Comparing this photo with the similar one on the previous page shows some progress, but not very much - I was down with a severe flu for over two weeks, and then came the Xmas holidays, so the workshop was off-limits for quite some time! (It's a full month since the last website update!)
But here you can see the crosshead and its guide, the brake hangers and the Walschaert motion parts which are almost finished, only the piston and valve rods are missing - obviously, since I haven't made the cylinders yet... I've temporarily used E-clip rings for securing some of the levers to their pins, and will machine more prototype-like pins later. The eccentric rod, for instance, will still have to be adjusted to exact length, but that is not possible until I have cylinders and valves in place...
I've also built the buffer beams, and attached the running board plates to the frame - this was an easy job, since all the parts were laser cut to a tolerance of only 0.1 mm (four "thou" or so).
The four frame spreaders are not yet installed, but I have drilled the holes and test fitted them all. With the spreader plates, the frame will be very rigid, but since it is a plate frame, it will still be slightly flexible, just as in the real loco.
Part of the brake rigging is in place, too. The prototype loco had air brakes, but I'll probably make mine steam-operated, in addition to a hand-lever for braking when not under steam.
This time around I made proper equalisation levers for the suspension - I didn't bother with that on the 3003, since it was a 4-4-0 and actual running proved it managed well without it. But a 0-6-0 with its longer wheelbase will certainly benefit from proper equalisation.
I use the fake leaf springs as levers in the equalisation - actual springing is with coil springs hidden in the axleboxes, and some smaller springs which can just barely be seen between the fake leaf springs and their hangers in this photo.