Diesel Outline...

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dewintondave
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Diesel Outline...

Post by dewintondave » Fri Nov 11, 2011 7:17 am

Dear All,

Here is my tribute to LBSC. Two and a half years in the making. I bought a bundle of old magazines from the 1930's and a construction article caught my eye. The article starts with:

"The success of the Diesel locomotive on intermittent shunting work and short branch-line operation has inspired many small locomotive builders to attempt a small edition; but owing to the fact that Nature cannot be "scaled," it is impossible to make a little Diesel which will operate like a big one with crude oil as fuel. You could not get the compression, even if the fuel were injected correctly. However, there is no need to let that fact deter you, as we can build a locomotive which looks like a Diesel, and operate it by steam; so here is a short description of such a locomotive, suitable for gauge 0, on which it will do all that" Sister Diesel" does on 4 ft. 8.5 gauge"

I thought the loco would be a quick build, but was wrong. I scaled the plans up from O gauge to Gauge 1 then added a little to make it look right with my LGB stock. It runs nicely at a slow speed.

This loco was built as a tribute to LBSC, but the cylinder is pure K.N Harris :-) It has a built-up cylinder block with all the porting and dimensions to K.N Harris' book. The exhaust sounds nice and snappy. As this needed to be a fairly high speed motor (by my standards), I opted for a reduced piston stroke but an increased bore. I raised the cylinder as high as could be to reduce angularity and do away with a crosshead. I fitted screw-down drain cocks to the cylinder as per K.N Harris' recomendations. The loco was built using 6 mm bore x 13 mm OD ball races, I have a plentiful supply of them, so 6 mm silver steel was used for the shafting. The loco is worm driven and I made my own on my lathe, it was a real mission, but enjoyable. I thought the motor would guzzle steam at a great rate with the gearing (nearly twice that of a RH loco with wheels the same diameter) so I made the boiler as big as possible. As the motor exhaust doesn't go up the funnel a smokebox wasn't needed. The boiler is a twin burner gas fired affair with a central internal uptake flue with water all around it.

The bodywork is all 0.6 mm steel, and it's almost a one-piece lift off structure now, is quite rigid. It's all soft soldered together, I am a fan of soft soldering now that I have a 80 W iron and the right flux.

Fully dressed
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With the top off
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The bodywork lifts off to reveal the works. I couldn't bring myself to paint it (initially), and had been contemplating naming the loco "Silver Lady".

Here is the drawing from the plans
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Please email me if you would like a .pdf copy of the plan and original instructions, it's only two pages in all.

Worm and wheel.
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Rolling Chassis.
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Cylinder assembly.
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Boiler internal assembly.
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Boiler in the pink.
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Check out the video to hear the lovely exhaust note.
Last edited by dewintondave on Mon Aug 24, 2020 12:32 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Johnnie2sheds
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Post by Johnnie2sheds » Fri Nov 11, 2011 12:44 pm

Lordy, I thought I was doing well screwing a couple of IP tin kits together! It looks fine work sir, and the youtube flick is excellent.

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Post by tom_tom_go » Fri Nov 11, 2011 1:21 pm

Really is a great piece of engineering Dave - full credit to you.

Cheers,

Tom
RWLR

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Post by LMS-Jools » Fri Nov 11, 2011 4:28 pm

Very Nice, Impressed. 8)

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Post by invicta280 » Fri Nov 11, 2011 6:08 pm

That is impressive model engineering. My hat is off sir!

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Post by Keith S » Fri Nov 11, 2011 10:30 pm

Interesting that the design comes from an era where the steam engine was the sensible choice of power source for a small locomotive even though it's not a model of a steam locomotive. It's the complete opposite of a steam-outline electric powered model you might see on a modern model railway.

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Post by dewintondave » Fri Nov 11, 2011 11:09 pm

Thanks for the kind words. It's very satisfying finally finishing it. Years ago I'd have given up at the first hurdle, but nowadays I seem to be able to stick at it.

Here's the latest pictures showing the loco in NZR gloss black. I'll just keep it simple on the outside, no blobs and gadgets, or window frames and beading.

Image

Image
Last edited by dewintondave on Mon Aug 24, 2020 12:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Diesel Outline...

Post by dewintondave » Mon Feb 26, 2018 8:16 am

Had a good run yesterday with the top off in the sunshine... Decided to tow the live diesel around to check the line clearances. My battery converted LGB 0-4-0 cannot cope, but the steam diesel is heavy and very powerful with its 12:1 gearing.

Best wishes,
Dave

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Re: Diesel Outline...

Post by 11thHour » Mon Feb 26, 2018 9:05 am

Hi Dave,
I love it when someone updates a classic!
How does revering work on your loco, and how did it work on the original design?
So you have two burners, does it produce an excess of steam?
Thanks Tim

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Re: Diesel Outline...

Post by dewintondave » Mon Feb 26, 2018 9:43 am

11thHour wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2018 9:05 am Hi Dave,
I love it when someone updates a classic!
How does revering work on your loco, and how did it work on the original design?
So you have two burners, does it produce an excess of steam?
Thanks Tim
Hi Tim,

It's slip eccentric, just like the original. On mine I insert an Allen key through a hole in either the front or rear central buffer and crank the engine over, it requires a flick to get it started. The plans show that the original had a crank handle at the rear.

Not when the burners are turned down low. The safety valve outputs through one of the twin exhaust pipes
Best wishes,
Dave

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Re: Diesel Outline...

Post by Hydrostatic Dazza » Mon Feb 26, 2018 8:57 pm

Super project and the loco makes a lovely sound. Very purposeful chatter!
We give you OZ's highest award
The Koala stamp

Image
Cheers from Dazza, The Hydrostatic Lubricator 8)
The chances of finding out what’s really going on in the universe are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied. Douglas Adams

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Re: Diesel Outline...

Post by dewintondave » Tue Feb 27, 2018 7:24 am

Hydrostatic Dazza wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2018 8:57 pm Super project and the loco makes a lovely sound. Very purposeful chatter!
We give you OZ's highest award
The Koala stamp
Thanks Dazza that means a lot to me
Best wishes,
Dave

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Re: Diesel Outline...

Post by tom_tom_go » Tue Feb 27, 2018 5:18 pm

Two great locos in the same video.

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Re: Diesel Outline...

Post by Hydrostatic Dazza » Tue Feb 27, 2018 9:08 pm

I am new to all this, I am yet to have a loco I have made in steam and working properly, I am just a beginner, however I am pleased you are pleased and the result you have with the workings of your loco is sweet.
Cheers from Dazza, The Hydrostatic Lubricator 8)
The chances of finding out what’s really going on in the universe are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied. Douglas Adams

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Re: Diesel Outline...

Post by dewintondave » Sun Oct 28, 2018 6:40 am

I decided to have a go at making another lubricator. The original, much modified still wouldn't feed naturally. At one stage I added steam feed at the bottom to get things moving, and it did, but I never knew how much oil was being fed. Fast forward seven years, and now I've got a lubricator that feeds the whole contents in double quick time all by itself. It's got a 1mm dia orifice, I put a 0.9mm dia wire in it and it still fed the entire contents, impressive stuff. An interesting feature is that the lubricator just pushes on to the steam pipe using a piece of captive silicone tube inserted in the lubricator. I did that to thermally isolate it as it's very close to the cylinder, and painted it black to radiate heat.

Aesthetically it's pleasing as you can hardly see it in the cab doorway as it's so high. Plenty of room for a driver now :thumbup:


It was a piece of 7/8ths dia brass tube, but I had to squash it to fit under the cab roof. It's on the painting stick with a bush in the filler
IMG_20181028_145807.jpg
IMG_20181028_145807.jpg (45.81 KiB) Viewed 7658 times

Baking in the oven at 180
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IMG_20181028_145412.jpg (73.15 KiB) Viewed 7658 times

Already for use, silicone tube pushes into lower hole
IMG_20181028_145240.jpg
IMG_20181028_145240.jpg (32.52 KiB) Viewed 7658 times

In the cab - at the top of the picture
IMG_20181028_154042.jpg
IMG_20181028_154042.jpg (181.38 KiB) Viewed 7658 times
Best wishes,
Dave

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Re: Diesel Outline...

Post by tom_tom_go » Sun Oct 28, 2018 8:16 am

I checked back to your earlier pictures Dave and can see the new lubricator is much smaller!

How did you come up with the new design especially after all this time?

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Re: Diesel Outline...

Post by dewintondave » Sun Oct 28, 2018 8:48 am

It's got quite a volume Tom, about 5mL

I wanted a lubricator that worked, A lot of thought went into it, eventually opting for bottom feed
Best wishes,
Dave

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Re: Diesel Outline...

Post by dewintondave » Tue Oct 30, 2018 6:15 am

Best wishes,
Dave

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Re: Diesel Outline...

Post by tom_tom_go » Tue Oct 30, 2018 7:38 am

I love the noise and running quality of that loco Dave, you should do more videos of it running :thumbup:

Do you have space for an onboard gas tank?

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Re: Diesel Outline...

Post by dewintondave » Tue Oct 30, 2018 9:05 pm

I love it's sound too Tom. Slow is the way to go!

Try this playlist, there's even an outtake

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 7f9fCC2iKO

There is just enough room for an onboard gas tank, it's an exciting proposition
Best wishes,
Dave

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