Keepin' on building

First post for the new year, and something new. I have recently been working on a Baldwin Steam Tram Motor in N scale, the chassis, which I initially had a go at in printed circuit board turned out to be a bit of a failure, so I reverted to my usual methods of using brass with bearings and whipper pickups made from Phosphor Bronze. A Caramel N motor is used with gears from a Life Like switcher bogie used to transmit motion to drive a single axle with side rods being used to transfer power to the other set of wheels.

I have also completed models of:

3229 - with 6 wheel tender

3229 was inspired by a photograph in Train Hobby Publication's book "Central - The Steam Station" and the tender is fairly unusual in that the hungry boards are flush with the tender sides. Archer Fine Transfers form the rivet detail and the motor is mounted in the tender with a shaft across to the engine.

5278 - Standard goods with etched turret tender

The engine was scratchbuilt and the tender was an etch already completed which I merely made a chassis for with Kato Caboose bogies fitted for smooth pickup. The motor is mounted in the smokebox and the worm is just visible above the centre drivers.

3044 - C30 Tank Engine

My second build of a 30 class tank, this time without headlight. 

More locomotives from the NSWGR and the SMR

The following are some photos of recently finished projects, including a superheated 30T, SMR 10, 30 Class Tank, 36 Class and 12 class locos. The 30T - 3016 is the first time I have tried split frames with printed circuit board. 

3137 complete with driver. The rivets on this and SMR 23 are Archer Fine Transfers, purchased from Casula Hobbies, an excellent investment. 

3609 in green.

 Construction has started on a pair of 32 class locos, the chassis and the tenders are pretty much done. 

3016 needs a load of coal and a ladder, perhaps a crew too.

Vintage train locos 1210 and 1243 present for duty. 

The Fleet Expands

Recently I have been pretty busy working on various things, as illustrated below, including remaking a chassis to fit under 1709, adding finishing details to a pair of Z12 class locos and assembling some laser cut FG carriages I drew in CAD and doing up a Badgerbits TAM sleeping car: 

Z19 and Baldwin Tender

The progress on my Z19 continues... shown here is the progressive assembly and construction of the chassis. 

Quatering was carried out by eye and was fairly easy to achieve. I have found that the use of a 'stiff' gearbox to hold a wheel in place, the one that all the rest are quartered in relation to really helps. 

Finding appropriate sideframes for the tender bogies was a bit tricky...however a Bachmann 4-4-0 old timer tender chassis proved to have an answer... 

The horrible small 'wheels' ( I say wheels because they skid) were removed and new axle points drilled with Gopher Models wheels fitted. Wheels can be bought from http://www.badgerbits.com.au/

After the wheels and base of the tender had been sorted out, from brass and PCB the sides were looked at....

Brass formed the solution and care was necessary in marking out the various 'landmark' sections, as the sides were to be formed and bent from one piece to simplify the assembly process. 

The bent top edges were done using scribing and the jaws of my unimat vice. 

The finished bent tender top prior to soldering to the chassis. 

The footplate has had the 'splashers' added. 

Attention turned to the cutaway cab, sweating two sheets of brass together and the plan side glued to permit identical cutting. 

The finished cab soldered to the footplate and accompanying tender. 

Brass Chassis and Pannier Driver

I always seem to have several projects on the go at various stages of construction...heres some evidence. I've started constructing another brass NSWGR Z19, the chassis is an etch but the rest needs to be scratchbuilt, which is fairly straightforward. 

Wheels are Fleischmann and are seen below getting treatment on my lathe.

The wheels are turned down on their face (to thin them down to a finer thickness) and on their flange (to make them look smaller). Here all that needs to be done to finish this wheel is to use a razor blade to slice off the excess plastic that has flared up in the turning process. 

Ages ago I built a new chassis out of brass for a Grafar Pannier Tank, here is is after being blackened. 

A driver was 'cut up" from a Faller figure... seen being dismembered to fit.

Ready for the road...