Source of a dished smokebox door?

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Paul Willis
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Source of a dished smokebox door?

Postby Paul Willis » Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:17 am

I'm hoping to draw on the collective wisdom of the Society, as I'm in the hunt for something and I'm struggling for answers.

I have two of the new Alan Gibson T26 GER 2-4-0 kits to build, and I want to construct them as at 1908-10 period. There's no problem in getting enough reference photos to do this.

However the kit comes with the later, post-1915, style of smokebox door. To model an earlier locomotive accurately this needs to be replaced with the earlier dished version.

I've spoken with Colin at AG about this, and he's going to have a rummage around for me. However I wondered if anyone else knew of a source of locomotive spare that may include such an item. I recollect that dished smokebox doors were fairly common on pre-grouping railways.

I've googled the usual suspects like Mainly Trains without success. Scaling the diagram that I have, the door seems to be 4' in diameter on the prototype, but anything that I can use as a starter would help.

TIA
Flymo
Beware of Trains - occasional modelling in progress!
www.5522models.co.uk

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JackBlack
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Re: Source of a dished smokebox door?

Postby JackBlack » Wed Mar 10, 2010 12:37 pm

Do you have a picture? I have a Finney Dean Goods kit that has two smokebox doors, one is an earlier version which I won't be using, it looks "dished". It's about 16mm diameter.

Cheers, Nick


Nick Allport
CLAG


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Paul Willis
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Re: Source of a dished smokebox door?

Postby Paul Willis » Wed Mar 10, 2010 1:07 pm

Hi Nick,

Thanks very much for the reply. I'm on my work PC, so can't access any of my own reference photos unfortunately.

However there is an example of one on a different locomotive on the GER Society website. If you go to http://www.gersociety.org.uk/loco/johnson.htm#1c and move your mouse over the "Hover For Photo" box, it will pull up a picture of a No 1 Class locomotive in a frontal view. This is the style that I am trying to find.

More generally, if such things are in Finney kits, I'll have a browse over there to see if it's possible to get spares, as I have quite a batch of GER kits to build, all thanks to Colin and his re-starting of Alan Gibson production :-)

Cheers
Flymo
Beware of Trains - occasional modelling in progress!
www.5522models.co.uk

Mark Tatlow
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Re: Source of a dished smokebox door?

Postby Mark Tatlow » Wed Mar 10, 2010 1:14 pm

Yes lots of the early loco's had dished smokebox doors, so if you find one that is the right shape/size, then use it.

If you want to scractchbuild, they are not that difficult:

- cut a disk of the right thickness (to acheive the dish) metal sheet, to the right diameter plus a little to spare.
- mount this on a bar - ideally round with its bottom squared off to be held in a vice, or square.
- hold in the vice and dish the metal, it is probably sensible to make a pattern with the right curve to make sure this is consistant.
- regularly inspect the work relative to the pattern and also make sure that it remains round.
- most of these also had a rim around the outside of the dish, so get a thin sheet (again to suit, my last one was about 10 thou) and make it to a sensibly larger.
- sweat the thin sheet onto the dish with a high temperature solder (so you don't dislodge it when it gets mounted on the loco for good).
- file the thin sheet to the right diameter.

Your away, mount with a normal temperature solder to keep it together!

My last one took about an hour, plus about the same to make up the hinges, install the dart and fitting. It is nothing more than fiddly and, because the rim can be made from the right thickness of material, I reckon it looks better than a cast white metal version. Oh, because you are dealign with thin sheets, fine and good quality files are the order of the day.

I dare say there are other ways of skinning this particular cat, but I did find trying to beat a consistant dish from a thinner sheet impractical (for me that is, there are plenty of cleverer people than me I am sure!).
Mark Tatlow

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JackBlack
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Re: Source of a dished smokebox door?

Postby JackBlack » Wed Mar 10, 2010 1:47 pm

Flymo748 wrote:However there is an example of one on a different locomotive on the GER Society website. If you go to http://www.gersociety.org.uk/loco/johnson.htm#1c and move your mouse over the "Hover For Photo" box, it will pull up a picture of a No 1 Class locomotive in a frontal view. This is the style that I am trying to find.


Yes that looks like it! Martin does do spares I think, as I've ordered cab interior parts from him before now, so you may be in luck!

Cheers, Nick


Nick Allport
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smyles

Re: Source of a dished smokebox door?

Postby smyles » Sun Mar 14, 2010 5:52 pm

The smokebox doors you want used to be produced by Peter K for his No 1 Class "Sharpie". He sold them separately and that is where mine came from. Very nice turned brass but you have to add hinges. There is a centre hole for the handles. Isn't he now working with another supplier of bits and pieces?
Mike

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Paul Willis
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Re: Source of a dished smokebox door?

Postby Paul Willis » Mon Mar 15, 2010 6:53 am

smyles wrote:The smokebox doors you want used to be produced by Peter K for his No 1 Class "Sharpie". He sold them separately and that is where mine came from. Very nice turned brass but you have to add hinges. There is a centre hole for the handles. Isn't he now working with another supplier of bits and pieces?
Mike


Hmmm....

Thanks for the suggestion. However that's a very moot point, as I sent a cheque off to PeterK several months ago for a Little Sharpie, and I haven't heard anything since. I've made myself a note to see if it's been cashed...

Cheers
Flymo
Beware of Trains - occasional modelling in progress!
www.5522models.co.uk

smyles

Re: Source of a dished smokebox door?

Postby smyles » Wed Mar 17, 2010 7:19 pm

If you are desperate for a Little Sharpie kit I do have a spare that I might be persuaded to part with. Built one but will I ever get round to the other??
Mike

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Paul Willis
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Re: Source of a dished smokebox door?

Postby Paul Willis » Fri Mar 19, 2010 6:37 am

smyles wrote:If you are desperate for a Little Sharpie kit I do have a spare that I might be persuaded to part with. Built one but will I ever get round to the other??
Mike


Thanks very much for the offer. However I'll see what comes out of PeterK first. The story...

- Tuesday, checked emails and found that I'd mentioned to someone that I'd just ordered a kit
- Wednesday, called Kemilway and they said that they had no recollection or record of the order.
- Wednesday evening, checked cheque stubs and bank statements. Cheque written 26 October 2009, cashed 29 October 2009
- Thursday, called Kemilway again with the facts. "Oh... We're actually waiting for some castings. It will be with you soon."

Hmmmm....

Flymo
Beware of Trains - occasional modelling in progress!
www.5522models.co.uk

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Horsetan
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Re: Source of a dished smokebox door?

Postby Horsetan » Tue Jun 29, 2010 4:34 pm

Flymo748 wrote:....I'll see what comes out of PeterK first. The story...

- Tuesday, checked emails and found that I'd mentioned to someone that I'd just ordered a kit
- Wednesday, called Kemilway and they said that they had no recollection or record of the order.
- Wednesday evening, checked cheque stubs and bank statements. Cheque written 26 October 2009, cashed 29 October 2009
- Thursday, called Kemilway again with the facts. "Oh... We're actually waiting for some castings. It will be with you soon."

Hmmmm.......


Good old-fashioned service :mrgreen:
That would be an ecumenical matter.

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Paul Willis
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Re: Source of a dished smokebox door?

Postby Paul Willis » Wed Jun 30, 2010 10:02 pm

Horsetan wrote:
Flymo748 wrote:....I'll see what comes out of PeterK first. The story...

- Tuesday, checked emails and found that I'd mentioned to someone that I'd just ordered a kit
- Wednesday, called Kemilway and they said that they had no recollection or record of the order.
- Wednesday evening, checked cheque stubs and bank statements. Cheque written 26 October 2009, cashed 29 October 2009
- Thursday, called Kemilway again with the facts. "Oh... We're actually waiting for some castings. It will be with you soon."

Hmmmm.......


Good old-fashioned service :mrgreen:


Yes... Just noticed that nearly four months have passed, and no box in the post :-(

I'll give it a while and chase again...

Flymo
Beware of Trains - occasional modelling in progress!
www.5522models.co.uk


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