jerm.ca

Warning: Contains incorrect information since, as mentioned, my notes on the subject are elsewhere at the moment.

Taking a bit of a break from the Ruby construction series (mental note: contact Accucraft re: parts). This weekend past I was on vacation; my annual pilgrimage to Kingston. I’d like to take this opportunity to reaffirm my affection for Kingston and that some day I am going to relocate there. I had an absolute blast – as usual – with the added benefit that the hotel had recently been renovated and all was shiny and new. While in the Limestone city, I took a little field trip.

One of my ongoing prose projects is a novella;Dance of the Crimson Angel and it truly is ongoing. I doubt I will be finishing it this year. It’s possible, but unlikely. Act one (because act sounds much more pretentious important than chapter) reaches it’s climactic ending at Rockwood Asylum; a looney bin on the shores of Lake Ontario. It is, in fact, the home at the time of our third protagonist, the eponymous Woman in Room 247.

Rockwood Asylum does exist, as a matter of fact. Back in the day – and forgive my minimal amount of facts as I am sperated from my notes – it was a criminal asylum which I waved the magic wand of creative license over to keep it open to the current year and made it less criminal and more mixed. The old Victorian monstrosity (and I say that endearingly) is now very much closed with moderately sized, angry, red signs warning of certain materials within (read: asbestos). Still, though, it’s more than a little hauntingly beautiful. And visiting something I had written about has added a whole new dimention to it.

Before I continue my tale, I have been remiss. I must give props at this point to Richard at AC Trains who was very helpful and patient with my numerous questions and for the speedy order and delivery. Props to Accucraft for making a great product. Period. And, if it hasn’t been said already, big props to Jim Burchell; a gentleman, scholar and modeler extraordinaire.

Now then, where were we?

Well fortified with tea – not loose tea, I’m afraid. I had too much to do to afford that – I set about the task at hand. Accucraft deserves full marks for the packaging of their kits. Every little piece and part had it’s own precise space carved out of the styrofoam tray, labeled with a large part number. Those part numbers were dastardly handy and referred to consistently in the instructions and accompanied diagrams.

The bar frames with the supports for the side tanks assembled easy enough (also, big thanks to Accucraft for including tools). Would have been really nice of a hex wrench had been included as the tank supports came loose quite frequently during construction, becoming a suitable annoyance. And at the time of the picture above, this is the last point at which they can be tightened sufficiently.

Accucraft’s affinity for packaging and labeling parts extends also to the hardware; screws, set screws, washers and the like. Everything was packed in it’s own individual zip bag with the ever present part number labeled upon it.

As mentioned, once the wheels were in place, it was no longer possible to tighten the frame supports except with pliers which became increasingly difficult as construction continued. I have read of some having troubles seating the wheel bushings into the frames, but I had no problems what-so-ever. In fact, things had been pretty easy up until this point.

The frame now made rigid by front, rear and middle spacers.

The simple yard pilots included with the kit are quite nicely detailed for an entry level (and as I would later learn once I got the fire going, a necessity to avoid burning yourself). Sadly, I’ve never been able to get them to sit just right. Their fittings have some play in them which allows them to move out of parallel. This is easily adjusted with minimal force, but could be tighter.

With the pilots attached, I set about attaching the cab floor. This was the first challenge as one of the holes didn’t line up quite right with the frame spacers. Five minutes and a needle nosed file quickly took care of that. I wasn’t disappointed with this divergence towards more manual labour; indeed I had expected it from what I had read. Once the cab floor was attached, the front boiler mount followed suit.

Considering at that time I had a rolling chassis (which rolled quite smoothly, at that) and that I had barely had anything to eat that day, I decided that was a pretty good time to stop for lunch. And of course, another cup of tea.

To be continued.