Boiler dimensions & Boiler tips

Can someone please tell me the length of the boiler from front to back when it’s delivered - I am planning to make a trolley to move it around.
Thank you very much.

My boiler seems to be around 880mm and is sitting on a trolley with 4 castors

Mark

Thank you very much for the quick reply Mark.

Your trolley looks great - I wonder whether you could perhaps give me the dimensions of your trolley as well ?

you could also have a look at the videos Chrix has posted on youtube like for the boiler trolley:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PbI_eYQ_9Vk

Cheers

Elwood

elwood-59 wrote:you could also have a look at the videos Chrix has posted on youtube like for the boiler trolley:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PbI_eYQ_9Vk

Cheers

Elwood

Thanks Elwood... I did have a look at that, and it is very informative. Unfortunately he is a bit quick with the tape measure and it’s difficult to read his dimensions !

Or do as I did: set the boiler upright - much easier to attach the Smokebox this way - do your mesaurements accordingly. And as soon as trolley is finished lay the boiler (plus smokebox) onto it. Ah and set the width at the firebox so you can leave it on the trolley when you add the hornplates.

Cheers

Elwood

milford59 wrote:Thank you very much for the quick reply Mark.  

Your trolley looks great - I wonder whether you could perhaps give me the dimensions of your trolley as well ?

No problem i'll try and get back out in the workshop tonight and measure it up for you - its a nice simple design that works well...

Mark

tef 20 wrote:

milford59 wrote:Thank you very much for the quick reply Mark.  

Your trolley looks great - I wonder whether you could perhaps give me the dimensions of your trolley as well ?

No problem i'll try and get back out in the workshop tonight and measure it up for you - its a nice simple design that works well...

Mark

Thank you very much Mark.

Hi

The boiler from the front to the back is 875-881mm, this can vary from boiler to boiler as the heat applied to welding can cause minor distortion (but only by a couple of mm).

Many thanks

Will

Thanks very much Will

tef 20 wrote:

milford59 wrote:Thank you very much for the quick reply Mark.  

Your trolley looks great - I wonder whether you could perhaps give me the dimensions of your trolley as well ?

No problem i'll try and get back out in the workshop tonight and measure it up for you - its a nice simple design that works well...

Mark

Hi Milford

Can you PM me an email address? I have done a sketch for you so I'll take a picture of it and email it over?

Mark

PM sent - thanks very much !

Here is a diagram of the trolley dimension which was kindly supplied by Mark (tef 20)

I am posting it here for future builders to see.

Thank you very much Mark.

My boiler is due to arrive in a week or so..... I have built my trolley.... For future reference (and also because I would like to know and I can’t find the info by searching) can someone tell me what is the weight of the boiler, in case I need to get my son-in-law to help lugging it around. Thanks very much !!

The boiler of my Road Loco i.e. DCC was about 140 kg, I had my sons and some friends to come over to lift it out of my estate car. I had pushed it in to rest against the rear seats, so it was in kind of an awkward position to be lifted out. In the end we were too many persons, not enough room for everybody to grab it.   Still we managed and at first put it upright on it‘s end on some wooden strips.
Somebody told me to tap on the boiler with a piece of wood to loosen any scale or swarf from production, which then could be poked out with a wire hook. On mine there was nothing, still good to check. And it‘s a lot easier to fit the smoke box with the boiler upright.

Cheers

Elwood

That was a quick reply - with some excellent extra information - thank you very much. I will tell my son-in-law to eat some extra shredded wheat over the next few days in preparation !!

No problems - I just try to pay back some of the support I received over the last years.

As for the boiler it‘s only a problem as there is not really a grip or handle on it to really grab it securely. Only firehole door and foundation ring/bottom of firebox and a smallish part at the smokebox end.
And from experience it‘s better to have some additional helping hands and not needing them than to need and not to have them

Cheers

Elwood

Hi Milford

"can someone tell me what is the weight of the boiler, in case I need to get my son-in-law to help lugging it around."

95kg. My SCC boiler arrived on a pallet laid on its side. I did manage to stand it on end on my own but it was not easy.
So I guess the son-in-law option is a yes.

As Elwood said the boiler stands nicely on both ends but you dont want to stand it direct on the floor.
The smoke box end is machined to fit the inside of the smokebox any burring will make it a pain to fit.
The firebox end has washout and level holes and the backing plate for the fire doors so again treat it gently so as not to burr anything over.
Again like Elwood with the boiler vertical standing on a sheet of ply, I fitted the hornplate end first on my Showmans then turned the boiler the opposite way up standing it on an old carpet to protect the paint on the hornplates. after putting on the smokebox the engine can then be laid down on the trolly for ever.
I did not use a trolly as I could leave the engine in its build position stood on axle stands until it had its wellies fitted.
Simon C

That’s good info - thank you very much Simon.

I am planning to paint the cylinder and then the boiler before doing anything else. My smokebox is all done and painted, and ready to fit, but I haven’t yet attached the perch, which has been painted but no lines on it yet... same goes for the front axle, which I did line, but I am not pleased with it so I will be re-doing it...it takes a bit of careful thinking to work out the best order to do the jobs !!

I took the boiler off it’s trolley and stood it up on end on a turntable that I made for painting the wheels.... it’s had 2 coats of paint so far... maybe a couple more and then I will see about fitting the smokebox...

I have made some more progress the last couple of days..... I decided that I would not force the smokebox on, but I would make sure that there was enough clearance because I had visions of trying to get it on, and then it would get stuck and not come off.... this would be my tip for new builders.... it took a couple of hours of filing to get rid of the high spots, but I am pleased with the result.



So once the smokebox was on, I fitted the perch back, and now I have a bit of painting of the rivet bolts to be done.

Looking very nice

Quick question, how are you going to fit the front axle fork retaining collar inside the perch bracket or have you just loosely fitted it for now?

Mark

tef 20 wrote:Looking very nice

Quick question, how are you going to fit the front axle fork retaining collar inside the perch bracket or have you just loosely fitted it for now?

Mark

Luckily I have only poked the bolts through to make sure they all fit.... I hadn’t thought of that.... so thank you very much for mentioning it !!

No problem, remember there should be a dummy rivet for the extra hole in the perch.




Mark

Looks like STW have upgraded there perch as you have a bush in there plus the rubbing faces have a deeper section.

Mark