PNP's O-16.5 Workbench

[TimberSurf]

Cracking job PNP! Just needs a layout now!

[Mountain]

Very moody and industrius! Nice.

[PinkNosedPenguin]

But then I could also do with a layout to run the locos and rolling stock on

This comment got me thinking - and so I can now present my brand new instant layout ! It cost me £8 on eBay and took about 5 minutes to construct! Yes, I have regressed to my childhood, and for the first time in more years than I care to calculate (!), I have been playing trains with set-track on the carpet
IMG_8304 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

Seriously though, this provides me with a track for running in locos, that

• can be brought out, and put away, in minutes
• can be connected to my DCC PowerCab or my old DC controller
• provides me with an instant way to 'play trains' whilst I have no O-16.5 layout

I have to say I am quite pleased

To celebrate, here is a video of my two locos. It includes my party-piece of course = stay-alive powering the locos over a section of paper. Ronald's light goes out temporarily, but at least he doesn't stop! It allowed me to run in my locos a bit - Mabel is now noticeably quieter, although Ronald is still a bit noisy . . .

[HarryR]

Quite satisfying too, I imagine

[Mountain]

Fun! That electrically conductive toilet paper is interesting in the film... (The blessings that DCC can bestow upon us!)
It is nice to see ones trains running, even with stripy scenery. In a way I can't wait to get my electrics sorted and get things running... In no hurry though. I've just got my ex. Faller coach to run on wheels so that's some progress. I need to build up the ends underneath ready to accept buffers and paint the underneath. Was thinking if I can mix glue with black paint to make it dry quicker? for some reason my black enamel paint takes a whole week to dry. Is rather like waiting g for the next train on my layout with the current timetable! Must get the electrics done.

Do you plan to use those curves on a layout?

[PinkNosedPenguin]

Thanks for comments.

My next locomotive project is now starting and is my most challenging yet !

I fell in love with the 20HP War Department Simplex kit on Nigel Lawton's website and just had to get one! It is a Light Railway petrol tractor and I thought it would look fantastic pulling a few diminutive slate wagons . The kit is quite expensive, but comes with TWO motors (the second one for a cooling radiator fan!). It also hopefully has enough space for a DCC decoder under the hood. I think it is his only 7mm scale kit.

It is more challenging because the chassis is kit-built as well as the body, and it is mostly metal = requiring some soldering .

Anyway, the kit arrived in a nice sturdy plastic box which I am sure will provide safe storage for the kit whilst under construction:
IMG_8309 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

First job was to have a look at all the parts and try to identify them all and make sure everything was there. It was. I also read through the instructions before doing anything else (very un-man-like I know!) to give myself a fighting chance of eventual success!
IMG_8310 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

The instructions are extremely good with lots of photographs along the way. Even so I am going to take this build slowly, to fully enjoy it, and make the best job of it I can. A couple of sessions with the soldering iron and a file has produced the basic chassis (no motor etc yet) - and I am quite pleased with how well it has gone so far! It sits nicely on the track and runs freely. I think this is the best I could hope for at this stage, and will encourage me to continue . . .
IMG_8330 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr
IMG_8333 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

P.S. the rusty colour in the last photo must be a reflection from something - its lovely and shiny new looking at the moment!

[Mountain]

Now that's what I call a lot of parts!
Was amazed how such a small thing can have that many parts.

[PinkNosedPenguin]

Now that's what I call a lot of parts!
Was amazed how such a small thing can have that many parts.

Tell me about it!!!

Well today I added some more of those parts to the model . So quite a bit of messing about with worms, gears, shaft adapters (sleeves to convert a shaft of one diameter to another), threadlock (the first time I'd come across this substance) and a motor. The motor is mounted vertically, drives a horizontal shaft via a worm and gear, which in turn meshes with the two wheel-sets via more worms and gears. This neat arrangement gives 4-wheel drive for the little model. The worms were very tight fits on their shafts; I needed to carefully squeeze them into position in my little desk-top vice to get them on - but they ain't coming off (!) and no threadlock needed! Threadlock was needed for the central gear and it seems to hold it in place alright.

Then it was time for his electrics (yes, he's going to be a boy, called "Stanley" which I hope will suit him well!). I had to fit pickups to all four wheels using phosphor bronze strip; I tried to arrange the strip to rub against the backs of the wheels in a shallow convex curve - i.e. to get maximum contact. But it was very fiddly soldering the strips in place. Still, I got there in the end . My large loops are not very elegant but will hopefully do the job:
IMG_8346 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

I decided to connect up the motor as standard DC first, so soldered the red motor wire to one pickup (which is insulated from the chassis) and the black wire to the chassis itself (which is electrically connected to the other rail) via a supplied dropper resister; not sure why its needed - maybe to reduce voltage to the motor?
IMG_8341 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on FlickrIMG_8344 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

Anyway, then came the moment to apply DC power and see what happened . Stanley's first movements were a bit jerky and noisy, but he did move! I applied tiny amounts of lubrication and then ran him in on my lovely circular track. After half an hour at 2/3 speed in each direction he was a lot smoother and quieter. Not perfect slow running, and he seems to prefer one direction to the other, but he is very light. I'm thinking that added weight and a DCC decoder will both improve matters.


Talking about direction, I'm not actually sure which is 'forward' and which is 'reverse' for these little locomotives? The driver position is sideways-on and he has an uninterrupted view in both directions. The (white-metal) little guy I have purchased has a separate head (and arms) meaning I can hopefully 'pose' him with a hand on the controls and head pointing in the little model's preferred direction of travel .

Next up to finish the chassis are some cosmetic additions (suspension, axle boxes) and the second motor...

[Mountain]

I was looking at the YouTube link thing. It seemed to run OK. No doubt with use it will improve further. (My mum likes your carpet).
Thread lock. Use it as a bicycle mechanic. Easy enough to use. First time I've heard it used for model railways. I once had a Hornby (Or Triang) X03/X04 type motor replacement by ECM and it had a thinner shaft. They supplied a converter shaft that the thin motor shaft slotted into it, and it made the external diameter fit the Hornby (Or Triang) worm. They said to use araldite on it and it worked a treat.

[PinkNosedPenguin]

Today I made a start on the body of the Simplex. It really is a nice kit, but quite complex and it is fascinating to see how it slowly builds up into resembling the real thing ! It is slow work, but fun (so who's counting the hours?). Although the instructions are very comprehensive, and there are lots of photos, some of the steps required several re-reads to understand exactly what to fit where and how and which way round . There were quite a few tiny 'sacrificial tabs' which were folded back to keep parts in place whilst ensuring precise positioning and application of glue - to be finally removed later and filed down. Quite fiddly in places - and to think I swapped from N gauge partly because everything was so small !!!

Anyway, after a lot of cutting, bending, gluing and filing, the basic shell of the body is now done - and it all started as a flat brass etch! Note that the horizontal section across the width is a 'sacrificial strengthener' to be removed later - so I can't test fit on the chassis until I get to that stage. I think its looking good so far and is surprisingly strong (although very light).

Here are photos before and after fitting the main cross-members:
IMG_8349 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

IMG_8351 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

[PinkNosedPenguin]

Work has progressed a little more on the Simplex body. Quite a few detailing 'overlay' parts have been fixed, and so have 4 'sand boxes'.

At this point the large 'sacrificial strengthener' had to be cut through with a cutter on my little mini drill. Quite hard going (and not too pretty - but hey, its 'sacrificial', right ):
IMG_8356 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

Then the two plates either side of the cut were repeatedly bent backwards and forwards until they broke off. A bit of filing and cleaning up brought me to this (with the sand boxes and control levers clearly visible):
IMG_8357 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

Next came the bonnet - I had fun bending this (there were multiple half-etched lines on the inside of the curves) and then filling in around the ends which didn't quite marry up perfectly, but will not notice when painted due to some super-glue 'filler'.

Here is the body so-far, resting on the chassis - first engine side:
IMG_8363 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

Then gearbox-side:
IMG_8360 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

I now have a bit of a dilemma - the kit comes with a second motor which drives a fan, via two belts, in front of the radiator. This is a really nice feature, esp with DCC as it can be powered independently of the main motor using a function on the decoder. HOWEVER, my other locos have been fitted with large stay-alive units to give the best possible chance of decent running for a short wheelbase 0-4-0 (you've seen my locos running over a piece of paper without hesitating?). Now this particular loco is way smaller and lighter than my others and so even more needy of all the help it can get in the reliable-running department.

Yes, you guessed it, there's not gonna be enough room under that bonnet for second motor and drive unit for the fan AND a keep-alive . So I THINK I'll leave out the fan motor and install a keep alive. The fan would have been quite hard to see, and a bit of a gimmick really, but would have definitely been fun. This photo of a completed kit (from Nigel Lawton's site) shows the fan:
Fan by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

Perhaps I'll sleep on it before deciding . . .

[Mountain]

Its looking good. Is a difficult choice to make. You can't somehow mount a drivebelt to the main driveshaft of an axle?

[PinkNosedPenguin]

You can't somehow mount a drivebelt to the main driveshaft of an axle?

Now that is not a bad idea - it may just work if I can find a belt the right size; the fan will be pretty much directly above one of the axles. Of course the fan would only turn when the loco runs, but that's probably preferable to no fan at all . . . hmmm!

The only problem is it would make removing the body from the chassis a bit difficult . . . !

[Mountain]

Well. I recently changed a pair of belts on my car which involved getting one belt over the fan. Wasn't as difficult as I had thought. Yes, it can be a bit tight getting fingers in the right places, but all is good.
With a belt. Makes me think if it is an idea to have a belt that you can glue as a loop. Maybe one of the little elastic bands which a couple of years ago were popular with kids to make things?

[PinkNosedPenguin]

Well I have decided to continue on the basis that the fan will be static, and a keep alive hidden under the bonnet.

So I have now constructed the radiator assembly, with fan, which has been mounted in place on the body. I painted the really-hard-to-reach parts black, before covering in masking tape and fitting the bars. Hopefully after spraying the rest of the body when its complete, I will be able to remove the masking tape leaving black radiator grille behind the bars on one side and fan on the other.

So, it now looks like this bars-side:
IMG_8364 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

And this fan-side (the exhaust will later obscure much of the fan):
IMG_8365 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

A TCS M1 decoder and KA4 keep alive are now on-order . . .