News, 4 March 2022
News, 4 March 2022
Further to the update posted earlier this week, the sides have now been welded onto the tank framework and the appearance of an original fuel tank is obvious. The original locos had battery boxes incorporated into the fuel (and CWA tank) space but the recreated loco won't have. The battery will instead be mounted inside the loco. To keep the appearance accurate we have had to build-in dummy battery box covers which, on this side, will serve as useful access points for the fuel filler and to enable easy inspection of the mountings for the (real) fuel tank. The covers were laser-cut as part of the side seen in the photo, they have been removed and kept aside for adding later.
The tank is seen in front of the loco and mounted on a PW trolley courtesy of Barrow Hill.
Note the (also dummy) fuel tank gauge bosses which have been welded on.
The other side of the tank.
This also has an access point for fuel filler and mounting inspection, albeit smaller than A side.
The two square bosses are (guess what, dummy) fuel suction and drain points for appearance only - the real fuel feed will come off the tank end and run internally to the delivery pump inside the loco.
The heat scars betray the position of the tank framework and show the amount of weld used to hold the sides in place. Access to these weld points is awkward and uncomfortable, the floor of the Roundhouse is cold and blobs of burning metal comply with the laws of gravity and land smouldering on the welders body. Ha ha ha, he said, I love this hobby.
An example of the accuracy and repeatability of CAD design and laser-cutting. Six bosses and six covers all cut and delivered for not much more than it would cost to buy the raw material.
Thanks, as ever, to Charles Day Steel, Sheffield.
