Rob Pulham

Just to finish this little bit off, in all the three lubricators have 75 parts between them. Fiddly to make, and I know that I could have bought in some very nice castings or 3D prints from the trade, but I had immense fun and raised my personal bar a little higher. Would I make some more in the future, who knows now that I have scratched that particular itch.

Over on the Guild forum there was some discussion about lubricators, centred primarily on the potential difficulties of drilling out brass castings. This prompted me to look in the box and see what the lubricator castings were like as supplied. They are nicely detailed castings, albeit missing the front and rear fittings. But, most importantly for this build, there are only two of them in the kit and we need three. In a bit of a dilemma but not needing them right now, I sent an email off to the gent that I am building it for with a few options on how we might proceed. While awaiting a reply/phone call, I rose to the challenge and had a look through my material stock to see if I had any bar of a suitable size for making some myself. I had a length of brass that was suitable, so I cut three lengths and machines them to the basic shape and size before drilling out the various holes. Next, I turned the circular front piece that the pivot mechanism attaches to. Which gave me a chance to try out the grooving tool that I ground. I am pleased to say that by taking very light cuts, I was able to turn down a part with a 1mm spigot then a 3mm centre and a further 1mm spigot beyond the 3mm section without having to reverse the workpiece in the collet to turn the second spigot without snapping it off. I then filed up and cut off around 50 small brass unions (I needed 42 but there were the inevitable pings off into space). It was only when I started to fit the blanking plugs on the front of two of the lubricators that I thought to take any photos. As you can see not all of the holes were dead in line due to the small drill wandering a little because I drill right through rather than from each side. But I had a cunning plan to get around that. The holes through the bodies were 0.5mm but the copper wire that I am using for the pipes is only 0.3mm. The smallest microbore tube that I had for making the unions has a 0.5mm id so I had quite a bit of wiggle room to line them up as I fitted them. The rocking [ shaped pieces on the rear, were made from some slices cut from a length rectangular brass tube that I have had in my stock box for 10 years or more. I don’t seem to use it often and then only in small slices but it’s handy to have and more rigid that if I had bent up some strip.

This week has seen more work on the J6 most of which isn't really photogenic as it's been to do with assembling and fitting the inside motion which isn't quite there yet. In order to assemble much of the motion I needed some pins so I decided to turn some taper pins from 0.9mm nickel rod. Having touched up the tool on a stone and got myself into a bit of a rhythm, I soon had a dozen or so ready. I only remembered to take a picture after I had fitted most of them... Whilst pondering on aspects of the fitting of the motion, my thoughts turned to the remaining jobs to be done and one of those is sand pipes. A quick check on Laurie Griffin and Ragstone site's didn't reveal much in the way of sand pipes so I decided to make my own. I started by checking sizes on the GA and settled on some 0.8mm rod for the pipe itself. I had a length of microbore tube that fitted over it and used that to make the body of the fitting where the steam pipe attaches. I started by filing a notch in the pipe such that with a slight bend to the remainder I could feed the 'pipe' through the sort end giving me an angled branch. Next I filed an angled flat on the end of the tube to create the other branch of the fitting. Some home made nuts/unions and 0.45mm beading wire for the steam pipe, completes the job - x four of course

Our next Gauge O Guild, ‘An Evening With’ seminar is on Thursday 26th May. Steve Hoather built his first diesel loco in 1966, and 50 years later, it featured in a light-hearted article in the Gazette in August 2017. His latest creation is a “Baby Deltic” and he will show his construction techniques and some of his other locos. If you are interested in loco construction or have queries about your own builds, this is the session for you. Register via the front page of the Gauge O Guild website www.gaugeoguild.com Members free. Non-members £2.00 payable on-line. See you there.

Still making slow but steady progress in between with the J6. The tender is now coaled and ready for weathering. I plan to weather the loco and tender at the same time so that I get them looking the 'same' I almost forgot, I dropped the LG Miniatures fire irons in some dilute metal black which has given them a nice 'rusty' appearance.

For a bit of light relief, I took the secondary saddle for several brief trips on the mill until I got it to sit at the same level as the main saddle.

At this point there was 0.1mm difference in the height of the DA saddle casting and my scratched up one from nickel so I popped it in the mill for one last skim and removed the last 0.1mm. The saddle casting is now 0.7mm deep in the centre and that makes the bottom of the smokebox 0.3mm below the frame tops. Now it was time to sit it on a sheet of toughened glass in lieu of not having a surface plate and checking with my height gauge to see if the smokebox is level. Yeay!! It sits dead level. In the last two you can just see that the smokebox is lower than the frames – just. Now I just need to get the secondary saddle to fit and ultimately fasten it together. For now, a darkened room beckons…

Before taking more off the middle splashers, I eased the cut outs and bottom of the boiler at the firebox end to get it to sit better against the front of the firebox it didn’t need much but it seemed to help. Then I removed some more from the middle splashers and I also milled some more off the smokebox saddle to reduce its height. I have had off forum discussions with a couple of people who have built these and both said that they had to scratch build the front saddle as they couldn’t get the casting to sit low enough. Just as a precaution I knocked one up from an offcut of 0.7mm nickel. At this point the scratch built one needs shortening. I took a couple of photos with the replacement in place to see how it fit. And finally for last night I took a couple more after trimming back the splashers a bit more and reducing the height of the saddle casting again – it’s getting there.

As sometimes happens I had a little distraction from levelling up the boiler. While stripping the firebox off to adjust it to get it to sit down snugly, I noted that I hadn’t fitted parts 74E and 74F which are ‘L’ shaped rivet strips that fit around the rear splashers. I thought it best to fit them while I had the firebox off. Just to catch out the unwary, these are supposed to be handed but are in fact etched the same hand. I did think about trying to press out the rivets from the face side so that I could use it upside down on the opposite hand but because its half etched, it made centring the rivet press on the half-etched rivets very difficult. In the end it was much easier to cut the leg off the ‘L’ and add it as two separate parts. Actually, you can barely see the joint when looking from above so it should be almost invisible from the ¾ side view once painted. Then I took a little more off the firebox arches where they clear the rear splashers to get the firebox to sit properly on the footplate. I also took a little more off the left hand middle splasher which has centred the boiler but it’s still a little high at the front. More needed off both sides.

I suspect that they will also need careful handling to avoid damage in use. In 7mm I replace them with brass rod and odd leg milled brass angle to hopefully reduce the risk of damage.

Hi Chas, When I retired I treated myself to a new camera and having have a Canon EOS 350D for a number of years opted for the full frame EOS 6D Mark II. I have had a side interest in photography since my late teens which means the phone cameras just don't do it for me, I like to have a proper camera in my hands. I also have some cheap studio lights which I use when photographing my builds - being cheaper end of the market they do fluctuate in light levels a bit, so some post processing is sometimes necessary. Edited to add, one advantage with the 6D is that you can focus on multiple spots within the scene without moving the camera (I always use a tripod) which allows photo stacking to ensure that the longer models are all in focus across the depth of field.

Since my last post I haven’t had much time to spend on modelling but having tacked the cab on I did get to drilling and fitting the firebox to the footplate with self tappers so that I have a datum to work from for seating the boiler. I am not sure how others have managed it but I am having real difficulty with the size of it seeing what’s level and what isn’t so I have resorted to nibble a little bit, fasten the foot plate to the chassis add the boiler/smoke box and then take a photo that I can study without trying to juggle to loco in my hands while squinting at it. By taking a photo of each side and comparing them, I can immediately see that I need to take a little more off the left side middle splasher. This is because it’s not seating down flush with the front of the firebox at that side, but it is at the other. This means that it’s being pushed over to one side slightly, this is backed up by it appearing to seat on the secondary saddle at the right side but not at the left. And of course, looking at it from the front. Useful things photos, and it is a slight pain assembling it and disassembling to take a bit more off but I can’t think of a better way of achieving what I need.

I wonder if Peter's build was the inspiration for choosing the number for big brother. Hopefully seeing this one finished might give you a a bit encouragement to pick your build up again.

Warren Haywood has finished painting the Great Central Railway Class 5A Dock tank. He sent me a couple of photos of what it looks like before it goes off to it's new owner. It does look rather smart I have to say.

Hi All, It will soon be time for the Gauge O Guild Summer Show in Doncaster. Date: - Saturday, 11th June 2022. 10:00 - 16:00 (09:30 for advanced ticket holders) Location: - The Dome Leisure Centre, Bawtry Road. Doncaster DN4 7PD Price: - Members £5. Non Members £10. (Ticket admits purchaser, partner and their children under 16.) On-line tickets: - https://www.gaugeoguild.com/onlinesales/ticketsales.aspx Postal tickets: - On the door OR, Advanced tickets can be purchased via the link above Information: - In 2022, the Gauge O Guild Summer Show in Doncaster is being held on Saturday 11th June. The delay of one week is for 2022 only, to avoid clashing with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebrations. We will revert to the first Saturday in June for 2023 onwards. IMPORTANT - Please use the pedestrian access next to the cycle track to access the show rather than use the main entrance to the swimming pool and ice rink. There will be four Layouts 'Hollowbeck Shed'. Photo credited to Tony Wright. 'Dovedale' by MIOG Glebe Lane, by Ian & Amy Futers. 'Dawes Road' And, The York GOG Test Track TRADERS Booked so far 3D Printing Corner Ace Products Agenoria/Ragstone Models Airframed Glass Display Cases Amberley Components Bill Hudson Transport Books Brushes4Models Buzz Models C&L Finescale Connoisseur Models Contikits CRT Kits Diane Carney Nameplates D&S Models Dapol Duncan Models Easy Build Ellis Clark Trains Finescale Brass Finney7 Gladiator Model Kits Greenwood Model Railway Products Haywood Railway Hobby Holidays Ian Kirk Models Intentio JP Models Judith Edge Kits Lanky Kits LCUT Creative Made in Manchester Marcway Products Masterpiece Models Metalsmith (Leeds) Ltd Minerva Models MSC Models Natural Scenics Nick Tozer Railway Books Northumbrian Painting Services Peartree Engineering Peter Clark Phoenix Precision Paints PLM Castaways Poppy's Woodtech Pre-grouping Railways PR Model Railway Products Premier Components Sanspareil SBT Developements Severn Models Simon's Sort Out Skytrex 2013 Ltd Slaters SM Models Squires Steamline Ltd Stoneybridge Structures Tower Collection Blackpool Tower Models Trainsporters Ltd Walsall Model Industries Walsworth Models Warren Haywood Warren Shephard White Rose Model Works Demonstrators Rob Bishop - Soldering Techniques; Bob Dawson - Card Buildings; Colin Hobson - Building and adapting road vehicles; Suzie Batters - Scenery, trees and weathering; Andy Batters - Electrics (with some MERG kits). Societies ALSRM Great Northern Railway Society MIOG Scale7 Warley MRC & National Exhibition Demonstrators Rob Bishop - Soldering Techniques; Bob Dawson - Card Buildings; Colin Hobson - Building and adapting road vehicles; Suzie Batters - Scenery, trees and weathering; Andy Batters - Electrics (with some MERG kits). Societies ALSRM Great Northern Railway Society MIOG Scale7 Warley MRC & National Exhibition For More Information go to

An Evening With... Steve Hoather built his first diesel loco in 1966, and 50 years later it featured in a light-hearted article in the Gazette in August 2017. His latest creation is a “Baby Deltic” and he will show his construction techniques and some of his other locos. If you are interested in loco construction or have queries about your own builds, this is the session for you. The event is live via Zoom on 26th May 2022 at 20:00 BST. You must register for this event as places are limited. The event is FREE to members or £2:00 for non-members.

I set myself a couple of goals for the session, the first was to get the smokebox door ring to fit in the smokebox barrel, the second was to assemble the cab. Staring with the smokebox door ring, I had decided that filing it would be a complete pain and a last resort if I couldn’t work out how to hold it in the lathe to turn it down. The amount of rim left after turning would be miniscule so no chance of griping it by that and being able to turn it. I didn’t have any material of a large enough diameter to make a mandrel so I decided to try holding it on the outside of the jaws. Because it’s white metal it would be really easy to distort or mark it. I cut a strip of aluminium drinks can to length so that it would wrap around the circumference of the inner ring but not overlap to throw it off centre. Once inserted I carefully opened the jaws until they were just gripping the part. I started off by attempting to have it hard up against the jaws in an attempt to get it running concentric but the rivets on part of the ring prevent it from sitting flush so I had to move it away from the jaws and then use a pair of thin parallels inserted between the jaw and the face to ease it until I reduced the wobble to an acceptable level. Despite trying to get it perfectly flat on my glass sheet I wasn’t able to without damaging said rivets so I had to accept a little wobble. I had the lathe running at about 100rpm or less, I set the carriage stop so that I wouldn’t inadvertently chop of the front rim and then moving in 0.050mm at a time I skimmed the rim at the back of the part. The first cut quickly proved that the outside of the part wasn’t completely circular either. I patiently took cuts until the rear rim was completely concentric, all the while checking the fit of the smokebox front after each cut. In the end I took off a depth of 0.750mm which equates to 1.5mm overall. That would have been a killer with a file while attempting to keep it circular. Having got that to fit successfully I turned my sight to the cab. I have never had something so simple be such a complete pain in the posterior to get together squarely. Today’s attempt was my third go at it, and it still took both sides being removed and refitted twice before I was satisfied that it fit as I thought it should. The problem is finding some part of it in between all the rivets and window frames inside that you can put a square against, to hold the sides at right angles to solder them. Next, I spent some time with a spirit level adjusting the horn block screws to get the chassis/footplate to sit level. Having the cab as a datum I can now see that the Firebox needs a slight trim where it goes over the rear splashers so that it will sit level. Once I have done that I need to sort out where the boiler is currently riding on the centre splashers. The problem here being that there isn’t a great deal of clearance between the wheels and the splashers so I think that I will have to cut into the boiler clothing to get it to seat. Once I have the boiler seated, I can consider what to remove from the saddle(s). I will start by soldering the cab to the footplate and trimming the firebox… PS just as I was posting this, I moved the loco from the photo area to my workbench and managed to drop the cab on the floor. Now the first job is to solder one of the cab sides back on....

There has been quite a bit of conversation over on the Guild forum about the Smoke box saddle for the David Andrews Princess. It seems that the main saddle casting which is brass is 2mm or so too deep. Oddly there is a second casting which is white metal. I find it most strange that they are made from two different materials A couple of fellow Guild members whom I have corresponded with on the subject, had the second casting missing from their kits (both bought second hand) and I wonder if was actually there, but like me they missed it because they were looking for a second brass casting. I certainly did until it was pointed out that it was white metal. Before I go any further, I need to assemble the cab (I have already soldered the inner and outer cab sides together) and I am sure that I will need to remove some material from the middle splashers to get the boiler to seat properly between them.

Since painting seems to have been the order of the day I also managed to fit in painting/weathering the back head too. Nice and grubby for the depths of the cab.

This last week also saw the transfers applied to the J6 a Job I always dread... Not the best photos in the world but you get the idea. I also got some paint on the plates and the buffer beams The loco is to be weathered so I wasn't too fussed that the cover of the white on the numerals isn't perfect.

Looking at all the rivets to be pressed out I decided that I would finally get around to doing something that I had been promising myself for years. That’s to make a more comfortable handle for the GW Models rivet press. Those who own the smaller of the two models will understand where I am coming from. The bigger 7mm/Gauge 1 version has a round end to the handle the smaller version just has a rectangular bar which gets mighty uncomfortable when pressing a lot of rivets. My solution was to drill a 13mm hole in a piece of 20mm acetal rod and tap it onto the rectangular bar. So simple but so much more comfortable. It didn’t make pressing the rivets out any quicker but it saved the hand, some grief. Ordinarily I would have taken the slight curl out of the sheet by setting the rivets using a jeweller’s stone setting tool, a technique picked up from Peter Dunn. However, because I plan to roll this and the curl is in the right orientation, I left it as is. To roll the smokebox with the rivets embossed I backed it with a piece of card from a biscuit packet (Tesco Finest Chocolate Gingers – other sources of card are available). Once I filed the etching cusp off the rear former it dropped straight in.

Today has been very productive in terms of tackling the smokebox. After a conversation about rolling a 0.45mm sheet including rivets pressed out with Richard Spoors. Where we concluded that my GW 10” rollers were not man enough for the job and would flex. I decided to have a go at rolling the smokebox using the rolling bars on my Warco ‘MiniFormit’ which are a touch over 28mm in diameter so unlikely to flex. Although I have had it for a number of years, I have only ever used it as a guillotine until today. Rather than risk the actual smokebox to an unknown piece of equipment I decided that I would cut a similar sized piece of 0.45mm sheet and have a go. Although the actual process of rolling is broadly similar to the GW roller the Warco rollers are of the pinch variety and I must have pinched a little unevenly because I noted on my test piece that one end was marginally wider than the other. Not enough to be an issue but something to be aware of. The other issue that I encountered was controlling the amount of ‘roll’ On the GW rollers there are two cap head screws on the top that you tighten down simultaneously to get an even roll. The adjustment screws are on the back of the Warco unit so harder to see. They consist of a threaded rod with a round knob locked on with a nut. Those issues aside, the first go turned out pretty good and it’s perfectly usable. If I don’t find a use for it on a loco at some point, I can always use it as a wagon load. Having done the rolling, I had some thoughts about how best to regulate the amount of roll as the screws are adjusted and came up with the idea of adding a blob of paint on the flats of the locking nut. I wound both of them to a fixed point and then put a blob of coloured paint on the opposite flats on both nuts – White, Red and Blue so I can now see that I have turned them both by equal amounts. Not the easiest thing to photograph as it's bolted to the bench and the screws are on the back.

During the week in between other things I got the rest of the dampers refitted to the springs and then tried the brakes again. A much better fit. I still need to sort out the cross rod and the levers to the brake cylinders.

Life has overtaken me this week so far so not much progress on the Princess. I did manage to solder up the boiler which to be fair had been quite nicely rolled and only needed minor tweaks to get it completely round. I had to shave a small amount beyond the etching cusp off the former to get it to fit in the half etch slot in the boiler front but other than that it was quite a smooth process. Here it is sat on the footplate with the firebox

While working on the brakes I made a small discovery which made things a bit awkward. When rebuilding the springs and dampers from the original Ragstone castings I had set the dampers much too low under the springs. That combined with them being slightly over size and a few of them not quite being round meant that when testing the wheels rubbed on them and the brake pull rods wouldn't seat properly. An easy fix I thought. I will turn up some slightly smaller dampers which will be round and it should be an easy job to pop the dampers off and reseat the replacements flush under the springs. Oh no when I tried to get the dampers off I ended up pulling the whole thing apart Replacements duly turned I also decided to add the quite prominent nuts on the bottom I decided it would be easier to just assemble the dampers onto some new pins and then fit them to the springs and hangers