The Internet Craftsmanship Museum Presents:

Australians Ross and Daphne Bishop with their 1/10scale "Standard Goods" Locomotive. (Click on photo to view larger image.)

Introduction

Mention the term "Model Engineer" and the first thing that comes to mind for most people is a miniature railroad locomotive. Though engineering for miniature models has always included more than just steam engines, locomotives have long been a large part of the hobby of model engineering. Model engineer Ross Bishop has built a number of live steam locomotives, the one featured in this article being his tenth. With an early interest in models, early experience with machine tools thanks to his father and the training as a toolmaker, he has a lifetime of experience behind this latest project, and it shows in his fine execution.

Getting started early

Ross Bishop was born in 1961 and began modelling machinery at the age of eight with plastic kits, Meccano sets and great encouragement from his parents. The skills to make things from scratch began to develop around age 11 or 12 when his father, a civil engineer, purchased a small lathe and drill press to compliment a range of hand tools in the home workshop. At a young age he often started with elaborate and ambitious plans, some of which were doomed to end in disappointment, but these also taught lessons in perseverance. Eventually, in a couple of years he was smoking up the shed with quite adequate coal fired stationary steam plants. A second-hand, 5-inch gauge locomotive, purchased and rebuilt with his father, further drove the ambition to make better steam models. The first locomotive fully designed and built by Ross, a narrow gauge 0-6-2, was completed at around age 20.

Training as a toolmaker added a knowledge of materials, heat treatment and more efficient ways to produce parts. Purchasing his own machine tools was inevitable, and more ambitious projects were undertaken including restoration of a full-size traction engine requiring major boiler and mechanical reconstruction.

Feeling unfulfilled “repairing” rather than “building,” Ross returned to modelling, completing several locomotives, rolling stock and a garden railway over the 20 years following. Locomotive 5148, the feature of this contribution, was the tenth completed (2004). Ross says, “My favourite models connect me with a personal experience that I want to keep fresh in my memory and relive at will. Having other people relate to my models is a vital component of the reward.” He goes on to say, “The model has to be many things combined: an authentic miniature, a well engineered workhorse and a personal expression of a much loved machine. Any of these in isolation is not nearly enough.”

The following description of what went into building his latest steam engine project was submitted by Ross.

Building 5148

2-8-0 Steam locomotive No. 5148 nearly complete and ready for paint. (Click photo to view larger image.)

The Model

The “Standard Goods” locomotives of the New South Wales Government Railways (Australia) were introduced by the Chief Mechanical Engineer, Mr. William Thow in 1896 to a Beyer Peacock & Co design (Great Britain), some remaining in service for over 70 years. Among 280 engines, various boilers, smokeboxes, crossheads, tenders, brake cylinders, compressors, electric lighting, ladders, couplings and other modifications were implemented during that time. To authentically model a locomotive you have to select one in particular and model it at a particular period of its life.

Authenticity

The original 5148, now scrapped, worked in Albury (mid-way between Sydney and Melbourne) during the 1960’s as a yard shunting engine. My model is an externally accurate portrayal of 5148 in those days with attention to riveting, pipe runs, brackets and all other visible features. For example, the tender was equipped with electric lighting although the engine was not, an unusual “flat top” tool box was located on the tender, and the re-railing jack remained in place even though most went missing being too heavy to put back after use. In addition, air receivers were welded, not riveted and the “small” brake cylinder remained unchanged. Tail rods, mostly removed by then, remained.

Reference material, besides published photographs and museum exhibits, also included copies of original drawings signed and dated by W. Thow 10.9.(18)96.

Engineered to Work

Beneath the facade of “externally authentic” lies a machine designed to work. Weighing only 75 kg the model can haul 1000 kg forward or backward, and will do so for hundreds of hours/kilometres. The coal-fired boiler is designed to supply sufficient steam continuously, without difficulty, and under any conditions. The driver can ride without causing damage. Mechanical movements, faithful in principle, are designed for precise function. Non-authentic components essential for hard work are disguised or surreptitiously hidden from view. 

Non-scale structural strength and weight for adhesion is built in without compromising the appearance. Assembly or dismemberment is made possible by design, the major assemblies remaining independent but for a few fasteners. Where necessary, special fasteners and fittings have been “developed” to overcome access or manufacturing or functional design problems.

Artistic Expression

This aspect of a model is far more subjective. Capturing the “appeal” of a particular locomotive as seen through the eye of the beholder cannot be defined in purely engineering terms. If anything, this challenges me more than either the research or the engineering. The matter seems to require considerable sensitivity to aesthetics, appropriate choice of materials, finish and a sharp eye for shape. A dome shade without a slight taper looks top-heavy. The cab sides curve in a slightly parabolic arc, not a radius as commonly supposed.

The paint finish is critical. A durable, industrial strength finish that fully covers and protects without drowning the details is needed. A deliberate shade of “dull” to get the look of “weathered metal” is applied. Black is mixed in colours to make them “dirty.” Wood grain is darkly accentuated for a “worn by dirty boots” feel. Chemical blackening is also used for a “bare iron” look. Curiously, some bright work is still needed to retain the charm of a miniature.

Prototypical appearance, feel and function of the controls is vital to the driving experience. Making a small handle, I imagine my hand giving the real one a shove and engine reacting under my feet. Some compromise is necessary for functional parts like sight glasses, etc.  

Like artistic expression, success or failure can only be measured by another person’s response. One fellow, a former engineman, spent several minutes peering into the cab of my model. Clearly, memories of his working life played out in his mind. Finally, he said, “You got it just about right in there but your brake handle might be a bit high.”

“Oh?” I said.

He went on, “I used to sit there between fires with my leg up over the handle. I don’t think it would be comfortable on yours.”

—Ross Bishop

Web video and slide show

• For a well-filmed video view of what it is like to be the engineer as 5148 steams around a scenic park layout watch the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ2_siYwJS0.

• A flash slide show including some of the photos below can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DV0frmd348.

View a selection of photos of Ross Bishop's work:

(Click photos for larger images.)

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