Douglas - 40% Done

Since the completion of Donald, i had planned to make Douglas straight after, but, i had left the project for a while so i could carry on with other projects, i don't like to rush making my models and many have told me that i can often produce them abit quick. So i decided to go back to the plans i had for the CR 812, and make a fresh start scratchbuilding again.

At current, Douglas is 40% done, the body is having splashers, handrails and cab roof fitted, so it won't be too long before the main part of the model is done, once that is done, i can then make a start on building the tender, which is an easy job and won't take very long for me to do.

Pics will be posted later of the models current progress..

Update on new model projects and new layout

Greetings one and all, i must first apologise for the lack of updates to this blog. I have been very busy with new projects in my time and have lacked updating severly due to work and getting stuck into my new projects.

Firstly, Douglas is halfway near completion, the boiler, cab and smokebox have been built and the chassis mounted to the scratchbuilt runningplate, so i am hopin to have Douglas completed by the end of next week, if all goes well with the model.

Secondly, the new layout i designed has began construction and all the trackwork has been pinned to the baseboard and tested. All tracks and sidings work nicely with full power, so i have only to solder the wire to the rails to keep power permanently running through the rails.
The proposed layout i am modelling is Elsbridge from the first series of Thomas The Tank Engine, the station has some nice features to it, such as the footbridge, canopy and the road where Thomas and Bertie raced each other. I am modelling the layout using pictures i printed off the computer for reference, and adding some of my own details to the rest of the layout once Elsbridge has been built and detailed.

I have decided that once Douglas is complete, i will move on to my next new project, which will be a re-model of my old Rosie. The model will be made from an old playcraft 0-4-0 mould, or, i might just scratchbuild her completely, but i am waiting for a good friend of mine to send me a list of parts i need in order to make her.

Well, that's all for now, will keep you updated as soon as more progress is made.

bye for now

regards

The Thomas Modeller

Douglas - Work in Progress!

It has been a while since i modelled anymore engines, but, i recently announced on the Sudrian Railway Modellers Forum that Douglas has been planned as my next new scratchbuild project. A while back i modelled Donald using scale drawings i found of a CR Class 812 locomotive, and i plan to use the same drawings also for Douglas and possible for Patrick, when i come to build him, which won't be till i have got my new layout up and running.

I have all the parts i need to start Douglas, apart from some Slaters Mek-Pak bonding glue, which i have currently run out of, and need to get some more, which i will be able to do by next weekend, so i will have more news on the project then.

Keep checking back often for more news and previews of new projects planned.

Boco (D5702) - Complete!

It started off as a plain resin kit in need of a chassis, and after a couple weeks work, has been finished as a Thomas The Tank Engine character that runs like a charm.

Boco, has been finished in a plasti-kote 'Garden Green', with Humbrol Satin Red, Satin Black, Light Grey and Gloss White. The numbers and crests/emblems are by HMRS transferes. The chassis is a modified LIMA Class 52 'Western', and the face, is made from rubber modelling latex instead of plaster, as the plaster moulds always broke as they were so brittle.

Overall, an enjoyable project, this is infact my second attempt at making a Co-Bo from a Silver Fox kit, as my first went all horribly wrong when i got the wrong paints.

But, this time, it has been a great success, and you can be sure that where there is Boco, Daisy will follow also, but that wll have to wait for another time. ;)

Photos are copyright © 2009 The Thomas Modeller

Boco (D5702) - Work In Progress!

I recently bought a kit of the Co-Bo loco from Silver Fox Models, which i intend to turn into the character known as Boco from the Thomas The Tank Engine television series. The kit comes with with all the parts required (excluding a chassis) to make the kit, but any other details such as screwlink couplings, paints and transferes e.t.c. will need to be purchased seperately.

The Co-Bo is a remarkable locomotive, capable of hauling both passenger and goods trains at different times, they had a maximum speed of 75 mph and a tractive effort of 50000 lbs.

Type "2" Co-Bo Diesel-ElectricLocomotives for L.M.R.
(from The Railway Magazine, January 1959)

Twenty 1,200-h.p. mixed-traffic diesel-electric locomotives, Nos. D5700-D5719, are being supplied by Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co. Ltd. to the London Midland Region of British Railways. All are being allocated to Derby and will be used on passenger and freight trains in the Midland Division.

The mechanical parts are being manufactured by Metropolitan-Vickers/Beyer Peacock Limited, and the electrical equipment by Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co. Ltd. The locomotives are being fitted with Crossley Vee-8 engines; this is the only conventional engine of the two-stroke type being supplied to British Railways for mixed-traffic locomotives, and it will provide a basis for comparing two-stroke and four-stroke cycle types.

There is a full-width body and driving cab at each end. The driving position is on the left-hand side of each cab. Up to three locomotives can he driven in multiple. Also multiple-unit operation of these locomotives with others now being delivered under the modernisation scheme and fitted with electrical equipment by the General Electric Co. Ltd. and Brush Traction Limited has been arranged by co-operation between the three companies.

The main driving controls are the master controller and the brake valves. Instruments comprise a main generator ammeter and engine tachometer, brake gauges and speedometer. Three indicator lights, "engine stopped", " wheelslip" and alarm" follow the standard system introduced in locomotives being supplied to British Railways. Each lamp is normaly dim, and comes up to full brilliance under fault conditions.

The intensity of illumination of these lamps under dim conditions, and also the intensity of the instrument lights, can be adjusted by individual variable resistances to suit the driver's requirements under all conditions between brilliant sunshine and total darkness.
Electric cab heating is by tubular heaters, and there is also a foot warmer at both driver's and assistant's positions. Demisters are provided for the outer front windows, using heated air fed from the traction motor cooling system. The cab roofs, and the cab bulkhead at the engine end, are lined to provide heat and sound insulation.

The underframe, carlines, cantrail, floor and body sheeting form a complete welded structure designed to give maximum strength with minimum material. The underframe is made up largely of folded plate sections welded to form continuous longitudinal and transverse members with diagonal bracing, the transverse members being positioned at the load carrying points. A special feature is the incorporation of the main fuel and boiler water tanks with the underframe top and bottom plating.

In sections not used for tankage the traction motor air ducts are also built in.
Besides the side buffers and centre screw coupling fitted initially, provision is made for the replacement of these items by a central automatic coupler at some future date. Among the special provisions for lifting and jacking of the locomotive in the event of derailment is the facility for using a single rocking jack at the centre of the underframe.



The body is divided by transverse bulkheads into four main compartments, namely, two driving cabs, an engine and radiator compartment, and a generator and boiler compartment; the upper portion of the bulkhead between the latter two compartments is removable.
Louvres are provided at the various air intake positions, and where access is necessary these take the form of doors. Sections of the roof are easily detachable for removal of the power unit, boiler, and auxiliary machines, while a number of smaller panels are provided for access to engine cylinder heads, fuel pumps and boiler fire compartment roof.

Entrance doors are arranged on the assistant's side of each cab and, near to the cab bulkheads, on the opposite side in the engine and generator compartments. End doors conceal the flexible gangway connection used when locomotives are operating in multiple. The engine room floor is arranged so that any spillage of fuel oil or water drains into a tank beneath the underframe, which can be emptied from time to time.

The diesel engine is a two-cycle type with eight cylinders in Vee formation, continuously rated at 1,200 h.p. at 625 r.p.m. The one-hr. rating is 1,320 h.p. at the same speed. Safety devices ensure that the engine is automatically shut down in the event of overspeed, low lubricating oil pressure, low engine cooling water pressure, or high engine cooling water temperature. Twin outlets are provided for the exhaust gases, the positions being chosen such that contamination of overhead contact wiring is avoided.
The main and auxiliary generators, both direct current machines, are of integral construction, with the frame flange-mounted on the end of the engine, and the armatures are mounted on a common hollow shaft, which is solid coupled to the engine crankshaft at one end and carried on a single roller bearing at the other.

Each of the five axles is fitted with a nose-suspended axle-hung traction motor; all five motors are connected permanently in parallel. The drive to the axle is through totally-endosed single-reduction spur tooth gears with a ratio of 15 : 67 ; the gearwheel provides for torsional resilience between hub and rim.

Ten notches are provided in the master controller to control the engine speed and power. Automatic control of generator and motor field strengths ensures that the engine power selected shall be available over a wide range of locomotive speeds. This is achieved by the use of a servo-mechanism which functions in response to a signal from a hydraulic pilot valve associated with the diesel engine governor to control the electrical output of the traction generator. Hence the total power is maintained at a constant value, irrespective of changing track speeds and load conditions.

Most of the control equipment is housed in a cubicle adjacent to the driving cab at the generator end of the locomotive. The main items are the load regulator, electropneumatically-operated contactors and reverser, auxiliary switches, relays and resistors. Deadman equipment is also fitted.

Auxiliary equipment includes the auxiliary generator, on the end of the main generator; an air compressor, driven by engine, to supply compressed air at 100 lb. per sq. in. for locomotive brakes, electropneumatic control gear, sanding, whistles and window wipers; two vacuum exhausters, driven by electric motor, for train brakes; three fans, driven by electric motors, for force ventilating the generator and traction motors; engine ancillary equipment, comprising motor-driven pumps, and radiator panels with motor-driven pumps, and radiator panels with motor-driven fan; a battery for starting the diesel engine, using the main generator as a motor; and the train heating boiler, for steam heating passenger coaches. Provision is made for a.t.c. equipment to be installed later.

'Arry and Bert - Complete!

Recently completed along with Henry, 'Arry and Bert.

These two devious engines work in the Ironwork's and Smelther yard, they are considered by everyone to be the grim messengers of doom and will stop at nothing to try and metl down as many of the engines as possible. They have already tried to melt down poor Oliver and Stepney, and also tried to do away with Old Slow Coach.

The models were made using LIMA Class 08 shunters, the faces were rendered from the exisiting Hornby Diesel, with slight modifications made to the nose.

Images are copyright © 2009 by The Thomas Modeller.

Henry 1 - Complete!

If you are reading this paragraph, then you are correct, Henry, as he looked in the early days of the Thomas series, before he was rebuilt, has recently been completed, and, like all other models within this blog, has been completely scratchbuilt. The model currently is running on a Hornby 4-6-0 chassis that used to belong to a LNER B17, and is tender driven.

I myself personally am proud of the final outcome with the project, although i did alot of work to make the running plate as low as i possibly could, when i matched it up to the other models in the Hornby range, it was no different in scale, but just a little higher, which i don't mind, as the model really was made just for personal use, wether i will use it in the episodes is another story.

The colour is Plasti-kote 'Garden Green', with HMRS red lining. The face, is moulded from a Bachmann Henry, and though many might just have a little pick at the model, i'm happy with it, even if it isn't 100% to others standards in modelling.

Images are copyright © 2009 by The Thomas Modeller.