No 167 January 2021

2½” Gauge Tich John Pickering www.n25ga.org

Your contacts in the Association are :- PRESIDENT VICE PRESIDENT Paul Wiese Des Adeley Tel: 07813-595415 Tel : 01722-718463 Email : [email protected] CASTINGS SERVICE DRAWINGS SERVICE & ARCHIVIST Brian Kerens John Baguley ‘Hycroft’ 7 Albert Drive, Deganwy, 121 Western Road, Mickleover, Conway, Gwynedd. LL31 9SP Derby. DE3 9GR. Tel : 01492-592046 Tel : 01332-515284 Email : [email protected] Email : [email protected] MEMBERSHIP & RENEWALS TREASURER Rob Postlethwaite Simon Fish 23, Bedford Crescent, 104 Westenra Avenue, Bristol. BS7 9PP Ellesmere Port, Tel: 01179-513513 South Wirral CH65 3AZ Email: [email protected] Tel : 01513-561246 Email : [email protected] NATIONAL SECRETARY TRANSFERS SERVICE John Baguley David Smith Tel : 01332-515284 Tel: 02084-626799 Email : [email protected] Email : [email protected]

BOILER TESTER - SOUTH TESTER - NORTH William Powell (Dorset) Steve Eaton (Nottinghamshire) Tel: 07852279964 Tel: 07790761235 Email: [email protected] John Baguley (Derbyshire) Tel : 01332-515284

SOUTH EAST & WEST RALLIES MIDLANDS & NORTHERN RALLIES William Powell Steve Eaton Tel: 07852279964 Tel: 07790761235 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

Steam Chest Editor & Construction Booklets Cedric Norman 1 Litton Close, Belper, Derbyshire. DE56 1EW Tel: 01773-822408 Email: [email protected]

This journal is produced for the Members of the National 21∕2“ Gauge Association. If you wish to distribute or reuse any of the content, please seek permission.

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Contents

Editorial & Internet Link 4 Membership Notes 5 Rugby Rally Report 2020 6 Members Letter 10 Boiler Development Experiment - Part 1 12 Diary Dates 18 My Appreciation of Peter Shaw 18 Narrow Gauge Steam in 2.5” Gauge 19 Boiler Cradle 24 A 2½” Gauge Tich 26 How the Crab Came to Being 30 The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway 34 Lynton and Barnstaple Railway to build ‘Yeo’ and ‘Exe’ 37 SLSLS Small Gauge Festival Report 38 Peter Shaw Obituary 40 Elevated Railway Expansion Joint 42 Elaine 45 Tich 2.5” Update 46 Membership Renewal Form 48

Closing date for next issue of Steam Chest 1st March 2021 Keep them coming and do not be put off if they are not in the next issue, as I may have to carry some over to the next Steam Chest. January 2021 Page 3

Editorial

Welcome to a New Year. This edition contains some rare items, yes rally reports. Sadly only one in the UK for 2020, but we can hope that 2021 sees an improvement. Interestingly we seem to have had quite a bit on Narrow Gauge locos for this issue, which coincides with the current association project. Despite all the lockdowns, the officers have continued to work in the background to provide a stable and prosperous future for the association. John Baguley has been busy working on the computer drawings for the Lyd project and is making substantial headway. Simon Fish is working tirelessly to maintain our finances whilst keeping students connected at the university and together with Rob Postlethwaite they are registering all the membership renewals. Brian Kerens has continued to supply castings, so we look forward to more working models or “small locomotives“ as LBSC would say. Sadly this year we have lost member No 42 H.C. Woodford who died in July, and member No 678 Peter Shaw who died in October. But our membership remains healthy, as do our finances. Personally I would thank you all for your contributions which have enabled us to put together a full magazine once more. I have been working with the printer to get the publication out early January, so my hope is that this has paid dividends. Cedric Norman Internet Link

GNR / LNER Class C1 and C2 steam locomotives Learn about the history of these express passenger locomotives in this Sole Survivor. www.railadvent.co.uk/2020/10/gnr-lner-class-c1-and-c2-steam- locomotives-sole-survivor.html/amp Thanks to Simeon Jackson for this find.

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Membership Notes

Thank you to all those members who have paid their subscription so far, I hope the rest will come in soon so we do not have to spend time chasing up late payers, a renewal form is in this Steam Chest. The virus has changed life so much this year and meetings of all sorts have been cancelled, to counter this we have tried to develop the idea of country groups that we have in North America and Australia with regional groups in the UK. As you renew you will get a note about this, these are informal regional groups to allow member to share ideas and perhaps meet together at some point. To keep to data protection members have to agree to join and only names, email/phone number and town/city will be shared; the first list will be issued in December 2020. So far a few members have joined, if you want to contact fellow members let me know, with the small number joining the group will be for the whole of the UK. We have had one new member 1525 John Dickson, Terregles, Dumfries, Scotland 1526 Terry Thorpe, Sandiacre, Nottingham, England 1527 Alfredo Navarro, Switzerland 1528 Dennis Kitson, Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England I hope you are all keeping well and we look forward to seeing all those finished projects when life returns to normal , remember to send in photos etc. to the Steam Chest editor so we can all see what you have done.

Robert Postlethwaite Membership Secretary

January 2021 Page 5

Rugby Rally Report 2020

We live in changing times, so when one rally after another was cancelled due to Covid-19 the Rugby Model Engineering Society offered us a date in September as we cancelled the running day in July. There is no doubt that this venue seems to be our most popular rally and so we accepted not knowing what the future held. Sadly, as time passed, we had to make the decision to cancel all the other running day events for the year and as September 13th approached it was touch and go as to whether we would proceed. The weather forecast was good so we decided to go ahead with the day expecting limited numbers of people. As the day approached the government announced that from Monday the 14th the group size would reduce from 30 down to 6 people. Fortunately for us, the restriction came the day after our event and we had a very sunny and pleasant day for running steam locomotives. About 20 people turned up on the day with eight locos taking to the track and a number on static display as well. As usual Tim Smith was first out with his Black Five, quickly followed by Will Powell on his Atlantic. Les Skinner was making ready his West Country

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Class, as was Ben Pavier with his 80 year old Fayette. Des Adeley prepared the Dyak and was soon on the track with the steam valve blowing off. There was some eager anticipation as we waited the arrival of John Baguley as several locomotives were in need of steam test certificates being renewed before they could take to the track. I had brought along my Atlantic which had run for the first time last October as a brass clad loco, but was now fully painted. Several people asked why the number 1970, which I explained that it was the year we got married and our 50th anniversary had been on Sept 12th, the day previous. Simeon Jackson prepared the Black Fay for its steam test and was soon blowing off on the track as well. Everyone was aware of the regulations regarding safety and the association had advised members beforehand that access to the steaming bays would be limited to maintain social distancing. The club house was closed but there was access to a toilet, which was a much needed facility. The folding chairs came out of people’s car boots as they set out to relax and enjoy the day despite having to maintain sufficient space between them. As there was no club house facility the thermos flasks came out along with the sandwiches around lunch time, but for John there was little respite as there were around three locos requiring steam tests and Brian’s Caliban needed a full boiler pressure test. Interests in the Lyd project was gendered by the presence of the part completed chassis that Des has been working on with John Baguley developing the drawings on CAD during lockdown. January 2021 Page 7

Simeon had brought along his newly made rolling road which went on display and Chris Grant had his Duchess in resplendent red on one of the tables, there was also an A1 chassis to be viewed.

It was great to see different locomotives facing the challenge of this particular track. Some maintained steam pressure easily and circulated without issue, whilst others found the challenge a little more severe. Initially as I raised steam to 50psi, but then I had a leak from the bottom gauge glass union nut, which was a pain. I had changed the during the week and being cautious I had not tightened it enough, but as it was issuing boiling water and having experienced a sight glass failure at Stockport last year, I decided to let the fire and pressure drop before attempting to tighten. Fortunately all went well so once my steam test was

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complete I took to the track and the climb away from the start took its toll on my steam reserves. Half way around the circuit my fire had died and I was pushing back to the steaming bay. Such are the challenges of running

21∕2 inch locomotives and I was not the only one to suffer this ignominy. Once off the track the fire was re-laid and about ten minutes later I was back on track and this time completed three circuits. It was now getting later in the day, so I retired my loco despite the head of steam which was now blowing off the .

Everyone present had a great day whether they brought their own loco or joined in driving someone else’s loco or just watching. What a relief to get just one running day in during this bizarre year where this virus has closed down so much of normal life. Everyone is looking forward to next year when hopefully we can get back to something more running days, but who knows. Cedric Norman. January 2021 Page 9

Members Letter Meet your nearest Association Member Dear Cedric, Having recently moved to a lightly populated area of Scotland, I have had reinforced an idea I’ve long held but never raised, after seeing a new Association members’ name in Steam chest, who lived in a town just three miles away, who I have never knowingly met. I have been making my first , a 3 Flying Scotsman, (why did I choose this model for a first attempt, I’ll never know, and I had read all about “Tich”) for the last 45 years. (Yes I know, but life and family have a habit of getting in the way.) When the opportunity for the manufacture to advance a micron or two, I often wished that I could call someone in the same position as me, to talk over the next step, exchange ideas about set ups, and maybe even share the manufacture of some parts rather than two remote individuals making identical parts from two independent set ups and accompanying tooling. In my case this has resulted in too many, two forward and one back steps, and some twenty years ago now, following a chat with Paul Wiese, the total abandonment of my Basset Lowke FS and a fresh start on his design. Perhaps via collaboration I could have halved my mistakes.

Luckily where I used to live, there were 21∕2 inch Association Clubs and Members I could talk to, and to learn from them to understand my shortcomings. I have now moved to Scotland, where the nearest track is some 90 miles distant, and whilst I can still call friends, there is nothing to beat chewing the fat face to face (pre and hopefully soon post Covid)

My idea was simply to link those 21∕2 inch gauge members who wished to, to members close by that they were unaware of, irrespective of what they are making. For all I know, I’m living close to a fellow traveller, and contact can only assist in the continuation of the Association. The idea could be extended to those making the same model. For example, when I made the expansion links, I chose a set up that cut the radius from a disc. The cut disc generated ten pieces, of which I only needed four. These are clearly pieces I

Page 10 January 2021 could give away to a member making the same model, to save them the trouble, and we could sympathise with one another over our mistakes, and celebrate the bits that go well. How that could come about, without contravening Data Protection, and generating a nightmare for the Membership Secretary I am unsure. But, at Membership renewal, is it realistic to test the hypothesis, by asking Association members if they would be content to share their mobile phone number with any members within a 20-25 mile radius of their postcode? The mobile phone number gives no geographical information away, which limits the Data released, and can readily be blocked if required, from unwanted calls. If a conversation takes place, the correspondents can then decide between them what happens next. A similar link can be made if members were to list the locomotive they were building/have built, so that their knowledge, experiences and frustrations can be shared. Following Covid, the use of Zoom type meetings has shown to be a simple communication means that readily overcomes distance, if two or more members shared the same model at opposite ends of the country. I acknowledge that the idea would need to be discussed/considered via the Committee and membership, and would require rigorous management of the information/data, but the benefits to the association as a whole would appear to offer more benefits than disadvantages. My hope is that my suggestion will be considered as an Agenda item at the AGM. I offer my services to the Association for its administration, and my expansion links to anyone who wants them. I can be contacted on 07762-905321, for support, contradiction, debate etc, and of course for the expansion links. Yours faithfully Paul Wightman - Membership No 1224

January 2021 Page 11

Boiler Development Experiment Part 1

Des Adeley sent me this article from the 1935 Model Engineer and Practical Electrician magazine, which gives an interesting insight into the transition from Flash Steam Generators to Tube as we know them today. We all take them for granted, but must remember that in the day when LBSC was treading this new ground it was all experimental and few believed that coal fired boilers resembling full-size could be made to work in 21∕2 inch scale. Without these pioneering men, where would we be today? One thing they teach us, is that we should not be afraid to try out new ideas to improve our designs. Some ideas may work and others failure, but we never stop learning and improving.

An Experimental 21∕2 inch Gauge Locomotive By K. L. MEYER. The Model Engineer and Practical Electrician, August 1935 Having a small son aged four years, who is an ardent “ loco” enthusiast, I decided to have a shot at building one for him. I was extremely interested in

Page 12 January 2021 the design which had been published of Mr. Rogers’ Sentinel type Loco, and it seemed to me to be just the thing to build for the youngster, as with its coal fire, it combined the desirable features of safety and realism; but the budding enthusiast informed me that he “didn’t like that ugly Loco ” when I showed him the photographs of it (your pardon, Mr. Rogers). This obviously meant that one of conventional type would have to be made. I already possessed a half-inch scale 4-6-0 made by a certain firm in Sheffield (now out of business) which had been presented to me, but it was atrociously made, and the cylinders being of brass, it would not do for a - the type I had decided on. I started to get out a “ design ” utilising the frames and such other parts as could be used or modified for a 4-4-2 tank, but when the whole thing had been stripped down, I came to the conclusion that the only parts usable were the crank-shaft and bogie frame assembly. I still had Mr. Rogers’ single-cylinder at the back of my mind, and as there happened to be among my scrap a block of cast iron with a nicely bored hole 7∕8 inch in diameter, which seemed almost made for the job, it was decided to utilise this to make up a single-cylinder geared loco, using a pair of wheels with a ratio of 21∕2 to 1, which were in stock. One of the reasons for adopting this scheme was that it would save time, but I am inclined to think now, that it would have taken no longer to have made a twin-cylinder job, as a good deal of planning was needed to arrange, among other things, for constant meshing of the gears with the sprung axle. This is actually carried out in a simple manner, by employing self aligning ball bearings for the crank-shaft, the housings of which are cast in one with the axle-boxes of the driving wheels as sketched (Fig. 1). The axle-boxes are slotted to fit the frames (no horn -cheeks being fitted) and the upper portions of the castings are slot-milled to take shouldered hex screws tapped into frames.

January 2021 Page 13

Reversing of the engine is effected by a slip eccentric, the stop collar being formed by an extension on the crank-shaft pinion. There was not sufficient space to fit a separate collar, owing to the width of the ball bearings which had necessarily to be fitted inside the frames. The performance of the chassis on its first test (using a small air tank pumped up with a cycle pump) was quite satisfactory. A six foot length of track was used, and one end was raised gradually by suitable pieces of packing, with the idea of seeing what gradient the chassis was capable of taking. With a seven pound bench anvil laid on top of the frames, it was found possible to make the job romp up a gradient of about one in seven, the initial pressure in the air tank being about 70 lbs. per sq. inch in these tests. A point arises here in relation to valve setting. While with a single- cylinder engine you may add the necessary lap to a valve, it would appear that “ lead ” cannot be given, as with even the slightest amount of lead, the piston tends to bounce back on dead centre when running slowly. This naturally does not apply when you have another cylinder to carry over the dead centre. Some trouble was experienced with rusting up of the cast iron slide valve originally fitted, and on examination, the port-face was found to be so badly pitted as to need refacing. A bronze valve has now been substituted, and so far has given no trouble. Having had a fair amount of experience with model power boats fitted with flash boilers of various designs, most of which were quite successful, I embarked lightly on the job of producing a coal fired flash boiler for this loco, not realising the difficulties to be encountered. Fortunately I used copper tube for the boiler coils, as it had to be unwound and re-made four times. Having found with the boat boilers (which were all fitted with paraffin burners) a tendency to excessive super-heat, I took precautions to guard against this by shielding and bedding in fire-clay all parts of the coil which were in contact with the fire. So effective was this shielding, that although I

Page 14 January 2021 gave the boiler nearly a quarter of an hour to warm up, and the fire was burning briskly, yet the boiler flooded before the cylinder was warmed up. I might mention that I had to make several attempts before I got the fire to burn properly - not having previously tried coal firing and am indebted to “L.B.S.C.'s” articles for a great deal of help in the matter. The arrangement first adopted for the boiler consisted of two helical coils, the inner one being closely wound on a 1 inch mandrel, and the outer one slightly open spaced with a diameter of 2 inches inside. Three pieces of nickel silver angle were inserted between the two coils, and wired in position to maintain a regular annular space, and the forward ends of coils brazed into a small socket. The tube was 3∕16 inch x 18g., and the total length about 25 feet. The outer coil was wrapped round with woven asbestos, and made just to slide in the boiler casing, which was 3 inch dia.

The fire-box was lined with about 3∕8 inch of “ Pyruma ” fire cement, and as already mentioned, the part of the coil which projected over the fire space was shielded. Fig. 2 is a sketch of the arrangement.

The next move was to discard the metal shielding, and to dig out some of the coils from their bed of fire-clay, but on test this seemed to make no appreciable difference to the performance. In the meantime, I had discussed the job with a friend who has had a good deal of experience with boilers of all sorts, and he suggested removing the fire-clay lining from the lower portion of the fire-box, and putting a few coils of tube in place of it. This was

January 2021 Page 15

done, and also an additional 5 ft. 6 in. of 1∕4 inch x 20g. tube in hair-pin form was arranged inside the helical coil (which was increased in diameter to suit) to act as final super heater. The results obtained were decidedly better than before, but it seemed that a large amount of heat was still going to waste in the fire-box, so once again the whole lot was “lugged” out. The water feed in these tests was taken from a small pressure tank via a small screw-down valve, as the mechanical feed pump had not yet been fitted. The fitting, or rather the attempt at fitting, of this pump disclosed a snag. When making the drawings, I completed the outline and part-sectional elevation, but had not completed the plan, and finding a vacant space on the driving axle which gave a clearance between the crankshaft and valve eccentric, decided to fit the pump eccentric there, only to discover after having made a pattern and obtaining a strap casting, that this space was intended for the spur-wheel driving the axle. The motion plate casting had already been made with a lug to house the pump body, and it was difficult to see where else the pump could go, as the rear coupled axle came under the fire-bars, and made it impossible to fit it at the rear end of the frames. After exercising the “grey matter” for some time, the idea of linking up the pump to the cross -head presented itself, and seems to afford a satisfactory solution to the problem. The linkage employed gives a leverage on the pump-ram of slightly over 2 to 1 - the stroke of the ram being 7∕16 inch and the dia 3∕16 inch. This scheme allowed the pump to be attached to the motion plate as originally intended, but turned back to front. The drive for link is taken from the screwed end of cross head gudgeon pin, a steel cap-screw combining the functions of locking the gudgeon pin and providing a bearing for the link (Fig. 3). Reverting to the boiler, I concluded that it would be best to modify the whole thing, and fit a Belpaire type fire-box casing, which would house the major portion of the boiler coils (on a horizontal plane) with a single coil

Page 16 January 2021 having “staggered" turns running through the centre of the boiler casing. The horizontal fire-box coils were wound on a rectangular stepped former as sketch (Fig. 4), the corners of which were cut to a suitable radius. The “stepping” of the former was necessary in order to reduce the “ fore and aft ” length of the upper turns, which were wound three deep in a similar manner to a “slab” - wound electrical coil. Starting at the bottom end of former, one layer was ‘wound on, then doubled back on itself as far as the second step, and finally run back to the top (Figs. 5 and 6 explain this). Owing to the height of this coil, it was necessary to put the fire hole very near the top of the casing. This looked very unorthodox, but was a convenience in firing - particularly on a tank loco. The water was fed into the staggered coil at the smoke box end, and passed on to the bottom fire-box coils, steam being taken from the top to a screw-down valve fitted with a quick-pitch screw. This arrangement of the boiler appeared quite satisfactory when first tried, but subsequent tests proved it to be too susceptible to slight variations in the burning of the fire. To be continued in the next journal. K.L.Meyer

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Diary Dates

Running Days Sunday, June 13th Rugby MES at Onley Lane (CV22 5QD) Saturday, June 26th Ribble Valley Live Steamers at Clitheroe (BB7 3LA) Sunday, August 1st Sutton Coldfield MES at Little Hay (WS14 0QA) Sunday, Sept 12th Rugby MES at Onley Lane (CV22 5QD) Exhibitions Midlands Garden Rail Show May 22nd & 23rd Midlands Model Engineering Exhibition October 14th to 17th Hopefully by the summer we will be able to put on some running days and attend some shows. There will be more to come in the next issue, but all will be subject to any Covid restrictions that are in place at the time.

My Appreciation of Peter Shaw

It is very sad that Peter Shaw has been taken from us. He was a good friend to me and a valued advisor. After I joined the Association I got in touch with Peter who at that time was the Drawings Officer. I offered to trace any damaged drawings and he replied that he had just received a bundle of drawings for ‘President Washington’. Many of them needed re-drawing. After that we corresponded on the drawings for ‘Annie Boddie’. 16 sheets in all if you include the tender hand pump drawing. I could rely on Peter to find the errors and weaknesses in my design work. He was always working for the best solution and took great pains to achieve it.

He was a loyal supporter of 21∕2 inch gauge and encouraged me to make a start on Martin Evan’s design for the ‘Black Five’. I shall miss his sound advice over the telephone and in his letters. Neil Heppenstall (858)

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Narrow Gauge Steam in 2.5” Gauge

In Steam Chest No.165, Des Adeley commented that there are “relatively few 2 1∕2 inch gauge designs based on narrow gauge practice.” In terms of designs, Des is absolutely correct – but there are a number of models of narrow gauge prototypes in existence and, by way of illustrating what can be done in these larger scales, I thought some details of my own stud of narrow gauge locos on 2.5” gauge might be of interest. I have stuck with 2' gauge prototypes so that all my models are to the same scale (1.25” to 1') although now that I am modelling a German loco, built to metric standards, I have broken this convention and slightly upped the scale to 1:9. 1.25” to 1' is easy in imperial measurements. 5∕8 inch is 6”, 5∕16 inch equals 3” and so on. I found this made it straightforward to scale up from drawings of the prototype. My first venture, built between 1979 and 1983, was based closely on “Jack” of the Cliffe Hill Mineral Railway in Leicestershire. A Bagnall 0-4-2T, the

January 2021 Page 19 loco had Bagnall valve gear and outside steam-chests, but as I had in stock a pair of 2.5”gauge “Netta” cylinder blocks, already machined, mine has the valve gear inside, copied from “Purley Grange” but driving the valves directly. I know there have been questions raised about the valve gear of “Purley Grange” but my loco, named “Darent” after the river that runs through the village where it was built, ran superbly. In the 1980’s it had numerous outings at Rallies and could steam all day. Soon after I finished her, the late Cyril Chandler borrowed my rough and ready drawings and built his own version. It was great to see them together at rallies – Cliffe Hill had two identical locos to that design so they looked very authentic together. Because I hadn't much money when she was built, I made the tanks out of galvanised steel. Unfortunately, the paint started to lift after a

few years and by last year she was in very bad shape. So, while the equipment was in place for painting my most recent loco, I gave “Darent” a birthday and a complete repaint.

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I started “Darent” with only a tiny “Centrix Micro” lathe and a Black & Decker drill in a stand. But I later upgraded to an EW lathe of 2.5” centres which made a larger model possible. I was hooked on building closely to scale, and also liked prototypes that aren't often seen in model form, and my choice fell on the Lynton and Barnstaple Baldwin 2-4-2T, “Lyn”. This led to several years of fascinating research as, although I had the Baldwin Erecting Diagram which gave the basic dimensions, many details were obscure. I still have the large album of photos I collected but, even so, some details only came to light after the model was completed. Nevertheless, it won a Silver medal at the 1990 ME Exhibition. “Lyn” was fitted with vacuum brakes and, ever since reading Brian Hughes's early articles in ME, I had fancied a vacuum fitted loco and driving car. “Lyn's” vacuum brakes work well and I think it is far preferable to stop the train from a tiny lever in the

cab rather than hauling on a handle on the trolley! “Lyn” had many outings, mainly at the Stockport track near where I lived in the 1990s, but she is a shy steamer – once a couple of tubes clog, she goes straight off the boil. The January 2021 Page 21 cylinders and valve gear were adapted from LBSC's “Virginia”. Many medium sized 2' gauge prototypes for 2.5”g can make use of 3.5”g castings and parts. There followed a ten year hiatus in loco building as work, family and studies took first place. But I was always on the lookout for interesting 2' gauge prototypes which would introduce features I had not yet attempted. I also wanted vacuum brakes again! Researches in the North British archive introduced me to a little 0-6-0 tender loco built for the Burma Mines Railway. A full GA drawing was available, so a start was made in about 2001, with fairly slow progress. By now, I had enough money to upgrade my workshop, so she was finished with the help of a Myford ML7 and a small milling machine. She ran on a track for the first, and so far only, time at Little Hay in 2017, then was dismantled for the lengthy paint job. I had hoped to run her again this year, but Covid 19 put paid to that plan. On the basis of one outing, she steams very freely (with such a big grate she should!) and runs sweetly. The vacuum brake for the truck and the steam brake on the loco do their stuff and the sight feed lubricator seems to work OK. Maybe next year... Having a British-built loco for UK service, a US-built loco for UK service, and a UK-built loco for overseas service, I had to think of a new project that would complement them. After a lot of research, I decided on a Continental

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prototype, and fell in love with the little Orenstein and Koppel 0-8-0 built for the Meckenburg Pommersche Schmalspurbahn (MPSB) and still in existence. I think it was the sight of the expansion links waggling to and fro as she ran that tipped the balance. There was no hope of finding original drawings – they were all destroyed at the end of the War – so I ventured in a new direction and went out to the Waldeisenbahn Muskau (Muskau Forest Railway) on the German-Polish border last summer to see her and, by prior arrangement, took measurements and photos. I came back with a file of material which gives me most (but of course not all!) the information I needed, and the rest I am guessing! She actually spent part of the 1970s in the UK – what a pity I missed her. The photos show the prototype and my fabricated piston valve cylinders, which, apart from the tender chassis, is about as far as I have got after 9 months work. So that is my 2.5”narrow gauge stud, built over a period of 40 years. I guess in a couple of years I might be able to retire and then (boiler certificates permitting) they may be seen again at Association rallies. And my model of 99 3462 of the MPSB might see the light of day too. Malcolm Brown

Why not share your experience?

January 2021 Page 23

Boiler Cradle

One advantage of the small size of the 2½ inch gauge locomotives is the ability to pick them up and turn them over to allow access to the motion inside of the frames. Although this may not be true for the large locos like Caterpillar & Monstrous! Turning the engine over brings up the issue of how to hold the loco upside down, firstly without damaging the boiler fittings, cab and running board and, secondly supporting the 'top' heavy upside down loco. Odd bits of wood and an old towel leave the set up a bit precarious, to say the least! My first try at a cradle was when fitting the grate and ash pan to the S160 I was rebuilding. I used some off-cuts of blue building foam, that I had in my workshop, and cut semi-circles of a slightly larger diameter than the boiler. This enabled the boiler to rest snugly inside for the fitting. These were also used when I had an issue with the water pump on the engine. As the foam blocks were not very wide the whole engine upside down was still a bit unstable, so I also used some blocks of wood to prop it as the repairs were

made to the pump. In ordered to make the cradle more stable and universal for different sizes of boilers, I knocked up a mark II cradle; this consisted of 2 bits of 5/8"

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thick plywood about A4 in size, cut with a 90 degree V shape 6" deep. Another bit of wood was screwed to the bottom to give a good steady base or footing to the cradle. The V was lined with some foam pipe lagging I had, but something soft like a strip of old carpet would work. All of the sizes were guesstimates, and the bits of wood and pipe lagging were what I had to hand. To counter-act the 'top' heavy loco, the boiler sits low down in the V to stop it rotating too much. There is also more stability both side to side and front to back within the cradles due to the large base. I have left mine separate, but they could be joined together although some way of adjusting the spacing would be needed. I have since held a Juliet in this pair of cradles but it is getting to the comfortable limit. Will Powell

There is always room for your advert in the journal.

January 2021 Page 25

A 2½” Gauge Tich

The first miniature I ever saw was the 2½” Gauge LBSC Dairymaid belonging to my father’s solicitor, Mr Kean, in Morayshire. I must have been about 8 when I saw him run the engine on a short straight length of raised track in his garden. That engine, which Mr Kean bought rather than made himself, is now in the possession of his son who is slowly overhauling her. I went to boarding school in Perthshire where we were offered the chance to do metalwork. With no previous experience, I immediately starting building LBSC’s Tich working from the book based on his construction articles that was lent to me by Mr Kean, with, initially, indifferent results. Things got a bit better when I was introduced to Mr John Emery, a retired physics teacher, who lived near the school and was a very competent silversmith and clockmaker with an interest in steam engines. He had a Drumond M type lathe in his workshop alongside a treadle driven Holtzappfel ornamental turning lathe and was building a 2½” Gauge 2-4-2 which I understood to be based on LBSC’s Dyak. I saw this engine, unfinished, run on a very short length of track and would be interested to know if anyone knows where the engine is now. Mr Emery was more complimentary about my initial efforts with Tich than my workmanship deserved but suggested I made a proper job of the engine and built it in 2½” Gauge instead of 3½” Gauge. As I, even then, recognised that my initial set of frames left much to be desired, I made some new ones better suited to 2.5” gauge standards. As can be seen from the side elevation photograph, the main alteration was to the frames themselves. The front buffer beam was lowered to bring the buffers to the standard 2.5” gauge height with the frames curving down from just in front of the and with the lower frame profile in front of the front axle altered to something I considered more in keeping. At the back, the rear buffer beam was similarly lowered and the top of the frame from ½” in front of the boiler throat-plate rearwards lowered to the height of the top of the buffer beam. The rest of the chassis was built to the original drawings and fitted with the slip eccentric valve gear which, although it Page 26 January 2021 represented less work, I now realise was probably a mistake. After 2 years, work, this chassis was running on compressed air, but only after receiving some (probably considerable!) attention from Mr Emery.

A boiler was built during the next year – my last at the school. This had a Belpaire and was made such that the foundation ring sat on top of the lowered rear frames. It held pressure when tested hydraulically and I did attempt to steam it once that July but without any great success due to leaks from the boiler fittings that I did not have time to fix before school ended. My Tich then remained untouched for the 22 years I spent in the Royal Navy. I then joined an Engineering company in Gloucestershire and was, to some extent, able to resume model engineering activities and, alongside working on the Horwich Crab with Martin Barker, I opened the box and had a long look at Tich again. My most overwhelming observation was the virtually complete absence of a true right angle anywhere in her construction! I therefore started a bottom up overhaul, keeping just the frames, cylinders and smokebox and some of the smaller components. I made new buffer beams, wheels, axles, eccentrics, axle pump, coupling and January 2021 Page 27 connecting rods and a new boiler with a round topped firebox. I had come across some articles written by LBSC in February and March 1959 under the title “Tich Topics” in which he talked about his own version of the engine with its outside Stephenson Valve gear and various other changes. One comment he made was that, with the 2” diameter wheels and the axle pump dancing round so quickly, the bore of the pump was much too big and that he sleeved his down to 5/32”. I did not go quite that far but did reduce it to 3/16”. The rear hornblocks were trimmed slightly to allow an ashpan to be fitted but, even so, it has very restricted depth due to the slip eccentric valve gear and axle pump eccentrics being on the rear axle, directly under the middle of the grate. With only the pump eccentric fitted, LBSC talked about fitting his engine with an ashpan that went down either side of the pump eccentric so realised this was a problem even in 3.5” gauge. It is my understanding that the miniature locomotive LBSC based Tich on had the pump driven from the front axle to avoid this problem and, if I was starting

Page 28 January 2021 again I would do the same, possibly using a scotch crank to buy some more room. That is one change too many for me – it would mean re-siting the lubricator as well but I am giving serious thought to changing over to Walschaerts valve gear, just to get rid of 2 of the 3 eccentrics under the grate. Water capacity in the side tanks is limited and having a small wagon to act as a tender between engine and driving car would probably be an advantage. Just as I was getting to the point that I could consider raising steam, life got in the way again and Tich had to go back in her box whilst I underwent another career change and we all moved up to Yorkshire. Move forward another 10 years and, with workshop re-established and the Crab tender built, I had to find something else to do during the Covid19 lockdown – so out came Tich again! The only significant component still required was the main steam pipe and . With this made and the boiler pressure tested by me to my satisfaction, the boiler was filled and a fire lit. Hampered initially by a blocked blower pipe, the regulator was eventually opened and the wheels turned under steam power this June, only 45 years after construction started! Would I build a 2.5” gauge Tich again – probably not but, to my mind, it still makes more sense than doing so in 3.5”. One of these days, once the new Walschaerts valve gear has been made and fitted, you never know but I might even get her on the track! Alex Ellin

Journal printed by Paula Barrett P3 Printing – Salisbury. Local collection or printing delivered by post. Greeting Cards, Calendars, Laminating, Binding. Please contact for a free quotation. [email protected] 07890660318

January 2021 Page 29

How the Crab came to being

Having completed my Holden F5 Loco, my mind turned to my next project. This was influenced by an Advertisement I saw in the G3 magazine, where frames, wheels, cylinders and other bits and pieces, for a Crab Loco, were advertised for sale. Long story short, as this package included drawings, I decided to go for it. As it turned out, the frames were hacked out of 1/8th steel, cut in half, lengthened and were only good for scrap. Wheels were too small and cylinders were square! The drawings did give me hope but they seemed to make continual mention towards the Dyak. As you can imagine, I felt pretty deflated and foolish for having wasted time and money but as they say, every cloud has a silver lining.

At this stage I decided to seek some advice from a highly experienced friend in the 2 ½” gauge society. Des explained that the drawings I had were of the Dyak, which sort of resembled the Horwich Crab. He had other drawings of the Crab and in fact had proceeded with it as a project some time previously but as he no longer wanted to pursue it as a project, donated it, together, with the drawings to me. He had completed the tender and had prepared a few components for the loco itself. This would, if finished be live steam. My preference is electric radio controlled, so I decided to start the loco from scratch. Des located a few extra drawings and put me in touch with John

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Baguley, who was able to let me have copies of the Horwich Drawings. I was now in seventh heaven, as my aim is always to model as accurately as possible but within my limitations. I must also record my thanks to Des and John for making this project possible for me. Right from the outset, I had decided that I would record, in a scrap book, each stage of construction, complete with drawings, sketches and calculations. The frames and wheel sets were reasonably straight forward but the motion would be more difficult to sort out. Wheels turned to G3 spec, would be too wide in relation to the full size scaled down at 13.5mm, which would mean that motion would be set too wide, which in turn would affect the centre line of the cylinder and it’s offset to the frames. I reduced the wheel width a small fraction and reduced the height of the boss to 1mm. I had also decided that, as I seemed to have a mountain of brass offcuts, I would buy myself a furnace and learn how to cast brass. I looked at what I could cast and decided to make wood patterns for the Cylinder, Guide bar brackets, smoke box door, smoke box saddle and internal boiler rings. Several attempts at casting failed miserably but with YouTube and practice, I eventually cast the cylinders and guide bar brackets, which could be machined to size. Before proceeding further, I needed to double check the centreline height of the boiler, which necessitated casting, machining and fitting the smoke box saddle. I then made up a short dummy section of boiler and was then able to adjust the height of the smokebox saddle in order to get the boiler centreline height correct in relation the rail. Next stage was to align the cylinder but before that could be done, all the motion needed to be made and fitted. I reduced the width of the components where possible but the overall effect still meant that the overall width of the cylinders was greater than it should be. Full size width of the platform above the cylinder is 8 ft 8” with the cylinders projecting a further inch. In order to get everything to look January 2021 Page 31 correct, I decided to increase the platform width from 8ft 8” to 8ft 10” , which when scaled down leaves the cylinders projecting by a fraction over 1mm. With the motion now complete and fitted, when pushed up and down on my outdoor test track, all appears to work OK. Next stage was to trial fit the platform over the frames but for some reason, I found the expansion link was just fouling the down-drop of the platform. What to do now? Although dimensions appeared to be correct, the simple answer was to remake the platform, setting the down-drop a few millimetres closer to the cab, which, in the event I don’t think will be noticeable. I then began to detail the frames by adding steps, brake blocks and hangers, sand pipes, etc. The next job was to complete the front buffer beam, with sprung buffers, hook and vacuum pipes. Once fitted, the rolling frame was virtually complete and further trials on my test track indicated a few tweaks needed to be made on the motion. Now was the time to commence the loco above the frames. The boiler had already been rolled to correct diameter and fitted with internal brass rings, which were screwed and soldered in place. This was followed with the firebox, which was made by first constructing an internal skeleton and wrapping with 0.5mm brass sheet. The firebox was made with a short stub, which would project 20mm inside the boiler barrel, for future attachment. Next, the cab components were fabricated from 1mm sheet brass and trial fitted together with boiler and firebox, to the frames. All seemed OK, so next stage was to detail the boiler, firebox and cab with handrails, washout plugs and internal cab fittings, such as regulator, pipework and gauges. As I mentioned earlier, the smoke box door was cast from scrap brass prior to machining to correct profile. The smoke box ring was carefully drilled with clearance holes to take 12BA bolts, which, when fitted would project 6mm in front of the ring. Theses would secure the smokebox door, with eight clips, held in place with 12 BA nuts. This ring could now be fitted inside the boiler, to complete the front of the boiler with a door. The boiler, firebox and cab were reassembled and trial fitted to the frame.

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The centreline was carefully marked in order to position and fit the chimney, dome, safety valves, whistle and cab vent. Once complete, I drilled a clearance hole, down through the chimney and through the cab floor immediately below the cab vent, to make a M6 bolt. I had to redesign the cab vent, to enable it to slide, in order to gain access with a screwdriver to the M6 bolt head, in the cab. Once the loco was complete, my attention turned to the tender, which as I mentioned earlier was donated by Des Adeley. In order to finish it off, it needed steps, lamp irons, vacuum pipes and a hook. For a variety of reasons, I decide to fit all electricals in the tender and make up a connector to link to the motor. This worked well, and a running trail proved to be successful. I had finally reached the point where I could paint and complete the model and christen it 42859. Jim Clement

January 2021 Page 33

The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Locomotives In 1923 four narrow-gauge locomotives joined the Southern Railway stock from the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway, a line in North Devon opened on 16 May 1898 with three Manning, Wardle 2-6-2 tanks named Yeo, Exe and Taw. The three engines were of the same design with outside main frames, inside pony-truck framing, outside cylinders, Joy’s valve-gear, large side- window cabs and tall chimneys. They were painted holly green, with a broad black band having a fine orange line on the inside, while the frames, cylinders and other gear below the tank sides and running plate were a reddish-brown. Nameplates were attached to the tank sides, the dome covers were made of burnished brass and the chimneys capped with copper. As the line opened a fourth locomotive was purchased from the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia and this was named Lyn. It was a typical North American outside-cylinder narrow-gauge 2-4-2 tank with outside bar frames, large side tanks and a wooden cab. The Stephenson valve gear was between the frames, which was less accessible for maintenance and also heavier. The smokebox was fitted with a device which used steam to eject the ash, but there were also doors in the sides to rake it out. There was a tall in the centre. The livery was a deep glossy black relieved by a yellow line. All the locomotives were equipped for right-hand drive, had cow-catchers, automatic vacuum brakes and Norwegian-type central couplings. Some modifications were made in the early days exposing the valve-gear ; also the cab roof, cab windows and coal spaces were changed to improve this area. Each year the company would send one boiler of for reconditioning. This was achieved by purchasing a new boiler for Yeo in February 1910. The old boiler was despatched to the Avonside Engine Company and this was fitted to Taw. Lyn did not have a spare boiler which led to Lyn being laid up whilst her boiler was refurbished. This boiler had the reputation of priming, even when fresh from washout, and seldom could be persuaded to steam as

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January 2021 Page 35 freely as those carried by the Manning Wardle locomotives. She had a new smokebox with central locking handles fitted and in March 1903 Lyn was painted holly green, had bunker coal rails added and Ramsbottom safety- valves were fitted. The working pressure was reduced to 160 psi, the same as the Manning Wardles, and in March 1922 the chimney was changed to a stove pipe design. Under the Grouping Act of 1921 the London & South Western Railway became part of the Southern Railway, but it was a further 12 months before the four locomotives entered Southern Railway stock and were allotted Nos. E759 Yea, E760 Exe, E761 Taw and E762 Lyn. On the Manning Wardle series standard Southern number plates were substituted for the maker’s plates on the cab sides, but on Lyn they replaced the nameplates which were removed to the tank sides. They were all eventually painted in the Maunsell green livery. In 1925 a new Manning Wardle loco was ordered, No. E188 Lew and was generally similar to the original ones with the exception of a rear coal bunker; the firebox was also slightly smaller. Coal was carried in extended side bunkers and the motion was not totally enclosed. In service it proved better than Lyn, but was never as good as the original three original Manning Wardle locos, possibly due to the firebox capacity. Due to the high cost of construction of the line, the Lynton & Barnstaple seldom paid its way. By the summer of 1935 the line closed and the locomotives sold at auction. Sadly the earlier locomotives were broken up for scrap, but Lew was sold and worked on in Brazil until the late 1950’s. Unfortunately the track was lifted and it was not until the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Association was formed in 1979 that a short section was reopened to passengers in 2004. Extensions to the track have been added since and can be enjoyed by all, although there is a reduced service at present due to Covid-19.

Compiled from The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society publication dated 1975, provided by Des Adeley.

Cedric Norman

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The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway to build steam locomotives ‘Yeo’ and ‘Exe’

by MICHAEL HOLDEN 20th August 2018 The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Trust, along with the 762 Club Ltd, has announced its next project… to build steam locomotives ‘Yeo’ and ‘Exe’. A number of years ago, the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway began work of ‘Yeo’. This locomotive is a Manning Wardle type that ran on the railway from 1898 until 1935. This project, however, was put on hold whilst the construction of Lyd was completed at the Ffestiniog Railway. With Planning Permissions in place, it is now the time to progress on the construction of new locomotives for the extended Lynton and Barnstaple Railway. Construction of both locomotives will take around 5 years. The name ‘Manning Wardle’ is now owned by the L&BR Trust. This will mean that the locomotives will be 2048 and 2049 Yeo and Exe will not be replicas, just new locomotives. The design will be close to that found on ‘Lyd’ with various improvements over the locomotives built in the 19th century. YEO’ is to be built in North Derbyshire, with ‘EXE’ being built at Boston Lodge Works at the Ffestiniog Railway. Construction will start soon, once the CAD drawings are prepared, and funds begin to add up. Full drawings and pattern equipment have been made available thanks to James Evans and the Ffestiniog Railway. Both sets of name and SR number plates are being sponsored by ‘Steam Railway’ magazine. These have been ordered for delivery in September. The original chimney from ‘Yeo’ has been donated to the project. The railway also have an original Manning Wardle pressure gauge restored and ready for use.

www.railadvent.co.uk/2018/08/lynton-and-barnstaple-railway-to-build-steam-locomotives-yeo-and-exe.html

January 2021 Page 37

SLSLS Small Gauge Festival Report

Australia is fortunate to have controlled the Covid-19 virus fairly well and thus restrictions on community gatherings have slowly been eased. We really didn't know if the Festival could proceed but we lived in hope! The Society had been limited to a maximum of 20 on site but the approval of a Covid Safe plan substantially increased this number permitting some 70 participants to attend the Small Gauge Festival on the weekend of 31 October and 1 November. We usually have visitors from Queensland and Victoria however travel between States is still restricted so they could not attend. Unfortunately the weather was typical UK style, but it didn't dampen the enthusiasm and the opportunity to see some live steam after so long was a big drawcard for many. There were three 2½ inch gauge locos in attendance. I had my Ayesha which ran successfully most of the Sunday morning. Andrew Allison had Austere Ada in a very handsome blue, and this ran all of Sunday afternoon. A more recent loco is David Coulshed's Dyak which was acquired from Station Rd Steam and with some work is now a great performer. We think its run at the Festival was its first run since it was made, potentially over 50 or 60 years ago.

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The other locos were 3½ inch gauge and consisted of a Britannia having its premier public run, a Tich, a NSWGR P class, a 36 class, and a Buffalo, as well as a battery diesel shunter. The track was slippery in parts with the wet, and of course the 2½ inch gauge rail gets little cleaning but plenty of crud from larger locomotives. We have an incline of around 1 in 60 for the little engines to conquer and a run of about 400m. There is a video which shows all the 2½ inch gauge locos performing on my Steamview channel on Youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n2NSUETiIA (better to search for steamview). Photos: Ayesha with Andrew Allison driving attempting to provide some anti slipping pressure! David Coulshed's Dyak. Austere Ada

Warwick Allison Sydney Live Steam Locomotive Society January 2021 Page 39

Peter Shaw Obituary Very sadly my father, Peter Shaw, died suddenly and unexpectedly at home on Wednesday 14th October. He was seven weeks short of his 90th birthday. He was born in Skipton, and spent his first year in Yorkshire before his family moved to Aldershot in Hampshire. As a schoolboy in 1940, he saw vapour trails in the skies during the Battle of Britain, and later saw a German V-1 flying bomb over his house in Aldershot, watched it fall to the ground, and promptly cycled off to inspect the crater. During the 1950s he read Electrical Engineering at Imperial College, London, and then completed an Apprenticeship at Metropolitan-Vickers in Manchester. His career covered a wide range of electrical engineering activities, starting with trials of the first UK gas turbine-electric railway locomotive, and then moving on to power stations. After joining the Scientific Civil Service at the Ministry of Defence he dealt with aircraft electrical systems including those of Valiant, Concorde and Tornado. Later he dealt with military vehicle power systems. In his final roles before 'retiring' he led the introduction of specialised training simulators for the Army, an early Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) and test facilities for command information systems. He started model engineering as a teenager. There are still remnants of early stationary engines and a 21∕2 inch gauge tender in his workshop. Over the years he produced numerous engineering solutions for model railways, model boats and then full-size boats. More recently he built his

21∕2 inch gauge Adams O2 class, Ningwood, a design he had always admired. In parallel, a very long-standing friend had started building a 5" gauge 'Jinty'

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0-6-0 tank engine. My father helped to build its boiler, but his friend died before completing the locomotive. My father and Des completed the build, and it was run successfully at Basingstoke. However, 21∕2 inch gauge still retained its appeal to my father, and he has produced the complex wooden formers and first prototype boiler barrel for a Britannia - his next long-term project. My father was also interested in sailing, again starting as a teenager on the Norfolk Broads. During the 1950s, he chartered various yachts with friends and sailed to the West Country, Brittany and the Channel Islands. He subsequently operated his own 26ft sailing yacht Jester of Bosham from a sailing club in Portsmouth harbour for 21 years. She was a South Coast One Design, a classic cruiser-racer designed in the 1950s and built of wood. He maintained her to a very high standard and had tremendous skill in being able to extract every last knot of speed out of a sailing boat by making minor adjustments to the trim of her sails. For several years he organised the sailing club's launch weekends, where boats stored on a car park for winter were launched for summer sailing. The organisational pinnacle was reached with 94 boat lifts in one weekend - a club record that will never be surpassed, and a number that is simply unheard of in yachting circles. The weekend even featured in the magazine 'Crane News'! One articulated lorry, three cranes, and 300 helpers fed by over 500 bacon butties cooked on-site. He scheduled everyone into roles and timeslots. All was calm and ran like clockwork. He always had a wide range of interests, but remained particularly interested in engineering, technology and people. He greatly enjoyed attending Running Days, meeting everyone and being part of the Association. On the evening before he died, he was designing a steam operated water pump for Ningwood. Typically, he was investigating how to improve the operation of the locomotive, and was looking forward to testing her with the new electrically-assisted driving trolley that he had built, and was featured in Steam Chest 165. I could not have wished for a better Father, mentor and friend. Jeremy Shaw

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Peter Shaw Obituary cont’d Peter also made a significant contribution to the Association. For many years, he was the holder of our historic drawing collection and ultimately helped Gerald and myself scan them to create a digital record. In addition he was one of our boiler testers, who I recall kept an immaculate record system of every boiler that he inspected. He made contributions to the association journal adding value to our engineering right up to the end of his life. Des Adeley

Elevated Railway Expansion Joint The Sydney Live Steam Locomotive Society is currently but slowly rebuilding its elevated track. This track accommodates 2½, 3½ and 5 inch gauges. During my overseas jaunt during 2019 I made a point of investigating elevated track construction, and one item in particular being how they allowed for expansion. In the UK many of their tracks use aluminium profile rail and this has a large coefficient of expansion. There was one railway that made no allowance for expansion, but all the others made some degree of allowance. The main thing I noticed was that their expansion joints were fairly regular. In some cases they seem to have been installed where they had a problem, rather than with any predefined principle. They were usually of either a simple

Page 42 January 2021 break in the rail, or a more traditional approach with the rails milled to a half profile and mated to form a sliding joint. For a steel track the coefficient of expansion of steel is around 12 x 10-6m/ moC. Now 12 x 10-6 m is 0.012 mm. To get the expansion it is multiplied by the length in metres and the degrees C. If we consider the temperature range to be 50 degrees, (and some may think this is too low!) for 10m of rail it will expand 6mm. As the SLSLS elevated is about 400m long, this translates into 240mm! This expansion has to go somewhere, so it needs to be allowed to occur without damaging the structure of the railway. Two railways I visited had flexible rail sections for stub points that consisted of 'fingers' or leaves of thin stainless steel strip. The arrangement appeared to offer good prospects for a minimum effort but high quality expansion joint. This was important because a simple calculation will show that if each joint could accommodate 20mm of expansion, we would still need 12 of them! (Assuming they were ideally placed, which of course is not feasible).

January 2021 Page 43

In our case we did not need flexible rails but the idea of using bundled thin strips as the rail was desirable to greatly reduce the gap in the railhead and in particular the gap in the running face. The existing expansion joints with the large gap in the running face presents a significant challenge for tiny 2.5” gauge loco pony wheels – which sometimes decline to climb out of the hole they have dropped into! Andrew Allison worked out the details and produced a design which had 8 different profiles, all which could be laser cut. There were 4 different leaves, a base plate, rail gauge plate, clamp plate and fishplate. For a typical joint catering for 2½, 3½ and 5 inch gauge, these 8 profiles translated into 1 base plate, 4 rail gauge plates, 16 fishplates, clamp plates and 48 leafs to construct one joint. The leaves are 1.2mm stainless sheet and were bundled together (with staggered joints) to create rail sections of 4.8mm for the inner gauges and 9.6mm for the 5 inch rails. Due to clearances, two of the fishplates had to be tapped rather than nutted, and one of the clamp plates requires a counter-bore to accept a nut. This represents the main effort in construction. Assembly involved removing the plastic backing from the stainless and linishing both sides to remove burrs. It was a bit tedious but essential. A jig of 3 bolts in a plate allowed the leaves to be assembled and captured in the fishplates before transferring to the bed plate to which the rail gauge plates had been welded. Then assembly requires mainly the insertion of bolts and the application of nuts! Once installed in the track, the top of the leaves is dressed with a flap-wheel to remove any high spots. Feedback so far has been very good. You cannot feel their presence when you are running over them, they are neat and compact and hopefully will perform their role in keeping the track as new! The photos show Andrew's Austere Ada at the joint. Warwick Allison

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Elaine

To all our members, can I express my sincere thanks for your response to my request in the last Issue for information on Elaine. I have had so many kind offers of assistance regards drawings castings and just general information, but one in particular, where I received a set of drawings on which someone had done some preparatory annotations showed where that person had also looked at installing an axle driven pump to the existing design, so very helpful indeed. It is becoming an unusual but interesting build, and just to show that your generosity has not been wasted, here are a few snaps of progress so far. All items are fabricated or from solid, no castings used so far. Don’t look too closely at the finish; I certainly don’t have the skills or the patience of the likes of John B, Rod Cox or Tom Barnes! Stay well, stay safe and enjoy the extra workshop time we have all been given. Brian Kerens

January 2021 Page 45

Tich 2.5” Update

The beginning of this saga was introduced in the January 2017 Steam Chest 151. The frames were completed and with the chassis running on air the boiler was built. I think it is true to say this is the first sub 3 bar litre boiler to be tested in the Taunton ME club. The initial hydraulic test was conducted and passed whilst still at Creech. Several years then passed when my attention was elsewhere. This year with "lockdown" I intended spending much more time in the workshop and one of the jobs was to complete the "Tich". The fittings for the boiler, which was started by my late father in the 1950s,

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were made and fitted. The boiler was then submitted for its second hydraulic test, this time in the back of my car at West Buckland. All went well. Before the boiler was removed for testing, the incomplete loco had been assembled but not painted. I detest painting but decided the "Tich" would look better painted than being left in polished brass. Maybe that was a mistake since the painting took ages and the final result was not improved when the majority of the bits fell off a rather precarious temporary shelf. This project was really pure nostalgia. This loco was in my father's workshop for almost all my childhood and putting it on Ebay as a "part built” somehow seemed disloyal. We did discuss using what he had built as the basis for something more interesting but this never happened. However I think he would approve of the way it has turned out. How much use it gets remains to be seen. It is rather ironic that a re-gauged

31∕2 inch gauge engine which is fundamentally identical to the original LBSC design would almost certainly be the smallest engine at any 21∕2 inch gauge rally! New tracks are opening up in the southern area, such as the rather short one at Wimborne and at least one major supplier “Little Engines” in the USA is investing in new designs, new patterns and new castings to put 21∕2 inch gauge back into their inventory. The future is bright! John Pickering

January 2021 Page 47

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