The Caffeinated Engine Driver

I've still not quite finished the Sand Hutton wagon but I think there are just a few bolts left before it will be ready for printing. The main new items today are the rounded dumb buffers and the coupling hook. Both of these were produced by tracing the part from the original works drawing.

Whilst we now know that the drawing isn't particularly accurate the depiction of the buffers and coupling hooks seem to match the photos quite well so this seemed the best way to model them and I think they've turned out nicely. The coupling hook is interesting as I've actually modelled it as a separate part.

On the printed model there will be a slot in the buffer beam to take a Greenwich coupling (the slot will actually be about 0.5mm too low due to the low slung nature of the wagon so the coupling shank will need bending a little to compensate), there will also be a sprue containing coupling hooks attached to a plate, which should fit the slot perfectly, for those people who would prefer a prototypical looking hook rather than a working coupling. These are going to be tiny parts so I've no idea how well they'll turn out until I get a print in my hands.