Contractors Loco Project

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ge_rik
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Re: Contractors Loco Project

Post by ge_rik » Thu Jan 13, 2022 1:40 pm

There's even a hint of rust on the backplate - incredible!

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Re: Contractors Loco Project

Post by Lonsdaler » Thu Jan 13, 2022 3:51 pm

It's quite incredible how colourisation has added a whole new dimension to that photograph, and made it appear so much more 'real'. Regarding recognition of copper/brass etc. I would think that the geneology site simply pays to use a commercially available product rather than run their own system, so it will in fact have a lot of examples to draw upon to produce believable results - after all, we will never know if it's accurate or not. Anyway, as I said - incredible :thumbup:
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Re: Contractors Loco Project

Post by philipy » Thu Jan 13, 2022 6:40 pm

Okey doke, having done colourisation to death, more or less, back to the model. :lol:

Unless somebody tells me differently, I've decided on the water tank. I have a 6v motor, so that requires 5 x 1.2v cells. I was originally thinking less than that and was thinking of a box holding 4 side by side, disguised as a water tank against the back wall. 5 cells would require 2 rows... 3+2) which makes the box quite bulky. Then Graeme made a passing comment about the tank possibly doubling as the drivers seat and that got me thinking. A realistic sized seat would only hold 2 cells, one above the other, laying across the body and it needs a home for three more somewhere. I've now got the motor position firmed up inside the coal bunker and that just leaves room for two cells one above the other in front of the motor, and the last one alongside them, over the top of the motor. I think that just leaves space for a charging socket and an on/off switch.
Screenshot 2022-01-13 18.36.56.png
Screenshot 2022-01-13 18.36.56.png (33.5 KiB) Viewed 2599 times
Obviously the tank needs a lid! By my calculations, this tank would hold approx 130gals
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Re: Contractors Loco Project

Post by philipy » Fri Jan 14, 2022 11:14 am

Now we are getting somewhere :D

Basic body put together,
Chassis running but still needs the chain to the rear axle.
The water tank battery box is still loose but in position.
The boiler is still loose but in position.
The engine is still loose but approx in position.
The dome is loose but in approx position.

Plenty more small details need adding, inluding the smokebox and chimney on the far side and some pipework on the boiler backhead and inside the cab.

DSC_0003.JPG
DSC_0003.JPG (4.47 MiB) Viewed 2567 times
Before anyone says anything, the axles are in the correct position as near as I can tell, but I think the original must have been std gauge, or 4ft, or something along those lines, and the perspective of 32mm is making them appear too far forward.

For general info, the two different shades of grey show which bits were FMD printed and which were resin.
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Re: Contractors Loco Project

Post by GTB » Fri Jan 14, 2022 11:38 am

philipy wrote: Thu Jan 13, 2022 6:40 pm Obviously the tank needs a lid! By my calculations, this tank would hold approx 130gals
The steam engine is small, as is the boiler, so the loco wouldn't have used water at a very high rate and I suspect 130 gallons would be plenty. As a comparison, the water tank on a Kerr Stuart Wren is only 87 gallons and they are a larger loco.

The battery layout must be right, as that's how I'd have laid it out...... ;)

You'll find out when you get the chassis working and can do some test running, but you may only need 4 cells. My gang motor is about that size and has a 6V N20 motor with a 50:1 gearbox. With 20mm dia. wheels and 4 cells (4.8V nominal) it toddles around the track at about 11 scale mph. I can't see a home made contractors loco being any threat to City of Truro.......

philipy wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 11:14 am Before anyone says anything, the axles are in the correct position as near as I can tell, but I think the original must have been std gauge, or 4ft, or something along those lines, and the perspective of 32mm is making them appear too far forward.
Yes, definitely getting somewhere. I assume the engine is a resin print, as I wouldn't have thought a filament printer would manage parts that fine.

3' gauge was commonly used for reservoir projects for some reason and that may be the gauge of the prototype. My 3' gauge Hunslet 0-4-0ST is based on a loco that was used by the Fyld Water Board on a reservoir project.

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Re: Contractors Loco Project

Post by philipy » Fri Jan 14, 2022 1:23 pm

GTB wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 11:38 am
You'll find out when you get the chassis working and can do some test running, but you may only need 4 cells. My gang motor is about that size and has a 6V N20 motor with a 50:1 gearbox. With 20mm dia. wheels and 4 cells (4.8V nominal) it toddles around the track at about 11 scale mph. I can't see a home made contractors loco being any threat to City of Truro.......
Ah, thats interesting, mine is also an N20 with 48:1, so not much difference.. I was originally planning on 4.8v, but then I realised that the controller requires a min 4.8v and the motor was sold as being 6v, hence the increase. I've zoomed it up and down a short piece of track on the bench and it is a tad fast on 6v, but then again with some weight on and a train of skips behind, the extra umph might be useful.
GTB wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 11:38 am
Yes, definitely getting somewhere. I assume the engine is a resin print, as I wouldn't have thought a filament printer would manage parts that fine.
The wheels, boiler, engine, and the back wall behind the boiler are resin, the rest is all fdm. The back wall is resin because it is faced with bolted, overlapped, thin iron sheets. I tried filament with no great expectations and ended up with steps as the angle changed, which is what I expected. Finally I printed the 4 sheets as flat resin panels with bolts, with 0.5mm difference in thickness between successive panels and superglued them edge to edge, then mounted them with the outer face vertical in the fdm printed frame. It gives a kind of shiplap appearance but it's too fine to be noticeable.
Philip

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Re: Contractors Loco Project

Post by Andrew » Fri Jan 14, 2022 2:04 pm

Looking good Philip!

It's a little thing, but I love how you've modelled the coal hatch slightly open...

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Re: Contractors Loco Project

Post by SimonWood » Fri Jan 14, 2022 2:10 pm

philipy wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 1:23 pm The wheels, boiler, engine, and the back wall behind the boiler are resin, the rest is all fdm.
I've not got a resin printer though I'd like one. The benefits in terms of detail are plain to see. But I'm curious - for a part that needs some strength and will get some wear, like the wheels, how does a resin print compare to filament?

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Re: Contractors Loco Project

Post by Peter Butler » Fri Jan 14, 2022 2:25 pm

I had thought about building one myself, but you have just gone ahead and done it, brilliant! I'm speechless about the passion and dedication you have had for this project and managed to work out the finer points. I have to admit to little understand of how a steam engine works, so could never have achieved the detail you have created... superb work there.
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Re: Contractors Loco Project

Post by philipy » Fri Jan 14, 2022 4:22 pm

SimonWood wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 2:10 pm
I've not got a resin printer though I'd like one. The benefits in terms of detail are plain to see. But I'm curious - for a part that needs some strength and will get some wear, like the wheels, how does a resin print compare to filament?
I can't really answer that one I'm afraid Simon. The only other resin wheels I've printed were for the Wickham Trolley and that has just rolled up and down a few yards, occasionally. There are quite a few different resins available with differing properties. In my experience the 'normal' ones tend to be a bit brittle but I saw one recently on Amazon that claimed to be similar to ABS and I was going to get some to try. Then I saw a lot of reviews saying that it used to be very good but had suddenly changed and was now a waste of money...!
I believe that Steve has quite a bit of experience with printed wheels so he can probably be more informative.
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Re: Contractors Loco Project

Post by philipy » Fri Jan 14, 2022 4:27 pm

Peter Butler wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 2:25 pm I'm speechless about the passion and dedication you have had for this project and managed to work out the finer points. I have to admit to little understand of how a steam engine works, so could never have achieved the detail you have created... superb work there.
Thanks for the compliments Peter.
To be honest, a lot of the detail has come from Graeme( GTB), he knows about such things as steam launch vertical engines and could recognise bits that were just faint lines on an old photo to me. Once he pointed them out it was, relatively speaking, obvious of course!
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Re: Contractors Loco Project

Post by philipy » Fri Jan 14, 2022 4:28 pm

Andrew wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 2:04 pm Looking good Philip!

It's a little thing, but I love how you've modelled the coal hatch slightly open...
Just copied the picture, to be fair. :)
Philip

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Re: Contractors Loco Project

Post by philipy » Sun Jan 16, 2022 10:05 am

I've been playing again, just to se what I could do, although it is relevant.

I said earlier that printing the backhead pipework didn't work, but I wondered if I could print the individual components, and this is the result ( obviously some cleaning up required).

The LH one is a 4mm diam handwheel, the centre one is 5mm and the lever one is the same basic body.
All have a 1mm diam hole both sides for pipe entry.
DSC_0003.JPG
DSC_0003.JPG (127.32 KiB) Viewed 2405 times
Given how exposed the backhead is on this loco, I'm not sure these will be robust enough to actually use. I suspect that with a few mins the hand wheels would get knocked off.
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Re: Contractors Loco Project

Post by GTB » Sun Jan 16, 2022 12:48 pm

philipy wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 10:05 am Given how exposed the backhead is on this loco, I'm not sure these will be robust enough to actually use. I suspect that with a few mins the hand wheels would get knocked off.
I'm impressed that you made those with a consumer grade printer......

The valve spindles will be the vulnerable point, as acrylics are brittle. Are there more flexible resins available?

Or, do you have a manufacturing jeweller in your area? I've seen prints used for lost wax casting by investing the print itself, instead of using it as a pattern to make waxes.

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Re: Contractors Loco Project

Post by philipy » Sun Jan 16, 2022 1:44 pm

GTB wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 12:48 pm Are there more flexible resins available?
I saw one recently on Amazon that claimed to be similar to ABS and I was going to get some to try. Then I saw a lot of reviews saying that it used to be very good but had suddenly changed and was now a waste of money...!

As for casting, we are only an hour or so from the famous Jewellery Quarter in Brum, but to get the few that I need for this, it really isn't worth the time and money to go that route I'm afraid. Good thought though.

I think what I'll probably do is print a few handles with a central hole and glue them to pieces of wire mounted in holes drilled in the backhead. A blob of glue will then look enough like the valve body to get away with it when all painted.
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Re: Contractors Loco Project

Post by ge_rik » Sun Jan 16, 2022 5:43 pm

philipy wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 10:05 am I've been playing again, just to se what I could do, although it is relevant.

I said earlier that printing the backhead pipework didn't work, but I wondered if I could print the individual components, and this is the result ( obviously some cleaning up required).

The LH one is a 4mm diam handwheel, the centre one is 5mm and the lever one is the same basic body.
All have a 1mm diam hole both sides for pipe entry.
DSC_0003.JPG

Given how exposed the backhead is on this loco, I'm not sure these will be robust enough to actually use. I suspect that with a few mins the hand wheels would get knocked off.
Really very impressive so far.
There's always Cambrian for valve wheels etc. if your printed ones don't work out .....

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Re: Contractors Loco Project

Post by philipy » Sun Jan 23, 2022 11:24 am

Another slightly off-topic, but I was looking for pipework pictures aand came across this:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/8327380 ... jsQAvD_BwE

Pity it's 7/8th, but that isn't a huge amount larger than 16mm, and an amazing piece of resin printing.
Philip

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Re: Contractors Loco Project

Post by ge_rik » Sun Jan 23, 2022 1:25 pm

That is nice!

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Re: Contractors Loco Project

Post by Lonsdaler » Sun Jan 23, 2022 10:15 pm

philipy wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 11:24 am Another slightly off-topic, but I was looking for pipework pictures aand came across this:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/8327380 ... jsQAvD_BwE

Pity it's 7/8th, but that isn't a huge amount larger than 16mm, and an amazing piece of resin printing.
His online catalogue includes some g scale/1:20.3 stuff. Maybe he could be persuaded to make it in 1:19?
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Re: Contractors Loco Project

Post by philipy » Tue Jan 25, 2022 7:05 am

GTB wrote: Fri Jan 07, 2022 10:44 am
The boiler has a Salter spring safety valve on top of the dome, mostly under that polished brass trumpet cover, but the spring column is just visible beside the cover. Presumably there's a hole in the roof for steam to escape, unless the loco doubled as a mobile sauna.
I'm afraid that I'm getting myself bogged down with detail on this project, instead of getting on with actually building it ( although it is getting there and does actually run). My excuse is that the weather is too cold and damp to be able to go out into the garage and paint it!

Anyway, I'm after advice/suggestions re the safety valve. As Graeme says, the spring column is fairly visible to the right of the polished dome cover, and by enlarging the pic, it is just possible to make out the horizontal arm linking the spring to the valve on the dome. However the arm looks as though it goes behind the dome cover, which seems very unlikely, so would there be a slit or hole in the polished cover?
Screenshot 2022-01-25 06.56.58.png
Screenshot 2022-01-25 06.56.58.png (297.41 KiB) Viewed 3899 times
The other two points about the SV arrangements are
(1) the vertical pipe out of the top of the cover ends in an upward facing bell-mouth a short distance from the roof and a plain piece of pipe has been joined to it to extend it up to a presumed hole in the roof This again tends to suggest that the complete assembly came from a steam launch originally.
(2) the photo colourisation suggests that the cover is polished steel, whereas to my limited knowledge they were normally brass. Any thoughts anyone?
Philip

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