West End Workbench

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jwealleans
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
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Re: West End Workbench

Post by jwealleans »

Busy day today at the bench - largely because tomorrow threatens to be too damn cold to work up there. The sudden appearance of an extra show for Grantham has brought forward quite a few jobs which I thought I had all summer to do, but maybe that's no bad thing. The bench has been a bit crowded.

Main focus is still the J4 - refitted the motor, added pickups, tested with the rods back aboard, another session fettling then a test run on the layout. There's supposed to be a 50/50 chance of wiring these things backwards, so how do I manage it every time? Anyway, with that sorted, added the tender pickups and plug connection and she's good to go.

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There's also a short video of it running along the fiddle yard here.

Much of the other work has been making sure locos are staffed and equipped with fire irons. I usually do this as I go along but some recent ones needed catching up and others had simply been missed. It's a small thing overall but it adds to the general impression when you view a layout. I think most of not all of the following have appeared in these pages before:

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LRM J21. Built by Ron Goult, bought from Tony Wright and i built a new set of frames and mechanism for it last year. I use the Springside fire irons, which I paint as far as I can while they're still stuck to the card then glue in place and touch in the paint afterwards. You can see that this one needs some touching in (which I have since done).

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One of Ron Goult's products - D11, bought via Tony Wright (is there a theme here?) at Doncaster Show and not much touched other than adding tender pickups. The loco/tender connection had been broken at Fareham so while that was attended to the other details were added.

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Ks J3. This loco has worked on Grantham since the start, which more or less coincided with me buying it. Because it's never been any trouble it's been largely left to get on with it, but after I spotted it in a couple of photos it's had lamp irons and now a whistle as well as crew and tools.

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This is the Hitchin C2. Neither loco had a crew. This has also had tender pickups fitted as when tested on Grantham it was a bit unreliable when moving round the shed. Hopefully it's now fit for general service as opposed to main line only.

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The other Hitchin atlantic, 3272, has had the motor removed and awaits a High Level mechanism. The frames are battleship quality, but a SlimLiner will fit between them fairly easily. It remains to be seen whether this one makes Harrogate as we have a few C1s and I understand there's a guest one coming along.

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Crew need painting, of course and there's another batch on the way along with some ModelU guards for the brake vans I built after Warley.

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Lastly an Ebay buy last summer which I'll be taking along to try out. NuCast K2 with a Portescap, but when it arrived it's been really well built. Beam compensation on loco and tender, fully lined (with transfers, must have taken hours) and now it's been cleaned up runs really well. It looks to me as though whoever built it was a much better - or more careful - modeller than whoever owned it latterly as it's had a few bashes and scrapes. It's also going to be a bit of a challenge putting tender pickups onto it, it's all very crowded underneath. For the moment it'll do coal train duty at Harrogate so I can keep an eye on it and we'll try it round the shed if there's an opportunity.
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manna
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
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Re: West End Workbench

Post by manna »

G'Day Gents

GN heaven.......... :D :D :D

manna
EDGWARE GN, Steam in the Suburbs.
jwealleans
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
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Joined: Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:46 am

Re: West End Workbench

Post by jwealleans »

I've been in a bit of a loco spell this last couple of weeks - some of it servicing the LSWR fleet from Ormesby Hall - but while the spirit was willing and the mojo flowing, I just went with it.

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J4 is now ready for running trials as the weather is conveniently warming up.

I went digging in boxes and found another candidate for attention. During lockdown there were a conspicuous number of K3s appearing on Ebay. I acquired one and then in a fit of forgetfulness bought another. This is one of them, looked nicely enough built, mechanics a bit suspect but I think I got it for south of £75, which made it almost worth it for the wheels alone. When I dug it out last week, the motor was all but inert, but with that removed the wheels and motion were free and smooth, so it was worth working on, I thought.

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Bodywise, I want this one to be 1125 from the 1931 batch. That meant a late cab, which was not what the kit had. So, doing the opposite to most people modifying a K3 I removed the kit cab and fitted a Bachmann one. It wasn't too bad a fit either. I've had to remake the rear body fixing, change to LHD and take off some BR era details which the builder had left on, but it's not been a huge amount of work so far.

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I had a High Level gearbox and motor in stock as it happened so those went in yesterday and we now have a moving set of frames. I will have to fit some plastikard covers to mask the huge motor cutout, but that's no real hardship.

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It will tow a Bachmann tender too - this came from the donor loco which ended up as 229 with the fancy Hulburd water heater. I've stripped off the vacuum tanks and am making provision for tender pickups here.

There have been a few wagons too of course. This D & S GN open went round twice on Ebay before I bid on it. I think people might have been put off by a scruffy corner in the seller's picture. Scrape out the glue and solder it and job's a good'un.

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The Airfix brake vans have now been staffed - with the same bloke in different poses, so let's hope they don't cross on the layout.

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Finally the Toad E from the little collection of wagons I was given last year has had all the detailing added and a waft of primer to move it along.

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jwealleans
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
Posts: 4206
Joined: Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:46 am

Re: West End Workbench

Post by jwealleans »

Bit of loco testing this evening. Recorded for posterity here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTJFztWduPc

It shows the value of having a test track or small layout and also putting a load onto a loco. The K2 and K3 were fine - the K2 visibly freed up with a bit of running, so I might just try that on a passenger on Grantham to give it a good long run. The J4 was fine light, but a load showed the need for more weight in the tender and also a bit more freedom of movement between loco and tender. I think the wires on the tender plug may be too rigid at the loco side - they're very floppy on the tender end. I have added more weight at the rear of the loco as well as it had a bit of a tendency to flick the rear wheels off on curved joints and was a bit light footed generally. There's a big gap in the frames under the motor which i could fill with lead sheet, but I'd have to take the motor off to do it now so it's not going to happen unless there's no alternative. I still have space in the boiler to fill.
jwealleans
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
Posts: 4206
Joined: Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:46 am

Re: West End Workbench

Post by jwealleans »

starting to wrap up what will and won't be complete for Harrogate. High Level are awaiting a component for the SlimLiner gearbox, so the Hitchin C1 is now unlikely to make the cut.

1125 will be there, though, now identified and lined out.

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I fancied something different last night and so I built this. I've had a Hattons Warwell for a while - really nice wagon, very heavy but nicely detailed casting, runs really freely. I was casting round for something to put onto it and this came back to mind. I'd built the tractor a few years ago so the pair seemed a nice idea.

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The bowser only took a couple of hours with the smallest bit on the iron. The tractor was a great deal more work - I'd forgotten just how fiddly it is and I managed to lose one of the microscopic etched parts from the front suspension. It'll go into an open and might just be partly sheeted to draw a veil over my clumsiness.

Finally I had these printed by John Peck this week.

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If you're an intensive user of the HMRS lettering sheet as I am, these are some of the bits you run out of first. Large lettering NE, 10, 12 and 20 ton weights and some of the more common identifiers - with a FRUIT closer to the actual size (the HMRS one is too big). I've lettered these with them today:

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John has the master PDF, so by all means contact him directly if you'd like a set. I emailed him on Friday morning and they came in Saturday's post, so you can't fault the service.
jwealleans
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
Posts: 4206
Joined: Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:46 am

Re: West End Workbench

Post by jwealleans »

With the show imminent it's time to finish off any new stuff and concentrate on servicing and repairs to the existing stock. These are all now finished except for fire irons for the Hornby pair which came from Wizard this week and are drying.

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4040 suitably scruffy and with an injector concerning the fireman, perhaps?

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1125. The image I have of her at the bottom of the ECML in 1938 shows a relatively clean loco, so I've tried to emulate that here.

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10000 was an acquisition at Doncaster last year and really just needed weathering. It would be nice to be able to pull in the loco/tender gap, but then these locos won't fit in the box and there's not time or space in the frenzy at the end of a show to start messing about taking screws out. At least they do now go into the box with drain cocks fitted, unlike earlier models.

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2839 I've wanted to do for a while and in the recent Gresley Society B17/B2 special issue there was a picture of her on the turntable at Grantham in 1938. That was enough motivation. I picked the plates up from 247 at Doncaster.

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Insul-meat van will probably go into the perishables train for Harrogate. The other is SWMBO's Warley project which is now complete.

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Finally this isn't for Grantham but is the last of the wagons Vernon kindly sent me some time ago.
carlislecitadel2
LNER N2 0-6-2T
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Re: West End Workbench

Post by carlislecitadel2 »

Lovely work there Jonathan. Your weathering looks spot on.
Woodcock29
LNER Thompson B1 4-6-0 'Antelope'
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Re: West End Workbench

Post by Woodcock29 »

Hi Jonathan
Love all of the above recently worked on models.

With my 10000 I removed the sheeting around the water filler as it appears to have only run with this for a couple of months before it was removed. I'm still to cut back the streamlined plating at front of the tender as some silly duffer added coal before he decided to do that!

I'm reusing the rear plating in a modified form on the tender of my silver Silver Fox. I've worked out from photos that the rear plating on those first 4 streamlined corridor tenders had gaps each side between the plating around the water filler and the curved over side plating. Still to finally fit it and extend the front streamlined top plating.
Andrew
jwealleans
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
Posts: 4206
Joined: Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:46 am

Re: West End Workbench

Post by jwealleans »

Thanks, Andrew. i confess to not having spent any time reading up on the loco,so it is as it came. The fairing round the water filler lifts out as you know,so it was removed to paint and weather underneath it then replaced, but it's only held in with Tacky Wax so it can be dispensed with if necessary.

Reshaping the front of the tender sounds more drastic. I'll take the time to consider that one, I think.
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Dave
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
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Re: West End Workbench

Post by Dave »

Great work as always Jonathan.

Looking forword to meet up in Harrogate and seeing the Austrailian convict.
jwealleans
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
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Re: West End Workbench

Post by jwealleans »

Bit of a catch up for anyone who doesn't frequent RMWeb or the relevant threads on there. Grantham went to Harrogate as was mentioned, so here are a few stock shots, mainly on the Saturday morning prior to opening.

There were a number of Ivatt Atlantics on shed when I walked round:

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3276 (DJH, left) going off shed and 3251 (Bachmann) coming on.

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4412 (WSM) at the shed exit, next engine off.

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3272 and 3255 (both scratchbuilt, ex-Hitchin) on test after overnight attention. We had quite a few new running problems, usually reliable locos failing in places where nothing generally goes wrong. Eventually the penny dropped that we had live steam across the aisle and it was showering the layout with oil. Regular track cleaning then helped, but we did suffer more than usual and those locos I've serviced since coming home have absolutely filthy wheel treads.

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Also on shed, 3027 (LRM).

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This is 4151's regular working, I seem to recall having pictured it in exactly this spot before.

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4040 ran on the down mineral empties and performed just as you'd hope.

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A couple which aren't mine: Red Leader's 3050 (LRM) in the carriage siding awaiting the call forward to Platform 5.

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Steve Pearce, who I don't think posts on here, brought this lovely scratchbuilt O1. We also had Jesse Sim over from Australia (the dates of his visit were a happy coincidence) and he brought some stock which we put out and ran.

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The Dolphins are scratchbuilt, the others 51l/D&S.

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He's converted a Bachmann C1 to 4419 using an A1 cab - here it is on shed.

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He weathered this DJH A2 and we ran it on the perishables for much of the weekend.

Finally, it's been years since I've been allowed a new wagon, but there was one this weekend. Prototype information in Bill Hudson's Private Owner wagon book, Vol 5 and the transfers are now available from Powsides.

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jwealleans
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
Posts: 4206
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Re: West End Workbench

Post by jwealleans »

Since the show I've been tinkering with some repairs and wheel cleaning but have also finished this which was a gift from Jesse. It ultimately came from the estate of nerron, who was a frequent and knowledgeable poster on this site.

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The 7mm version is still available. Lots and lots of layering and overlays - if you want to practice woith your RSU, this is a kit to look out for.
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Robpulham
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
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Re: West End Workbench

Post by Robpulham »

A nice selection, does the other side of 4419 have the booster engine pipe work?

I have a couple of those 7mm pipe wagons awaiting a rainy day...
jwealleans
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
Posts: 4206
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Re: West End Workbench

Post by jwealleans »

I can't look now as it's on it's way back to the Far Colonies, but I don't believe it did, no. It's supposed to be in late 1930s condition.
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Dave
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Re: West End Workbench

Post by Dave »

Are you bringing the Dick tank and Ann Summers van on Sunday.
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