Ruston's Industrial locomotive and wagon workshop thread.

[Ruston]

I'm pleased with the progress made, this weekend.

 

Springs made, brakes made and fitted and even some paint slapped on it.

The whitemetal cast chimney looks alright in this view but it sits a little wonky when viewed from the front. I will attach it using PVA glue, so that it can be removed easily and replaced with a brass one of my own manufacture. I have a friend who can make a flycutter, like the one @Michael Edge showed earlier, and who can also make a flare jig for me. He has a complete engineering works at his disposal, so it won't be a problem for him.

 

Lathe envy.

Built in 1943, imported under Lend-lease and used at AVRO's Yeadon factory to make parts for Lancaster bombers. Still in use today.

[Enterprisingwestern]

59 minutes ago, Ruston said:

Built in 1943, imported under Lend-lease and used at AVRO's Yeadon factory to make parts for Lancaster bombers. Still in use today.

 

Should just about be man enough to make you a flycutter!

 

Mike.

[Ruston]

On the final furlong now.  I'm not finishing it as any of the four actual prototypes. It is now Sevastopol No.2.

 

I'm not going to pretend that I intended for the lining to look so poor, because I didn't, but it's going to mostly disappear under a good coat of weathering, so it doesn't need to be that good. I suppose it is better to start with something good and not hide the bad bits with weathering, but it is what it is. I'm not a skillled painter but then I'm certainly not going to pay someone to do a top job on it, for me to then slather it in muck, either. The main colours are BR coach maroon and LNWR coach plum. I think that the cab needs the top half to be plum. That or put in another lined panel. Hmmm...

Roof, rear springs, handrails and injectors/pipework are the constructional jobs that remain. On the electrical side is, well, everything. Weathering will bring all of the crappy paintwork together and finish it off.

 

I really ought to make some brass spectacle rims to go in the cab windows.  And a steam brake cylinder.

 

The lining on the cylinders needs to be thinned down, or the cylinders painted plum all over.

 

Edited July 26 by Ruston

[Ruston]

That's all the making of parts done now.

The only photo I have where the roof can be seen shows a sliding vent on the LH side but as I can't see the other side I've assumed there was one there, too.

[Ruston]

I did a bit more, yesterday evening. It now has a roof on the cab, more handrails fitted and a steam brake cylinder added.

Every time I think it's all done, there's something else to make or do. It's feeling like a never ending project. Cranks, for the steam brake, need to be made and I still haven't made the pickups. Front handrail to make and fit and then I think that's it, bar the electrics.

 

I have no doubt that I'll think of something else that needs doing before I can call it finished.

 

Edit: Injectors! D'oh!

Edited July 29 by Ruston

[Ruston]

Not 100% done yet. The steam brake crank hasn't been made and it requires the injector and pipework for the other side but it has had its first run on rails and so I couldn't resist taking a phone camera snap.

 

It's running on a dumb decoder at the moment, but I put in a Stay Alive and a speaker, wired to a Next18 socket, so fitting sound will be a simple job.

I'll take some proper pictures once the final parts are fitted and it is fully weathered. It was no more than a few sheets of metal six weeks ago, so I'm pretty chuffed with it.

 

 

 

 

[Ruston]

I'm going to take a break from building locomotives. I've got five RTR locos to weather for a friend and I want to get on and finish Blacker Lane, plus repair Harboro Stone, not to mention make a start building Sevastopol Works to give this thing somewhere to run.

 

 

 

I'm surprised how quietly it runs, considering that some of those N20s I've had were really noisy. It's got quite some pulling power, too. I coupled it to 10x21t minerals, plus a dead (i.e. not running, being just a dead weight) Planet Industrials Victory 0-6-0T and it pulled the entire lot.

[sir douglas]

loving the mucky motion

[Ruston]

I received this Dapol rectangular tank as a birthday present, last week.

The livery is spurious and the load of 15 tons is a joke. Who comes up with this stuff? Better than the STP or Shell-liveried ones though! The disc wheels look cheap and nasty and certainly don't suit it.

 

It's already looking better after a morning's messing with it.

The tiny buffers have been chopped off and replaced with some cast whitemetal Lanarkshire Model Supplies items that I had in stock, the wheels have been replaced with some proper split-spoke ones and the toy couplings have gone in the bin.

 

The bench has become Forth Banks Works in miniature.

Only two of those belong to me. I bought the red one for future use on Sevastopol Works. I don't really know why the blue one's there but I do like the colour.

 

 

[Enterprisingwestern]

27 minutes ago, Ruston said:

Only two of those belong to me. I bought the red one for future use on Sevastopol Works. I don't really know why the blue one's there but I do like the colour.

 

Shades of Imelda Marcos there I believe!!

 

Mike.

 

[Ruston]

I said that I'd take a break from loco building, but I want to try this out.

 

The Dapol rectangular tank was a birthday present but not the only one. I decided to buy a present to myself.

No, not just a picture, but a 1950s Myford lathe. I can't get a decent picture of it at the moment. It's covered in stuff but will soon be in my garage.

 

I have decided on the next scratchbuild and it's going to be a Bagnall. The one-off 16-inch 0-4-0ST that Impetus did a kit of. I've wanted one for years, but the chances of me finding an unbuilt kit are about the same as plaiting sawdust. I did see one come up on ebay a couple of years ago. The price went to around £300 and I know for sure that I can build one from scratch for a fraction of that. I know that I have a drawing, somewhere. I just need to find it...

 

[fulton]

4 hours ago, Ruston said:

The one-off 16-inch 0-4-0ST that Impetus did a kit of. I've wanted one for years, but the chances of me finding an unbuilt kit are about the same as plaiting sawdust. I did see one come up on ebay a couple of years ago. The price went to around £300 and I know for sure that I can build one from scratch for a fraction of that. I know that I have a drawing, somewhere. I just need to find it...

 

This is my Impetus kit built around 30 years ago, (correction more like 40 years ago!) still in use today, did replace the Portescap for a High Level set up recently. I remember running it on a friends layout at EXPOEM, Robin of Impetus seen it and commentated that mine was the first one to completed, he had sold one other kit from a run of twelve, so yes very rare, I suspect not all have been built, I did recently complete his 16" Hunslet that had sat in a cupboard for 25 years! I find your builds a great inspiration.

Edited August 7 by fulton
correction

[Barclay]

Looking forward to seeing it. This was the first etched loco kit I built. Kept the instructions, which include a drawing, so I'm PM'ing it to you.

 

Edited August 8 by Barclay

[AlfaZagato]

That's evidentially two of 12 already reporting!  You might be in good company on this.

[Barclay]

He told me mine was the last - this was around 1996, just before the range was sold. Were there really only 12 ever made? No wonder they fetch a lot on ebay!

[rope runner]

There was certainly more than 12 of these kits made in my view, I have seen 10+ on eBay or posted online since keeping my eyes peeled for such things over the last ten years or so.

 

Here is my example, fitted with original pattern smokebox door "as delivered". One thing to say is that all the models posted (including my own) are slightly incorrect - the injector ought be fed behind the tank support. Hey ho. Best of luck with the scratch build. 

 

 

 

Paul A.

 

 

[Ruston]

It looks like everyone and his dog has one of those now. I'll have to build something else instead. 😄

[sir douglas]

Same, for a few years ive been thinking of scratchbuilding a 153 unit but then Heljan announced theirs so i lost interest

[fulton]

12 hours ago, Ruston said:

It looks like everyone and his dog has one of those now. I'll have to build something else instead. 😄

You are out of luck there, as my dog is also building something else.

[Enterprisingwestern]

On 08/08/2024 at 19:45, rope runner said:

There was certainly more than 12 of these kits made in my view, I have seen 10+ on eBay or posted online since keeping my eyes peeled for such things over the last ten years or so.

 

Like Del Boys homing pigeons, they could be the same ones sold multiple times?

 

MIke.

[Ruston]

Back to the bench and the weathering/repainting/modifying of the Dapol HLs is well underway.

 

 

I managed to get the lathe out of the van, but getting it up onto the workbench in the garage was going to be a 3-man lift. I have removed the motor and belt guards in order to, hopefully, get just one assistant to get it onto the bench. The motor also made it very unstable when lifting it. The motor had to come off anyway so that it can be rewired with a longer cable from it to the on/off/rev. switch. The previous owner, in his wisdom, had fixed this above the motor. I really don't fancy having to lean over a spinning chuck to use a switch that I can't see, so I'll be refitting it somewhere at the front.

[03060]

On 09/08/2024 at 19:38, Ruston said:

It looks like everyone and his dog has one of those now. I'll have to build something else instead. 😄

Build it, paint it Black ... and number it No.13 !! 

[ian@stenochs]

On 10/08/2024 at 12:09, Ruston said:

Back to the bench and the weathering/repainting/modifying of the Dapol HLs is well underway.

 

 

I managed to get the lathe out of the van, but getting it up onto the workbench in the garage was going to be a 3-man lift. I have removed the motor and belt guards in order to, hopefully, get just one assistant to get it onto the bench. The motor also made it very unstable when lifting it. The motor had to come off anyway so that it can be rewired with a longer cable from it to the on/off/rev. switch. The previous owner, in his wisdom, had fixed this above the motor. I really don't fancy having to lean over a spinning chuck to use a switch that I can't see, so I'll be refitting it somewhere at the front.

Dave

 

That is very similar to the machine I have although mine is a newer model. When you get it rewired  it is well worth fitting a No load switch.  The rotary reversing switch is handy when you need it, screw cutting etc, but not required much in chimney turning. Mine burned out through use, the leaf contacts just aren’t robust enough.  

Ian.

[Erichill16]

On 10/08/2024 at 12:09, Ruston said:

 

I hope you’re not intending to set it up on the living room carpet!

[Ruston]

8 hours ago, ian@stenochs said:

it is well worth fitting a No load switch.

Hi Ian. What do you mean by a no load switch?

 

It's not set up but at least it's off the floor now. It needs bolting to the bench and everything that I took off needs putting back on. I've been looking for a serial number on it, so that I can find out exactly how old it is, but I can't find one.

A couple of friends came over, this morning, and got it onto the bench. I had seen a proper steel cabinet for a Myford 7, on ebay, but I had all this wood just lying about the place that had cost me nothing, so why spend £200 that I haven't got when a few hours work extended the bench that I had already built?

 

Some other stuff that was thrown in the back of my van when I bought the lathe. An incomplete Stuart Turner Model 4 vertical steam engine, which I have already sold, and some drill bits that are way too large for anything I'm ever going to make, which have been swapped for a bottle of whiskey.

There are also the frames of what I'm told is a "Rob Roy" 3.5 inch gauge 0-6-0T engine. The frames are steel and it has brass or bronze cast and machined horn guides. The outer wheelsets have brass or bronze axleboxes, but there are no 'boxes on the centre axle, which has the eccentrics on it. If anyone's interested in buying it, send me a message. I'm never going to do anything with it for sure.

 

The engraving brass fairies have been and brought me some 1mm and 1.5mm sheets, which should make a few more locos. 🙂