The Lyngford Light Railway Loco No 4 Page


A 'cut & paste' mock-up of what I hope to acheive. Ride on Railways Hercules chassis. The doner photo for the superstructure is of an Avonside Heisler and can be found here and another view here. This is the 2 cylinder loco, there was also a 4 cylinder version. I may combine ideas from both designs, and, probably others!
Progress so far:- Older posts at the bottom
26/01/2012 Progress has been a bit slow, especially updating this log! The cylinders have been finished, as far as I am prepared to go, and been painted black. After many months searching for a suitable object to make the dome, one turned up when I wasn't looking! I had been looking for a plastic dome or similar that I could adapt for the loco's steam dome. A few weeks back I was rummaging around in the loft for something totally un-connected with railways, and in a box that hasn't seen the light of day for many years was a plastic mantle clock with a clear plastic domed cover just the right size for No. 4 The dome fitted to a plastic base and roughed up ready for painting. Milliput epoxy putty was used to make the flare at the base of the dome. I took the oppertunity to put a flare at the base of the chimney at the same time. Finished dome. I have purchased some perspex discs for the spectacles. Other things still to do are:- cab handrails, headlight, paint the cab inside, cab steps, tank filler lids, name and number plates, lining? and coal in the bunker. Until next time.
05/04/2011 I have been working on the cylinder assemblies on and off for some time. The main component in their construction are some empty herb and spice containers. I had to turn down the outside rim of the smaller container's lids and trim the height of the larger containers to match the smaller. The larger main cylinders had the nut and bolt detail added to the bottom of the container as this had a nice raised rim just right to take the nut and bolts. The smaller piston valve chests had the nut and bolt detail added to the lics as the bottom rims on these were too narrow to take the nuts and bolts. The cylinder and valve chests were bolted together in pairs ready to mount under the boiler. Plastic herb and spice containers for the cylinder assemblies.
The Avonside Heisler was offered in two sizes, a two cylinder and a four cylinder versions. I had originally intended my 'copy' to have four cylinders, but this looked too cluttered, and smaller cylinders didn't look right, so I decided to make it a two cylinder loco. On the real Heisler locos the cylinders are arranged in a V beneath the boiler and drive a centrally alined crank shaft. A cardon shaft connects the crank shaft to the outer axles on the bogies. A good website for geared locomotives is The Geared Steam Locomotive Works
One set of cylinders temporarily put in place. I will have to find an alternative route for those wires! Till next time.....Happy modelling.
02/04/2011 I have made the smokebox dart and tidied up the paintwork over the last couple of days. Still lots to do!
23/03/2011 (Is it really 11 months since my last posting?) Progress over the last 11 months has been slow! (too much playing and not enough making!) I have made a couple of door handles for the cab doors. (Also made a pair for No 3) I spent an enjoyable few hours fabricating a dummy whistle out of brass tube, rod, etc. Another project (Sub-project?) was the fabrication of a smokebox door. This was made from a plastic lid from a ready made Christmas pudding! The hinge parts were made from aluminium strip I still have to make the smokebox dart. The latest task was the drilling of lots of holes around the smokebox front for the bolt heads. I feel another paint job coming on! Finally a picture to compare with the one below.

19/04/2010
Not obvious in the photo, I changed the roundhead machine screws on the roof for countersunk wood screws. Also other roundhead machine screws have been changed for hexhead screws, looks much better. I think I need more rivet detail on the front tank, and some boiler bands. The paint job is not final! The cab sides needed sealing! Must learn to curb my impatience!

02/03/2010

Still need to find suitable candidates for the smokebox door and dome.


Smokebox top and chimney made.


11/01/2010

I will be making the smoke box part of the boiler from aluminium sheet. The chimney will probably be from a length of waste water pipe. Not quite sure what to make the steam dome out of yet.


The cab has now been bolted together and the coal bunker assembled. The roof was from a piece of ply and screwed down. Boiler barrel from a plastic paint can.


The side view. I have now cut out the cab side sheets. The cab will be bolted together using aluminium angle at the corners. (visible through the cab door)


The front tank conceals the front battery. The cab will conceal the rear battery and 4QD controller.


Latest progress with No4. I have made the front tank/smokebox and cut out the front and rear specticle plates. These were made from a peice of 6mm exterior grade plywood. This had been in use previously as a bath panel, hence the brown stain.


All this took place during the summer of 2009, and that is as far as I have got! The chassis has had a lot of testing, and performs very well. For this loco I chose cheap car batteries, partly because these were the largest that would fit in the pre-assembled battery tray On reflection, and as I am building my own body, I could have had bigger bateries, which would give longer running (not that there is any indication of batteries not lasting a days running, as yet) but would also give more traction. I do find that this loco slips more than the trojan, but then the trojan has bigger bateries, so more weight per wheel.

So... I now have a working chassis! The chassis is designed to have the 4QD electronic controls fixed flat on the floor, but as I wanted to have some daylight under the future 'boiler', I bolted an aluminium plate to the front of the rear battery tray plate in an upright position and fixed the 4QD control box to this. The battery isolator switch mounting plate was also altered and fixed to this plate, as seen in the above photo. The socket for the hand controller was fitted to the footplate adjacent to the rear battery.

The chassis arrived in semi kit form. The bogie frames and the main chassis/footplate frame were supplied assembled (as above). The rest needed assembly in the Lyngford workshops. I forgot to photograph the other parts or the assembly of the wheelsets, etc.. However, the assembly process involved is very similar to the RoR Trojan, No 3.