Jump to content
 

Blogs

Featured Entries

  • SouthernRegionSteam

    Coastguard Creek - 15 months of planning!

    By SouthernRegionSteam

    Hold on to your socks - this is going to be a lengthy one! (In fact it's so long, I've now split it into 2 separate posts - the next will be up soon...)   I think it's fair to say that you are all long overdue an update on Coastguard Creek. Due to other commitments, no real progress has been made since the last post way back in March 2021; almost 15 months ago! If anything, things went backwards for quite a while, as I kept finding more and more inspiring locations that I really wanted
    • 8 comments
    • 2,821 views
Broad Gauge Workshop

Iron Duke

Another train to talk about, and one of the more known broad gauge locomotives, "Iron Duke"   I have actually made one of the Iron duke classes, which is Lord of the Isles, though it was inaccurate in basically everything. I have it shown on my entry about my 'finished' Rover Class.   I've planned to make Iron duke after I finish the North Star, which never did since I started work on Iron Duke immediately when I was satisfied with North Star's progress. Though I was hes
Netherport - GWR 1908 7mm (mostly wagons for now!)

LNWR 4-plank wagon (diagram 84)

I have just finished making an LNWR 4-plank open, to diagram 84. This was meant to be a "quickie", as a relaxing diversion following the complexities of the horsebox and before getting my teeth into a brake van. However, it has taken three months - partly due to a lack of modelling time recently, and partly because it turned out to be a bit more involved than I had expected. The starting point was the ABS whitemetal kit. My first impression was - it's enormous. The prototype was 18 feet ove
magmouse

magmouse in Wagons

14
46444's Blog

Western National-Tavy style. EFE Bristol LS detailing.

Lurking on the work bench have been two EFE Western National, Bristol LS' which I have been detailing. Both were picked up for less than £10 each secondhand.   Inspired by the Lincolnshire Road Car Bristol LS on Tony Wright's Little Bytham I asked Ian Wilson at Pacific Models to make me up some printed destination screens for this pair.    I supplied Ian with the dimensions of the screens, destination and route numbers. In this instance services which would have originated fr
46444

46444 in 46444 Blog

7
Broad Gauge Workshop

North Star

It's been real quiet since the last entry, and I do apologize for that. Didn't have time to work on stuff due to school and personal life events but nonetheless, I'm proud to show one of my almost-finished projects, the North Star.😀 -   For those who want some info on North Star, read the Wiki articles below.   The Great Western Railway (GWR) Star Class of 2-2-2 broad gauge steam locomotives were used for passenger train work. Designed by Robert Stephenson, the cla
Pre-Grouping Railways work bench

NER P5 hoppers with automatic working bottom door

should start by saying that about 10 years ago I produced some 7mm kits for both a P4 and a P5 coal hopper and R2 and R4 coke hoppers. These were resin with brass strapping over layed onto them. With the moulds dying last year I decided to see if I could upgrade them to be a one piece 3D print. This was achieved pretty quickly. But then I had the idea to make them work ie make the bottom doors open and close automatically. Easier said than done. So starting with the P5 hopper this is how far
Wenlock's Blog

About time too!

I’ve finally completed painting my pair of six wheel coaches which have been languishing on the work bench for far too long! Readers of this blog will know that coaches are definitely my nemesis, they always seem to take me forever to complete and these two have been no different!  I’m taking Sherton to the York  exhibition at the end of the month and that provided the enthusiasm to get them finished🙂 Diag V8 Passenger Brake Van       Diag U14  Is
7mm Shunting Plank (with scope creep)

That feeling when you make the first irreversable step

The next task was to cut an entry hole from the fiddle yard.   I don't know if you are like me, but I find it a bit daunting cutting holes in or otherwise modifiying (and therefore potentially ruining) any expensive and lovely model. This is why, even though I was pleased with my weathering on some wagons, I haven't yet built up the courage to tackle a locomotive yet.   I mean, I know most things that go wrong can be sorted with a bit of work, but there is a feeling that it m
Clevedon WC&PR

Clevedon WCPR at Yate 9 March 2024

I don’t post much about my Clevedon layout anymore but just a note to say that the layout will be having a run out at the Sodbury Vale show in Yate on 9 March 2024. I’ve spent a pleasant evening servicing all the engines and checking the layout still works! All is well. Do come and say hello if you’re passing.
ullypug

ullypug in EM

1
The Farthing layouts

A Pantechnicon for Farthing

A horse-drawn furniture removal van has appeared at Farthing. The kit is a reborn Gem product, marketed under the John Day Models label alongside other re-introduced whitemetal ranges. It’s all run by Daryle Toney who is very helpful (no connection).       The main parts are a fair fit. As usual I used Loctite Gel to stick it together. Unlike most superglues it does not require a perfect join to bond well.       Some parts did require fettling.
Kelvinbank, a Caledonian Railway project.

An early CR horsebox, part 1

The latest kit from True Line Models represents a horse box built by Metropolitan in 1870 for the CR. This is a different method for TLM being a resin print. I have used 3d printed parts but this is my first go at a complete 3d printed wagon.   Removing the body from the supports taught me just how brittle resin prints can be. Since I want a practical layout vehicle I decided to reinforce the steps and springs with 0.3 brass wire. Wheels are on MJT internal compensation irons soldered
MikeOxon's Broad Gauge Blog

Paddington Engine House 1840

“Towards the end of July 1837 I heard that Mr. Brunel wanted some one to take the post of locomotive engineer on the Great Western Railway, and I at once went to him, on July 20th, preferring that department to railway making.”   Thus wrote Daniel Gooch about the event that changed his life when he was just 21 years old. As a result, he left Manchester and went to London, beginning his duties with the Great Western Railway at West Drayton on the 18th August 1837. Because no engines had
MikeOxon

MikeOxon in General

11
western viscount's Blog

Autocoach tinkering

I have been working on a couple of Autos for Caia Road. This has included a comet BR(w) auto, an uplifted airfix and a Bachmann example.  I have been doing a bit of weathering and have given the airfix one a spray of muck. The roof remains loose as I need to finish some details inside.  The sides were kept relatively clean on the airfix coach I made a bit of a mess (not in the intended way) of the Bachmann example but have tried to correct this. I have gone quite heavy
western viscount's Blog

Dapol Kitmaster Presflo uplift -Ex works

I have tonight ckmpleted decals on the Presflo kit. The wagon was primed with Halfords red oxide and then I droped the whole thing on the floor. Some detail was losr and a couple of cracks needed to be sorted. The project was very close to being binned!  But.... I persisted and I am rather happy with the decals. The colour is mixed from Mr Hobby brownds which I have never used before and , although not righyt provide a base for an interesting weathering project.  I need to p
46444's Blog

Part 2: Wagon Miscellany. Including BR/WR/GWR ballast wagons x 3.

Bit of an update on the wagon building miscellany.    The Three Peaks Models, Lancashire & Yorkshire Low Goods Wagons are coming on well. I must say how pleased I am with these kits.    Following on from reading Jonathan's West End Workbench, I decided to drill out the axle boxes to receive Alan Gibson brass bearings.         One is finished in BR unfitted grey. The other is in late LMS livery. Sole bars are to be painted brown on th
46444

46444 in 46444 Blog

16
Sixties Snapshots - 00 scale

The Little People

For years my wife has been pointing out that my layout lacks people.  Enter my son-in-law Martin.  He likes his technology and he has invested in a 3D printer.  After making some War Game figures for his son he would turn his attention to some little figures for the railway.  Not only did he print the figures but he also painted them – that is skilful. Some of Martin’s 3D Printed and Painted Figures   Problem is that printer files for suitable little people are in short s
Engine Wood

'Sir Harry'

Recently, I decided to treat myself.   When the Hornby W4 Peckett came out, like some of us, I went a little mad and ended up buying four examples, over a period of time. Not all at once, you understand, that really would be silly.   I thought that at least one could be converted to P4, seeings as I model in both OO and P4. One I would fit scale couplings to, weather and allocate to one of the outrageously improbable OO light railways that I'm rather fond of modelling.  
My German H0 Modelling Blog

2. Bahnhof Kirchbach

I've been on the lookout for a countryside steam era Station kit.  Faller offer several fairly generic examples, often Combination Depots with an adjoining Goods Shed (Güterschuppen).  However, I was rather taken by this one, which I spotted being sold with a generous preowned discount as the box had been opened.  It'll need a separate Goods Shed:     The only bit missing was the station clock.  As I want it for an earlier era, I can live without the modern clock in the pict
MikeOxon's Broad Gauge Blog

Paddington Station 1840

Brunel’s great arched roof is to many people the epitome of Paddington Station but this was not built until 1854. The passengers who first travelled on the line from Paddington to Maidenhead, which opened on 4th June 1838, started their journey from a far less imposing structure – little more than a collection of wooden sheds.   A London terminus for the GWR was needed in a hurry, after negotiations with the London & Birmingham Railway for a joint terminus at Euston broke down. Wit
MikeOxon

MikeOxon in General

26
The Strawberry Line

Cheddar P4 - February 2024 update - it lives!

Major milestones this month. For the first time since I started building Cheddar, some 11 years ago now, I’ve finally been able to put all of the 8 scenic boards up together. Cheddar is going to be making its exhibition debut at RailWells this August as a work in progress and with under 6 months to go I needed to take stock of just how much left there is to do before it gets there!   The layout has been in various unheated garages for the last few years and it’s almost 6 years sin
ullypug

ullypug in Layout

9
Barry Ten's Blog

93XX progress

Following on from my post of a month or so back about accepting yesterday's standards as being "good enough", here's the sort of finished 93XX, now with the Comet cylinders as promised. They make a big difference I reckon.     I say "sort of" finished because the livery and tender transfers are just to get something into BR service without doing a full repaint from the original GWR green. I removed the latter's lettering with T-cut, then added HMRS transfers for the late cre
Barry Ten

Barry Ten in GWR

3
Jim Champ's "Introduction to Great Western Locomotive Development"

Boilers with flue tubes but no superheater elements.

From 1925 the GWR fitted a pair of 5 1/8 diameter flue tubes in the upper corners of untapered boilers that had belpaire fireboxes, pressure 165psi and above and no superheater. This is reckoned to have reduced cracking in the corners of the firebox. Tapered boilers like the 94xx never had this feature, but it was seen on all post 1934 designs and also on replacement boilers on smaller pre group pannier tanks and side tanks like 850s, 2021s and I think 517s. Did any other lines use this design f

  • Blog Statistics

    2,556
    Total Blogs
    21,992
    Total Entries

  • Blog Comments

    • Mikkel
      Episode 8: Am I 'brave' enough?

      By Mikkel · Posted

      Some interesting reflections, Keith.   I like your comparative shots with the same baseboard but different stations and trains, quite thought provoking. As you say, it really highlights how different things can appear.   Visually the "Schönberg" and "Kirchbach" versions are pleasing and would make lovely layouts, but if you're looking for a challenge I think it would be quite novel to see if your large grain structures etc could be incorporated in a small space.    
    • LMSfan72
      Class 73/9 - development of a body shell or kit......

      By LMSfan72 · Posted

    • Keith Addenbrooke
      Episode 8: Am I 'brave' enough?

      By Keith Addenbrooke · Posted

      For anyone interested in seeing how the Ontario layout in the Pilentum video linked into the blog post was built, there's a thread here on a Benelux modelling Forum (in Dutch).  Build photos reveal how the layout goes together, as @AndyB highlights.  Very informative.   I have no connection with the builder, or with Beneluxspoor.net - everything I've linked to is in the public domain, Keith.  
    • Erudhalion
      GRC&W 10T End Door Wagons - A Typology

      By Erudhalion · Posted

      Unfortunately I don't have my copies of the S&W books by Ian Pope et al. at hand, only the scans I made of the wagon photos, mainly from vol.1 and 2. Luckily, many are dated GRC&W works pics, most from about 1890 to the mid 1910s, so presumably the 10t and 12t wagons were the newer kind being produced. There must have been many older, smaller wagons in use at the time, as the photos of Lydney yard in (I think) 1908 at the beginning of vol. 5 show what appear to me mostly 8t mineral wagon
    • MikeOxon
      GRC&W 10T End Door Wagons - A Typology

      By MikeOxon · Posted

      Noting that you "have been building stock appropriate for the Forest of Dean in the early '20s.", I am interest to see that the use of larger wagons persisted in the area from much earlier Broad Gauge (BG) Days.    In my own blog,  I have written about BG wagons built for carrying both coal and pig iron down through the Haie Tunnel to the dock at Bullo Pill.  Ian Pope et al quote an incident from 1863, when a train of 70 wagons broke free and led to a ‘pile up’, said to be 15 wagons hi

  • Blogs

×
×
  • Create New...