|
The "Washington" Story
I am a model maker and not a railway enthusiast so it
was difficult for me to choose a loco that I really
wanted to build. A holiday in California took me to
a Live Steamer Event in Griffiths Park, L.A. and I was
fascinated by the old American profile locos.
Washington is a Reeves design and the drawings were
prepared from originals by David Piddington. Very few
(if any) models have been completed and this seems to
be the only one in UK.
The American 4-4-0 is very different in structure to
British profiles and is very attractive to the "experts"
i.e. the children in the park!
It took 2000 hours spread over 7 years to build. First
run in 2003. It is my first loco and it probably would
have been better to build a well tried design first.
But, of course, a lot of loco experience was available
from other club members. Not quite finished yet (are
they ever?) with jobs like the following to be done
:-
-making the cylinder cladding (spinning the brass end
covers will be a new skill to be learned)
-tool boxes for the tender
Washington runs very well after a couple of design problems
were overcome. The main ones were :-
-the valve slides were not the correct dimension for
the ports
-not enough air getting through the fire with the blower
or on blast. Fixed by drilling a row of holes along
the front of the ashpan just below the grate.
-the jet holes in the blower were enlarged
-the spark deflector was raised higher above the chimney
extension.
-the drawings use concentric superheaters and when one
of these failed (after 5 years) the advice from the
clubhouse was to redesign using dual stainless tubes.
The result is much better steaming. Washington will
now get round the track notched back and maintaining
full pressure!
I haven't managed to get the whistle (two tone) working
properly on steam (this seems to be an art rather than
science) and I have found that the oil reservoir runs
out after about 90 minutes of continuous running. (needs
a bigger reservoir?)
All things considered this project was quite a challenge
but extremely satisfying.
Meanwhile, as a practising clockmaker, I really must
get on and build a clock. If I can just find the time!!
Stuart Clayton
updated June 2010
|
