Finishing off a 5" Gauge Simplex Loco

[dsquire]

Stew

Congratulations. I always knew that you would not give up until you won. Now you can enjoy it for years to come. 

Cheers 

Don

[wagnmkr]

Well Done That Man!!

Now you get to sample the fruits of your labor. I do hope you can get out to the track and get a good few steam days in.

If you are lost for something to do, I have a 3 1/2" Western Star you could finish.

Cheers

Tom

[NickG]

Well done Stew, it's a completely different engine to the one you bought! Bet you can't wait for the weather to improve now. 

[sbwhart]

Thanks for your support Guys

I'm still grinning from ear to over there. 

Stew

[zeeprogrammer]

Sorry No Video I can't get to the track for a couple of weeks

 
That makes you a tease. 

Not that this whole forum isn't a tease.

Can't wait to see it. Congrats!

[sbwhart]

Well finally got round to posting a video.

I've had a couple of good running sessions with it now, at first I had a few teething problems bits coming lose, plumbing not quite correct that I just had to deal with.

Plus I was really struggling with how to drive it, I was very nervous of it, in the end I handed it over to an experienced driver at the club and he took it out, his conclusion was not much wrong with that Stew (thanks John), this gave me the confidence to get to grips with it.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTLHo9wU7Ag" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTLHo9wU7Ag</a>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTLHo9wU7Ag" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTLHo9wU7Ag</a> frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I've not had so much fun since my honeymoon

 

Stew
Modify message

[Heffalump]

That's bloody fantastic stew!

[b.lindsey]

That is great Stew, certainly worth waiting for too!!  I can only imagine how much fun that must be!!

Bill

[Steamer5]

Nice one Stew!!

By the grin on your face you have got the STEAM bug  another convert!!

Cheers Kerrin

[doubletop]

Stu

Sorry I'm late with the congratulations. I've been waiting for the ping from the forum and it never turned up so I ended up missing the big event!!  You've now got the summer to do all those improvements that you'll be currently unaware that you need to do. Once you got it the way you want it you can then move on to the next one.

You know you want to...

Pete

[sbwhart]

Thanks Pete

And yes I've been slowly fettling things to get them working as I want to.

Just completed making some injectors for it, I was running with a commercial injector but I fancied the challenge of making my own, which I managed to do with the help of a club member, he explained how to make injectors that would run with warm water suitable for tank engines, he has a test boiler for injectors so had some fun trying them out, after a few false starts I ended up making five injectors, giving me the right to brag at the track :- "i'm running on my own injectors 

I'll start a thread on how to make them.

I've been looking round for another long term project, I still keep coming back to the Ramsbottom tram engine I was looking at a few years ago, its mainly self doubt that's stopping me.

Cheers
Stew

PS liked the ME article on uses the DRO to map,

Keep them coming.

Stew

[doubletop]

Stu

I've just discovered why I've not been getting notifications from the forums. Damned ISPs making arbitrary changes to accounts and not tell me. Hence I missed your reply.

You'll get a bit of kudos for doing your own injectors. I gave up making fittings after failed attempts at safety valves in my early days in the hobby maybe I should have another go. I'll wait for your thread.

Thanks for the comment regarding the ME article, hopefully it will be useful to someone with a similar problem. I've got some other ideas for an article on using DRO functions for making parts that are normally made other ways. However, my Dart re-build is taking up a bit of time at the moment. As you may gather from the article there's not a lot left of the original loco. Frames, wheels and buffers only remain up to running board level. The new boiler is nearing completion, but not by me.

regards

Pete

[sbwhart]

Thanks Pete

I've sent you an email with a drawing of a very good safety valve.

Looking forward to your DRO articles.

One reason I chose the Simplex Loco was its size one man with a bit of thought could load it into the back of an estate car, yet it was still large enough to pull a fair few passengers. Completed its a fair weight it beyond me to pick up safely without doing myself an injury, as my old dad use to say:- "that's an Hospital Lift son"

I kept a close eye at how other members at the club handled their loco's and pinched what I thought were the best ideas of them.

First essential bit of equipment is an hydraulic table lift of about 300kg capacity.

I then made a steel carrying frame out of 3/4" box section welded together (this was my first attempt at stick welding)

This is the loco in the frame sitting on the table.



I can move it around my work shop easily and load it on to a length of dummy track on my bench for maintenance.

The loco is kept in place with it front and rear buffers in holes in the front a rear boards.



The rear board is held in the frame with bolts so that it can be removed to roll the Loco out.



The front of the frame has also got a couple of rollers fitted.



To get it into the back of the car a piece of chip board is laid in the back to give a flat service to roll the frame on, the back of this board had a baton screwed across it for the frame to but up against.



To load it into the car just trundle the table up to it lift it so that its slightly higher than the back and with the aid of some round wood roll it forward until it tips, onto the rollers on the frame, you can then roll it forward on these rollers until you come up against the baton.





 Another baton is then slotted across the back of the frame to stop it sliding back.



And a couple of bungees across the top helps keep every thing secure.



To unload it at the track, they have an electric lift that was once a Dentist chair of pain, you just back you car up to it adjust to a convenient height and roll the frame out, remove the back board and roll the loco out.



Her she is sitting in all her glory on the track.



I gave here what I think is a fitting name considering all the problems I had getting her on the track.

GREMLIN






Stew

[Jo]

Stew,

Well done 

May I recommend that you buy yourself some ratchet straps and find a couple of good strong mounting points to strap the loco down with in the car. The bungees might stop Gremlin bouncing around but if some  slams into the back of your car the loco will be thrown forward and that is a lot of metal to be flying around

Jo

[Steamer5]

Hi Stew,
 Nicely done!! Like the name!

I would like to make a couple of suggestion thou. I use a similar idea on keeping my Nigel Gresley held in place & given the number of kiometers he has been dragged around on a trailer has been quite a good option, HOWEVER given he's a tender loco i also have a hold down bolt which fits to the loco drag beam, a block of wood fitts across the width of the loco under the steps to the cab, the bolt is tightened until its down tight on the wood, a couple of trips i didnt tighten this down enough & the loco wiggled part loose on the block as you have them, (luckly the damage to the buffers was easy to repair)
 As a suggestion i would put blocks under each end of the loco & a clamp arangement across the buffers to puller her down on to them, this does two things, stops the loco moving around both for & aft & up & down on the springs & gives you peace of mind that she cant get loose!
The other PLEASE PLEASE,(if you havent already done so) bolt your board down in the car & THEN BOLT YOUR FRAME TOO IT...bunggie cords wont help you if you have a crash!! Like you say "its a hospital lift" think what may happen if she got loose in a crash!!!! yes it might mean a bit more work to get her in & out but then a short length of track to span from you lift table to the board & frame is easy to make.
 If you need some pictures of how I've got mine, or Dad does his as his is a tank loco, set up only to happy to post.

Sorry if this sounds a bit like a sermon but only have your best interest at hand!. Oh as an aside Dad was towing his trailer with both our locos held in as above the frames carefully bolted to a sheet of ply the size of the trailer deck when the wheel came off the trailer!! The tyre guys arent fail proof it seems. I was then that I found out that the ply wood WASNT bolted down to the trailer!!!!
Luckly no damage to the locos, the tailer on the other hand needed a bit of work once we got the tyre replaced & dragged the couple of hunded k's home!
Cheers Kerrin