Hello model building friends
You may have noticed that I am a fan of Fordson conversions. Today I would like to introduce you to a new project on this topic: the Muir Hill rail tractor. This is another narrow gauge critter powered by a Fordson tractor.
The Prototype
Manufacturer | Muir Hill (Engineers) Ltd, Manchester, GB |
Year of construction | 1925 |
Drive | Fordson N |
Drive power | 20 hp |
Number of gears | 3 forward and 1 reverse |
Speed | About 10mph (16 km/h) in top gear |
Track gauge | 2 ft (610 mm) |
Weight | 4.5 t |
Operational | Yes |
Today's location | Privately owned by Colin Copcutt, GB |
Muir Hill (Engineers) Ltd based at Old Trafford in Manchester, started in the early 1920's. Amongst other products they built rather basic petrol engined locomotives, mainly for narrow gauge. The early locos were little more than a Fordson tractor skid mounted on a rail chassis, with a chain connecting the rear axle of the tractor to the rail wheels. The simple drive concept was a real weak point. If you couldn't sweep the rail tractor at the end of the track, you had to reverse at snail's pace.
The firm was sold in 1959 to the Winget group from Rochester, Kent.
Colin Copcutt, the current owner, writes about his rail tractor with the number 110, its odyssey and its successful restoration:
"Muir Hill No.110 was ordered in March 1925 by T Day and Sons Ltd, the Ford main agent in Okehampton, on behalf of Meeth (North Devon) China Clay Company limited. The China Clay Company quarried ball clay deposits from pits in Woolladon and Stockleigh. Two-foot gauge railways were built to transport the ball clay from the pits to the works and the interchange with the standard gauge railway. More modern locomotives were purchased in the late 1940s and the Muir Hill was probably not used after their delivery.
The remains of the loco were purchased by Rich Morris in 1970 who stored it on a farm in Longfield, Kent. In 1976 it was moved to the Gloddfa Ganol 'museum' in Blaenau Festiniog and then subsequently sold on, in 1997, to the Abbey Light Railway in Leeds.
What I purchased in October 2014 was the bare frames, the buffers, four new wheels, two new axles and a box of assorted castings. A project plan was developed for the restoration of the loco, with the initial emphasis on working towards a rolling chassis. Fabricated axle boxes and axle box keep plates were designed and built, the wheels were pressed onto the axles and new springs made. In the box of castings received, there were some components which were likely to have been part of the original loco braking system. Using these as patterns, a number of new castings were made and machined. The vital parts of the braking system including the handbrake column and all of the brake actuating mechanism were missing so a whole new system was designed. A mixture of castings and fabrications were used for the operating mechanisms together with a second-hand ACME screw thread and nut for the brake screw mechanism.
A Fordson tractor was purchased, overhauled and converted to the correct specification for the loco.
The relevant tractor parts were fitted to the chassis and new drive sprockets manufactured. Drive chains have been fitted, hidden beneath the newly manufactured chain guards".
Now the rail tractor presents itself perfectly restored and operational.
The model
Colin provided me with the main dimensions and various detailed photos of the rail tractor. With this I was able to create a first dimension sheet.
This resulted in a 3D model with all the necessary detailed drawings for the manufacturing of the parts.
Bernhard
Hi Bernard.
that you for a great background it is going to be a wonderful model-1/35 scale?.
Happy Christmas.
Please keep us up to date on your progress. -- Russ
Yes Kim, it's 1:35th. News coming soon!
Bernhard
Wow, they did a great job restoring that loco! What an excellent subject to model.
Let's start with the frame.
The side parts cannot be made from one piece because of the pockets.
They are therefore composed of two parts.
The pockets are milled into the upper parts with a circular saw blade.
The contours of the lower parts are milled on the turntable.
Finally, the upper and lower parts are soldered together.
Front and back of the frame are 3D printed parts. This was the only way to reproduce the waffle pattern on the side kicks (unfortunately hardly visible on the photo).
Also the buffer plates are 3D-printed, because I don't have a suitable circular saw blade for milling the slots.
The front tractor carrier is also made according to the slice principle:
Milling a profile
Cut off slice
Drilling
Ready!
The crank guide is manufactured in a similar way.
The manufacturing of the rear tractor carriers:
First the contour of the lower parts is pre-machined.
Then the upper and lower parts are clamped together and the axle hole is drilled.
Finally, the parts are cut from the bar.
This is followed by the holders for fixing the brake shoes.
The last parts: the two coupling bolts.
Now all parts are ready for the assembly of the frame.
Bernhard
That must have required a few days' work. Satisfactory. -- Russ
Nice work!
This is incredible micro-engineering!
Les
Very nice - incredible machine work
Barney
Beautiful work, and a great prototype!
Thanks for your interest!
The upper frame part is soldered together now with the resistance soldering device.
Then the 3D-printed front and rear parts are glued on.
This is followed by the side panels, which are also glued in place.
Then the holders for the brakes and the lower rear tractor supports are mounted.
Now the frame is more or less ready.
Bernhard
Very nice, much inspiring!
It's always a treat to watch your models come together. -- Russ
The drive of the rail tractor is the next assembly.
(Photos: Colin Copcutt)
The 3D-model.
The wheel bearings are first pre-milled as a cross-sectional profile, ...
... then cut into slices with a circular saw blade, ...
... and then drilled. Done.
The chains are etched and glued together from three layers.
The chain guards also consist of etched parts. The sheet metal strip on top is annealed to make it easier to bend into shape.
The individual parts are soldered and glued together.
Holders for fixing the chain guards.
Now the drive can be installed in the frame.
And then the rail tractor stands on its own wheels for the first time.
Bernhard
Very nice -Enginerring in miniature perfect - are the PE chains available or did you have them made to your requirements
Barney
Barney, I have the chain etched as needed because axle distance and number of teeth on the sprockets are always different.
Bernhard
You are truly a master craftsman and it is a real pleasure to see your models evolve. Those etched parts are just perfect. -- Russ
Wow! Great work! Can the wheels still turn, or are they held in place by the non-functional chain?
Thanks guys. Ray, yes the wheels can turn. The holes in the hubs of the sprockets are slightly larger than the axles. The axles are even properly sprung.
Bernhard
What are the steps in making PE parts - will the company do the drawings if a "basic drawing" (freehand Drawing) with sizes is supplied - Im interested in those drive chains -I need six of various sizes for my Keystone skimmer project
Barney
Barney, the supplier needs a 1:1 drawing of the complete etch sheet, with front and back side.
He then etches the sheet from this.
The chain is built from 3 layers, each 0.3 mm thick.
The hubs are turned parts that are put on separately.
I don't know if my supplier draws the etching templates himself, and if he delivers abroad (he is based in Germany). I can ask him after the holidays.
But I could make the drawing for your chains. Maybe you have a supplier near you.
Bernhard
Barney, good news: the supplier also works with fully meshed hand sketches and delivers to England.
The supplier is: http://www.aehc.de/Modellbau1/ (http://www.aehc.de/Modellbau1/)
Email documents to Thomas Engel: CDS@AeHC.de
Please send him your complete contact information, so he can follow up if needed.
Bernhard
Bernhard - thanks for sorting my PE issues will be in touch soon - sent you an email
Barney
Amazing! Fun to see how it it built.
Awesome craftsman work!
Franck
Back to the topic: the next assembly is the brake of the rail tractor. Again, Colin Copcutt's photos provided me with valuable information.
(Photos: Colin Copcutt)
The design: a few parts are slightly simplified so that they can be made at all.
First, the contour of the traverses is milled on the rotary table.
Then the parts are slotted ...
... and finally soldered the bolts for the brake shoes.
The lever is slotted, then drilled and cut to length.
More small parts follow:
I had to do the brake linkage twice because I didn't look closely enough at the photos.
Above the correct version, below the scrap.
Something like this happens from time to time.
Parts for support and bearing the brake spindle:
The handwheel is brass, 3D printed/cast at Shapeways.
The brake is now partially pre-assembled. The rest can only be attached after painting.
Bernhard
World class fabrication. -- Russ
Bernhard, Your work is exemplary.
Fantastic work on such tiny parts!
What I love about this forum is the wide variety of skills, methods, and materials used by the various modelers in pursuit of the same goal - creating realistic scale models.
That gives me an idea: I'm going to ask each guy here to create a part of my next model so I won't have to build, paint, or weather any of it myself! -- ssuR
I agree with all- plus a very nice piece of miniature engineering
Barney
Quote from: finescalerr on January 19, 2021, 08:36:01 PM
That gives me an idea: I'm going to ask each guy here to create a part of my next model so I won't have to build, paint, or weather any of it myself! -- ssuR
You're getting a bit slow in your old age , Russ. You should get everyone to contribute to your next model and get them to pay for the privilege. It would be like a subscription and everyone who contributes gets to have their name included on a very nice scroll personally signed by yourself , which could then be purchased for the special introductory price of $9.99 for a limited period .
I'm off to cast 10,000 bricks for you .
Nick, I think I'll hire you as my business manager. -- Russ
Quote from: finescalerr on January 21, 2021, 01:36:40 PM
Nick, I think I'll hire you as my business manager. -- Russ
Do I get my own office with my name on the door and the key to the executive bathroom ?
Go stand in the corner! -- Russ
Beautiful work Bernhard!
You are the Metal Guru!
Quote from: finescalerr on January 21, 2021, 09:04:30 PM
Go stand in the corner! -- Russ
Well ,that didn't last long .
Quote from: TRAINS1941 on January 22, 2021, 05:50:05 AM
Quote from: shropshire lad on January 22, 2021, 01:00:51 AM
Quote from: finescalerr on January 21, 2021, 09:04:30 PM
Go stand in the corner! -- Russ
Well ,that didn't last long .
Do you ever sleep???
Jerry
Jerry,
You forget over here in civilisation we are ahead of you in time . Nominally 5 to 8 hours , but in reality 50 years !
Nick
Thanks for your feedback.
For the tractor, I again fell back on the model from Plusmodel.
This is now already the third model that I build. And each time I am more annoyed about certain inaccuracies of the actually otherwise good model:
The stub axles of the rear axle are crooked.
I tried to improve this by first milling the mounting surfaces in a jig and then drilling the axle holes.
The success was unfortunately only moderate.
In addition, the fuel tank is crooked on the base body of the tractor when viewed from the front.
This can be hidden to some extent by gluing a 0.25 mm thick shim to the contact surface of the tank support.
With a few tricks, the tractor was ready after all.
Now all parts are ready for painting and assembly.
The primer is done with a solvent-based varnish from Mr. Surfacer, ...
... the final painting with water-soluble paints from Vallejo.
Now the drive can be installed ...
... and the brake can be completed.
The tractor is built up, ...
... and finally the chain guards are mounted.
With this, the little rail tractor is ready, and can be released into its natural environment.
Thanks to the support of Colin Copcutt, the model is very close to the prototype. I have therefore also deliberately refrained from aging the model, because the prototype is also freshly painted and clean. In doing so, I accept that the paint job is somewhat lacking in depth and texture.
...
And off we go to the next project.
Bernhard
You turned a mediocre kit into a masterpiece. Satisfactory. -- Russ
Bernhard
thus the model has a certain museum character, which I consider very successful.
Just a beautiful model Bernhard! Great job!
Hi Bernard.
As another modeller is this scale range personally just great will look forward to seeing it at work.
Cheers Kim
Beautiful job Bernhard!
Franck
It looks fine - loved and looked after - fresh from the paint shop
Barney
Most excellent!