Chivers WDLR Hunslet 4-6-0T
For far too long I have had a Chivers WDLR Hunslet 4-6-0T in the build pile. Bought from Roger at a show in Leominster in September 2000 with the aspiration to build it to 016.5 for Ashcross, it somehow joined that pile of kits waiting for a rainy day! I remember the show as one of the early ones for Ashcross but more so as it was the beginning of the tanker driver’s strike and fuel was becoming hard to get.
Anyway, I started with the frames during the Covid lock down in 2020 but struggled with the wheels due to my own incompetence. They were very nice but I felt more comfortable using some from Mark Clarke (Locos n stuff) from his Joffre kit. These are Slaters wheels and are self-quartering. Things were put on hold when I realised that my sharp curves gave an unacceptable front bogie swing which would foul the crossheads. After a bit of head scratching and re-reading some of the build articles in the 7mm NGA’s magazine Narrow Lines I decided to widen the cylinder block and also add a couple of wires inside the frames to restrict the swing of the bogie at the rear.
It looked promising but I can’t really restrict the swing at the rear of the bogie to much without the rear driving wheels jumping off.
I originally got the Locos n Stuff wheels for a WDLR Baldwin 4-6-0T chassis and liked them so much that I bought some more. They are not cheap but they appear to be a quality product.
Don’t hold your breath on progress with this loco as my track record of success with complex valve gear is not great!
Trials of the chassis confirmed that the revised cylinder arrangement and bent wire that limits the pony truck side movement at the back should work okay. I’ve crammed as much lead as I can into the pony truck (25g) and it seems to track okay (so far). One thing I did find was that having all the driving wheels flanged (as per the prototype) was a bit tight on some of my curves and replacing the centre wheels with a flangless pair helped considerably. I know the later batches of Baldwin 4-6-0T locos were supplied with flangless centre driving wheels but I don’t think any of the Hunslets were? I suspect no one will ever know if I don’t tell anyone.
I decided to add the very nicely etched brake gear to the chassis. A bit fiddly for me but it should look okay once painted.
The pull rod down the centre of the chassis needed a couple of links to the brake cross shaft so I filed some out of some of the scrap etch. A bit messy with soldering but I don’t think it will be obvious when painted and the body fitted. I wasn’t sure where those links would be so I have put them inboard and close to the pull rod.
A test fit of the wheels, coupling and connecting rods to check if my efforts at widening the cylinder block gave me the clearance I need confirmed that it looked like it would (phew!).
Fitting the brake gear limited the pick-up options but I had a cunning plan for that.
The instructions say that while a brake pull rod has been included “it is unlikely you will be able to use it because of the number of breaks needed”. However I found it very helpful in positioning the brakes while trying to assemble everything and I think I only need to remove the section where the gear wheel goes. It is a bit tight getting the screw for the pony truck pivot under the front brake diamond shaped pull rod but it is do-able.
I used a bit of double sided copper clad fiberglass board with insulation gaps cut either side of the frames so I could still solder the board in place. It didn’t need to be double sided but it was what I had to hand. I am hoping the phosphor bronze wire will be springy enough on the wheel rims.
Meanwhile I have been adding the details to the back head. A bit fiddly for my capabilities and I decided to add hand wheels to the injectors. These are fine etchings from Wizard Models and I messed up opening up the centre hole to suit the castings. The loco will be modelled in a bit of a dilapidated state so I am not too worried about the crooked hand wheel!
Temporary connection to the motor to check I have the right polarity (which I have amazingly). Plus the pickup arrangement seems to work.
I need to do a bit more testing and a bit of running in before I mess everything up with the valve gear.
The gearbox drives the middle axle and pretty much everything including the pick-ups are either hidden or masked by the overhang from the side tanks.
The boiler should fit better once I have trimmed and fixed the wires to the motor.
Preliminary tests indicate that the pony truck tracks okay but I really need to test it out on the layout when I get a chance to set it up in the garage.
I managed to get enough space in the garage to set the layout up in preparation for the Bala show and tests confirmed that the loco was okay on the main line sections.
I also had the opportunity to test the loco on the M5-M50 NGM Group test track in both July and August (with thanks to Bill Flude for the August video).