Building the Burrell Road loco

Hi,

I am a new member to this forum. I have the 4 inch scale Burrell Road loco from steam traction world which i have had since 2017 however haven't got around to building it until now. I have some queries to ask and would love some recommendations and things to watch out for when building the engine. we have got all the kits and at the minute a lot of painting is happening. i am almost ready to fit the smokebox, horn-plates, tender cladding and Bellytank to the boiler. is there anything major that i must watch out for when doing this?

1. I have read the instructions on the water pump and bu the looks of it it is quite a fiddly process to fit the eccentric and drive for the water pump. i was just wandering if it would be better if i fitted the water pump before the crankshaft, con-rods and eccentrics get fitted. Is there anything stopping me from doing this or is it a sensible idea?

Hi Thunderbolt,

welcome to the forum and look forward to hours of fun building your engine.

As for questions and queries, just fire away. At the same time do as I did and still do almost daily: have a look at the build of others, like Lynn,  Steve Trail,  Tim Watson and a lot of others, who have reported on their build. Also Will at STW will help you on any issues you might have.

Suggestions: Follow the instructions as they will be of much help. What I would suggest from my own experience, invest in a quality set of taps and dies and clean out each and every thread while still on the work bench, especially the parts that have been painted.

As for the other tools, Lynn has posted a long list of tools she suggests for the build, but I am sure, you‘ve seen that already.

I did not follow my own advice and forgot to check and clean the 3/8“ pipe thread at the boiler to connect the injector and steam head. I only noticed a not so perfect thread after installing and adjusting the hornplates. At this moment the tap I had was too long so I had to modify  it to be able to clean the threads.  

In hindsight I should have test assembled some parts before painting (namely the axle housing/horn plate combo) just to know they fit.

Re Water pump installed first, I think to remember it  should be possible to install the pump first but then again the eccentric for the water pump must be fitted to the pump drive shaft first anyways so it will be the two nuts for the eccentic  clamps resp clamp to push rod  only. But be aware, on my machine I had to readjust the eccentric for LP several  times  to make sure the clamps do not hit each other or the pump eccentric.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Elwood

Hi Thunderbolt and welcome.

Yes ask questions we do not bite or down talk. Everyone has a different skill level and we are all beginners at some point.

If you have all the kits. Yes the water pump would be easier to fit without the crank in the way but not impossible. I originally did mine with crank in.
The instructions are fairly well matured now so if it does not make sense then re-read and get another cup of tea.

The most important think. Relax and enjoy the build. You will have a wonderful engine at the end of it.

Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply. It is me and my dad building the engine and yes to keep him going i must keep the tea supply high.
Thanks for the useful information and i cant wait to ask more questions when queries arise

Thunderbolt

enjoy your build and have fun . The one bit of advice I would give is test fit everything before painting

Steam Engine Update,

Smoke box fitted along with perch plate, pivot and front axle.

Can’t upload photos due to it not working.

Horn plates are going on next

That’s looking very nice - I am building an SCC and expecting my boiler to arrive in May. Can you please tell me the paint that you have used on the boiler ? Thanks very much and good luck with the rest of your build !!

As already suggested test fit before painting. To stop paint getting into the threads I put a bolt in each one left it there while I painted saved a lot of thread cleaning afterwards.
If using Craftmaster paints leave plenty of time after the undercoat before applying the enamel. Or as I found the undercoat mixes with the enamel and you get a mat finish !

elwood-59 wrote:Hi Thunderbolt,

welcome to the forum and look forward to hours of fun building your engine.

As for questions and queries, just fire away. At the same time do as I did and still do almost daily: have a look at the build of others, like Lynn,  Steve Trail,  Tim Watson and a lot of others, who have reported on their build. Also Will at STW will help you on any issues you might have.

Suggestions: Follow the instructions as they will be of much help. What I would suggest from my own experience, invest in a quality set of taps and dies and clean out each and every thread while still on the work bench, especially the parts that have been painted.

As for the other tools, Lynn has posted a long list of tools she suggests for the build, but I am sure, you‘ve seen that already.

I did not follow my own advice and forgot to check and clean the 3/8“ pipe thread at the boiler to connect the injector and steam head. I only noticed a not so perfect thread after installing and adjusting the hornplates. At this moment the tap I had was too long so I had to modify  it to be able to clean the threads.  

In hindsight I should have test assembled some parts before painting (namely the axle housing/horn plate combo) just to know they fit.

Re Water pump installed first, I think to remember it  should be possible to install the pump first but then again the eccentric for the water pump must be fitted to the pump drive shaft first anyways so it will be the two nuts for the eccentic  clamps resp clamp to push rod  only. But be aware, on my machine I had to readjust the eccentric for LP several  times  to make sure the clamps do not hit each other or the pump eccentric.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Elwood

Hi Elwood, do you have a link to the tool list that Lynn made?

Fritz

Hi Fritz,

there have been several posts on that, the main one(s) being:

https://traction.forumotion.com/t1366-tools-for-the-job

and

https://traction.forumotion.com/t1434-tools-explained

hope this helps.

Cheers

Elwood