1:35th Hudson rail tractor

[Bernhard]

Hello modeling friends
At the risk of boring you, I would like to present you another Fordson conversion: the Hudson rail tractor.

[Bernhard]

The Prototype

Manufacturer	Robert Hudson Ltd. of Leeds, UK
Year of construction	1924
Works number	39924
Drive	Fordson N
Drive power	20 hp
Number of gears	3 forward and 1 reverse
Track gauge	2 ft (610 mm)
Operational	Yes
Today's location	Satfold Barn Railway, Staffordshire, UK

Robert Hudson Leeds Ltd were established in 1865. The company specialized in providing light railway equipment such as prefabricated narrow gauge track sections and various designs of wagons.
When the Fordson petrol tractor became widely available in the 1920s Hudsons adapted this unit to make a simple locomotive. The locomotive used a four-wheeled cast chassis to which a roller chain drive connected to the tractor axle. The tractor gearbox had three forward speeds but only one reverse gear, which clearly was a limitation for a locomotive that has to operate bi-directionally. Only a few of these machines were constructed.

The following picture shows locomotive No. 36863 of the Leeds Industrial Museum. It was delivered to Stanton Ironworks in June 1929.
(Image: Leeds Industrial Museum)

[Bernhard]

Rail tractor No. 39924, which serves as the prototype for my model, is currently on loan from the Leeds Industrial Museum to the Statfold Barn Railway.
(Image: Statfold Narrow Gauge Museum Trust)

[Bernhard]

Using the dimensional data from the Statfold Narrow Gauge Museum Trust, the first thing I did was create a 3D model of the rail tractor, and then used that to derive all the necessary drawings for making the parts.

Bernhard

[Chuck Doan]

Yay! No arguments from me!

[finescalerr]

I agree with Chuck. In fact I was so bored that I studied each photo and everything you wrote for a long time and compared the black-and-white photo to the color photos to see how Stanton Ironworks modified it. And now I want to see how you build your model. -- Russ

[Barney]

Yes Please - a daily dose of Fordson conversions keeps you going for the day
Barney
More on this little critter can be found on an excellent CD by J Tilstons  Industrial Narrow Gauge illustrated I think its still available  - plans /photos and information lots of it

[Bernhard]

That's right, Barney. And the next conversion is already on the bench.
Thanks for pointing out the CD. I'll try to get it, even though the model is already done. But I'm always happy to get new background information on my projects.

Bernhard

[Ray Dunakin]

Cool project. I love how grimy the loco is in that vintage photo.

[Bernhard]

Today I'll show you how to make the frame.

[Bernhard]

From the first sections ...

[Bernhard]

... the base frame is soldered together.

[Bernhard]

The side plates follow.

[Bernhard]

The side ballast plates are 3D printed from plastic. Note the neat raised lettering on the center plates!

[Bernhard]

The ballast plates and a few other parts are mounted, and thus the frame is more or less finished.
The missing parts can only be attached after painting.

Bernhard