GKP Goes Live Steam - Body

The body I chose for this project was the Simply 7/8ths 18" Gauge Henry from Mikes Models.

The body kit as it arrived.

I really like the proportions of this body on the Billy chassis and boiler.  Along with the body kit I also had them supply two domes (which are actually from Roundhouse Engineering) one drilled for the safety valve and the second not drilled.  The picture on their web site shows a model which uses the Katie boiler instead of the Billy boiler which means the safety valve and dome are close to the cab rather than near the chimney as on my model.

This was my first etched brass kit assembly but it was a fairly simple job to fold up the body parts that needed folding and then work my way through soldering up the body.  I used a small gas torch bought from Aldi as a chef's creme brulee torch for soldering.  This makes the job nice and fast.  Clean components are essential and a little flux to encourage the solder to flow where you want it to and a nice clean job can be made of it.

Body test fitted.  You can see my beginner's soldering job.

Having made up the body I needed a way of fitting the second dome to the boiler.  I had a bronze plumbing fitting which was surplus to requirements and seemed a good place to start.  This was mounted in the lathe and turned down till it was a nice fit inside the blank dome.

Dome mount fitted.

Then a radius was filed into the bottom to fit the boiler and the mount was fitted to the wrapper.

Dome fitted to boiler.

Coupler rear face being trued up.

Next it was on to the couplers.  They are 7/8ths scale castings from the Talisman range supplied by Si Harris at Model Earth Design.  I wanted to true up the rear of the castings so in turn I temporarily soft soldered them into another surplus bronze plumbing fitting for mounting in the lathe and turning.

Then it was time to paint the body.

Parts etched and ready for the next stage.

First up was a good clean and then a spray with etch primer.  Etch primer is particularly important with brass as brass is notoriously difficult to get paint to stick to.  Proper preparation is key and selection of an etch primer that is suitable for brass is a must.

Baking the paint.

For the top coats enamel paints were chosen.  Satin black for the bodywork and boiler, a red engine enamel for the buffers, and a flat pot belly black for the smoke box and chimney.  Each coat was baked in the oven and the result has been a nice tough paint job.

Newly painted, Melly sits on the rails.

And from the rear.

Buffers undergoing modification.

Having mounted the couplers I found that they were too low for my 7/8ths stock and needed to be raised up a few millimetres.  30mm rail to centre was chosen as a suitable height and the buffers and couplers removed for alteration.

Couplers and chains raised to a more suitable height.

To complete the job she needed a set of name and works plates.  These were ordered from Narrow Planet and fixed on with a silicone free acrylic caulk.

The "completed" locomotive ready to enter service.

GK&P Goes Live Steam - Boiler and Drain Cocks

Fitting the boiler is a fairly straightforward job so this was completed within a short time of its arrival.  Probably the trickiest part of this is bending the various pipes to make everything fit nicely.  Then it was finally time for a first steam test.  This was an exciting day!

One drain cock ready for fitting.

Now I had to save for the body kit but in the meantime I decided to have a go at building and fitting a set of automatic drain cocks.  These employ a 1.6mm stainless steel ball in a chamber which allows water to pass through the drain cock, but when steam tries to pass through, the ball is pushed against the seat sealing the exit.  This is a great aid in starting the loco as there is no need to push the loco back and forth to clear the condensate.

Ball in seat.

This was my first attempt at machining anything but despite this fact things went well.

Port in cylinder.

Port from inside.

I bravely (foolishly) drilled into my Roundhouse cylinders using a hand held battery drill.  I shudder to think of it now but fortunately I didn't mess it up and didn't have to buy new cylinders.  These days I have a drill press in my workshop and I'd certainly use that for this job now.

Cylinder with drain cocks fitted.

Once assembled and fitted the drain cocks were soft soldered into place to stop them from moving in service.  As you can see my workmanship was not the tidiest.  Did I mention this was my first attempt at machining anything?

After soldering the drain cocks in I had to remove the solder blockages and make sure the balls were free and seating properly.  :)

Then it was time to reassemble and steam test...

And soon afterward I was able to order the body...

GK&P Goes Live Steam - The Chassis

Back in the mid 90's I became keen on the idea of live steam locos running outdoors.  At the time such things were well out of my reach but I have had a soft spot for them ever since.  So on moving to Melbourne I decided it was time to dip my toes into the live steam world, hopefully without burning them.

Unpainted frames and spacers test assembled.

Chassis assembly coming along.

Much research was undertaken to make a good choice as to my motive power and at the same time what scale and gauge I would run.  My reasoning was that I would only be able to afford one locomotive anytime soon so I wanted to make a good choice.  With 7/8ths scale running on 32mm gauge the eventual choice and my preferences on locomotive style taken into consideration, it was decided to build a locomotive based on a Roundhouse Engineering chassis and boiler kits for "Billy" and a Simply 7/8ths "Henry" body kit.

With this decision made, and having saved my pennies, the chassis kit was ordered with some parts swapped out to suit my design preferences.  The guys at Roundhouse Engineering were very helpful with this.

Chassis assembly completed.

On arrival I began the job of assembling the chassis taking particular care to make sure everything ran nice and freely at each stage before moving on to the next.  This paid dividends when I was finally ready to test the chassis on air.

In the meantime I had started saving for the boiler kit and in time I was able to order this...

Gumtown & Kauri Pass Tramway Company

The original concept for a model of a narrow gauge railway situated on the Coromandel Peninsula was to be built to Nn3.  Though I did acquire some Nn3 items it wasn't long before the decision was taken to move up in scale to HOn30.

A class Climax under construction on a Bachmann Spectrum diesel loco chassis.

Work began on 600mm x 300mm HOn30 Gumtown & Kauri Pass in 2003.  Things were progressing nicely with track laying and early scenery work but I was not really happy with the lack of options for smooth running steam locos within my budgetary constraints in HOn30.

HOn30 G&KP under construction.

Then came On30... With the arrival of an 0-4-2T.

The Bachmann Spectrum Porter that started my journey into On30.

A layout was designed to fit in the office, and a start made.  The layout was also designed to fit in our car to be taken to shows and to link up with the layout my father-in-law was planning.

Rolling stock came from a number of sources but in particular Boulder Valley Models who produced very nice kits.

Boulder Valley Models Box Car.

Track was hand laid and points were to stub design.

G&KP Main Yard

It wasn't long before the loco fleet was added to and an extra section added to the layout to give a little extra space.

Bachmann Climax.

Outside Framed 2-8-0

The minimum radius imposed by the original location was found to be too restrictive and plans were underway for a more generously proportioned layout when the decision was made to move to Australia.  At this point I decided to sell off the On30 and pursue a different direction in Australia...

The Story Behind The GK&PTCo

Baldwin 2-8-0 in G&KP heyday climbing the bank towards Kauri Pass.

Gumtown was established in 1864 when a large timber mill, known as Upper Mill, was erected. Bullock teams and later bush trams would bring logs down out of the bush to be milled. Steamboats that would visit three times each week then transported the timber. In 1881 the Kauri Timber Company erected a large mill at Mercury Bay, and Whitianga was relocated from the other side of the river to its present site.

In 1889 Upper Mill was closed and its operations moved to KTC's mill in Whitianga, with a 2’ 6” gauge bush tram being put through to Whitianga from Gumtown. By this time gum-digging was in full swing with many gum-diggers being grubstaked by local store owners. Gumtown remained very much a frontier town serving the timber camps and gum-diggers.

In 1898 gold was discovered six miles south of Gumtown in the Slipstream branch of the Rangihau River. A number of claims were staked and Gumtown added miners to the list of dependents.

G&KP #1 heading a train through
Gumtown Yard.

In 1899 the Gumtown & Kauri Pass Tramway Company was formed.  Bush tram right of way between Gumtown and Whitianga was "upgraded" and eventually the line was pushed over Kauri Pass, down the Kauaeranga Valley to Meet the New Zealand Government Railway at Thames.

By 1921, Gumtown's heyday, it was a bustling frontier town of timber millers, bushmen, gum-diggers, and gold miners. There were 3 stores, a bakery, a boot maker, and a butcher, a 25 room hotel, 2 boarding houses, and even a billiard room. On a typical day up to 50 horses could be seen from the neighbouring mines and timber camps. There was still 1 steamboat each week and lots of activity.

As the 1940s drew to a close the Gumtown & Kauri Pass Tramway Company was declining rapidly and by 1950 it was barely clinging to life.  In 1951 the tramway was abandoned and the company was dissolved.  Gumtown was a shadow of its former self but was to have a new lease on life as clay deposits suitable for pottery and brick making were found on the slopes of Tapu Hill.  

"Melly", a refurbished and re-gauged G&KP loco is now
the main motive power on the GK&P.

In 1953 the Gumtown Kilns & Potteries Company was formed and a brickworks built at Gumtown.  The new company made use of rails from the defunct Gumtown & Kauri Pass and built an 18” gauge tramway up to the clay deposits on Tapu Hill.  Some of the original G&KP stock is being reused on the new tramway and one of the G&KP’s 0-4-0 tank lokeys has been rebuilt and put back into service.

The tramway is used to bring clay down to the potteries and also wood to fire the kilns.  As the output of the company increased the old line to Whitianga was resurrected in order to get the products from the kilns to the wharfs for shipping to Auckland and Tauranga.

Today the tramway is starting to attract some visitors to the area and management have been considering acquiring some more comfortable passenger stock.

Please note that the above narrative is a fictitious story written about a tramway company that never existed other than in my imagination and in model form. The story is based around the real history of Gumtown but the tramway and certain other parts of the narrative are entirely fictitious and this story should not be considered a reliable history of Gumtown in any way.

Welcome.

Welcome to the official blog of the Gumtown Kilns & Potteries Tramway Company.

The GK&P is a fictional narrow gauge tramway built on New Zealand's Coromandel Peninsula.  The history of the line is interwoven with the actual history of a little town called Gumtown which today is known as Coroglen.

The GK&P today was also a 7/8ths scale (1:13.7) 32mm gauge (representing 18" gauge) garden railway in my back yard in outer South East Melbourne, Australia.  Previously it was an On30 (1:48 scale, 16.5mm gauge, representing 30" gauge) model railway prior to my move from New Zealand to Australia.

I plan to document the GK&P from its conception through its building and eventual sale.  There will be sidings along the way that take a look at some of the many varieties of interesting project undertaken on such a venture.

I hope you'll join me for what I hope to be an interesting journey along these narrow rails.

Lincoln