Garden Railway Forum

For some reason it would only let me put 2 photos in the previous post!

I’ve started working on the axle pump and have gone about the body in a slightly different way so thought I’d post it in case it was of use to someone. The book calls for 2 pieces of 1/4” round soldered together at right angles
I don’t have access to any milling equipment at the moment so was a bit concerned about getting an accurate mitre on the joining piece to ensure it sat square at 90, and then figured clamping it central while soldering would be a faff as well. After a bit of head scratching I decided to make the threaded part of the body first, from brass hex, so I drilled and then reamed a 1/4” hole through the middle with the center of the hole the right distance from the faced end of the hex. The hex was the turned to size and threaded, leaving a little extra meat to allow for the hole:
The upright part of the body was then turned as per the drawing but to be a tight push fit in the 1/4” hole, this meant silversoldering in the correct place was easy:

Going to have to continue in another post as it won’t let me upload another photo...

The hex rod was then put back in the lathe and the bores drilled, meaning everything is nice and concentric, after which the assembly was cut off, screwed into another bit of hex threaded 1/4 x 40 and faced off nice and neat. Seems to have worked nicely thus far, hopefully my method is of use to someone!

Axle pump done with its ram and banjos, was a little unsure how much movement the stainless balls were supposed to have, but shoved it in a cup of water and pumped the piston and it it moves water, so assume I guessed right!

Axle pump is now fitted with its eccentric and strap
And I’m gradually working through boiler fittings, clack valve with bypass, the functional part of the dome, and the regulator/blower valve:
Decided to use hex for the regulator rather than round as it’s easier to drill connecting holes in

Progress has slowed a little due to time and money constraints, still moving along though

Flue tube made up and barrel trimmed to length:
Sandboxes which will be used to mount the running boards

Bit of progress with the boiler, firebox assembly is soldered up and barrel prepped to accept it, just need to find some time to start soldering them up! I got the plate work for the boiler laser cut to save some time, ie, smokebox tube plate, backhead and throat plate, have some spares if anyone’s interested, would be easily adaptable for other boilers of a similar size.

I have a silly question: what are the holes in the flue-tube? I speculate they increase heating surface by allowing water to flow through the flue itself? I've never seen this before.

Keith, I’m not going to pretend to be knowledgeable on the subject, I just followed the drawings! I would assume the idea is to increase the surface area available for heating water though!

Lovely boiler!

Finished up the boiler this morning before work, couldn’t resist a quick test fit of all the fittings that have been kicking around in a box since I made them.

I almost took that clack valve for an injector - had to go back and re-read the build.
Somewhat envious of your model engineering skills, Dave! That boiler is a work of art - like the rest of the loco, really.

Thanks for the kind words, I’m lucky enough to know people far more experienced than me to ask for advice when it’s needed!

I'm really enjoying this build, Garethh. I've been looking at a few completed 'Projects' on Youtube and they seem like really nice runners too.

Today was a good day, got down the local club on pre-season steam test day, tested my boiler to 120psi for 20mins, all good so pretty chuffed!
Then got tasked with steaming this for its steam test, bit different to 16mm so that was a learning experience. Even got to take it for a couple of laps.

That must have been a treat! Certainly a bit bigger than what we're used to!

Did the boiler test go OK?

Definitely a bit different to 16mm, has given me a hankering for something coal fired, just something about that smell...

Boiler test was all good, which was something of a surprise to be honest, so I’m currently cracking on with the smokebox so can get the boiler fitted to the chassis.

Pretty much done with the smokebox now, just need to get all the pipe work sorted:

Garethh wrote: ↑Tue Apr 27, 2021 9:52 am Pretty much done with the smokebox now, just need to get all the pipe work sorted:

1148F62E-E223-4347-B669-58313D3BBB5B.jpeg

2AB61415-1426-40E3-ADE7-226D8038DE75.jpeg

Impressed that you drink Thatchers Gold

Jimmyb wrote: ↑Thu Apr 29, 2021 9:51 am

Garethh wrote: ↑Tue Apr 27, 2021 9:52 am Pretty much done with the smokebox now, just need to get all the pipe work sorted:

1148F62E-E223-4347-B669-58313D3BBB5B.jpeg

2AB61415-1426-40E3-ADE7-226D8038DE75.jpeg

Impressed that you drink Thatchers Gold

I prefer the thatchers haze, but the local shop doesn’t stock it! Got a big bottle of old rosie waiting for a special occasion...
Steam pipe and blower all plumbed in now