Nick Baines • Model Engineering
Tender
After the locomotive, the tender is quite straight forward. The wheels were turned from Mark Wood castings.
This is the frame assembly. The construction of inner and outer frames follows closely the prototype. There is actually a well tank between the inner frames which is just visible from the outside, and for the model it provides extra depth for the battery pack.
The trickiest bit of the tank was the flares. These were bent and shaped in the same way as I had done for several O gauge locos (the most recent being the Bloomer). Gauge 3 just demands a lot more clamping force and muscle to make the bends.
The springs and hornblocks are 3D printed, and the hornblocks are bushed with brass for the axles. The springs are non-working, and the springing is actually a coil spring between the hornblock and the dummy spring that is mostly hidden from view. The body of the brake standard is also 3D printed. Everything else is made the traditional way.
All finished and ready for the paint shop. If you look closely you can see various bits that are missing. The handrails are probably the most obvious. They will be added after painting.
The tender contains the batteries and RC gear, all from Fosworks.