We’re just two weeks away from the Railway Modellers’ Meet. As I’ve said before, I always like to bring something to display, and I think everyone else should too. What’s more, we committee members agreed to bring something to get the display rolling: I have a commitment to bring a display! So, I’m working to finish the POC for 622’s frame and springs. Sadly, I … Continue reading Equalization POC
From a review of the 1906 Locomotive Builders Dictionary¹ it seems like the pilot, and also likely the tender couplers on 622 should not have draft gear per se, but would have been mounted in cast coupler pockets, without any springing at all. These were very narrow affairs, barely wider than the 6-inch shank of the coupler itself. So, if I am to use Accumate … Continue reading Semi-believable coupler pocket
I sure hope my tools really are somewhere in Mt Flood. This business of modelling by candlelight without a square, or even a straight edge is wearing thin after only one evening. At least I managed to find some syringes and a bottle of MEK that Kyle Gardiner kindly passed my way a few years ago. I’ve been a big fan of MekPak ever since … Continue reading Frame POC
Mark asked how the styrene cutting is going. Here are the parts I cut last night. There isn’t meant to be any part here that is less than half a millimetre wide, although I haven’t taken out my calliper to check them yet. One thing is certain: this is going to be a tiny model! The frame is less than four inches long. I’d sort … Continue reading What the Cricut wrought
It couldn’t last forever. Sooner or later I had to make something that I could touch, despite everything still buried in Mt Flood. Fortunately the Cricut has been stuffed in a corner of our bedroom since that fateful day in January. Even more fortunately, Cricut supplies were on special this weekend at Michaels! I have no idea where to begin excavating for the old ones. … Continue reading Invasion of the dining table
When I built number 10, I included a detailed underframe, complete with boards and the stringers. You can’t see it, and frankly, the tender frame is a bit of a weak spot. Not only that, but I didn’t think about how to get current from the trucks to the decoder until very late in the process, and consequently, there is none. For 622, I’ve designed … Continue reading Split-frame tender design
Maybe they should be called “draft gear,” but they don’t look much like them, and they don’t behave much like them, and so, like “throwbars” they should get their own name. “Coupler box” is what I’ve always called them. I standardized on Accumate couplers for a couple of reasons: firstly because they are near-scale size, and secondly because Sergent Engineering couplers will fit the coupler … Continue reading Accumate coupler boxes
