TVT - Mt Delusion O&K

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TVT - Mt Delusion O&K

Post by GTB » Wed Apr 28, 2021 10:07 am

This latest steam loco project started during our second shutdown last year. During the first shutdown I had purchased a Roundhouse Billy/Katy chassis kit from Argyle so there would be something in stock to keep me occupied if things turned to crap, as they did.

I had got very tired of long fights with recalcitrant machinery needed to get my most recent loco builds to steam properly. These all had small cylinders and boilers, so were more likely to be dodgy steamers and this proved the case.

I wasn't in the mood for another fight with a small steam loco, so I decided to go down the Roundhouse route which pretty much guarantees good performance and dug into my library to see what Australian timber tram locos could be built around the Roundhouse 0-4-0 chassis.

First thoughts were a Hudswell Clarke saddle tank loco, but while there were some attractive candidates they were all inside valve gear. HC didn't start using Walschaert's vg on their industrial locos until well after the Kaiser's War and even then it was rare on the saddle tank locos.

Somehow the thought of an O&K came to mind for some reason, but my inner scale modeller rebelled at just bolting a Billy kit together and I eventually settled on a 15mm/ft model of a O&K 50 hp well tank. A couple of these worked on a timber tram in South Gippsland and the 0-6-0WT version appealed. An order went off to Walsall for some suitable driving wheel castings and after a few smaller projects were completed and the workbench was clear, work on the project finally started about the time we came out of our second shutdown.

As usual with me, project drift had converted the initial idea of a British outside frame 0-4-0T saddle tank into a German 0-6-0WT well tank........ :roll:


Model story

As it turned out, by this stage the only Roundhouse parts in the model were the cylinders, valve gear and burner, but the construction generally follows their design principles. A rule of thumb with O&K standard industrial designs is that locos with well tanks had inside frames and the short supplementary tanks on the front of the cab. Locos with outside frames had no well tanks and were fitted with large side tanks. For anyone wondering, a Roundhouse Billy isn't a typical O&K as it has outside frames and only small supplementary water tanks. It's basically the bodywork and boiler of a standard O&K 50hp industrial loco that has been fitted to the chassis of a fairly typical British saddle or sidetank loco. to come up with a generic continental loco.

That wasn't what I was building, so the model has a new scratchbuilt chassis, which was as usual fretted out of 1/16" steel sheet with a piercing saw, using a paper pattern glued to the steel as a guide. It is a simple plate frame, so fabrication didn't take long. The wheel sets are fitted into axle boxes that can be easily removed from the frame for servicing if it becomes necessary.

At this point I discovered the hard way that a short wheelbase 0-6-0WT chassis and Roundhouse valve gear are incompatible, as the centre driving wheels co-incide with the mounting bush for the expansion link. At this point the project converted rapidly from a 50hp O&K 0-6-0WT into a 50hp O&K 0-4-0WT. Both variants had the same rigid wheelbase, so all that was needed was to remove the opening in the sideframe for the centre axle. The axle box openings in the sideframes were milled using a DRO and no adjustments were necessary to get the chassis to roll freely. At this point it took it's first trip on the track when it was pushed through the turnouts to make sure the wheelsets were compatible with the turnouts.

The main visual marker of a well tank is the tank top, which was fabricated from 0.8mm mild steel sheet with the rivets punched into it and angle soldered along the sides for the valance. The tank top is why O&K built the locos with outside steam pipes. On the model the pipes are dummies and the steam pipe is routed out of sight under the tank top. I didn't fancy making the external exhaust pipes work, so the usual Roundhouse arrangements meant a small opening in the tank top, which should be less visible when that area is painted black.

With the rolling chassis assembled, the cylinders and valve gear were fitted and as usual with Roundhouse parts this took only a couple of workshop sessions to assemble and set the valves. It ran on air for the first time about 3 weeks after work on the model started.

Next job was fitting the cab floor, headstocks and detailing the tank top with fabricated springs, water fillers and boiler supports. O&K used a simple casting as a smokebox saddle so this was fabricated mostly by milling it out of solid brass then silver soldering the last parts to complete it. The smokebox was rolled out of steel sheet and a working smokebox door fabricated and fitted.

Next up was building a boiler. The model has been built to a scale of 15mm/ft (1:20.3) and a Roundhouse Billy boiler was a little too long to fit. I've built a few gas fired boilers by now and this one is a simple design with similar proportions to a Roundhouse type 2 boiler. Once this passed it's hydrostatic test it was fitted with the cleading and boiler bands and fitted to the chassis.

The boiler is fitted with a Roundhouse burner, but the gas tank and gas valve were fabricated, as there wasn't sufficient space in the cab to fit a Roundhouse gas tank. The gas tank is my usual build using square brass tube silver soldered together and pressure tested.

The loco could have been steamed at this point, but I now wait until a model is painted before steaming it, as it it difficult to remove oil residues, especially steam oil, before painting.

By this time it was early February and it took another month or so to add the cab structure and complete all the necessary detailing.

There was a 'La Nina' event in the southern hemisphere this summer, so it was cool and wet by local standards. We escaped the floods that northern parts of the country suffered and I was able to put in more time in the workshop on most days and work went quickly.

The two following photos show it in the brass sitting in early autumn sunshine to have it's portrait taken.

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........ and there progress stopped. :roll:

I haven't work up the enthusiasm to paint it and I went back to spending most of my time reading for a while. The model paint brands I use are currently in short supply I'm told, but I did an audit a while back and I have enough paint in stock. I just can't be bothered at present to go through the usual fight to get a decent result with modern paints.

The model will probably be assigned to the Mt. Delusion Timber Co. who paint their locos green, so the following photo shows the model standing in the TVT exchange sidings along with the Timber Co's. Krauss. The Krauss is in the same shade of green that the O&K will probably use, so the photo is a placeholder until I find the right size 'round tuit' and finally paint the model.

There's an unopened tin of Humbrol dating back before Hornby screwed up Humbrol paint formulations and colours, but I still need to find an etch primer that gives a smoother finish than I've been getting lately.

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I'm not a great fan of the aesthetics of german steam locos, but the O&K has grown on me while it sit's on the bench waiting to be painted. It has a certain upright and hardworking look to it, compared to the squat and somewhat untidy look of the Krauss sitting behind it in the yard. 8)


Prototype Story

Krauss and O&K had a good market for their small industrial locos in Australia in the early 1900's, largely in the mining industry, but a few found their way into the sugar and timber industries. Then the Kaiser's War came and Krauss never sold another steam loco in Australia, while O&K only sold one more and that wasn't until the late '30s.

The model was originally intended to be based on the 50hp O&K 0-6-0WT named 'Lily' which ran on a firewood line on the WA goldfields at Beria, until it was transferred to run on the same company's timber tram at Port Albert in Victoria before WW1. It was converted in the 1920's into a locally built cross between a Climax and a Heisler and ran out it's time on a timber tram in the hills near Melbourne.

As mentioned above, the idea of the 0-6-0WT didn't pan out and the frame was converted to the 0-4-0WT version.

Most 50hp O&K steam locos were built with outside Allen valve gear, but this changed to outside Walschaerts gear in the last years before WW1. Only one of the 50hp O&K locos that came to Aust. was fitted with Walschaerts gear and this was builders no. 6805 which was delivered to Millaquin Mill at Bundaberg, arriving just after the outbreak of war. It was named 'Germany' and still exists. It spent some years rusting in a park, but was restored and now runs on the Australian Sugar Cane Railway in the Bundaberg Botanical Gardens, although not in original condition.

The model is based on Millaquin Mill's 'Germany' more or less as built, although I draw the line at the colour scheme it carried when in cane tram service. Bright green with a red chassis definitely doesn't float my boat.

Regards,
Graeme

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Re: TVT - Mt Delusion O&K

Post by TonyW » Wed Apr 28, 2021 10:41 am

GTB wrote: ↑Wed Apr 28, 2021 10:07 amThe loco could have been steamed at this point, but I now wait until a model is painted before steaming it, as it it difficult to remove oil residues, especially steam oil, before painting.
That is the same way that I do it.

A lovely piece of work, well done.
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Re: TVT - Mt Delusion O&K

Post by Peter Butler » Wed Apr 28, 2021 11:37 am

Wonderful model engineering at its very best, and a thing of beauty too!
Interesting mention of Walsall Model Engineering..... I used to live close to them and visited the premises to buy items. It was straight out of the 19th C. with heavy, ancient, solid wood storage units full of castings of every kind, and a wonderful smell of machine oil and swarf in the workshop. Modern manufacturing units may be cleaner, tidier and more efficient but lack that character.
The best things in life are free.... so why am I doing this?

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Re: TVT - Mt Delusion O&K

Post by FWLR » Thu Apr 29, 2021 8:01 am

I agree, to much health and safety nowadays. When I worked in the toolroom on a central lathe grinder, the atmosphere and character was so enjoyable to work in and there was no one injured from what I can remember.

Excellent workmanship on your Loco and it looks superb in the sunshine.

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Re: TVT - Mt Delusion O&K

Post by Keith S » Mon May 03, 2021 11:12 pm

As usual, as well as looking at the excellent workmanship, I enjoyed your description of the thought process that went into your model.

I, too, had the same thought process after I ordered the "Billy" components, but I went the complete opposite direction and cut off the little supplementary tanks, added a tender, and modified the cab and smokebox to look more typically British.

I have, however, found a picture online of a large O&K tank engine that has both outside frames and a well tank! The only modification to "Billy" that would be needed to make it very similar would be a bunker on the back of the cab and some kind of cover between the frames to simulate the well-tank top.

As always I am looking forward to seeing the locomotive painted. Your paint finish is always excellent; somehow you get exactly the right level of matte/gloss that is very satisfying to look at. Real locomotive manufacturers would often spray their locomotives with a diluted lime wash to create that effect for their black and white official builder's photographs, at least they did in North America, where locomotives tended to be any colour you wanted as long as it was black.

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Re: TVT - Mt Delusion O&K

Post by GTB » Tue May 04, 2021 1:36 pm

Keith S wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 11:12 pm I have, however, found a picture online of a large O&K tank engine that has both outside frames and a well tank! The only modification to "Billy" that would be needed to make it very similar would be a bunker on the back of the cab and some kind of cover between the frames to simulate the well-tank top.
Like most steam loco builders, O&K seem to have been prepared to customise even their standard designs, presumably at extra cost.

The 0-6-0WT loco I started out to build had both a well tank and side tanks as built and was fitted with a very home made tender when it moved to Vic.

The main resource I used for the model was a comprehensive article on the O&K locos that came to Aust., published in 'Light Railways' a few years ago. Thirty odd O&K locos came here and most were different, ranging from a little takker of 10hp up to big 100hp mallets. I wouldn't mind a mallet model, but I don't think a Billy kit would be the right starting point.......

The LRRSA have generously made the older issues of their 'Light Railways' magazine available for download and the link to Issue 246 with the O&K article is here FYI.

https://shop.lrrsa.org.au/epages/lightr ... s/lr246pdf

British loco builders also used photographic grey for catalog photos, as you say it was just limewash tinted with lamp black which gave a matt finish and washed off easily once the photos were taken. Not that common with Aust. builders, as presumably the light levels here made it possible to photograph a loco in gloss paint.......

That satin finish on my models is the source of much of my frustrations with painting, as the current formulations give me no end of problems to get the right result.

Regards,
Graeme

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Re: TVT - Mt Delusion O&K

Post by dewintondave » Sat May 08, 2021 4:59 am

Lovely loco Graeme!
Best wishes,
Dave

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Re: TVT - Mt Delusion O&K

Post by Old Man Aaron » Wed May 12, 2021 4:05 pm

Always a treat to see your work, Graene. Love those little German tank engines.
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Re: TVT - Mt Delusion O&K

Post by GTB » Tue Apr 11, 2023 8:55 am

This model has been sitting in the paint shop queue for far too long, but it has finally received a coat of paint...... :oops:

As predicted, it has joined the Mt. Delusion Timber Co. fleet. The sun has reappeared temporarily between cold fronts and the photos below show the O&K sitting for it's portrait. As usual, the TVT engineer has somehow managed to include himself in the shot.

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The final shot shows the timber tram's new O&K loco in the mill yard with a load of sawn timber to be delivered to the TVT interchange sidings. The tram's little Krauss loco is also pottering around in the yard.

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The model still needs a week or so for the paint to harden a bit more, before I start running it in on the bench.

Regards,
Graeme

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Re: TVT - Mt Delusion O&K

Post by FWLR » Wed Apr 12, 2023 7:32 am

That is a beautiful loco Graeme and the paint looks great. :thumbright:

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Re: TVT - Mt Delusion O&K

Post by LNR » Wed Apr 12, 2023 8:52 am

Glad the paint worked out, looks nice. Of course you're far more patient than I am, I'd be running it round the layout to dry it!!
I never realised how much surface area there is to paint on a paddler, acres and acres and in this weather.
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Re: TVT - Mt Delusion O&K

Post by GTB » Wed Apr 12, 2023 12:04 pm

LNR wrote: ↑Wed Apr 12, 2023 8:52 am I never realised how much surface area there is to paint on a paddler, acres and acres and in this weather.
Steam locos are heat resistant, I force dry the paint in the oven in this weather. I didn't see any water in the compressor filters while I was painting last week, but there was certainly some in the tank when I blew it down at the end of the job.

Looking at the photos, white paint must have been cheap in Echuca. You'll need more than a tin of Humbrol and an airbrush for that one.........

Graeme

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Re: TVT - Mt Delusion O&K

Post by LNR » Wed Apr 12, 2023 12:09 pm

I'm on the second tin of undercoat already!
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Re: TVT - Mt Delusion O&K

Post by GTB » Mon May 01, 2023 1:10 pm

The weather here is well down the slope towards winter, but yesterday dawned clear and calm, and as cold as charity. A good day to boil some water...........

The O&K has been running in on the bench and had one test run on the track. The only speed bump on the road of progress was that somehow I had made the gas tank a little larger than planned and the water was running out just before the gas. Not my desired state of affairs when running a steamer, so a new tank was fabricated and fitted. A bench test showed that now there was still about 20ml of water left in the boiler after the gas had run out.

The model was now passed for track running on the timber tram, so all the bits for steaming up were assembled and the loco oiled, watered and fuelled. The burner lit OK, but the temperature was low enough that burner output was limited by the gas pressure until things started to warm up. Eventually the needle started to climb and we were in business.

At this time of the year the track is in shadow for most of the day, but this shot shows the O&K ambling along with six loads of timber and trailing a nice long exhaust plume not long after noon, before the shadows started to lengthen again.

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The southern end of the track stays in sunlight for longer and the next shot shows the train a bit further along in it's journey.

O&K-30.jpg
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The timber company has a sideline in gravel and sand and the O&K was rostered later in the day to return some empty side dump cars to the gravel pit site and bring back the day labourers. The photo shows it later in the afternoon waddling along cab first with the side dump cars and what the timber company laughingly refers to as a passenger carriage........

O&K-31.jpg
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The last shot shows it heading north with a plume of steam running back over the train. There are no clouds about, no wind and the sun is out, but it was still brass monkey weather.

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These were the first track runs with a full load and performance was more or less as expected, but the length of run was shorter than you'd get from a Roundhouse Billy, as the O&K has a smaller boiler volume. The burner lights easily and there are no oil droplets landing on the boiler cleading, so the smokebox and oil arrestor are working as intended.

The loco had no problems hauling six loaded timber pairs and when running chimney first it managed 15 trips round the track at a fairly steady pace of 15 scale mph. The gravel train was lighter and the Bachmann side dump cars are free running, so the loco managed 16 circuits on this run, but ran a little faster as well.

Regards,
Graeme

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Re: TVT - Mt Delusion O&K

Post by LNR » Tue May 02, 2023 1:58 pm

Looking good, love that first shot with the exhaust steam.
Grant.

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Re: TVT - Mt Delusion O&K

Post by FWLR » Thu May 04, 2023 6:09 am

:coolphotos Love your line, it's such a joy to see.

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Re: TVT - Mt Delusion O&K

Post by Old Man Aaron » Sun May 07, 2023 11:11 am

Straight out of a black-and-white album, nailed it.
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Re: TVT - Mt Delusion O&K

Post by GTB » Mon May 15, 2023 11:51 am

Old Man Aaron wrote: ↑Sun May 07, 2023 11:11 am Straight out of a black-and-white album, nailed it.
Funny you should say that...............

O&K-29old.jpg
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Regards,
Graeme

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Re: TVT - Mt Delusion O&K

Post by ge_rik » Mon May 15, 2023 7:18 pm

I'm intrigued by the diagonal timbers on top of each load. Are they used to tighten the straps, somehow?

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Re: TVT - Mt Delusion O&K

Post by GTB » Tue May 16, 2023 3:18 am

ge_rik wrote: ↑Mon May 15, 2023 7:18 pm I'm intrigued by the diagonal timbers on top of each load. Are they used to tighten the straps, somehow?
The period I model is the late 20's, when Aust. was in a building boom, just before the Yanks lost the plot as usual and dropped everyone into the great depression. No straps back then AFAIK, just chains and ropes.

Loads were usually chained on timber trams as far as I can work out and back then they either didn't have, or didn't use, chain tensioners. The 'twitch sticks' are used to keep the chain tensioned and the load more or less in place as the train jogged along through the bush. The VR had a different practice and used rope lashings twisted by twitch sticks to tighten the lashing, but that doesn't seem to have rubbed off on the timber companies.

The photo shows the arrangements I use, but I gather it varied.

Graeme

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Last edited by GTB on Tue May 16, 2023 4:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

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