Fowler Brakes

If the Pug blogged yesterday was a case of, "fix it to last the last few days of owning an O gauge layout", then the Fowler shunter is, "Finish building it before you don't own somewhere for it to run."

Needless to say, I have loads of work on so time is precious. Still, the deadline is tight and so I better get a move on.

First problem - All the parts are in the box, except for the instructions.

A few days spend digging around doesn't solve this so I dig through my books and peer at photos to try and work out where the remaining parts fit. The brake gear is well hidden but with the combination of guesswork and the CAD pictures of Ixion's version, I think I figured it out.

The vacuum cylinder mounts at a crazy angle, but prototype photos who this to be correct. I couldn't work out how the handbrake connects to the pull-rods but this is hidden between the frames anyway so I don't care. What you can't see doesn't matter I'm afraid.

The biggest problem was that I put the hangers and rods on back to front at the first attempt. Wagging the superglue joints broke some and a bit of judicious use of wire fixed the others and now it all fits together. Not that you can see much anyway. Never mind.