Decapod

[Flying15]

This is another Bachmann Annie based build
It’s based on the Great Eastern Railways 1902 loco built to show that a steam loco could match the performance of electric trains of that time
It’s purpose was for one faction of the companies board to be silenced on their wish to electrify the GERs suburban lines
Clearly this happened 50/60 years later under British Railways
Anyway the loco achieved its purpose on a test/demonstration run and was quietly put aside and a few years later parts of it were used in a 0-8-0 goods tender loco
My model is built mainly from styrene with a few castings from GRS;Williams and Walsall models
The chassis is an extended Bachmann Annie one
The second third and fifth axles are flangeless or blind.
Indeed the fifth axle uses a wheel set from an Emily tender. It has a little free float as it’s attached only loosely to the coupling rods.
These were made from two sets of Annie ones that are half housed together on the centre axle pin.
The pictures below hopefully illustrate its build procss.
I’ve got some works:number plates on order from Peter Woods to finish it .

 

[NorthwestGarrattGuy]

cool

 

[Greg Elmassian]

Is only one axle driven? What kind of curves can it traverse? The finished model looks great!

Greg

 

[Flying15]

Hi Greg
The loco has flangeless wheels on the second, third and fifth axles
Indeed as said above,the fifth axle uses an Emily centre tender wheel set which is wider than normal Bachmann drivers
The coupling rod has a pin that goes into the space between spokes on the fifth axle and there fore has a little more float
The loco negotiates 4’ radius curves .
I would stress that my track is level and I have a suspicion that it might not be happy with sudden gradient changes as the slop that Bachmann Annie chassis have, has largely been lost .As it uses a Bachmann Annie chassis the motor drives on what was originally the third axle and is now the fourth.
Drive to the other axles is transmitted via the coupling rods.
Thank you for your kind words on its appearance.
At a small show at the weekend it did generate a bit of interest and comment .
Chris

 

[Greg Elmassian]

I'd love to see a closeup of the connecting rods, and maybe how you constructed them, specifically the "fluting" and the "oiler" details...

(I'm sure I have the wrong terminology)

Greg

 

[Flying15]

I'd love to see a closeup of the connecting rods, and maybe how you constructed them, specifically the "fluting" and the "oiler" details...

(I'm sure I have the wrong terminology)

Greg the connection and coupling rods are all Bachmann ones from Anniversary locos
I half house the ends of the coupling rods so they overlap on the centre driver
This is achieved by filing away half the thickness on the boss
I ll dig out a picture to illustrate later in the week
Chris

 

[Greg Elmassian]

Great, that explains it perfectly, and explains the details that looked familiar.

 

[railwayman198]

That's great. Really captures the look of the original. I thought the cylinders looked too small until I looked at photos of the real thing, and they look spot on.

 

[Flying15]

That's great. Really captures the look of the original. I thought the cylinders looked too small until I looked at photos of the real thing, and they look spot on.

Thanks Neighbour
Comments much appreciated
Images below with plates by Peter Wood now fitted
Chris

 

[Rhinochugger]

Yes, the story of the loco is interesting, and it's difficult to really side with the designers in today's world having the wisdom of hindsight.

We forget how difficult it must have been to grasp the inventions that went with the discovery of electricity, and the benefits.

We also forget that the far more difficult question surrounding electric trains was how to control the motor to deliver torque and speed.

I've never been able to find via Google the details of a Swiss (I think) narrow gauge mountain railway where the locos used acid bath rheostats. I read an article in Continental Modeller many years ago, but have not been able to find anything since.

So, in many ways, the loco is something of a white elephant, yet not a folly and, for many years, steam locos provided very satisfactory performances on a number of suburban lines and the real nail in the coffin was not electric power per se, but the advent of the EMU which negated the need for changing ends with the loco, as well as more or less instant start-up time.

 

[dunnyrail]

It always surprises me that it never ended up at Worsborough or Lickey, but probably too early a build for that.

 

[Neil Robinson]

We also forget that the far more difficult question surrounding electric trains was how to control the motor to deliver torque and speed.

I've never been able to find via Google the details of a Swiss (I think) narrow gauge mountain railway where the locos used acid bath rheostats. I read an article in Continental Modeller many years ago, but have not been able to find anything since.

I often wondered about the skill/daring/foolishness of those engineers who fitted mercury arc rectifiers into railway locomotives.

 

[Paul M]

I often wondered about the skill/daring/foolishness of those engineers who fitted mercury arc rectifiers into railway locomotives.

At my first place of employment, we had 2 channels of Mercury and a metal bridge piece that was slid up and down to create a variable resistor. Worked well, and had done for about 30 years!

 

[craigwrdouglas2]

It looks fantastic - I started the SE finecast 00 kit years back, but never finished it - great to see this one.

 

[Flying15]

I'd love to see a closeup of the connecting rods, and maybe how you constructed them, specifically the "fluting" and the "oiler" details...

(I'm sure I have the wrong terminology)

Greg

Hi Greg
Here are some images close up hopefully illustrating the detail
One showing the slide bars which I’ve reversed so what was on the Bachmann set up what was the inside is now on the outside
Hence the oilers being the wrong way up
But I quite liked keeping them although prototypically they should be on the top slide bar
The other image shows the centre driving pin and the two Bachmann coupling rods end bosses filed down to half thickness so they overlap on that pin