Aberdeen Kirkhill T&RSD

[Flood]

Hi Ian

 

Many thanks for the kind comments.

 

The dark grey and light grey used for executive (InterCity) livery and ScotRail livery were the same. I know that when the swallow livery came out the locos started to be painted falcon grey (for the dark colour) instead but I'm pretty sure that the light grey colour never changed.

 

I do have photos where ScotRail 47/7s appear to have light grey on the lower half as opposed to executive light grey (more of a creamy grey) but I'm pretty sure that this is down to the light conditions. Below is my own desktop photo of 47716 in July 1985 after recently being named and it definitely has executive light grey used on the lower half.

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by Flood

[ian b]

Thats grand- thanks for your quick response and beautiful photo! I've spent ages going through my books and searching various websites and each photo seems to give it a different shade!

 

I reckon the way go is to standardise on exec light grey and repaint my farish stuff to match. Makes me slightly glad I missed out on three Farish Mk2 Scotrail coaches on ebay tonight that went for nearly £60!!!

 

One last question- any idea whether the microballoons you used are still available? The only ones i've been able to find are brown and the link you used doesn't work any more...

 

Thanks again!

 

Ian B

[Flood]

I've asked Glenn to check up to see where he ordered our supply from so I'll have to get back to you on that. I'm pretty sure it came from ebay so there is either this one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Deluxe-Materials-Microballoons-Filler-Powder-/140512794885 for a small container or this one http://www.ebay.com/itm/MICROSPHERES-GLASS-BUBBLES-LOW-DENSITY-EPOXY-FILLER-/220528963762 for a large. I think we went for the large size and paid quite a bit in postage. To be honest I don't think you'll need much.

 

It really is very light and very small. Be careful not to sneeze or breathe it in, I wouldn't have thought that miniature glass balls are good for you.

Edited January 1, 2013 by Flood

[ian b]

Excellent, thankyou!

[Swifty11]

This is a trully fantastic layout, I hope to see it at an exhibition this year!

[Flood]

Thank you for the praise Swifty.

 

Well my latest coach didn't last a week! 13588 has now had the chassis and interior changed and will be 3180, a Mk2D FO in executive. The FK interior and chassis will be matched with a blue and grey body for use on the club layout.

 

With about six weeks to go until the first exhibition this year Glenn and I have run through the sequence and corrected any movement conflicts/errors. The layout was going to be up for another week but he needed to take it down as his central heating needs a check. We shouldn't need to run the layout now before Biggleswade but we do need to do some minor alterations to some of the board carry plates and give a bit more carry protection to one board with a yard light on it.

 

The three executive Mk2e TSOs are virtually finished, they just need a small bit of weathering but the blue and grey Mk2e TSO needs a bit more work as a gloss varnish coat did not go on evenly. It will need rubbing down, a new gloss varnish coat applied, transfers, another gloss coat, a satin coat and then some weathering. Probably about 3 weeks worth in time as Glenn needs to test the airbrush pressure/different aerosol sprays to make sure the same problem with the varnish does not happen again.

 

Added to this is a Mk1 BCK being painted in SLOA Pullman livery to go with a railtour rake of Mk1 Pullmans and (over the next 2 months or so as I have only just ordered it) I need to build a Southern Pride Models Two Tier Car Van which Glenn can then spray for me.

 

With a bit of luck all the above will be done in time for Ally Pally.

 

The last item of news is we have been invited to Hornby Magazine Live at Hartlepool on July 13th/14th. That is now six exhibitions this year and another one in the North East.

 

Thank you all for tuning in - next time I might even have some photos of the new stock to show you.

[Flood]

Well one week to go until the first exhibition of the year.

 

I haven't been over to Glenn's for a month so I haven't any photos of the Mk2e TSO stock but they have all been finished apart from a bit of weathering. The BCK in SLOA Pullman livery is coming on, Glenn has certainly finished one side and the other will probably be finished early next week.

 

 

Following on from an earlier thread on RMweb (http://rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1509) I have spent the last week and a half making a Two Tier Car Van. Two of them managed to survive until they were withdrawn in April 1988 but when they last ran as part of the East Coast Sleeper rakes I cannot be sure.

 

Before I started the model I had noted the fact that the well in the centre was too deep as supplied in the kit so 2.5mm was removed from the well height all round. Looking at the model now it should only have been 2mm removed but the effect is noticably better than some of the other models I have seen photos of.

 

All was going well until today when I compared the model (which was just about to have its roof added) to an Airfix Mk2d First. The kit model was way, way higher than the other coach - measurement with a ruler showed it to be 2.5 mm too high. Off came the sides and ends, the step on the inside of the ends (used to mount the body to the chassis) was raised 2 mm and the sides were reglued to the ends 2mm higher. Not a perfect arrangement as the sides are actually 2mm too high but glueing the rainstrip to the sides instead of the roof will reduce them by about 1mm and a lot of filler around the ends seems to have hidden most of the glaring errors. Keeping the roof flat with the tops of the ends ensured the whole 2.5mm reduction in height was actually achieved.

 

Spending 5 hours rebuilding a kit was not in todays plan at the start of the day.

 

Here is the coach is it stands as of tonight:

 

Plus a view of the reduced depth for the well in the centre:

 

So I'll leave it now for a couple of days and then smooth off the roof and add the panel joins, roof windows ands vents, end steps and rebuild the broken end hinges (grrr). Finally a coat of primer will probably be the last thing managed before next weeks exhibition.

 

Try and say hello at Biggleswade if you can - thanks for tuning in.

[emt_911]

Looking forward to seeing you at Biggleswade.

 

Duncan

[Trelvis_Gresley]

Hope to get to Biggleswade - really like this layout.

 

Trevor

[Flood]

Thanks for the replies guys, we look forward to seeing you.

 

Well yesterday I was just waiting for the TCV to harden off and I thought I'd do some more research. By about 5 o'clock in the evening I'd checked Scottish Region and ECML Train Marshalling books from about 1978 to 1983 and had a look at my notes from a York overnight in 1985. They all came to the same conclusion - the Two Tier Car Vans in Scotland only worked to Edinburgh (apart from a seasonal Motorail to Inverness) and never to Aberdeen. So I am now left with a nearly finished model for which I have no use. Oh well, life could be a lot worse. I'll finish it and either 1) sell it or 2) try to justify keeping it as an interesting model.

 

In order to feel a bit better about things (and have a fourth Motorail vehicle on Kirkhill) I found the spare GUV body I had painted nearly 2 years ago and numbered and lettered it up using a close-up photo found on Dennis Taylor's 80's Rail site.

 

The numbers and dimensions are Press-fix, the TOPS classification and MOTORAIL are from Fox lettering sheets - 100mm for the NXX, 75mm for the MOTORAIL. Lots of individual water-slide letters to try and keep straight!

 

 

The vehicle will now run with the air braked all blue GUV I had previously made:

 

 

The MOTORAIL branding may be small but it's certainly there.

 

The other two Motorail vehicles are a Hornby GUV in InterCity and a Bachmann GUV in blue and grey. It always adds interest having a few different liveries and the ratio of 2:1:1 is pretty accurate as well. The following photo was taken before it snowed at Kirkhill but it nicely shows the last two Motorail vehicles, some of the detail included on the layout and "The Enterprising Scot" - the first 47 I modified for Kirkhill and still one of my favourites.

 

 

So you have now been warned...   I won't be biting anyone's head off if they say these two blue GUVs are parcels vehicles   but it'll still grate me a little inside after applying all those individual letters.

 

[BR(S)]

I thought this might be of interest:

 

D1580 Perth 20.5.67 by George of Dufton, on Flickr

[Flood]

That is certainly the first time I have ever seen a clean one (or two if you count the next one as well). The blue roofs look very strange but the photos on the EM gauge site are of stock so filthy it is impossible to tell if B.R. ever painted the roofs grey or not.

 

Further information on sleeper rakes from 1987 (and hopefully early 1988 in due course) tends to confirm that the last two car carriers were not used on a service train after the Night Scotsman went over to Euston in May 1987.

 

My model still needs finishing, it's worrying how quickly I lose interest in something when I have no immediate need for it. My current excuse is that we have two exhibitions in a period of 6 weeks.

[Swifty11]

If you are interested Electra Graphics do vinyl overlays for those wagons,

Will add a link

 

http://www.electrarailwaygraphics.co.uk/

 

Once the link opens click 'latest news' and it has them second picture down, for some reason the link wount take you straight there I have tried a few different links sorry.

 

Thanks,

Tom

 

EDIT SORRY LINK IS FOR N GAUGE STOCK NOT 00 SORRY

Edited March 5, 2013 by Swifty11

[forest2807]

Aren't they for N gauge Tom, or have I misread it?

[Flood]

Like Adrian states those vinyls are for N gauge stock.

 

Still not sure what to do with mine - either the classifieds on here, ebay or keep it as something different. I suppose it depends how much someone will pay for a completed one.

Edited March 5, 2013 by Flood

[Swifty11]

Sorry! They are N gauge I hadn't noticed!

I'm sure you can probably get some specially made?

[Flood]

Preparation for the exhibition at Ally Pally will begin in earnest next week as Glenn is on holiday at the moment.

 

The exhibition at Biggleswade showed us that the blue and grey HST is a little too close coupled as the leading power car was a bit sluggish compared to the trailing one and this led to the corridor connections rubbing which very nearly caused a derailment. I picked up the HST trailers last Friday and all the couplings have now been moved out about 1/2 mm to alleviate any possible problem.

 

We ran the SLOA Pullman rake at Biggleswade and whilst the new BCK performed perfectly we found the height of the Pullman couplings compared to a Class 37 were way out - either we need to modify the end coach or use a 47 on this rake.

 

One of the 08s was always a bit jerky so the rods on our two 08s have been swapped and the jerkiness has swapped to the other loco. Glenn has therefore ordered a new set of coupling rods in order to cure this problem.

 

What this last exhibition has shown is that the stock needs to be regularly checked in order to reduce the number of problems that could arise. With six more exhibitions this year, a number of them being of a very high profile, we need to ensure that everything is running as perfect as possible for the public. In addition we need to be more on the ball as we forgot to take the viewing boards showing the Railway Modeller article. It just goes to show that it doesn't matter how many exhibitions you do, you cannot take anything for granted.

 

P.S. I will try to remember to take my camera and tripod as well!

Edited March 5, 2013 by Flood

[Lochnagar]

Finish the Motorails it'll be something different. . very rarely see them modelled. 

[Flood]

Finish the Motorails it'll be something different. . very rarely see them modelled. 

 

No problem mate, the Motorail Car Carrier will be finished. Just a shame that we can't use it on Kirkhill - now if we modelled the East End of Waverley Station it would be a different matter...

[forest2807]

.....now if we modelled the East End of Waverley Station it would be a different matter...

 

Come on then, get cracking.......

[Flood]

Dare I say it but the distance (according to Google Earth) from the furthest tunnel mouth to the station canopy is 866.53 ft = approx 11.5 feet in 4mm. The distance from the furthest tunnel to the far side of the road over the top is 1505.43 ft = 19.8 feet in 4mm. With 3 ft radius curves you can get away with a length of about 25 feet and Kirkhill is 24 ft 4 inches long.

 

The East end of Waverley Station is frighteningly modellable!

[37114]

I have just seen your exploits with the TCV, I hadn't realised the height was so out! The hinges are somewhat fragile on the end, one of mine has broken since completion.

 

I would be interested in taking it off your hands my only problem is if I put it next to my other one how it will show up that I havent corrected the errors on my one...

[Flood]

I know what you mean Rob.

 

By making it the correct height (although the sides are slightly out) it makes it nigh on impossible to run with another TCV unless that is made the same. It does, though, look perfectly good next door to a GUV so either running one GUV and one TCV (due to layout length restrictions) or two GUVs and one TCV would be perfectly acceptable.

[37114]

The photo of the blue roof is interesting, also confirms the well was blue, some photos of completed models I have seen have the solebar downwards painted black.

[Flood]

The latest item for Kirkhill - in fact if you count the SLEP which needs renumbering the photos show the latest two items for Kirkhill.

 

 

 

 

I've had this kit from Pete Harvey for nearly 2 years since we went to DEMU Showcase. It is only half the length of the standard item that Pete makes as the photo from Bob-65b on page 2 of this thread appears to show a shorter platform in Inverness Carriage Shed (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/1271-aberdeen-kirkhill-trsd/?p=55915).

 

It will live in the inspection shed by the first set of windows (and the cutout in the roof) so it should be easily visible to the public. Whilst it is pretty fragile so long as we don't bash it when cleaning the track it will be fine.

Edited April 4, 2022 by Flood