Sorry about the angle this shot was taken at, but it is difficult to get it all in. This is the
ladderwork for supporting the footplates and the side tanks. I had to make up four angle brackets and
this tested my welding technique once again! Not too bad and the welds are hidden underneath the floor.
The valences required a bit of welding too and some building up to create a curve.
Nothing special about the draincocks and I've made them in the conventional way and not as I did for
the Romulant, because there is adequate space under the cylinders. I seem to find it difficult to get
stainless springs suitable for this job so I make my own from springy bronze wire which was left over
from my clock making days. They have been OK in the past.
The lever system is as near a copy to the full size as I can make it without knowing exactly how the down link
is bent. The large extended bushes are so that the down link can be kept close to the cylinder and not
interfere with the bogie turning. It's also another thing I can't complete until the boiler is in place.
The reach rod from the cab might well have to have a bend in it.
However, the buffer beams have a slot for the coupling to be able
to swing through a large arc. I assume this was to cater for the twisting track likely to be encountered
behind the front lines. I should have liked to have had castings for the buffer block, but making the
mould and finding somebody to make a small one-off casting, would have been too time consuming. I made
both front and rear blocks from various lumps of steel. These I welded together and by grinding and
filling with weld, I was able to make a strong shape which resembled full size.
Such a long shaft with some sort of shock absorber was a bit of a problem. The photo shows the componets.
Inside the larger tube is a double spring with a fixed disc between so that it can compress and expand under
tension. Not that I'm expecting to use it very much. It had to be able to be assembled on the job as
the larger tube wouldn't pass through the slot in the beam. It also copies the full size design which
has a vertical slot and a hole from the side for connecting to the next carriage or engine; not much
use to our usual connections to the club carriages.
The pivot in the photo is just a bolt but now it's finished this is a proper pivot pin with a niloc nut fitted.
The rear buffer/coupling should be the same but axle pumps have been fitted so there isn't space. It
proved to be much easier to make.
The pumps' stretcher plate making an ideal stop for the springs to act against. All that was required was
a suitable hole drilled through and this I did in situ. The springs are much stronger to cope with the
main driving load.
I also modified the block to take a vertical pin but keeping the outline much the same as full size.
The hole in the stretcher is also angled. This allows the unit a small amount of swing with the springs
acting as a centralizing force.
I've been in touch with the boiler maker and it's still the same reply as last month; try again in six weeks! I still have much to do so I won't be idle.