Road Loco - 'Blackbeard'

More little jobs done plus one awkward one, the 3rd gear drum has now got the cut out in it to clear the RH Crank bearing cap, I can now make an adjustment on my crank bearing tonight!! This took a bit of effort to do it in situ but I already had the RH wheel off for cleaning and paint touch up so I removed the gear selectors and the 3rd gear selector pivot. After jamming rags everywhere and making a small aluminium plate from some scrap material to go inside the drum to stop the drill hitting anything when it broke through I marked the position of the cut and then drilled the corners first. I had first put my garage vacuum cleaner nozzle in position to get as much of the swarf and dust as possible. I was then able to use a hacksaw to make the long cut, turning the crank slightly to get around to the holes without the saw hitting the edge of the hornplates or the gear selector framework. The flywheel brake was useful for this as I could lock the crank from turning when I applied the cutting force. I could not cut completely through because of the ridges the 3rd gear slides on were in the way at the ends of the cut but that was finished off by a hacksaw blade used without the saw. The Dremmel with a slitting disc was used for the two cuts from the edge to the holes and finally the cut edges were finished of with a cylindrical tool in the Dremmel.
 
While the gear selectors and forks were off I was amazed how much crud was on them in the areas you cannot get to when they are in situ so everything has had a good clean including the gear teeth. I also found that one of the steel straps that fasten onto the selector fork ends was missing because it could not be fitted when the fork is in place so that got fitted too once I had found it! Before I put the selectors back I had already begun to make the retaining chains for the gear selector locking pins. These are on full size engines to prevent you loosing them when you unscrew them to change gear. I need to make the part for securing the end of the chain that will go under the selector retaining plate bolts and then I can put everything back together.
 
Chimney is off at the moment due to the interesting finish on it at the moment. It has been dipped to remove all the powder coat to enable a brand new coat onto bare metal rather than on the first layer as had been done at the end of last year. When it goes back on there will be a stainless steel liner in the chimney which is currently being produced using a modified chimney drawing kindly supplied by Steve. I will report back as to how this is fitted when I update the forum again. A spark arrestor will be fitted in the top of the smokebox too so it is out of sight, more of that when it is in.
 

Very neat job on that hub Brian, must have taken ages to do it in situ like that!... And to do it without scratching paintwork all over the place, a well planned "military" operation!!  
Would love to see your mods re chaining the selector screws when you've done them!
Did you grease your drive gear teeth or put oil on them, or is it best to leave them dry?

Regards,
Tony

Tony
 
I oil the drive gear teeth so that as the oil runs off any dust and grit should go with it, grease is like glue and will attract allsorts of material that will turn it to grinding paste ,especially the exposed gears on the RH side. There is a lot of debris at the bottom of some of the gear teeth now as you can see in the 1st gear pinion in the background of the picture and I will clean them out for a fresh start for the coming season. Ash thrown out of the chimney gets everywhere when working hard and when I have been running without the roof there is no real shelter for the gears.
 
Patience as always regarding the cut-out, once I compete the chain anchors I will fit everything back on and take some more pictures. I am using the whistle chain that came with the engine as I had to by stronger chain to go with the big whistles because the springs are so strong that the links in the supplied chain would gradually open up as they are not soldered links.
 
Brian

More mods done, I think I mentioned this as done in Steve Trail's recent posts so thought I should add a picture here, the brake lining material as now fitted to Blackbeard's brake blocks using glue and pins. Tough, dense material too, I had to drill it with a very fine drill to get the nails to go in and straight. I have also painted the letters on the RH whell hub and put it back on but no picture yet. Next job on Wednesday is cutting up some stainless steel bar to make new fire bars - see how those survive!
 

 
 
And the big news from the weekend (for us anyhow) Blackbeard finally has his own trailer, an Ifor Williams box van, BV106G 7ft high. Just need to position Blackbeard down one side so I can put the necessary fastenings in the floor local to the rear wheels etc... My wife suggested I could sleep in it at a push!!!! In fact she already sees it as a blank canvas just waiting for some artwork so watch this space.
 

I like the trailer a drop down bed in it could be very useful at rallies. But better watch out you do not end up living in it.

It's always a comfort when in the beer tent & it's persisting down with rain to know your engine is all tucked up warm in a lockable trailer.

You could be really hot and steamy if you slept in there with your engine!

Tim

Tim Watson wrote:You could be really hot and steamy if you slept in there with your engine!

Tim

 
It would save towing the caravan around too. Maybe I should build a bunk in at the front.
 
How do you fasten Frederick in your BV trailer Tim? Your engine goes in the centre of the trailer or to one side with trailer (s0 next to it). M plan was for side by side like Lynn's open trailer as I have the width. I was thinking of adding mounting points fore and aft of the rear wheels so straps can go up and over each wheel. Front fastened to each side from towing bracket. I would also want ot have removable chocks for the rear wheels to lock Blackbeard in place.
 
Anyone know what this is for? It arrived in the post this morning.

It's a manual spark arrestor.

Its a cheap spark arrester - £4.91 delivered!!

Cut off handle upturn and push over the chimney base bolts, add additional nut and washer on each bolt and voila - a hidden spark arrester. Once I fit it I will post a picture.

My engine is lashed down, on the left of the trailer, with ratchet straps over the rear wheels and fixed to ring bolts let into the floor. Winding the hand brake on also acts as a good means of preventing movement. The front is held by the winch: not good practice apparently, but also the front wheels engage in a shoring pole across the front. When I get round to it I will make a proper fixing for the clevis at the front.

I would be wary of bolting a spark arrestor into the base of the chimney, as you will quickly end up with an asthmatic engine. It is useful to be able to take them out easily and clear the spaces between the slots of any carbon build up. i had a similar arrangement once and couldn't understand why the boiler wouldn't make steam: it was pretty obvious when I removed the choked spark arrester! This is probably why they are more effective at the top of the chimney on a traction engine and why railway engine men generally got rid of smokebox spark arresters if they could.

Tim

Hi Brian,
Where did you get your brake lining?
Was it from STW or did you source it yourself?
NIce trailer , the sort I am considering, what vehicle are you using to tow it?
Thanks
Kev

TIm

The other alternative is to tack weld it to the top of the chimney liner, both are stainless steel. Thanks for the tips on fastening down in the trailer, did you use additional Ifor Williams flush fitting tie down loops with reinforcing plates under the floor or was their a chassis member in a convenient place to bolt them through? Or is it just a U-bolt that is lose so you can pull it up slightly to hook underneath it?

Kev

The brake material is from STW, £16 for two pieces I think it was, as used on the Foden wagon brakes.

I used Ifor Williams 'type' flush ring mounts sourced from eBay. Mike and I put a new floor in the secondhand trailer that I bought. The flooring ply is immensely strong and so I don't think it needs plates underneath if each of the four fixing bolts has a maximum sized washer on it. Worth putting the engine in and marking accurately for position. The shoring pole across the front obviously gives a nice solid stop point.

My trailer is not wide enough to take the waggon on it's wheels and so this is mounted on its side, cross strapped to the wall. My trailer has a unique bench seat arrangement to support the waggon that has proved quite useful, as the ramps also stow under it rather nicely.

If you were going to kip in the trailer you would certainly need an opening window for ventilation, but this would be easy to fit in the front. but a bit daunting to take a saw to a nice new IW trailer!

Tim

Thanks Tim, good advice.
 
I might mark out the position of the chassis cross members on the internal floor and see how the back wheels line up against them with the nose weight/trailer balance in the ideal position to see if the chassis can be used for fixing.
 
Is your van a BV105 then? I was looking at Lynn's set up in her flatbed version of the IW 105 trailer as she can get both traction wagons in line at the side of her engine but I ended up looking for the extra width of the 6ft wide trailer. They are not easy to find second hand, especially the 7ft tall version and ended up getting this one from Belfast. Went on the ferry from Liverpool Saturday night and turned collection into an adventure and a busy day sight seeing before coming back on the Sunday night ferry.
 
In order of visiting:
1) Portrush/Portstewart, the North West 200 motorcycle road racing location, including parking on finish line for a photo then doing a lap of the circuit.
2) Dunluce Castle
3) Giants Causeway
4) Bushmills Distillery (the exclusive distillery 12 year old is particularly nice, ended up buying one!)
5) The town of Ballymoney to visit the Joey Dunlop/Robert Dunlop memorial garden and then on to Joey's Bar for a pint, the pub he owned and his family still run
6) Titanic Experience
7) Collect trailer
Ferry
 

My choice of the LM105 5.5ft was the space between the fence and caravan to get the trailer through. It has 2" spare to, originally, reverse the trailer through up the driveway. Now done with a winch. Then when the trailer is in storage the 10ft was the limit of storage which the ability to carry everything.

Lynn, luckily I do not have such a tight width restriction although the box van width over the wheels is quite wide as they are not under the floor like yours but outside of the floor area, it is still a snug fit though the gate until it gets widened next month - but then so is my caravan and I do manage that.

Hi Brian

I like the look of your front number plate bracket. Could I ask a few questions ?

1. What size is the backing plate.
2. From where did you get the Ali number plate itself.
3. The brackets are nice how where they made?

Cheers
Simon

Hi Simon

Sorry for the late reply and lack of activity over the past month, major personal issues at home!!

I had previously posted the drawing for the actual full size Burrell number plate bracket on an my photos thread, it is on page 17, quick link is below.

https://traction.forumotion.com/t743p240-road-loco-blackbeard

I cant remember the name of the company I used, I looked in my PMs as I had sent the info to Tim Watson and either Brian or Dwain Morgan but I had cleared out old PMs as my inbox and outbox were full so lost them. you might PM them to ask them what I sent them.

Cheers

Brian

http://www.numberplates-4-u.co.uk

Try this
Tim

Crystal is calling me names and getting jealous. Working on Blackbeard for Brian

Crystal is also still covered in mud from last weekend, feeling neglected too maybe!!!!!!

After a long absence from the thread Blackbeard has another video, heavy haulage up a hill similar in steepness to the one you all did at our birthday bash in May, this time off road though and pulling a 4" scale ploughing engine up it. I had previously been up the hill with a passenger trailer and one passenger in top gear and probably went up faster than James Tilbury did on tarmac on our road run. I will be getting some additional footage filmed from on-board the ploughing engine too so I might edit both together, it sounded superb through the trees.

Check out the short video on the Leyland MES Facebook page for the end of the first run at the top of the hill. Look out for Big Shaun on his new toy filling the gap until his road loco is finished, it was there and looking very good too - not long before another one has a fire in it.

https://www.facebook.com/LeylandSME?hc_location=timeline

Excellent   

May I ask what that was filmed on, almost gives the impression it was on some sort of steady cam unit ?

Nothing so fancy, my new Sony Experia phone held by my daughter Danielle. I used the "fix shaky image" option on YouTube which probably gives it that sort of look.