Victorian R-CLASS 4-6-4

[VK2DJ]

G'Day i am new to this forum i live in wollongong 80k south of Sydney NSW Australia & have been interested in live steam for about 20 years i have already built a freelance 2-6-0 loco
about 15 years ago but due to work commitments never proceeded any further i am semi retired & currently building a Hudson Victorian R-Class which were the last steam locos brought into victoria about 1954 there life was short lived as the first deisl loco were brought into service not long after, there is one of the class preserved at william town in Victoria
i will try & post some pictures of my progress

Yours in steam
Gary

Frames were laser cut

Frame strechers machined to size

Progress to date on frame

Hi Pamela i have been following your progress very impressed mine is in 5" gauge
as this is the most popular gauge here in Australia there are clubs that run 7 1/4 " but our local club is 5" only http://www.ils.org.au/

[Hudson Honey]

looks familiar.......

wasn't to long ago mine looked like that

Pamela

[VK2DJ]

looks familiar.......

wasn't to long ago mine looked like that

Pamela

Hi Pamela i have been following your progress very impressed my loco is in 5 " gauge as this
is the most popular gauge hear in Australia there are a lot of clubs that have 7 1/4 " gauge
but our local club is 5" only http://www.ils.org.au/
Gary

[VK2DJ]

G'Day All not much progress of late due to family commitments been working on the axle boxes just completed, next job will be fixing the horn cheeks to the frame then reassemble the frames to do final milling to size, can any one recommend the best type of paint to to use, on my last loco i used automotive acrylic black satin but it chips very easley as i like to paint the parts as completed

[Hudson Honey]

use a real good acid based metal prep to open the metal up for the paint and try and find a good "etching" primer. then your color should hold well.


Pamela

[VK2DJ]

Its been a while since my last post been making steady progress on the hudson just finished the front buffers , coupler pocket & buffer beam mounting brackets i have just received the front bogie castings & the boiler formers & patterns i will now start the front bogie

[Jim_Nolan]

Garry,

Great to see another product of the Springburn works returning to the rails. There is a DVD out there called Diamonds were forever charting the rise and fall of North British. A large portion of which is taken up with pacing and aerial shots of the steam festival featuring R707 as part of the Australian bi centennial.

I am guessing this must be predominantly a scratch build as I don’t ever remember seeing any castings or drawings for the R class in AME.

Fantastic piece of work and keep the snaps coming.

Jim

[VK2DJ]

G'Day Jim thanks for your interest there are some castings available i have the main drivers machining them is almost complete the main holdup at the moment is the cylinders they are at the foundry waiting for them to be cast they are having problems with the internal cores hope the won't be to much longer .i still have the cow catcher to fit to the front buffer beam

[VK2DJ]

Just a couple of pix of the completed axels the method i used to set the key ways at 90 deg.
was to set them up in the mill & mill a flat on the shaft & then mill the first key way then rotate the shaft & place a piece of key steel in the milled flat & butt it up to the vice jaws & then mill
the remaining key way this set worked ok the flats were removed when finish turning the axels as i could not mount them in the rotary table as the collet chuck would have hit the rotary tables chuck

[VK2DJ]

Further progress on the front buffer beam almost complete just number plates to make & chain for the uncoupler to complete assembly at present forming the boiler plates

[Jim_Nolan]

Looks great Gary, were the inter car couplers sprung? I am not clear how the buffers helped if they were.

Jim

[Trainfreak]

Jim,

If you have a close look on the prototype photos, you will see the coupler on the loco is actually on a pivot and can move out of the way for a hook and loop set up. This is what the buffers were for although the only thing I can think of that has used hook and loop on the mainline in Victoria in the last 20 years would be the veteran cars up in Seymour. And even they haven't seen use for many many years. Otherwise I believe everything else is auto coupled.

Also, just a slight nit pick, but the R class were actually the second last steam loco to be introduced on the VR. The last being the J class.

Can't wait to see the final product!

Regards,

Owen.