Member postings for Nick Clarke 3

I am just beginning a 7 1/4 Tich and I suspect that it will be easier to build and drive than the original one.

A Hercules or similar is far easier to build and handle than a 5" mainline express engine.

Finally - a Highlander 7 1/4" Black Five was designed to be built on a Myford lathe

Is it sensible, of course not, but I suggest you start any conversation with someone outside our hobby with the phrase "I'm building a model steam locomotive ................. " Their expression will say exactly what they think!

Nick

PS With the current availability of tracks, possibly a more interesting question would be 'Is embarking on any 2 1/2" loco other than madness?'

In an old ME article Tom Walshaw (Tubal Cain) suggests taking a large ball race from a car hub, nicking it in several places on the grinder, wrapping in sacking and hitting it with a hammer to make some parallels

When I mixed car paint for a motor factor in the 1970s we kept a large aluminium washing up bowl of cheap thinners handy for washing our hands in.

What it did to our hands, and what H&S would think today about a couple of gallons of cellulose thinner sitting there heaven only knows.

After a week or so the more volatile part of the thinners would have gone and it wouldn't clean as well - so we tipped in another gallon to refresh it ........ !

In the dim distant past I seem to have a recollection of a cream Myford lathe - old age or what??

While not a differential in the sense that a road vehicle has one, the Fell Diesel Mechanical locomotive BR 10100 certainly used a differential arrangement to couple its engines together.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_10100

Although I live in south Birmingham now, in the 90's I lived in Tividale - between Dudley and Oldbury. encouraged by locals I soon agreed that it was possible to distinguish many variants on 'Black Country' Coseley was different to Sedgeley, and yes, Lower Gornal was different to Upper Gornal! our butcher, who retired well past the normal age told me that when he moved to Coseley he fiound it hard to understand the 'locals' - about 5 miles away.