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

Hi Iain, no I haven't read that one. Sounds like something I should put on my wishlist - I certainly will, thanks! Yes I think those houses would make a good backdrop to the sidings. Job's comment reminded me of a photoshopped mock-up I did some time ago, which might be worth considering further: I've also found a couple of other buildings that I'd like to include - a long stable block and a loading shed for the private siding. That's one of the fun bits about modelling a fictional location, I think: You can select bits and pieces from around the system and put them together in one :-)

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

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 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!

Very nice indeed Jeremy. Those Farish mouldings are a big improvement on the old ones but the detail you're adding looks very worthwhile. I'm waiting for the new Farish 37/4 and 37/5 to come out before I increase my fleet size of St Blazey tractors, but in the meantime I've seen enough good lowered examples now to turn my hand to one of the older Poole models to get my eye in...

If you've chosen a narrow-footplate tender, Dave, then you'll need a narrow-footplate loco. There are four combinations: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/gallery/image/49319-tender-loco-widths/ The last of these is extremely rare, so rare I think that it can be discounted in most cases. If you've cut your tender footplate narrow, but still want a wide-footplate loco, you should add shaping bits (on the prototype, I think they were added on top of the footplate) to the front of the tender footplate to match that of the loco. There is a drawing or two in Russell I believe to show this shape: it's an S-bend. In these cases, the front tender handrails are usually* shaped differently to the all-narrow-footplate ones, and came down onto the shaped footplate pieces - I call these 'outrigger' handrails. If your pic of 2467 shows a tender footplate whose entire length is the same width as the loco footplate, then that tender will be a 'all-wide' footplate one. All-wide tenders have a very different 'look' to the narrow-footplate ones. P.S. Don't know why my gif above has appeared so small. This software is so flaky! Subsequent edit/addition: The best known example of what I call 'outrigger' handrails is probably City of Truro. It can be seen that its 3000g tender footplate is a full-length wide one, and that the footplate width matches that of the standard 4-4-0 8'3" footplate width: http://www.shirleylateknights.co.uk/mainfiles/event_reports/Event_reports_2008-09/pictures/birdlip_12.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r_8m_FaVVBs/Tk_JrPmrBAI/AAAAAAAAAWc/EHZEUDRuUZE/s1600/3440+city+of+truro#1.jpg http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2013/050/8/e/city_of_truro_at_svr_highley_by_ragnarokeotw-d2zlhn4.jpg http://thehobbyshop.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/10.jpg This Bulldog tender is fitted with outriggers on a tender whose footplate has the shaped curve extending to the loco footplate width (or closely thereabouts) but the rest of the tender fooplate is otherwise narrow: http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrkd117.htm Similarly, a Duke: http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrkd111.htm * The situation on Dean Goods is not nearly so clear, particularly for pre-WWI condition. Here's some narrow and wide loco footplates (I think the changeover was from 2380??), and none of their tenders have outrigger handrails - the first pic (a Bill Kenning pic at Slough c 1921) is perhaps the best visual of wide footplates on both loco and tender: http://www.adrianvaughan.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/slough-propel-ECS-copy.jpg http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrls823.htm (2347) http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrbsh55.htm (2309) http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrkd1631.htm (2410) http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrkd1634.htm (2510) http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrwm415.htm (2439) http://www.adrianvaughan.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/2580.Slough-c1921-copy.jpg (2580) http://www.adrianvaughan.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/2579-copy.jpg (2579) http://www.adrianvaughan.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/2386.Ken_.-Jc.c1914-copy.jpg (2386) I can't find an online pic of a Dean Goods with a shaped piece at the front of the tender footplate, and maybe they didn't get them until they started to inherit more of the standard 3000g tenders as they became displaced from larger locos. I suggest Dave you measure what your tender footplate width currently is, and see if it matches the width of a wide-footplate loco. I can't explain your 2467 pic, because it does feel like a 'narrow' tender, but from a side-on angle, it's impossible to tell what the join is like between tender footplate front and loco footplate rear. See also Nick's 2500g narrow-footplate tender and narrow-footplate loco.

Oh that is simply beautiful. The tank filler alone is almost a work of art. The rivets really do the trick. Glad it will be with a round-topped firebox. The later ones might have been more effective, but they did ruin the looks of many Dean and Armstrong locos a bit. If we say that we are very disappointed about the goods shed being put on the backburner, would that help? ;-)