Author Topic: CONWAY 0-4-0 3 1/2" GAUGE LOCO  (Read 174249 times)

Offline crueby

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Re: CONWAY 0-4-0 3 1/2" GAUGE LOCO
« Reply #570 on: September 13, 2018, 09:17:35 PM »
More very impressive work...
 :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

Offline Firebird

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Re: CONWAY 0-4-0 3 1/2" GAUGE LOCO
« Reply #571 on: September 14, 2018, 09:17:47 AM »
Hi

Thanks Chris  :ThumbsUp:

Watching you as well  :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

The front and rear beams are made of 1/8" steel. I have read in a couple of other loco builds that 1/8" is not really strong/rigid enough for a loco of this size and power especially on the rear drag beam. I toyed with the idea of making another from 1/8" steel to double the thickness but searching through my stock I found a bit of 5mm thick steel so made a new one. It took only 15 minutes to make using the old one as a template



The brass angles that support the cab floor and rear end of the running boards are cut, drilled and tapped M3.



Once fitted and bolted in the frame is noticably stiffer







Cheers

Rich

Offline Firebird

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Re: CONWAY 0-4-0 3 1/2" GAUGE LOCO
« Reply #572 on: September 15, 2018, 12:27:46 PM »
Hi

PS

As the front and rear beams are identical I have decided to fit the now spare rear beam to the front, doubling the thickness there.

cheers

Rich

Offline Kim

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Re: CONWAY 0-4-0 3 1/2" GAUGE LOCO
« Reply #573 on: September 15, 2018, 05:34:54 PM »
Enjoying your build, Rich.  Love the red bumpers!  And I'll bet the additional thickness on the front and rear beams will add a lot of rigidity to the frame.

I always have to wait till the weekends to read your thread. Well, its not weekends so much as wait till I'm reading from home!  Your pictures won't show up for me at work.  For some reason, the place you host your photos is blocked by the firewall at work.  But I see them fine at home.  :-\

Great progress Rich,  :ThumbsUp:
Kim

Offline Firebird

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Re: CONWAY 0-4-0 3 1/2" GAUGE LOCO
« Reply #574 on: September 15, 2018, 06:53:00 PM »
Hi

Thanks Kim  :ThumbsUp:

The front beams doubled up



Cheers

Rich

Offline Firebird

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Re: CONWAY 0-4-0 3 1/2" GAUGE LOCO
« Reply #575 on: September 15, 2018, 07:01:55 PM »
Hi

After a rub down with wet and dry the frames get a couple of coats of etching primer





Followed by 3 coats of smooth Hammerite





Ladies and gentlemen we have ourselves a loco frame



 :whoohoo:

 :cheers:

Rich

Offline Admiral_dk

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Re: CONWAY 0-4-0 3 1/2" GAUGE LOCO
« Reply #576 on: September 15, 2018, 07:48:27 PM »
Look good Rich  :ThumbsUp:

Will follow along to see you complete this build  :popcorn:  :cheers:

Per

Offline Firebird

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Re: CONWAY 0-4-0 3 1/2" GAUGE LOCO
« Reply #577 on: September 15, 2018, 08:30:52 PM »
Hi

Thanks Per  :ThumbsUp:

While waiting for the preverbial paint to dry I busied myself with a little work on the axle boxes.

First job was to make 4 plates from stainless steel that fit across the spring studs



Followed by drilling the top half firstly 3/16" then 1mm to form oil cups



And finally with a 5/16" end mill form a recess in the bottom half for a felt pad



Cheers

Rich


Offline Kim

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Re: CONWAY 0-4-0 3 1/2" GAUGE LOCO
« Reply #578 on: September 15, 2018, 11:19:41 PM »
The paint makes it really start to look like a locomotive, doesn't it?

I'm getting ready for that step myself and I'm worrying about it. I'll say you have done a fine job of it!

Kim

Offline Firebird

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Re: CONWAY 0-4-0 3 1/2" GAUGE LOCO
« Reply #579 on: September 16, 2018, 08:59:26 AM »
Hi

Thanks Kim  :ThumbsUp:

I am a fan of Hammerite, both the hammer finish and the smooth. It needs a good week or so to really harden off but once hardened it gives a really hard wearing finish. The aerosols are good for getting a decent finish.

Cheers

Rich

Offline Ye-Ole Steam Dude

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Re: CONWAY 0-4-0 3 1/2" GAUGE LOCO
« Reply #580 on: September 16, 2018, 10:31:30 AM »
Hi Rich,

Frame now in color looks really good.

Have a great day,
Thomas
Thomas

Offline Firebird

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Re: CONWAY 0-4-0 3 1/2" GAUGE LOCO
« Reply #581 on: September 20, 2018, 08:55:44 PM »
Hi

Thanks Thomas  :ThumbsUp:

I have to make a start on assembling the loco now. Some parts can't be fitted until other parts are fitted which means fitting some other parts  :thinking:

Spray painted the wheels red



Fitted all the horn blocks







Then I spent quite some time fettling each axle box to get a nice sliding fit



<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrq09OWojA8" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrq09OWojA8</a>

Fitted the axle pump and the valve rod guides



Fitted the front lower stretcher/safety angle and round stretcher





I need to fit the cylinders before I can fit the motion but firstly I need to make and fit some cylinder covers. Because I have cut the cylinders from the solid and not used castings I have some angled corners to worry about. Some stainless steel sheet is cut to size and folded to fit the cylinders
















Cheers

Rich

Offline crueby

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Re: CONWAY 0-4-0 3 1/2" GAUGE LOCO
« Reply #582 on: September 20, 2018, 10:07:39 PM »
Very nice!
 :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

Offline Kim

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Re: CONWAY 0-4-0 3 1/2" GAUGE LOCO
« Reply #583 on: September 21, 2018, 05:20:27 AM »
Nice progress, Rich.  Like the video of the axle boxes! I assume there will be springs involved there?

Another newbie question; what's the point of the cylinder cover?  If its for insulation, it doesn't seem like a thin piece of sheet metal is going to help hold much heat in.  Is it for looks?

Thanks,
Kim

Offline Firebird

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Re: CONWAY 0-4-0 3 1/2" GAUGE LOCO
« Reply #584 on: September 21, 2018, 08:30:29 AM »
Hi

Thanks Chris  :ThumbsUp:

Kim. You will have to go back quite a few pages to find the section on the axle boxes and horn plates but briefly its this. The original drawings for Conway show the loco with leaf springs. Talking to the guys at our club as to where to source materials, spring steel and tufnol, the general concensus was convert to coil springs if you can. They are much easier to set up than leaf springs and easier to maintain. Fit dummy leaf springs if necessary, they are available as bronze castings, many locos do this. The horn blocks I did purchase as a bronze casting but it was of very poor quality and in places slightly undersize before machining. With hindsight I should have sent the casting back but hey ho. Some say using steel horns and cast iron axle boxes is a better option anyway.

The cylinders can be purchased as castings but at a whopping £336.00 I opted to have a go at machining them from the solid. Cast cylinders do have some detail but are a bit rough so most locos fit cylinder covers to tidy things up. I did think that my cylinders looked ok with the nice smooth sides and would be ok just painted but in the end decided to make some nice shiny covers. They are held on with just 4 bolts which screw into tapped holes in the cylinders so I decided to drill and tap the cylinders now before they are fitted. I have to fit the cylinders in order to line up the motion. Once fitted I don't want to take them off again.

Hope that helps

Cheers

Rich

 

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