Passing though Oswestry.

Today we found ourselves in Oswestry, not for any railway related reasons but so that Dani could visit Stooge Cycles and test ride their prototype fat-bike, (which we both rather liked. Mountain biking and trail/fell running have somewhat taken over my spare time this year). On the way home we stopped in town so that I could have a quick nose around the Cambrian Heritage Railway.

On the platform stood a smart Barclay tank giving brake van rides;

Further down the platform, a Ruston 88DS;

I do like an 88DS. Also seen from the platform, a Warflat(?), a stripped 0-4-0 and a trolley;

In the yard, a couple of diesels, and an old JCB,

Along with a rusty steamer and a dismantled Austerity;

Not the best photos I'm afraid, but I do hope to revisit Oswestry in the Spring so hopefully I can find time for a ride and another nose around.

Paul.

British Austerity Saddle Tanks by Gordon Edgar

Here's another book for industrial steam fans;

Inside is a collection of photos, from the 1950s through to the 80s, both colour and b&w, of Austerities hard at work earning a living. The book is divided into regions and most photos have extended captions (think Railway Bylines) containing information not only on the loco in camera but on its fate, the location and history of same. Most photos are of colliery locos, battle scarred and filth covered, often in grim surroundings (the third-from-last pic. is worthy of study), perfect fodder for those modellers who love weathering. Some splashes of colour can be found though, the orange and black striped cab on one example, another has a NCB colour sheme of blue saddle tank and yellow cab. The British Railways owned locos get a couple of pages as well, as do those owned and operated by the military.

Well worth seeking out by industrial railway enthusiasts.

British Austerity Saddle Tanks by Gordon Edgar, Amberley, ISBN 978-1-4456-3342--8

Paul.

Dapol Austerity - part 4 spectacle plates.

I've finally sorted out the spectacle plates on this loco, I fitted them too high initially (see this post) so off they came. The etchings were prised off with a curved scalpel blade, without damage, and the upper part of the window opening filled with a scrap of black .040" plasticard and a spot of Humbrol filler.

In the photo below the left cab side widow (right side in photo) has been filled and the spectacle plate glued in its new lower postion whilst the right cab side window still needs reworking;

However, the relationship between the spectacle plate and the handrail still isn't perfect, the handrail should be in line with the middle of the curved portion of the 'plate, the fact that it isn't shows that something, or more likely a combination of things, is out;

 

I'm going to leave it alone now as I feel that I've spent enough time on this part of the model. Its better than it was, and I've learned a valuable lesson from this exercise.

Paul.

Dapol Austerity - part 3 smokebox door and handrails.

The smokebox door, like the rest of the loco, needs a bit of work.
The first job was to carve away the numberplate, not really needed on an industrial loco..., and the moulded dart. The moulded hinge is huge and ugly so that came off as well, leaving a couple of small pads to mount a length of .025" Evergreen rod on, and for some reason there are rivets on the hinge straps which the prototype lacked so they came off as well.
The front handrail is set too high so I filled the moulded holes and fitted a new handrail set at a scale 5' from the footplate;

The side handrails are also too high and were also replaced. This was a bit of a headache as of course the holes in the tank sides will be lower than for the front due to the fact that the stanchions sit at an angle. After much trial and error (drill, fill, re-drill...) I've got them about right, although one stanchion is slightly out of place (I'm not saying which one though!). The moral - sort out the side handrails first and fit the front to suit!

Note the filled holes marking the old handrail positions.
Also seen in the photo above is a replacement tank step, included on the RT Models etch. The moulded step is far too high, it should sit slightly above the boiler centre line. The step is only temporarily in place for the photo, I'll fit it later on as its rather vulnerable. It has a tail which is fitted into a .5mm drilled hole.
Gibson short stanchions are used, medium are far too long for this job, and .45mm wire. I also replaced the two short handrails below the filler, again with .45mm wire.

I've been using a 7mm scale drawing whilst checking and setting the handrail heights etc. To save lots of complicated maths I use a 7mm/foot scale rule on the drawing then transfer the measurement to the model using a 4mm/foot scale rule.

On putting the model back together to see how it looks I've spotted a problem;

The handrail should line up with the middle of the curve of the spectacle plate, not the bottom as mine does, which means that I've fitted the spectacle plate too high. I glued it in place as low as I could whilst covering the existing opening.
I now have three options;
1. Ignore it and carry on,
2. Remove the spectacle plates, fill the top part of the hole with plasticard and filler, re-fit the plates at the correct height and file away the excess,
3. Put the model away for a few months and do something else until I decide which course of action is best.
However, before I make any decision I intend adding some extra detail to the firebox backplate.

Some minor detail differences to be aware of if modelling a particular loco:
A few locos had the tankside handrails set slightly higher up. I've noticed this on locos built by Andrew Barclay.
Two types of stanchion are used, the normal turned type and the straight shoulderless type.
Two diameters of smokebox door hinge.

Paul.

Dapol Austerity - part 2 cab.

I've been working on the cab these past few days. An RT Models body detailing etch has been aquired which includes spectacle plates and a new cab rear.

The first job was to hack out the cab rear and bunker top with a piercing saw;

 

Ready for etched replacements;

 

The back sheet has had its spectacle plates soldered in place and the cab interior back sheet has been folded to shape and had the coal door soldered on.
Before I fitted them I epoxied the replacement spectacle plate frames onto the cab front after carving the old frames off. Once the glue had dried for 24 hours I opened up the spectacle plates to suit the new frames;

The right hand (in the photo) window has been opened up to size, the left hand shows just how much plastic has to be filed away.

Then I epoxied the cab rear and back sheet in place;

I used plastic microstrip to represent the cab roof shutter runners and a piece of scrap plasticard for a new bunker top, ready for some coal.

Here's the cab after a light waft of primer, its not fixed in place properly yet;

 

I still need to add lamp irons and works plates.

Opening out the spectacle plates I think makes the biggest difference to the bodywork, its amazing how much better it now looks.

Boiler top handrails and backhead next.

Paul.

Dapol Austerity - part 1 introduction and references.

This is a very long term project, in fact I think that I started it at least 15 years ago... I tend to spend a few days working on it, get frustrated by the amount of work needed then put it away again for a few more months.

The Dapol (now Hornby) model isn't bad considering its age, but there's definate room for improvement as we shall see. Mine started life as the War Department liveried 'Warrington', the intention is to finish it as a typical hard worked poorly maintained workhorse.

I've converted it to EM using a Gibson conversion set, and having the correct pattern wheels alone make a big difference to the look of the loco. Coupling rods are from RT Models and compliment the wheels nicely.
Dome and water filler are also from RT Models, replacing the rather undersized moulded dome and extremely undersized filler cap. My model came with the fibreglass conical chimney fitted to locos fitted with an underfeed stoker, again RT Models supplied a cast replacement for the more usual type.
The moulded panel lines on the tank have been removed as I can't see any evidence of them in photos of the prototype.
The Dapol bufferbeams have seperate plastic overlays which have the wrong bolt pattern, so I fitted RT Models etched overlays, which also have the advantage of being significantly thinner thereby reducing the still overscale thickness of the bufferbeams. Before epoxying them in place I soldered Gibson buffers and Slaters coupling hooks in place. The bufferheads will be blackened and fitted after painting as per my usual practice.

The injector pipework below the bufferbeam has a rectangular strengthener moulded behind it, easily removed with a few minutes work with drills and files;

Note the rear of the chassis, as I don't use tension lock couplings I've attempted to reprofile the chassis block with a big file. Balance weights are included with the RT Models Chassis Detailing etch.

I've given the front of the chassis similar treatment;

 

At some stage I'll cut away the brakes from the keeper plate, again replacements are included in the RT Models chassis detailing pack.

Thats how far I've got with this project at the moment, there's a lot more to be done yet before I can even think about paint.

Some usefull reference material.

Magazines;
Modelling Railways Illustrated Vol.1 No.2 November-December 1993. An excellent profile article including superb scale drawings.
Locomotives Illustrated 61 - The Hunslet 'Austerity' 0-6-0STs.
Model Rail 179 March 2013. George Dent on detailing the Hornby model using RT Models parts.
Railway Modeller January 1986 - Ian Beattie drawing.

Industrial Railway Society publications;
Austerity Saddle Tank Locomotives, Industrial Railway Record 203
Continent Coalfield and Conservation - The biographical history of the British Army Austerity 0-6-0 saddle tank.

Books;
Hunslet Austerity Locomotives Spare Parts List. A reprint of an official Hunslet publication by Camden Miniature Steam Services.
British Austerity Saddle Tanks by Gordon Edgar, Amberley, ISBN 978-1-4456-3342--8

Almost every 'Industrial Steam' type book contains photos of Austerities as well, and Railway Bylines often feature them as well.

Paul.