Building "Jack"
Jack was built to 7/8 scale from a series of articles in Garden Rail by Brian Wilson starting in June 2015, with a few modifications along the way.
The main frames were made to Roundhouse Billy sizes with 5mm added to each end to bring them to the right length.
The spring hangers were omitted to ease construction. Later hangers were added by riveting short upright strips inside the frames with a spare rivet at the top to accept imitation springs above each wheel.
The smokebox was fabricated as shown on the drawings, but instead of turning each end of the spacers to form a rivet, the seven spacers were made to the correct inside length. These were drilled and tapped 7BA. Front and rear plates were countersunk to take bolt heads. This was easier than turning both ends of the spacers.
The cab was a bought-in kit obtained from Model Engineers Laser at the Elsecar Show. The only part needing replacement were the flimsy spectacle plates. Replacements to take Perspex windows were turned on the lathe. For its price the cab was good value.
The rest of Jack was built mainly to the drawings or by looking at the few pictures found.
All in all it was a good project to build and looks well.
Roy Shaw 2017
