Donated part-built 3.5" Titch - Questions and help needed please!

[delalio]

Hello everybody,

So I was recently donated a 3.5" Titch from a fellow club member. He stared it around 20 years ago, and has not touched it for around 19. He said I may get more mileage out of it that he did.

I'll upload some pics, shortly, but I have 2 questions.

1 - Is there a standard set of things to check when receiving a part built model? It seems well built, and he is a particularly conscientious builder, but Im a bit out of my depth here.
2 - Does anybody have any digital copies of the 3.5" Titch plans? I have 7 sheets of the 9? 3 are fine, but 4 are illegible as they are so faded.

Kindest Regards,

Del

 

[Mike1]

PDF version of Tich construction articles and drawings for downloading Here LBSC Steam Engine Plans
If the model has a boiler that will need checked/tested before use, if the running gear is fitted does everything rotate, work smoothly.
Mike.

 

[delalio]

PDF version of Tich construction articles and drawings for downloading Here LBSC Steam Engine Plans
If the model has a boiler that will need checked/tested before use, if the running gear is fitted does everything rotate, work smoothly.
Mike.

Mike, that is perfect, thanks. A massive amount of information in that 200p file.

Yep,. the wheels rotate freely, and do not slop in the joints/bearings.

There is no boiler, and I will probably make that myself. Just going through the plans now to see it's design. I've already made a small 3in boiler, and am about to start a larger 4.5in one. Both are for stationary steam plants.

Thanks again for the link.

 

[deverett]

You might care to check the latest boiler testing requirements. LBSC's boiler design is more than 50 years old and safety rules have changed quite a bit since then.
https://www.sfmes.co.uk/ydrRoot/committees/boilerSC/Forms/testCode2018_volume1.pdf will give you some bed time reading.
Dave
The Emerald Isle

 

[delalio]

Thanks for the advice, Yeah I'll definitely do that when I am at the boiler stage...

Last question: There seems to be various options for the build. (Small vs large boiler, valve gear, etc.)

What would people's recommendations be on those?

Kindest Regards,

Del

 

[deverett]

You would be advised to make the larger boiler. Even this is very small and in order to keep any steam pressure in the boiler, you will need to keep a very close eye on water level and fire when you drive it.

The simplest valve gear is slip eccentric. With this gear, you will have to manually push/pull the engine to for about half a rev to engage the reverse/forward gear.
LBSC was very keen on Baker valve gear. This is basically a simplified Walschaert's gear. Or (if drawn) probably the simplest gear would be Stephenson's link motion (after the slip eccentric).

Dave
The Emerald Isle

 

[Scrat]

Get the book, read it front to back.
Then you will have a good understanding where to look for possible errors/mismatches.

 

[Gwyn Roberts]

PDF version of Tich construction articles and drawings for downloading Here LBSC Steam Engine Plans
If the model has a boiler that will need checked/tested before use, if the running gear is fitted does everything rotate, work smoothly.
Mike.

The link for LBSC Steam Engine Plans does not work ?

 

[Mike1]

The link for LBSC Steam Engine Plans does not work ?

I believe the site has been down for some time, I have just tried the link and all I get is an error code.
Mike1

 

[Charles Lamont]

This is what you want:

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/...sortby=17&tn=simple model locomotive building