Speedy Frames

[Peter Simpson 1Participant @petersimpson1]

I'm slowly progressing a 5" gauge Speedy. Today I ran the engine off my compressor. It's still quite tight and will need some running in. This is my first loco and the reason I went down the Speedy road was it has a book to assist the novice.

As I progress the build, one thing is starting to annoy me. I'm now having to drill / tap additional holes in the frames that were not shown in the frame diagrams. These holes are for brakes, pump supports etc. These holes have to be drilled off hand with an electric drill, so accuracy is compromised. Is this normal for other locos. Should I have identified these holes prior to constructing the frames and motion etc ?

[Peter Simpson 1Participant @petersimpson1]

Additional holes

[julian atkinsParticipant @julianatkins58923]

peter,

simple answer is yes!

cheers,

julian

[Bob YouldonParticipant @bobyouldon45599]

Good morning Peter,

Sadly the majority of LBSC's designs will require the builder to retro drill holes, some plain drillings, some tapped for various items as the build progresses; now for the skilled this may not be too much of a problem, but for the beginner it can be an absolute pain. The quality of drawings available to the model engineer varies considerably from little more than verbal notes and sketches to the very comprehensive. Whilst it is very easy to be critical and somewhat negative; In the case of Speedy it must be remembered old Curly having written up and drawn the locomotive to the best of his ability was his take on the western region 15XX class locomotive but he never built a locomotive in 5" gauge, yet here is a design of which probably hundreds have been built over the years, probably each one accompanied a similar gnashing of teeth because vital drillings etc were not shown on the drawings!

This forum will be useful to you insofar as there are many out there who have completed Speedy and as I have found over my many years a model engineer, there is always someone out there with that little nugget of useful advice. You don't say if you are a member of a local club, always a good thing as practical advice is generally freely available, but seek out the builders not the theorists.

Regards,

Bob. . . . .

[wendy jacksonParticipant @wendyjackson]

Peter, I to am wotking on a speedy.at the moment I have the frames made and on wheels, pump in place.and cylinders sorted.now working on connecting rods etc.i have found the drawings next to useless, with many mistakes .the book copies the mistakes and in places the author makes reference to drawings that are not in the book.it eill be a slow build, but what the hell its only a hobby. Michael

[MICHAEL WILLIAMSParticipant @michaelwilliams41215]

Hi ,

Why not get the drawings for the real engine and do it properly ?

No ‘ great expertise and experience ‘ went into any published designs like Speedy .

Indeed the average ape could probably do better with crayons .

With the full size drawings , a few ideas taken from better published designs and a bit of common sense a much more satisfactory engine can be made .

Apart from improved functionality and much reduced construction problems the finished engine would actually look like a little 1500 rather than something from a comic .

Regards ,

MikeW

[Peter Simpson 1Participant @petersimpson1]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies, I was aware that Speedy drawing and the description of the build in the "Building Speedy" book did leave a lot to be desired, as for the frame drawing I cannot believe the numbers of holes that are not shown.

As for the very helpful comments from the obvious expert Mr M Williams, no wonder so many projects fall by the wayside. I bet he knows how many rivets there are in an A4's tender !

[John BillardParticipant @johnbillard11913]

I am building a loco using works drawings and it is something I would not recommend for a beginner. Such a person has much to cope with already. And the works drawings would not be much use for holes in frames for things such as water pumps on a Speedy!

Best wishes

John B

[wendy jacksonParticipant @wendyjackson]

these are a few pics of the speedy I am working on at the moment. michael

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

A suggested aid to drilling 'freehand' holes is a toolmaker's clamp with a hole in one jaw to take different sized drilling bushes. set up the clamp with the hole centred over the chosen location, pop in a bush and then drill with a hand or pistol drill.

I've never actually done this as I never forget to drill holes or put them in the wrong place.

Neil

[julian atkinsParticipant @julianatkins58923]

peter,

there isnt any shame in drilling with an electric hand held drill for things such as brackets for running boards, cab steps etc. main thing is to drill them a size under clearance size then open up accordingly. ive built a few locos to my own design and and have often forgotton holes to drill, or have had to plug and then re- drill once the frames are assembled.

so long as the structural parts are done early on additional holes arent really a problem and tapping same etc.

what is far more important with SPEEDY is that you make the loco to don ashton's re-design of the valve gear EIM 2009, and get a jolly good fit on the piston valves. everything else is pretty much immaterial.

cheers and good luck!

julian

[Peter Simpson 1Participant @petersimpson1]

Hi Julian,

Thanks for your advise. I have indeed completed the valve gear to the Don Ashton's modifications, and the piston valves are a super fit into the valve cylinders.

Thanks

Peter

[DMBParticipant @dmb]

I managed to drill a damn great big hole 1" adrift in my Sweet Pea frames! Reason was I used an old steel rule where I was unsure about "zero" on left hand side so did all marking out from the 1" position and guess what! Cure: make another hole in the right place and fit an obvious patch plate over the wrong-un. (And chuck that rule!) Frame patching was good enough for the GWR so why not in 5"G "Treacle Mine Lines"

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

Roger Froud (this site) is making a SPEEDY Wiki

http://building-lbscs-speedy.wikia.com/wiki/Building_LBSC's_'SPEEDY'

If he hasn't seen this, I am sure he would want to include any 'errors' we builders find in the drawings / construction.

BobH

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