Hunslets get Summerland Chuffers. Second batch starts.

Hi, it has been some time since the last workshop post.  A lot of time has been spent in a damp garden trying to recover territory from the weeds and un-earth the remains of the garden railway for rebuilding by next year. The workshop, however, has not been empty.  First I had to get a new lathe up and running.  This was an e-bay find, a large modern toolroom lathe made by EMCO. I had to put three phase into part of the workshop to power it which meant bringing a much larger capacity supply across from the house.  That done, the unbuilt kit mountain was attacked.  Four boxes were opened and built.  After a huge tidy-up, that left the workshop ready to reinstate as Wrightscale's premises. 

The last engine in the first batch

The next batch of Hunslet quarry locos has been started. I am making the parts for 22 but in the short term only building up 10. They occupy all the bench space available.  I have  nearly finished fabricating the 22 cylinder blocks and the next post will show these along with some notes as to how they were made.
The purpose of this post is to report on  a feature that all the Hunslets will have  from now on.  I suppose many of you , like me will have enjoyed watching and LISTENING to you-tube videos of  garden railway locomotives chuffing along with the benefit of a "Summerland Chuffer"

Pinch bolt to retain the chuffer central in flue

The chuffer central in the flue with its slot facing forward

         
I never thought this would be possible to arrange in small locomotives such as I make. However I thought it worth a try. I contacted Chris Bird, the design guru of Summerland Chuffers, and he was up for the challenge. In less than a week he had given me one to try in the Hunslet and after a bit of adjustment he came up with a very promising Chuffer.  I  was impressed by his desire to get it as good as it could be.  His knowledge of locomotive acoustics is amazing. I am so glad that I didn't do what  I usually do and make something myself.  This really is an area for the specalist. Already I am so happy with the Summerland product that I am going to fit it as standard to all the future Hunslets.  I am sure it will appear in the Summerland Chuffer catalogue so that it could be retro-fitted to Hunslets out there. Beside a good chuff when the locomotive is working hard there is another advantage, one that I have not seen mentioned about these Chuffers.  The locomotive stays much cleaner since the oil condensate goes down over the sleepers, not out of the chimney and onto the loco.

Now the prototype has the Summerland Chuffer fitted. Aften four runs not caked in steam oil.

This Saturday (31st) Sarah and I will be at ExpoNG. I will have a few kits to sell and Sarah will have her book "Colonel Péchot : Tracks to the Trenches" for sale at a special show discount price of £29=99.    So here is a good chance to buy a copy of an excellent book and save a few pounds!