What About The Bee

Thank you for the correction @Going Spare. Bad assumption on my part regarding rear access. There is a special form of tap called a 'bottoming tap', which is used to tap to very near the bottom of a blind hole. Usually the same price as a 'taper tap'. I am with you, go for the replacement wheel. If all else fails, establishing a new threaded hole is viable, albeit more expensive Bee

Thanks RB51!

Hi @helpmaboab The tire is metal, but the wheel is plastic. The commonly accepted practice in industry is to use a helicoil insert. That is very much overkill. Run a tap back thru the hole, making sure it is perpendicular to the wheel. Go from the back side of the wheel, as the threads there are likely not damaged and you will catch the correct orientation. Plastic will tap very easily. If you don't know the size, just measure the OD of the screw thread. Because that hole was previously tapped at that size, it will be very weak. Lightly coat your screw threads with Vaseline, as a releasing agent. Put a dab of epoxy into the hole. Run the machine screw into the part and allow to cure. Back the screw out. Voila! For the money you will spend, however, a new wheel will likely be less expensive. Bee

Always slows at top dead center (maximum piston rod extension) when forward. Are all the rods dead straight Deem? They may be slightly binding in that direction, due to a geometry error. Bee

I continue to be intrigued by the timing chain. Such a novel feature. Stephenson and Dodds, in their patent, called the part that engages the chain a "wheel furnished with cogs". When the wheel turns round, the projecting cogs enter the links, "completely preventing the chain from slipping" Detail Wood, Practical Treatise, 1825 Examining the drawing, literally centuries later, the first thing that springs to mind is a sprocket and bicycle chain. The description of function matches perfectly. Indeed, the sprocket in the Wood drawing could very well be a bicycle sprocket. Why would Stephenson and Dodds not use a bicycle chain? Well, it hadn't been invented yet. The primitive velocipede¹ was patented in 1817, two years after the Stephenson Dodds 1815 patent. The bush roller / bicycle chain wasn't invented until 1880, 66 years in the future. There is a better way to engage a chain than the method that Stephenson and Dodds used. That would be a "chain gypsy"² typically found on a windlass or capstan for raising and lowering an anchor chain. This provides excellent purchase on the chain. The "double studded chain wheel" (chain gypsy) was patented by George Daniel Davis³ , who specifically claimed the construction of the chain wheel "so constructed that every alternate link of the [chain] may lay flat upon the edge or circumference" of the chain wheel. Patented in 1858, 44 years in the future for Stephenson and Dodds. Stephenson and Dodds, lacking a time machine, could not use a bicycle chain or a chain gypsy. Hence the 'wheel with cogs' and chain. In examining the chain coupling, I think it important to understand the purpose. It was to retain the quartering between the front and rear axles. Most steam locomotives, like Rocket and successors, are quartered across the axle. The quartering is precisely fixed at 90°, since both wheels are hard mounted to that axle. Chain coupled axles need not be so precise. Yet on these chain coupled locomotives, as long as one piston was still somewhere in the power portion of the stroke when the other was at top/bottom dead center; the locomotive would still start. Therefore a few degrees of quartering error would not matter. Indeed, Staniers 3 cylinder engines for the LMS show that quartering need not be at 90°. The drawings show no idlers to take up tension and the drawing by Stephenson himself show the chain to be slack. A very near contemporary book: History and Progress of the Steam Engine, Galloway,1834 states what must be an innovation post patent. Chains wear and the affect of the wear is called "chain stretch"⁴. The innovation described was interesting. "When the chain got worn by frequent use, or was stretched, so as to become too long, one of the [axles] could be moved to tighten [the chain] again, until a link could be taken out, when the [axle] was moved back again to its former station". They shifted an axle to set chain tension! This has a small affect on the angle of quartering, again, it is not significant. The number of times the removal of a link could be performed is obviously limited. Eventually, the links would wear through. When replacing a chain, yachties are advised to replace the chain gypsy as well. In Stephenson's case, that would be the wheel with cogs. Bee ¹a two wheeled bicycle without pedals or chains. Indeed, there was an early foot powered velocipede railway car noted in 1829. Sadly, no images of this car exist (to my knowledge). The car is fairly well documented in the press. https://community.hornbyhobbies.com/forums/topic/35033-an-unknown-lmr-carriage-emerges-from-the-press/#comment-372391 ² the actual term. In the US, "chain wildcat" ³ text of Davis patent https://books.google.com/books?id=8lzbPMbBLYcC&pg=RA12-PA1 Patent Drawing https://books.google.com/books?id=8lzbPMbBLYcC&pg=RA13-PP4 ⁴ As a chain wears, the chain apparently gets longer. In actuality the inside contact surfaces of the links wear away. This wear makes the center distance between two links sepatate. When accumulated over many links the length of chain measurably increases. Chain stretch.

You really have nothing to lose @Peter-1202310 While you will never get it factory straight, you will get it plenty good enough. Use a metal ruler to get the running board straight. The secret sauce is plenty of patience. Move it a little at a time. As Three Link says, warm it up, a little bend, cool it down. Take your time between bends to study your next move. The railways didn't run pristine locomotives either. They got banged up and abused by the railways. Good Luck! Bee Non-runners will turn up on auction sites. Make a precise match search and an alert when one is listed. You can get a new body from a hulk.

Rana In FreeCAD, you sketch in a 2D plane. XY, XZ and YZ base planes. You can draw in any arbitrary plane (datum), but setting that up at first can be daunting. Example: this mock up of a Hornby Finescale Chain took 11 sketches, 9 sketches in datum planes, to match the link orientation. The remaining sketches were one in XY and the other in XZ . The sketch in each datum plane was a simple oval, representing one link along the arc. When drawing in the plane that you select, you want to achieve a "fully constrained drawing". Meaning the lines, arcs, points, circles and ellipses have been defined and fixed. This is very important, as FreeCAD will recompute your model periodically and unconstrained sketches can move about. FreeCAD can be made to tell you what is uncontrained. Once the sketch is done and saved. You either extrude it to transform that sketch into a solid or use the sketch to cut through other solids. In the case of the finescale chain, each link was padded symmetric to the sketch. It extruded on either side of the datum, with the thickness I measured off of the real part. You go from the 2D world in a sketch, and extrude / cut the part in the 3D world. I have barely scratched the surface of FreeCAD. The power is simply amazing. The negative with FreeCAD I have read about is that compared to things like Solidworks, the commands are clunky, that it takes longer to set things up. Maybe, but I am not running a department with Mechanical Engineers on the clock. It is just me, playing. Bee

@The son of Triangman While the learning curve is quite steep, the power of FreeCAD is amazing. Totally free. All models are local (on your machine). Its a worthy contender Bee

Agreed @LTSR_NSE With the one exclusion that it was implied that the internet does not apply to car purchases. Living proof right here that it does. The internet is altering all aspects of retail sales. It is not a good idea to ignore it. Bee

I bought my spanking new vehicle over the internet within the last year. No test drive necessary. 100% over the internet. I just showed up to drive it off the lot. Bee

I think the part of the pantograph is this one Note the two large holes on centerline and the four 'legs'. If not mistaken, I think the entire part conducts electricity, so this base part will be metal. Bee

Hi @Darren-373700 When chasing the one in front? I want to catch the rabbit. When running from the one behind? Ominous music plays in my head. Lots of leg room for the locomotives on your layout. Big trains, high speeds. Fun!! Bee

Hornby Annual Report 2024 #1 Headline: D2C sales D2C / Gross Sales £10M / £56.2M = 17.79% Dunno if I would call that a nightmare. Bee

A corollary to this is that the Manufacturer's Webpages are the shop window. If the window is in disarray or filled with errors, it drives clients away. A client should not have to struggle with those webpages. Hornby needs to get on top of this. I understand the web pages are being brought in house. Hopefully, some of the nonsensical errors disappear. Hornby also needs to cut out DIP. Deceptive Imagery Persuasion. To often the images related to a product are inaccurate. Showing both sides of two coaches should not make the client believe that the purchase is for four coaches. I am told to read what is written, and not rely upon the images. That is precisely when you know you are a victim of DIP. And whilst I feel for the Local Model Shop, times are changing. Change with the times. Do not be Fezziwig who tried to preserve a way of life, and went bankrupt in the process [Tip of the cap to Dickens]. Bee

Whatever aspect of the hobby you engage in, be it scratch builder, diorama builder, trainspotting on a loop of track, etc; you are enthusiastic about what you are doing. If you collect, then you are enthusiastic about your collection. The term modeler doesn't fit If you like the landscaping and trains just happen to be there, you are enthusiastic about dioramas. The term collector doesn't fit. If I like the historical research aspect, then I am enthusiastic about discovering the old ways. The term modeler doesn't fit. Or collector, unless you think I am collecting trivia. Enthusiastic about night running and installing lights in your passenger cars? The term collector doesn't fit. I am enthusiastic about scratch building locomotives. It does make me a modeler.. Does that make me a collector? Engineering a level crossing. Which category would you place that in? I over-used the words to emphasize how there is always a positive connotation with one of them. No matter which aspect of the hobby, a person who shows interest and passion is showing enthusiasm. An Enthusiast. And that's me Bee

Section Header Descriptions: will cut down on misplaced topics. It will be easier for correspondents to pick the correct one. I prefer the term "Enthusiast". It brings to mind enthusiasm and positive spirit. It avoids categorization, such as the term collector. Bee

Apparently not the only one https://community.hornbyhobbies.com/forums/topic/35881-request-how-to-remove-models-from-your-wishlist/#comment-385453 In the Airfix forum, same issue Bee

Hi Colin The sounds in the Hornby sound file may very well be compressed. Its a distinct possibility. That would be a detailed feature on top of the basic structure however. It is unknown if 64Mbit of flash is overkill to express the fullness of all the (ahem) bells and whistles. 🙂 If not, sure, compression. Tomaz is still at the starting gate. I wish him luck Bee

Sweep Rods The authors of the Locomotion paper of 2023 make much of Newton's second page. I will quote again. Newton "London Journal" 1825 "The induction and eduction valves of both cylinders are worked by rods connected to eccentrics below, and the alternating power of the pistons is communicated by parallel motions and sweep rods on each side to cranks upon the spokes of the running wheels". The implication that sweep rods are coupling rods is so strong that I accepted it without research. Yet... What is a sweep rod? "Life of Richard Trevithick" has a paragraph where a pump is shown. The flywheel is driven by a sweep rod. The discussion is about a crank pin on the flywheel or a cranked axle driven by the sweep rod. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/46634/46634-h/46634-h.htm Search on page for "sweep rod". There are other steam driven pumping engine descriptions that use the term sweep rod. It is always to connect the piston to rotating motion via crank axle or crank pin. Here is a page that specifically states that a sweep rod is a connecting rod. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Levant_Mine_and_Beam_Engine Search on page for "sweep rod". Therefore, l flatly state that the "sweep rod" is today's connecting rod. The rod that connects the action of the piston to the wheel rotation. Not a coupling rod, that connects wheels together So now we can label the sweep rods on the drawing Can we satisfy Newton's description? "Power of pistons communicated by parallel motions and sweep rods on each side to cranks upon the spokes." "Parallel motion" As you may observe, as the piston reciprocates, the top cross beam is driven up and down. The sweep rods are connected to crank pins on either side of the axle, those pins in phase with each other. Thus, the TWO sweep rods remain parallel to each other throughout the piston stroke. Why would Newton emphasize parallelism? James Watt invented the first steam pump in 1769. By 1825, there would have been plenty of steam pumps. Each steam pump with a sweep rod, a singular sweep rod. Stephenson's locomotive was fairly novel, with the Hetton engines first arriving in 1820. Newton published in 1825. The double sweep rod parallel motion was as unique as the locomotives. "Sweep rods to cranks" Well, sure, the sweep rods are connected to the cranks on the spokes of the wheels. Read the Newton description again and ask yourself, how is that a coupling rod. Bee