Scratchbuilding the LMS Stove R
Will Taylor - Gazette May 2018 (Vol 20 No.7)
M32985 with shell vents. Apart from this difference (the other has torpedo vents), the two carriages built in this article are identical.
Many moons ago, I became the proud owner of a Hornby Dublo Stove R in BR maroon livery when I purchased one in
1974 from a supplier of second hand H/D in Clapton, east London. To me, the Stove was a delight just to look at.
It had a look of solidity with much equipment attached to the underframe. I remember selling it to fund an O
gauge 3H wagon kit. On reflection, it wasn’t a good swap and I rued the day I parted with the Stove,
but it heralded my venture into O gauge.
So I decided it was time to own another, but this time in O gauge. Peter Tatlow’s drawing in his book
on NPCS provided the inspiration and a trawl of photos on the internet provided much detail to
support the project. The drawing appears to be correct with only a few minor omissions.
I did look at the available kits for a Stove R but as I often struggle with even good instructions, I
decided that my model would be scratchbuilt. Once again, a visit to the library was called for to
have the drawing rescaled for O gauge. A degree of madness often creeps into whatever I do and
somehow a decision was made to build not one, but two of these beauties.
A previous visit to Telford had produced a couple of reject JLTRT GWR Bloater bodies that required repairing,
finishing and scratch building brass chassis. I used Bill Bedford suspension units for the first time and,
being much impressed by their functionality and the excellent running qualities, decided to use
them again. It was good fortune that I discovered he does six wheel suspension units, albeit a
Midland Railway version but barely a whisker away from my LMS requirements, so I purchased two
sets. The only omissions from the etches were brake hangers for the centre axle but there were
adequate brake shoe laminates to allow construction of another pair.
It’s always best to find out what parts are available before starting this kind of project and so
I turned my attention to axle boxes, springs and j hangers. I purchased a set of whitemetal castings
from a manufacturer of a Stove kit who will remain nameless. On inspection, I rejected them as they
were too coarse for my needs and all six were identical whereas the centre J-hanger and axle box were not in a
single casting but in three separate parts. In the absence of instructions for most suitable assembly, another
call to Malcolm Binns was necessary but he hadn’t assembled any for approximately ten years and his
memory wasn’t brilliant. However, the castings are superb and I would just have to work it out for
myself. More about the fitting of these parts later.
Turning my attention to the coach body assembly, I have built quite a few coaches and
non-passenger coaching stock and have concluded that it’s always a good idea to give
some thought to the glazing requirements before producing coach sides as door windows are usually
deeper set than fixed windows. I considered David Jenkinson’s recommended method of sliding one piece
glazing into the coach sides from the ends but the windows would all have the same depth.
A decision to repeat a method I used successfully on my LMS 42ft GUV as suggested by Denis
Tillman at A n D models would have been taken but this build required a tumblehome. I chose to
use the David Jenkinson method but modified it to allow individual glazing to be inserted
vertically. This involves laminating the sides proper with three layers of 20 thou or 0.5mm styrene according to
window depth requirements to be mounted on a strong 1.5 mm ‘box’ section interior with holes cut aligning
with the window locations. I only glued the upper halves of the laminates at this point as the bottom halves would
have a tumblehome form which would require bending each layer independently to the finished profile.
Glazing is 15 thou clear plastic from an M&S cake box. It would be almost impossible to obtain this
profile if the laminate panels were already glued. Using this method, the individual glazing pieces
would be slotted vertically down at correct depth without gluing after painting and varnishing the
body but before fixing the roof. A photo is worth a thousand words they say, and hopefully the
tumblehome is created by sandwiching in this case, 1mm x 2.5mm section strip onto the interior
box section structure just below waist height and compressing the bottom of the side panels once
adhesive has been applied. A further piece of 0.5mm square is located just above the bottom of
the main box section carcass to improve adhesion to the box section. The lookout projections are
fabricated from 0.5mm styrene when the sides are finally profiled.
A view from above showing the slots where the glazing is dropped in
The exterior detail includes door hinges and bump stops, again from styrene strip and rod
End steps, corridor connections, solebars and solebar steps were added to complete the bodies
Unlike other finished models I have seen, the Stove’s ends are quite detailed with suspension
brackets supporting the corridor connections. A study of prototype photos reveals that the
connections appear to be telescopic. This is quite easy to replicate with plastic card although I have
stopped short of making the models telescopic. This the model detail does make a huge difference
and leaves the often used concertina card versions in the shade.
Many of the Stoves had the end steps removed as electrification progressed. I decided to keep the
steps and add electric warning flashes instead. My corridor connections are fabricated using styrene
and although the component parts are flimsy, the complete structure is very strong allowing the
completed coach to be lifted by one finger under the hood of each connection. The buffers are
supplied by NMRS who are happy to make up any variation of buffer to stock as requested for no
extra charge.
A 15mm deep pad of styrene was constructed approximately 20mm deep on the underside of
the roof at each end with minimal clearance from the coach end. This would be used for
securing the roof to the body with miniature screws through the coach ends. The small roof
fixing screws are located just above the connections. They are not apparent as the ends
are painted black. The roof has the same profile as a BR Mk 1 coach. A length of roof was ordered
from a manufacturer of mk1 coach kits which I would divide for the two vehicles. The exterior of
the roof is decorated according to the individual batch produced with fabric securing strips,
ventilators and stove chimneys. The early batch used low torpedo vents and the later batch, shell
vents. I therefore decided to build one of each which also had variations in the step-boards
according to modifications. The very short stove chimneys dictated by the high profile and the
loading gauge were fitted in the appropriate location between ventilators. For those of you who
are not familiar with the stove arrangement, the stove was retro-fitted to provide warmth for the
guard when the vehicle was working without the luxury of passenger train steam heating, usually on
fast freights. Apparently they were a very rough ride.
Interior walls are lined with black styrene sheet to save painting the inside
Battery box, left and voltage regulator were made from styrene. The cast brass axleboxes springs and hangers are clearly visible.
Note the longer hangers on the centre one
A decision was made to fabricate the solebars using styrene and these are permanently fixed to
the body. Why I did this is still a mystery to me as it would have saved a lot of hassle incorporating
them with the chassis. I can only imagine that my brain was tuned in to building a bogie vehicle. The
battery boxes and regulator box were also fabricated from styrene. Then … a problem!
The suspension units were mounted on a copperclad Tufnol subframe chassis screwed to the vehicle floor which I
designed to be removable for maintenance but removing the chassis would be impossible as the battery boxes
etc are mounted by L brackets to the external side of the sole bar. This necessitated remounting the
battery boxes to the chassis with dummy extension L brackets fixed to the outside of the
solebars. This works although, if you look closely under the solebars steps, it is slightly apparent
albeit a minor problem. The Bill Bedford suspension units did not give adequate clearance to the
3ft 7in wheels and so some minor surgery was necessary.
With the suspension units and axle assembly in place, the J hangers were then fitted to the sole
bars. When the body was complete with its lead weight secured inside and attached to the chassis,
the axleboxes were then glued to the top-hat axle bearings. With the suspension units taking the
weight of the structure, the springs were located over the J hangers at the correct ride height. A dab
of cyanoacrylate secured the springs to the J hangers at the correct height just touching the top
of the axleboxes. The vehicles each have half a pound of lead inside and so the suspension rides
on maximum compression with the Bedford suspension units pushing below maximum compression ensuring good
contact with any undulations in the track.
For those of you who have cursed coupling up stock fitted with corridor connections, solutions are
sought in many directions, from buckeyes to paper clips, but now there is the ingenious solution of
magnetic couplings. I have fitted these to all of my corridor stock, manufactured and sold as “MagClic” they have
considerable pulling power. My only word of caution is to make sure the buffer beam is sufficiently strong to
avoid damage caused by recoil when uncoupling vehicles. Given that the completed vehicles are six wheelers,
they do ride very well. The complete weight in running order is 500 grams.
Another problem unforeseen is that I couldn’t find 3ft 7in three hole disc wheels. The remedy for this
was to use some 3ft 7in split spoke wheels already in my possession. Using a radial cutter, I
produced two discs for each wheel and drilled the holes to pattern. They were then glued back and
front of each wheel. I think the end result is quite acceptable. Since scribing this article,
I have drilled out some displaced Slaters 3ft 7in wheels to a 3-hole pattern. The centres
being of plastic makes them ideal for this purpose.
Livery was the next question and my current favourite livery is BR maroon. This was achieved
using Phoenix P108 maroon dull, to which lettering was added from
HMRS sheet 14 followed by a
sprayed coat of satin varnish. Unfortunately there is no provision for the ‘Stove R’ lettering on the
sheet and that is my current quest. Fox were regrettably unable to help but I have other ideas to pursue.
The A n D method of construction is presently being used to build a model of an LNER extra-long CCT and with the editor’s permission I’ll make that the subsect of a future article.