A small Crewe workhorse called Pet

[michael mott]

Part 1

 

Feeling a bit low a few weeks back I wanted to whip something up fast and as I have been working on transcribing a couple of the original drawings from the National Railway Museum at York of both the Horwich Locomotives and the Crewe internal tramway system locomotives I thought that a small O gauge quick styrene plastic model would cheer me up. 

Quick usually ends up tripping me up because midway through whatever I seem to be doing I take a step forward and then three back, There definitely seem to be a pattern here. What started out as something I thought I could do in a couple of weeks is taking a bit longer. but it will see me through a few days of social distancing.

First I scaled the full size plans I am working on Using my old 2002 Autocad Lt to O gauge it works out to >070 to the inch or 27/32 to the foot  (easiest to draw full size then scale to whatever scale I need later) The loco is only 7feet long in full scale and 18 inch gauge. The goal is to build a 3 1/2 inch live steam model down the road. Im probably just dreaming but it keeps me amused.

the chassis was cut out of some white evergreen .060" sheet and laminated together to give .120" thickness  I laminated them so that there would only be the scale (close) parts sticking out at the front

What to power this with first thoughts was to rummage through the electric motor scrap box and I found a nice worm drive that I salvage from the last printer that died.

 

A promising looking set up that seemed about right. With a bit of surgery with the jewelers saw things began to look quite good.

 

Initially I had simply drilled the holes for the axles, remember this was a quick build nothing fancy.

 

Here was the first problem! wheel quartering would be difficult The wheels were brass with rigid PVC centers so that they would not short out the track.  (Old school 12 volt Trackmaster controller to make it go)

 

So I popped off the wheels cut a block of wood to fit between the frames and cut a couple of slots in such a way as to create a snap fit for the 1/4 inch diameter bushings. The slots were cut on the sled with the table saw.

 

The wheels could now be set up and removed easily without taking them apart. The motor was removed from the printer housing and made to be a press fit into a slab of 1/8th thick styrene.

 

a couple of leads to the motor from the power supply confirmed that the motor was adequate for the job. The the main parts of the body began to take shape beginning with the end plates These were cut from some .020" styrene sheet, and then I pondered how to get the rivet detail which is quite prominent.

 

The end plates were shaped with some printed drawings done with large label sheets stuck to the .020" (not easy to remove so I won"t be doing that again)

 

To be continued.

 

Michael

 

 

[michael mott]

Part 2

 

The end plates contain a large number of conical rivets these were made from some 1/8th brass rod.

 

 

The central part of the boiler is a piece of 1 1/2 inch ABS pipe covered with some .020" styrene.

 

The top part of the loco contains the water tank and the coal hopper. The top of the boiler tube was reinforced with evergreen strips.

 

The top elements have been made from sheet that was first prepared with the rivet forming tool.

 

The first attempt at making the top part ended up not being practical for the change from track power to battery power. 

 

This meant making a new top with a different configuration. The second top was fabricated differently.

 

 

Here you can see the difference side by side.

 

At this point I also discovered that the wheels were the wrong size, this was caused by a print error and because I had accidentally resized the page with the wheels.

Again one of those steps back. they were removed and reduced.

 

To be Continued.

 

Michael

 

 

 

 

 

[TBlack]

Michael,

At least the wheels weren't too small! I'm always amazed at the amount of inventory you have that can be cycled into a project.

Tom

[popeye the sailor]

the beauty of the hobby........it keeps us thinking.........it keeps us young      I never knew that printers had those little motors........where's my sledge hammer 

[michael mott]

Hello Tom,

13 minutes ago, TBlack said:

I'm always amazed at the amount of inventory you have that can be cycled into a project.

It is because I am a pack rat and was in the commercial model building business for many years, one thing that this project did do was force me into reorganizing my strip styrene collection which goes back to the late 70 and early 80's It has mostly been kept in closed cabinets in order to avoid the UV but some has become a little brittle. ine of the forum members had built a good storage using some clear poly packaging tubes and I purchased some of the same (much more expensive up here in Canada but still a good purchase).  When I was working building the architectural models I purchased the various sizes from Evergreen in their commercial packages of 100 needles to say I still have lots of the small stuff.

 

The sheet stock is stored separately. these tubes have really helped to keep things better accessible.

 

Michael

 

 

[michael mott]

Denis Yes there are lots of surprises inside "dead " electronics I have one more printer that has ceased to function I wanted to get it repaired because the message was that the print head is missing or damaged. it is a 7612 HP and was a great printer that could print 13x19 sheets and scanned 11x17 It originally cost me $149 dollars. the cost estimates were $200= for the print head and more for labour amounting to over $400. I ended up getting a new printer for $200 and then it was another $200 for ink so a new glass worktop and more odds and ends for the electric motor drawer and all sorts of rollers and gears are sitting there in the form of the "dead 7612" I just wish I knew more about electronics.

 

Michael

[amateur]

You mean there is something technical you don't know about?

Now that is a surprise

 

Your little machine is coming along nicely. What was its original duty? Was it tram-loco, or some kind of industrial loco (or one of those coal or peat transporters?)

 

Jan

[amateur]

I already found the answer to my question. Pet is on the internet (wiki-page crew works railway). So much to read and learn

 

Jan