Loco about Locos

What I started with was a set of frames with hornblocks fitted, and wheels turned. So I'm afraid I've no construction details for these. Except for quartering the wheels. You can do this either with a jig,or in the lathe. I've used both methods - a jig works well. Most books and drawings show jigs which are specific to one model, which is not brilliant. Since then, I have seen a general one detailed, which is a far beter idea. I've also quartered wheels in the lathe, which is what I chose to do this time. Two sets of wheels were already assembled and quartered, but, when I checked them, both were different ! The object is to set the two wheels on an axle at 90 Deg to each other -usually, the right leads on British locos. Having said that, the really critical thing about quatering is not the exact angle, but is that all the wheelsets on the loco must be set at EXACTLY the same angle. This is because the wheel relationships are locked by the coupling rods, and any diffe...

One of my serious interests is model engineering. I've built steam locomotives in 5 inch gauge, and also in gauge 1. Interest in the hobby seems to have grown quite a lot in the last few years - certainly my local model engineering society is a lot busier. Several people I've spoken to have expressed an interest in building a loco. These days, sadly, most of the college based courses are no longer running making it harder to start from scratch. I have just started building a 3 1/2 inch gauge loco and thought I would keep a journal of my progress. I thought if I set up a blog perhaps it might help someone else to get going. I will share some notes and photographs documenting my progress. Hopefully my blog will promote discussion with like minded people. The loco I am building is a GWR Hall (3 1/2" gauge). Its an LBSC design: the construction looks typical of lots of locos, so the construction notes should transfer to other locos. Truth to tell, I bought it at a...