The three squares that will become the exhaust vents for the Power side are quite easily visible as the large air intake square at the bottom right. These will be punched through and then "grilled over" the frames of the vents being made from more L section strip. The Windows side of the loco will have a "connecting corridor" between the cabs made of a sheet of balsa. It might seem a little strange -but I feel that if you are going to the trouble of making inlet and exhaust vents -then they should at least work! I have a few old "486" CPU fans that will provide a suitable draft through the loco.
regards
ralph
Well after a little delay, I do have the contents of my wife's summer house in my shed while she decorates the inside of it, (somehow a sun lounger and a lathe do not go together...) I have been able to ferret through my collection of "bits" and I have unearthed the collection of Cambrian rivits, (these were left over sprues from building the "S" motor). Studying the side photos and modern shots have given me the locations of the main forged joints in the shell of the loco body. Since none of the panels were "structural" in the original they are only found where the members cross. The shot below shoes the "measled" bodywork, with the grids for the air vents fitted over the cutouts.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic12.jpg)
The grids are made from 10cm polythene(?) squares that are sold for small girls to produce X-stitch on with large bodkins and lengths of wool. They are £0.72p for a pack of 5. I am going to use a few more as I go on....
The next step is to make the eyebrows and punch the windows out in the end of the loco body.
regards
ralph
Cambrian rivits -Free from left overs
Dace Plait £0.72p
running total £27.08p
The next stage of operations is to produce the power bogies that will hold the wheels etc. Normally these would be made from sheet brass (yes K&S!!!) but in the interests of shoe string experiment I think that they are going to be made from sheet steel -or aluminum...
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic2.jpg)
The front axle will be driven by chains and my "patent" dodge of turning a 15mm "yorkshire" plumbing fitting into a <<Systeme Hagans>> axle. This will be made easier this time as I have now got a milling machine so I can simply "mill the slots" rather than drilling and filing....
In case anyone is wondering how I do it... There is a 15mm dia wooden bead drilled at right angles with projecting 3mm bolts epoxied into it. These then sit within a 15mm pipe fitting with 3mm wide slots cut longitudinally in it. Thus the torque is transmitted by the 3mm bolts onto the edges of the slots regardless of the angle of the slots to the bead. The thrust of the weight on the axle is transmitted to the wheels by the bead and the torque from the driven inner shaft is transmitted to the tubular axle by the projecting bolts.
This is the original "patent" drawing -it is of course in German...
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/mls/scan2.jpg)
regards
ralph
Sorry for the delay in getting back to this -but I have other pressing reasons... Now that I feel comfortable with an X-acto knife in my fingers, I can sit and fiddle with the model again. I ordered some bits from GRS -the van strapping and open wagon pieces. I will confess that I have never used them for a wagon -but as the basis of things that I can hack to produce the parts I need from. The "S" motor used quite a lot of these, but, typically enough, I did not have the right parts from the stock of bits that live in the scraps box.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic13.jpg)
The huge headlamp stuck on the corner piece comes from Imp Models and was part of a grab bag that I got when they moved from Long Eaton To Uttoxeter. (So I class this as free). The air intake grill at the bottom is made from more plastic lattice and pieces of van strapping. Other pieces of wagon strapping can be seen at the corners of the "bellows" housing.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic14.jpg)
This is the other end and you can see quite clearly the foot plate above the air vent made from another piece of van strapping.
At the moment I am causing great hilarity with my wife while I experiment with "how to make a bellows"... The origami method I used as a teenager for my Hornby 00 layout used cartridge paper and this is just too fragile. So, I have "upscaled" it to slices of Cornflakes packet -held together with "Bondaweb", a iron on dress making re-enforcer, as a "hinging" medium. And so far everything has gone well.
regards
ralph
Indian "Darj" headlamps -free
Black Bondaweb offcuts -free
Cornflakes empty box -free
SG1123 £3.96p
SG1124 £3.96p
running total £35.00p
I have a deep dark antipathy to the people I call "colour freaks". I mix, (or have mixed), the paint and that is good enough for me. The problem I have now is that no-one is quite sure what actual colour "Brown Lake" IS... The colour I THOUGHT it was, was the "Brown Lake" as used by the Penn RR(!)
I do have a very few colour photos of GIP locos and I am aware that the colour emulsions can alter and degrade over time. For instance I have an early polaroid shot of my mother -now all in shades of green... So I sent out a request to a friend -who sent a request to his family on the India / Pakistan border, and we got back a sample of the GIP version of "Brown Lake"...
I looked at him, he looked at me, and we both said; "That's Brown Lake???"
At this point we took our piece of painted panel to the resident colour genius (my wife) and said; "Match That". And after three attempts -she did.
The "recipe" is: 7 parts "Nut Brown", 3 Parts "Burgandy", 1 part "Insignia Red".
For "historic" reasons I normally use the Pasti-Kote range of paints and blend from them. I still use "edible" paints on my work -despite the fact that the majority of small teeth that might chew on them can now spell!
regards
ralph
I know that there was some "consternation" when I took "Maude" to the last AGM (2009). Her Mauve colour did not seem to sit too well with the Malachite, Crimson Lake and Black that the rest of the locos near her were painted with. However Maude was Pan Tone paint matched and is correct. What happens when "Sir Lesley" arrives at the 2011 AGM painted in GIP "Brown Lake" will be any ones guess.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/mls/GIP%20Brown-Lake.jpg)
We shoved the sample from India under the Pan Tone sensor and got a Pan Tone number So now it can be said with definite authority it really IS that colour!!!
regards
ralph
Well the madness that is Christmas has passed (both of them) and The Hogmanay / New Year festivities have nearly been consumed... There is now enough room on the kitchen work surfaces to to return to important matters -namely making locomotives!!!
The shot below shows the roof section -which was cut at the same time as the floor section from the same piece of birch ply -thus they warp in exactly the same manner. Lengths of 5mm pine strip from the bundle bought at the start re-enforce it and provide a location lip for the whole roof assembly.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic15.jpg)
You can see that the eight 3mm holes for the fixing studs have been bored through the roof into the sides of the model bodywork. The next shot shows the roof pinned to the body and the location of the cooling fan (40mm) has been marked and pilot hole drilled.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic16.jpg)
The next shot shows that the 60 thous ABS sheet has been laminated to the top and the tank cutter has cut a hole in it. The hole is off set by 10mm -this puts it in line with the heat sink for the ESC. The wooden wall sides for the plenum have been CA'ed to the ABS sheet. Yes, I know a "comb joint" is not really needed in anything this small -but it gives more glue area and should add that little extra bit of strength...
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic17.jpg)
The shot below shows the ABS sheet has been laminated onto the sides of the plenum and the cross pieces, (again lengths of 5mm strip), have been CA'ed to the assembly. These will provide support, (and something to glue to), for the base of the four "Snorkel" air intakes to the plenum chamber.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic18.jpg)
The last shot shows the top of the plenum chamber CA'ed to the grid work of pine strip. The next stage after this is to fill in the gaps with putty and generally get things smooth before I start gluing snorkels to it.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic19.jpg)
The snorkel columns will have air filters in them, (again pieces of Dace Plait), this should stop ingested grass seeds etc!
Everything has been made from pre-bought items, so the cost of the model remains as it was pre-Christmas.
regards
ralph
Running total £35.00p
After a slow mornings work...
The pieces of Dace Plait that form the air filters have been fitted to the lumps/offcuts of 5mm sq strip. Each of these has been positioned roughly at the end of the air intake to the plenum chamber. The sides of the snorkel are made from lengths of scrap ABS from the bits box. The shot below shows the entire assembly prior to the fitting of the balsa wood rooves to the snorkels.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic20.jpg)
The green putty is very messy -but wonderful!!! I use it to fill in the cracks and gaps in my models. I do not know if there is any significance in the colour of the putty, (grade etc), but the green seems to work for me.
regards
ralph
Ralph,
Ihave been using the MMD 'White Putty' (produced by Squadron Products, Texas) for a few years now (find it much better than the 'Humbrol' cellulose type filler which I previously used) but have also wondered about the 'green' version.
The white version contains toluene and the dire 'State of California' health warnings on the tube have been a source of concern!
I wonder whether the 'green' version is based on something other than toluene?
Regards,
John.
There is toluene in the green stuff too -along with the State of California health warning... I have a combined honours degree in Education and Chemistry -the stuff I used to make and use as a student would make any health warning redundant!!! (You would not believe the increadible beautiful blue colour you get from dissolving Sodium metal in Liquid Ammonia). My late father spent years working with Tri Nitryle Toluene and Glyceryle Nitroacetase. He freely admitted that "Operation Thursday" was what got him interested in trains and applying to work for Messrs Beyer Peacock...
Toluene as a fairly common chemical. If my son had his way I would regularly feed my family food rich in Xantho Cyanides, Beta Carotenes, Ketones, Amines and all the rest of them -in short PIZZA!!!
I live in the Peak District on top of an extinct volcano in high Radon area with veins of Galena in the local stones -complete with Flourite with a remarkable range of colours due to the Uranium and Thorium in them. I do know that I do have abnormally large amounts of Indium in my body due to eating vast amounts of Ostritch as a boy -but then so would everyone else from that part of the world...
Am I bothered -not a bit!!!
regards
ralph
The time has come to do the main mechanical parts of this loco... In short -the power bogies!!! Normally I would wander along to my local model shop and pick up a couple of sheets of K&S Brass and chew them to shape. This time however in keeping with the premise that a G3 loco should be cheap to build I have opted for plastic. I "know" very few plastics well -but there is one that I use everyday in my designs and this is TUFNOL. Tufnol comes in a number of "grades" and the type I normally design with is termed; "KITE". The engineering grade is termed; "WHALE". There are also "TROUT" and "CARP" grades! This stuff is dirt cheap -but P&P is a killer.
I ordered my 3mm thick sheet over the net and my 300 x 1,200 piece will come soon. They do do smaller sheets but the P&P is the same regardless of the size of sheet -so it will not go to waste.
It does also give me a chance to play with my new toys that I got for Xmas(!!!)
regards
ralph
Whale Grade TUFNOL 3mm sheet 300 x 1,200 £12.03p
Running total £47.03p
Well now that the weather has warmed up(?) I have returned to my shed (with large mugs of hot steaming tea!) I spent the morning sawing off the tufnol sheet, four 5cm x 30 cm strips with a fine tooth hacksaw. I would advise not using a jigsaw for this, as despite the fact that tufnol is a plastic it generates large amounts of dust that gets blown everywhere... After examining my strips for "squareness" and being vastly disappointed by my sawmanship -I then set up the milling machine and began work. The first job was to produce a straight edge from the strips. I started out by roughly sorting the pieces to some sort of flattish "best side" and drilling a couple of 3mm holes to lock everything into place.
The picture below is "posed" for the camera -there is no way on this Earth that my fingers would be anywhere near a working milling machine!!!
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic21.jpg)
The TiN drill is not really needed for drilling tufnol -but it works very well. You have to use very sharp tools -not because the stuff is hard to cut -but because of the friction and hence heat that blunt tools generate. Heat produces melting and your drill bit rapidly clogs up and if you are not careful it physically welds and embeds itself into your work piece. The only way to remove it -is to break the work piece...
Another problem you will encounter is clamping the work piece to the mill!!! WHALE grade Tufnol is used as a bearing surface, and with the average mill being "slightly oily" the thing skids around when you are cutting it like it was alive. The best method is to clamp it against a soft piece of "sacrificial" wood (I use balsa) thus the friction between the wood and the oily metal is not as high as it would be with just the raw tufnol.
The standard method of milling tufnol is to cut from the edge to the centre -which is the reverse of milling metal. This makes the tufnol turn into dust -rather than having the mill flutes propel shards of sharp tufnol around the mill (and at the operator!) This also prevents the tufnol from cracking.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic22.jpg)
The shot above shows the first pass to produce a "true" edge. The mill is an 8mm HSS one it is going through all 4 sheets (12mm) at about 1000RPM. At this point I am still not sure whether I want to make horn blocks and guides -or simply drill 10mm holes for the bearing to sit in(?)
regards
ralph
I can't find the reference Ralph - but I've a feeling that I've read somewhere that the tufnol dust you are producing is not that good for you (like most things these days it seems) so you might want to wear a face mask during your tufnol 'milling' activities.
IanT,
What you are referring to are "Phenolic Compounds"... NO -they are not very good for you and YES- I am wearing a mask. This stops the dust getting into my lungs -but has the far more important job of stopping the steam from my breath fogging up my safety specs!!! The "Dust Buster" in my shed has had to be emptied twice today -normally the mill gets done with paint brush or a hand brush -but today it gets a vacuum played over it.
I have decided to simply bore holes for the axles rather than going to the trouble of building horns and guides. This will make the model cheaper and easier to build.
I have Sunday Lunch to cook -so I will not be able to get back into my shed until after "a suitable repast", (and maybe a hot water bottle comes with me to the shed!!!)
regards
ralph
Well after a cold morning in the shed.... The tufnol sides of the bogies have been edged with 5mm sq pine strip and the "bonnets" similarly lined -this ensures a perfect fit during assembly / re-assembly. The ends of the bogies are currently held together via 60mm M3 nuts and bolts and a piece of wood that will be the basis for the "cowcatcher".
The initial tests with the scrap box collection of gears and so -on prove the concept will work, (deep sigh of relief!). The inline 5 pole motor drives a worm to a 60 tooth MOD1 gear. This then drives a 40 tooth MOD1 gear this transmits power to the two other 40 tooth MOD1 gears on the rear driving axles, (a so called triangle drive).
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic23.jpg)
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic24.jpg)
The net reduction is 45:1 which sounds rather high but the loco was never designed to move much faster than 45mph, all be it pulling carriages and wagons up a 1 in 70 incline... Also there is my own personal vanity at stake, after having taking all the time and trouble to produce a genuine scotch yoke assembly it would seem to be a waste of time if people cannot see it working(!)
regards
ralph
12Volt 5 pole motor @ £2 each £4.00p
Running total £51.03p
The shot below shows one of the "bonnets" with its motor installed.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic25.jpg)
The next problem is actually one of dynamics.... The IDEAL pivot point is directly in line with the end of "bonnet" closest to the body of the loco. HOWEVER the weight of the motor will make the cornering slightly "sluggish" -so some thought will have to be done (and a few scribblings) to get the point of balance of the bogie to sit directly under the bellows joint between the bonnet and the bodywork. This can only really be done when I have the completed bogie and wheels etc assembled. So, the next step after the gears arrive, I haven't got an invoice yet from Technobots yet -so I can't tot up the running total, is to make some wheels.
I am not very good at making wheels -let me be the first to admit!!! What I have decided to do is order some "slices" of steel rod and then lathe them to shape. After having done this and produced the raw blank the problem then is -do I cut spokes on them? Using the rotary table and my small mill it is possible to cut spokes in a radial manner and then machine out the waste to give the correct look. Something to think and doodle about in the lazy Sunday afternoon....
regards
ralph
Well the nice people at Technobots have dispatched my order, and this is what I bought.
4600-138 MOD 1 40T Plastic Gear 6 £8.16
4600-141 MOD 1 60T Plastic Gear 2 £2.94
4604-012 Metal Shaft 4x150mm Pk 1 £1.49
4601-002 Plastic Sprocket 16T 10 £1.52
4601-006 Plastic Sprocket Chain 1m 1 £4.75
4600-037 Standard MOD 1 Worm Gear 3 £2.19
Total: £27.68
Running total £78.71p
The question is now -how much more do I have to buy and how much more do I have to build? Because it is starting to get "close"... I am now fairly confident that I can build the loco for under the £200 mark.
Excuse me I have to get back to work!!!
regards
ralph
The gears have arrived and I have had the chance to "play" with them. Everything fits as it should -but I am looking at the 3mm thickness of the Tufnol and I feel that this is just too thin to take the bearing load of the loco. So, what I will do is make some washers and bond those either side of the hole in the chassis rail and insert a length of brass tube to take the wear. This will give me 9mm thickness of tufnol and a steel to brass bearing surface -which should be more than adequate(!)
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic26.jpg)
The power take off chain and sprocket will be on the central axle, (the one on the far right of the picture), to the front axle, then a chain and sprocket to the "drive wheel" from the front axle. Mechanically speaking rather messy -but it will keep all the linkages aligned while the beast is in motion...
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic2.jpg)
I would love to go and play in my shed and get it all working -but it is snowing madly and the last time I tried something at these temperatures my skin stuck to bed of the milling machine.
regards
ralph
Such was the madness and desperation that at 8pm last night I gave in, wrapped myself as best as possible went out into my shed and started to play!!!
The next shot shows the start of the Krokodil drive axle. The 16 tooth sprocket has been drilled to 3.9mm and the shaft forced (very unwillingly!) through it... On the ends of this have been placed the drive / flywheel / cranks, (I am going to call it the Krokodil axle), that provides power to the scotch yoke and thus power to the other 6 wheels on the bogie. YES I admit that they are Mamod locomotive wheels and are (mathematically) 0.75 inches (scale) too big, but I bought a scrap bag of them several years ago, some of them have holes and are painted -the rest require "some work"...
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic27.jpg)
After some epoxy the brass screw and steel nut will not move, (ever).
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic28.jpg)
If you examine the drawing above then everything in the above shot should make sense. The drive chain to the front axle allows greater lateral movement, (something that splitting the chain and driving off the Krokodil axle would not). The Krokodil axle is then driven from this and everything should now move in synchronization with the large 60 tooth spur gear (he says....)
Time to start fettling the bonnets to fit to the bogies -this time somewhere nice and warm!!!
regards
ralph
Now that it is (theoretically) British Summer Time and despite the fact that it is snowing outside I am now in a position to begin the final run into the bogies. I ordered my twelve 10mm slices of 55mm steel bar from Mallard Metals and I have some Webb H wheel covers to applique to them.
I had resigned myself to having to cut the wheel blanks and then mill the spokes out on a rotary table -however as I was passing the Williams Models stand I saw the H section wheel covers and these plus some 60thous PlastiKard will become my wheel spokes. I plan to simply CA the brass etches to the sheet and then cut and file the gaps.
regards
ralph
12 H section wheel covers £12.00p
10mm wheel slices 55mm bar £32.35p
Running total £123.06p
After a few very squinty hours with a broach, X-Acto knives, and a set of needle files -I have the following photo. I would have posted it before but, (typically), when the camera started up I got the "please recharge" sign...
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic29.jpg)
So, after having cut five of the six required for one bogie I eventually took the shot.
regards
ralph
I will confess that I think the battery pack in my camera has expired... However at the end of a couple of hours work I faced off the "best sides" for my wheel blanks and then started boring the holes for the axles. The shot below shows the slocomb biting into the wheel blank.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic30.jpg)
This evening work will consist of finishing all the drilling work and to start marking/cutting the flanges.
regards
ralph
Excellent - a bit of lathework on the Forum Cabbage.
I always enjoy seeing a bit of swarf flying around, although my workshop activities yesterday were less successful. Having managed to machine and mount a new backplate to a suprisingly (for me) good fit, I was in the process of drilling the holes for the chuck when the backplate shifted on the angle plate. The first hole doesn't quite line-up. I know it can be rectified but I was not a happy Bunny last night.
Oh, and for our younger readers out there, a 'Slocombe' Drill is also called a 'Centre' Drill and Cabbage is demonstrating good engineering practice by starting/locating his axle hole with one before using a conventional drill. Stops the drill wandering off-centre.
I did use a centre drill to start my hole yesterday, but it's to no avail if the work shifts.... :'(
I have been busy... The following shot shows the mill drilling the offset holes for the wheels. The hole in the Mamod wheel is used as a guide for the drill. The Mamod wheel is bolted through the 3mm hole of the wheel blank.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic31.jpg)
This shot shows the now 8mm thick blank with a section lathed out of it. The spokes inlay sits in a slightly larger hole to allow for the oozing of the epoxy. The crank pin will have to sit between the spokes so once the epoxy has set I will drop an end mill down the crank hole to bore through the ABS/Brass inlay.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic32.jpg)
Soon we might have something in motion(!)
regards
ralph
Well after a "slight problem with returning home"... I can now get back into my shed and catch up on what should be doing -building locos!!! I have lathed to shape all 12 of my blanks -something that is totally boring but I did use some of the suggestions from IanT on the use of collets. This involved unshipping the 3 jaw and fitting the EM32 collet chuck to my lathe and then faffing around with a crowsfoot spanner and a bar to grip the mandrel. I now have a slight case of "spanner rash" when the crowsfoot slipped and I bashed my knuckles on the bar. Note to self -check blood sugar levels more often!!!
I now have one set of wheels nearly ready to begin the main operation of manufacturing the linkages and scotch yoke assembly. This is going to be made from scraps and offcuts of K&S brass section -so I count these as "free". It is going to be made from 1/4 inch 32 thous thick strips for the conrods and 3/4 inch 32 thous for the scotch yoke. I plan to use lengths of brass tube (4mm thick) for the crank bearings and 3mm bolts to supply the crank pins. The whole lot will have to be assembled in a jig (more plywood to set fire to!) and silver soldered together.
Tomorrow I plan to assemble the jig for the linkage -so I will post a completed picture of it. There will (of course) be no point posting an "after" picture... If the masterplan has survived its plastic sleeve from the damp of the shed then the jig will simply be a case of co-ordinate drilling (he says).
regards
ralph
Well this is not the picture you were expecting -but that is sometimes how things are.... The shot shows a "rough up" of the "B" bogie. This shows how it would look after I have fitted the sabots to the wheels. The building of the jig and the conrod construction will have to wait until I have time to go to "Screwfix" for more MAPP gas(!)
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovicpic35.jpg)
regards
ralph
Well after an evening of work -spent mostly uttering Burmese swear words, (a gift from my father!), I have begun cutting the sabots that will hold the wheels to the axles. Because it was the first thing to hand that was the right diameter I used a length of aluminium rod... This was a mistake -however I have got this far so I will have to continue. The idea is that the sabot is threaded and sits on a threaded length of bar (i.e. the axle) and is locked into place via Loctite Green. This is a direct crib from the method I saw being used as a boy -except the wheels where held in place via long pins. This made converting wagons from Cape Gauge to Metre Gauge by turning the wagon wheel three times clockwise -pretty easy!!! The sabot then connects to the drive wheel by the 3mm crank pin through it.
The problem with the aluminium is that it produces long streamers of tinsel which promptly envelope the cutter and flies around the work shop like evilly malign confetti...
regards
ralph
Well after having turned my workshop into a mad version of Xmas with all the aluminium swarf streamers that it produced I have a bogie with six wheels screwed onto the axles. The 19mm dia Aluminium bar was chopped into 11mm lengths and them turned down to 10mm for 6mm of its length. Then six of the twelve sabots were then bored to 4mm and tapped to M5 the remainder drilled to 5mm. The brass rod axles were then tapped to M5 at one end and "loctited" into the threaded holes -this gives me one end of the axle that is fixed and I can use the wheel to pull/push the axle through the chassis sides. The other side of the axle will be drilled and pinned through the sabot for ease of removal.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic37.jpg)
This means all my gears will have to be drilled to 5mm (easy!) and then once both bogies are on rails I can think about the construction of the "Scotch Yoke" and conrods -plus the pivot points. This would then complete the bulk of the mechanical work. Then it is the simple part of wiring all the motors to the relays for fwd/rev and then the ESC to the power supply.
regards
ralph
As most people will have gathered there have been "sight problems" with errant volcanoes... However after having got back home and got rid of the backlog of stuff that had built up I am now able to continue with the loco!!! I have tapped the shafts at one end and then "loctited" them into position. One of the main problems that people get with "sleeve retaining compound" is that don't allow it time to grab solidly-this can take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes -and the joint never quite makes the grade.... My solution to this is to apply bucket loads of compound and then allow the compound to cure overnight. This does mean that you have to clamp whatever it is quite firmly and for extended periods of time. I normally use either the Drill press or my Mill (at the moment I am using both!) to hold the axle in a truly vertical position relative to the wheel while the compound sets.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic38.jpg)
The sabot has been milled from the front to produce the slot that the sawn off M3 bolt will rest in. The shot below shows the section of bolt.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic39.jpg)
By Friday Morning I should have 6 completed axles and then I can move on to the "fun" part of the bogie -building all the linkage. Despite careful examination I am still not sure of the correct dimensions and (to be honest) I don't think that some of the figures on the drawings are anyway accurate. As explained elsewhere the Vulcan drawings are dimensionally suspect as some of them are based on 2cm to the inch(!) What I have a feeling that I am going to have to do -is guess and hope... SLM were an extremely conservative company and really didn't like doing things anew. Thus it is very likely that another loco of theirs has the same power bogie and I can crib from that.
Time to dig out the collection of postcards.
regards
ralph
This is always sort of a "momentous occasion" for me -whatever I build...
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic40.jpg)
The next step is to "crib" the linkage dimensions from a Swiss loco that I found in my collection of postcards -it is termed by Swiss trainspotters as a "Flatiron". This is basically a "Krokodil" bogie with a cab on it -in fact that is exactly how some of them were made... I have put in my "request" to friends at the BLS Transport Museum and I will get them e-mailed me later this week.
regards
ralph
Ralph - it looks great. Reminds me of the old Kitmaster plastic kits and the Swiss Crocodile they made - not that I ever had one - had to content myself with 08 shunter and 4-wheeled railcar!
Just to get an idea of scale, can you please tell us roughly what the overall length and height of the model is?
Mike
The model is 82cm from nose to nose, (the cow catchers and buffers have yet to be made). It stands 19.5cm from the rail to the top of the snorkels and is 12.5cm wide. As you can see it it nearly takes up a complete length of track(!)
regards
ralph
Having just "Googled" for the kits in question, I have to agree with you, if you saw off the front pony truck -you have the GIP loco(!) However they would not be able to get away with that "slight technical error" in description -that is an OBB loco... SBB and BLS "Krokodils" used inclined Kando drives. But on the other hand it does illustrate very clearly the inherently conservative nature of SLM. And (it has to be said) a better possible match than the "Flatiron" that I have been looking at(?)
Thanks Mike!
regards
ralph
So, in English, that's 32in long - a scale 60ft or so. No wonder it looks big! What were they normally used for Ralph, passenger or freight?
Mike
These were originally designed as pure freight haulers in the Ghats and the Deccan Traps area of India. Iron ore was their principle cargo during the GIP era of their lives. Later when the GIP was "submerged" into the Indian State Railways they got used for carriage hauling between stations. They were nicknamed "khats" by the crews (khat =crab in Hindi) and they make a weird moaning noise when stationary -due to cooling stresses of the expanded transmission gear. The pantographs were raised and lowered by means of rubber gloves holding a long length of varnished bamboo. They "locked into position" by catches -and were not held there by compressed air.
It is actually quite a "fun" model to build and I hope it inspires others to have a go with their own "Krokodils" or "Flatirons"!!!
regards
ralph
Post Scriptumn: There have been no further purchases so the running total still stands at £123.06p
After having dutifully emptied my e-mail box this morning and obtained the drawing I required from the BLS Transport Museum I translated the dimensions into G3 and sat down with a Bagel -or two... The Lunchtime Farl was munched in deep meditation... By the evening meal I had a rough idea how I was going to do it -and by 6pm I had enough courage to start operations!!! After some evil marking out, delicate sawing and precision bashing with a hammer -the roughs were ready to meet the drill.
What you are looking at is the raw cut and drilled pieces of K&S brass.
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic41.jpg)
The large rectangular piece has to be cut and shaped into the familiar triangular shape of the Kando. The next shot is the vertical slice through the drive -forgive the mish mash of nuts and bolts -all this will be silver soldered on final assembly
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic42.jpg)
To the important question "does it work?" the answer is yes -it squeaks horribly too!!!
regards
ralph
To the tumultuous cheering of the assembled, "B" bogie moved under its own power for the complete 1 yard length of the test track and duly fell off the end at 8:30 pm this evening!!!
I have to admit that this is one of the nastiest pieces of home made engineering that I have had to do. Even with marking and drilling everything to a fractional millimetre of its life -the thing would still "bind" at the odd angles... I took it apart and gently filed the "egg" shapes for the Kando holes for more times than I care to remember(!) The chief problem I have now is the fact that the bogie is really too light for effective testing and I have had to tape a pair of SLA batteries to it to give it the correct mass for the task -otherwise the thing simply sat there with its wheels going around -going nowhere...
regards
ralph
The last purchases for the loco are the Radio Control (R/C) system and the Electronic Speed Controller (ESC). I could simply home brew the latter but I think that would defeat the purpose of the experiment. As with the NER EE-1 I have opted for a 2.4Ghz transmitter but I have gone for a simple ESC rather than the more complex programmable one I used there. This I believe completes the purchases for the loco so that a final tally can be put down. The remaining parts and so on will come from the scraps pile and bits boxes.
Giant Cod 2.4Ghz 4 Channel Tx and Rx £27.42p
Electronize FR8T-PS £36.60p
This brings the total cost of the build to £187.08p over the course of 9 months.
I may be biased but I think the experiment was well worth it, as it has proved that a Gauge '3' loco can be easily affordable. The biggest expenses were the Wheels and the R/C equipment. The R/C equipment alone accounts for 34% of the total cost and if this were an issue it would be easily possible to use a Dual Pole Dual Throw switch to provide Fwd and Rev from a 2 Volt Sealed Lead Acid battery.
What remains to be done now is the essential "faffing & nit picking" that goes with the end phase of any model, the gap filling, wet sanding and priming that completes the model. I will update what goes on as I finish it -but essentially the construction phase is now complete.
regards
ralph
I prefer a brush (normally 4x1) and a pot of paint to paint my models with. I have never been able to get to grips with and air brush and all I can do is clog the things up. However my de Ville Biss and compressor work perfectly on Gertrude when I spray her lilac every 5 years or so... The last layers of "Brown Lake" have been applied to the body work. This has been the most horrible and vile stuff to work with that I have ever used. It exhibits all the worst points of "Candy Apple" and "Krysta Kryl" automotive paint with none of the advantages.
However it is done(!)
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic45.jpg)
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic46.jpg)
The next task is the give the chassis their coats of paint. I normally use either Red Oxide or Cyanide Blue epoxy paints for this. They may not be the correct colour -but they are tough and very durable.
regards
ralph
After a coolish Sunday in the shed -the home straight is now in sight. I have begun transferring the blu-tacked wiring to the roof to the underside and gluing bolting it into place. There are still two power cables sticking out of the side window -but this is the power input from the shed PSU -a genuine Farnel type 7 lab pack(!) The relays have been glued to the roof, the coolant fan installed in the snorkel chamber and the circuit breaker installed between the batteries. This is I have to admit a personal foible of mine as the first time I took a loco out to a G3 get together the wiring had become shaken by the taxi from the Railway Station and the fuses dislodged and broken, since then I have used circuit breakers...
The pantograph has emerged from the box of K&S tubing as expected this is my own variant on the Henry Greenly pantograph as discussed in "The Newsletter". The kitchen "Creme Brulee" maker also doubles as my blow torch for small silver soldering jobs. Making a "Panto" is not a hard job -it is however mind numbingly tedious. The standard diamond panto requires EIGHT lower arms and EIGHT upper arms. These are duly cut from tube with a small K&S cutter. Then 1cm long stubs of 1mm brass rod are chopped up -you need THIRTY SIX of these... Each 1cm length of rod is then crimped into a 3mm connector -do this THIRTY SIX times. The rods are then fed into the end of the brass tube and crimped -do this THIRTY SIX times. Then when you have done all this, gone out side and screamed(!) you can begin to assemble the bow collectors. I "cheat" and produce a bow collector where the ends of the bow are joined together -this produces a stronger bow and it can take the knocks from impacts that a "true to scale" one would not.
The ends of the bow are bent using the ends of a (modified) clothes peg, this provides a set shape. The ends then have a length of wire placed into them to hold them together while I hit it with the torch and silver solder.
I will post some pictures later.
regards
ralph
Well here before you is the proof of the experiment...
(http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/metrovickpic47.jpg)
£187.08p will buy you an; SLM designed, Vulcan Engineering built, Great India Peninisular Railway owned Articulated Locomotive.
Q.E.D.
regards
ralph