Jack 18" Hunslet 1898 Locomotive in 7/8ths Live Steam.

Part 3

Here are some of the frame 3D renderings showing Jack progress. A lot of the parts will be laser cut to save time and get the project moving. Once the CNC mill is complete the majority of the parts will be done using the mill. I have no issue machining a lot of parts by hand and have not mastered turning both axis simultaneously to get smooth arcs and curves. Thus it is easier to have parts laser cut. The frames are produced in mild steel along with the deck and motion parts. The spacers are brass bar stock. All parts shown in orange are bearing bronze. I will also post some photos of the cast parts I purchased from Brian Wilson as they are stunningly beautifull and will make a superb finishing touch to the loco.

In the gallery below are the first laser run parts I picked up this previous week. I am really looking forward to getting the project moving and will be focusing all my spare time on both the "Jack" locomotive and my DHR B engines. It is time to get these finished.

Jack 18" Hunslet 1898 Locomotive in 7/8ths Live Steam.

History:

The Hunslet Engine Company of Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds is a locomotive-builder.

The first Hunslet engine built for export was their No. 10, an 0-4-0ST shipped via Hull and Rotterdam to Java. Remarkably, the last industrial steam engine built in Britain was also built at Hunslet in 1971 and also for export to Java. This engine later returned to Britain and is preserved in working order. A large number of short wheelbase tank locomotives (0-6-0) were supplied to the Manchester Ship Canal Company and one of these (No.686 of 1898 'St. John') still survives on the Severn Valley Railway and is still in regular use as a 'Thomas The Tank Engine' lookalike.

The engine is this build is #684, class 0-4-0 with a wheel gauge of 18".

The build is based off of Brain Wilson's design which is shared on the yahoo group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Steammodelloco16mm/. I have made some minor modifications to my files, most of which were to make the loco more flexible as far as function and maintenance. Below is a gallery of plans and information I could find on Jack. The engine will be a 7/8ths scale live steamer running on 32mm track.

Sources of Information:

http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/wiki/Hunslet_Engine_Co

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway "Class B" Locomotive in 7/8ths Live Steam

A bit of history : From Wiki Pages

"The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, nicknamed the "Toy Train", is a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge railway from Siliguri to Darjeeling in West Bengal, run by the Indian Railways. It was built between 1879 and 1881 and is about 86 kilometres (53 mi) long. The elevation level is from about 100 m (328 ft) at Siliguri to about 2,200 metres (7,218 ft) at Darjeeling. It is still powered by steam locomotives. Modern diesel engines are used for Darjeeling’s mail train.

The railroad line basically follows Hill Cart Road which is partially the same as National Hichway 55. Usually, the track is simply on the road side. In case of landslides both track and road might be affected. As long parts of the road are surrounded with buildings, the railroad line often rather resembles urban tramway tracks than an overland line."

Here is a gallery of images that truly give the flavor of the Class B enigines and the railroad:

The "Class B" is one of my favourite narrow gauge locomotives and is a must build. I have chosed to only build steam locomotives as "live steam" engines. The main reason for this is to get away from maintaining and charging batteries and R/C gear. I also feel that live steam locomotives should not have any R/C control attached to them as nothing compares to hands on control and planning ahead while running.

A couple of quick points on what I felt was important and elements that swayed the design process;

The boiler needs to accomodate both coal fireing and butane or alcohol.

Axle driven water pump and a means of topping up boiler while coming up to steam

Scale frame, valve and cylinder structure

Scale appearance and function

Sight glass for water and scale or close as possible pressure gauge

5 man crew.

Here is a copy of the only builders plans I could find, and the source for many or the majority of my measurements when drawing up the cad files.