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About this blog

Work in progress on my LNWR/GWR joint line layout of 1912 and its stock

Entries in this blog

GWR Engines

GWR 0-6-0 Tender Engines - continued2...

As can been seen the Beyer Goods is pretty much done, painted and numbered 334, but is still sans the springs above the footplate.  It also features DCC sound in the tender!     The return of High Level meant that I got the RoadRunner gearbox for the Armstrong Standard Goods so the chassis is built.  I'm not too happy with the brakes that came with the kit but they fit and will be mainly hidden behind the outside frames.  I have finally standardized on 31.75mm for the axle l
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Brassey in GWR Engines

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GWR Engines

GWR Metro Progress

The two Metros have progressed in tandem.  Boiler bands added as the latest stage.  Next stage - attach the bunker to the whitemetal Wills kit after finishing the cab interior.      I finally got round to starting the Rod Neep kit a few weeks ago and a week off work has seen it almost finished.  It has filled -in coal rails on the bunker and will be finished in the pre-1908 livery hence the red wheels.  It will be 1445 which was at Ludlow in the Summer of 1912.   T
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GWR Coaches

GWR 8 wheel brake vans 1912

Continuing the construction of stock for my pre-grouping layout, focus has turned to coaching stock as I need something for the locos to pull.   In the Summer of 1912, apart from the odd postal, parcel or fish van, the vehicles in the North to West expresses were all 8 wheel.  The local trains that shuttled up and down, between Hereford and Shrewsbury and some of the intermediate junctions such as Craven Arms, were mainly 6 wheel trains.  But the longer distance local services were 8 w
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GWR Engines

GWR 0-6-0 Tender Engines - continued... problems...

There is a strategy to my building 2 outside frames together.  Firstly they both shared the Armstrong Standard Goods S4 boiler.  The also had springs above the footplate which is a challenge I want to tackle in one go.  And I intend to build 2 outside frame tenders that also share the spring issue.   So the Armstrong Goods now has a cab and rear splashers:     Smokebox, boiler and roundtop firebox:     The Beyer Goods, being bits of old K
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GWR Engines

Take 2 GWR Metros

As is my wont, I am batch building again, this time two GWR Metros (amongst other things).  Another blast from the past:  back in the day, M&L Leisure sold a discounted pack of 2 kits a couple of which I acquired.  The 633 kit in the header photo became surplus to requirements but it has donated some of its contents to this (re)build of a Wills Metro - mainly the bunker - hence its inclusion in the header.  The 850 is in the roundtoit pile   These are the etches for the Rod Neep ki
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GWR Engines

GWR 2-4-0 Metro Tank - blast from the past

Like a lot of my stash, this is like the fisherman's knife that's had 3 new blades and 2 new handles but still the same knife.  I bought the Metro kit donkey's years ago and scratchbuilt a chassis in EM.  Then swiftly moved to P4 and scratchbuilt a compensated P4 chassis.  Then bought a new chassis and then bought an etched kit.    The original EM chassis had Ultrascale wheels which the EM Gauge Society sold at the time.  I recently put the EM wheels on the scratchbuilt P4 chassis to s
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LNWR Engines

LNWR DX Special Goods latest

I've found that once I've built the loco, the enthusiasm for the tender wains.  Having built three 3500 gall GWR tenders for the DEan Goods projects in a batch, attention has turned to tenders for stalled LNWR projects.  Herewith 3 1800  gall tenders all from the George Norton stable now sold via LRM:     Today the number plates arrived for the Special DX from Narrow Planet (along with a set for another GWR 517).  LNWR 3188 was at 31 Abergavenny in 1912.    
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Dean Goods finished - well almost!

The subject of my first blog is now nearing completion after only 8 years!  It has been a problem build right from the start.     I also painted it when I was really struggling with my airbrush so the paint is far from perfect.   2306 was an early Dean Goods which numbers started at 2301.  In 1912 it was at Pontypool Road by which time it had acquired a B4 Belpaire firebox the Autumn before.   This is mainly an old Mallard kit, narrowed footplate with additional spa
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GWR County 4-4-0 update

To recap, the object of this exercise was to check platform clearances before finally fixing them down.  The County is one of only 2 outside cylinder locos that will run my pre-WW1 layout so it was the prime candidate for the job.   The good news is that it clears, just, with about a fag paper to spare.  It does hit on leaving the fiddle yard on the down line but as this is under the bridge clearance can easily be remedied by some filing in what is not a visible scenic area  
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Churchward County bars and beams

A centre spacer got in the way of the compensation beams that are supplied on the etch so I replaced this with one I fettled from a Comet P4 spacer which was the correct width.     I also removed some of the lower spacer (that's there to attached the pickup working) in order to make a bit more space for the gearbox.   Latest status is that High Level hornguides fitted and the beams now in place with a suitable pivot.  Gearbox has been swapped out for a High Level R
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SEF County of Hereford 4-4-0 in P4

The current situation, whilst I stay at home for the duration, has given me the opportunity to progress with many outstanding layout based projects.  One of the things that has been bugging me for some time has been the issue of clearances which I really need to resolve before I fixed platform and overbridge in place.  The most likely risks might be Great Western outside cylinder locos.  As my layout is pre WW1 one of the main candidates is the 4-4-0 Churchward County which were reputedly introd
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Dean Goods 2524 update

Is it really a year on?..   Well 2524 has finally made it into the paint shop along with some other items.  
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GWR Barnum

On the workbench is a Great Western Barnum which I am building from an old Mallard kit.  It will be in the BR0 raised firebox without dome format which 3222 sported around early 1910.  The Mallard kit features the extended smokebox which a couple of the engines received shortly thereafter.  I do not find the extended smokebox attractive so I had to chop a certain amount off the front of all the frames and footplate.  This is quite a bold move as complete kits of these fetch large sums on eBay.
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LNWR DX Special Goods update

There has been progress on things other than GWR too.  This Special DX featured early in the blog but stalled.  The London Road instructions highlight an error when building in P4 in that the valance can foul the wheel crankpins.  One recommended course of action is spacing out the valance further with spare fret from the etch.  It also suggests slimming down the Alan Gibson wheels at the boss.  I did both and still it fouled!  I resorted in drastic filing just to get it running which resulted i
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Dean Goods 2524

Chassis and wheels painted.     I am using components from the Finney Dean Goods to build this one which was designed to take a Portscap 1219 motor.  I have used the Brassmasters proposed replacement of a Mashima 1220 and High Level Road Runner plus with drive extender.  There is not much room to get this in particularly once you wire the motor! (I have since used thinner wire):  
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Dean Goods take 3

As mentioned in the previous blog, the next project is to try out a sprung chassis. This is partly due to my objective of achieving optimum running. This is the Comet chassis with their hornblocks and springs that I've had in the kit pile for years. It requires a massive leap of faith that the rods will line up with the wheelbase as there is no means of adjusting this unlike with soldered in hornblocks, such as High Level, that I used on the previous 2 Dean Goods. Despite this, I set the cha
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Dean Goods take 2

It's been over 6 years since my first blog on the subject so here finally is an update on the Dean Goods situation.   Two have been seen testing goods trains on my track as I needed tender engines for the job. Both have recently acquired tenders. They are in the fiddle yards awaiting the next task.   The first, number 2306, features the rods from the initial blog, on a compensated Comet chassis. It's mainly an old Mallard kit with a narrowed footplate and some alternative parts surplus to re
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LNWR Coal Tank - Chassis take 2

Despite my good intentions of building things straight from the box, I just can't stop myself from kit bashing. So in parallel to building an LNWR Coal Engine, I am working on Coal Tanks as the plumbing is the same. Also the painting and lining should be relatively easier before I paint and line the Coal Engine.     This started out as a K's whitemetal kit but uses a London Road chassis. I have already made one chassis that works well and is my slowest runner which is probably down to th
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LNWR Coal Engine - stage 3 chassis

The Coal Engine chassis is at a stage where it is ready for painting before the wheels are fitted.   I put some scrap 5" wheels on to see what size spacer I would need to eliminate side play. I also thought I would have to reposition the holes for the stretchers for the brake hangers because the frames are out. But surprisingly they are in the correct position all lying close to these oversize wheels. So the brake stretchers are correct to the rods!     My best performing loco has no side
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Scaling drawings using Adobe

For reference, here's an example of a drawing image I have scanned and scaled using a combination of Illustrator and Photoshop. I know the wheelbase so drew a line to that dimension and scaled the drawing to fit.   On the pasteboard above this profile of the loco is another drawing from a different source but showing the other side of the loco. That is scaled the same way and hopefully both match (well at least the wheelbase will, which is fundamental)   Simples.
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LNWR Coal Engine - stage 2 chassis

I like to build the running plate along with the chassis to help check for clearance. It might not be so obvious from this shot but it shows how the guard irons hold the front buffer beam in place. There is not much else to hold it. The instructions say leave 1/2 mm over on the valance at the front to fit into the slots in the buffer beam. But there are not such slots! My objective was to try to build something straight from the box. The valances are over scale. At the moment they are hold
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LNWR Coal Engine - stage 1 chassis

For those who may have been missing a shot of my coupling rods, here's another set, this time for a Coal Engine from the LRM kit that's underway:     Both sets are shown mounted on my chassis jig. They matched and fitted first time. Result, or so I thought?     The guard irons on some LRM kits are designed to attach to the bodywork rather than the chassis. I guess this helps get them the correct width for OO modellers but as I model in P4, less of a problem for me. The problem I fou
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Special DX Goods

Well I've now done the rods for the Special DX so on with the Chassis and rest of the loco.
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