Six Cylinders Motoring Notes

[Mrs6C]

21 minutes ago, catsinthewelder said:

Unfortunately I won't be coming either as Daisy failed a covid test 😭

Crikey! Hope she is and feels much better soon and that none of the rest of you catch it...

[Ghosty]

Er, add me to the 'no' list. Gotta go to Spalding on Sunday and I have a passenger I need to pick up at the home end, and I can't justify a day trip to the FoD. 
 

[brownnova]

2 hours ago, catsinthewelder said:

Unfortunately I won't be coming either as Daisy failed a covid test 😭

Noooooo…. Hope she’s ok! It’s rife in schools at the moment. 😢

[catsinthewelder]

Thanks guys.

Obviously she's absolutely fine.  I tested clear so have stocked up with food and might even manage to finish wiring up the two working* cars over the weekend.

Just to clarify, the field railway trolley is 7.25" gauge isn't it?

[BL Bloke]

I won't be able to make it this month either due to a prior engagement but will definitely be making an appearance next year. 

[Mrs6C]

9 hours ago, catsinthewelder said:

Just to clarify, the field railway trolley is 7.25" gauge isn't it?

Yes! The track has 5" and 3.5" gauges as well, but the 7.25" is the one we're using.

[Six-cylinder]

Some ideas for things to do tomorrow at the FoD

·    Fix ride on mower and cut the orchard grass using our ride in mower

·    Prepare wood for Saturday Evening fire

·    Bake me a Rhubarb cake

·    Clean out Vauxhall Royal, power up and raise drivers window, take some photos and sheet it up

·    Play on garden railway pull truck

·    Range Rover green - Start

·    3 ton dumper  - Pull the cylinder heads off to check what is seized

·    Toledo – Check parts I have bought and write a parts required list, slap some paint on the rusty bits. Sheet it up for the winter.

·    Hayter Condor mower - fit cutter plate

·    Check Anti freeze on all cars in field

·    Take BMW 323i to car wash and Photograph it for sales Ad

 

[Andyrew]

7 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

 • Throw all Rhubarb on the fire saturday evening

FTFY

[wuvvum]

16 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

·    Clean out Vauxhall Royal, power up and raise drivers window, take some photos and drive it to the fish & chip shop

Also FTFY.

[Six-cylinder]

7 minutes ago, Andyrew said:

FTFY

I would never have gone into partnership with you if I had know you were a Rhubarb hater!

[Six-cylinder]

6 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Also FTFY.

Please bring a large piece of carboard to make the missing front wing!

[DoctorRetro]

It's looking like I will be able to make it tomorrow, hope that's ok. Have to pick up some wheels in Chatteris 'on the way'.

What sort of time is reasonable to arrive? 

[Six-cylinder]

19 minutes ago, DoctorRetro said:

It's looking like I will be able to make it tomorrow, hope that's ok. Have to pick up some wheels in Chatteris 'on the way'.

What sort of time is reasonable to arrive? 

From 10am is normal, other times by arrangement.

[Mr Pastry]

3 hours ago, Mrs6C said:

Yes! The track has 5" and 3.5" gauges as well, but the 7.25" is the one we're using.

Not to give anyone ideas, obvs. but here is an ex Invacar Villers engine mounted on a 7.25" bogie......

Note the brake gear at the front, very necessary as you may well be stopping a ton of train and people.   Be very careful, even with a hand push trolley.

[Six-cylinder]

42 minutes ago, Mr Pastry said:

Not to give anyone ideas, obvs. but here is an ex Invacar Villers engine mounted on a 7.25" bogie......

Note the brake gear at the front, very necessary as you may well be stopping a ton of train and people.   Be very careful, even with a hand push trolley.

Where can Mrs6C purchase this fine beast!

[Talbot]

1 hour ago, Andyrew said:

FTFY

Agreed,  Rhubarb is vile.  Probably due to having had about 3 metric tonnes of Rhubarb crumble when I was little.  We had it growing in our garden.  I absolutely hated it.

[Mr Pastry]

15 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

Where can Mrs6C purchase this fine beast!

Old photo unfortunately.  There may still be a few around  as about 30 were built, but there are better options now.

[Six-cylinder]

6 minutes ago, Mr Pastry said:

Old photo unfortunately.  There may still be a few around  as about 30 were built, but there are better options now.

Back to plan "A" pull friends along the track!

[St.Jude]

Looking forward to this on Sunday, and you'll be happy to know Chris that my LandCruiser won't be in attendance. So your Range Rover can still be the most movable 4x4 there!

[Tadhg Tiogar]

30 minutes ago, Mr Pastry said:

Old photo unfortunately.  There may still be a few around  as about 30 were built, but there are better options now.

Build your own Simplex!!

[Mr Pastry]

56 minutes ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Build your own Simplex!!

[Noel Tidybeard]

1 hour ago, Six-cylinder said:

Back to plan "A" pull friends along the track!

this looks well dodgy and something an MP would pay £££££ for! 🤣

[chaseracer]

3 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

Please bring a large piece of carboard to make the missing front wing!

As a template, or the finished article? 😁

[Crackers]

4 hours ago, Mr Pastry said:

Not to give anyone ideas, obvs. but here is an ex Invacar Villers engine mounted on a 7.25" bogie......

Note the brake gear at the front, very necessary as you may well be stopping a ton of train and people.   Be very careful, even with a hand push trolley.

Thread drift time!

 

This is a very interesting bit of kit. Do you have any further info on it? A friend of mine has a private 7.25" miniature railway, on which we run an assortment of engines, one of which is a Villiers 9E powered, chain driven 0-4-4 loco which has a very crude arrangement of brake gear and an identical black box of wiring on the front. If you were to take the bodywork* off and chop the rear axle bogie off, the arrangement would be fairly similar to your pic, albeit some parts are at the opposite end.

I wonder if there was an individual/company converting these drivetrains into various railway prime movers, or if it's just by pure chance that you've found a photo similar to what I've seen?

[LightBulbFun]

20 minutes ago, Crackers said:

one of which is a Villiers 9E powered, chain driven 0-4-4 loco which has a very crude arrangement of brake gear and an identical black box of wiring on the front.

if its any help, that black box will contain all the gubbins for the Dynastart unit, which is what starts the engine in both foward and reverse directions as well as charges the battery/provide electricity once said engine is running  

so I imagine that will be one of those common things you will see on all Villiers powered Locos regardless of design/who made them

 

im curious is the engine really a Villiers 9E? the 11E was a much more common engine on account of it being in use for much longer, but they are very similar looking from the outside so I am just curious which it actually is

(the 9E was used in ministry invalid carriages from 1957 to 1962 however, and was also used in some Microcars as well, so it could still well be a 9E!, with the Villiers 11E being used from 1962 to 1971)

the Villiers 11E was a variant of the 9E made specifically for the invalid carriage market, and with just how many Villiers powered Invalid carriages there where and where being scrapped in the 1960s-1980's is why most Villiers powered thingies you find today, Go Carts bikes, Miniature train locos and other home built old petrol powered things tended to be Villiers 11E powered

[Mr Pastry]

38 minutes ago, Crackers said:

Thread drift time!

 

This is a very interesting bit of kit. Do you have any further info on it? A friend of mine has a private 7.25" miniature railway, on which we run an assortment of engines, one of which is a Villiers 9E powered, chain driven 0-4-4 loco which has a very crude arrangement of brake gear and an identical black box of wiring on the front. If you were to take the bodywork* off and chop the rear axle bogie off, the arrangement would be fairly similar to your pic, albeit some parts are at the opposite end.

I wonder if there was an individual/company converting these drivetrains into various railway prime movers, or if it's just by pure chance that you've found a photo similar to what I've seen?

This is the power bogie used in a series of locos built by Cromar White Ltd in Wimbledon 1967-77.  This is not the same company as the current C.W.  They had a steel underframe with a marine ply body styled on the WR Hymek.  It is possible that you have the remains of one of these.  I had a slight connection with the firm through a friend, and I believe that their designer built some similar one-offs, but it could well be an amateur copy as the Villers engines were widely available at the time.   I don't know of anyone else doing the same thing commercially.

Edit - if you have a photo, PM it if you like, I might be able to ID it.

 

[Dobloseven]

Hopefully be down tomorrow as soon after 10 as I can. As a FoD virgin, are there any tools I can bring along to help? Socket set? Jack? Impact wrench? Also got a 2.2kw inverter generator. 

[Crackers]

51 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

Villiers 9E? the 11E

Not a clue mate. I've not seen it in ages but my memory says 9E. It's got a 4(?) speed manual box not a CVT. 

[Crackers]

Thanks @Mr Pastry - interesting.

Here's the only photo I could find, with all the body panels off, part way through disassembly. The shape of the loco is obviously a very crudely cobbled-together affair, we measured it up and not a single part was straight compared to any others.

I did find a hand-painted date on one part of the body when I disassembled it, I can't remember what year it was but 1975 rings a bell. That would probably have been the rough time it took its current shape. 

[Mr Pastry]

4 minutes ago, Crackers said:

Thanks @Mr Pastry - interesting.

Here's the only photo I could find, with all the body panels off, part way through disassembly. The shape of the loco is obviously a very crudely cobbled-together affair, we measured it up and not a single part was straight compared to any others.

I did find a hand-painted date on one part of the body when I disassembled it, I can't remember what year it was but 1975 rings a bell. That would probably have been the rough time it took its current shape. 

I thought it might be!   That is quite a historic machine in its own way.  I wondered if it was still around.  PM on its way.   This place.....