Garden Railway Forum

Since Yesterday there is a new addition to the stock of my little railway. First I was looking for a Roundhouse Bertie, but it didn't work out the way I thought it should be when buying a new locomotive, this one was a second option. It is an unfinished project from ebay and it needed some serious tinkering on the valvetiming to get it working the way it should, but eventually I got the loco on air running at 0,1 bar without stalling. So I'm happy, steamtest will be this week somewhere.

I'm building a locomotive cab for it now, no particulair prototype. Material is stainless steel (made form scrap metal).








The roof is still loose, I think I'll make it hinged to keep the cab interior reachable. I need to place a pressuregauge and a filler system to get water in de boiler while under pressure. It is still in the premature stage, but worth shearing the start of my third locomotive..

Today I had some time for a steamtest. The locomotive didn't show it's boilerlevel in the glass and there was a lot of dribbling on joints, so that needed to be sorted first. After removing an amount of teflontape from the levelglass armature, I could see how much water is in the boiler. Leakages where also sorted and eventually the burner could be lit.

It's very quick on steam raising. From cold to steam is about 5 minutes. I need to get used to the little machine and I need to add a pressuregauge to see when the loco is actually ready to go. Also the engine is very quit, it needs a chuffer. Not only because of the sound, but also because the steam exhaust is pointed upwards, shooting hot condensate into the air when the locomotive starts from cold.

Otherwise it runs very smooth and has a lot of power. So after knowing it works with steam, I can now order the rest of the stuff I need to finish the locomotive to the degree I want.

Rather than a hinged roof have you thought about using magnets?

That is also a good idea. Didn't think of that yet. Thanks for the idea!

Neodymium magnets are the best choice.

There is a potential flaw in this magnet suggestion...
daan is making the cab etc from stainless - if it is austenitic stainless than it is non magnetic?

I meant use magnets on both the cab and roof.

By glueing or screwing an iron washer on the roof, I can use magnets anytime. I've to find out what sort of construction is the best way to keep the inside reachable, another option is to make some kind of sidepanels attatched to the roof which keep the roof in place while running. I've to think this over a bit..

And a bit more added. The roof I rebuild from brass, so that it can be removed with the upper sidepanels together, keeping a good workspace in the cab. It fits inside the stainles steel lower sidepanels with an angle profile on eacht side. This way it stays in place while running and can be removed easily.



This is how it looks with the roof in position.



From the other side..
As with all my loco's, the operation will be by hand, so I need the cab to be easily reachable. She'll get a whistle, pressuregauge and top-up system as well, so the spare room I have will be used for gadgets, not for RC..

Looks very 7/8ths or 1-1/2", fancy adding a larger chimney?

Never thought of it, but may be it'll suit her. I'll give it a try, the chimney is a loose piece anyway, so easy to change..

Just place a slightly larger diameter tube over the existing chimney so it's a push fit?

daan wrote: ↑Tue Apr 03, 2018 5:42 pm ... This is how it looks with the roof in position.

She looks beautiful (can't be "it", must be "she" )

They are all sheilas!

Those spectacle plates with sun shields (?)... Yes it is definitely a she. Nice work Daan

Yes, "it" is a "she". Those sunshields are relatively common om small german and swiss locomotives, and I think they add a bit of charm to the loco. Because the locomotive is obviously a female machine I guess I should rename her. I had the name "Rotsteinpass", but that sounds very masculine and strong. I will name her "Bollenwees", after another mountain hotel in the Alpstein mountians.



The cab is now finished on the inside. The pressuregauge is fitted, a water filler valve, boiler level glass, gasregulator, steamwhistle, direction handle, regulator. All of it is within reach when the roof is in place.



Some running boards added on the sides of the tanks



And a coal bunker on the back.

I now have to make some lamps at the front and back and then she's ready for a coat of paint. She'll be royal blue, with the handrails on her sides and roof left unpainted.

Chemically blacken the roof?

Nice work.

The roof would look good black. It will go with blue and set off the loco nicely.

Ian

I need a bit of black for some other parts as well, so I can paint the roof black as well. Since it's a darker colour than blue, I can first paint everything blue, see how it looks and if black will be better, spraypaint the roof black. That can easily be done afterwards, since the roof isn't fixed to the body. Thanks for the idea

Yes,

As a general rule, paint the lightest colours first and darkest last.

Rule 1 applies. It's your loco. She should be painted in your choice of colours.

Ian