TVT - Mail/Inspection Motor

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TVT - Mail/Inspection Motor

Post by GTB » Thu Oct 03, 2019 4:47 pm

This is another project that has been on the books for a long time, the data file date is 2011......... :roll:

Model Story

It seemed like a good project to make with polystyrene sheet, which I haven't used for a while, so a set of wheels were turned up early this year during a lull in track construction. Building an IP kit might have been easier, but this cost a tenth of what the kit does and can't get lost in the mail.

The model is based on the well known Tralee & Dingle railway Inspection motor, which was built on a Baguley chassis in 1922 and powered by the drive train of a 1922 Ford Model T (or maybe a Ford TT truck, the sources aren't specific). I've changed/added a few details to make it a little more Australian and it is built in 15mm/ft scale.

The model drive is the same as that fitted into the recently built gang motor, a small 6V motor with a 60:1 reduction gearbox and bevel gears on the drive axle. This time around there was space for two more batteries and the wheels are larger, so it can manage a scale speed of 25mph, about twice the speed of the gang motor. It will easily haul a small mail/luggage van if needed.

I learnt the hard way not to trust plastic for scratchbuilt chassis work many years ago when working in HO, so this model has the gearbox, chassis rails and w-irons fabricated in brass for strength and stability.


Construction started in mid-July and the first photo shows the chassis structure assembled and screwed to the floor of the model. As always, I had run out of 60 thou. and 80 thou. polystyrene sheet, so the floor was laminated from two layers of 40 thou.

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This assembly tested out OK on the bench using a HO controller, so the next step was to wire up the electric bits. The original intention was to fit it with a manual speed control, but in the event the simple on-off switch used on the gang motor was fitted. This photo shows it wired up and running, controls are from the left, reversing switch, charging socket and charge/run switch.

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This was in the dead of winter, so most of it's test running was done on the hall floor, much to the ginger cat's disgust when he saw it. Even with no rails it runs quite straight, so I know the axles are installed square and parallel.

The cosmetic chassis and running gear was next on the list and this was fabricated in polystyrene, although the step supports are brass for strength. Plastic in this application wouldn't survive the first derailment, or the first hamfisted person picking it up the wrong way.

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The next step was to make a start on the coach building work. The body is laminated, with an outer 20 thou. layer with the window openings and an inner layer of 40 thou. with larger openings, which form recesses for fitting the clear sheet for the windows. The radiator and engine cover were also formed by laminating sheet to form blocks that can be filed and sanded to shape. The photo shows it starting to look like a rail motor, rather than an electric skateboard...........

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The engine cover was left hollow just in case I decide to fit a speed controller in the future. While I generally use MEK for building models from polystyrene sheet, the laminated parts were built up using d-Limonene as the solvent.


The interior was next, built up on a false floor fitted over the batteries. The seats were shaped from a length of wood in my usual fashion. I decided to make the seat backs pleated. After they were fitted, I found a photo of the original T&D motor and of course it was fitted with buttoned upholstery. I guess I'm lucky I'm not modelling the T&D. sigh........


The roof was the last major part to be fabricated. This was formed board by board over formers, the gaps filled with Squadron white putty and sanded to it final shape. It is held in place by a friction fit, just in case it needs to be removed. If I had glued it in place, I'd bet London to a brick that one of the windows would come loose. The photo shows the model more or less complete, although a few detail parts still need some work.

RM5-e.jpg
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The ghost of rail motors past............. This photo shows the model doing track trials a couple of weeks ago. It's now spring and the rails are now dry, so the unpainted wheels won't go rusty after the run.

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The model then sat in the paint shop queue while the little Baldwin was being painted. The colour scheme is based on that used by the VR on it's broad gauge AEC rail motors. The painting went well and the new rail motor sat for it's portrait today in the afternoon sunshine. The trailer from Motor No. 1 is standing in until I get around to building a bespoke trailer for the mail motor.

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The last photo shows it with the trailer out on the track, standing in for Motor No.1 on the afternoon mail run.

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TVT Story

While the TVT engineer would have liked to have his own inspection car, it wasn't going to happen, so the management committee were spun a line that the passenger motors weren't that reliable and a spare was needed to protect the mail contract. The Mail Motor spends most of it's time sitting around in the workshop, so is usually available for inspection purposes.....

The local Ford dealer had a 1922 Ford TT truck chassis that was going cheap and the Engineer had seen a photo of the T&D inspection car. So work began on a 'spare' mail motor. The paint shop foreman wanted to paint it like the VR Dodge mail motors he'd seen on a holiday, but the engineer drew the line at being seen in an all over yellow and black striped 'tiger' rail motor.


Regards,
Graeme
Last edited by GTB on Tue Aug 02, 2022 6:55 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: TVT - Mail/Inspection Motor

Post by philipy » Thu Oct 03, 2019 8:43 pm

That is a really lovely build Graeme, well done indeed.
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Re: TVT - Mail/Inspection Motor

Post by Lonsdaler » Thu Oct 03, 2019 9:53 pm

Looks excellent, and to your usual high standard. You've also remembered to take photos during the build process, something that I still forget to do!
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Re: TVT - Mail/Inspection Motor

Post by idlemarvel » Sat Oct 05, 2019 5:38 pm

Here's a similar prototype from the Kent and East Sussex Railway.
IMG_0072_resize_11.jpg
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Re: TVT - Mail/Inspection Motor

Post by GTB » Tue Oct 08, 2019 1:29 pm

Lonsdaler wrote: ↑Thu Oct 03, 2019 9:53 pm You've also remembered to take photos during the build process, something that I still forget to do!
Which reminded me I forgot to take a photo of the interior as I was building it.

The Model T Ford has an idiosyncratic set of controls compared to modern cars, so I tried to simulate that. I didn't fit the three pedals though, as the false floor is too high. These pics show the interior now, after painting.

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RM5-k.jpg
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Regards,
Graeme

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Re: TVT - Mail/Inspection Motor

Post by Mitch stack » Wed Oct 09, 2019 8:26 am

Nice work Graeme, is this R/C or Manually Controlled?
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Re: TVT - Mail/Inspection Motor

Post by GTB » Fri Oct 11, 2019 3:38 am

Mitch stack wrote: ↑Wed Oct 09, 2019 8:26 am Nice work Graeme, is this R/C or Manually Controlled?
Mitch
Manual control, just a simple on/off switch and a reversing switch. There's space for a Deltang Rx/ESC, but not worth the cost for something that will run very rarely.

Graeme

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Re: TVT - Mail/Inspection Motor

Post by Andrew » Fri Oct 11, 2019 8:28 am

It looks great - and so neat I thought I was looking at CAD sketches at first rather than an actual model!

Cheers,

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Re: TVT - Mail/Inspection Motor

Post by GTB » Sat Dec 26, 2020 5:27 am

It's been a while, but I finally got around to finishing this model by building the trailer for it. One more project off the list.

The VR narrow gauge postal motors and their trailers were modified gang motors of the sort used by the Way & Works Dept. and the new trailer has been based on one used by the VR on the Whitfield line. The mail bags rode in the motor with the driver, the trailer was only used for larger rail parcels, light goods, etc.

Construction is straightforward and probably the nearest thing to a Welsh slate wagon as you would find here in Victoria. The wheels, running gear and couplings are machined from metal, the underframe is solid wood and ply sawn to size on the little bench saw and the bodywork is built up from polystyrene strip.

First pic shows the underframe and running gear parts machined and ready for assembly. About 90% of the weight of the model is in the wheels, so low down for good stability. Not that the mail motor is all that fast........

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Next photo shows the underframe and running gear assembled and ready for a test run on the track.

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The last construction photo shows the bodywork, such as it is, fitted and complete.

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The last two photos show the mail motor and trailer released for traffic and ready for a run on a dreary day a couple of days ago. Today it's a nice warm 26degC and not a cloud in the sky........ ;)

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This one falls into the quick and cheap category, about 10 hours work and about A$5 worth of materials.

Regards,
Graeme

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Re: TVT - Mail/Inspection Motor

Post by Peter Butler » Sat Dec 26, 2020 11:07 am

A little beauty Graeme and all of the highest quality.
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Re: TVT - Mail/Inspection Motor

Post by FWLR » Sat Dec 26, 2020 1:40 pm

Very Very nice model this.
An excellent build which looks even better than one bought commercially from one of the major kit suppliers.

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Re: TVT - Mail/Inspection Motor

Post by ge_rik » Sat Dec 26, 2020 2:53 pm

My daughter bought me a book about the Tralee & Dingle for Christmas. I was only looking at photos of their inspection car last night and thinking it would make a great model ...... and it certainly does, in your hands! πŸ‘

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Re: TVT - Mail/Inspection Motor

Post by gregh » Sun Dec 27, 2020 10:47 pm

That's a great looking machine. Very crisp painting of stripes sets it off.
I'll pinch your idea of making the seats in one length - good one!
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Re: TVT - Mail/Inspection Motor

Post by GTB » Mon Dec 28, 2020 10:57 am

ge_rik wrote: ↑Sat Dec 26, 2020 2:53 pm My daughter bought me a book about the Tralee & Dingle for Christmas.
Which T&D book did you receive? There are three, all out of print. 'The Dingle Train' by Rowlands et al. being the most recent and the best in my humble opinion.

I have had a soft spot for the Irish ng for a long time (possibly something to do with Irish ancestry) and the T&D inspection car has been on the to do list since I started out in garden scale.

Regards,
Graeme

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Re: TVT - Mail/Inspection Motor

Post by ge_rik » Mon Dec 28, 2020 11:07 am

GTB wrote: ↑Mon Dec 28, 2020 10:57 am Which T&D book did you receive? There are three, all out of print. 'The Dingle Train' by Rowlands et al. being the most recent and the best in my humble opinion.
A different Rowlands book simply called The Tralee & Dingle Railway. It's got some drawings (including the inspection car) by David Pinniger.

My daughter and her husband live in Ireland and the Dingle peninsula is their favourite holiday destination. She tried to find a copy in bookshops while she was there last summer but in the end had to buy online.

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Re: TVT - Mail/Inspection Motor

Post by GTB » Mon Dec 28, 2020 11:35 am

gregh wrote: ↑Sun Dec 27, 2020 10:47 pm Very crisp painting of stripes sets it off.
The secret is to use waterslide decals........ Spray a piece of blank decal paper with the desired colour and then cut strips with a scalpel. On the flat front panel of the body, it gives a nice straight sharp edge and the stripes are all the same width.

The bonnet stripes aren't as sharp as they look though, as they had to be masked due to the tapered shape of the bonnet and the louvres in the way. Strips of Tamiya tape made by sticking it down to a sheet of glass and cutting with a scalpel gives the best result, but there's always a buildup of paint on the edge and underspray in the odd corner that needs touch up.......

Not sure where I picked up the technique of making custom wood mouldings by planing the profile onto the edge of a piece of timber and cutting it off in the bandsaw. Probably read about it in a woodworking magazine I guess, but it's a useful trick nonetheless.

Regards,
Graeme

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Re: TVT - Mail/Inspection Motor

Post by GTB » Mon Dec 28, 2020 12:33 pm

ge_rik wrote: ↑Mon Dec 28, 2020 11:07 am A different Rowlands book simply called The Tralee & Dingle Railway. It's got some drawings (including the inspection car) by David Pinniger.
That was actually the first book I bought about the Irish ng and that was the drawing I used for the model. I only recently tracked down a copy of the later book.

My copy was bought in the β€˜80s from Hyland's Bookshop in Melbourne, of fond memory. Now sadly closed, but a large chunk of my railway book collection and most of my ship books came from there.

I don't care what the computer generation think, a couple of hours browsing in a good bookshop beats online shopping hands down.........

Graeme

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Re: TVT - Mail/Inspection Motor

Post by ge_rik » Mon Dec 28, 2020 7:58 pm

GTB wrote: ↑Mon Dec 28, 2020 12:33 pm I don't care what the computer generation think, a couple of hours browsing in a good bookshop beats online shopping hands down.........
Graeme
Absolutely!!!

I'm lucky that there's a marvelous secondhand bookshop about ten miles away which has a superb collection of railway books. I'll happily spend an hour or more browsing through his collection and inevitably end up buying three or more books. The owner is very knowledgeable about railway books and really knows his stuff, which is a mixed blessing - it's almost impossible to find a bargain as he knows which books are rare and prices them accordingly. I can't complain though as he usually gives me a bit of a discount as a regular customer.

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Re: TVT - Mail/Inspection Motor

Post by gregh » Tue Dec 29, 2020 12:14 am

You are lucky having a good bookshop nearby.

Completely off topic - when we visited Ireland I was surprised to see all these 'bookmaker' shops in every little town. I thought Ireland must be a mecca for writers and readers.... Then the penny dropped... :idea: :roll:
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Re: TVT - Mail/Inspection Motor

Post by gregh » Tue Dec 29, 2020 9:47 pm

GTB wrote: ↑Mon Dec 28, 2020 11:35 am
The secret is to use waterslide decals........ Spray a piece of blank decal paper with the desired colour and then cut strips with a scalpel. On the flat front panel of the body, it gives a nice straight sharp edge and the stripes are all the same width.

Regards,
Graeme
I've never thought of painting decal plastic. Do you prepare the surface in any way?
(I have painted other sheet plastic but always rub it with fine sandpaper first to give the paint something to grip)
Greg from downunder.
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