The axle boxes on the original tender are castings. The bottom half has a lid that can be removed to replace the oil pads. On the model, these are omitted, so the axle box is made from a solid piece of brass with inserted bronze bearing bushes. Oil will be fed to the bearing through a top filler opening, which can be closed by a small rotating lid, just like on the original tender.
One photo found on the internet shows that the lid on the axle box of the last axle of the tender is missing. A gap can be seen where the lid used to be. (Photo posted by Captain Tower on Flickr)
The tender axle boxes on the preserved Y-14 at the Norfolk Railway.
Blocks of 35 x 35 x 39 mm solid brass were milled to the required dimensions.
The guide grooves are made to allow a little play between the horn cheeks and the axle boxes. If there is no play, they will bind if one wheel moves up and down more than the other side.
A radius of 2.5 mm is milled with a radius end mill.
On top of the axle box, a kind of cover is placed. In the photos of the real tender, it was hard to determine how it is fixed, what its purpose is, or whether it is an integrated part of the axle box. To simulate this lid, a separate piece of brass was made and will be soldered to the box.
A small soldering jig was used to hold the cover in place during soldering. Without it, such a small and light part could easily shift out of position when the soldering flux begins to boil.
A small slot was also milled to accommodate the oil inlet for the lower part of the axle box. This is where, on the real tender, oil is fed through the oil pad located under the axle.
The hole on the top is for locating the leaf spring.
With a 2 mm radius mill, the front of the oil inlet is made.....
.... this is than cut to 8 mm height.
With a chamfer and a small bolt screwed in the top, the oil inlet takes shape.
A scribed line should resemble the separate lid.
I've read that Tipex is sometimes used to mark parts of the workpiece where no solder should flow. I had never used this method before, but found that it works very well. The Tipex really blocks the flow of molten solder in its tracks. It is easily removed afterward with some emery cloth or a brass brush.
Nicely cleaned.
The final bolt, made of a 3 mm hexagon rod.
The box is retained by a cross rod, inserted at the bottom of the horns. The usual method involves some kind of strip or bar, but the Great Eastern Railway made this handsome design.
Finally, the bronze bearing bushes are inserted into the axle box and secured with a small grub screw. To prevent the lubrication oil from leaking onto the outside of the bearing, instead of flowing through the axle bore, an O-ring is placed in a groove on the outer bearing.
Held in a collet, turning the journals to 10.00–9.98 mm was not much of a problem. This close tolerance was chosen because it provides a fit for the wheels that will be glued with Loctite, while also ensuring a good fit with the bronze bearing bushes.
A test fitting of the first axle reveals a side play clearance of only one millimeter. (By the way, the axle box is positioned correctly to prevent oil leakage; however, the frame itself is upside down.)
The tenderframe on its wheels.
Securing the wheels to the axles using Loctite 601 glue.
The preserved Great Eastern Railway Y14 locomotive at Weybourne in July 2022 This features the older style tender frames with D-shaped slots, distinguishing it from the later design with parallel slots.
Overall length 1.3 meter (4 feet 3 inches)
To strengthen the frame assembly, the original frames were equipped with three tie-bars. These bars prevent the frames from expanding outward under load.
The set in front of the tender is made for Toin's tender.
