The Bigbee Line Posted January 16, 2020 Author Share Posted January 16, 2020 The 4 axle guards and shortened wheel sets are now in position. When the cement has dried I will add some additional pieces of styrene around the base of the axle guard to form a mechanical bond. Hopefully it will get fitted today and I can get the brake work fitted. If I can find some fine tube I’ll make the brake cross shaft in 2 halves with a small pin to make the joint down the centre line of the wagon. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted January 16, 2020 Author Share Posted January 16, 2020 (edited) The underframe is getting there. First is the too long and not high enough version. With the improved version Next what a difference in floor height.... Edited January 16, 2020 by The Bigbee Line 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted January 16, 2020 Author Share Posted January 16, 2020 Tonight is buffer night.. The prototype is vacuum fitted, so will follow the Southern Railway method of packing out the buffer with a piece of oak timber. This gave the desired projection to match the RCH Screw coupling that was fitted. The carpentry looks quite random, just the job as it will match my cutting skills.. I've used a set of Parkside buffers as fitted to the Southern Railway Pillbox Brake. A piece of styrene from the scrap box had some holes drilled to take the buffers spigots. The projection looks OK, the edges needs a bit of filing before fixing. I need to put some thought into the fixing of the styrene to the card... 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted January 17, 2020 Author Share Posted January 17, 2020 Busy with work, but found time to have a fettle with the buffers. The first one is in position, I created a styrene plate at the back of the headstock with a piece of scrap joining the plate to the buffer base, to give a kind of clamping effect. When the cement has set I will add some wire 'bolts' to create another additional mechanical bond... A quick coat of paint shows the effect. Looks quite good... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted January 17, 2020 Author Share Posted January 17, 2020 I also separated the 2 halves of the underframe. Then with the wheelsets out, added some scrap styrene to hold the axleguards solidly. I'll also round off the rough ends of the axles.... 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium airnimal Posted January 17, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 17, 2020 I have never seen a solution to fitting wheel sets like that before. Splitting the chassis in half is new to me but I will keep It in the bank for future reference. They is more than one way to skin a cat as the old saying goes. It is good to learn new ways even after scratch building for over 40 years. Many thanks. Mike 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted January 17, 2020 Author Share Posted January 17, 2020 Mike I am a just a 'hacker', but I have some goals. One is to be able to maintain the underneath of the wagon, and I have a pet hate, which is a wagon where the wheelsets are trapped in the underframe. I did start by fixing one side frame and screwing the other. This method uses just 2 screws to hold the underframe halves. If there needs to be adjustment, some packing can be added to the required corner. With this underframe I will create the lift link brake gear using parts from the spares box. I will ditch the moulded safety loops and use thin wire. I have some thin metal brake levers that can be bent and shaped. That is for tomorrow.... Just being thrashed by Linda... Don't get excited just a spelling game with 13 dice..... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted January 18, 2020 Author Share Posted January 18, 2020 The first job this morning was to clean out the hole at the back of the headstock and get a buffer face fitted. I'm pleased with the effect. It has a nice spring action, so One down Three to go... 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted January 19, 2020 Author Share Posted January 19, 2020 Slight change of subject... Nothing strange there then... During a visit to a friend I had the offer to rummage in his spares / surplus box.... Apart from some brakework, there were the ends of a Plate wagon. These looked like a potential base for another wagon, so in the tool box they went.... There are plenty of drawings about, but would these ever have run onto the Southern Region? I look at wagons in the back ground of other pictures and last night, came across this.. In the same shot is 34066 with cut down tender, so that narrows the time frame A clasp braked, vacuum fitted plate. Fitted with Roller Bearings, shame I can't read the number.. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted January 20, 2020 Author Share Posted January 20, 2020 I have glued / cemented the buffers in position. Thinking about a mechanical bond would be an improvement I drilled some holes and use a couple of fine track pins as bolts. Crude but effective. When the excess pin has been clipped off, I’ll cover the pins with a plastic / solvent mix. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted January 20, 2020 Author Share Posted January 20, 2020 (edited) After my crude but effective buffer bolts, I thought I would refine my skills. Most of the time I can’t really see what I’m doing. Maybe my magnifying lamp would help. Also some better focussed pictures.... These are the bolts as moulded... The with the bolt trimmed off and hole started... Keeping the drill square, the hole is made.... I used a larger drill to create a small countersink. Then pushed a pin through into some foam for a revealing close up. In the cruel close up you can see the bolt is over scale. I can file down the head of the pin, even making the prototypical hexagon head..... But it isn’t too bad as it is. I will cement in place to start and use two bolts on the diagonal. Edited January 20, 2020 by The Bigbee Line 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted January 21, 2020 Author Share Posted January 21, 2020 (edited) The race is on to get the buffers fitted at the other end. I’ve decided on 2 bolts per buffer. The heads of the pin will get a faux hex head. Trimmed to length and bent over across the back of the card headstock. Here are the holes drilled... just waiting for a fettle.... The headstocks have the holes ready for the shafts. Fettled and glued. There are no springs fitted at the moment. The shanks are acting as locating dowels. The metal plate needs the slot for the coupling and some faux bolts. I’m going to use a Peco short shanked hook and Dapol screw coupling, with no springing..... So later on I can drill the holes and fit the bolts through the buffer shanks. Edited January 21, 2020 by The Bigbee Line 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted January 21, 2020 Author Share Posted January 21, 2020 (edited) Buffer shanks all done. So drilled some holes for the underframe. I had to trim some plastic from the ends. Here in place. I still need to do some packing to level off the wheel sets. Now sitting on its own wheels..... The roof has had another coat of paint, first on the new gutters. Couplings, buffers and door bars next.... It’s hard to believe it’s mainly card.... Edited January 21, 2020 by The Bigbee Line 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted January 21, 2020 Author Share Posted January 21, 2020 Parkside Southern Railway Buffers - As supplied with the Pill Box Brake. Does anyone think the springs are too stiff. The seem to get coil bound after very little stroke. Has anyone else any thoughts? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 Ernie, I was looking for something and came across my pillbox brake. To my consternation I found 3 of 4 buffers seized. I was able to get 2 of these working again by twisting and oiling. The 3rd came off. I disassembled and found that the spring appears to be oversize. I raided my spares and found a spring of slightly smaller dia. This worked well. So, I think that the springs are oversize and get jammed in the bore. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted January 22, 2020 Author Share Posted January 22, 2020 35 minutes ago, brossard said: Ernie, I was looking for something and came across my pillbox brake. To my consternation I found 3 of 4 buffers seized. I was able to get 2 of these working again by twisting and oiling. The 3rd came off. I disassembled and found that the spring appears to be oversize. I raided my spares and found a spring of slightly smaller dia. This worked well. So, I think that the springs are oversize and get jammed in the bore. John John, Thanks for sharing your misfortune.. I am going to experiment by using a very small amount of grease on the buffers of one wagon... That's after I have chemically blackened the buffer heads.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 When you blacken steel, it will discolour and, if left, might even rust. This is not a problem, I take a fiber brush and give the buffers a bit of a polish. This leaves a nice patina. I also like to take the brush and further polish the convex area of the buffer head where it is in contact with other buffers. John 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike hughes Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 On 21/01/2020 at 22:39, The Bigbee Line said: Parkside Southern Railway Buffers - As supplied with the Pill Box Brake. Does anyone think the springs are too stiff. The seem to get coil bound after very little stroke. Has anyone else any thoughts? I found there too tight in there and had to drill them out just bit bigger, can't remember which size drill Michael Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted February 2, 2020 Author Share Posted February 2, 2020 Tidy up and trip to the tip day today. I found an old jig saw blade, so decided to make another 3 link former. The end of the blade was heated to red hot and after cooling had the square edges rounded off. I tightly wrapped some wire round the former... Using a cutting disc cut just over half way through. The idea was to push them off and divide. They were a sod to get off. In the end the gave in and they came off... Quite mangled, but they would go back on the former for a fettle..... Some tweaking.... Another length was wound on. This time a bit looser. To make them easier to get off I decided to cut them completely.... They vibrate off on their own.... So again a fettle.... before.... And after..... They still need some work as the sides need to be parallel. The former is going to have a very slight taper added to ease removal of links at stage 1. 3 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted February 2, 2020 Author Share Posted February 2, 2020 Fitted the underframe to a 10’ wb Mineral. The axle guards are individually fitted using my shared screw system.... Two fixings on each axle guard with only 4 screws in total... The screws are recycled from electrical components.... I had previously use longer screws. But these are nice and short so don’t go through the floor. I can model an empty wagon... Plus I’ll leave this to remind me to thank Mr Tri-ang... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poor Old Bruce Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 When cutting your coupling links Ernie, if you use a razor saw rather than a slitting disc you will get a neater and closer cut which should need less follow-up work. Your links look like copper wire so it should cut fairly easily. Richard 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted February 3, 2020 Author Share Posted February 3, 2020 1 hour ago, Poor Old Bruce said: When cutting your coupling links Ernie, if you use a razor saw rather than a slitting disc you will get a neater and closer cut which should need less follow-up work. Your links look like copper wire so it should cut fairly easily. Richard Thanks for the tip, I have tried it. The bigger gap makes the soldering easier. Strange I know.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted February 4, 2020 Author Share Posted February 4, 2020 The brake work on the 10 foot WB mineral is progressing. I slotted the holes in the axle guard units to allow fine tuning. The added the V hangers on a thin base. Using some spare Slaters brake work I started the set up One push rod and crank was separated. The wearing surface of the block was shaped to match the wheel tread. Positioned at the correct angle. I had to create cut outs to take the brake hangers. These will be on a sub base to allow all the brake work to be removed if required. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted February 5, 2020 Author Share Posted February 5, 2020 (edited) Using some additional strips of offcut styrene I have now mounted all 4 brake hangers and blocks. Just need it to all set firm then remove and reinforce to create a stand alone assembly. It will be easier to add the safety loops off the wagon... Using a spare metal ring from a dried up ball point pen as a former, I have rolled some paper to form the vacuum cylinder, a few drops of thin PVA have been run around the edges, again I need to let it dry... Edited February 5, 2020 by The Bigbee Line 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poor Old Bruce Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 On 03/02/2020 at 10:39, The Bigbee Line said: Thanks for the tip, I have tried it. The bigger gap makes the soldering easier. Strange I know.... A case of "whatever works for you" then. Long may it continue. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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