Coffee Pot Modifications.

Coffee Pot Modifications :   Mods and detailing on a scratchbuilt Neilson & Co 0:4:0  Coffee Pot. After reading other modellers blogs, its seems that quite a few of us are plaqued with infinished projects syndrome, with incomplete models littering our shelfs. In my case, I  had scratchbuilt 16 locos and 5 remained unfinished, so a decision was made to try and get  some of them transferred to the done section. This scratchbuilt model of the coffeepot was  started some 30 years ago, but because of its racehorse like running qualities was put aside  and forgotten for a few months, then years. This just might have been a lesson in ' is it  worth scratchbuilding a loco when you have very little information '.
This is yet another loco built to run EM gauge that needed modifying to P4. During the initial dismantle of the loco, I was a little surprised with the lack of gearbox and method I'd used  for the drive. If memory serves, the boiler had been turned on a lathe and bored out so that  the tiny ECM motor was a nice snug fit inside, then a worm and wheel were made that had the  same centres as the drive axle / boiler on the model. The boiler was turned to just over a  millimeter oversize to accomodate the ECM motor which later caused problems with interference  between the suspension springs, reverse lever and boiler. The model was originally built to a simple drawing found in F.C Hambleton's book, Locomotives Worth Modeling, but when making present  day comparisons with the model there were differences with the splashers and steps. Recent investigations have revealed that variations did indeed exist with regards to splashers,  chassis, steps, rear cab and no doubt, quite a few more, not to mention later revamp  modifications to the boiler, coal bunkers and enclosed cabs. Last thought : Why didn't I model the splashers and springs to that of Great Eastern Railway 209 class No 209.

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