The Gn15 TomeIssue 5 April 2007

Inside this issueWooden body loco print Drawing of “shooting” board for styrene Feature Locomotive BaguleyLayout operation part 2Armoured Trains part I

The Creative Scale

Baguley Copyright Steve Bennett

Editorial

March is behind us now and the year is shaping up to be a busy one, Lots of new projects to think about and some very creative work going on out there in Gn land. Spring is traditionally a time of renewal and as far as the model bench it is no exception, New ideas, new projects, ritual spring clean up. I have to confess that after being a compulsive hoarder for the better part of my adult life, it is also time to make a clean sweep. Looking at the workbench ought to give one a sense of excitement about getting on with the project to hand, How often do we find ourselves saying under our breath, “where is that file I was using yesterday! The bench is often the largest shelf in the workshop and the problem with a workbench that doubles up as a shelf is that more than not things are simply placed in or on the area within easy reach. The only problem with this approach is that it has a tendency to form layers, and often we need a bit more room for the current work, that we sometimes push the (clutter) back a bit to free up some space on the workbench. This often works in the same way as geology where the layers of sediment compact and fold creating a myriad of hiding places for the file, knife, bit of card, strip that I only cut a bit off yesterday.... And so it goes. I am doing myself a favour this spring and will be giving away a few large boxes of off cuts and other sundry bits and doing some paring down of duplicate tools etc, so that I can get back to the joy of being creative at the workbench instead of a warehouseman looking for parts.

Ed.

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The Drawings Page The drawing this month is part of a supplemental PDF covering the conversion of a Bachmann Thomas to a Gn15 version of a Baguley locomotive. I have put this into its own PDF to keep the size of the Tome from getting too large. The drawing below is full size for 16.5mm gauge and is not exactly the same but is more of a representation of this months feature locomotive the Baguley on page 6.

See the supplement for full details on the conversion of the Thomas Loco.

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The Prints Page

courtesy Jim Snee

Chassis

Roof

Optional bufferbeams

Engine Grill

Engine Grilldetail

Engine Louvres

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Cab outside

Cab inside

Cab seatEngine Top

Engine

Print this page twice

courtesy Jim Snee

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This months feature Locomotive this month’s loco is the Baguley petrol engine that is also on the cover, This loco is also the subject of the Thomas conversion article on page 3. The loco has undergone some changes over the years and this group of pictures show the loco in its present form. The interesting features from a model point of view are the little details that are often but not always overlooked when taking pictures.

Photos and text courtesy Steve Bennett

Throttle lever, note the notches on the bottom of the lever

Decompression lever for use when starting engine

notation for gear levers

Hand brake wheel

Clutch pedal

Photo credits Michael Mott

Shooting board for styrene

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Remember when the end grain of a piece of wood needed to be planed a device called a “shooting board” was used. This same device has saved me literally hundreds of hours shaping styrene sheet and strip.

The diagram of the shooting board is designed to be fabricated out of stock thicknesses of materials. The base sheet comprises of two layers 1/4” inch thick or 6mm The bottom layer is wider than the top to act as a platform for the small block plane.

The important thing about the top sheet of the base is that it is just thick enough to be slightly higher than the lower edge of the block plane. This can vary depending on the brand of block plane that you use. My top sheet is 3/8” or 10mm. The blue top stop is also 3/8” the edge next to the plane is set back 1/64” .4mm this is to prevent the plane blade from catching.

The bottom stop can be anything that is handy. The board in the photo was made from scraps of plexiglass this could also be made of wood. The beauty of this device is that it leaves a perfectly flat square edge. One can set the plane blade to take off any amount that can easily be cut I have cut up to .5mm on very thin sheet mostly I cut .005” to .01”. This means that with only a few swipes the sheet/strip can be trimmed in seconds and beats sanding by a mile. I have used it for sanding assembled parts as the pic shows.

Some sage advice from Andy Anderson

So you want to build a layout part. II

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Last time I described how Sue and I developed the basic operational concept for what by now had the code-name 'Breakwater Point (Jaywick & St Osyth Railway)'. We find that having a concept to hang things on really helps when other decisions have to be made: although when I'm bodging stuff I sometimes just make it up as I go along, you only get a coherent result if you know where you're going. If you can't make the concept work, then something is wrong and you either discard it (we have a lot of discarded research which may one day see the light in a different form) or change one or more of the original premises. I'll look at the requirements for stock before I describe how that affects the layout design. The loco's are a shoe-in. The concept needs two and although I've been working on a model of the real Jaywick Sentinel steamer, we want to set this in the modern era,

so two tram-engine outline locos, based around a diesel chassis, seem to fit best. I wondered about twin cabs and suchlike, but real modern units of this type are driven from one end with the driver sitting sideways. Since that arrangement of loco still looks better running boiler-forward, I used the magic of the Gnatterbox to ask about this, and was amply rewarded when Jack Trollope pointed me at W G W Lagerweijj's marvellous little layout 'Arue', as featured in MTI and CM, which features a turntable as part of the run-round loop. We ended up changing our minds, but it proved that it could be done and gave us something to aim at.

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.Talking of which: the other part of the operation is freight sorting, keeping out of the way of the passenger trains. Begijnendijk (still unfinished but run-able) implements a simple three-from-five Inglenook puzzle, sufficiently satisfying to occupy an odd hour. We haven't decided how the loads will be assigned yet, but five pieces of stock in addition to the post van should do it. A second van for perishables, and four bulkhead flats to carry a selection of different loads (boxes, crates, sacks and so on) should do it. Lastly, the sizes. Jaywick had a loading gauge of 3'6” by 5'6” on 18” gauge, which should look reasonable on 15” as well. We have in mind the Sidelines van, so using that as the basic unit, we end up with lengths of 3” for the wagons, 6” for the loco and 9” for the coaches. Tight, but not really caricatures. On a three coaches plus one, two coaches plus three basis, the maximum train length is 33”. This just about gives room for manoeuvre in a four-foot layout whilst making it satisfying difficult to handle the post-train, but means that the off-stage train cassette is a bit long. Never mind: the next stage is to cut out bits of card, get some big sheets of paper and start playing.

To be continued Andy Anderson

Next, we moved on to the coaching stock. Locally we have Exbury (12½” gauge with carriages that squeeze two abreast) and Hayling (24” gauge with plenty of room for two abreast): both run bogie coaches but Hayling also has some earlier four-wheelers. A rough calculation suggests that full-length Heywood style bogie coaches will require a baseboard too long to fit into the Fiesta, so for the moment we'll opt for long-ish four-wheelers seating eight people each. We'll need three: two toastracks and an enclosed coach. The constraints here were developed by watching the Dotto 'train' running along the sea-front at Clacton: there's a definite call for passenger transport that varies during the day. First and last trains will use all three coaches: the remainder will use two toastracks if it's sunny, or the single enclosed coach if it's wet. It would be nice to have the post-box on the side of the enclosed coach, but that would mean turning the coach to keep it at the rear and there won't be room for that. So, the postbox will be on a van, our first piece of freight stock.

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A long time ago I said I would write about armoured trains on minimum gauge. It is a vast task. So, late in the day I have decided to limit myself to a short period of history and to my native country and discuss the principles of using minimum gauge railways as a weapon of war as those who lived at the time might have done.

So imagine, if you will it is June 1940. Churchill has just made his famous “We will fight them on the beaches” speech and all across Britain Home Guard units are raiding attics and museum collections to find some sort of weapon to use against invading paratroopers (dressed as nuns). At this time, it is not unreasonable to find General Montmorency (who was in Calcutta in '92) putting pen to paper to advise Home Guard officers how to use a particular asset.

The tactical use of minimum and miniature railways by the Home Guard.

With the battle of France over and the threat of invasion hanging over us, it is imperative that we use all material assets available to us to the utmost of our ability. And to my mind, to neglect to use the little railways of Britain would be a waste of possible war materials that could prove disastrous.

There are many areas in Britain that have one or more of these small railways, sometimes extending for many hundreds of yard, even miles. These could be included in a plan of defence and put to one (or more) of the following uses.

Rapid patrol of points of strategic importance such as landing grounds.

Rapid deployment of infantry firepower against an invading force.

The training of Home Guard units in antitank combat.

Armoured Trains Part I

Researched and written by Jim Snee

Looking at the first of these, it is obvious that small railways have great potential for the patrolling activities. Where they occur, for example in parks, beaches and estates, there are many areas that the enemy may wish to land commandos or parachutists. Further to this, the routes of small railways often run along side utilities or minor industries that are all potential targets for sabotage.

For such patrolling exercises rail motors or scooters are ideal, being fast and efficient. The patrol would consist of a driver and a soldier with a rifle or other similar firearm. If scooters are not available, a locomotive and a single wagon will suffice.

It is not necessary for patrols to have armoured rolling stock, but if materials and labour are available then a screen of bullet proof plate could be added to the sides and ends of a scooter; while concrete, bricks or stones held between two layers of timber can provide protection to an open wagon.

Here is a drawing (at a scale of 1/4inch to the foot) of a small estate locomotive shunting a protected patrol wagon. Note that armour has been

added to the locomotive to protect the driver and motion gear.

To be continued Jim Snee

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