7mm Footplate height fail

[Kev T]

I'm in the process of building an early Stella GWR tender loco. The kit gives the option of a high or low tender footplate height. Doing a bit of research showed that the earlier tenders had the higher footplate so that's what I built. I've just coupled the loco to the tender and found that the loco footplate is low, about 8mm lower. There is no option in the kit to build a higher cab floor, so I was wondering what is the reality on the prototype circa 1900.
Bashing the tender about will be a pain and likely spoil what is a good build. Lifting the cab floor will impact on firebox and reverser etc. I could build a high cab floor to match the tender and slope the front.

Any ideas on where I may have gone wrong.

Kev

 

[mickoo]

Martin Finney/Finney7 kit with 2500G tender by any chance?

Mick D

 

[Kev T]

It's a Martin Finney kit, not sure about the tender size, but smallish definitely.

Kev

 

[daifly]

Do the 4mm kit instructions throw any light on things?
Dave

 

[mickoo]

Okay, it'll be the 2500G tender as that's the smallest he did/we do. For the record I'm one of the Finney7 crew.

As far as I can tell the Stella class did not have raised cab floors, later engines did when they got bigger cabs and Belpair fireboxes. I'm sure someone will be along shortly to say I'm wrong but the kit does not offer a raised floor option.

In which case your tender needs to match that so you'll need an early tender and the 2500G with coal rails did not have a raised floor, raised floors only came later when they were rebuilt or matched to engines with raised cab floors.

The 2500G tender kit should give three options, early with vents and no scoop dome/filler with coal rails, later with plated/riveted scoop dome combined filler plus coal rails and modified with steel extension sheets, domed scoop dome and separate filler. Only the last has the raised floor.

We've re-written the instructions and they are on the web sight, here's the tender

http://finney7.co.uk/downloads/GWR_2500G_Tender_A3_Pages.pdf

Here's the loco

http://finney7.co.uk/downloads/GWR_Stella_A3_Pages.pdf

They are still WIP as we're rejigging casting sprues and making changes elsewhere, but essentially they are the original instructions in a new format with a little more detail.

Essentially I think your tender front should look like this for a Stella, but you may have opted not to have the scoop dome/filler and in which case you won't have the scoop standard on the RH side (left in this picture). I've not added the tool boxes yet as they need to be painted and lined before fitting.

 

[daifly]

Is it possible that the research is flawed?
This is Stella herself in original form:

Even in much later photos with locos fitted with Belpaire fireboxes appear to have unchanged footplates - only the cab roof is higher. Here's Stella again.

Dave

 

[mickoo]

I'd be inclined to think so too, but those spectacle plates (the reason why the cab roof was raised) are rather high and in the second picture the man in the cab looks to be a bit higher, he could of course be a taller man but the gentleman at foot plate level is no shrinking violet.

It is possible that the raised cab also had a raised floor, the fact that the 2500G tender has steel extensions which should have a raised front footplate would suggest that the cab floor may also be raised to match.

It is of course entirely possible that the front footplate on the later tender picture has had it's raised floor cut down when fitted to the Stella.

 

[Kev T]

To me the first photo of Stella looks like it has the raised floor, while the second is ambivalent. The chap nearest the camera is standing on the low footplate while the chap behind looks about 7' tall.

Kev

 

[mickoo]

That area that looks like a raised floor is likely to be the sand box.

 

[SimonT]

As another member of the Finney7 Shower, may I add a quote from the History and Variations pages of the instructions.

Cabs
The cabsides of Lot 65 had a very large cut-out whereas the new cabs of the rebuilt engines had a smaller cut-out which gave more protection to the crew. With the fitting of Belpaire fireboxes the cabs were raised to allow the spectacle windows to be refitted. Cab roofs were latterly of steel replacing the earlier canvas covered wood.
Tenders
3201-3205 were initially fitted with standard, Dean 2500 gallon tenders. 3510-3520 when rebuilt seem to have been given old iron frame Armstrong tenders. From the early years of the century many were paired with Dean 2000 gallon tender originally fitted to 'Dukes' and indeed some kept such tenders until withdrawal. In later years the majority had the Dean 2500 gallon type and at least one (3515) had a tender of 3000 gallons capacity.

No mention of a raised floor and our kit does not include one; I think unlikely that Martin would have missed one out. As fas as I know the Stellas didn't have one. Here is a photo of a Stella in late condition with the B4 bolier and a raised cab. The build and photo are the superb work of Malcom Mitchell.



Simon

 

[Kev T]

Flawed research it is. I've no idea how I got it into my head that I could use a high floor tender.
Martin says in the instructions that the higher floor on the tender was used for the new 4-4-0's, I assume Dukes and Badmintons although I've not checked, no mention of the high floor for the Stella's. Which leaves me with a conundrum. Maybe I should build an early Duke to go with this tender.

thanks for the help
Kev