TVT - B is for Bunyip Part 2

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TVT - B is for Bunyip Part 2

Post by GTB » Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:55 am

Rolling right along.........

Having fitted the boiler and gas system, the loco could be steamed, but I now leave that until painting is complete, as it is impossible to remove residual steam oil from all the cracks and crevices and it will affect paint adhesion if not completely removed.

The build now moves into the last phase where experience tells us that the last 10% of the parts will take 90% of the time needed to build the model.

This pic shows the cab fitted in place. Clearances are tight, not helped by me building in 15mm:ft scale. By this time the cylinder covers have been fabricated to simulate piston valves and fitted. They look convincing from the front, but not so much from the rear. To improve the appearance from the rear would require new valves and valve chests so the valve spindle is in more or less the right place.

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Tender body work is next. Basically a simple box, with no particular difficulties. Much easier than older designs with flared tops, rounded corners, etc.

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Next job is the boiler cleading, including a dummy belpaire firebox. This is the first one I've built and was shall we say, interesting..... The boiler handrail has also been fitted and the dome machined out of a solid slug of brass. The handrails are split at the rear of the smokebox, which makes assembly and disassembly easier.

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It now looks like a loco, but as mentioned early, the last detailing stage takes an inordinate amount of time. By late July it was completed and is sitting for it's portrait on a sunny winter day still in brass. Painting was put off for a while, as I wanted to do some work on the Garratt.

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Finally I ran out of excuses and started painting. The sun eventually came out yesterday and the loco sat for it's final portrait. The livery is the same as the Sharp Stewart built last year and is based on the scheme used by the TGR before WW1. The loco is typically British colonial in appearance and there are echoes of other Aust. locos in it's appearance. It is now on the test rollers being run in. Performance so far is as expected, it runs like a Roundhouse...... :D

When it finally gets a track test, it should perform about the same as a Roundhouse #24, as it is mechanically identical.

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TVT Story

By the '30s the lines original small Baldwins were getting long in the tooth. Loadings were increasing as the Great Depression slowly waned and loco maintenance costs were rising rapidly.

The old engineer had retired and his successor wasn't able to out argue the empire loyalists on the management committee, so Bagnall got the job of supplying a modern loco design to the same specification as the Big Black Baldwin. They dusted off the LJR design and supplied a modern superheated, piston valve loco.

Being new and a bit faster, but a bit less powerful, than the remaining large Baldwin, the Bagnall has replaced the small Baldwins on the daily mixed train. The large Baldwin still runs the weekly roadside goods.

Regards,
Graeme

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Re: TVT - B is for Bunyip Part 2

Post by LNR » Sat Sep 23, 2017 11:11 am

Nice one Mate,
gee! don't straight rods make a difference. Not quite sure why Roundhouse do all the bends. Your going to have plenty to do at the GSSU this year.
Grant.

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Re: TVT - B is for Bunyip Part 2

Post by IrishPeter » Sat Sep 23, 2017 1:43 pm

Very nice. <Wipes drool off keyboard> It is nice to see something different and something large that isn't a Garrett. I must admit though, that the "off black" livery makes a GSR man feel at home too.

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Traffic Pattern? What pattern? Spuds out; grain in, but cattle, sheep and passengers are a lot less predictable.

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Re: TVT - B is for Bunyip Part 2

Post by ge_rik » Sat Sep 23, 2017 2:01 pm

Bloomin' marvellous, Graeme. A masterpiece in miniature engineering. Be really interested in seeing it in action when you test run on track.

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Re: TVT - B is for Bunyip Part 2

Post by TonyW » Sat Sep 23, 2017 3:31 pm

Blimey, that is a lovely thing!
LNR wrote: Sat Sep 23, 2017 11:11 amNot quite sure why Roundhouse do all the bends.
It is all to do with making the length of the rods adjustable, to a small degree, and to avoid having to use longer crankpins on the back axle, as Graeme has done. By adjusting the angles of the joggle (bend) in a rod it can be either lengthened or shortened as required to get spot-on valve setting.
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Re: TVT - B is for Bunyip Part 2

Post by tom_tom_go » Sat Sep 23, 2017 7:02 pm

If only to see it in action Graeme.

Videos of your locos would be brilliant!

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Re: TVT - B is for Bunyip Part 2

Post by LNR » Sun Sep 24, 2017 9:11 am

Tony W wrote,
and to avoid having to use longer crankpins on the back axle,
I use standard Roundhouse crankpins on my builds and have straight rods, so don't see a problem there. I also bush my rods to 2mm wide and do away with the washers.
Grant.

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Re: TVT - B is for Bunyip Part 2

Post by Killian Keane » Sun Sep 24, 2017 2:33 pm

:shock: you make it look so easy! That is one lovely locomotive :thumbleft:
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Re: TVT - B is for Bunyip Part 2

Post by workwright » Mon Sep 25, 2017 7:33 pm

Hi, what a nice loco. It looks great, the paint finish is superb, really nice crisp building. I have never understood why Roundhouse bend their rods. So many of their products would look so much more realistic without the bent rods and their plated finish. You decided not to put the gas tank in the tender? All the best, M.
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Re: TVT - B is for Bunyip Part 2

Post by GTB » Tue Sep 26, 2017 6:14 pm

workwright wrote: Mon Sep 25, 2017 7:33 pm It looks great, the paint finish is superb, really nice crisp building.
Unfortunately it doesn't look that good now. It has been running in on the bench and it throws so much oil around that it came close to being renamed 'Dipstick'.... :roll:

Don't know why it throws so much oil, as the oil usage is normal. Anyway, I've fitted an oil 'arrestor' in the chimney which seems to be working, so a couple more runs and it's back to the paint shop for a degrease and some paint repairs.
workwright wrote: Mon Sep 25, 2017 7:33 pm You decided not to put the gas tank in the tender?
It turned out to be possible to squeeze a 40ml gas tank into the cab, so the idea of putting it in the tender was abandoned.

Subsequent experience running the Shay and the Garratt, both of which have the gas tank away from the cab, convinces me the gas tank is best located in the cab if possible.

Regards,
Graeme

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