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Vol. 228 No. 4685 • 25 February - 10 March 2022

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Foundry Gearbox

7¼ Inch
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Truck
ENGINEERING GROUP

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Oscillating Engine
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EDITORIAL
Editor: Martin R Evans
Tel: +44 (0)7710 192953 308 SMOKE RINGS 330 MY LOCKDOWN MEGA PROJECT
Email: mrevans@cantab.net News, views and comment on the Patrick Hendra and Son make good
Assistant Editor: Diane Carney world of model engineering. use of their idleness to rebuild a 1:1
Club News Editor: Geoff Theasby scale Vincent motorbike.
PRODUCTION 309 PUMA – A FOUR CYLINDER,
Designer: Yvette Green TWIN CAMSHAFT 333 THE STATIONARY
Illustrator: Grahame Chambers 30CC I/C ENGINE STEAM ENGINE
Retouching Manager: Brian Vickers Pete Targett builds a four cylinder version Ron Fitzgerald tells the story of the
Ad Production: Andy Tompkins of Malcolm Stride’s two cylinder engine. development of the stationary steam engine.
ADVERTISING
Advertising Sales Executive: Angela Price 314 A GEARED TRANSMISSION 337 POSTBAG
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ROAD ROLLER
MARKETING & SUBSCRIPTIONS Ted Hansen updates Westbury’s design 338 ELLIE – AN ALTERNATIVE
Subscription Manager: for the Aveling road roller with something JACKSHAFT ARRANGEMENT
Beth Ashby closer to the prototype. Warwick Allison finds a simpler approach
MANAGEMENT to the Jackshaft Ellie variant of the
Group Advertising Manager: Rhona Bolger 316 A 7¼ INCH GAUGE steam tram design.
Email: rhona.bolger@mytimemedia.com ‘STEAM’ CRANE
Chief Executive: Owen Davies Kevin Baldwin yields to the irresistible 340 A 7¼ INCH GAUGE
urge to build his own steam crane. DRIVING TRUCK
Tim Coles builds a two seater driving truck
319 AN ASTRONOMICAL with an authentic prototypical look.
BRACKET CLOCK
Adrian Garner makes a bracket clock inspired 342 ADVENTURES WITH INJECTORS
© MyTimeMedia Ltd. 2022 by Tompion and Banger’s regulator of 1708. Roger Froud investigates the science and
All rights reserved ISSN 0026-7325 technology of one of model engineering’s
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322 BALLAARAT most mysterious gadgets.
publication may be reproduced in any form whatsoever, including photocopiers, Luker builds a simple but authentic narrow
and information retrieval systems. All reasonable care is taken in the
preparation of the magazine contents, but the publishers cannot be held legally
gauge 0-4-0 Australian locomotive. 345 FLYING SCOTSMAN
responsible for errors in the contents of this magazine or for any loss however IN 5 INCH GAUGE
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327 A MINIATURE OSCILLATING Peter Seymour-Howell builds a highly detailed
Model Engineer, ISSN 0026 - 7325 (USPS 24828) is published fortnightly by
STEAM ENGINE Scotsman based on Don Young’s drawings.
MyTime Media Ltd, Suite 25S, Eden House, Enterprise Way, Edenbridge, Kent, Hotspur presents a three cylinder,
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Vol. 228 No. 4685 • 25 February - 10 March 2022

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301 Front Cover 4685.indd 301 12/02/2022 09:30
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 Springtime in Llandudno
By the time you read this,
February will be almost over
(always a good thing), March
will be on the horizon and
spring will be in sight.
Winter will be over and
it will be time to think
about getting out and
about. This is perhaps
something we have
grown unaccustomed
to over the last couple of
years but I think it is safe to
say that we should put covid
behind us now and get back to
business as usual.
Harold Jones writes from
MARTIN Llandudno with the following.
EVANS
Editor ‘Having been restricted by
tight COVID restrictions here summit of the Great Orme you use of a teletype connected
in Wales, we as members can fly your model aircraft. to a computer at Hatfield
of the North Wales Model ‘Llandudno as you can see is Polytechnic 20 miles away but
Engineering Society have truly a modeller's paradise. most of our calculation needs
been unable to run our ‘More up to date information were satisfied by a number
miniature railway for the may be found at www.nwmes. of these machines. They
DIANE public for almost two years. org.uk would soon be superseded by
CARNEY
Assistant Our committee quite rightly Diolch yn fawr (thanks) desk calculators but, at that
Editor decided it was impossible Harold Jones’ time, those were large and
to keep the two metre rule, So – if you are going to be expensive. Pocket calculators
putting members of our in North Wales at Easter, you were a thing of the future.
society and the public at risk. have another event to put in Calculation in those days
In the meantime, members your diary and, if not, perhaps was a noisy business and six of
have been able to run their this would be a good way to these machines hard at work in
YVETTE own and club locomotives. spend an Easter weekend. the maths classroom generated
GREEN
Designer ‘This year (2022) we are a deafening chorus of ‘whirrs’,
hoping the tide will have ‘clatters’ and occasional ‘dings’
turned and we will be able to Nostalgia Corner – the last of these produced by
invite the public back to our A little while ago I picked up the overflow bell.
little railway, starting on the an old, non-working pinwheel Nowadays, calculations are
Easter weekend, 15th April calculator from eBay. A little performed in eerie silence and
2022. bit of attention and some grey at unimaginable speed. All very
‘Our track is located on the spray paint soon got it fully efficient, of course, but using
West Shore, Llandudno. On one working again and looking not one of these old calculators
side you have a magnificent too far from new. takes me back to a time where
view of the Great Orme, looking It took me back to my machinery seemed to have
the other way you have a schooldays in the 1960s, when a personality of its own and
spectacular view of the Menai computers didn’t fit in your an air of drama lacking in our
Straits and the mountains of pocket, having instead a room electric computers, electric
Snowdonia. to themselves. My school internet and (dare I say)
‘All of our visitors, members was fortunate in having the electric locomotives.
of the public with families,
or members of other clubs
have commented on the
standard and location of our
Martin Evans can be magnificent track. Hopefully,
contacted on the mobile we can invite you all back with
number or email below your locomotives, or with your
and would be delighted to families to join us, as soon as
receive your contributions, restrictions are eased here in
in the form of items of Wales.
correspondence, comment ‘Additionally, if you have an
or articles. interest in model boats, within
07710-192953 a few hundred yards of our site
mrevans@cantab.net we have a lovely model yacht
pond and not far away on the

308 Model Engineer 25 February 2022

Puma
Pete
Targett
builds his
own version of Malcolm
Stride’s twin cam internal
combustion engine.
Continued from p268
M.E. 4684, 11 February 2022
32
Inlet manifold fitted to engine.
www.model-engineer.co.uk
Part 61P –
Exhaust manifold
A Four Cylinder, Twin PART 5
Camshaft, 30cc I/C Engine
I have made all of the exhaust
system in stainless steel. The
drawing (fig 8) shows the
exhaust pipes to be made of
8mm stainless tube. With a wall
thickness of 1.5mm the bore
is 5mm, the same as the ports
in the head. That said, I have
used ¼ inch stainless tube like
Malcolm had done. My engine
runs well and ¼ inch tube is
easier to bend. I guess 8mm
tube would be a better choice.
I suggest using a manifold
jig (fig 9) to assemble the
two separate pairs of pipes
and flanges. Using the jig, the
front and rear pipes can be
silver soldered together at the
same the time as the flanges.
This will ensure a more robust
assembly.
Part 63P - Inlet manifold
The inlet manifold flanges
are the same as Malcolm’s
original design. The original
cylinder spacing has been
retained for Puma. I made
mine out of stainless to match
the exhaust flanges but the
rest of the inlet pipework is in
copper and brass.
For the pipes, again, I have
used ¼ inch copper tube,
31
despite the 5mm inlet ports.
In this case, copper tube was
used because of the ease of
forming it to shape by way of
prototyping the inlet assembly.
It did the job so the prototype
remained.
Cut oversized lengths and
form the bends. Once the
flanges and chamber have
been made the manifold
assembly jig can be used to
trial fit all the components
and cut the tubes to their final
lengths (photo 31).
The inlet manifold is a new
part. I have used a proprietary
carburettor from an ASP
108A engine but you could
use a variant of Malcolm’s
carburettor. The ASP 108A
is/was only a 17.2cc engine,
Inlet manifold on jig.
but I had the carburettor lying
around so used it. It does
work fine for me. Whatever
carburettor you choose to
use, just amend the design
appropriately, particularly
the 15mm diameter for the
carburettor mount.
A couple of points about
using the manifold assembly
jig. When fixing the flanges to
the jig do not bolt them down
directly on the plate but stand
the flanges off on nuts. That
way they won’t get attached
to the plate when it comes to
the silver soldering. If there
is a bit of distortion of the jig
plate when doing the soldering,
it does not really matter. The
benefit of using copper pipe
is it will be malleable enough
after the soldering to enable
the manifold unit to be aligned
to the cylinder heads on
assembly (photo 32).
Part 101 - Oil baffles
One of the potential problems
with Puma being a flat 4 is
the tendency to throw an
excessive amount of oil into
the cylinder bores. This could
be a particular problem with
cylinders 1 and 3 as the
anti-clockwise rotation of the
crank would tend to lift oil into
those cylinders.
For this reason, the sump
is deeper than that for Bobcat
and the crank will just skim
the surface of the oil. However, >>
309
 Model Engineer 25 February 2022
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Fig 8
A A
144
Ø8
B B
33

R1
5

61 a Front Exhaust Pipe

10

82
8
Ø

C C
25

R
2

15

61b Rear Exhaust Pipe

D D
Although pipework is shown as 8mm
the exhausts can be 6-6.35mm tube
16
Ø2 Ø8

11
1.6
E E
61c Exhaust Flange
Dept. Technical reference Created by Approved by
Pete Targett 27/12/2020
Document type Document status
Title DWG No.
F All dims mm F
Exhaust pipes. Rev. Date of issue Sheet
1/1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

310
 >>

311
PUMA

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Fig 9 Ø
50
35
A 2 34 Ø6 . A
Ø6.35
7

11

R Determine length
18
11 7 11 .5 on assembly
1.6

B 63b Inlet pipe (x4) B

63a Inlet Flange (x2)
Ø2 18

Ø1 0
C 18 C
Ø

Ø10
Ø15

Ø15
10
Manifold Assembly 18
jig plate 8
D M2.5x0.45 D

140

Ø13
To suit carb

Ø18
12 38
E 63c Inlet Manifold E

www.model-engineer.co.uk
11 11 11 7 11 11 11 Dept. Technical reference Created by Approved by
Pete Targett 26/12/2020
Document type Document status

7
Title DWG No.
F all dims mm Inlet Assy and Jig Part 63 F
Inlet pipes. Rev. Date of issue Sheet
1/1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
 Model Engineer 25 February 2022
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
44
Fig 10
A A
3
R22.5

Ø
4

45°
20
15

85 20
7.5

Ø15
B B
55
Example Carb
8.5

10
12
Ø6

C C
70
4 Engine Mount
6 8 32 8 16
D D

25

5
45
1.
Ø
35 4
15 Ø2 8 8 8 8 8 8 11

Ø2
Drill for lock pin
.5

Ø18

Ø24
Ø18 Ø2 30 30
E E
70 1
M8 4
5 2 101 Oil Baffle
Dept. Technical reference Created by Approved by
103 Starter Dog
Pete Targett 27/12/2020
Document type Document status
Title DWG No.
F All dims mm Puma Misc Parts F
Miscellaneous parts. Rev. Date of issue Sheet
1/1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

312

33
Oil baffles.
35
Modified timing pulleys.
37
‘D’ bit for drilling the camshaft detents.
that was not seen as the whole
solution and the baffle plates
(fig 10) were made to further
limit the amount of oil that
gets into the cylinders. The
baffles do appear to do their
job without totally restricting
the lubrication of the cylinders.
I have used stainless steel,
although mild steel will do
(photo 33).
Assembly and setting
up - timing pulleys
I experimented with different
combinations of timing pulleys
with a 2:1 ratio (photo 34).
The larger options just did not
look right so I opted for 12:24
www.model-engineer.co.uk
pulleys. The hole through the
12 tooth timing pulley in the
crank needs to be opened
out to 5mm to fit it to the
crank. Doing his results in the
securing bush being removed
(photo 35). That does not
matter though as the pulley
is secured with high strength
Loctite. However, this has to
be done with the rear bearing
and mounting plate in place
so do not fix it until you have
done everything you need to,
particularly determining the
location of the timing belt
tensioner (photo 36).
The two camshaft pulleys
need two securing grub screws
34
Experimenting with timing pulleys.
36
Timing belt tensioner.
38
Drilling the camshaft detents.
as they are driving against
the four valve springs on each
shaft. Depending on the pulleys
you purchase, you may need to
drill and tap the securing bush
for 3mm grub screws at 90
degrees to each other. Using
grub screws, they need detents
in the camshaft for the grub
screws to sit in. As the relative
positioning of the cams to the
crank is critical, these detents
can’t be made until the timing
is set up. Then, of course, the
pulleys can’t be removed to
make the detents. I overcame
this problem by removing the
grub crews, one at a time and
using the hole in the pulley as
PUMA
a guide. Rather than using a
drill bit and risk compromising
the threads I made a little ‘D’
bit out of piano wire and case
hardened it. A depth stop
helped with knowing when the
job was done (photos 37 and
38). The drill vice is being used
to clamp the two camshafts
together to stop them rotating
while they are being drilled.
●To be continued.
NEXT TIME
We set the valve and ignition
timing and run the engine.
313
A Geared Transmission for
Westbury’s Road Roller
F
or the experienced model
engineer, Edgar Westbury’s
Ted Hansen Aveling Road Roller from
replaces Model Engineer magazine (ref
1) is a relatively straightforward
Westbury’s project with only a couple of
original with a more challenging bits.
prototypical gearbox. I carried a copy of the plans
for around for many years
before starting construction
because of two difficult
aspects. The first was casting
the engine block, which has
an internal baffle between
the crankcase and the water
jacket. I was not able to make
the central core required to
pour the block as a sand
casting. Eventually, however,
it was completed using the
lost wax casting method. The
second was the helical gears
for the camshaft drive, which
eluded me until Alan Suttie (ref
Clutch
Clutch
Countershaft
had instant reverse and three
Input Sprocket
314
2) showed how to
make these in the
October 2008 issue of
Model Engine Builder magazine.
I followed Alan’s method but
simplified the holding fixtures.
The gears were actually cut on
a tiny Adept lathe.
Fig 1
Final Drive Gear
The original transmission
speeds in either direction.
Model Engineer 25 February 2022
PART 1
Construction progressed
quickly once these two
hurdles were overcome,
closely following Westbury’s
plans. When it came to the
transmission, however, I felt a
redesign was in order.
Most of Westbury’s design is
reasonably true to the original
but he chose to replace
the original three speed,
dual clutch quick-reverse
transmission (fig 1) with an
experimental friction drive unit.
This has not been popular with
builders as it has apparently
been troublesome as well as
being a substantial departure
from the prototype.
The design presented here
is much closer to the original
concept and uses the same
dual clutch arrangement for
instant reverse (fig 2, photo
1). This was an important
feature of the full size Aveling,
which was one of the first
rollers developed for working
hot asphalt. Instant reversing
prevented the roller leaving
depressions in the road where
it stopped momentarily while
changing direction.
 GEARBOX

Because the engine of the

model runs much faster than Fig 2
the original, the gear ratio
within the transmission has to
be increased so that the model
will run at some approximation
of scale speed. As a result, the
transmission case is larger
than scale and the axle housing
must be shortened to allow it
to fit.
Another feature which I
wanted to duplicate was
the one-piece case with the
shafts inserted from the sides
and an opening at the top for
assembling the gears. This The model
required a lot of thought but, in transmission
the end, it was accomplished follows the
by using a two-piece output same basic
shaft. The input gears, bearings
and clutches are assembled
layout as the
into sub assemblies so that original but
they can be inserted into the has only two
transmission. The clutches use speeds.
‘O’ rings as friction material.
The original case was
fabricated from ⅛ inch steel
plate welded to form a box. 1 2
Because of the inevitable
distortion while welding, it was
designed to be slightly narrower
than the space between the
frame rails. Shim pieces fill the
space between the case and
the frame rails at assembly.
Some years later a second
transmission was built with
the case fabricated from sheet
brass joined with silver solder, The assembled transmission. The 3D printed transmission.
which was much easier than
welded steel. the torque. Tooth strength places where ‘fit to assembly’ For readers not familiar
should not be a problem but must be used when installing with North American thread
3D printing transmitting power through a the transmission. standards, the model uses
On the new transmission, we keyed drive might be. I have primarily #4-40 and #6-32
(I had a co-conspirator) also had 3D printed change gears A word about units screws. These are 0.112
considered using 3D printed on my lathe for years; there has The drawings are primarily and 0.136 inch diameter,
gears, although in the end never been any problem with in imperial units because respectively, and the BA
machined gears in home cast the teeth but I have had the the prototype was built equivalents are 4BA and 6BA.
bronze were used. We did make centres strip out. I would also using fractional inches. All The metric replacements would
up a 3D printed transmission suggest fitting brass bushings dimensions are in inches be M3 or M3.5.
containing the gears and most on the counter shaft and the unless otherwise noted. I ●To be continued.
of the other parts but it was final drive gears instead of considered converting the
used primarily as a ‘mock-up’ relying on the plastic as a drawings to metric but decided
to confirm the fit of the parts bearing surface. against it, not because of the REFERENCES
(photo 2). The case could also be a 3D work involved (which would
It should be possible to printed part but, aside from the be considerable) but because 1. Westbury, Edgar, A
use printed plastic for all of feeling that this is somehow of the probability of errors Working Model I.C. Engine
the gears in the transmission ‘cheating’ in the model creeping in. Builders of the Road Roller, Model
except the 14 tooth input engineering world, there is a Aveling roller will have to Engineer, volume 78-79,
pinions and the 18 tooth final problem in that 3D prints are be familiar with working to Jan – Dec, 1938
drive gear. The input pinions not actually a homogeneous imperial standard in any case 2. Suttie, Alan, Cutting Skew
must be permanently fixed material so it is not possible because Westbury’s original Gears, Model Engine
to the inner clutch disk and to drill, modify or cut threads drawings were done long Builder, issue no 16,
the final drive gear might not into printed parts after they are before the UK converted to the October, 2008
be strong enough to handle made. There are a number of metric system.

www.model-engineer.co.uk 315
 Kevin
Baldwin
discovers
that there is nothing
quite like a steam crane
to raise the spirits.
Continued from p.199
M.E. 4683, 28 January 2022
Small crane and far away crane.
A 7¼
7¼ Inch Gauge
‘Steam’ Crane
W
ith the drum frame
done, I needed to
make the base plate
for it to go on and the railway
chassis itself. This would
be where the thrust bearing
that took the whole weight
of the crane section, or crab,
would be located. The slewing
action requires a central pivot,
the thrust race, and a power
source and transmission. The
transmission on the full-size
cranes uses a large gearwheel
3 was in possession of these
Motor car starter ring gear.
316
fixed to the railway chassis,
with a pinion mounted on the
crab meshing with it. When
power is applied, the pinion
turns about the big gear and
the whole lot slews around.
Wracking my brain as to where
I could locate a roughly 10 inch
diameter gear and matching
pinion, it was another club
member who suggested I
use a starter ring gear and
pinion from a car flywheel. A
genius idea! Again, a couple
of local garages came to the
rescue and in no time at all I
essential items (photo 3).
The problem was the ring
gear was still attached to the
flywheel! How do I get that
off? Another YouTube session
revealed that these gears are
shrunk onto the flywheel and
the application of heat to the
gear would be sufficient to
get it off. This was done with
oxy-propane. I propped the
flywheel up off the bench in
a horizontal plane and played
the flame around the gear.
Model Engineer 25 February 2022
PART 2
After a little while there was a
pleasing ‘dooiing’ as the gear
fell off and onto the bench.
Success! This gearwheel was
then used to build the thrust
race. The gear was welded
to a base plate and a ring
of steel was then rolled and
welded onto the base plate
leaving an annulus of about
20mm. This annulus then had
a series of 16mm steel balls
laid into it. With the crab base
plate pivoting on the kingpin
running in a flanged ball race,
these balls took all the thrust
of the crab and allowed it to
turn freely whilst being fully
supported. This idea came
to me after looking closely
at this section on a video
of the excellent, restored
Grafton crane at the Keighley
and Worth Valley Railway. I
simplified it somewhat for my
purposes but it does the job
well. One of the motors had
the pinion applied to it and it
was then fixed to the crab base
plate engaging with the big
gearwheel. When power was

applied, the whole crab then
turned. Things were looking
promising!
The railway chassis has six
wheels as in the full-size crane.
The axles run in pillow block
bearings mounted on a simple
chassis comprising the buffer
beams and 30mm box section
chassis rails welded to them.
The outer plates, including the
axleboxes and springs, are
simply appliqués to make it
look pretty. The bearings are
not fully fixed to the chassis
rails, simply allowed to float a
little by not fully doing up the
M12 nyloc nuts tightly. This
allows the wheels to fall into
hollows in the track and to take
up cross levels. I’ve used this
method with great success
on the many 7¼ inch gauge
wagons I’ve made. Four of
these wheels are driven using
one of the windscreen wiper
motors via chains (photo 4).
The worm drive of the motor
is perfect for when you are
playing with the crane as there
is no need to fit a brake as the
crane stops and stays where
it’s put when the power comes
4 5
Chain drive to the wheels.
6 7
Brush holders attached to the base plate.
www.model-engineer.co.uk
off. The downside is that
the crane cannot be pushed
or towed as the worm drive
doesn’t allow it. I realised I had
to include a clutch to be able to
get the thing out of gear so that
it could be pushed and pulled
around when needed. This was
a bit tricky as I was very tight
for space. Relying on the lateral
slack in the drive chain from the
motor, a simple dog clutch was
arranged using the sprockets of
the transmission themselves.
The driven sprocket on the
axle is not fixed to the axle. It
slides via a fork actuated by a
screw thread to engage with
its neighbour sprocket via pin
dogs. A delightful bit of Damn
Good Engineering, to coin a
phrase! The driven sprocket
is bushed with bronze and
oiled so that nothing naughty
happens when it is being towed
out of gear around the track.
The centre and front axles are
linked by chain.
With the battery located
in the crab, which can spin
around, I needed what the
internet told me was a slip ring.
This device allows electrical
Slip rings.
The cab.
contact to be maintained
between items that rotate
relative to each other. I made
mine using two rings of copper
that I cut with a plasma cutter.
These were fixed to a plastic
base to isolate them from each
other (photo 5). I dismembered
an old 5 inch angle grinder,
removing the motor brushes
and brush holders. The brush
holders were encased in rubber
blocks which were then bolted
to the crab base plate (photo
6). The sprung loaded brushes
were placed in their holders and
these run on the copper slip
rings. A quick test showed that
my first attempt at making one
of these clever gadgets was a
success! With the application
of some hooks, chains, dummy
rivets, buffers and paint the
powered railway chassis was
finished.
With the railway chassis,
drum frames, slewing gear
and drive done, I moved onto
making the cab (photo 7).
This was sketched roughly
using the tiny drawing, internet
photos and videos as a guide,
whilst also factoring the bits
STEAM CRANE
I had already made into the
equation. The cab was made
using sheet steel based
around an angle iron base
frame, cut, welded and tidied
up. The roof was made to lift
off to gain access to the drum
frame, controllers and battery.
The roof was again made of
steel, with the addition of a
‘chimney’, ‘whistle’ and ‘safety
valve pipe’ to maintain the look
of a steam driven crane.
The jib
Now we come to the jib; the
reason I decided to make this
thing in the first place! It was
scaled, then drawn out one-
eighth full size in chalk on
the bench. I, naturally, made
a simplified version of the
full-size jib using 13 x 13 x
3mm angle for the four main
corner sections. Lattice work
was added using 12 x 3mm
and 10 x 3mm flat, all drilled
and riveted on. The top or
‘head’ end of the jib uses 4mm
and 2mm steel plate and lots
of rivets. The small pulley for
the hook rope is turned from
a simple steel disc, with the
larger pulley wheel being made
out of a 5 inch gauge Britannia
bogie wheel I found under
the bench. The base of the jib
pivots on mounts on the drum
frame. I copied the method of
raising the jib from the crane
at Keighley. Rather than using
ropes that run all the way from
the jib drum to the end of the jib
and back again, it has two steel
rods that run from the head of
the jib, part way down to the
crab, terminating at two plates
that hold the rope pulleys. The
rope then simply passes from
the jib drum, through these
intermediate pulleys, then back
to its mountings on the drum
frame. All of this was made
using the YouTube video as a
primary source of information.
There are effectively four ropes
to support the jib which makes
it very strong.
The jib was a jolly tricky
thing to paint but the liberal
use of rattle cans makes this
task a bit more bearable! Quick
- clean - done!
The hook rope comes off
its drum, runs up the jib, over
its pulleys, down to the hook >>
317
 8 9

Raising the jib.

block pulley and around it,

then up to its mounting on the
jib head. The hook block also
uses a 5 inch gauge Britannia
bogie wheel and is complete
with a swivelling forged hook.
Using a block means the strain
on the rope is halved - and it
looks nice!
Steam crane flexing its muscles.
Assembly
With all the components stick and the crab slewed worked! Rapture! railway (photo 10).
complete, I started to bring gracefully about the chassis. Subsequent tests have shown In summary I’m quite
them together. The complete Another motion was tried and that with two big lumps of chuffed with how it turned out.
and painted powered chassis the hook block moved up and 25mm plate in the back of the The members at my club seem
had the big slew gear plate, down in a pleasing fashion. If cab alongside the battery it will to like it, too. I look forward to
pivot bearing and slip ring this excitement wasn’t enough, pick up at least 8kg and won’t many happy hours of picking
assembly bolted onto it. The I even tried to see if the thing fall over. I’ve shown it here things up and putting them
steel balls of the thrust race would move under its own lifting the old steel boiler from back down again! It just goes
were greased and applied. power and, after engaging the my 5 inch gauge Beyer-Garratt to show what you can achieve
Then the crab, complete with dog clutch, the whole thing (photo 9). I then went on to with no drawings, a welder
cab, was slipped onto the moved itself along the bench! make the jib runner wagon and an angle grinder!
pivot bearing, with it all resting My first foray into the world which supports the jib when ME
nicely on the balls of the thrust of radio-controlled toys had it’s being towed along the
race. The speed controllers I
bought, to replace the ones I
had cooked, and the rest of the 10
radio control gear were then
wired up. The jib was offered
up and the 10mm diameter
pin was pushed through the
bottom, allowing it to pivot on
the drum frame. Lastly the wire
ropes were attached to their
respective drums and run up
to either the hook block and
mounting in the jib head, or
through the jib support pulleys
and back to the drum frame.
The car battery was taken off
charge and placed in the back
of the cab, connected to the
electrickery department, and
turned on. The radio control
transmitter was picked up,
and for the first time, at the
push of a control stick, the jib
rose majestically into the air
(photo 8). I pushed another The completed crane, just resting.

318 Model Engineer 25 February 2022

An Astronomical
Bracket Clock PART 23

I
made the drawers at this
stage but they could be
Adrian left until later. The normal
Garner approach to making drawers is
makes a for the sides to be dovetailed to
the ends and for the base to be
bracket clock showing slid into slots cut in the sides
both mean and sidereal and front. This is an excessive
time. amount of work for these very
small, light drawers. I opted
to use lap joints on the sides
Continued from p.284 and ends with a recess routed
M.E. 4684, 11 February 2022 underneath into which the base
is glued. On large drawers it is
necessary to allow the base
to expand and contract but
this really is not necessary for
drawers of this size.
The lap joints can be hand
sawn but it is much quicker to
make the first precise cut on
the circular saw table and then
take a couple of further cuts
to nibble away the bulk of the
unwanted material. They can
be tidied up with a chisel and
sand paper.
Glue the sides and ends
together ensuring they are
square. The bases are cut to
a neat fit from ⅛ inch or 3mm
ply. Glue these into place with
the best side facing down. The

108
less perfect face, now on the
inside of the drawer, will be
covered by felt (photo 108).
Each drawer has a false
drawer front, which is larger
than the drawer slot in the
case to prevent the drawer
disappearing into the case. A
hole to clear 4BA is needed
for the brass knob - the shape
is not critical but both knobs
should be the same!
The runners for the drawers
consist of beams of 1 x ⅜,
with a ¾ x ⅛ inch strip glued
Drawers. underneath, screwed under
the clock case. I used screws
rather than glue in case
subsequent adjustment was
needed (photo 109).
Returning to the case, the
front mask which hides the
gaps between the clock face
and the case is supported
by an upper and lower rail
identical to those at the rear of
the case. Side strips of ½ x ⅝
inch are also glued to the case
sides. The mask itself is four
rectangular pieces of 6mm
ply veneered on the front face
before gluing in place. The >>

www.model-engineer.co.uk 319
 109 110 111

Drawer runners. Top of the case with a hole for Upper surface of the top of the case.
the Tellurian drive.

6mm wide edges are veneered

Fig 44 after fitting.
The top of the case has a

Drawers
false top the same size as the
carcass top with a circular hole
for the Tellurian drive. This
ensures a smooth flat upper
3.0625 0.3750 surface to veneer without
possible unevenness from the
0.1875
dovetails. The upper beading
is sandwiched between the
0.6875 carcass top and the false top
0.7500 with ovolo moldings glued
0.3750 either side.
Use ½ inch panel pins to
secure the beading to the
0.1250 underside of the false top but
do not hammer home. Check
the fit of the false top to the
case and the ovolo moldings.
If needed these pins can be
removed, adjustment made
0.3750 and new pins added in a
slightly different position.
5.5000 Repeat until a good fit is
obtained. Once satisfied, glue
up, hammering the pins home.
Once set, use a punch to push
the pins below the surface
(photo 110).
The false top is then
veneered and the side
moldings glued flush to the
beading. If the mouldings are
slightly proud of the upper
veneered surface it will look
0.1875 better than if they are below
that surface. Drill six pilot
holes for the screws holding
the Tellurian base in position.
Take care that two of the
1.0000 screws are aligned across the
top so that the other four will
not obstruct the drive. Sand
3.4375 the upper veneer at this stage
and check it really lies flat
(photo 111).
After gluing the false top to
the case, the small mouldings

320 Model Engineer 25 February 2022

 ASTRONOMICAL CLOCK

can now be added to the rear

door. Mount the door and glue 112 113
the mouldings in position so
that they are level and square
to the case. A small support
strip will help alignment
(photo 112).
Finally, the base of the case
can be safely veneered.
The woodwork is now
complete except for two 1⁄16
inch diameter holes drilled
with a pin vice in the edge of
the front door and side of the
rear of the case both opposite
the respective lock bolts.
Hopefully they will never be
used but in the event of a lock Adding mouldings to the rear door. Filling holes in the veneer.
failing to open they allow a
small brass rod to be inserted polish, again applied with a but on the sides it is nearly for at least twenty four hours.
to push the bolt back to open soft French polisher’s brush. impossible to get to the edges Black shellac polish can then
the locks. When brushing do not be near the mouldings. I ended up be painted on to the mouldings
Sanding the case with 180 tempted to use it as a paint sanding and reverting to using with a flat 10mm wide artist’s
grit paper will inevitably reveal brush to ‘brush it well in’. Aim the brush. brush. As with French polish,
small holes in the veneer which to pass over each area just Repeat the application, try to brush over each area just
need to be filled. I used Liberon once with a loaded brush sanding as needed, for at least once. Leave to dry and apply a
filler sticks, carefully matching with a minimal – but real – six coats. second coat.
the surrounding. Cut off a small overlap to each stroke. Also During this process keep the After a week the case can
piece, warm by rolling between act quickly so that the shellac brush soft, storing in a jar of be waxed. This is applied with
the fingers and use a knife laid down by each stroke does methylated spirits. I drilled a 0000 wire wool which will dull
press to force into the gap to be not dry before the overlapping cross hole in the brush handle down the excess gloss of the
filled (photo 113). takes place. This way the so that a length 1⁄16 inch mild shellac. Buff with a soft duster.
The case is now ready for strokes will merge and vanish. steel could be pushed through Further waxing should be
polishing. I sealed the inside I applied three coats before to suspend the brush and applied without wire wool as
with Marland’s Lacacote lightly sanding with 400 grit avoid bending the hairs. needed (photo 114).
Sanding Sealer painted on paper. I then tried to apply If you intend to ebonize the
with a soft French polisher’s polish with a classic French mouldings, apply the French
brush. Outside I used AG polishing rubber. This works polish to the whole case as
Wood Care Products French very well on the top of the case above and then leave to harden ●To be continued.

Fig 45 Front mask - 6mm 114

veneered ply

1.6875

0.7500

14.6250

12.7500

The finished case.

www.model-engineer.co.uk 321
Ballaarat PART 9
A 5 Inch Gauge 0-4-0 Aussie Locomotive
The Gooch valve gear
The valve gear is relatively
Luker simple to make; the eccentric
describes rods aren’t joggled and most of
the links can be laser cut and
a simple finished off using a drill press
but authentic small in a day. The setting of the
locomotive. Gooch valve gear is another
matter entirely and I suggest
having a close friend with a
Continued from p.225 sympathetic ear on standby;
M.E. 4683, 28 January 2022 my little pooch got one or two
more hugs than usual the day I
set the valves.
66
Set points marked on wheel.
322
If you’re wondering what
happened to the reversing
lever stand and reach rod,
they’re not needed to set the
valve gear. Because you’re
lifting the radius rod and not
the expansion link, and the
expansion link is swung from
the frame, there is very little
feedback to the lifting arm
shaft. I hadn’t made those
components or fitted them
when I tested on air and I
suggest any builder ‘hang ten’
Model Engineer 25 February 2022
before fitting the reversing
stand to the running boards. If
you want the reversing stand
lever to be bolt upright in mid-
gear then the final position will
move slightly depending on
the overall tolerances of the
locomotive. The Gooch valve
gear is a constant lead valve
gear so back notching will
have no effect on admission
lead so that’s one thing at least
you don’t need to worry about.
Setting the valves and
testing on air
Once you have jammed the
axle boxes in the running
position and all the linkages
and eccentrics are more or
less as shown in the valve gear
drawing in part 5 (M.E.4677,
5th November 2021) then the
valves can be set.
Anyone that has set a
locomotive’s valve gear will
know that for a small amount
of piston movement the
valve travels a considerable
distance. So, first things first;

Fig 17
you need to find the true
piston end of stroke position
and eyeballing the turnaround
point of the crosshead is
not going to cut it! Using the
same method as the prototype
locomotives, you draw a line
on the crosshead and guide-
bars just before the end of
the stroke (fig 17). At this
point draw a line on the rim
of a wheel and align it to a
convenient mark (line) on the
frame. I normally stick a little
masking tape on the frame
and draw a line with a sharp
marker to the centre of the
www.model-engineer.co.uk
wheel (photo 66). Advance the
wheel forward past the end of
the stroke to align the mark
you made on the guide bar
and draw another line on the
wheel in line with the line on
the frame. Using a compass
find the centre distance
between these two marks on
the wheel, which is the true
end of stroke when aligned
to the mark on the frame. Do
the same for the other end
of the stroke. These are the
positions you will use to set
the valves. For this locomotive,
with the valve chests in-frame,
MASKING TAPE
OPPOSITE SIDE WHEEL
PISTON MUST MATCH VALVE
DIRECTION WHEN SETTING
it is convenient to mark the
left-hand cylinders on the right-
hand wheels and vice versa
then the marks are in line of
sight when setting the valves.
Move the reversing arm to
the forward position to the
point where both the steam
ports open fully during one full
stroke but make sure the top
corner of the expansion link
doesn’t foul the lifting arm or
links. In this position adjust the
forward (bottom) eccentric to
the position where the valve
just cracks open the steam
port with the piston at the end
BALLAARAT
Valve timing setup.
of stroke. Rotate the wheels
forward until the other port just
cracks open; this should line up
the second mark on the wheel.
It probably won’t, so the slide
valve position will need to be
moved by loosening the grub
screw and shifting the valve.
This is an iterative process but
you’re looking for both valve
ports to crack open at exactly
the end of the stroke for full
forward. Do the same for the
backward eccentric (top one)
turning the wheels backwards.
You’ll most likely need to
repeat the process a few times >>
323
to get it fine-tuned with the
forward position the one that
is the most important. Don’t
forget to double check that you
haven’t flipped the eccentrics;
with the reversing arm forward
the correct ports need to
open as the valve advances
during the stroke i.e. the valve
will crack open a port while
moving in the same direction
as the piston. Remember, if
you’re setting the forward
position the wheels should
always move forward and in
reverse for reverse. Do yourself
a favour and draw arrows on
the wheels and leave little
instructions and notes in direct
line of sight while doing the
valve setup.
If all the links and distances
on the frame are absolutely
perfect the valves will open
the same amount for the front
and back end of the piston.
The dynamic simulations I
did optimized the linkages
to include the die slip but
not machining tolerance. In
the real world I have not met
anyone that machines to
micron accuracy whose trains
don’t seize up on the first turn
on the track. The timing of the
valves is far more important
than how much the valves
open, with the difference in
pressure drop decreasing
substantially with increased
flow area. So, if they’re not
perfectly balanced you
probably won’t notice.
When setting the reverse
eccentric don’t move the
valve on the spindle because
then you’re undoing the
perfect valve timing you’ve
accomplished in full forward.
Rather try to balance the
cracking open of the ports by
moving the reverse eccentric.
If all is good, the engine
should run on a breeze,
unloaded (<0.5Bar with the
airline throttled), and you
should have no stuttering
(in forward). The engine
should also start from all
points through the stroke. If
the reverse setting didn’t go
according to plan and the
valves cracked open too early
then you might get some
stutter in reverse. Remember
the conditions of a loaded
324
67
Brake blocks assembled.
locomotive on a track will
dampen any stuttering far
more than a raised locomotive
tested on air and, besides, who
uses their locomotives full
steam in reverse!
On my build the right-hand
side was out, so one of the
drilled holes on one of the
links must have drifted a little
or the eccentric rods grew
a little during riveting. This
can be corrected but from
experience reverse is not used
that often so all the tolerance
inaccuracies are moved to
the reverse side of the valve
setup and I don’t worry about
it. During live steam tests on
our track I never noticed any
stutter in reverse while going
forward and backwards in the
station (thanks to Covid I was
the only driver on the track). So
no worries, mate!
This is one of those life
altering moments, so enjoy the
feeling and crack a cold one to
celebrate! I would recommend
doing a nice YouTube video
of the mechanism in motion
but I doubt you’ll get as many
hits as some yobbo doing
something stupid for attention.
The braking system
With that milestone reached
I like to step back and tackle
some of the detail, something
that can be finished quickly
and is easily gratifying. The
braking system (fig 18) can
be finished relatively quickly
and the wooden brake blocks
(photo 67) look pretty good
fitted to the frame. The
backing of the brake pad is
simply two cylinders soldered
to a 3mm piece of scrap
steel. The cylinders need to
be made slightly longer so
68
Machining the brake lever stand taper.
that the sides can be filed centres with the tailstock
flush hiding the fact that it offset to get the correct taper.
was soldered. The slot for the Strictly speaking, between
brake cross link can either centres machining should be
be milled or filed. Two small done with a dead centre in the
countersunk holes hold the headstock taper spindle but
wooden brake pad in place not all lathes have that facility.
with small jewellery craft wood On some of the cheaper lathes
screws, available from most the taper in the spindle is out
craft shops. The wooden brake (yep, it does happen and you
block can be cut using a junior only find that out after the
hack saw or, if you’re lucky guarantee is lapsed). For small
enough to have one, a scroll jobs like this I prefer to use a
saw. With the brake levers centre that fits into my three-
assembled it is unlikely the jaw chuck with a catch that I
wooden block will react cleanly bolt onto the side. This drives
with the wheel but a little the ‘dog’ clamps and turns the
sanding should give a nice fit job (photo 68). All the radii
on the wheel rim. When the and rounds can be done with
brake pad assembly is swung
clear, the top of the pad should
not touch the wheel. 69
The rest of the braking
components are simple
components to make.
Brake lever stand
The brake lever stand is tricky
to make especially the long
hole for the shaft, so a little
guidance on how to tackle the
job won’t go amiss. Using the
same bar stock used for the
wheel shafts, cut to size, face
off and centre drill. Drill as far
as you can with a standard
drill bit. Reverse the bar and
repeat. You need to back the
drill out often to prevent the
swarf from jamming in the hole
and a little cutting fluid won’t
do any harm. A standard drill
just makes it. Once the hole is
through, drill and tap the hole
for the bottom stud.
The outside of the stand
can be rough machined in a
stepped fashion by holding
it in the three-jaw chuck. The
taper and finishing machining
will need to be done between Brake lever stand.
Model Engineer 25 February 2022
 >>

325
BALLAARAT

Fig 18
2,5 3 43
O6
O2
CHECK ON JOB

BRAZE
9,5

6
O 2,5
2,5

15
3 8
6,5
19

3
O 2,5 10
37,7

10 R1 8
6 BRAZE

8
3
8°

83,9

R3 28,2
3
39,5

O 14
22

6
O
M4
4,4 R3
BRAKE LEVER
32

R3
MATERIAL: LC MS

114
CYLINDER RAIL GUARD
MATERIAL: MILD STEEL 6,7
2°
DIMPLE ON ASSEMBLY 3 BACK RAIL GUARD 8
12 MATERIAL: MILD STEEL O
6 5 REAM 4 DEEP 6
O M3 O3 O 3 10
M2
18 R4 M8
12
2,2

14,5 2 12
M3 4 R2
O

33,51

6
BRAKE BEARING M8 X 20
2

BRAKE HANGER BRAKE CROSS LINK GRUB

3,5
MATERIAL: SILVER STEEL
MATERIAL: BLACKENED BMS MATERIAL: MILD STEEL
SHAFT: SILVER ST
3 9 4
R3
14,4
33,5 BRAKE LEVER STAND

21,2
s LOCK STAND TO FOOTPLATE WITH M8 DRILLED OUT 7.3MM
9,5

28,2
LOCK M4 SHAFT WITH TWO 1/4IN AF M4 NUTS

41,2
3

48,7

www.model-engineer.co.uk
39,9
45,2

O
7,3
O1,6 4

17,5
3
O 12
12
BRAKE PAD ASS MAIN BRAKE LEVER
MATERIAL: MILD STEEL MATERIAL: BMS
BREAK PAD: MOHOGANY
Brakes and rail guard.
 70 71

Cylinder rail guard.

HSS formers and the finishing corrugated roof to such a

cut with a keenly sharpened
finishing tool to get rid of any
machining marks. Don’t forget
to grease the dead centre,
and re-adjust the tailstock
compression regularly to take
up the thermal expansion and
contraction during machining!
The rest of the bits are
made from threaded bar
and bar stock requiring little
machining. The stud can be
made from a M10X20 grub
screw drilled through the centre
for the threaded bar, and the
M8 nut holding the stand to
the footplate drilled out to 7.3
mm to clear the threaded bar
locking nuts. The threaded
bar should screw into the top
handle boss and the handle
hole drilled through the lot. If
this is brazed as an assembly it
will withstand the punishment
of a hard day’s steaming.
Finally, the stand can be
heated red hot and dunked
in used car oil to get that oil
blackened look (photo 69).
beautiful locomotive. Not sure
which yobbo made that dodgy
modification!
The back rail guard is a
filing and bending job hardly
worth describing in detail; just
make sure you clear the brake
cross link. I made the cylinder
rail guards by TIG welding
two cylinders to the required
3mm plate but I think for most
builders brazing will be easier
and it will result in a nice clean
fillet. The brazing route will Back rail guard.
require a holding jig which
is simply two drilled holes in guards and replace them with track is set in concrete. I must
some scrap plate covered in a square bar that stops 10mm be honest - I never bothered; my
Tipp-Ex to prevent the solder from the top of the rail. This little locomotive is incredibly
sticking to the jig. I suggest is mounted to the locomotive stable with the only derailment
making the width 25mm and frame in the same way the so far when a set of automatic
slitting the welded/brazed original guards would have points jammed and the
assembly down the middle for been mounted. They do this locomotive climbed off the rail.
the two guards. to protect the cast iron wheel The front cylinder guard got a
Some builders in South Africa flanges if a derailing occurs little damaged.
prefer to do away with the rail and might be a good idea if the lTo be continued.
72

The rail guards

The rail guards for this little
locomotive are very light
weight but they were scaled
from the original locomotive
(photos 70 and 71). From the
later pictures I’ve seen they
didn’t stay on the locomotive
for very long and probably
broke off quite early. Later
pictures actually showed the
buffers replaced with wooden
blocks (photo 72) with a
number of other modifications
visible, so the prototype was
probably abused a little in
service. And, please, under no
circumstances fit that horrible Picture of Ballaarat at Lockville, 1875 (photo: Rail Heritage WA).

326 Model Engineer 25 February 2022

 1
Hotspur
constructs
a three-
cylinder reversible
oscillating engine.
The writer’s first experimental engine was a single acting four-cylinder unit with a common steam
chest housing the two slide valves but there were no extra facilities and no reversing mechanism.
A Miniature Oscillating
Steam Engine
Introduction
I have long been interested
in miniature multi-cylinder
steam engines and my first
project was built whilst I was
at university. Model Engineer
published the design in
November 1967 and photo
1 illustrates the result. It is
a simple four-cylinder single
acting design with slide valves
over the top operated by the
two eccentrics. This engine
was sold in very underhand
circumstances back in the late
1960’s and the circumstances
were described in my book (On
the Right Lines, published by
Matador).
My efforts have gone hand
in hand with model boats and
I still have a 42 inch traditional
freighter that requires a power
plant. At the same time, I have
not ever seen a Shay designed
for one of the smaller track
www.model-engineer.co.uk
PART 1
gauges so I have looked at
this second engine application
as being a possible suitable
candidate but as a three-
cylinder unit.
Some may ask ‘why an
oscillating engine?’ Well, in
these times when we are
encouraging our younger
model engineers to take part in
the hobby, there have been a
number of designs featured for
first projects but these are only
single cylinder units. My aim
here is to offer a more complex
version which will allow it to
be fitted into a model and be
functional either on rails or in
a boat.
The issues with
miniaturisation of traditional
engines are that even with
small cylinders the overall
height of the engine in slide
valve double acting form
can be quite tall and it is a
work of art to incorporate
some form of valve gear for
reversing. So, my thoughts
have focussed around the
application of the oscillating
engine principle with
sufficient cylinders for it to
be self-starting but also with
a reversing mechanism as in
its basic form an oscillating
engine normally only runs in
one direction. Many model
engineers may sneer at such
an approach but there are
benefits from this type of
engine. There is simplicity
and the comparative ease
of making and assembly
plus the relatively low cost.
Other considerations are
compactness and the need
for reversing in both rail and
marine situations where
this should also be capable
of being radio controlled,
especially in the latter. >>
327
 2 3

Two views of the latest three-cylinder prototype which has been run on air at between 30 and 60 psi and gives a good torque output.

Most oscillating engines

should work at a comparatively
low boiler pressure to minimise
steam wastage and I have

1 3/4”
worked on the presumption
that 40-50 psi is sufficient.
Photographs 2 and 3 show my
first three-cylinder prototype
Sectional plan view
and it has turned out to be
quite surprisingly compact.
6”
The cylinder itself is typical of
that used in the old ‘Mamod’
designs being fabricated from
two stock pieces of brass and
having cylinders that are just
¼ inch diameter by 9⁄16 inch
stroke, as in both applications
the need is for torque, not
speed, and the piston is a well
3 5/8”

fitted rod of stainless steel in a

closed bore. These needs have
been met with an assembly
that is a series of individual
units mounted on a ladder
frame of brass angle.
There are two shafts; the
upper one being connected to
the cylinders with a series of
Part side elevation
29/32”
2 1/2mm segmented crankshaft parts
that run in ample bearings
and the lower one, which is
the output shaft where the
drive can be taken from both
ends. The adoption of a series
of crank webs and driven
discs allows the engines to
be assembled progressively
from one end. The rear end
of the upper crankshaft has
an out-rigger bearing with a
worm drive for a water pump
installation. My thoughts are
13/16”

that the bores for a four-

cylinder unit could be slightly
larger at 5/16 inch diameter
with the stroke maintained
at 9/16 inch to keep the
General structure the same. So, these
Fig 1 Part front view Rear view arrangement. adjustments could still use
the same style of cylinder

328 Model Engineer 25 February 2022


fabrication and porting
proportions, plus the reversing
mechanism.
Compactness in respect to
length has been achieved by
the use of a double bent leaf
spring strip to hold the working
faces together instead of the
usual longer pivot rod and
coil spring. The reversing gear
arrangement is a separate
group of straight spur wheels
on a swing frame. This also
has the advantage that the
engine can be set to run ‘in
neutral’ to warm the system
prior to use and to activate the
water pump. If necessary, a
drive can be taken to operate
a lubricator but, with a low
pressure and a rather wet
steam supply, a simple in-line
displacement lubricator will
be quite sufficient. In use, of
course, the engine requires to
be stopped before any change
of direction or re-engaging
movement of the swing frame
gears is undertaken.
My general arrangement
drawing (fig 1) shows the
layout of the engine with
three cylinders, with each unit
mounted on a 2½mm thick
brass frame plate. These are
considered rigid enough to
just have a piece of brass
angle to hold them squarely
on a sub-frame fabricated
from ¼ x ¼ inch brass angle
support bars and 5⁄16 x 5⁄16 inch
angle longitudinal bars. The
top of each cylinder assembly
is steadied with a length
of 6BA studding and nuts
with tubular stainless steel
spacers for rigidity. All the
frame plates are the same size
and all four have generous
bearings for the elements of
the crankshaft while the end
ones have the bearings for the
lower output shaft. Imperial
sized 3⁄16 inch stainless steel
has been used for the shafts,
because I do prefer this size,
but prospective builders
could adopt metric stock
sizes instead. The general
arrangement drawings are
not fully detailed but give the
necessary outline information
to supplement the pictures and
will be supported by detailed
drawings as the articles
progress.
www.model-engineer.co.uk
OSCILLATOR
4 5
Two views of the front of the engine showing the gear frame and the control lever set in both forward and reverse drive.
The crankshaft consists of are mounted on short shafts engine to just drive the water
three pairs of matched brass on a stainless steel back pump. Photograph 6 is included
wheels that are initially drilled plate and retained with simple to show the rear of the engine
and reamed to fit sections nuts and washers. This frame and the worm drive to the pump
of the steel shaft as well as will be supplied by me as a shaft. ●To be continued.
being drilled for the crankpins. laser cut part to simplify the
Each is then split to be a wide construction. Photographs 4
and a narrow component and 5 show the front-end detail
kept properly identified for with the gear change lever in NEXT TIME
re-assembly with the piston the two drive positions, which I will begin the construction
rod. The narrow part is silver have detents to maintain the of the cylinders and their
soldered to a short shaft that settings, and there is also a mounting plates.
passes through the generous neutral setting to allow the
bearing in the brass mounting
plate and secured to the wider
section of the cylinder in the 6
next bay with a socket grub
screw. Each section is timed
with a flat on the stub shaft to
keep the location. At either end
the two extension shafts carry
the worm drive or drive for the
reversing assembly.
By far the most difficult task,
initially, was to source gears of
sensible dimensions for both
ends. It was a great surprise
and regret for me to find that
Messrs. Muffets, that long-
standing company offering the
types of gears we use, is no
longer interested in supplying
small quantities for model
engineers so I have had to go
elsewhere. Even so, the cost
of fully machined gears is not
cheap but I think you get what
you pay for. The main pinions
on the driven and output shafts
are ½ inch diameter and the
three smaller idlers (one on Here is the rear view of the engine showing the worm
one side and two on the other) drive to the cross shaft and the pump eccentric drive.
329
 1
Patrick
Hendra
spends
lockdown revisiting
his youth.
Motorbike as delivered.
My Lockdown
Mega Project
G
raham, my son, has
been buying motor
bikes, often in poor
condition, rebuilding them
and then, having lost interest,
selling them. Usually they are
of foreign manufacture … Ugh!!
2 1950s through to 1962. Here is
The author’s old Vincent.
330
I kept on telling him that he
should restore a real motorbike
- a 998cc Vincent - but to no
avail until April 2020 when he
noticed a collection of bits and
pieces on eBay, purported to
be a 1947 Vincent Rapide.
Model Engineer 25 February 2022
We decided to put our funds
together and bought the
pile (photo 1). The price was
eye-watering, hence the joint
purchase.
Fortunately I had
conciderable experience of
Vincents because I owned two
500s and a 1000 from the late
‘my’ Vincent (photo 2), still on
the road and owned now by Mr.
Kester Marsh. You will see that
the front forks are different
from the one we are building.
The new and more modern
forks were fitted to machines
built after late 1949.
I sold NKR 872 for £100
to a lad in Putney. Kester’s
machine should reach £50,000
at auction .
I had deduced from the
eBay picture that some bits
were superb and some rusted
and probably useless - and
that almost all of the small
engine and gearbox parts
were missing. This turned
out to be accurate; the main
gearbox shaft had obviously
resided in a puddle for years,
the pistons were too large to

3 4
Dismantling begins. One legged stand.
5 6
Bare crankcase. Crankshaft.
fit the barrels and it was soon
7 obvious that the components
came from several different
machines. And oh yes - all the
threads were damaged. The
dynamo was off a different
make and the magneto the
wrong type and dead. Pretty
well as expected!
I volunteered to tackle the
engine/ gearbox and Graham
was to set up the cycle parts. I
won’t bore you with the details
- some gruesome - but I’ll offer
a series of photos.
The unit was completed
ready to go to Graham’s garage
on 5 December but the move
had to be postponed because I
was unwell until 12 December.
The machine would originally
have been plain, polished
aluminium. Several parts were
black - obviously from a Black
Shadow as they appeared in
Speedometer drive. 1949. The engine number tells
www.model-engineer.co.uk
LOCKDOWN PROJECT
us that the engine was made
in 1947.
This wreck was bought from
eBay (photo 3). It took three
hours to get it apart because
nuts were rusted solid. There
should be two legs (photo 4).
The one away from you has
broken off (another little job!!).
Photograph 5 shows the
bare crankcase. It looks okay
but was full of sand blasting
grit. Every hole and cavity had
to be cleaned. Every threaded
hole had to be retapped – not
a trivial exercise!
The crankshaft (photo 6)
started as rusty but here it is
after polishing with Dremmel
rotary wire brushes and then
wire wool.
The speedometer drive
was missing. They are utterly
unobtainable so I made one
from scratch and the photo
shows the internal parts >>
331
 8 9

Engine partly reassembled. Cover fitted.

(photo 7). The graph paper is

in mm/cm squares. 10 11
Beginning to look like an
engine (photo 8)! Shown is
the timing side: I’m setting up
the valve gear timing. You will
note the long screws that hold
down the cylinders and heads.
Like many other parts they had
been ruined by some gorilla
who had attacked them with a
plumber’s wrench. All needed
remachining and the threads
chased. Clutch. Complete engine.
The cover was fitted over
the valve gear and the front gear change and gearbox. The idea is to get it fully has been locked down and the
cylinder fitted (photo 9). Here you see the engine assembled and photographed appropriate department has a
The famous Vincent servo bolted to the frame and which will then enable us to long backlog.
clutch, now fully overhauled wheels in Graham’s Workshop apply for registration. With
and in place (photo 10). The (photo 12). the correct documents we A labour of love
gearbox lies behind the clutch The whole machine needs will be given an historically It will hopefully look like this
in this view - engine to the left. repainting and all the bolts correct number and we can (photo 13) in the summer
All ready to go to plating. The wheels/ tyres are then insure it and put it on when it is registered and then
Southampton (photo 11). The the wrong size and will have to the road. This will take time painted.
cover to the left encloses the be changed. especially because the DVLA ME

12 13

How we hope it will look.

Engine reunited with the bike.

332 Model Engineer 25 February 2022

 Ron Fitzgerald takes a
look at the history and
development of the
stationary steam engine.
The Stationary
Continued from p.165
M.E. 4682, 14 January 2022 Steam Engine
PART 30 – BOULTON AND WATT’S SOHO
FOUNDRY – BUILDING THE FOUNDRY
o the casual observer
T
Boulton and Watt’s status
as the world’s leading
steam engine builder appeared
unassailable in the last decade
of the eighteenth-century but
time was eroding the firm’s
position. Whilst the genius of
Watt’s solution to the central
problem of the Newcomen
engine was undeniable, the
success of the company had
become overly dependent upon
the patent. The 1775 extension
was due to expire in 1800 and
the growing number of potential
competitors could only be
restrained as long as the patent
held. By the mid-seventeen-
nineties the reconstructed
partnership of Boulton, Watt
and Sons, largely led by James
Watt Junior, was reviewing
this situation against the
knowledge that the company’s
main source of income, the
premium, would cease at the
end of the century and, with it,
the effective monopoly of the
separate condenser engine.
The firm’s ultimate response
recognised this vulnerability
but it was also a reaction to
external events.
In the absence of patent
protection, a central
consideration was - could
the firm continue to rely
upon the engine building
arrangement that had existed
since Matthew Boulton had
retreated from his initial
ambition to be responsible for
the manufacture of complete
engines? The developing
relationship with Wilkinson
had seen the Soho Factory
increasingly confined to
www.model-engineer.co.uk
making the valves and valve
seats, the piston rods, the
valve gear and the parts of the
parallel motion. The castings
for the cylinders with their
valve boxes, the air pumps,
condensers and the sun-and-
planet gears all came from
Wilkinson’s Bersham Ironworks
and were dispatched directly to
the customer.
Some extension of the Soho
Manufactory had taken place to
accommodate the manufacture
of steam engine parts and by
1775 a separate engineering
department had emerged with
a two-hearth smith’s shop, a
fitting shop and at least one
lathe. The firm must also have
had a pattern shop as they were
making their own patterns from
the earliest period of engine
building. Within the next five
years a two-storey engine shop
was added to this cluster of
sheds and by 1781 the Engine
Building Yard formed a distinct
entity attached to the south-
eastern end of the Manufactory.
These facilities may have
been sufficient to deal with
the first generation of mine
pumping engines but the
rotative engine that was
to power factories began
to expose the underlying
limitations of the situation.
Most mines had workshops
and engineering expertise.
They were also likely to have
established connections
with local foundries and
other industrial suppliers. In
consequence, the mine was in a
position to be actively involved
in building and maintaining its
pumping engines. The aspiring
textile mill owner rarely had
such facilities and was usually
more heavily reliant upon the
engine supplier. This situation
was made more difficult by
the fact that responsibility for
building the engine continued
to be divided. Many of the
early problems that beset
Boulton and Watt’s factory
engines could be attributed to
this fragmented organization.
The lack of on-site expertise
available to keep the engines
running could well make a
suspect machine worse.
It was the collapse of
Wilkinson’s Bersham Ironworks
that finally precipitated action
at Soho; Boulton and Watt’s
main source of essential
engine parts was abruptly
closed down. In September
1795, William Fawcett,
the Liverpool engineer,
was appointed as trustee
responsible for disposing of
the remaining Bersham assets.
An auction was held at which
James Watt Junior purchased
a number of cylinders that
Wilkinson had cast for stock
but, by this time, he was
already moving towards a
more permanent solution to
Soho’s problems.
The crisis had been
discussed with John Southern,
head of the drawing office,
who was inclined to favour
the firm continuing to rely
upon external suppliers for the
main castings but expanding
the capacity to bore the
cylinders and air pumps at the
Manufactory by converting
the… present large lathe… to a
boring mill. This idea seems >>
333
to have been short-lived for,
within days of Southern’s
suggestion, Watt Junior had
identified a plot of land for
an entirely new steam engine
building factory in Smethwick,
three quarters of a mile to the
west of the Manufactory. The
ground, belonging to George
Kennedy, lay on the north side
of a bend in Brindley’s sinuous
Birmingham Canal, one of
the site’s main attractions
as it held the opportunity
for a canal dock within the
boundary of the new works.
After some prevarication
Kennedy’s asking price was
agreed - £1,340 for slightly
over 18 acres of ground which
sloped away from the canal in
a north-easterly direction.
The conveyance was sealed
on the 27th August 1795, using
purchase money loaned to
the new partnership by James
Watt Senior. Under the terms
of a separate agreement the
firm of Boulton, Watt and
Sons was to be a tenant of
the elder Watt, subject to a
five-hundred-year lease with
an annual rent of £65 18s. The
lease contained a covenant
which permitted the partners
to purchase the site outright
at any time from Watt Senior
for £1,318. Although the elder
Watt was now a minority
shareholder in the firm of
Boulton, Watt and Sons, his
position of landlord of the new
site reinstated his influence
and he continued to be a
managerial presence.
The extent to which Watt
Senior’s position acted as
a check upon his son has
long been the subject of
debate. Where Watt junior
was impetuous his father
was cautious and disinclined
to take risks. Watt Junior
became practised in the arts
of filial deference but usually
attained his objective. The
need to appease his father
largely explains Watt Junior’s
professed retreat from his
intention to build a foundry
on the new site, for Watt
Senior had reservations about
the firm embarking upon
foundrywork. In May 1795 he
had written to his father:
… Perhaps it might be right,
334
87
William Wilkinson’s suggested layout for Soho Foundry contained in a letter from
Wilkinson to James Watt Junior, 14th August 1795. North at bottom of drawing.
Redrawn by W.K.V. Gale, T.N.S. XXXIV, 1961-2, p. 78.
leaving the foundry for the which located the foundry need to crane-lift the casting
present out of the question, to with respect to the boring mill out of the pit (ref 155).
consider the immediate erection building and, noting the natural In mid-August plans for the
of a boring mill on Mr. Kennedy’s fall of land, he suggested a site that included the foundry
land or some other eligible spot… way in which this feature could were beginning to emerge
At the same time, within the be used to advantage. With from the drawing office. In
confidentiality of another letter some regrading of the ground what is probably the first firm
penned to Lawson, Watt Junior the foundry floor datum level proposal for boring mill and
gave a more nuanced view of could be raised 9 feet above foundry, Wilkinson’s influence
the matter. If the boring mill the floor of the boring mill and is clearly to be seen (fig 88).
was the central consideration, the casting pit could become His plan for transferring the
he was still actively planning part of a semi-basement cast cylinders directly from
to erect a foundry. In a letter at the northern end of the the casting pit to the boring
dated the 6th of June he sought foundry building. This would mill is incorporated but by
advice from John Wilkinson’s allow a basement level door re-positioning the boring mill
brother William (ref 154): to be made in the north gable, slightly to the north the access
I now beg leave to remind adjacent to and within the between the two buildings was
you of your promise to give us depth of the cylinder casting improved. The basement door
a sketch of a small foundery pit, through which the cast in the east gable of foundry
and Boring Mill. We are going cylinders could be moved out which communicated with the
immediately to a 9 horse of the foundry building and casting pit was now aligned
Engine for the latter, as we into the boring mill without the directly opposite the west
find it impossible otherwise to
get through with our Orders.
Whether or not we add a 88
foundery to it, will depend upon
future contingencies, at present
we shall only go on with the
Boring Mill. But we wish it to be
erected in such a way as may be
convenient for the Foundery if it
ever takes place…
Wilkinson replied on the
14th of August, before the
conveyance for Kennedy’s
ground had been sealed
but clearly anticipating the
successful purchase of the
site. In his attached drawing
(fig 87) Wilkinson proposed The first known proposal drawing for the foundry and boring mill, August 1795.
a building layout for the site Boulton and Watt Archive, Birmingham Central Library.
Model Engineer 25 February 2022

89
Plan, elevations and sections of the boring mill and machine shop.
Boulton and Watt Archive, Birmingham Central Library.
gable door of the boring mill,
improving the transfer route.
Other proposals stemming
from Wilkinson and included
in the design were the two
banks of twin reverberatory
furnaces outshot from the
south wall of the foundry from
which the molten metal was to
flow to the casting pit through
branching channels cut into
the floor sand and his idea
for a rotating-post jib crane
servicing the casting pit.
If the influence of William
Wilkinson showed strongly in
the layout of the foundry the
boring mill building appears
to have been mainly the work
of the Soho drawing office for
the design was already well
advanced at the time that his
letter was received. Wilkinson
was evidently given some
intimation of the intended
general form that the boring
mill would take as he includes
a version of it in his sketch
plan but Soho drawings for
the building completed in
the same month show the
www.model-engineer.co.uk
building with a footprint that is
different from that shown on
Wilkinson’s sketch (ref 156).
Soho drawings dated August
1795 (fig 89) included a ground
plan, sections and elevations
of a three-part building. The
proposed boring mill consists
of a single storey shed, square
in plan and spanned by two,
34 feet span, king-post roof
trusses. The west gable
has a pair of symmetrically
placed doors that open out
towards the gable of the
foundry. Continuing from the
eastern end of the boring
mill building there is an eight
bay, two-storey block which
was intended to become the
machine shop, most often
referred at that time as the
‘turnery’. An engine house
divides the boring mill from
the turnery and this engine
was to provide power for both
buildings. The boiler house for
the engine is attached to the
north end of the engine house
and each of the two boilers
has its own chimney.
90
Plan of proposed foundry. Boulton and Watt Archive, Birmingham Central Library.
Work on site had begun
at the beginning of August,
prior to the final sealing of the
conveyance. A boundary wall
was commenced on the 3rd
and the boring mill building
was under way by the middle
of the month along with a
carpenter’s shop and a forge
with a watchman’s lodge, built
as part of the east boundary
wall. As August passed into
September these buildings had
progressed to roofing level but
the question of the foundry
remained unsettled. The
season was particularly fine,
the materials were on site and
on the 15th of September Watt
Junior wrote to John Southern
who was in Newcastle,
…I told you yesterday that
we should make a dash at the
foundery this season, 60 feet
square is the size we propose.
Please give us all your ideas
upon the subject respecting the
position of the furnaces, stoves,
THE STEAM ENGINE
cylinder pit, etc. and the abstract
of your observations upon the
founderies of the north. You
must let us have them soon as
we commence our operations
immediately, not to lose this
astonishingly fine season…
On the same day he offered
his father a progress report
exhorting him to support the
seemingly now otherwise
accepted foundry (ref 157):
…Our Boring Mill, Blacksmiths
Shop, Lodge and Carpenters
shop are all ready for covering
in. The Dock too is finished all
but the bridge and our Walls
are nearly all up. We hope from
this specimen that you will
give us some credit for activity
& that you will not be angry
with us, if the success of our
past exertions induces us to
go beyond the line originally
proposed and to finish the
foundery this year.
Eight very good master
bricklayers now upon the point >>
335
of standing still, 300,000 spare
bricks, the finest weather I
ever remember, the prospect of
saving a whole year, and fresh
orders coming in every day
are inducements enough…We
propose making the Foundery
60ft Square & taking Wm
Wilkinson’s advice about it…
Nine days later he again
wrote to his father with a
detailed description of the
proposed foundry. The letter
contained a sketch plan
which was almost identical
to a drawing prepared by the
drawing office (fig 90) and
Watt’s description can be
applied to both (ref 158):
I sketched down the result
as under a a a a are four air
furnaces, (reverberatory
furnaces) situated as near
together as the men can work
the fires for the conveniency of
running from all four into the
Cylinder pit (d), which is placed
as near to them as possible to
prevent the metal cooling. By
this means it is removed 10ft
from the end of the foundery
but a passage of 10 feet wide,
arched over is to be left at (b)
to convey the Cylinders into the
boring Mill. The building is to
be 80 feet long by 40 feet wide.
The stoves (core ovens) will be
placed upon the opposite side
to the air furnaces in order to
leave the end of the foundery
(f) entirely for castings in green
sand, which should not be mixed
with the dry sand, which will be
managed in the middle part of
the building. There will be two
cranes; one at (o); the other
not yet determined. Additional
NEXT ISSUE
Boilermaking
Luker takes a look at modern
methods and materials for steam
locomotive boiler construction.
Precision and Accuracy
John Bauer discusses accuracy
and precision and highlights the
336
91
Sketch made in later 1796 or 1797 of Soho Foundry by William Creighton, Boulton and Watt’s head draughtsman. The sketch is
annotated from the south-east but it may be a view from the north-west looking south-east. Glasgow Museum of Transport.
air furnaces may if wanted be
built along the Wharf side as
represented by the dotted lines.
A shed will be carried from the
roof upon the side where the
stoves are & the space under it
appropriated to mixing up Loam
&c, which may be conveyed in to
the Cylinder pit by passage (c).
The dimensions quoted in
the above letter give a slightly
smaller floor area than the
60 feet square of the letter to
Southern. In the event, the 95
feet by 45 feet of the main body
of the building shown on the
drawing office plan increases
the floor area by 20%.
Work on the foundry was
commenced on the 7th October
but the fine weather was over
and progress slowed. This
did not prevent the start of a
further building, a fitting and
erecting shop then called
simply the fitting up shop. It
was placed adjacent to the
eastern end of the machine
shop and at a right angle to it
but separated by a roadway.
Like the machine shop it was
two storeys high but five bays
long. The suspended floor
stopped short of the south
crucial differences between
the two.
Taunton
John Arrowsmith continues his
tour of the West by observing
progress on the Taunton society’s
new site at West Buckland.
ON SALE 11 MARCH 2022
end of the building leaving the …As we have a spare space of
two storeys open internally ten feet we shall erect two in it,
from ground floor to roof. This each having two tapping holes
area was intended for trial and two twier holes.
erecting the engines and a The cupolas were to be
mobile staging was included to installed at the south-west
facilitate the process. corner of the foundry but
Up to this point there had building them was delayed for
been no mention of cupola over twelve months.
furnaces but Watt Junior The main part of the foundry
asked William Wilkinson for was completed by the end of
his views and four days later January 1796 and was opened
Wilkinson sent drawings based on Saturday the 30th with due
upon brother’s patent. He ceremony by Matthew Boulton
recommended the rectangular Senior. In a florid oration he
version of the cupola with bestowed upon the site the
a melting chamber 3 feet 6 name Soho Foundry giving birth
inches long by 1 foot 6 inches to a two-century legacy of
wide, rounded at the ends. confusion with his own Soho
Watt responded to Wilkinson Manufactory (fig 91).
by saying:
lTo be continued.
REFERENCES
154. James Watt Jnr. to William Wilkinson, 6th June 1795,
B&W Archive.
155. Soho Foundry: Some Facts and Fallacies, W.K.V. Gale, T.N.S.
XXXIV, 1961-2.
156. B&W Misc Portf Boxes 5 and 8.
157. 15th Sept 1795, B&W Archive Parcel E/5.
158. 24th Sept 1795, B&W Archive Parcel E/5.
Content may be subject to change.
Model Engineer 25 February 2022

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www.model-engineer.co.uk
Rocking Grates
Dear Martin,
Reading Doug Hewson’s
observations on rocking
grates, I looked in the
MELG manual on testing
miniature boilers, and the
official British Transport
Commission handbook
for steam-locomotive
enginemen in British
Railways days.
As Mr. Hewson points
out, barring a locomotive
for having a rocking-grate
was completely wrong. A club
boiler inspector can decline
testing a boiler on the grounds
of inexperience of its design
type, but should know there is
nothing in the MELG booklet
about grates. This seems
another occasional, anecdotal
case of a boiler-inspector
not really knowing what is
necessary.
Not long ago another
contributor said you can
stifle the fire by clogging the
chimney with cloth and turning
the blower on hard. Obviously,
it’s better not to reach that
situation in the first place.
The BTC manual shows the
multiple-part rocking-grate
fitted to all the BR Standards.
Its first rocked position is
the low angle Doug cites, for
breaking clinker. The second,
beyond a safety-catch on
the operating-lever, was for
fire-dropping, but seems to be
about 45°, not 90°, each way.
On some LNER locomotives
the entire front portion of the
grate could be tipped.
For a miniature, I’d agree
with Doug specifying a full
right-angle because many of
us probably use over-size coal.
The ‘scale’ of recommended
full-size coal may be too
small but I expect we all know
someone who thinks it should
be of fire-hole diameter.
The manual also indicates
the rocking-grate is associated
with hopper ash-pans as
the fire should be dropped
through into the ash-pit, not
the ash-pan. This may be less
of a problem with a miniature
locomotive’s far smaller fire,
which anyway can often be
allowed to die out naturally,
still in place.
Signalling
Dear Martin,
As a retired signal engineer, I was intrigued to see, in the 14th
January issue of Model Engineer, the photo of the inside of
the Sheffield SMEE’s signal box. I think the lever frame is a
Westinghouse style L or N, with 20 levers. This is not one of the
standard sizes of frame, so I’m curious to know how the levers
are mounted. Is there any form of interlocking? Also, there is a
non-pegging block instrument, capable of showing Normal or
Line Clear or Train-on-Line. What does it do and who controls
it? Finally (for now!), how is the presence of trains detected?
Signalling is a branch of railway model engineering that
deserves better recognition and I hope that articles may appear
in due course, describing various SMEE signalling systems.
Best regards, Mike Hanscomb (Bishops Lydeard, Somerset)
The ash-pan and grate on conventional fire grate. I wrote
my 7¼ inch gauge Juliet stay to the gentleman in question
in the frames but the grate is immediately and told him
hinged at its forward end and that the boiler inspectors had
supported below the backhead no reason to refuse to allow
by a central pull-out pin with the engine to run. I regret to
safety-catch, so it can tip say that I never heard from
towards the pan’s open back. him again. By the way, he had
Access to both is by lift-out made a beautiful job of his
footplate. loco and he sent me a photo of
Having struggled so often it. As you say in your letter the
to replace the conventional fire can be extinguished simply
all-drop arrangement after by blocking the chimney and
disposal on the club’s and turning the blower on. I have to
other miniature locomotives, say I was upset by his story.
I feel, surely, they can have Someone else has custody
better grate and ash-pan of my loco for the time being
assemblies, far easier to use – and the gentleman in question
even fitted with rocking grates, has made my fire grate to
ash-doors and dampers. I look tilt about 90 degrees, for the
forward to Doug Hewson’s reasons which you have given.
solution to the problem! I regularly used anthracite
Kind regards, Nigel Graham peas rather than beans.
I am intending to design
my B1 fire grate with three
Doug Hewson replies: sections on the level section
I am a boiler inspector for our at the rear and three sections
own society and I could not on the sloping section at the
see a problem with having a front of the fire box. The fire
rocking fire grate. I understand bars will be the same as on my
2-6-4 tank. These are all cast
that one of my builders was
not allowed to run on their in stainless steel and have an
club track and was turned operating arm below the bars,
away with his 2-6-4 tank. He exactly the same as the BR
ended up having to re-build Standard engines with narrow
the loco with a grate which fireboxes. By the way, we
was acceptable to the so- always open the ash pan doors
called boiler inspectors, like a before dropping the fire.
337
 An Alternative
Ellie Jackshaft
Arrangement
Warwick
Allison
proposes
an improved jackshaft
design for the Ellie steam
train.
Jackshaft Ellie.
T
he Ellie simple steam
tram design has proven
to be very popular,
especially since it was
published in book form by
Camden. The Jackshaft Ellie
variant tries to make things
a bit easier but the variety
of different gears available
means it’s never so simple!
One of the most popular
and plentiful options is a 64
tooth gear for radio controlled
cars, matched to a 17T pinion.
This gear has advantages and
disadvantages. Its advantages
are that it is easily obtainable,
of good quality and very tough.
Its disadvantages are that
it has a 5mm hole in it (the
Ellie design has 4mm axles to
suit Meccano gears) and it is
impossible to drill the boss for
a grub screw because it is so
hard. It is driven by a cross pin
fitted in the drive shaft. My first
attempt to use these gears
was to sleeve the hole and fit
a cross pin to the jackshaft.
This attempt resulted in some
gear wobble, poor meshing
and no ability to adjust once
assembled. There must be a
better way!
After some discussion with
the designer an alternative
method was derived which
A typical eBay 64T pin driven gear. These made it easier to assemble
are about 40mm in overall diameter. and adjust while securing the
338
The new shaft in position.
gear more substantially and
minimising rework to other
components.
In summary, the external
jackshaft cranks are now
silver soldered to 23mm long
4mm stub axles. Between the
frames is now an 8mm axle,
which contains the 64T gear,
into which the stub axles are
inserted and secured by grub
screws. The whole assembly
can be removed and adjusted
to achieve lateral gear
alignment.
The internal axle is made
from 8mm brass rod some
54mm long (steel might have
been better). One end is turned
down to 5mm for a sliding fit of
the gear for a length of 26mm.
Drill the 8mm diameter end
4mm x 14mm deep for one
stub axle.
Against the shoulder drill a
2mm cross hole for the drive
pin. Insert a small 2mm steel
pin about 8mm long, such
that the gear will slide on the
shaft and push over the pin.
Make sure the gear is hard
up against the shoulder. The
remaining 5mm shaft will
now be about 17mm long.
Machine a collar 17mm long
5mm inside diameter and 8
mm outside and slide this over
the 5mm shaft end. Ensure it
is all nicely pushed together
Model Engineer 25 February 2022
and soft solder this tube to the
shaft. Re-chuck in the lathe
and, making sure it is running
true, clean up the end and drill
4mm x 14mm deep for the
other axle.
Drill and tap for M3 or 6BA
grub screws about 6mm from
the ends to secure the stub
axles, clean up any burrs
and the job is done. This
new jackshaft should now fit
between the frame bushes
with a little slide play. Insert
the stub axles each side. If
necessary an end can be
shortened to give more side
play to align the gears. When
positioned insert and tighten
the grub screws, not forgetting
to quarter the cranks.
The actual position of the
gear on the shaft can vary
depending on which way
around you have installed
the pinion on the motor
crankshaft. Thus, to use the
indicated dimensions you may
have to reverse the pinion, or
adjust these dimensions to
suit your chassis and motor
position.
This arrangement is
certainly more substantial in
accommodating these readily
available gears while requiring
a minimum of rework to the
rest of the design.
ME
 ELLIE

www.model-engineer.co.uk 339
A 7¼
7¼ Inch Gauge
Driving Truck PART 1

Introduction
Having almost completed my
Tim Coles project to design and build a
constructs pair of 7¼ inch gauge ‘Jinty’
a driving 0-6-0 tanks, I needed a driving
truck to run behind them.
truck built for two, in true All manner of driving trucks,
prototypical style. commercial and amateur,
can be seen on our tracks but
I really wanted something
with a prototypical outline
and I also wanted to carry
two people comfortably on
the truck. Beyond this, I had
decided that the side tanks
on the locomotives would be
dummies, housing only the
emergency hand pump and
some steel blocks to add
weight and improve adhesion.
This meant that the driving The set of water cut parts for the truck, as received. Note the neat and sharp
truck would also need to carry edges, even on the thick brake bosses. Some parts are still attached to the
a fairly large water supply. ‘sprue’, rather like an Airfix kit!

Fig 1

General arrangement – side view.

340 Model Engineer 25 February 2022

 DRIVING TRUCK

Many years ago, I built one

of Doug Hewson’s excellent Fig 2
5 inch gauge bogie driving
trucks, as recently described
in Model Engineer (issues
4677, 4678 and 4679), and
Doug’s truck really provided
the inspiration for the design
of my 7¼ inch gauge version.
A search on the Internet
produced a number of pictures
of 50-ton bogie brick wagons
and I used these to develop
the design, particularly for the
wooden body.
All design work was
completed on 2D AutoCAD,
which I find quite adequate
for my purposes; I’ll leave
clever 3D stuff to the younger
folks! If you decide to build
one of these trucks, you
should find my drawings
fairly easy to follow but do
study the photographs to get
a good idea of how it all fits
together. I haven’t drawn up
every last detail because you
can probably work out how
to make bits like the driver’s
brake lever.

The bogies
Being a little short on time
in the workshop, I decided to
resort to that most powerful of
tools, the credit card, in order
to obtain a pair of bogies
for the driving truck. I was
delighted to find that the very
clever Aristocraft bogies are
now available, after something
of a production hiatus, and
Tom Hubble of Little Western
(usual disclaimer) delivered
two of these bogies quite
quickly. These bogies have
no suspension as such
General arrangement – end view.
but, instead, they have an
articulated frame structure
which combines with self-
aligning axle bearings to
spread the weight evenly on
all four wheels. Two large ball
races on the top of the bogie
transfer the load to the bolster
above and allow for free bogie
rotation on curved track. The
bogies are available with
a compact braking system
which acts on all four wheels,
so I got two braked versions,
giving the truck eight-wheel
braking. Finally, each bogie
has a crisp aluminium alloy
casting bolted on the sides,
featuring dummy axleboxes
and leaf springs, making the
complete assembly look much
like the full-size brick wagon
bogie.
●To be continued.
NEXT TIME
We’ll construct the chassis.

Fig 3

General arrangement – underside view.

www.model-engineer.co.uk 341

Adventures with Injectors
Roger Froud studies the
theory and practice of
making injectors.
Continued from p.263
M.E. 4684, 11 February 2022
5 6
One batch of cone blanks.
342
Making the one
piece cones
I could see from the beginning
that this was going to take a
lot of iterations so I decided to
machine a batch of blanks after
I’d made the first few by hand.
I won’t go into this here as
that’s worthy of its own article,
but this is my lathe operations
tooling plate fitted to the CNC
mill (photo 4). The program was
created using Fusion360 and a
Utility program that allows me
to define tool offsets based on
the tool number.
So here, T1 (in action) is
a 1.1mm wide grooving tool
which is used for all the
outside turning operations.
T4 is the 1.2mm PCB drill
with the blue collar, T7 at the
back is 0.6mm and T5 is a No.
74 drill bonded into a brass
bar so I could hold it in the
ER32 collet.
I haven’t gone to great
lengths to optimise the cycle
time, I just wanted to make a
batch without any drama or
tool breakages. In the end I
machined about 50 cones this
way. The cycle time is about 16
minutes, mainly because the
No. 74 drill is peck drilled to a
depth of 16mm. The 1.2mm
drill is effectively a centre drill
and the 0.6mm goes in as far
as it will go without fouling
what will become the taper.
If you search for my name
in Youtube you can see this
in action, along with videos of
some of the live tests.
4
Using the CNC mill as a lathe.
So here’s one of the two
batches I ended up making
(photo 5). The stock is ¼ ich
brass because the finished
size is 6mm. The final ones will
be made from SAE660 leaded
bronze which is just as easy
to machine but eliminates the
problem of dezincification.
Unfortunately, that is not
available as ¼ inch rod, but
I did manage to find some
13mm rod. It’s a bit wasteful,
but I will only need two cones.
Drilling the cross holes is
easy enough using a rotary
table, but I’d recently made a
4th axis for the mill and this
proved to be ideal for this
repetitive task. I bought this
handy ER32 collet chuck for
the four jaw chuck which is
absolutely ideal since you can
clock it up very quickly. Don’t
assume that a collet will hold
dead true, it won’t. I didn’t want
to attribute any performance
issues to manufacturing
Drilling the holes using the 4th axis.
Model Engineer 25 February 2022
PART 4
tolerances, so everything was
clocked up every time.
Here I’m using the High
Speed Spindle to drill one of the
cones (photo 6). This operation
needs to be done before
machining the tapers. You don’t
want burrs protruding into the
bore after it’s been reamed. A
PCB drill was very carefully put
through the holes after reaming
to remove any burrs there, and
the reamer lightly turned in the
bore by hand to make sure it
was clean.
The reamer depths were set
using a known hole size and a
slip gauge. A test piece can be
made and the taper machined
so it can be checked with the
following simple gauge (fig 9).
The measuring piece is
reversed like this (fig 10) and
the difference in overall height
gives the depth of the ball. The
theoretical depth to a ball of a
known size is found from the
CAD model.
 INJECTORS

In photo 7, another slip

gauge is being used to set Fig 9 Measuring piece – Fig 10 Measuring piece –
the reamer to a known point first position. second position.
from the cone face. This was
worked out from the 3D model.
Once the taper has been
reamed, the cone is parted off
and turned to length. A split
sleeve holds it the other way
around for machining the other
taper. It’s clocked up both
ways round and the second
side has a 1.2mm hole drilled
2.5mm deep to give the reamer
less work to do.
The cone design actually
has a short parallel portion
which is drilled through to
the correct throat diameter
after the tapers have been
reamed. This makes the depth cones to precision depths. The
of the delivery cone taper less accuracy of the three cones 7
critical. A short parallel section is integral to the one part
makes little difference to the which can then be inserted
performance of the injector. or removed at will without
In my opinion, these upsetting anything. This really
are much easier to make helps when you have a scale
compared to conventional injector with tiny bolts on the
cones. The deep through hole flanges. It’s much easier to just
guides the reamer to keep it remove the end caps and slide
central; clocking it up for these out the cone, leaving the body
operations makes sure the attached to the locomotive.
holes remain in the middle. Deep drilling the No. 74
There are no press fits and through hole manually might
no fiddly setting of separate seem daunting, but it’s not Setting the delivery reamer depth.

especially difficult if you go

Fig 11 about it the right way. I have a
large Warco VS1232 lathe and
just use the handwheel for the
feed. I have fitted a DRO made
from an old Mitutoyo digital
caliper though, and that lets
me see exactly when the next
peck is about to make contact
and how fast I’m feeding. Don’t
expect to feel anything, just
watch the dials and it will be
fine. I used 0.5mm pecks and it
didn’t take that long.

A working 8X
scale injector
Finally we arrive at the whole
point of this exercise - to make
a working 8X scale injector.
From what I’ve learned, I now
know that you don’t need that
damned valve that sits on the
top of the body. All you need is
a combined overflow valve on
the outlet.
The model pictured in fig
11 is what I’ve ended up with.
Scale 8X injector sectioned. The blue sectioned part on the
right is the extended end cap >>

www.model-engineer.co.uk 343
which reaches deep into the
injector body. Its purpose is 8
to provide a stop for the one-
piece cone to press against. It
screws up against the end of
the body and is sealed with a
1mm section O-ring. Both the
end caps, left and right, need
to screw up to a stop. That’s
because there needs to be a
cut-out where the water and
steam passes through.
You can see an O-ring on the
left-hand end of the cone that’s
coloured blue. The purpose
of this is to act as a spring.
The end cap compresses this,
forcing the cone axially against
the stop at the steam cone
end. This allows the end cap to
be screwed fully home without
requiring the lengths to be Prototype scale 8x injector.
made to high precision.
The pale blue adjustable In fact, it’s better than the challenges in fitting cones in a All of the pipe flanges use
steam cone at the right-hand development set-up, so the scale injector is that the steam 1mm section O-rings for face
end has a 0.5mm section question is why? The answer cone end doesn’t provide much seals with the exception of the
O-ring to seal against the may lie in that extended throat room for any seals. However, overflow which doesn’t need
sleeve and a 1mm one at the diameter which clearly has with careful design it’s just one. Water can dribble out of
right-hand end. The steam more resistance to flow than a possible to do it. the unsealed exit hole for the
cone uses the smaller hex that short neck. It’s been suggested The bore for the cones is valve spindle but in practice it
has a flange on the full sized that it also allows the flow reamed at 6mm, while the tends to go down the overflow
injector. By making the outside to become less turbulent. end caps use an M7 x 1 (fine) pipe. The final design will have
diameter the same size as the Anyway, whatever the reason, thread. This works out just a chain attached to the valve
flange on that cover, it gives it works really well and it saves right, with enough clearance shaft, just like it does on the
the illusion of being a flange having to do more operations inside the thread diameter to full-size injector. This is used to
rather than being the end of a on the back of the cone. add a small lead-in chamfer unseat the valve so that water
parallel piece that goes inside This is the prototype scale for the O-rings. The O-rings can be back pumped through
the body. 8X injector to the above only use 10% compression the overflow to fill the boiler. I
The final piece of the puzzle design (photo 8). I haven’t so that they don’t expand probably won’t be doing that,
is the unusual arrangement cleaned up the silver solder into the overflow hole and but it might also come in handy
of the steam cone throat. because it won’t be fitted get sliced up. That really is if I want to let water flow more
Normally this would be drilled to the locomotive. It’s 3D all that’s required anyway. A readily through the injector to
from both ends, with some sort machined in two halves from strip of fine emery paper was cool it off or drain the pannier
of a lead in at the back. That phosphor bronze because it’s threaded into the hole from tanks. ●To be continued.
was my original intention, but so thin and needs to survive either end and gently worked
I thought I’d try it like this first, silver soldering and lots of back and forth to remove
with the parallel throat being finish machining operations. It the sharp edge, and that’s all
long and breaking into the has to be made in two pieces that was required. I did the NEXT TIME
cross holes. Most of the tests to create the internal curved same for the development We make a scale body
I’d done with the development passages for the steam and body and didn’t get one O-ring for the injector.
set-up had been with a 1mm water channels. One of the damaged.
steam cone throat, but I’d also
experimented with 1.05mm
If you can’t always find a copy of this Please reserve/deliver my copy of Model Engineer
and 1.1mm. The 1.05mm on a regular basis, starting with issue
magazine, help is at hand! Complete this
didn’t make a huge difference,
form and hand in at your local store, they’ll Title First name
but 1.1mm was clearly too
arrange for a copy of Surname
big. A larger throat size is
each issue to be reserved Address
generally used to improve the
for you. Some stores may
low-pressure performance but
even be able to arrange
going too large will make it fail
for it to be delivered to
at high pressures. Postcode
your home. Just ask!
For some reason I Telephone number
mistakenly ended up making Subject to availability
the throat of this steam
cone 1.1mm and, to my
surprise, this works brilliantly.
If you don’t want to miss an issue...
✃

344 Model Engineer 25 February 2022

Book Review
The Governor
Controlling the power
of steam machines
John Hannavy ometimes a book is
S original in concept, well
researched and beautifully
illustrated. This is such a work,
following the author’s excellent
book Transporter Bridges: an
illustrated history, from the
same publishers in 2020.
The governor is near
essential on a steam engine.
Its purpose is more than
simply regulating speed.
Depending on the loading
being placed on an engine a
governor regulates force or
torque output of an engine by
maintaining virtually constant
speed.
This is particularly important
in a textile mill where if some
looms or spinning mules are
disconnected the engine would
still put out the same torque
as the steam supply to the
engine remains unchanged.
As that torque is more than
the mill’s machines require
the engine would start to race
- highly undesirable in textile
manufacture.
To revert to the original
speed a governor reduces the
steam supply, reducing torque
until shaft output matches the
optimal speed of machines
once again. Even so ‘hunting’
happened - small variations
in speed around the mean
- minimised by engineers in
different governor designs.
The author suggests
the governor stems from
Christiaan Huygens, who
invented a simple pendulum
This governor moves millstones apart. device to control the pressure
www.model-engineer.co.uk
and separation of millstones.
If millstones were too close
they could generate sparks,
explosively dangerous in a
flour rich environment, but if
too far apart the flour became
coarse. Governors were used
in wind, river and tide mills.
Rightly, readers are reminded
of other self-acting regulators
like the ‘Système Berton’ and
Hammond’s Patent Sweep
Governor which opened
and closed sails smoothing
out sudden variations in
wind speed. The fantail was
invented by Edmund Lee in
1745 and rotated the windmill
cap to ensure sails faced
the wind. Oddly, the author
incorrectly claims the fantail
became very popular in
Holland. It wasn’t.
All types of factory and
pumping steam engines
needed a governor to work
reliably. As engines developed,
new types were developed
such as spring-loaded
governors. Higher speed
engines required their own
more specialised variations.
In a summary of steam
engine development, the
author shows where governors
were used, often placed
dangerously close to flywheels
or parts that needed regular
oiling. Fatal accidents resulted.
Many manufacturers
devised their own governors
with subtle differences.
Types included the Watt,
Acme, Pickering, Mein,
Proell, Lumb, Richardson,
Riter, Griffin, Hartnell, Buss’s
cataract governor and even
one devised by Magnus Volk
of Brighton. The Whitehead
governor was particularly
popular in textile mills as it
was reliable and minimised
‘hunting’. Manufacturers like
Davey Paxman fitted their own
Paxman governor. Most used
highly visible rotating balls but
some fully enclosed governors
like the Bee type were made.
Although gas engines are
illustrated there is little here
about regulation of internal
combustion engines. That is
perhaps too large a subject.
The author has researched
patents for governors - there
were many - and offers a
thorough list of places where
governors can be seen, so
this is also a good guide to
industrial history. Taking
clear pictures of heritage
machinery is not easy but the
photographs throughout this
book are superb.
Even if you are not
particularly interested in
heritage engineering this is an
attractively produced work and
a pleasure to look through. A
book to be recommended.
Roger Backhouse
Published by Pen and Sword
Transport, 2021
ISBN 978-1-39909-088-9
£30, 160pp, hardback
345
 Peter
Seymour-
Howell
builds a fine, fully
detailed model of
Gresley’s iconic
locomotive to Don
Young’s drawings.

Continued from p.255

M.E. 4684, 11 February 2022

PART 29 -
PETTICOAT PIPE,
CHIMNEY AND
OTHER DETAILS
Painting by Diane Carney.

Flying Scotsman
in 5 Inch Gauge
Exhaust standpipe
Continuing with the smokebox,
I cut out the access in the
smokebox tube and started
work on the standpipe for the
outside cylinder's exhaust.

FAR LEFT: 1. Firstly, I spotted and

drilled the four corner bolt holes in the
saddle ready for tapping 8BA. Here is
the saddle clamped to the tube ready
for spotting through the 8BA mounting
holes. Having done that I refitted the
tube with the four bolts and marked out
the area that I needed to remove. LEFT:
2. Here we have the section removed. I
then refitted the tube and dealt with the
other 8BA mounting holes, drilled and
tapped all 56 of them.

346 Model Engineer 25 February 2022

 THE FLYING SCOTSMAN

4. Back to the mill and I set up the saddle
square to the bed and levelled it. I then
3. Moving back to the saddle, before I started machining again I needed to deal with the started drilling the passageway for the
small wedges that fit around the front flange. I soldered these on as Don recommended. exhaust. The last job then on the mill
was to face off the top of the standpipe.
5. Lastly, I turned up a spigot ready to
help clock the saddle into the four-jaw
chuck to machine the outside of the
standpipe ready for threading.

LEFT: 6. It was a little tricky holding the saddle correctly to machine the outer face 8. It was then time to cut the standpipe thread. The awkward location meant doing it
of the outside cylinder’s standpipe. The job is made a lot easier with the spigot that I by hand. After starting the cut and checking that it was cutting squarely I continued
turned up ready for this. RIGHT: 7. Here we have the standpipe machined down to its until unable to use just my hand and then used a suitable flat surface to fit inside the
correct size and then a final cut to face off. die, which worked out surprisingly well.

FAR LEFT: 9. I first set the assembly up square to both axes and level to the bed,
this involved some packing under the saddle. Note the timber jammed into the
smokebox to keep things rigid as this job is a long way off the bed. LEFT: 10. Although
I had clocked the centre I also wanted a visual aid as things like this give a strange
perspective and I wanted to remove any doubt from my mind as I started to cut metal,
I wanted to be sure that not only had I found centre but also that the centre line was
parallel with the X axis. To do this I first clamped a large square to the mill pedestal
lying across the top of the tube, using a smaller square I marked a line on the large
square either side of the tube, I then bisected the two lines to find dead centre and as
seen in the picture used an adjustable square to mark said centre line. Then using the
large square again, I marked a centre line across the top of the tube. The final check
involved a centre drill that was used to mark each end of the centre line. As it turned
out this required one small tap on the back end to get the centre line parallel with X -
probably less than a degree out but out it was. >>

www.model-engineer.co.uk 347
 14. This picture shows the petticoat
pushed into the chimney opening. It’s
a tight fit and it will in fact fit into the
chimney itself which, according to Don,
LEFT: 11. Using an edge finder to clock the front edge of the tube I then moved along 13. The next job was to turn the only requires a push fit. I will deviate
the centre line to mark the centre of the chimney. The hole was then centre drilled and petticoat pipe round and machine the from this and fix the two, sandwiching
opened out a little before being widened using a step drill. A boring head was then parallel section of the pipe and face off. the smokebox tube between. You’ll also
used to open up the hole to the right size. I then repeated the process from the other I also started the boring but didn’t do see here that I have made a start on
end to machine the sifting valve opening. RIGHT: 12. The first job was to clean up the the taper yet. profiling the pipe shape, both external
outer edge of the dome to the finished diameter. and internal.

17. I bent a boring bar to suit the smokebox curvature after heating/tempering and it
worked very well. I then used the smokebox to adjust the boring head for the correct
arc and also for centralising the Y axis for the chimney.

15. Here we can see that the chimney
has been machined/filed (oversize for
now) and bored in two stages. The first
was just to clean up the casting and the
second was to machine the recessed
step for the petticoat to sit in - as you
can see in the picture it’s a good fit.
16. I then needed to take care of the
underside of the chimney to match the
curvature of the smokebox. Here, the
chimney is held in the Keats angle vice.
I found the quickest and easiest way to
set the chimney squarely in the keats
was to use the smokebox itself.

Chimney hole Petticoat pipe

The next job was boring
the two holes along the top
centreline, for the chimney
and snifting valve. I did this
while the tube was attached
to the saddle. That’s how Don
says to do it but it also makes
complete sense, ensuring that
the holes are exactly where
they need to be.
Leaving the smokebox for
a while I moved on to the
petticoat pipe which which can
be dealt with entirely using
the three-jaw chuck. Once that
was finished I had to consider
how to fix the chimney. Don
states that the chimney flange LEFT: 18. During the machining, I made regular checks to the thickness of
was fixed to the smokebox the flange at its four extreme points to ensure that it was remaining equal.
using eight ¼ inch bolts with RIGHT: 19. Here is the chimney in situ.

348 Model Engineer 25 February 2022

 THE FLYING SCOTSMAN

nuts on the inside but I had to

check my reference pictures to
see what orientation these are
in relation to the flange shape.
I won't be using nuts, though
- too problematic. There's an
inner flange that fits around
the petticoat and my plan is to
have the bolts go right through
the smokebox into tapped
holes in this inner flange. After
searching through various
books I discovered how the
eight bolts are positioned
around the chimney flange. It
is not easy finding close ups of
the chimney but I remembered
seeing photographs of other
LNER Pacifics and I see no
reason for this chimney to
have been fitted differently 20. Here, we are profiling the bell- 21. I then needed to hold the chimney in 22. Finally, we have the chimney bolted
from these. These pictures mouth on the petticoat. I first joined the the rotary table chuck ready for plotting to the smokebox. I haven’t secured the
show that the bolts start 22.5 chimney and petticoat together, mounted the eight bolt holes and I needed to do petticoat pipe yet. The holes were first
degrees off the centre line. in the three-jaw chuck to bore out the this from the top so that I could see drilled 1.4 mm, the chimney was held in
2 degree taper in one hit. The petticoat clearly where the bolts would be going its correct position and the holes were
Ash shield was then separated and the machining of in relation to the flange edge. To hold transferred onto the smokebox, drilled
The next thing was to make a the profile completed, as we see here. the chimney I turned up a spigot to be a and tapped (for now) 10 BA. The chimney
start on the ash shield, again good fit in the chimney. I didn’t drill right holes were then opened up to 1.8 mm for
something that I'd added to the through as the holes would be at the clearance. Once I get around to securing
model to follow the prototype. wrong angle and just used this to plot the petticoat pipe to its mounting flange
I decided to use some 1 mm opportunity at this point to their positions ready for drilling through the smokebox holes will be opened up
steel as it looks right and add a few small details, like properly. I did this later by holding the to 1.8 mm and the inner flange will have
was what I had in stock. The the snifting valve cover plate, flange flat on a piece of wood whilst the holes transferred to it to be drilled /
steel was cut out roughly maker’s plate, headboard drilling. tapped 10 BA. As with the smokebox to
oversize using a jigsaw and bracket and superheater end saddle this will be sealed with a bead of
then sandwiched between covers. heat resistant silicone.
two pieces of 6 mm MDF for
turning to size. I also took the

24. On the prototype, this shield is made up of two sections but

it’s easier to just fold the shield to shape, which guarantees
a good fit. The fold is then dressed so that it looks like two
pieces. Here the shield is finished and secured to the door.

23. Onto the lathe for turning down to just under 5 inches, which is the door ring
internal diameter. The sandwich is held together with a single 2BA bolt with star
washer and two nuts - it’s the nut’s which are held in the chuck allowing the bolt to
be fully tightened. A pair of calipers was set to size and used to check the size during 25. Here, the smokebox is complete, with chimney, maker’s
machining, remembering to measure the steel and not the MDF for obvious reasons… plate, various covers and even a headboard.

www.model-engineer.co.uk 349
 1
Bruce Fleet’s Gauge 1 LBSC ‘K’ class. (Photo courtesy of Bruce Fleet.)
D
iwrnod da fy darllenwyr.
Geoff Installing a new radio,
Theasby in order to avoid a certain
reports threat (being frowned upon
on the latest news from a great height) I moved
from the Clubs. my second-hand vhf radio
from the floor of the workshop
to a place at the operating
position. There was a space
just right, under a shelf below
more important stuff. As the
radio was supplied with an
unsuitable mounting bracket,
I decided to use that. Bear in
mind, throughout this farrago,
that the rig is 120 x 60mm
and the undershelf space is
130mm high. So, to begin, as
the Red Queen says, at the
beginning; mark out for holes
in underside of shelf, noting
that I can’t see the marks so
made. Obtain essential tool
(dentist’s mirror) and prepare
by using bradawl as seen in
mirror. This tests my eyesight/
brain/hand co-ordination
for about an hour. Prepare
to drill for bracket screws.
Drill too long. Drill in electric
screwdriver too long. Only
Butler-Henderson at Ken Martin’s GTG. (Photo courtesy of David Alexander.)
350
other angled, sharp tool I have
is hex headed and requiring
a 90 degree drive which I do
not possess. After cramp-
inducing tool manipulation,
holes prepared. Next, intend
to screw bracket to shelf.
Screwdriver too long. After
another hour - with aid of
miscellaneous tools, socket
set, comprehensive selection
of interchangeable screwdriver
heads suitably cobbled up -
bracket mounted. Offer up rig
to bracket from below. Insert
20mm screw to hopefully-
aligned bracket and rig side
hole, in 20mm gap. This
involves fingertip work in a
blind recess down which I
can’t see. Repeat thrice more.
That’s it! Sit back and view
results. It’s facing the wrong
way. What fool decided to put
it there? Dismantle in reverse
order, as it says in the Haynes
manuals, and reposition from
soul-destroying start.
In this issue: making
spanners, S&D's 200th, "What
is this that roareth thus?", the
Model Engineer 25 February 2022
derailment report (7/10 see me)
a busy weekend, Gilling at night
and a poorly-made model.
The Gauge 1 Model Railway
Association Newsletter &
Journal continues to delight.
The winter edition begins with
editor, Rod Clarke explaining
how he got the job. Initially
he turned it down saying that
it couldn’t be done remotely
(he lives in Canada) but was
persuaded to try and here we
are, four years and 17 issues
later! He has an in-tray full of
contributions and pictures,
only two of which arrived by
post, and the future looks
good. The 75th Anniversary
show will be held in October.
This issue has no fewer than
ten scratch-build articles, two
being restorations. The first
of the former is a Brighton ‘K’
2-6-0 by Bruce Fleet (photo 1)
whilst Chris Devenish writes
on the controversial subject
of smoke deflectors. Geoff
Hallam sorts out problems
with his double Fairlie, Ralph
Bagnall-Wilde makes his own

BA spanners using cap screws
and Peter Micenko makes a
simple battery locomotive for
the tyro constructor. This fine
GCR 4-4-0, Butler-Henderson
is pictured at Ken Martin’s
track in the summer (photo 2).
Another great picture is this
Midland engineers’ inspection
saloon bought on eBay many
years ago (photo 3). The
correspondence pages cover
Lithium batteries, Basset Lowke
and attracting new members.
W. wwww.G1mra.com
Trackerjack, November, from
Teeside Small Gauge Railway
starts with John Palmer
making his Sweet Pea a
rosebud grate, finding that the
ideal percentage of hole area
to grate area is about 12%.
The reopening of the railway
to the public has resulted in
long queues for rides; there is
certainly a demand! In 2025, it
will be the 200th Anniversary
of the opening of the Stockton
and Darlington railway and
as part of the countdown, a
Railway Exhibition was held in
Stockton; TSGR were invited
to take part and given a large
area near the exit.
W. www.tsgr.co.uk
Criterion, December, from
High Wycombe Model
Engineering Club reports
from the Classic Bus running
day, held in Chesham and
offering rides hither and yon,
as travelled by the quondam
Amersham & District Motorbus
Company. This reminds me of
Alfred Godley’s comic Latin
verse ending, “Domine, defende
nos Contra hos Motores Bos!”
(Any relation to the Club’s boiler
inspector?) Anyway, back at the
depot, Martin Page attended,
after first experiencing the ride
in, on an AEC Regent Four in
London Transport green. Chris
Gooch details a new railway
being built in Amersham, a
static exhibit methinks, half
size, using a model of Met No.
1 and two ‘Jubilee’ coaches,
set on 2 foot 4 inch gauge
track. This is to highlight the
effects of the railways on
Amersham, which owes its
very existence to them. David
Savage describes the ‘bottle
jack’, a clockwork rotisserie for
those houses not favoured with
www.model-engineer.co.uk
hot and cold running servants.
It hung close to the kitchen
fire and was used for roasting.
David shows pictures of a
surviving example, including
‘the works’. It is basically a
verge escapement.
W. www.hwmec.co.uk
Sheffield Society of Model
& Experimental Engineers’
Steam Whistle, December, is
replete with pictures of, and
invitations to, steam ups,
having spent the recent past
on running Santa Specials and
a charity run. Subsequently,
the local hospice benefitted by
about £1000. Barry Cartwright
reports on the Rail Accident
Investigation team on last
year’s derailment in the station
(free online at https://www.
gov.uk/government/news/
report-072021-freight-train-
derailment-at-sheffield-
station) together with photos
by Nathan Mills. 16 wagons
were derailed and the cause
was the undetected failure of
several track screws, leading
to increased gauge under the
train et voila! (Incidentally,
RAI seem to have no idea
where Sheffield is; a small
map on page 9 puts us near
York... What price Northern
Powerhouse when the powers
that be don’t even know where
we are? Geoff.)
W. www.sheffieldmodel
engineers.com
Kingpin arrives from
Nottingham SMEE, being
an amalgamated edition
(autumn/winter) due to lack
of contributions. However,
the response for the fireworks
display was ‘overwhelming’,
the queues extending out of
sight. Despite the last year’s
restrictions, membership
remains solid at 280. A supply
of Shell Ensis 30 oil (which
has anti-corrosion properties)
is available but now only in
20 litre drums and costing
£200+. If required, this should
be a joint purchase, or by the
club, being thought too much
for one person. Bob Bramson
had a pleasure cruise on the
effluent disposal ship, SS
Shieldhall, out of Southampton.
Passengers are invited to
contribute to the voyage -
stoking the boilers, at the
3
Dave Fenner’s Midland Railway inspectors’ saloon from eBay.
(Photo courtesy of Alan Leslie.)
wheel etc. (under supervision)
whilst Tom Ingall updates
us on the GCR reunification
project in three pages.
W. www.nsmee.org.uk
Steaming Ahead, autumn,
from Crowborough Locomotive
Society, says they are planning
for two large events, the
Queen’s Platinum Jubilee,
on Friday 2 June, preceded,
I think uniquely, by the
Thursday Spring Bank Holiday,
1st June, moved from the
previous Monday. Secondly,
the Crowborough Festival,
CrowFest, will take place
on 16/17 July. This is being
organised by Crowborough
Town council. Malcolm Place
reports on the Hallowe'en
celebrations. The afternoon
was quite quiet, with three
trains running. The evening
was very different; queues
began to form at 6pm and
the planned trains had to be
hastily supported by adding
extra carriages and the
evening was ‘manic’ until the
festivities ceased at about
8pm. Malcolm says that in his
19 years as a member he has
never seen so many families
attending. Chairman, Charles
Marks made a Meccano
locomotive earlier in the
year, which only made half a
circuit under its own power.
Ben Pearce saw and went
away to his den, producing a
similar model which was no
better. After a short period he
produced a meths-powered
vehicle which went 2½ times
round the track. Well done Ben.
John Wood writes on his visits
to the narrow-gauge railways
of the Somme and also of the
CLUB NEWS
Nord 141TC locomotives.
W. crowboroughminiature
railway.com
MEEA newsletter, November,
is a little late due to the
amount of work involved
in Murray’s preparation.
Graham Quayle continues
his story of a beam engine,
not well-made, and his work
on getting it up to par. As
an example, inappropriate
cheese head screws, slotted
grubscrews, loose joints,
crankshaft not ‘square’ to the
base, neither was it horizontal.
The eccentric rod was out of
alignment and the piston rod
was bent. Anything else? Yes,
much more, but I won’t weary
you further, dear reader. Alan
Roberts acquired a set of ¼
scale castings for a RR Merlin
engine - the crankshaft is 10
inches long. It is machined
from a 2½ inch diameter
steel blank. (The original
crankshafts were made from a
forging and the only machine
in the world that could make
them was a German drop
hammer at English Steels,
Sheffield. It was under 24-hour
armed guard and two copies
were later made to increase
capacity. I saw a crankshaft
some years ago at Donington
Motor Museum; there may be
others – Geoff.)
The Gauge 3 Society reports
that Jim Clement built this
great BR 20 ton brake van
from genuine drawings (photo
4). Also from the above, Denis
Halstead’s 4MT hauled its first
train, at Mill Field (photo 5).
W. www.Gauge3.org.uk
CoSME Link, winter, from
City of Oxford SME has 40 >>
351
 4 5

Jim Clement’s BR brake van. (Photo courtesy of Jim Clement.) Dennis Halstead’s 4MT on its first job at Mill Field.
(Photo courtesy of editor, Ashley Wattam.)

pages! Wow! Several members

have responded to editor, 6
Joy Brown’s request for more
content. An interesting idea
is to hold an Alternative
Hobbies night, which should
go well. Scientifically minded
people like ourselves tend to
have several techy interests,
musical instrument making
and playing, for instance. (I
only play the Gramophone…)
Ron Head writes on setting
Stephenson’s valve gear
eccentrics. Richard Brown’s
9F firebars had melted and it
could not be boiler tested. Oh
Calamity! The manufacturers
had closed down so it was
suggested that the fire grate
components be drawn and
laser cut. And so it came to A pigeon’s eye view of Bolton Steam Museum.
pass that 16 steel bars landed
on his doormat (more than sky locations here in the Garrett, saying the Society Cooper fitted a VFD drive to his
Status Quo - Geoff). New provinces. See https://www. has survived the last two Colchester Bantam. Tim also
member, Graham Porcas nationalparks.uk/dark-skies/ years with finances only visited the Riverside Model
makes new buffers; Rugby, and alternative hobbies slightly depleted, thanks Railway in St Neots, where he
Andover and Echills Wood above - Geoff) Why do the to all concerned. This was encountered a 7¼ inch gauge
clubs were visited, also a platelayers have a periscope? another club inundated with Kingscale 14XX GWR tank
pilgrimage to Gogledd Cymru. It’s to get a worms-eye view prospective passengers when engine. He was pleased with
Commentator, Graham Topliss, when trimming the level. Bill public running resumed in the engineering and finish,
was very complimentary about discovered why using oily rags the midsummer. Editor, Tim apart from the cab fittings
the Vale of Rheidol railway, for lighting up a locomotive is Coles visited Edinburgh SME being slightly overscale. A few
including the GWR-style a bad idea. Don’t ask him how and had a guided tour and niggles were fixed quickly by
lavatory cubicles, which are he knows! a drive around the track on the UK agents. Dear Santa…
pictured for CoSME readers’ W. www.rsme.org.uk Robert McLuckie’s Class 27. W. www.cambridgemes.org.uk
delectation. Debs and I visited Bolton The clubhouse is an incredible And finally, a cracker joke - it
W. www.cosme.org.uk Steam Museum for the end 40 metres long, 10 metres is particularly relevant to ‘men
Ryedale Society of of year steaming. We met wide and finished to a high in sheds’. How do know that
Model Engineers November Neil Carney (editor Diane’s standard, thanks to an office Santa’s been in your shed? -
Newsletter has an interesting Dad) and viewed the superb relocation in Edinburgh. There are three more hoes.
picture of the Night Run at collection of steam engines in Andrew Astles describes
Gilling. Nothing is visible action (photo 6). Unfortunately, OWLS crossings, YouTube
except the tail light of a after lunch, we got back to the https://www.youtube.com/
passing train and the signal car to find a penalty notice as watch?v=wlIiecut_YY (One
box lights. Editor, Bill has my Blue Badge had expired! Way Low Speed) and is making
reduced the picture size to The Cam, the eccentric one in 7¼ inch gauge. Cheaper
save on black ink! (Just the Cambridge & District Model and needing less maintenance CONTACT
place for a bit of astronomy Engineering Society newsletter, than diamond crossings they geofftheasby@gmail.com
- there are several dark opens with chairman, Julian were popular in Europe. Marin

352 Model Engineer 25 February 2022


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■ Large Chester Milling Machine.
Power table, power head, power quill,
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■ Tom Senior E milling machine, £2,600.
3” capacity sheet metal folding machine,
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Linisher horizontal/vertical £150.
T. 0115 9872211. Nottingham.
■ Myford ML7B lathe c/w gearbox,
clutch, vertical slide, F/R 4-jaw
independent chuck, two 3-jaw chucks,
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■ 240V lathe, Mark II Empire, 8 ¼
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9” Bernard 4-jaw chuck, removable
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■ Drummond shaper, hand powered ,
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■ Myford chuck, new in box with fully
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■ Cowells ME lathe in good condition,
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■ Model engineer’s workshop, lathe,
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photos. £1,850. T. 01781 7104554. ■ 3 ½” gauge Model locomotive plans,
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on compressed air. Don Young T. 01579 350343. Callington.
drawings, bench-to swivelling erection
frame, Pony Truck, Tender (complete
& painted), Smoke box wrapper
incomplete, Cast iron for smokeless
ring boiler(unfinished). Boiler lagging
material, sheet steel suitable for general
platework & cleading. T. 01628 675392
Maidenhead.872675. Toddington,
Bedfordshire.
Parts and Materials
■ Box of aluminium offcuts, plate. £50.
T. 07551 478161. Bury St. Edmunds.
■ I/C castings and materials. Atom
Minor, Sparey 0.63cc diesel, Titan 60
glow, Sugden Special crankcase casting,
£120 lot, will split. T. 0116 2866975.
Leicester.
■ BUTCH 5” Gauge rolling chassis.
Machined wheels axles cylinders. New
commercially built copper boiler. Brass
sheet for cab and tanks cut out. Many
353
MODEL MAKING METALS
1/32in. to 12in. dia. bright steel, stainless
steel, bronze, spring steel, brass, aluminium,
silver steel, steel tubes, bolts, nuts & screws,
tap dies + drills, white metal casting alloys.
Fine materials, chain, plastic.
Lathe milling machines and equipment,
new and secondhand.
Mail order nationwide and worldwide callers
Mon.-Fri. 9 - 5pm. All cards welcome.
Send now for a FREE catalogue or phone
Milton Keynes Metals, Dept. ME,
Ridge Hill Farm, Little Horwood Road, Nash,
Milton Keynes MK17 0EH.
Tel: (01296) 713631 Fax: (01296) 713032

www.mkmetals.co.uk
email: sales@mkmetals.co.uk
 Model Engineer Classified
www.model-engineer.co.uk
THINKING OF SELLING YOUR
LATHE, MILL OR COMPLETE
WORKSHOP?
and want it handled in a quick
professional no fuss manner?
Contact Dave Anchell,
Quillstar (Nottingham)
Tel: 0115 9206123
Mob: 07779432060
Email: david@quillstar.co.uk
To advertise on these pages contact Angela Price at angela.price@mytimemedia.com

To advertise here
please email
Angela Price at
angela.price@
mytimemedia.com

THINKING OF SELLING YOUR

LATHE, MILL OR COMPLETE
WORKSHOP?
and want it handled in a quick
professional no fuss manner?
Contact Dave Anchell,
Quillstar (Nottingham)
Tel: 0115 9206123
Mob: 07779432060
Email: david@quillstar.co.uk

webuyanyworkshop.com
Re-homing model engineers’ workshops across the UK
It’s never easy selling a workshop that has
been carefully established over a lifetime. I
will buy your workshop so you don’t have to
ſĺŗŗƅÑêĺūťƧıñĕıČÑıøſđĺİøċĺŗİūëđ
loved workshop equipment and tools.
Please email photos to
andrew@webuyanyworkshop.com
Or to discuss selling your workshop, please
call me on 07918 145419
All equipment considered: Myford, Warco, Chester, classic British brands etc
Polly steam locomotives also purchased, especially those needing a bit of ‘TLC’

358 Model Engineer 25 February 2022