Evening all
I've taken advantage of the rotten weather to have a very relaxing weekend indoors making progress with the auto trailer.
When I last posted back in January, it had been stripped of all paint and had the detailing added from the Dart kit.
Roll forward some 10 months (yikes) and things have moved on a bit. The body finally got sprayed all over carmine and I've fitted the Lazerglaze windows from Shawplan. Funny thing was one side needed virtually every piece of glass fil
Pretty much finished for now. Needs some grills adding behind the guards compartment. I've got some somewhere but do you think I can find them?
May have to add handrail to the guards door yet and it needs a driver hence the tail lamp for now but otherwise done.
Toned down the paintwork with lifecolor acrylic washes removed immediately with moistened cotton bud.
Coupled with 1454 (though I see I've chipped a bit of paint off some of the pipe work) I have to say I'm pleased with how
With 1454 finished (don't panic, we have 2 independent witnesses confirming it was indeed in unlined green with the early emblem), I'm now working on the Autotrailer.
I reckon I bought this when I was about 13, which is a long, long time ago. I know there's a new RTR model in the pipeline but that's not the point. I really enjoy updating all the old models in my collection. In some cases it's quite poignant to see what I managed to achieve as a teenager (or not as was frequently the case) a
Well hello there.
Haven't blogged in a few weeks, due primarily to me exhibiting at Nailsea, then York and Cheltenham on consecutive weekends with all the preparation that goes with it. Still, a very good time was had by all.
It's also rather weird not having Lizzy around any more as I find myself without an operable p4 layout.
In the meantime I've been building some track for a friend who's planning to build a model of Wookey on the Cheddar Valley line. We've compressed things a bit, stra
Because it's a lot less stressful than playing with computers! New Mac purchased after patience finally snapped with my old PC. Now I'm on that horrible learning curve whilst I try and unlearn all those years of learned behaviour. Still, e-mail and internet configured this evening. Considering I'm way out of my comfort zone, I'm quite happy.
...or put another way, is it really 2 weeks since I posted anything? I should start with a big thumbs up for the Weston show back on 17 Jan. Just under 1000 through the door for a one dayer and over ??1500 raised for Weston Hospicecare. A very well attended and staged show. Well done Keith if you're on here.
Not much is happening at the moment. Stock has been cleaned and checked ready for the trek up to Rochdale this weekend. Must remember to pack thermals and phrasebook. It'll give Geof an
As the next outing for Wheal Elizabeth beckons (Weston-super-Mare 17 Jan), it's time to start wheel cleaning. A necessary evil but something that has to be done. Slaters track cleaner and cotton buds is all it takes.Thankfully rewheeled rtr is a lot easier to do than the kitbuilt stuff.
Mind you, when the list is a long one (Well tank, 1366, 57xx, 42xx, Cl 03, 08 X 2, 22, 25/1, 25/3, 35, 37/2, 37/6, 42, 45, 47, 50, & 52), it still takes a while. Maybe it's time to start cutting down what I
Alas it seems that the 21st century has finally caught up with this little part of Cornwall and the works will be closing on the weekend of 12/13 March after the Nailsea show. The wharfinger, Mr Ebeneezer Blugwort is confident that the works will be sold as a going concern and job losses will be kept to a minimum.
An enthusiasts special will be run on the afternoon of Sunday 13 March. It is thought that a single brake van will suffice as there are not expected to be that many to worry about.
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
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
Two new engines were released to traffic at last week's Scaleforum show so I took a few pics.
We had a bit of a blast. I must spend less time preparing it for shows in the future as it ran better than normal. Hey ho...
30719 and Geof's Sentinel which was sporting some temporary nameplates.
We're still debating what colour might suit it best. Yellow?
Speaking of which, must go and see how Munchkin is doing.
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
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
Sorry for the lack of updates but I've been busy continuing with the programme of modifications to Wheal Elizabeth which will eventually result in passenger running.
First came the removal of the loading dock and platform almost immediately after Trainwest.
Next came the attachment of the new fiddleyard board and painting.
Next the start of an overbridge based on Bugle. The stone work is from Kibri styrene sheets. Very good and not as pronounced as the usual Wills offerings.
Then the additio
Have taken the plunge and built the lighting rig extension for Wheal Elizabeth. The purpose of this is to bring all the supports forward allowing the front line to be used for a through passenger traffic in the future. I've only had to bring this forward about 100mm and the effect is a rather nice 'chunky' proscenium arch. Still needs a topcoat of blue gloss in time for its next outing at Trainwest, Melksham next weekend and after this, the next step will be to crack on with the necessary bridge
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
Had a really good weekend at the Nailsea show running Wheal Elizabeth for the last time under my stewardship.
Ran a good selection of trains and spent most of this afternoon finishing off where it all started, with the more modern clay trains. Usually we don't get the time to run as much of them as we'd like, so it was really nice to make some time today.
Geof kindly make a selection of head boards for the various works shunters, Minion, Jamie and Treffry.
The last train was a single brake
Just a quickie. Happy to report Minion has been successfully delivered to Wheal Elizabeth and will be on shed this coming Saturday at the Sodbury Vale show In Yate. It will get toned down a bit when I can bear to get the airbrush out but at the moment it's too cold to stay in the garage for long. Excuse the lack of backscene. I've only put the layout up to track test everything.
Am also playing with a couple of Hawksworth coaches. I've done nothing other than re wheel at the moment bu
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
Wheal Elizabeth is up at ally Pally this weekend.
Unusually we ran air brake stuff first thing, then gradually worked towards steam by the end of the day. Might do the opposite tomorrow. Do pop by and say hello if you're passing.
Finally got round to fitting a route disk to the 02 too.
I've been off work, staying the week with the family up on the North Yorkshire Moors. I managed to sneak a small modelling box of bits and pieces in the car 'in case of rainy days' etc. In-between chasing real trains and trips out, I've been busy at the kitchen table.
The prototype in question is a PD&SWJR brake van, purely because I do have a soft spot for light railways and I recently acquired the Southern Railway wagons book with a drawing of it.
I've also got one of Roger Slade's CSP
Photos attached to my gallery of the WC&PR layout. Really starting to think about next major station up the line, Clevedon.
I am looking forward to doing a real place again. I can get the station at Clevedon and the 8 road loco/carriage shed into 9ft without compression. I'll also be able to finish the rolling stock list namely Manning Wardle No 5 and the Taff Vale Coach.
It's been a strange week. I left Scaleforum feeling a but ambivalent about the whole modelling thing. Activity th
Next weekend will see Weston-super-Mare WC&PR rolled out for one last time. Never say never and all that but I'm not planning to do any more shows with it.
It'll be at Camrail along with some other cracking Colonel Stephens layouts.
Come along and say hello (or goodbye) as we look to recreate May 1940 and the last train from Weston...
Camrail details
In the meantime, here are some photos I never got round to posting including an original (courtesy D Walrond).
Some projects just seem to take on a life of their own. The WC has been ongoing for a long, long time now and seems to have been one of those projects.
I'd decided that I was going to have to paint the loco. I wasn't expecting to have to do it twice.
First off was a Humbrol rattle can over Halfords plastic primer. The finish was awful so after much cussing it was stripped right back and second time round Precision BR loco green was airbrushed on.
Lining was achieved by Fox transfe
