In response to fellow RMweb members who were interested in how I made the overall wire roof the following is an article that was scheduled to appear in a future edition of FRMR. The baseboard for the model had been completed by the end of December and the roof structure by the end of January. It was around this time I emailed some pictures to the late Bob Barlow, who in response asked me to write a short article about its construction. By the time this was sent the poor man was probably starting
Ever since completing my GWR branch terminus layout (Cheslyn) it has languished under dust sheets in the loft. My trouble is that I'm a bit of serial layout builder and get quickly bored once a project has been finished. Space is also at a premium and Cheslyn was taking it up so I therefore approached the Lartigue Museum in Listowel, Co Kerry and asked if they'd like to have it for display. They were delighted and mounted the layout on the wall in the old engine shed shortly after it was deliver
A little project to celebrate the 50th Anniversary. I always loved the red flash double arrow logo and wish BR had adopted it for the whole of the corporate era.
There's certainly a lot of life left in these old Lima models. I spent a lot of time trying to match the colour BR had first used - turquoise blue - and eventually found this colour. It's not a perfect match and seeing how I'm limited to using spray cans (I haven't yet plucked up the courage to go buy an air brush) it was
Gosh, it’s been well over a year since my last post. But it has been a crappy time and life has thrown my wife and I some right old spanners to contend with.
The worst of it was when my dear old Mom passed away in mid November after an 18 month long battle with Bladder Cancer. Thankfully she was in a care home for the last 6 months so she was extremely well looked after and had little pain to put up with in the end. Marvellous places.
Whilst all this went on modelling took a back se
These models are more than a bit naff, but for the price they are great for static displays. I had to strip down the Mallard one and reglue the wheels straight and rejoin the wobbly bottom half of the tender. I also did a little bit of weathering on the Mallard. You know I often wonder why Airfix/Dapol never made these part of their plastic kit range.
I've only bought the Flying Scotsman and Mallard issues and now wish I'd have purchased at least six of the Mallard one
I happened to mention to SWMBO that I might build a Tinsley Micro plank so that I could take pics of my Lima shunter to Class 13 conversion in an appropriate setting. This sparked off the inevitable debate about the amount of time I spend modelling. However, seeing how SWMBO spends her time in the evenings watching all of the soaps (television I point blank refuse to watch) I countered that the micro could be done in an equivalent amount of time over a week or so. We finally agreed a ten hour
The second Lima arrived on Monday morning along with the Fox Transfers - I only ordered both of these on the 31st Jan!!! Great service. I also ordered a Hornby shunter detailing kit and some Flush glazing from another supplier - still no news!! It seems that not all suppliers have an enlightened attitude toward customer service. I'm not inclined to name names because I don't know how this would go down. However, as it turned out, they did me a favor.
Right out of the box from eb
Over the last few nights I've been knocking up the following Class 13 Slave unit out of an old Lima Class 09 shunter. Bought a copy of a special edition of Modelling British Railways about all the TOPS Diesels - really brilliant and haven't been able to put it down. When I saw the section about making a Class 13 out of a couple of Hornby Class 08s I started watering at the mouth! 'I have to have one, I have to have one' became my mantra around the house for a few days. Always on a budget,
The 3mm leds arrived today from Express Models. Really are superb quality lights - relatively cheap and very easy to use. Their service really is an express one and these have again, like all my other orders, arrived very timely indeed. I've stuck a couple in the ends of short pieces of plastic straw and used them as directional lighting (tiny spots) to highlight the front of the 9F. A couple have also been stuck down a couple of the smoke hoods to simulate the sunlight coming down them as i
In the lead up to Christmas I wanted a break from the next phase of making the control panel for my Barrow Hill Yard layout - wiring just ain't fun enough! So, whilst perusing the internet during this let up period I came across David Shepherd's magnificent painting called 'On Shed' - this features a dirty 9F awaiting its next duty. This really got the juices flowing so I put together a quickie layout for a Shadow Box scheme (I've had a Bachmann 9F for Christmas which I'm eagerly waiting for the
Just a quick update on progress so far.
The track is down and wiring nearing completion. There's been a lot happening here of late with family matters of one thing and another so modeling time has been severely compromised.
My wiring method ain't neat, but it works! All points are motored and the frogs wired to Peco switches - a lot of work but worth the effort for a yard type layout. So hopefully loco stutter will be non existent and slow running should be superb when all thing
Anyone familiar with my models will know I’m a bit of a ‘Shed’ nut and this is another one. In response to an article in Railway News last summer I’d set my heart on a depiction of a locomotive works once my Barrow Hill layout was finished. The fact that I also grew up in Birmingham has something to do with a fascination for factories. It seems the industrial areas of my home town have left an indelible mark that just can’t be ignored even though I now live in rural Ireland.
Horwich
I've finally buckled down and decided to build a layout based on Barrow Hill's Service Yard. At first I'd made great plans to somehow incorporate this with my layout of the Roundhouse, but reason has prevailed and I've decided to just model the yard which will butt up against a low relief version of the Roundhouse.
The coaling stage and ash plant, heavily modified versions of the Super Quick models, are just for scale. I made these at the same time as my 'D' Shop model during the brie
The goodies arrived from Hattons yesterday. I've taken advantage of their bargain section and got these two smashing beauties for only a little over £110!
These are my birthday present and were therefore a legal purchase for a change!!!
The first pic of an Ivatt Class 4 Mogul and was the prototype for the BR Standard 4MT. Note the double chimney - this was reduced to a single when it was found that they could double the boiler pressure with the new arrangement. This pic (June 1949) was t
Had some fun with another Dapol 9F kit. I've tried to emulate the scene below from British Railways Illustrated (August edition). The prototype photo shows a 9F being fitted with a Crostis Boiler in March 1955 at Crewe. My take, however, has to make do with a standard boiler.
This is a shot from the other side.
A final pic of the welder at work on a stripped down 4MT
The Express Models welding unit has finally gone in and, apart from eagerly awaiting some goodies from Ehattons, the layout is more or less complete.
The building could be slotted into a larger layout if need be but that's for another time. At the moment I'm having a bit of fun modifying a SuperQuick Ash Plant for a small shed scene.
The Roof is more or less complete and so is the front. Here are a couple of shots of the layout.
The shot above shows how the roof detaches and how the end gable wall slots out. In retrospect I wish I had made the back wall detachable, but it does have viewing arches so a camera lens can be pushed through.
It would be pretty rare to have diesels in the same shop as steam locos, but it did happen. Anyway I couldn't resist uploading this picture as it sho
The roof covering is complete. Just waiting for some lights to arrive in the post now. There's still a load to do - the gable roof caps and the top capping over the ridge spines (which are channels for the wires for the lights etc). Then it's on to the interior overhead cranes and elevated offices along the back gable end wall. After that it's the locos and all the rest of the stuff needed to complete a realistic works setting.
This is the effect I'm after - a shot of
The much awaited package from Express Models arrived on Friday so I got beavering away on Saturday evening and have just finished. I used their pendant lights on my Barrow Hill model so was familiar with the electronics involved. This time, however, they made up a bespoke dimmer switch so I can play around with the light levels. A few pics so far.
This last shot is a close up of the elevated works office at the rear. The steps are from Scalelink and were eas
Some pics of the roof covering going on. Mounting card pasted with the Scalescenes Aged Clapboard render has been used as an outer cover leaving the window openings clear. The outside of the card will be covered with simple strips of masking tape which will then be painted in black acrylic - this will nicely simulate an asphalt covering (this worked well on my model of a track side store on my Cheslyn layout).
What's great about taking photos during a build is that it shows up detai
Spent a great day out yesterday at the Chester MRC's event in Blennerville, County Kerry. The group have generously donated their model of the Tralee and Dingle Light Railway to the centre. This will hopefully provide a great boost to the fledgling Irish Railway Society that have recently started up.
Some pictures of what is an already well known and highly crafted layout.
John Campbell and Neil Ramsay were also in attendance with their fabulous collections of 16mm live steam and
State of play thus far with 'The Works' - new wire roof fitted before covering. The roof is designed so that it can be removed for track cleaning and loco placing. I've tried hard with this one to get everything straight and square.
I'm trying to achieve something like the roof at Loughborough Works. This photo is from The Railway Magazine (Nov 2012 souvenir issue) - it show the works in the late 80's building the Class 60. It's a former wagon works, but loco erecting shops and wagon
The walls have gone up and after a lot of MacGyvering everything has come square - phew!
The above shots are through a couple of the openings in the opposite wall - these will have either removable mirrors or wall blanks for internal viewing.
This shot is through the left hand door opening on the left hand gable wall. This end has been designed so that the entire wall can be lifted out to provide an unhindered view into the interior even when the roof is on.
Some Edwardian style postcards. These have been made using a free program on the internet called Be Funky. The new store shed is made from coffee stirrers and matchsticks - I used the Scalescenes free upload of the same shed as a template to stick the cut wood on. Can't say enough about the versatility of Scalescenes products - brilliant little kits to make.
This is an ordinary shot of the new store shed. It took about 4 hrs to make start to finish. The n
The history of our railways is what really interests me. Its organic nature, one that has seen it evolve from private ownership to state and back to the half and half measure the system is subject to today, is a fascinating subject to study. The fact that Great Britain gave birth to the railway and, in doing so, has consequently had to make to do and mend with a very old system is testament to the pragmatic nature and engineering skill of the British. After all, who’d have thought it possible
