Leaderboard

Naturally, after coming up with a great little layout plan, construction has been terminated as the landlady called to give us notice that she's selling up. As the new place will be only a temporary fix for a few months and space will be at a premium, I've decided to concentrate on building stock and flushing out the gloat box of kits and detailing items - whilst also kicking myself that I'd not followed Pete M's example a long time ago and built myself a 2FS micro layout! I'm still taking a short break from the CDAs so in the meantime I've been resurrecting a little rake of HEA domestic coal hoppers I built from TPM kits over 15 years ago but never got around to fitting the detailing parts to. Here's the rake with the excess underframe mouldings cut away, couplings removed, top hat bearings and 2mm wheelsets added, together with whitemetal hopper discharge doors and brass handbrakes and ladders now fitted to most wagons ready for painting. I've got a couple of pretty serious wobbles on two of the wagons and I've yet to investigate if it's due to poor alignment of the brass bearings in the enlarged holes in the axleboxes or if the wheelsets have been knocked out of 'true' during fitting! Time to get myself some more detailing packs at the York show...

Answer when it at St Aubin in Jersey, see the diagram below. St Aubin Level Crossing Signalling on Jersey railways The only signals on Jersey railways was the two protecting the Level Crossing at St Aubin on the Jersey Railway and two signals protecting Green Street Level crossing in St Helier on the Jersey Eastern Railway. The signals at St Aubin were lower quadrant, the one at the end of the platform has mounted on a short wooden post, the one protecting the crossing for trains to St Helier was bolted to the tunnel wall. All points on Jersey railways were operated by hand levers, which were weighted to prevent them moving whist a trains is passing over the points. Telegraphic Dispatch Trains were controlled by Telegraphic Dispatch, the Jersey railways were not sleepy branch line, but operated ½ hourly services, except in the early morning and late evening. The lines were single line, with frequent crossing loops. The Line Controller, based at St Helier (Weighbridge) station, had a diagram of the line painted onto a blackboard. The position of trains was shown, by recording the Train Reporting Number using chalk. Train Reporting Numbers JU15 describes Jersey Railways Up Train number 15 ND05 describes Jersey North Western Railway Down Train number 05 When a train arrived at a crossing loop the Station Agent would telegraph the line controller. The Line Controller would the move the Train Reporting Number to the loop. He would also record the telegraph message in a ledger. When it was safe for the train to proceed, the Line Controller would send a telegraph message to the station agent. The Station Agent would then write a driver ticket, hand this to the driver and and when safe, give the drive a hand signal to proceed. He would then send a telegraph message to the Line Controller, who would record the message and update the position of the Train Reporting Number. The next day the the ledger would be reconciled against the tickets issued to the drivers. From St Helier Driver Tickets could be issued to Millbrook, St Aubin as appropriate, depending on train path availability. The Jersey North Western Railway, was operated as One Engine in Steam, once the train had left the loop at Pont Marquat and outside the station limits of St Ouen. To return to the main St Ouen blog, click on the link below. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1283/entry-11391-st-owen-jnwr-layout-mockup/ Lisa

I'm about to start building pointwork - I thought it would be a good idea to have some rolling stock to test it with - so I'm building a Peco Toad and 4 plank open. They are very good kits as others have said. Here are my efforts so far..... Toad roof is still to be fixed properly on, and I need to spend some more time swearing as I do the remaining handrails...

At the end of the last entry I was left with a kit of parts needing cleaning and, in some cases, reshaping or replacement. As I was starting on this task an interesting discussion with Miss Prism developed in which he suggested that the widths specified on the Swindon drawings reproduced in Russell were wrong. After much discussion, a couple of new books and some measurements from photos, I had to agree with him. So, firstly I had to accept that my previously built saddle tank is about 9" too wide and secondly I had to think about how this kit could be modified to the correct dimensions. In a way, this solved something that had troubled me before. Most photos of the saddle tanks give an impression of height whereas most models appear quite squat. I'd put this down to the different viewing angles of prototype and model, but now I'm convinced there's a bit more to it. So, modifying the kit began by using the razor saw to trim a 1.5mm strip off each side of the running plate: The sides of the bunker were sawn off and the back reduced in width before re-assembly. Next, I took a strip out of the centre of the front sheet of the unused open cab etch. The side sheets were detached (they were intended as a simple fold-up) and fixed to the narrower front sheet so that the sides projected forwards by about 0.3mm in typical GWR cab style. Then came the more complex task of narrowing the pannier tanks. The thick side pieces have a step at top and bottom where the tank top and boiler underside pieces fit. Although it could have been done with a file, I chose the easier approach of milling these steps so that they were 1mm deeper. A further 0.5mm was then filed off the edges of the top and bottom pieces. The next photo shows an unmodified piece on the left and the deeper step on the right: With narrowing completed, it was back to the straightforward build. However one look at the splashers confirmed that at most a couple of them were recoverable and the rest were just too mangled. I made replacements from a suitable sheet of nickel silver. The next photo shows the old ones above and the new ones below: The running plate was built up with outer frames, splashers, steps, etc. Now with all the narrowed bits a rough trial assembly shows that things are heading in the right direction: In this final shot, it's clear that some more work is needed on the white metal tank/boiler assembly to get it to sit properly on the runningplate. Once that's done I'll be able to fix these parts in place and get on with some of the smaller details. Only one major item remains to be resolved. The white metal tank front has a smokebox door that is far too large and no representation of the numerous rivets seen on the prototype. That will need some thought, but my current idea is to replace the whole of the front with a piece of brass sheet... Nick

Well I finally got around to finishing my little restoration job on these old coaches. Got the painting done reasonably quickly, but then followed the usual issues: “Now for the glazing. Oh wait, I’m out of Testor's. Must order some more. Now where did I order it last time? Better google it. Ah there’s RMweb, well maybe just a couple of minutes on there then. Oh look, someone's discussing the cost of tea at exhibitions. Gotta follow that! Well that was a pleasant hour on RMweb. Wait, did I forget something? Oh well, tomorrow then.” Etc! But I got there in the end (click images if not sharp). Here's the 6-wheel Van to dia V13, converted from a W3 . I use a simplified version of the livery as it would have been seen around 1906 on my coaches. I did have a bit of trouble painting the panels on a couple of them, as my normal method works best on new and sharply defined panels. Here's the R1 All first. A big word of thanks to all who helped find the right running numbers for this diagram, both here and on the gwr e-list. The R1s were numbered 1-8 and I initially thought this was a great opportunity to have a coach numbered "1". I even applied the first transfer, but then found it simply looked odd! So I chose no. 7 instead. Here's the G20, a Third class saloon. The glazing has been fitted, I just like it clean. So much for the interior detailing, you can't really see any of it. Oh well. In case you're wondering, the Weasel is on the other side. Here's one I restored earlier, one of the little 4-wheel V2s. I have to say Colin had a great taste in coaches when he originally built these a long time ago. Another one from the first batch I restored, the U16 6-wheel compo, with the luggage windows now appropriately "blinded". And finally a line-up of the three newly done coaches, ready for service. As the header says, this is all very low-tech but it has been a nice project and I like the idea of giving Colin's old coaches a new lease on life. There's a message in there for all of us balding old farts, I think: It's never too late!

I haven't posted for a while, I'm afraid Mrs Wenlock has decided that the house needs decorating. Funny how painting walls is nowhere near as satisfying as painting models! The William Clarke goods shed has progressed to the stage where the walls are cut out, but I'm suffering from a lack of motivation to finish it. I think the time spent constucting the station building, got cutting plastic card out of my system for a while! One of the things that I love about this hobby of ours, are the number of different processes involved in constructing a layout. They say "A change is as good as a rest", so with that in mind the Plastikard has been put away and a new project has been started! I've fancied building an engine with a tender for a while, so far all the locomotives that I've built have been small tank engines. The Dean Goods has long been one off my favorite locos, so I've been collecting information and photos of the class. I want to model the loco as running in 1907, with a round top firebox, polished brass dome and 2500 gallon tender. I've not built one of Martin Finney's 7mm kits before, but they seem to be well thought off so I've bought a Dean Goods loco kit, along with a 2500 gallon tender kit from him. I'm not sure how frequent, or of what interest the posts will be, but I thought I would take some pictures during the build and chronicle the loco's construction. Chassis and Slaters Plasticard wheels The wheels have been chemically blackened and the chassis assembled following the detailed clear instructions included in the kit. Care needs to be taken to ensure that the horn blocks move freely, but once this has been done the beam compensation included in the kit works well. The instructions state at this stage that the body needs to be completed before the chassis can be finished. Tender footplate and water tank substructure The slot and tab construction technique makes it easy to achieve a neat square substructure. The tabs were folded over and then soldered using solder paste and a mini flame. The tank overlay is then wrapped around the substructure after forming the flare and soldered in position. Buffer beams and valances Front and back steps, buffer beams and valances in situ. Sand boxes, coal plates and tank filler Flare corners soldered then shaped and coal rails in situ. I'm not really happy with these, to my eye they are one of the weaker parts of the kit. The prototype rails are round in cross section, the flat etched brass doesn't simulate this at all well. I'm not sure what to do about it, I may try to solder some half round wire to thicken the rails. Brake, water scoop standards and sand boxes in situ Rear hand rails, lamp irons, steps and buffers. Tool boxes, water feed valves and pipes That sees the body almost completed, so work can begin on finishing the chassis, which I'll save for the next "thrilling" instalment! Thanks for reading Dave

I finally finished off the rake of 5 scratch-built wagons that were built by prominent modeller Andy Elliot who built a number of models for Foster Yeoman before he sadly died five years ago. I obtained these last year from Gridwatcher who was a mate of Andy's. Andy constructed the wagons in styrene sheet and they are surprisingly detailed. I've done them as a rake of 2 outer wagons and 3 inner wagons: There was a actually quite a lot to do in the end: - Creating mounting points for the bogies and fitting my 3D printed LTF-25 bogies - Fitting lead weight - Fitting kadees as inner couplings at prototype height - Adding buffers to outers from Skits - Fitting kadees as outer couplings at normal kadee operating height - Painting - lots of coats of Phoenix enamels! - Transfers - from Fox and using my own home-printed data panels - Varnishing - good old Klear They still need weathering and one or two extra details adding such as the distinctive coupling bars. Here are a couple of shots of the individual wagons: Outer wagon: 17918 Inner wagon: 19890 Just to show how much had to be done, here is a pic from Gridwatcher showing the state of them when I got them from him:

I've fitted the derail beams (easier than it looks), side window surrounds (filigree thin but again easier than I thought), steps and resin filler caps. I didn't use the supplied sandboxes as they were too wide and would interfere with the tails of the sprung buffers so I knocked up some from plastic. The loco now weighs 55 grams, I might try and fit a few more grams of lead in yet. Still to fit are the brakes, but I'll do that while I'm giving the body a coat of primer. A final look at the loco in bare brass before it visits the paint shop; Once this one is sent off to its owner I can concentrate on getting mine running. Paul.

After a prolonged absence forced by work and the French , modest progress on the Trevanion Dries project has been achieved. Depending, of course, on how you define 'progress'... Further research has revealed the original plan just isn't prototypical, but fortunately, as I'd not yet built it in 2mm, there was nothing to rip up... . So I set to work again with paper and pencil and a few plans later, with help from google satellite view, I'd re-created Goonbarrow Jn and exchange sidings! Of course you'd need a good few feet to recreate this, even in 2mm: After that I came back down to earth and as this is my first proper 2mm attempt, I scaled back the design to something far more achieveable in a realistic timescale. Thus Trevanion Dries has been re-born as a run-around loop and siding attached to a clay dries. Very simple in concept, the emphasis will be on slow moving clay trains with detailed wagons, running in front of a disused clay dries, with the entrance to a modern facility at the far left of the track plan. Here's a quick mock-up in N gauge with some cardboard and timber I had lying around: Must finish those CDAs... [edited to remove thumbnails now I've remembered how to correctly attach pictures again!!]

After some measuring, chopping, glueing and general noise, dust and everything, the last piece of track has now been completed! This is a big milestone in the development of "Linksuberdorf". The track at the top of the incline has a 51mm gap under it, just enough for a big Gmeinder diesel to pass underneath (or a ZB U 1, they have very tall chimneys). I found some bus stops and station name signs on Saturday, so I've put them on now. At the top of the incline by one of the shelters is little Liliput D11, which arrived there under its own steam (though stopping for little breaks on the way up as it lost power), towing a whole three goods vans. Quite remarkable given the slope is between 1 in 20 and 1 in 25. The U 1 also made it up the slope with those vans, so the coaches must be just a bit less free-running. However the coaches are newer (the three goods wagons comprise an old "Stiegl", a Liliput 40th anniversary and a new "Zillertaler Bier"), so should go better! Never mind, I some things I can possibly melt into the axle boxes to give lighter running. I have a scrap coach so I might give that a go sometime. Next on the list is to stop the loco's from waddling across the points, this is because the piece of rail on the frog side of the point has an insulated rail joiner on it, which lifts the rail a fraction when inserted (my track is now about 6 years old so Peco may have fixed it, I hope they have), I will do this by sanding the railhead down a fraction. The other thing that needs improving is the wires up against the outside of the rails. If they rise above the railhead even a fraction, it can cause the valve gear to snag and stop them dead or (in the case of D11) lose power. Here's an areal shot of the layout, taken precariously from a wheeled and swivelling chair:

After yesterdays entry this appeared to be a logical next entry. I gave you all a glimse of my Fruit D yesterday, so here's some more details. I built this last November, most of the construction being done during a couple of days during a weeks holiday. There was one particularly memorable session during which I had the 1980 film The Sea Wolves featuring Gregory Peck, Roger Moore, David Niven, Trevor Howard and Patrick McNee on in the background. Like the Siphon G I didn't complete the painting, transfers and weathering until earlier this month. I like to do painting and weathering in batches where possible. The kit features a modular construction. Two ends, four side panels and six doors being made up individually before being made up into the body. The chassis had full brake gear and three point compensation. The only change I made was to replace the whitemetal vacuum brake pipes with some brass and spring alternatives from Slaters which I had knocking about. This is the later BR version with electric lighting rather than gas. First photo is the completed model before painting: Now in primer. (I ran out of red primer, hence the grey roof) FInally weathered: This really was a joy to build, although I can't help thinking that the JLTRT resin version would have been so much quicker to build!

I'm slowly building the David Geen E83 Toplight brake composite, the last vehicle I need for the set of 1930s GWR through coaches to serve by one day to be built ex-SER branchline. The sides were a bit fiddly to put together, but include all of the good feature you want in a kit, including the door hinges etched as a single component per door, corridor handrail spacers and separate droplights. I've deviated slightly from the instructions and have assembled the basic body before adding the end detail. I'm not 100% satisfied with the joins betweens side and end, but some filler should hide most of the 0.2mm or so gaps. At the same time I've been building this D&S LSWR long horse box. It's one of the recently produced batch sold by Brasmasters. I built the short version about 10 years ago, and this went together in a similar way with no real problems. Unlike the 16' box I managed to get all of the brake gear in place - either I've got better at soldering or the extra wheelbase gives more room to solder. It's waiting the last few whitemetal castings. I've also been working on a few odd projects. The Parkside GWR Horsebox is a Parkside kit - I replaced or thinned down the over thick footsteps, and fitted MJT sprung buffers. But otherwise it's as per the kit. Unlike the vehicle next to it, which started out as a Ratio BR Banana van. It now has a new 9' underframe using MJT parts and ABS brake gear and represents a LMS meat van. The body hasn't needed altering. I've also detailed a pair of the recent Bachmann SR brakevans These are the left hand ducket variety, which for reasons unknown have the stove chimney on the wrong side. This was removed and a replacement made from plastic rod. The axleboxes were modified, as the real thing has a wider sloping front different type to the plate front examples on the Bachmann model (I don't think many of the real thing had this type - possibly they used an atypical preserved example as a base?). This was done by adding plastic strip to either side of the existing box, and then filing the front at an angle. I fitted the brake loops, but not the strangely shaped brake shoe linkages, fitting simple plastic rod replacements instead. Bachmann having cranked theirs, presumably to clear the couplers. Lastly, and right at the end of my time period is one of the early COV AB airbraked vans. Another Bachmann model, with minor detailing using Shawpan brake pipes. Like the brakevans this will have minor touching up rather than a full repaint. April should see more work on the Toplight, a Branchlines SER luggage van and hopefully some of these models getting painted.