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  • 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
    • 2,763 views
Ragtag's Workbench

Network Rail MENTOR coach - Part 2

Well, the arrival of some parts from Sommerfeldt meant that today I was finally able to crack on with this project.   A lick of paint and some glazing:   The modified roof, showing the flat plasticard section and the original section filed to shape:   Detailing parts from Hurst:   The Sommerfeldt panto in place:     Additional insulators at the non-panto end:   Overall view of the new roof awaiting a second coat of paint:
Ragtag

Ragtag

4
Dave Holt's Blog

Delph - tortoise found buried under station site

Today, a construction worker engaged in reinstating the railway at Delph station site discovered a tortoise buried beneath.......   OK, in a slight break from the coal drops (awaiting more plastic supplies), I decided to mount and connect the first point motor to the TOU on the only turnout on this board. On fitting and attaching the droppers from the switch blades to the pre-made TOU I found that the blade opening at the tips of the blades is slightly over the scale 4.5". I think I'll live wi
Dave Holt

Dave Holt

2
Keyhaven

I hate wasps

As part of the drive to get something useful done whilst the site's off in the evenings some layabouts in the to-do drawer have resurfaced. Keyhaven's always needed an 07 to help give it some geographical recognition and a lemon of a runner (and build) Craftsman 07 has lain dormant next to a Silver Fox resin body. The Silver Fox body needs a Bachmann 04 split chassis and having fried one chip with a chassis short when DCCing it too sat in the 'one day' pile. The detail on the Craftsman brass bod
Andy Y

Andy Y

6
On30runner's Blog

finally we are up to date

I've finally caught up with myself. After the last entry I've been playing trains, and just generally enjoying my layout. I've also been building locos, with two new locos taking up residence.   The first one is number 6. This was a Bachmann Forney that I bought but discovered it was too long to go round my curves without derailing whatever it was towing. What to do? I thought about selling it, but its a nice model and I rather liked it, so I elected to buy the Backwoods conversion kit to
On30runner

On30runner

0
Hythe Parkway Blog

Hythe Parkway - More pictures

Hi,   I went up to the club last night and took a few more pictures:   T9 4-4-0 No. 30285 and BR Standard 9F 2-10-0 No. 92220 'Evening Star' wait for their next duties 'on shed' at Hythe Parkway:   DB Schenker Tamper, on trail from Germany, waits for weekend engineering work at the tiny fueling point at Hythe Parkway:     Workmen cause traffic problems on Station road:     Virgin Cross Country Class 220 'Voyager' No. 220035 'Grampian Voyager' gets ready to depart from Platform
St. Simon

St. Simon

2
barrowroad's Blog

Sand Dryer Tiles

The self adhesive tiles produced by York Modelmakers are excellent, easy to use and look the part. The last building I tiled, Sheep Pasture Engine House, had individual tiles which I cut from 5 thou plasticard. They look good but would be a daunting method to adopt for all the roofing on Barrow Road Shed so I am pleased with the results produced by YM's tiles.   Anyway here are a few photos of the Sand Dryer during the tiling process.             I have since noticed I forgot
barrowroad

barrowroad

6
65243's Workbench

Progress at Last!

Some progress on the neglected locos has been made.   The RSH is being run in - all looks good so far. I need to attach some detail parts to the backhead, work out some method of current collection, test it and send the whole lot off to the paintshops.   The 16" Barclay has had a motor and gearbox ordered for it.   The jackshaft for the BR 06 has been returned to Judith Edge Kits to be exchanged for a longer one, which leaves only the piano tank ...         which hasn't been touched
65243

65243

2
The Fatadder's Modern Workbench

More work on Class 59s

Firstly returning to 59004, I mentioned in an earlier blog that for 59104 I had modified my method for constructing the new fuel tank so that it reuses the Bachmann detail for the gauge and filler cap. The end result of this was that I was not strictly happy with the part fitted to 59004 that had scratch built gauges/filler caps. As a result I turned to the Lima moulding that was left over from 59104's original chassis, while this was a bit too wide for the new chassis (by approximately 1mm) t
The Fatadder

The Fatadder

0
halfwit's fantastic workbench!

Judith Edge Steelman Royale body handrails and roof.

There are 5 handrails attached to the body, 2 at the front, 2 at the back and 1 on the bonnet top. All very straightforward. I differed from the instructions by adding them after the radiater front and fuel tank rear were soldered in place, the instructions reccomend fitting the handrails first. I did get to use my Bil Bedford handrail bending jig for the first time. The cab roof was formed by rolling it on my thigh with the handle of my 3 sided scraper. Iain Rice describes this method in his '
halfwit

halfwit

5
My Layout - Talerddig Sidings

Another Critter

Hi all,   Having been suitably impressed with Captain Kernow's critter on the 'old' RMWeb and my inspiration re-ignited with Jam's version here, I decided to take the plunge and build my own, something I've been wanting to do for ages Nothing clever or even new, I've stuck to the Captain's [or should that be Neil's?] version pretty closely.   I've started work on the cab and bonnet, no photos yet I'm afraid until I can upload them. It's funny because, even though I've only just started b
matto21

matto21

1
The Saltney Railway

Saltney. Green lumpy stuff.

Firstly, must apologise if these entries seem to be coming a bit thick and fast. Just trying to bring it up to date without making each entry too big! Steve had a bit of luck when someone gave him a load of photgraphic backscene sheets. OK they were seconds but very useful nevertheless. They were quickly mounted on boards and installed (to hide my point motors!) A bit of work with the plaster bandage, paint and green lumpy stuff and a nice scenic area was the result. I placed my detailed Alph
Jon Fitness

Jon Fitness

5
coombe junction - moorswater

Kyle - Scope checks...

Update - Following withdrawal of CJ from the GJLC it is now time to put the foot to the pedal with Kyle, which at least is easier to transport and is making its debut in 108 days.   I still need to complete the turnouts and am pondering means of operation following all the fellow informative posts of recent however it is likely that they will remain low tech in order to reduce weight, simplify the sparks and balance costs. Most probably wire in tube using a dpdt switch for the two turnouts and
bcnPete

bcnPete

11
DRAG TT2 progress

DRAG goes Broad Gauge!

On Monday night, one of our members Andrew Howlett brought in some 4mm scale broad gauge models he had started a few years ago, but hadn't completed yet for personal/domestic reasons. I'll let the photos speak for themselves:      
Captain Kernow

Captain Kernow

2
halfwit's fantastic workbench!

Judith Edge Steelman Royale window frames and bonnet catches.

I fitted the front and rear window surrounds next. Sensible people will fit these last with either superglue or varnish after painting them (they are bare aluminimum on the prototype). I soldered them. I cut them out then tinned the rear (inner) side then sweated them in place. You're supposed to apply heat to the rear or inner when sweating but I applied the iron directly to the frame. Worked for me... Bonnet catches. Here's the etch; You can also see the fuel gauge on this etch (part 3
halfwit

halfwit

2
halfwit's fantastic workbench!

Judith Edge Steelman Royale bonnet part 2.

More work on the bonnet. Access doors need to be fitted to the sides before the top is fitted. The front roller shutter doors are, as supplied, too small, being the same size as the opening. An e-mail to Mike Edge resulted in a pair of doors from a Vangaurd, which need cutting down, and an assurance that future kits will have the correct sized doors. This is the only problem that I've had with this kit, my own mistakes not included. While I was waiting for these to arrive I soldered up the rear
halfwit

halfwit

0
Adam's part-time modelling

Shochood Update

Leaping ahead with the Shochood, all the detailing, both of the body and chassis is now complete, though as the first photo shows, I've kept the detail to where you can see it. Planning ahead is important here, as is keeping the reference books open on the right page. My copy of Bartlett et al now seems to fall open at about thihis point! The perils of not paying attention will create more work later. This is why the second MDV I built has a replacement plastic end; I assembled the body the wron
Adam

Adam

6
The Saltney Railway

Saltney, Alterations,additions and a bit of scenery.

When the track was layed into the LM station, we knew we were on the very limit of curvature for most of the locos (we reckoned some of the curves were 4' 6" radius) and this proved to be too much for some. A re-think was necessary which resulted in much alteration of the woodwork and a reduction in complexity of the trackwork. We had originally envisaged a double track into the station but this was reduced to single. Many attempts were made before a compromise was reached. As the corner by t
Jon Fitness

Jon Fitness

2
Brackhampton Snow Hill

A Star is born

Not a GWR coach at all - but it didn't seem worthwhile starting a new thread for one picture. I'd asked elsewhere about problems with the old Hornby Saint - and wow was that a case of lighting the blue touch paper and retiring.   Anyway it stirred me into having a go at knocking up a Star (Saint to Star? Don't ask) I can't claim any credit for the process as its all detailed elsewhere on other threads - have a look at the thread on the Hornby Saint for the links.   This is based on the old A
rovex

rovex

3
Clydach

Workbench

As this was originally intended as a layout blog, all of my workbench content from now on can be found here.   This includes the 142/143 conversion and any new posts will be made there.
JZjr

JZjr

1
JZjr's Workbench

Arriva 142 to First 143

My Arriva Trains Wales class 142 has now been half converted to a First Great Western 143.   The final livery of the 143 will be the First Great Western 'Plain Blue Interim livery', this was applied to one of the class between the 'Local Bristol Livery' and the 'Local Lines Livery'   Only the first half of the unit is done at the moment and the other half will be done in three-four weeks. If I have not updated this blog after three weeks then feel free to PM and remind me!   Some pictures
JZjr

JZjr

2
clarkea1's Blog

Further wagon progress

Just a quick update on the various steelworks internal user wagons on my workbench. The Workington scrap bogie opens have made it as far as the paintshop - all three have had a good blast of grey primer. I have also splayed out the sides on the wagons as per the prototype photos. The next stage will be painting (in "rust" livery) followed by some fairly severe weathering with a mixture of dry brushing and powders.     Two of the wagons will be finished in a fairly poor condition, but I'v
clarkea1

clarkea1

1
DRAG TT2 progress

First trains on TT2 run under their own power

Last night we got the OO P87 circuit on TT2 temporarily wired up and actually ran some trains on the new facility for the first time.   The honour of breaking the metaphorical ribbon went to John farmer's LY pannier tank, which was swiftly followed by a succession of other Western Region, Southern Region and S&D trains.   The first powered movement on the completed OO circuit.   A general view of the test track   10800 getting his version of The Cornishman ready to put on the t
Captain Kernow

Captain Kernow

3

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