BR Standard Class 2, 2-6-2 tank

Dave Holt
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BR Standard Class 2, 2-6-2 tank

Postby Dave Holt » Fri Jan 04, 2019 9:20 pm

As part of my layout project, based on the terminus station at Delph, I had a need for locos to pull and push the two coach motor trains which operated the passenger service. In my approximate period [somewhere in the 1950's], these trains were almost exclusively powered by 2-6-2 tank engines. In order of usage, they were of the ex-LMS, Fowler Class 3 [Breadvan], BR Standard Class 2 and, finally, the ex-LMS Ivatt Class 2 [Mickey Mouse] types.

The first type to be started was the BR version, using a DJH kit. The DJH body is their typical mix of etched brass and cast white metal parts and can be built as either the BR or Ivatt design by use of the appropriate alternative parts. Unusually, I started with the body and got on fairly well with the basic construction to reach the state illustrated, plus the boiler unit [used in the later effort], which creates the strength of the body assembly at the front.

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This is more or less exactly as DJH intended although I did create a recess in the LH side tank top to accommodate the BR brake ejector steam valve, which is not provided for in the kit.

At about this time, I bought a Bachmann Ivatt tank together with a Comet chassis kit for a future build. Naturally, I compared the Bachmann loco with the part built DJH and realised that the DJH body was 2 mm shorter overall and it was apparent that the kit was wrong and that the error appeared to be wholly in the length of the cab. By this time, I had also decided to use a Comet chassis for the Standard and this also was 2 mm longer than the DJH body. As I recall, this was all enough to put me off and the loco was put aside and other projects started, including the Ivatt tank, seen here with the later BR Standard effort.

IMG_1674.JPG


Eventually, I resolved to have another go at the Standard and purchased a new DJH kit. The fold-up etch for the tanks/cab/bunker was cut at the cab opening and a 2 mm wide filler strip fitted such that the overall length was made correct. Strictly, this still isn't right as the error was distributed throughout the cab length, not just at the opening, but it was a result I could live with. Of course, this lengthening meant that parts such as the cab roof, doors and floor no longer fitted, but these could be addressed later, I felt.

The DJH kit is designed with a short chassis, just comprising the coupled wheels and cylinders, with the remainder of the frames at front and back being part of the body assembly. I decided to retain this arrangement in my model and so the Comet frames were cut down to suit. This did result in some issues due to the pony trucks being pivoted on the short chassis but bear against pintles mounted under the body.

The stretched cab was fitted with scratch made doors and floor and a custom etched roof from Rumney Models, who also etched various detailing parts, including sand pipe brackets, tank restraining bars, lubricator drives, lamp irons and fire iron rests. The push-pull gear was a fascinating exercise in blending bits from various sources and lots of bent bits of wire, hopefully looking far more like the real thing than the misshapen offerings in the kit. The following photos show parts under construction or stripped down prior to final assembly and painting.

First, the chassis and keeper arrangements.

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Next, we have the valve gear assembly [also showing the two pony trucks]

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The front and rear trucks look quite different, due to using different types of side control. This also applies to the Ivatt locos, but on them, the swing link truck [seen on the right] was always at the front, whereas, on the BR locos it was always at the back. The trucks were both made from the Brassmasters Ivatt item, the spring control version just being the kit and the swing link item a modified version.

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Moving on to the body components, we have the tank/cab/bunker unit which was stretched, as mentioned above.

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The boiler unit was kept separate till final assembly but was then permanently fixed to the tank unit.

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The various details were built up, including a fairly detailed representation of the vacuum operated push-pull apparatus.

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Once the custom etched roof was obtained and curved to shape, it was clipped into place and the loco looked quite complete. The roof is still loose but will be fixed after fitting the loco crew.

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The loco was then passed to David Clarke for painting, lining and weathering. The degree of weathering, and in particular, the near obliteration of the lining near the front of the side tanks, is based on the typical state of these locos during their stay at Lees Shed, in Oldham, in the mid 1950's.

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Since these last shots were taken [by David Clarke], I have fitted cab window glazing and put coal in the bunker. Crew to paint and fit, cab roof to attach and DCC chip to wire up and it's ready to haul the ex-LNWR coaches which formed the passenger stock on the branch.

Dave.
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Le Corbusier
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Re: BR Standard Class 2, 2-6-2 tank

Postby Le Corbusier » Fri Jan 04, 2019 10:39 pm

Wow :shock: .... just Wow.

I think that's wonderful modelling. Can't comment on any of the specifics .... but I think it looks marvellous. :thumb

Any chance of a video of it running?
Tim Lee

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Tim V
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Re: BR Standard Class 2, 2-6-2 tank

Postby Tim V » Fri Jan 04, 2019 11:45 pm

Dave

Basis of an article for the Snooze there ...
Tim V
(Not all railways in Somerset went to Dorset)

Pannier Tank
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Re: BR Standard Class 2, 2-6-2 tank

Postby Pannier Tank » Sat Jan 05, 2019 6:10 pm

Very nice, reminds me of my Spottings days at Bletchley in the early 60s. We had 84002 & 84004 which used to work the Wolverton to Newport Pagnell (Newport Nobby), Bletchley to Banbury and Bletchley to Bedford Push/Pull Services.
Regards

David

dal-t
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Re: BR Standard Class 2, 2-6-2 tank

Postby dal-t » Sat Jan 05, 2019 6:50 pm

Pannier Tank wrote:Very nice, reminds me of my Spottings days at Bletchley in the early 60s. We had 84002 & 84004 which used to work the Wolverton to Newport Pagnell (Newport Nobby), Bletchley to Banbury and Bletchley to Bedford Push/Pull Services.


Yes, 84004 was the usual stand-in for 41222 on Nobby when the latter was unavailable. She seemed to have a little trouble running down the reverse curve into NP, 84002 even more so, and they never rode quite as sweetly as Ivatt's original. I've often wondered where the stiffness came from, since I assumed the 'chassis' was pretty much identical.
David L-T

Pannier Tank
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Re: BR Standard Class 2, 2-6-2 tank

Postby Pannier Tank » Sat Jan 05, 2019 7:38 pm

dal-t wrote:Yes, 84004 was the usual stand-in for 41222 on Nobby when the latter was unavailable. She seemed to have a little trouble running down the reverse curve into NP, 84002 even more so, and they never rode quite as sweetly as Ivatt's original. I've often wondered where the stiffness came from, since I assumed the 'chassis' was pretty much identical.
I travelled on the Newport Nobby on the final day hauled by 41222 and then a few weeks later went down the Newport Branch on a Railtour hauled by 42105.
Regards

David

Dave Holt
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Re: BR Standard Class 2, 2-6-2 tank

Postby Dave Holt » Sun Jan 06, 2019 2:16 pm

Le Corbusier wrote:Wow :shock: .... just Wow.

I think that's wonderful modelling. Can't comment on any of the specifics .... but I think it looks marvellous. :thumb

Any chance of a video of it running?



Tim,
Thanks for your kind comments. I don't have any video but it had a run out at the NLG pre-Christmas meeting, on their circular test track. Hauling/pushing a typical Delph two coach motor train, it circulated satisfactorily for some time. I must say, though, it has one of the noisiest Portescap drives in my entire collection. A sort of whining cement mixer sound! Funnily enough, the Ivatt tank, with the exact same drive arrangement, is far quieter and not at all intrusive. Perhaps it will quieten down with use.
Dave.

tmcsean
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Re: BR Standard Class 2, 2-6-2 tank

Postby tmcsean » Tue Jan 08, 2019 11:43 am

A wonderful evocation of an interesting and largely ignored class of ocomotives. Hard to se how it could be improved - congratulations.

Tony

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PeteT
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Re: BR Standard Class 2, 2-6-2 tank

Postby PeteT » Thu Jan 10, 2019 4:08 pm

Hi Dave,

Thanks for taking the time to post about this and the Caprotti 5 - both looking amazing!

Interesting to see that you have replaced the chassis with the Comet option - at first glance an obvious choice, but in my opinion the Comet chassis is let down by the crosshead - and looking at the DJH one it looks pretty good! Did you consider using the DJH one and find it difficult to match with the Comet cylinders/slidebars?

Dave Holt
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Re: BR Standard Class 2, 2-6-2 tank

Postby Dave Holt » Tue Jan 29, 2019 11:44 am

Hi Pete.

To be honest, I don't think I even considered the DJH parts at all, once I'd decided to use the Comet chassis. Now you've mentioned it, and seeing your deliberations on your Ivatt thread, I've looked again at the photos Morgan posted. To me, the cross-heads fitted to 46443 and 43106 don't look that different to the Comet shape although I fully accept the some Comet parts are a bit generic. For sure, I'm sticking with what's on at this stage.

Dave.

Dave Holt
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Re: BR Standard Class 2, 2-6-2 tank

Postby Dave Holt » Tue Jan 29, 2019 1:34 pm

Hi Pete, again.

On second thoughts, I think you are right about the cross-heads. Whilst the Comet item is a fairly good shape in side view, it should be flat on the front face to match the LMS design. I've rather overlooked this aspect, (which also applies to the Caprotti Black 5) when opting to use the Comet parts.
If I recall, I had already assembled my Ivatt 2 chassis for the Bachmann body, where there was no option to use DJH parts, so just followed suit on the BR Standard when I came to it.
Regarding representations of LMS cross-heads, those provided by Brassmasters are very good but have the disadvantage of requiring near scale width slide bars. Just about viable on 4-6-0's, where the coupling rod does not pass behind the cross-head, but likely to be problematic on a 2-6-0, where it does.
I see from your thread that there was mention of using an etched front overlay to improve the Comet item. This could well be the best solution but might require filing down of the front of the casting so as not to make the assembly too bulky at the front, as was your concern.
I didn't consider it, but there might well be issues with trying to mix and match the Comet and DJH components, as you queried, above.

Dave.

Dave Holt
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Re: BR Standard Class 2, 2-6-2 tank

Postby Dave Holt » Thu Feb 14, 2019 3:22 pm

I've finally got round to completing the finishing touches to the loco, as a gentle reintroduction to modelling, now that I have more use of the arm I broke before Christmas.
These finishing touches were the fitting of the DCC chip, two crew members and fixing the cab roof. I also had to re-attach part of the cab reversing gear, which had mysteriously come adrift during painting - just not fixed adequately in the first place, I think.

The chip I have standardised on is a small, fully encapsulated item by Digitrax - currently the DZ126 (previously the DZ123 - no longer available). I find these easy to tuck away inside the loco, with no fear of shorting, and perfectly adequate capacity for modern, low current motors, even in 4 mm scale (the code number indicates their intended use for Z gauge). As can be seen, I had attached two strips of copper clad sleeper strip, each gapped to give four isolated pads, to act as connector terminals. For DC operation the pads on each strip had been connected by a bridging wire, so all that was required to fit the chip was to remove the bridges and connect the appropriate chip wires.
Std_2_033.JPG


Once the reverser, crew and cab roof had been fitted, the body and chassis were reassembled to produce the finished loco. In the end, I failed to glue the roof in place, relying instead on the four corner clips to hold it in place, although I did fill the slight gaps down each side with paint. With hindsight, I should probably glued the roof to get a closer fit round the spectacle plates. Hopefully, it won't be too obvious from normal viewing distances on the layout.
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Dave.
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Lord Colnago
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Re: BR Standard Class 2, 2-6-2 tank

Postby Lord Colnago » Thu Feb 14, 2019 4:05 pm

Truly stunning Dave. Something to aim for.

John.
The second best priest

essdee
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Re: BR Standard Class 2, 2-6-2 tank

Postby essdee » Thu Feb 14, 2019 5:36 pm

Just exquisite - all that bristly external plumbing.

Would look fabulous with a Hawksworth brake compo and Southern utility van, trailing steam across the Somerset levels.....

This thread is hugely inspirational, Dave - many thanks.

Steve

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Ian@Exton
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Re: BR Standard Class 2, 2-6-2 tank

Postby Ian@Exton » Thu Feb 14, 2019 10:24 pm

Dave,
Brilliant, just brilliant.
Thanks ever so for this thread. Definitely a source of inspiration and an encouragement to get my Standard Class 3 out of its box.
Many thanks
Ian

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Le Corbusier
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Re: BR Standard Class 2, 2-6-2 tank

Postby Le Corbusier » Fri Feb 15, 2019 7:17 pm

agreed :thumb :thumb :thumb :thumb :thumb :thumb :thumb
Tim Lee

Lindsay G
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Re: BR Standard Class 2, 2-6-2 tank

Postby Lindsay G » Fri Feb 15, 2019 10:16 pm

Lovely work both in the modelling and the painting/weathering. Makes one want to crack on, but with doubts over being able to replicate the same standards.

Lindsay


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