Freed from the shackles of getting Clevedon ready for its debut this weekend, I've dug the T9 out of the cupboard and had a play. It's amazing how long it takes to to do anything but hey, it's all progress.
Working out which bits go where has been a learning experience. Knocking the box of bits over wasn't a sensible thing to do. Still managed to find everything again eventually!
Just a quick update on the T9.
The boiler, smoke box and firebox have all been rolled up as per the instructions. I haven't done this bit before so a lot of care was taken and I took my time. The end results are shown in the photos and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.
The T9 will have to wait for a while before I make any further progress as I really need to concentrate on the new layout Clevedon over the coming months and its first show in January.
The results of a couple of weeks off (in between doing proper holidays of course) has seen a bit of progress on the T9.
I said the splashers were complicated. They're even harder if you try and attach them upside down which I did. So the coupling rod splashers had to be taken off and re-done. The actual wheel splashers went on reasonably ok and the cab just slotted together.
I had a bit of a problem when it came to trimming back the footplate. It snapped at the join with the valence jig, meani
Evening all
am on my hols at the moment and finding time to make a bit of progress with the T9.
The chassis is finished, having had all manner of detailing bits, overlays and bits of pipe attached.
This took some time to sort out because I wanted to have the wheels removable. I made up a couple of bits to support the rear and front springs which are curiously a mixture of coil and leaf springs.
The brake control rods have been fixed with 16BA screws so the whole thing can be disassembled f
Evening all
It's been a while since I put anything in here, other than the odd photo but...
In a quest to build the oldest items in my kit cupboard before I buy anything else, I've been looking at the Finney T9 kit I've had for ages. And looking. And looking.
With the realisation that there aren't going to be too many more shows for Wheal Elizabeth I finally stopped looking and decided the time had come to make a start.
At least this time the RTR model has appeared before I got round to buil
Had a mixed show at Stafford last weekend.
The venue, organisation and exhibition itself was great, as was the hospitality.
Had some dodgy running to start off with, but things gradually settled down.
Saturday was steam and green diesel and unfortunately I discovered that sheeted diag 1/051 wagons are not air braked. That is the air doesn't slow their descent when they're driven off the edge of the fiddle yard by a co-operator. Grrr.
Total wipeout I'm afraid. Most of the underframes hav
Just a few photos from the Manchester show at the weekend. The new end to end format allowed us to have a lot of fun playing with new trains. The Class 108 DMU needs a bit of work to stop it falling off quite so much (either weight or compensation) as the lightweight nature of some of the bogies meant it was a little unstable.
All in all, it was really good fun. I only had the phone, so apologies for the poor quality of some of the photos.
Wheal Elizabeth will be back out in 2013. It's
Evening all
No modelling updates for a while, as I've been on me holidays.
Starting to get things ready for Manchester in just over a month's time, which will see Wheal Elizabeth exhibited in end to end guise for the first time.
Almost all of the modifications are now complete, just the fiddle yard crate to make up.
I have been trying out the various passenger stock and took the opportunity of taking a few photos.
All well, though I'll try and get a little more lead in the O2 to improve tra
OK, I have reached the point where I wished I'd gone down the etched chassis route. So I'm going to stop and have a think about whether I should.
Have spent the evening b*ggering about with the drawbar. All ok after several attempts to solder 2 wires the correct way round. Body put back on. Binds have reappeared on the cylinders again, where previously there were none. Hmm. I have a sneaking suspicion that something's moving around which shouldn't be. I've also decided that there are quite a
UIlypug towers hosted the local EM group last night and so I put Clevedon up, with all the stock on (well except the wagons for the through freight trains).
Should've cut out the back light from the windows but you get the idea.
General shot of the shed area
Coach sidings
Hesperus and the LSWR rake (I know the coaches should be brown)
End on shot of the layout
Makes me want to put down the West Country and start the buildings...
I decided to fit a brass sleeve to the piston rod. It was during the exercise I discovered that the cylinder ends can be removed from the main cylinder moulding and so a cunning plan was hatched.
With a bit of filing, the ends were pushed out 0.5mm allowing the sleeve to be fitted further away from the main chassis. I was still debating whether I'd need to move the slide bars out as well, but on reassembly it all seemed to work quite well. The black plasticard spacer is to push out the cylind
I'm not quite getting to the point where I wish I'd gone down the etched chassis route, but I'm beginning to wonder...
So, I sorted the keeper plate issue by chucking it away and replacing with a new one fabricated from double sided copperclad. The benefit being the pick ups could be soldered to the underside. Gaps cut obviously for isolation.
I chiselled out a route for the pick up wires in the upper keeper plate and countersunk the hole through. Wires are 7/0.2mm.
The whole thing rea
A couple of successful evening sessions has seen the rods made up and fitted. The upper keeper plate was fitted and happily the chassis ran up and down on the test track under finger pressure and when relatively slightly sloped. Huge sigh of relief as always!
I've also fitted 60 thou black plasticard overlays to the chassis block. Some bits have yet to be hacked off (rear pony) and won't be until the last moment so I don't take too much off.
We're now in the realms of having to choose the
Not much progress in the last couple of weeks due to work commitments, but I have managed to complete the bogie and get the wheels quartered.
The wheels trial fitted in the chassis block. I used a mixture top hat bearings and ordinary 1/8" washers to suit. The wheels were quartered using my NWSL quartering jig, which I find easier for RTR conversions than the GW Models one. I'm wondering whether to fit cosmetic sides from plasticard. I might make some up with slots than can be put in later o
Just like buses eh?
The Van B Link here needs something to pull it and rather than start on the Finney T9, I've gone for the quicker option. I want to have something ready for Manchester in October.
So this is a (hopefully) straightforward conversion of the Hornby West Country pacific, using 605 Squadron as the donor engine and following the EM Gauge Society manual sheet as the basis of conversion.
First step is to take everything apart. It's quite scary when you get to this stage:
N
Evening all.
I've decided to break with tradition and build a kit after the corresponding RTR model appears. Usually it's the other way round
The subject matter was a Ratio Van B kit that I've had in the cupboard for years. Well actually I had two but the other one's going to be sold to make way for the new Hornby one, but I digress...
This will be for the Wheal Elizabeth passenger line to go behind a West Country or T9.
It was built pretty much as the instructions but used Bill Bedfor
Evening all,
been a while hasn't it?
Wheal Elizabeth's glacial conversion to incorporate a running line is almost complete. We now have a dividing railway fence, facing point lock with protection bar, lever frame, rodding etc and all the details I've been meaning to get round to. I'm sure someone out there can tell me what colour the levers should be for a point lock and point lever (which operates a pair of points in case you were wondering). Fencing is EZ line and the track details a v
As well as getting Wheal Elizabeth ready for the Cheltenham show this weekend, this week I've been building a 51L kit for a Castle Cement air braked hopper. This will be added to the modern image fleet for occasional use. Nothing to do with china clay at all as far as I know, but there were workings to Chacewater, so maybe an excuse for a diverted working? The real reason is it was on the bring and buy a couple of years ago at Scaleforum.
I'd kind of hoped it'd be ready for the show, but I've o
Wheal Elizabeth is out and about this coming weekend at Cheltenham. Do come and say hello if you're going..
The modifications to the layout are all but complete, just some point rodding, facing point lock and a lever frame to add.
The slurry loading facility has been relocated, allowing a rake of tanks to be filled, so expect to see the bullet train this weekend.
Also, Wheal Elizabeth has secured the lucrative contract to supply Tulis Russell, the papermakers so expect to see their own privat
At last, I'm pleased to say that over the last couple of weeks, the final wires have been attached, the panel finished, the turnout operating rods attached and everything checked. The result of this is that this afternoon I connected the power box and switched it on. Playing trains commenced shortly afterwards!! There are a couple of tweaks to sort out but importantly, nothing shorted. As the weather was glorious, I couldn't resist putting some of the stock on the layout and taking a few piccies
Hmm. New month. Must be time for an update.
Wheal Elizabeth's modifications are virtually complete. All boards are wired up and last few scenic bits to finish off in time for the Cheltenham exhibition next month. Not that the layout will be running in end to end format.
Having completed that, my thoughts and soldering iron have turned towards Clevedon again.
I'd not previously installed the electromagnets and had been putting the job off for a number of reasons. Firstly, because it involve
Finally got round to painting the Hoppers and adding the transfers.
Thought I'd take a photo before I apply suitable layers of crud.
Must tweak that out of line hopper discharge wheel or else it'll bug me...
The ongoing addition of a running line continues. Here you can see the new bridge with a bubble car where the new platform will be on the viewing side.
A shot without the bubble car and the addition of a background blocker. No photoshop here! The bridge was made from cut and shut sections of the existing retaining wall, so the colours match the original bridge exactly. I didn't fancy trying to replicate the stonework from fresh.
The change in levels from the original to new bridge is unfo
Cor it's been a while hasn't it? Whereas I used to be able to count my modelling activity in hours, now it's minutes. Happy to report I've finally finished off the bubble car. Well I say finished, there's a mist of weathering, head codes to add, etc etc.
I'm really pleased with the way this has turned out. Ok so you can buy a Hornby bubble car in green but that's not the point. This model means a lot to me personally because it's taken so long to build. I bought the donor unit 27 years ago wh
OK, so as I've mentioned in earlier posts, the intention is to convert Wheal Elizabeth to through running, whilst still being able to run as terminus when the mood takes me.
Those of you who know your Cornish railway history will be aware that there were several schemes to link the Bodmin and Wadebridge line with the Par to Newquay branch, via an extension of the line from Ruthernbridge up to Roche (Victoria). I've never actually seen the confirmed route, but analysis of the OS maps show a coup
