After much blood, sweat and tears, the Class 5 is finally running reasonably smoothly under power (that's tempting fate!). Electrical pick up from the track is not perfect, I think partly due to the rigid chassis and maybe to the mazak wheels. I don't know what mazak is like as a conductor and the treads seem to get dirty pretty quickly - they were filthy after 45 minutes on the rolling road. I'm waiting for couplings before doing much more. It all comes apart for painting.
The basic shell for the station building has now been put together and work has started on the roofs. Next job is to make up and fit the brackets for the barge boards, then get on with the low level roof. That will just leave chimney stacks, slating, rainwater goods and flashings and all the other bits and pieces before I can think about getting out the paint brush. That will just leave the train shed, platform and water tower. I think I will be busy for a while yet!
After goodness knows how many hours No.12 is finally finished (all bar a bit of coal and some crew). It has been a long road and one which I don't think I would choose to travel down again. However, at the end of the day she doesn't look too bad and runs quite smoothly.
Well to be more precise building an etched chassis to a Hornby Castle.
I had been waiting for Brassmasters to release one of their fold up chassis conversions for the Hornby Castle, but it seems that this has been put on the back burner while they concentrate on LMS locos. So I dug a Malcolm Mitchell kit out of the cupboard to see if I could use the chassis from that as a short term fix.
The Mitchell kit follows the prototype very closely which may be OK in 7mm but in P4 it means that cl
As a break from working on Killybegs Station, I have been working on the large number of vans and wagons that I need for Worseter. I have been experimenting with different painting and weathering tecniques to get a reasonable representation of the variation in colour found in any train of vans. This batch (all Parkside Dundas kits) were sprayed with Halfords red primer then weathered with Railmatch acrylics. I used a variable mix of 'frame dirt' and 'roof dirt', well diluted with water, brush ap
It's only a rake of nine coaches you say, shouldn't take too long. That's only 18 sprung bogies with 36 axles, 72 wheels, 72 pairs of brake hangers and 144 brake shoes to assemble. Don't forget the 36 cosmetic sides. Then there are 18 Kadees to assemble and fit (after modifying the coach ends to take them), 18 corridor connections to assemble and fit, 9 sets of underframe detailing to cobble up, 9 roofs that need all those strips removing. Numbers to be changed, bogies and roofs to be painted, s
Having been following poor Pete's tales of woe with regard to filling, I was prompted to return to 'Abergynolwyn' (after far too long a gap) and finish the filling between my own tracks using my trusted method of lightweight filler (as also used in the MPD on Bruckless Junction). This is set far enough below rail height for the rails to stand just proud of the finished surface after ballasting. I used a bit of 40 thou plasticard to to create the flangeway while the filler was setting then cleane
Spent the weekend back in the UK to take a trip on the Help for Heroes Steam Special so didn't get the ballasting of the depot tidied up until today. It didn't turn out too badly but looks a bit clean at the moment but that will be addressed in the future. Carriage sidings will be next, then I can get on with ballasting the running lines.
Can't get to work today, the council are running out of grit and only treating primary routes. Having spent 30 minutes digging out the drive and slithering up the lane, we were defeated by the first hill on the main road. So, I have moved out of the workshop and into the sitting room with the turf fire lit and am building coach bogies on the dining table while watching the birds on the feeder. Isn't life tough! Attached pic taken between alternating showers of snow and hail!
In response to comments on my last blog, here is a B&W quickie showing progress on the rake to date. Two coaches are yet to be detailed and are sitting on 'bare' bogies. The last two are sitting in the cupboard! I intend to leave all the roofs to be painted at one go. Must get that embankment finished off, not to mention most of the low lvel part of the layout!
This weekend Clinkerford was put up for the last time at home to be checked over for its final outing to Manchester in October, after which it passes into new ownership. A sad day! I couldn't resist the temptation to take a few last shots, mostly from the side the punters don't see. Hope you enjoy them. See you in Manchester.
I can't believe its nearly a year since I last posted on this blog. In the last nine months I have:
Built an incline connecting the fiddle yard to the low level section that will house the MPD. This also involved modifying the removable bridge section that carries the tracks across the doorway.
The track for the MPD has been built, laid, ballasted and wired up. The base for the MPD including inspection pits was also installed at this time.
The coaling stage/water tower was built.
The trainshed roof and outer wall are now one unit. The jig to hold everything firmly in place while the two parts were soldered together was quite simple in the end. 3 lengths of brass tube that were a tight fit in the square tubes of the columns were let into the board to hold the wall vertical. 2 larger diameter tubes were notched vertically to be a tight fit on the wire cross bracing of the end trusses then let into the board in a position where the foot of the rafter butted against the ins
After much blood sweat and tears the Hornby body and Malcolm Mitchell chassis have finally come together. Once she has received her new identity, Totnes Castle will be very lightly weathered. I think the Malvern Hills make a very suitable backdrop!
Well, it's finally finished, running and painted, although I might try and tidy up the black lining and give it some light weathering. Nice sunny day here in Donegal!
While looking for something else (that I haven't yet found) I did find these old pics of my Kingham Junction layout that are well over 20 years old. I wonder if it's still around somewhere! The second attempt at a back scene looks a lot better than the first, rather bright, one!
At last we seem to be getting somewhere. Since the last blog, the coupling rods have been fitted. I beefed these up a bit to look more like the prototype and to give a wider bearing on the crank pins. I had to modify the fly cranks for the centre drivers to take my new return cranks (see later). The bogies have also been assembled and fitted. I made a mounting on the chassis for the rear bogie as it is designed to mount on the body in the kit. Brake gear was then fitted and the whole lot receive
After a pleasant break over Christmas, when I was able to work on my rake of coaches for 'The Cornishman', it's now back to work on County Donegal Railway Projects. The 5.5mm/ft model of Killybegs station building is now finished and painted and is just awaiting chimneys (and the train shed) - I must get around to taking some new pics. Having knocked off a lot of 4mm wagon kits, I have now started on locos. I have 2 Class 5's and 2 Class 5A's to build which should keep me busy for a while but I
I haven't been able to do a lot of work on Peter's layout since the summer due to holidays and work commitments. However, the ballasting to the front scenic section is finished bar weathering and I have done a bit more planting. On Phase 2 the track is laid and wired giving 12 long storage sidings for rolling stock and a fan of short sidings, served by a Peco turntable, for locos. Peter has stock covering the period from BR steam to the present day and some of this needs storing when not in use.
Before I went off to Railex with Clinkerford, I did promise to put a few more pics on the blog when I got back. Unfortunately the ballast ordered eight weeks ago still hasn't arrived. I'm beginning to wonder if the supplier has ceased trading, as I am getting an answerphone and no replies to my emails, and they have banked my money! However, back to Bruckless. Dug around in my scrap box and found enough scenic material to make a start in one corner, amazing how much difference it makes, even if
Having finally got around to fitting some (temporary) chimney pots, I have been waiting to take some suitable 'on location' shots of the model here in Killybegs. Unfortunately, the weather has had other ideas, so here are a couple of indoor shots to be going on with. It still looks a bit bare without the train shed but at the moment that's on the long finger as I am still building 4mm CDR stock.
Having had to abandon our Christmas trip to Scotland (set out to catch the ferry from Larne but were beaten by the weather without making it to the border!) I had plenty of time on my hands to get on with the 'Cornishman' rake. Five coaches are now sitting on Bill Bedford sprung bogies and Exactoscale wheels. This really is the best running combination that I have found to date, they positively glide through slips. I have now run out of bogies but I do have some corridor connections to get on wi
It is pretty amazing that, while you poor guys in the UK are suffering the most horendous weather, we have clear blue skies here in the north west of Ireland.
In between working on the train shed for Killybegs, I have been getting on with building wagons and vans for Worseter. Some of these are due to see service on Clinkerford at York next year when Kempenfelt of this parish (the new owner) is hoping to run the layout in BR guise on at least one day, so that's given me an incentive to get o
