Hi Andy, There were a number built during the war by the GWR for the War Office. This is one of them. Even odder is the 8F's that were built by the Southern Railway for the LNER which after the war went back to the LMS... They were Classed as 06 by the LNER. They also built some directly for the LMS There were also 8F's built by the LNER and on loan to them for the duration. Images copyright of GW Railwayana auctions used for educational purposes only.
Back when I got this kit 12 or more years ago there were no buffer heads in with it. Apparently they were supplied by Ron Chaplin and he had just retired. I really should have pestered Dave Shap for some replacements but time went on and it's too late now. To get around it I imported the drawing into Fusion 360 and scaled it I then drew up the head to get dimensions and from there a happy few hours were spent turning some from some mild steel bar. I wasn't thinking when I picked up a 6ba screw/nut thinking it was 8ba. I drilled out the buffer castings to take 6ba before realising my mistake so I made the buffer heads to take a 6ba nut. Fortunately I found some suitable springs. They just need blackening now.
Lovely workman ship and get around there Rob... these must be heavy duty buffers in model form and fitted to an 8F which is capable of hauling 45 fully loaded unfitted hoppers with a total weight of nearly 2000 tons from Oakamoor on the Warrington Widnes sand job. On a factual note a BR cost saving experiment during the mid 1960's was for the Saturday morning trip (usually a Stoke rostered 8F ) to lift two full train loads of sand from Oakamoor as one long consist... the engine ran round at Leek and the wagon rake was so long it had to be shunted out in two halves for the onward run down the Leek line to Stoke Junction... what a sight that must have been but one solitary 8F was all that was needed. The experiment was discontinued as it proved to be too labourious and time consuming operation... no fitted head in those days... it was all down to driver and guard skill when stopping the train using only engine brakes and the screw brake in the guards van. Apologies for busting in on your excellent build thread with my entirely useless chirpings.
Needing a bit of a break from re-drawing the Firebox for the Princess my thoughts turned to front lamp irons. As I was working out what was needed I got side tracked by working out how I might machine some of the double lamp irons that the GWR fitted to the 8F's that they built Not the best photo as it's a snip from a much larger photo found on the net to illustrate what I am talking about. The MOK kit does provide etches to make up this version of the lamp irons but I am not keen on etched lamp irons. I also thought that I would like to do them from nickel as the rest of the kit is nickel but I didn't have any nickel bar thick enough. I do have some 5mm rod so my first step was to machine the end square in the mill. Then it was a case of working out how best to mill out the bits in between the lamp irons. I milled a groove down one corner of the square section and then rotated the part to carefully mill from the opposite corner to leave the two upright irons the tops were then rounded with a file before cutting off the main piece. I could have transferred the work piece to the lathe and part it off but I just cut it with a piercing saw them popped it in the vice jaws and milled the bottom flat.
I’ve not seen lamp irons like that before or perhaps I haven’t noticed them. Multipurpose irons, forward thinking by the GWR again. Ducks behind sandbags.
Today I have made the final set of lamp irons for the 8F and thought I would share the method because it occurred to me that while I have used the mill the same result and basic method could be followed by someone with a file. I started with some flat nickel bar I cut off four 40mm lengths and soldered them together. Once soldered together I milled all the edges flat. I needn't have done the ends but with the mill it was a simple task. Here I have milled out the front of the iron. Then I turned the block over and milled out the rear This is the finished job before cutting off with a piercing saw and separating them. The finished individual lamp irons ready for final clean up with a file. From the 40mm strips, I got eight lamp irons and I have enough material left already soldered together for a further eight which I will cut and put in the spares box.
Over the weekend in between checking over the Princess Firebox drawings, I fitted all the new lamp irons and I am happy that the upper tender is now complete. I did straighten that bent middle lamp iron after seeing the photos. I also replaced the etched Irons that are built into the MOK etches for the storage of spare lamps on the tender front. I see that I should have made a better job of rinsing and drying after washing it too as the Flash Liquid seems to have left tide marks..
What would be a good product to remove these tide marks? I presume its some sort of bleach ingredient in Flash.
I agree Andy, but that would have been after many years of service. This will ultimately be depicted in the first few years of life so not too banged up.
Very long exhale, I've just been turning Robs posts into a Word doc, to form my instructions. Now away to sit in a darkened room to recover. Also downloaded the instructions from the ScaleSevern site, where David Coulshed (in conjunction with Dave Sharp of MOK) has produced instructions (and Dave Sharp has produced complimentary parts) to allow an S7 build. Got most of the parts, just need to get the motor and gearbox, and decide on the appropriate victim. Paul
Paul, Best of luck transforming your kit into a Pulham like equivalent, i look forward to reading all about it.
The kit is designed for an RG7 but they haven't been available for a long time, ABC also did an inline unit especially for the 8F (it's what I have for mine) but I believe that ABC are pretty much out of production due to impending retirement and providing the motor gearbox units for Ellis Clarks forthcoming Black 5's. I would suggest that you enquire of either MSC or Slaters to see if they do an inline motor/gearbox which would be suitable. This is the sort of thing that you are looking for Obviously it doesn't need to have a Maxon motor. I must admit if I could find a suitable source of metal gears I would have a go at making my own gearboxes.
Now you have opened a can of worms Try Ultrascale for gears - better known for the thier replacement wheel sets for 4mm. They have a good calculator for working out the pitch centers for the gears. I used the calculator for constructing the gearbox for the Passenger tank, and 3D printed the gears. You can also get a cutting tool for your mill - you will need a dividing head, and just make your own. That'll slow him down a bit Paul
who me stirring it - never The gears I made for the passenger tank, were created in Solidworks by a friend. I will look at how difficult gears are to make in Fusion 360. I have looked at Slaters and MSC, and emailed MSC (till awaiting a reply), they do an inline gearbox but it's for diesels and limited to 14:1 I will try ABC and see if I can get the RG7 replacement, otherwise I may be going down the Pulham route and going for a DIY solution , I'd prefer a ratio of approx 50 or 60:1 as this is a frieght loco and top speed is not really a concern, but I like having the motor spinning faster at low speeds. Paul
I have a rotary table which can be used flat or vertical so it would be a case of working out how many degrees between each tooth. You can also cut gears using a fly cutter which makes setting it up a little cheaper but.. There is always a but. I would like to cut/buy helical gears rather than the normal spur gear type. Some research needed I think.