The brakeshaft and the brackets rivetted under the frames, which serve as its mountings, are clearly seen in this view of the tender underside; this assembly along with the brake cylinder is the key to making a good job of the various brake linkages under the tender. There’s a good deal that I don’t understand about the linkages between cylinder and brakeshaft and the brake rods themselves; I’m trying to clarify this at the moment.
While poring over photos of the Wee Ben and the Tatlow drawing, I realised that the horizontal brake shaft under the front of the tender was supported by brackets rivetted to the bottom front edge of the tender frames. This meant that I had to extend the model’s frames forward to the level of the outside steps and include this supporting bracket somehow. So I cut a shape from metal the same guage as the frames which included the downward protruding bracket and soldered it onto the front of the frames; a tricky business, as the front steps were in the way. If I’d realised about this bracket at the begining of construction I could have made a better job of it; you can see the join quite clearly but it’ll tidy up and is masked by the steps to some extent. The rivets on the outside of the bracket are part of an overlay which gives added thickness to this bracket, which seems to be rivetted onto the outside of the frames. The brake shaft was then made from tube with rod soldered into the ends so I could spring the brakeshaft into place between the brackets; this arrangement is because it has to remove from its locating holes when the chassis and superstructure are taken apart. The brakeshaft is supported by two long central brackets to which it will be soldered, these are slotted at the base to allow the drawbar retention spring to move. This assembly was built on a separate base then dropped in position to be attached to the chassis later. The brake cylinder and its supports, for ease of construction, were similarly built on their own separate base. I think these details will help when I come to fit the various brake linkages and will give a satisfying completeness to the tender underside. Progress is slow at the moment as I’ve either used up or discarded all the bits on the etches I have, so it’s a scratchbuilding job from now on.
The floor and cab splashers from the kit were useless so I scratch built new ones, taking the dimensions from Peter Tatlow’s drawing; when these were soldered in place it made a strong construction. The top of the insulated drawbar pivot, an 8BA screw head, protrudes above the chassis and fits neatly under the cab floor, from where a wire leads to a motor terminal. I screwed the chimney on with a long 8BA screw that goes through a plate soldered inside the chimney and locates in a threaded hole in the footplate; later I’ll solder the chimney onto the smokebox. The brass spigot inside the dome was ground away and the hollow filled with Milliput, which was shaped to the boiler by putting a sheet of abrasive paper over this, then pushing the dome back and forth along it until it was a good match. I drilled and tapped an 8BA hole in the Milliput and screwed the dome onto the boiler from inside: I can’t solder it on with all that Milliput inside, so eventually it will be simply glued in place.
The footplate, boiler, smokebox, splashers and cab are in place, so the basic structure of the engine is complete. The dimensions are correct, the horizontals and verticals are just that and the chimney and dome are in place. There’s a lot of detail to add of course and it needs to be added accurately; a good underlying structure will help with this next stage of construction.
I’ve spent some time working on details that you won’t see much of underneath the engine; here you can see the drawbar arrangement. A spring at the tender end helps keep the drawbar firmly in contact with its pivot; important as the drawbar carries current to the motor. The tender should transfer some of its weight to the rear of the engine by means of the sprung drawbar, which is insulated from the loco chassis by a plastic bush. I had to lengthen the drawbar and move the pivot forwards so it didn’t foul the brake cylinder which is mounted under the cab, this is cut away to allow the drawbar sideplay.
