Mostyn Dock shunter No.1

[Richard Oldfield]

Hi folks,

One of the challenges of now having completed all the freight vehicles for the main traffic flows into and out of Mostyn Docks is that the shunting requirements are both continuous and heavy. The late Dave Goodwin and I built Mostyn Dock Shunter No.2 in 2006 and, with some weighting and electrical modifications, it gave reasonable service whilst dock traffic was light.

With the building of the sulphur traffic (ex-ironstone hoppers) during 2014 - 16 the position changed and Hornby-based 08300 entered service in 2014 to share the workload. Whilst not prototypically correct - we have no record of 08300 getting any closer to Mostyn than Shotton steelworks - this Allerton-allocated Class 08 was hired to British Steel in 1977 and we simply extended the hire to cover Mostyn Docks.

In 2018 Mostyn Dock Shunter No.2 received another upgrade with an up-to-date decoder and as many 'stay alive' capacitors as we could fit into its diminutive frame. It is now giving excellent service with the only drawback being that it gets dirty quite quickly (all the trackwork it uses is right under the noses of the public and needs cleaning more often that other areas of the layout).

In 2022 we completed the vehicles for the steel flows into Mostyn Docks (bogie bolster Cs and Ds) and the shunting workload increased yet again. 08300 has been found wanting and received a new motor and upgraded decoder before our recent outing to Spalding.

My thoughts have finally got round to the long outstanding project to build Mostyn Docks shunter No.1. I want it to look like the sister locomotive to No.2 so I am going to be using the same techniques as 17 years ago.

Both No.1 and No.2 were built by the Yorkshire Engine Company and supplied new to Darwen & Mostyn Iron Co. Ltd in 1957 and 1960 respectively. After the closure of the ironworks they were eventually transferred to Mostyn Dock & Trading Ltd. in 1966.

In comparison with the BR Class 02 the Mostyn dock shunters are longer (having an access platform at the bonnet end as well as at the cab end), more powerful (No.1 = 200hp, No.2 = 220hp whereas BR Class 02 = 170hp) and have a reduced height cab. There are also some nice modellable differences between No.1 and No.2.

Here are a couple of images of No.1 and No.2 taken in 1999 by the late Eric Power (from the collection of the late Dave Goodwin).

No.1.

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No.2

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Note the different shapes of the headstocks, bonnet detail, hinges on the valances etc etc.

I do have images from nearer to Mostyn's 1977 setting but need to get permission to use them first.

Cheers,

Richard

[Richard Oldfield]

Hi,

The basic research for these shunters dates back as far as 1991 when a small group of modellers from the Merseyside Model Railway Society made an expedition to the Llangollen Railway to photograph and measure 'Pilkington' - a similar (but not identical) 0-4-0 diesel shunter built by the Yorkshire Engine Co.

Here is an image of 'Pilkington' taken by David Goodwin on that 1991 visit. Close-up detail shots of 'Pilkington' have informed both the 2006 build of No.2 and the current build of No.1.

20231212_110107.jpg

Observant readers will notice that the cab on 'Pilkington' is somewhat taller than the cab on Nos.1 and 2 (look at the small central windows above the bonnet) - there was much gnashing of teeth when we spotted this difference after having scratchbuilt the cab sides and ends for No.2.

The measurements taken in 1991 were recorded on a series of hand-drawn sketches which have luckily survived to the current day. Here is an example:-

20231212_110159.jpg

This led to a scale drawing by Chris Kay in Summer 1991 and, eventually, to the start of scratchbuilding in 2006 (having looked at but discounted the BR Class 02 kits then offered by Craftsman and DJH - apart from some individual components)

The basic construction plan consisted of a 'floor' running from the front to rear walkways, to which all other components would be added. Individual items would be dimensioned and summarised on hand-written sheets - as an example here is my scrawl on bufferbeam variations and dimensions dated 2006.

20231211_131348.jpg

And, also, calculations for the rear of the cab:-

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Having now set the scene it is time for some metalwork. All these images are from the current build of No.1

The cab is made from nickel silver sheet.

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The cab sub-assembly is then soldered to the nickel silver floor - note the brass angle which will be used to guide the location of the bonnet

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Enough for now.

Cheers,

Richard

{amended to put sentence in correct position and also to correct spelling of 'scene'}

[iak]

Whooooosh
Fascinating thread already Richard, if only for the details of No. 2's gestation...

[Richard Oldfield]

Hi,

The next job on the list is to form the basic bonnet shape - where the challenges will be forming the radii and gentle downward slope from cab to radiator plus resolving how to recreate the nose itself complete with 'Yorkshire' badge and recessed radiator cap (this latter step is left until much later).

Here are a couple of images of 'Pilkington' from 1991 showing the bonnet:-

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Having calculated out the dimensions and bent some copper sheet round a former, the basic bonnet is made of two sections soldered together with a strengthening fillet behind the joint. It is left oversize at the cab end (for final adjustment when offered up to the cab).

The basic bonnet is shown here after adjustment for length and offered up to the cab/base plate:-

20231118_101155.jpg

Moving on, the next step is create the raised walkway along the sides of the bonnet so that the side panels can then be made and fitted. The raised platform/walkway is shown here:-

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The walkway is made from nickel silver sheet folded at 90 degrees and soldered to the bonnet - noting that it must be wider than the cab as per the prototype.

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The bonnet panels with louvres are made using 'stone age' techniques of marking out metal, drilling in the corners, joining the corners with a piercing saw and then carefully filing square. The louvres are carefully 'scrawked' copper sheet.

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As it happens I had more practice at this technique than I wanted as I absent-mindedly measured the double-louvred panel incorrectly and had to make another two!

The correct panels are shown soldered to the bonnet after drilling holes for the panel opening latches:-

20231120_154903.jpg

That is probably enough metalwork for today.

Cheers,

Richard

[Enigma]

Nice work. I think Mike Edge may be able to supply Yorkshire Engine plates for the bonnet end.

[Richard Oldfield]

Hi,

Nice work. I think Mike Edge may be able to supply Yorkshire Engine plates for the bonnet end.

Many many years ago Mike Edge very kindly supplied Yorkshire Engine plates for the bonnet end plus loco running numbers and the plaque that is fitted to the side valances.

Cheers,

Richard

[Richard Oldfield]

Hi,

For this post I am continuing to add detail to the bonnet sub-assembly. As regards modelling tactics my approach will be to use two different melting point solders to complete all the soldering jobs on the body and then switch over to components requiring superglue and/or plastic solvents. This does mean that you will see some minor details added (if they can be soldered) whilst some larger plastic components wait their turn. Hopefully all will be clear.

First of all we have a slightly curved and raised panel for the top of the bonnet as shown here:-

20231214_130545.jpg

This was made from three pieces of brass sheet (I lacked the correct thickness of metal to produce the panel so made it by sweating two other pieces together, curving it slightly and then rounding the sides. This was then soldered it to a slightly smaller base which had already been added to the top of the bonnet).

Secondly we have a curved raised panel immediately forward of the cab on the left hand side of the vehicle. Again scrap brass sheet was formed to the correct radius and then soldered to the bonnet.

20231211_111451cp.jpg

Thirdly there is a plain panel forward of the cab on both walkways - a simple rectangle of brass will suffice.

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These three components are shown modelled below (after marking and drilling various holes for grab handles):-

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The bonnet grab handles have now been added (0.4mm dia. nickel silver wire) and then, moving on towards the nose, I have added a small torpedo-shaped detail:-

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Then followed the radiator grille (recovered from an old BR Class 02 kit) and the BTH roundel below the radiator (thin brass sheet stamped out and then several pieces sweated together)

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Finally the height of the walkway was continued along the cab sides (in order to form a flat surface onto which the valance will be added):-

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Note that the bonnet sub-assembly is still detachable from the cab/base plate. The voids created by the walkways/bonnet side/base plate will later be filled with lead sheet thus keeping as much other space available for motor/gearbox/electronics.

I think some of the character of No.1 is starting to come to life at this stage.

Cheers,

Richard

[essdee]

That is coming alive remarkably rapidly, Richard - thanks for posting.

I think you have the chunky character bang-on already. I am about to embark on three saddle tank scratch builds, and your thread gives me a great impetus to get the basic shapes formed; I have had to derive my own drawings, too - albeit from photos and weight diagrams (yup, very careful tread here, once off the basic quoted dimensions...!).

Following with great interest,

Cheers,

Steve

[ChrisMitchell]

Looking really good

Chris

[Will L]

Well done Richard, its very good to see some real scratch building being done, such a rarity these days (except in buildings I suppose). The result is coming along very nicely too and I'm really looking forward to seeing how you tackle the rounded nose.

[Richard Oldfield]

Hi Steve,

I am about to embark on three saddle tank scratch builds, and your thread gives me a great impetus to get the basic shapes formed; I have had to derive my own drawings, too - albeit from photos and weight diagrams (yup, very careful tread here, once off the basic quoted dimensions...!).

Thanks for your kind comments. Way back in 2006 Mostyn Dock shunter No.2 was my first effort at scratchbuilding (together with Dave Goodwin) and, at first sight, it looked daunting. The penny dropped when we came up with the idea of a base plate forming the end platforms (and a link between them) as a datum to which everything else on the body could be added.

I found this very early sketch of mine which started the ball rolling and led to many many hours working out dimensions!

20231215_095044.jpg

Best of luck with your own scratchbuilding.

Cheers,

Richard

[Richard Oldfield]

Hi Will,

Well done Richard, its very good to see some real scratch building being done, such a rarity these days (except in buildings I suppose). The result is coming along very nicely too and I'm really looking forward to seeing how you tackle the rounded nose.

Thanks for your support. I am so used to batch building multiple items for Mostyn that I have lost sight of the pleasure to be gained in simply making a one-off, starting off with bits of metal sheet and strip etc and making components. I suppose you could call it 'heritage' modelling in today's world.

Cheers,

Richard

[Richard Oldfield]

Hi,

For today's posting we are going to leave the bonnet for now in order to tackle the fitting of the buffer beam and add more detail to the side walkways.

The dimensions of the buffer beam were shown in my handwritten notes repeated here:-

20231211_131348.jpg

No.1 has rounded buffer beams at the bottom corners - unlike all the other photographs I have of similar locomotives:-

20231215_132504.jpg

Here is a close-up image of the buffer beam on 'Pilkington' (note the angled bottom corners). Apart from the horror of seeing so many prominent bolt-heads it looked straightforward enough:-

20231215_095925.jpg

The basic details I need to add on to the buffer beams at this stage are the buffers, pilot hole for the drawhook and the heavy duty girder running across the buffer beam on No1 and No.2. I had some basic turned buffers of the right size from an old kit but they lacked the square mounting plate and footsteps. Only the mounting plates are needed at this stage and they were made from plain brass sheet marked and drilled - I marked them out in the middle of some scrap brass etch to avoid distortion when the holes were drilled. Lacking the correct size of I-girder I made an equivalent by sweating together two lengths of U-section.

After soldering the buffers/mounting plates and girders to the buffer beam here are the buffer beam sub-assemblies:-

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The fuel filler caps were then added to both walkways (discs of brass with a short length of nickel silver wire to represent the locking latch). I also drilled a hole to locate one end of the nearby grab handle.

Prototype

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As fitted to the model walkways:-

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The bufferbeam sub-assemblies were then soldered to the baseplate/cab (shown here with the bonnet sub-assembly also temporarily in place):-

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More soldering action to follow shortly!

Cheers,

Richard

[jim s-w]

No.1 has rounded buffer beams at the bottom corners - unlike all the other photographs I have of similar locomotives:-

Seems to be a pattern with the Yorkshire Engine Co shunters Richard. Of the DE2s that were at Round Oak, the first one was a fair bit different to the others. No2 was a kind of halfway house and the rest were all pretty standard.

Jim

[Richard Oldfield]

Hi,

It is now time to make and fit the side valances which are a very distinctive fitting on these locomotives:-

20231216_131531.jpg

To avoid typing it all out the method is shown on my handwritten notes below - please note that we had ambitious plans, at one stage, to make No.1, No.2 and a reserve No.2 which is why the notes refer to making 6 valances:-

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In the notes above 'A' is a circular recess which houses a fuel gauge, 'B' is a hinged rectangular panel and 'C' is a rectangular recess with rounded top corners which gives access to the sandbox serving the rear wheel.

'A' is simply a round hole in the valance.
'B' is marked out and then very carefully scrawked to form the rectangular outline. Holes are drilled for the panel locking latches.
'C' is filed to size after starting off with a round hole.

The valance is then soldered to the base plate / cab sub-assembly. This stage is critical as you have to get the apertures for the front and rear footsteps equal and also create the slight lip of the valance above the side walkways. The valance is shown below with the bonnet sub-assembly also loosely in position.

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Finally, for today, here is a bird's-eye view showing the slight lip between valance and side walkway.

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Cheers,

Richard

[Richard Oldfield]

Hi,

It is now time to fabricate the footsteps and surrounds that are at each corner of the locomotive - before aceess is restricted by other additions.

Looking at the 'Pilkington' prototype:-

Rear footsteps (by cab)

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The footstep assembly consists of a lower flat step, an intermediate step located on the bottom edge of an aperture in the first (high) riser which itself wraps round at right angles to meet the rear face of the valance. Then there is an upper step which also wraps round to meet the valance as does the upper riser.

You will note the angled rear sandbox cover sat within the valance aperture in the upper image (= a job for the post-soldering phase)

Front footsteps (by bonnet)

20231215_152336.jpg

The dimensions of the front footsteps are similar to those of the rear footsteps except there is a deeper horizontal upper step behind the valance which locates both the front sandbox filler cover and the lower fitment of the right-angled grab handle (and what looks like some old rope in the above image). Note also that the upper riser consists of two sections - a first part immediately behind the bufferbeam with five large boltheads (as per the rear footstep) and then a more prominent plain faced section. The number of boltheads by the footsteps will require some work later on!

In modelling terms I have the choice whether to make the footsteps as sub-assemblies or build them in stages downwards from the base plate. I chose the latter option as, in my opinion, it minimises the risk of the components unsoldering.

The upper riser is first - made from brass sheet folded at 90 degrees:-

front upper riser

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rear upper riser

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A view of the front upper riser showing the lip in the base plate where the more prominent 2nd part of the upper riser will be added (the filaments are where I haven't cleaned off after use of a fibreglass brush)

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Next job is to make the L-shaped top steps from brass sheet:-

Front top steps shown after also fitting the more prominent part of the upper riser (a plain rectangle sweated onto the surface of the upper riser)

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Rear top steps

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I will continue with the fabrication of the footsteps in the next posting - you have been warned!

Cheers,

Richard

[Richard Oldfield]

Hi,

It is now time to complete the footsteps (apart from adding the bolt-head detail).

We are left with the lower riser and bottom step as shown below:-

20231215_152345.jpg

There are three surfaces - the lower riser face with the aperture for the intermediate footstep, the lower riser where it wraps round at right angles to join the rear face of the valance and the bottom step itself. To minimise the risk of unsoldering I plan to do this as two components and, whilst it might be tempting to do the lower riser as one component thus leaving the bottom step as the other, I plan to have one folded component covering the bottom step and wrap-round surface of the lower riser plus one component representing the lower riser face with the footstep aperture.

Here are the four lower riser faces with apertures in preparation:-

20231129_095912.jpg

These faces are left-handed and right-handed so that they create a surface for the last component to solder to.

The images below show the lower riser faces with apertures soldered in position:-

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The next step is to fold up another piece of brass sheet to form the bottom step and wrap-round surface of the lower riser then solder it in place. The final stage is to solder in a short length of metal strip to represent the tread in the foostep aperture:-

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A view from below confirms the boxed in nature of the footsteps at each corner - No.2 is shown alongside for comparison although I note that the sandbox pipes need supergluing back in their correct position.

20231129_165242.jpg

You can see that space is very much at a premium if we are going to fit everything in.

Cheers,

Richard

[Richard Oldfield]

Hi,

It is time to make the last of the soldered sub-assemblies - the main handrails fitted at front and rear.

Looking at 'Pilkington' :-

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You can see the pattern of handrail tubing is the same at both ends but there is only a headlamp at the cab end. For No.1, however, there is a headlamp at both ends so the main handrails are equal at both ends:-

20231211_111451.jpg

Armed with scale dimensions the order of play is:-

Make the headlamp dish out of 3.75mm dia. brass rod. with one end domed (to represent the rear of the headlamp casing) - years ago we found some old round pin plugs whose brass pins were an acceptable 3.9mm dia. Next drill a 0.6mm hole from side to side about 0.7mm along the parallel face of the rod - this will locate the upper handrail going through the headlamp casing. At 90 degrees to the through hole, drill a 0.6mm hole halfway through the rod to locate the central vertical handrail. The headlamp casing is then cut from the rod 1.4mm along the parallel face. Using a succession of increasing diameter drills, form a concave surface within the headlamp casing.

{the above is a bit of a faff but I want the handrail to be as strong as possible to resist accidental knocks}

The next step is critical and that is to make a wooden jig for locating each component of the handrail assembly and guide bending operations. The last image shows how this is done.

The assembly of the handrail is as follows:-

20231219_145915.jpg

20231219_145930.jpg

A completed handrail in the wooden jig:-

20231205_093013.jpg

Cheers,

Richard

[Richard Oldfield]

Hi,

We are now reaching the point at which there are only minor soldering jobs to do - apart from adding the front and rear main handrails. I have decided to complete all these minor jobs before adding the handrails in order to minimise the chance of accidentally knocking them.

There are two minor soldering jobs on the buffer beams:-

- lifting rings at each corner just outside the buffers. Luckily these were available from an old kit as a 3-part etch which was soldered up remotely using standard solder and then added to the buffer beam using a lower melting point solder.

- drawhook and couplings. These were made up from dressed Ambis drawhooks with Smith's coupling links and were soldered at the rear face of the buffer beam. I may return to adjust the coupling links at a later stage but the key is to make sure the frequent manual coupling/uncoupling operations at the front of Mostyn can be executed smoothly.

20231130_122307.jpg

Next step is to deepen and enclose the aperture for the rear wheel sandboxes. Scraps of brass strip and sheet will suffice for this. The pockets are shown immediately below the footsteps:-

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The remaining minor soldering work on the sides is as follows:-

Valance panel detailing - hinges (spares from a coach kit), builder's plaque (courtesy of Mike Edge) and locking latches (nickel silver wire) were added.
Valance fuel gauge pockets - depth and closure was added by sweating on a washer and scrap nickel silver square on the rear face of the valance.
Bonnet panel detailing - locking latches were added (nickel silver wire bent at 90 degrees)
Cab side numbers - supplied by Mike Edge.

20231205_121031.jpg

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Note that the number '1' plaque is deliberately offset from centre in the upper image - as per the prototype.

You can also see that the bonnet sub-assembly is still separate from the rest of the body (look at the gap between the bonnet and the front of the cab in the lower image). This is about to change.

Now for some tricky stuff! The next steps are:-

- to add weight into the two voids created by the side walkway, bonnet side, base plate and valance.
- to permanently join the bonnet and body sub-assemblies.
- to add the grab handles located at the front end of the valances.
- to add the front and rear main handrails.

The void was filled with lead sheet ensuring it was a tight fit thus avoiding the need to add glue prior to the forthcoming nearby soldering operation. The aperture within the base plate was then filed back flush with the bottom edge of the bonnet in three places (centre of each long edge plus centre of the short edge nearest the nose). These three flush joints were then soldered ensuring the rear of the bonnet was tight up against the front of the cab.

The grab handles at the front end of the valance were then made and soldered in place.

Finally, the main handrails were trimmed to length, 2mm lengths of nickel silver strip were soldered at the bottom of each handrail leg (to help represent the fixing brackets) and the handrail assemblies were then soldered to the buffer beams. This was tough to get correctly positioned and involved some use of naughty words. I suppose I could have used superglue but experience tells me that these handrails will get knocked at exhibitions and I want them as firmly located as possible.

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For now, it's bye-bye to the soldering iron .....

Cheers,

Richard

{edited to correct spelling of separate}

[ChrisMitchell]

Easy to forget that these photos are “larger than life”

Regards, Chris

[essdee]

Quite remarkable, Richard, and especially in the short time it's taken you......

Those busy buffer beams really suggest businesslike heft, a characterful creation indeed.

All best,

Steve

[Hardwicke]

I'd hazard a guess it's taken less time to make in metal than to design in 3D printing....

[Richard Oldfield]

Hi,

This posting is for Will L - as it is time to tackle the nose of the bonnet.

Firstly a quick reminder of what we are trying to represent:-

20231213_131356cp.jpg

20231213_131343.jpg

The 'Yorkshire' plaque is slightly proud of the bonnet surface and behind this there is a horizontal surface which contains a locking filler cap (presumably for topping up the radiator). Thin sheet joins the outer extremities of the 'Yorkshire' plaque to form two edges bordering the depressed horizontal area.

I started the rough fitting of the nose before the bonnet sub-assembly was soldered to the rest of the body (thus minimising damage due to repeated handling). The basic nose is made from two plasticard offcuts joined together - the lower one sits flush inside the upper edge of the copper bonnet front and the upper one overlaps this upper edge.

The next stage is to cut and then carefully file/sand away the upper piece of plasticard such that it forms the rounded edges of the nose.

[ I am reminded of a fellow BMRG member who is also a skilled marine modeller and carves rowing boats etc from solid wood. We thought it would be a good idea to get him to give us a talk on his techniques. The talk lasted about 5 minutes and consisted of :-
1. Choose an appropriate-sized piece of straight-grained timber.
2. Carefully carve away any wood that does not form part of the rowing boat and continue until only rowing boat is left.
3. Any questions? ]

The shape of the rectangular depressed section is then cut out of the part-finished nose.

Here are a couple of images at this stage:-

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Final fitting of the nose was completed after the main handrails were added to the now-fully soldered bonnet/body. Firstly a plasticard rectangular depressed floor was added, then the narrow side edges were glued in place. Next comes the Yorkshire plaque - from Mike Edge - carefully set in (and superglued) so that it is as equally prominent as the radiator itself. Finally a two-piece representation of the locking filler cap is added.

20231207_145515.jpg

There may be some minor corrections needed but I will wait until after a first coat of primer is added and all sins are revealed. There will be nothing that superglue and/or Milliput wont resolve.

Note also in the above image that I have added the front wheel sandbox filler covers (made from scrap plasticard and located on the upper step inside the front of the valance)

It is now time to consider the detail to be put inside the cab - starting off with the biggest item which is the cab desk and control equipment.
The dimensions were pieced together from various photographs of 'Pilkington' and summarised in the sketch below:-

20231221_151726.jpg

Realising that the cab desk was a time-consuming assembly I had the foresight to build No.1's desk way back in 2006. All that was required to be done now was:-

- prime the cab interior prior to any fitments.
- check fit and adjust desk to avoid fouling tails of handrails.
- fill the void within the cab desk cupboards with lead sheet.
- superglue in place.

20231207_145234.jpg

I will add the control levers in situ at a later date.

Cheers,

Richard

[Richard Oldfield]

Hi,

Time to move on with the cab detail and complete the brake wheel and stand.

Looking at the prototype:-

20231222_111740.jpg

I made up a length of plastic section consisting of an Evergreen semi-circular section glued to a rectangular section. A short horizontal piece was stacked on top of a vertical piece of this composite section. A 4-spoke handwheel was salvaged from the spares stash, soldered to a spindle and then inserted into a locating hole in the horizontal composite section. Finally this assembly was glued in position.

The control levers on the cab desk were added at this point (short lengths of nickel silver wire with blobs of superglue on the end to represent the knobs.

20231208_122831.jpg

There is other minor detail within the cab (eg fold up seats) but, apart from the driver, this is probably far enough for me.

Whilst the superglue is out we might as well cover some other details:-

- rear wheel angled sandbox covers (within rectangular aperture in valance) = rectangular strip of plasticard with depressions scrawked out
- fuel gauge dial (within circular aperture in valance) = thin sliver of circular section plasticard
- buffer footstep plates (on top of buffer shanks) = small rectangles of brass strip
- drawbar pocket reinforcements (above and below drawhook) = short lengths of plastic strip

20231208_123018.jpg

20231208_123033.jpg

At this point I could not resist the urge to see how the 2006-built No.2 matched up with the 2023-build No.1 and so introduced the sisters to one another ........

20231208_123438cp.jpg

It is obvious from the above that next on the list must be the exhaust/chimney (on top of the bonnet immediately forward of the cab) and the cab roof itself.

20231211_111451cp.jpg

20231211_111647cp.jpg

Note that the chimney is raked back at an angle and goes through the cab roof surface and that, in comparison with No.2, the rainstrips are located higher up on the curvature of the cab roof. I was lucky with No.2 in that the rainstrip disguised the joint between cab side and roof but this will not be the case with No.1.

The exhaust/chimney is made from the composite section originally made up for the brake wheel stand. This is carefully filed/sanded to the correct length and shape before being superglued in position.

The cab roof is made from brass sheet with a gentle radius across the central part of the roof followed by tighter radii as the roof joins the cab sides. I started off with an over-large rectangle of brass and made the tight radius at one end first (bending the brass round a length of steel rod) then trimmed it back to fit to the cab side and roof. The gentle central curvature was then formed (by hand) followed by a repeat tight radius at the other side. The second tight radius is done by trial and error and I always err on the 'too long' side thus giving me the opportunity to bend again, trim and repeat until the final fit is achieved. With the roof fitting well the corner radii and swept shape of the roof above the chimney are formed. Then the rainstrips are soldered on and the chimney aperture is drilled out.

I was too focussed on getting the job done to take images of intermediate steps but here is a view of the completed roof in primer:-

20231222_112133.jpg

Finally, for today, here is an image of No.1 with the roof loosely in position.

20231209_150812.jpg

Cheers,

Richard

[jjnewitt]

That's looking great Richard. Nice to see someone scratchbuilding something.

Justin