Sentinel Cammell steam railcar kit

[2512silverfox]

Pretty sure that Rising Sun spent much of its time around Hitchin and Hertford North together with Royal Forrester.

Under frames and buffer beams etc were black with green and cream livery.

[Graeme Leary]

Thanks silverfox - so no sign of red buffers then I take it. (And do you know of any Sentinels who's area of running was mainly around Yorkshire?)
Graeme

[earlswood nob]

Good morning all

Sentinels were rare in West/South Yorkshie area, which interests me.

However, there were Sentinels at Hull, Selby, Whitby, Scarborough and Starbeck in 1932.

Cleveland and Surprise were at Selby.

Hope and Defiance were at Whitby.

Emerald and Norfolk were at Starbeck.

Hull had several 2-cyl railcars and Celebrity and Cornwallis of the 6-cyl variety.

Earlswood nob

[Graeme Leary]

Thanks Earslwood nob (and all this going on while down here south of the equator we were sound asleep!)
Graeme

[Graeme Leary]

Pleased to report that my Sentinel with a Black Beetle replacing the supplied motor is 'up and running'. Just need to fit the passengers in, fix the roof on and all will be well - and running on my rural branchline which, at a stretch, could be said to be out of Whitby (hence reason I've selected 'Hope' as the name after reading Earlswood Nob's comments).
If I can master the art of transferring photos on to the forum I will send a copy as proof that the job is done (and many thanks to all of you for your very helpful contributions on this subject).
Graeme

[Sniffer]

Hi Graeme,

So was it relatively easy swapping the Tenshodo for the Black Beetle ? Feasible for a novice like me ?

And here I'm probably laying myself open for derision. But...
Can it be achieved without resorting to the dreaded soldering iron ? Just never mastered the art.
I'm sure it goes back to my early years at secondary modern when I opted for Home Economics rather than metalwork.

(In my defence I got to make stuff I could scoff on the long walk home !)

[Graeme Leary]

Apologies for belated reply sniffer. Yes, it was easy for my 'go to' guy who did the job so can't take any credit. However, should be seeing him this week so will ask him what 'technique' he may have used. Soldering (to me) is a bit like witchcraft but unlike you I didn't have a fall-back learning alternative that provided me with sustenance!
Will get back once I've got an answer.
Graeme

[Graeme Leary]

Hello Sniffer,
Spoke to my tech guy and the news is NOT good - you will have to teach yourself a few soldering skills to install the Black Beetle motor. He said it's quite easy but he has been modelling railways for about a hundred years so nothing of this sort is a problem - I'm just grateful he lives about 1/2 an hour from where I do as, like you, soldering is also an arcane art to me! (Just a phone conversation so didn't get any details of the procedure).
Good luck.
Graeme

[earlswood nob]

Good morning all

I suppose that I was lucky as my father was an extremely good handyman (when he wanted to be) and taught me the basics of soldering as a schoolboy.

I had a so called "Classic" education which did not include metalworking and the woodworking instruction wasn't very good. Many of my old schoolfriends who are railway modellers, say the same about our education, and remark that they learnt their modelling skills after leaving school.

I dabbled in slot-car racing as a student, and the experts worked in a so-called "Instrument Workshop". Many of these workers were railway modellers as well, including a few who were building large scale steam models. I learnt so much from them, including techniques such as motor rewinding and cutting gears, that I've never used since those days of half a century ago.

Some of the best advice that I remember from those days was; (1) Think about what you're doing and decide on a plan of work, and (2) Don't rush, take your time.

I used glue for the first few white metal kits, but read of soldering them in the railway press. I soon made a soldering iron controller from a dimmer switch, which was only replaced by a decent temperature controlled controller a few years ago. It wasn't too difficult after that, but there were a couple of instances of damaged castings because the iron was too hot.

A few minutes practice soldering brass strips together and soldering electrical connections to those strips can give the confidence needed to start soldering.

I seem to remember Blink Bonny posting a thread on this forum about the art of soldering.

Earlswood nob

[Graeme Leary]

Yes, had heard and read about the 'ease' of soldering so sailed with gusto into my first white metal project. Can only say that after I cleaned up the molten silvery ooze all over my bench I was pleased it was a Langley 4.95 'market stall' kit and not a 100+ quid loco. So at the time I started the Sentinel kit I was still playing it safe and used one of those amazing CA glues - the only downside being that I scratched my eyebrow and it took about 10 minutes to separate my hand from my head!
If kit building (loco that is) is attempted again I might just upgrade my soldering equipment and try it - very cautiously.
Graeme

[Sniffer]

Hello Sniffer,
Spoke to my tech guy and the news is NOT good - you will have to teach yourself a few soldering skills to install the Black Beetle motor. He said it's quite easy but he has been modelling railways for about a hundred years so nothing of this sort is a problem - I'm just grateful he lives about 1/2 an hour from where I do as, like you, soldering is also an arcane art to me! (Just a phone conversation so didn't get any details of the procedure).
Good luck.
Graeme

Hi Graeme, don't like the sound of that. Paid a few bob for the finished kit, so I can't risk turning it into a puddle of molten metal!

Any chance your "man that does" could fettle mine for a suitable fee ?

(Bit cheeky but worth asking.)

[Graeme Leary]

Hello sniffer; he probably could but either you'd have to get on a plane and bring it to New Zealand, or maybe fly him across to the UK (presume that's where you are). As he's an ex Sussex man he'd probably chose the 2nd option but I'll sound him out about any detail he might be able to help with.
There is another (mad) thought - if all else fails and it suits you (and him) I'm coming over to the UK myself in 2 weeks time (for 3 weeks) and would happily bring it back here for him to 'minister' to and return. Just a thought.
Graeme

[earlswood nob]

Good morning all

I may be wrong, but I think the only soldering needed for a Black Beetle is the electrical connections. In fact I think they have self-contained pickups so would work without anymore connections. However they would need alterations if DCC is to be fitted.

I personally would fit additional pickups to the non-driving bogie, which would need soldering to the Black Beetle.

I don't think there is any need to solder white metal parts of the Railcar kit.

Earlswood nob

[mick b]

Good morning all

I may be wrong, but I think the only soldering needed for a Black Beetle is the electrical connections. In fact I think they have self-contained pickups so would work without anymore connections. However they would need alterations if DCC is to be fitted.

I personally would fit additional pickups to the non-driving bogie, which would need soldering to the Black Beetle.

I don't think there is any need to solder white metal parts of the Railcar kit.

Earlswood nob

I agree mine was done the same way.

[Sniffer]

Hi Graeme, didn't realise you were in New Zealand !

That's a very kind offer by the way, by I'll try to find someone a little more "local".
Thanks again for all your replies.