I've been expressing my dissatisfaction with the chassis and mechanism of the Hattons/DJM 14XX for some time now and I have finally started to do something about it.
The background to this is that I need a 14XX as the 'signature' loco for my new 'cameo' shunting layout 'Bethesda Sidings', which is a fictitious location on a proposed-but-never-built GW route between New Radnor and Rhyader in Mid-Wales. With the addition of the outrageously improbable 'Vale of Radnor Light Railway' joining the
There was quite a lot of debate on the Class 22 thread a while back about how one might convert it to EM or P4. I think that the EM gauge fraternity generally decided that the existing wheels could be pulled out slightly on their existing axles, and I hope that this has worked out for them.
This wasn't going to work in P4, and the original wheels could only have been used if they were turned down to P4 profiles. Some folk have suggested fitting P4 tyres to the existing Dapol wheels,
When I saw someone else bring their model of the Heljan Class 128 into DRAG one evening (still in OO), knew that I was going to have to concoct a plausible excuse to run one in the Bristol area, so that 'Callow Lane' might see one of these beauties in due course.
I did manage to pull together some reasonably convincing lies historical accounts as to why one might have been running to and through Callow Lane, but I'm blowed if I can remember what they are at the moment....
Anyway, I duly
This is the model of a passenger train of the South Polden Light Railway, seen here visiting Combwich at the High Wycombe show a few weeks ago (photo by Chris Nevard):
The moribund coaches and Peckett normally work occasional services between Burrowbridge and Bleakhouse Road...
Then, the other day, I found this ensemble at Buckfastleigh:
Clearly, someone felt the SPLR was worth preserving!!
In the previous blog entry, I mentioned that the next job on 'Callow Lane' would be the production of a low-relief factory, based on the new Scalescenes 'northlight' engine shed kit and this has now been completed.
I have previously described the construction of the Taffson Evans lineside factory, which is built in part-relief, and is partly about providing a bit of background detail in lieu of a flat backscene. This was also based on a free Scalescenes warehouse kit, albeit fairly heavily m
I've finally gotten around to doing a bit more on the goods shed for Callow Lane.
To recap, this is based on the Townstreet plastercast kit, which I have always liked, although it is not based on Midland Railway practice in the area I am modelling.
It was one of their very first kit, and as such the castings would appear to be slightly less refined than their later productions, certainly the kit that I picked up has a number of minor casting defects, which I am disguising or otherwise tr
This coming Saturday (6th November 2010) sees the High Wycombe model railway exhibition at John Hampden School, High Wycombe. 'Bleakhouse Road' will be there, and should be located right next to Chris Nevard's lovely 'Combwich'.
Chris and I have been discussing how we may effect some kind of 'through running' between the two layouts. Due to the time constraints and logistics, however, a permanent link during the show was ruled out quite early on. The solution, hopefully is a 'Transfer Casset
In my increasingly desperate attempts to find excuses not to get the DAS clay out and get on with the scenery 'proper' on Callow Lane, I've been working on the Hornby Skaledale water tower, which has appeared in one or two photos in a previous blog entry.
The model appears to be a pretty decent representation of the actual structure that still stands at Ashchurch, Glos. The prototype was built in yellow brick, but this would not suit Callow Lane, where a red brick predominates. Even so, I th
The small rail-served factory unit for Callow Lane is now more or less complete:
The building is a branch premises of the small engineering firm Taffson Evans, which had a long history of occasional locomotive building back into the 19th century, although the Callow Lane premises was only ever responsible for the production of smaller, individual components.
When it was first founded, the firm was known as Taffson, Evans & Jenkins and they were responsible for
Having received my most attractive-looking 14XX from Hattons last week, I have finally got round to running it in, as per the instructions provided with the loco.
I have added lubrication to the two locations under the chassis keeper plate, and also to the coupling rod bearings, as per the instructions.
I did test it briefly yesterday, but it wasn't a particularly good slow speed runner 'straight from the box'.
I have cut out a circle of Daler board this morning, to lay my circle of
For the last 18 years, each time 'Engine Wood' has been set up, it's been necessary to align the track over the baseboard joints by eye, tightening up the bolts between the boards as you do so. Yes, there are some relatively primitive alignment aids but it generally involves kneeling down and carefully adjusting each baseboard joint by hand, whilst a friend watches the alignment of the rails from a different angle.
I've got fed up with this and have decided to fit C&L alignment dowels be
I've realised that I don't have enough P4 box vans for Callow Lane, so I've diverted my attentions from buildings and crumbling platforms to building 8 - 10 box vans to bolster the wagon fleet.
I'm using a variety of recent Bachmann items, purchased over the last couple of years as semi-impulse buys, plus some Parkside Dundas kits.
Currently on the workbench are a Bachmann planked BR 12t box van, which is having to have a virtually complete chassis rebuild, once I found that there was no
Having completed most of the work on the Townstreet goods shed recently (as per earlier blog entries), a test placing on the layout revealed just how tight the railway openings were for stock passing through the shed. Definitely a case of 'do not lean out of the window'...
Various items of stock and locos were tested through the building yesterday, with the result that some of the plaster on the door frames had to be removed, ie. thinned down, and then re-painted.
Now just about all my P
I've virtually completed the point rodding on the layout now, having applied primer to the brass rodding last night and painted it today. The only parts left to fit are the rods to the cosmetic point tie bars (which themselves haven't yet been fitted) and the sections of rodding that cross the baseboard joint (these will probably be lift-out sections, as per Bleakhouse Road).
This is where the rodding will emerge from underneath the signalbox:
Callow Lane is my new P4 layout, which has been under construction for far too long now...
It is set in North Bristol/South Gloucestershire, and represents a small suburban goods yard in the Westerleigh area. There used to be an old goods-only branch running north-westwards from the Midland Railway's Westerleigh Yard, to a location called New Engine Yard. From here, colliery spurs ran to the pits in the district, amongst them being Mayshill and Frog Lane collieries.
Callow Lane is actual
I've finally knuckled down and made a start on scribing the granite setts in the area around the back of the goods shed on Callow Lane. As mentioned in previous blog entries, the section of 'grout' immediately next to the outer faces of both running rails is extra-white fine Milliput, the larger part of the area is Tetrion filler, applied over several layers and sanded smooth.
I've been doing around 45 mins - 60 mins per evening for the last four days, and progress is painfully slow, but thi
I finished the second row of Howard Scenics cottage fronts the other day, and finally took some photos out doors today while the sun was out (well, mostly):
Here is what they look like from the back, posed on the layout:
With the RMWeb event at Coventry a mere three weeks away, it was time to get 'Bleakhouse Road' and put it up for testing, so that's what I did today. The layout last appeared in public at Weston-super-Mare in January 2013, which, for various personal reasons, was the most recent exhibition I've attended with one of my own layouts.
The layout was put up, but I didn't bother with the buildings and trees that aren't fixed down, this was primarily about ensuring that the layout was still in full
I've returned to the cobbles for the last couple of weeks and tonight, I finally finished the last section of the planned cobbled area. Here are a few photos taken this evening, most (but not all), to show the cobbling (or granite setts).
The effect I'm aiming for is that the larger vehicle turning/parking area will have been tarmacked sometime after the war, but done 'on the cheap', and is now beginning to wear off, so the edge where the cobbles meet the tarmac is not regular and even, as s
A couple of weeks ago - or thereabouts - I noticed on the Ultrascale website, that they were developing a drop-in conversion wheelset for the Hornby Sentinel, in both P4 and EM. One of the features of both P4 and EM sets was the fact that narrower than normal/scale wheel treads had been used, which enabled the drop-in sets to be used without having to remove the outside frames and create more space.
For some reason, I read into their wording that these wheelsets might be available already, s
Having got to the stage where the loco was running more or less to my satisfaction, it was time to finish the work on the body, paint the loco and weather it.
Part of the cab floor area had to be removed to accommodate the High Level gearbox:
Even though this probably wasn't going to be too visible, especially once a portly driver was installed, I decided to box the gearbox in with plasticard, to represent a kind of 'control desk':
All very basic stuff and it was indeed scarcely vi
An elderly retired friend of mine here in the village has long wanted to have a layout based on the LBSCR in Sussex, with the option to run it in either SR or BR (S) periods. He's not yet in a position to put baseboards etc. up at home yet, but for some time he's been accumulating RTR locos and rolling stock. Two locos that he's always wanted, though, were a Brighton Atlantic ('Beachy Head') and a 'K' Class mogul, both of which have specific family associations for him in the past.
Of course
The project to replace the chassis on my first Hattons/DJM 14XX is now almost complete.
Following the replacement of the number plates and the minor repair to the steam heating pipe arrangements mentioned in previous blogs, I have now painted and weathered the chassis and re-assembled it.
The chassis, minus the driving wheels, was first brush painted with Halfords red oxide primer (sprayed into the aerosol lid). I didn't want to remove the motor and all the associated hassle of excessive
Further work on the chassis has seen a rolling chassis, now powered by a Mashima 1220 and a slim flywheel and the High Level gearbox 'lash-up' that I described earlier.
Pick ups haven't been fitted yet, so the chassis has been tested on the still-embryonic 'Bethesda Sidings' with some very thin wander leads attached directly to a hand-held controller:
I'm pleased to say that I have now finally got the nice, smooth, slow speed control that I have always wanted for this loco. Th
Since completing the most recent row of cottages for Callow Lane, I've been plodding on with the Townstreet goods shed kit. These are plaster-cast kits, where the plaster takes enamel paints beautifully to create realistic stone or brickwork effects.
I've always liked the idea of their kits, and built a water tower for Bleakhouse Road several years ago. The goods shed always felt 'LMS/Midland' to me, so I bought a kit at Ally Pally some years ago now, and started it fairly soon afterwards, b
