A Model of a Locomotive Coaling Plant
by Don McClelland
My
coaling scene did not start as this but only as a locomotive. I went on holiday
with a No 9 set cabinet full of 1980’s French Meccano, Gresley Class K photos
and a line drawing. I like Mogul class 2-6-0 locomotives with clean lines so I
though it would make a good compact Meccano model.
Much later, holiday over unfortunately, I
found a photo showing a coaling tower with a Jinty 0-6-0 locomotive in a
Steam Days railway magazine. I often thought of building the No 9 Coaling Tower.
Maybe it might complement the locomotive. The instructions are for Model 9.5
from the Set 9 manual, 1954-1962.
After building an American 4-4-0 locomotive I found I had
enough yellow & silver parts left over to build the coaling tower and so to relax I decided to build from
instructions. I had also become frustrated with pulling apart and rebuilding the
train mechanism to stop it from jamming.
The idea of a second locomotive came from discovering that
if I used 2” pulleys I could build the Jinty locomotive at a scale close to
the K class locomotive. The building was also made easier when I found a photo
of a prize winning model in the
February 1957 Meccano Magazine.
The locomotives are powered by Richards 6 speed motors set to a ratio 32/1. As the automatic reverse mechanisms have to be narrow, I used a single eccentric that slides the pinion over a 3/4” contrate gear. I spent lots of time getting the locomotives to move backwards and forwards the same distance. The coaling tower is powered by a Meccano M0 motor, as I did not have a spare E020S motor. By using nylon gears the model worked well.
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Details of the mechanism should be available at a later date when the models are dismantled. Pictures of Don's prize winning model may be seen on the back cover of this magazine.
Ed: Pictures and description of the Doncaster coaling plant are in the April 1933 MM p 264; details and description of a model of that plant are in July 1934 MM p 553. It is different to Don's model.Webmaster: To see details of the model and a video of it in action, from the Harwera Easter Convention click here.
