Hi, rather than telling you a bit more about the workshop I thought I would show you what is going on.  Today, after two months work I have completed a batch of 16mm to the foot Baldwin 50HP gas Mechanical locos.

The photo shows four of the five locos sitting on the only free space in the workshop-the guillotine!
The engines are built from my own parts.  The frames are laser cut steel, the bonnet and jackshaft gear box are whitemetal.  All the plate work is etched brass and the details are lost wax castings. They are battery powered with two speeds like the prototype.

A close up shot of one of the batch of engines.
The prototype was developed in the First World War by the Baldwin Company in the US for the French.  These locomotives were used by all the Allies.  Unlike the War Department steam engines they didn't make their presence known close to the front line with a column of smoke and steam.  Consequently they were sought after.  They were the first rugged and reliable internal combustion locomotives of the period.  Many survive to this day on preserved narrow gauge railways in France.  One, much altered is on the Festiniog Railway in the UK.

How a picturesque railway scene can transport you to the Great War and WD Light Railways

The last time that our blog left the workshop, I mused about how how a narrow gauge railway, the Talyllyn, inspired many happy years of garden railways. We looked at small locomotives and quaint trains winding among Welsh mountains. The keen gardener can set up his or her own miniature happy valley on a rockery!

Here is another picturesque and hidden scene. When a friend showed us his photo, we gasped and had to find out more. It shows a rake of abandoned wagons in a woodland siding. Though they were small, they were also extremely long. Looking at their age, they were tough. What were they and where did they come from?

WD wagon underframe.  Photo J. Hawkesworth

The short answer is that these were wagons abandoned when the Ashover Light Railway closed many years ago. Our friend was proud to capture the scene for posterity. You already know the story of the Ashover. Basically, its main traffic was mineral but it served some small rural English communities between the Wars. Its locomotives and rolling stock included War Surplus purchases - veterans of  the punishing conditions of the Western Front - which ended their working lives in deepest Derbyshire.

The track is very narrow gauge, only 60 cm, as you can se from the small length in the foreground. The centre wagon in the photo (others only just seen) is surprisingly long, but adapted to narrow twisting track because it is bogie mounted. Though its life has been eventful, the characteristic wide Vee-shape of the truss  rod (angle iron)  of the classic WD  Class D wagon can still be seen. It has survived all the repairs and modifications of a long life. It is still a willing little beast, able to carry heavy loads.

'Oh aye' said our friend, 'there's not much left now, but there were plenty in the past' There were indeed! Nearly three thousand bogie wagons for use on the Western Front were ordered in 1916 alone. A lifetime later, this ghost hovered in an English wood.

More from the workshop

Carrying on from my last post, I thought it might interest readers to have a look at some of the other equipment that is used to create our models.
In the middle of the workshop is a George Alexander engraving machine. This was purchased nearly 25 years ago from a guy in Kent who had used it to die-sink the tools used to mould PECO's flexible track.  I use it in two ways: to cut out difficult shapes used in pattern making and as a copy milling machine in the production of small batches of models. A pattern is made of the required shape in Formica or plastic sheet. This is usually made twice as large as the finished object. The pantograph reduces this as you trace round the edge of your pattern.  A cutter head rotating at 12500 rpm holding a solid carbide cutter cuts the shape out. Because it is smaller by the ratio set, it is more accurate. These old machines are easily capable of achieving one or two thou accuracy.

The Alexander machine

The next machine is a Tom Senior Milling Machine, again, a lucky purchase since it was fully equipped for both horizontal and vertical milling plus it had the high speed vertical head shown in the picture. It had everything - rotary tables, boring heads, cutters, arbours ... The person who owned it had died in his workshop just after installing his new purchase. Once I had set it up, I nearly repeated the story. When I plugged it in, it immediately blew a fuse. Whoever had first installed it, had mis-wired the starter. Luckily, I wasn't touching it! I then rewired the whole thing with proper armoured cables and flexible conduiting. There is a cautionary lesson here. Anything that you buy, check. If you don't know how to, pay an electrician to check on your behalf. Senior Mills like this one were built with no expense spared. I have heard that the company lost money on every one that they made; consequently, they went to the wall.

Tom Senior Mill with vertical head

The last machine is a Britan repetition lathe. These were made by the hundred in the last war. They were used to produce items such rivets for the aircraft industry. They are copies (with many improvements) of a Boley (German) repetition lathe that had been in production since early last century. One interesting anecdote is the German lathe incorporated a waist belt with a hook on it that engaged with the lever that moves the cutting tool back and forth. It seems our German friends were quite happy to swing their hips to move their tools!

The Britan. The tool guard is on the high chair, the various operating handles can be seen and in the tray, above the number plate can be seen the thin operating lever of the hydraulic feed control

Britan added to the lathe a hydraulic system to move the cutting tools and the tailstocks if required and a pneumatic system to operate the bar feed. The Britan's method of using the cutting tools makes them simple to grind and extremely rigid in operation. It is a direct precursor of the modern CNC machining centre. We use it to manufacture all the steam fittings for our locomotives from gland nuts to regulators.

Britan again. The cutting tools are held in the rotating cassette. The stop tool against which the bar stock will come to rest is resting on the tool slide. It is this tool support that gives the machine its extreme accuracy and ensures the rigidity of the tool. On the right you can see the double tailstock which is simply swung over by releasing the catch. The upper tailstock is holding a Coventry diehead that threads - and the lower tailstock is holding a rotating cassette for drills etc.

If anyone is interested in more details, get in touch.

 

How a visit to a great little train led to a 16mm railway then to an interest in British War Department finally to Col Pechot

Hi. We should explain why a family trip to the Talyllyn railway led first to an interest in 16mm railways, then to a fully scenicked garden railway, then to historic links with World War One and the THOUSANDs of miles of 60cm and 2' gauge railways used near the Western Front.
We were much taken by the little narrow gauge railway.

 It is not only the characterful locomotive in the foreground but also the setting. There are mountains, a variety of fascinating rock formations, greenery and waterfalls through which snaked the narrow gauge railway. Here and here, a small station building drew the eye back into the Welsh hinterland. The memory stayed with us.
Within a few years, the 16mm Association established itself. Small scale narrow gauge has a particular appeal. At 1:19 scale, locomotives and rolling stock are a good size yet the 32mm track can adapt itself to the contours and flowerbeds of an ordinary suburban garden. The feeling of forest and mountain can be recreated in a rockery! A few paths acting as roads and small buildings are enough to scenick the layout. The passions of gardeners and railway enthusiasts can be satisfied in the same smallish plot. I was happily involved in gardening as shrubs, rockeries and garden railways thrive together under judicious direction.
There is one place where Malcolm has never compromised. He always wanted to relate his models to a prototype, reflecting his passion for railway history. In the first place, this showed itself in the model locomotives. Let's face it, the Prime Mover always catches the eye.  He took a pride in reproducing engines which actually ran. Just to take one example, he knows the Corris Number 4 back to front, from her inception at the Kerr Stuart Works, through her service at the Corris Railway to time at the Talyllyn. He found out about the other locomotives in the Kerr Stuart Tattoo Class.
Not content with the railway literature, he started fact-finding trips.  Gradually new items entered his photos. He was looking at rolling stock as well as engines. Lurking in old photos, sidelined in old quarries, glimpsed in defunct yards were enigmatic, battered old wagons. He explored further. Some of these dated back to the First World War. Why did they exist? Very few people seemed to know. I was drawn in at this point. Soon after, a friend said  'You'll need to look at the French stuff too' That was our introduction to the lost world of military narrow gauge.

This is another quick post just to check we know what we are doing.  I thought it might interest those following the workshop part of the blog to see a few pictures .

My workshop was built by Sarah's late Grandpa in the 1930s. His passions were weaving tartan on a handloom and making beautiful models of old sailing ships. He was an inveterate recycler - every window is different and the door clearly started its life somewhere else! I carried on the tradition. The workbench you can just see was rescued from a skip outside a lab! When we took it over sixty years later, it had to be dry-lined and insulated. It was a rather rushed job since Wrightscale couldn't be out of production for long. I have regretted not remaking the floor which is concrete and gets very cold in winter.

The photograph shows a few of the machine tools. In the left background, is a Myford Super 7 made in 1956 and rebuilt by Myfords just before they went bust. In the foreground is an engraving machine which can be used to cut out platework and help in the manufacture of casting masters. The red lathe is a Seig C4, bought as a stop gap while the Myford was being rebuilt and has turned into a reliable and very accurate asset in the workshop. The Myford is usually set up with a lever operated collet chuck and a tailstock turret. Set up this way, it is very suitable for making small batches of components. The Seig tends to be used for machining batches of wheels, axle boxes and boring cylinder castings where its rigidity and accuracy are needed.

Next time, I'll post a couple of photos showing the other end of the workshop where a Britan lathe and a large Tom Senior Milling machine reside.