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It's been quite a while since I last posted anything about Delph (or should I say "Holt"). This is mainly because there's been precious little progress in recent weeks, partly due to the warm weather making work on the layout an unattractive proposition but mainly because I've been shying away from what seemed like a difficult and fiddly task. Needless to say, when I actually knuckled down to it, it proved much less of a problem than I had anticipated. Anyway, a concerted effort over the past week has seen good progress and it now only remains to do the facing point lock (which straddles two base-boards) and the cranks outside the signal box. Here are some shots showing the main rodding run, complete with compensators, and the arrangements to get the rods across the entrance to the mill siding. First, the main rodding runs. In the second photo, the hole in the base-board is for the starter signal to plug in. And here, the rods pass under the track into the mill siding, seen from each side. An Alex Jackson uncoupling magnet can be seen under the middle rod.

This is the 61xx almost finished all I need do now is give it some weathering and detail painting for areas like the backplate. Note I have also created a pile of scrap that represents many actual recognisable parts from this and other cut up locos. All the extra components for this with exception to the handrail knobs and hand wheels have been scratch built, I dont believe in spending money on things that I can build. In fact thats what gives me the most stisfaction!

Here is another loco which I completed pretty quickly, I had removed the stack to use on another side project, so I used this as an experiment to try out the "salt n hairspray" paint layering effect. I scratchbuilt some piston cylinders and other bits to use with this and some of the other four remaining Class 61XXs that I bought at a discount from my local model shop. As I was trying to build this quilckly I did not do too much extra to it with regard to adding rivet overlays or thinning moulding edges, so its not as fine as others I shall be building.

This is a set of photos of one of the scrapyard locos that I started in order to "hone my rusty skills" Its a Dapol 61XX class witch I have modelled to represent it in the process of it being cut up. This went off my original concept of representing a rusty hulk set in the 1970-1980`s this would be more suited to the late1960`s when many places would have had such a scene.

Last weekend I went to the Australian Model Railway Association's (AMRA) annual exhibition at Caulfield race course, as a member of the British Railway Modellers of Australia's (BRMA) stand. I took along a couple of simple Cambrian wagon kits to construct when I needed a break from operating the demonstration layout. However, that didn't happen and I spent most of the time operating, demonstrating or just talking, but not building anything!! Today I decided to sit down and build both kits. It took me most of the morning but they were pretty straightforward. Both kits were of open wagons so I wouldn't have had to worry about prepainting anything for the exhibition and both are intended to strengthen the train of Private Owner wagons that my pre-grouping locos can pull (most notably the SECR liveried C class 0-6-0). One was an LBSCR D1369 5-plank wagon of 1912 to 1926 build, with a choice of ends, which I built in its early guise with the curved tops and sheet rail, plus early pattern brake gear. The other was an LSWR 8-plank D1316 open of 1904 to 1925 build, done with its original doors and early brake gear on one side only (optional later pattern doors are supplied), plus the sheet rail. The only parts of the construction that gave me any pause for thought were that early brake gear (trying to follow the instructions carefully) and fitting the Parkside NEM coupling pockets at the correct height. The latter was done with a bit of trial and error using the Bachmann Firestone wagon as a guide (itself an anachronism in the previously mentioned pre-grouping train as it dates from 1928 at the earliest, which is when the Firestone factory in Brentwood opened!). The coupling mounts were packed using some 40 thou plastic on the LBSC wagon and 60 thou on the LSWR one. They are yet to be weighted and painted but here are a couple of photos to show the state of play so far. Note that I had to use a little filler on the 8 planker and it hasn't been cleaned up yet in the photos.

Over the past few days I've managed to get the component parts together and we're now at this stage. I painted the inside of the cab before assembly with a Revell green acrylic applying washes and dry brushes to finish. This was masked off with tissue paper when I sprayed the loco. As you can see various bits of wire have been used for detailing along with parts from the Pug including the reversing lever. One thing I did do is remove the sandboxes from the chassis. Luckily it doesn't leave a hole in the chassis doing this. The model has received a coat of Halfords grey primer followed by a coat of Halfords satin black. The buffer beam was painted with Vallejo acrylics. I will give the smoke box, running plate and cab roof a blast of NATO black to offer contrast soon. I've ordered the name/work plates from Narrow Planet so once they're on I will finish off the weathering. Finally renowned photographer Jonty Chambers caught this informal image of the Manning-Wardle's arrival at Juniper Hill iron stone quarry on its arrival. Rumour has it that the loco will be named after the quarry manager's daughter. Thanks once again to Phil Parker for the inspiration. Cheers, Mark

Photographs can be very cruel! Looking at the photo of the handbrake ratchet in my previous entry, all I see is the huge tab, which I have not filed smoothly. It's invisible in practice but not on the photo! It's a real test, to subject modelling to this type of scrutiny. My favourite weapons for removing those pips, as well as flash on white metal, are emery nail boards from the pharmacy. They're cheap and disposable, and don't get ruined by white metal, so saving my precious needle files. It was very pleasant to read the favourable comments on my N6 horsebox. Yes, it was a bit challenging at times but the sort of challenge that results in a real sense of achievement and of having learned something. Since building that kit, I have been thinking about other additions to my vehicle fleet, to replace several RCH wagons with something more characterful. I saw some three-plankers with rounded ends on Mikkel's blog. I rather liked the look of these and thought that, after the N6, they should be pretty simple ..... shouldn't they? Well, most entries on this site seem to show how wonderfully people have overcome difficulties and produced beautiful models but that is not the case here. I've been making rather a mess of things but hope that it will all prove to be part of a learning curve. The David Geen kit for the GWR three-planker contains some very nicely moulded and detailed (on both sides) castings for the sides and ends of the wagon, plus a few other small castings and a piece of planked plasticard, which I assume is intended as the floor (though not cut to size). Kit components The kit includes plenty of information about the prototypes but very little by way of building instructions, apart from a recommendation to use low-melt solder or epoxy but, preferably, not superglue. I soon found that there are no location pips or raised edges, to assist with location of the parts, either horizontally or vertically, The ends of the sides are simply mitred at about 45 degrees. Also, because of the curved tops to the ends, and the V-hangers below the solebars, I couldn't set up the parts upon a flat surface! I could not think of an easy way to jig it up for soldering, or to hold it firmly while epoxy hardened, so I decided to try superglue (against recommendations). Actually, I quite like superglue and find it effective, with the proviso that parts must be close-fitting and free of surface contamination (including any residual mould-release agent.) These parts weren't like that and there was a distinct taper at the ends (which I think I can see on Mikkel's model also). So, a bit of gentle work with the nail boards provided bright, matching surfaces that seemed to fit together pretty well. I decided to hand-hold one side and one end at right-angles (by eye) and then tack them together with superglue, then count to fifty as it hardened. Good! Next the other pair and now to put the two bits together, to make the rectangular plan of the wagon. I held the pieces in a pair of ratchet clamps but then realised that the side pressure from the clamps forced the mitred joints to push the ends apart! As the photo below shows, the thing looked far out of square and, in trying to sort this out, my tacked joints failed ... 'bother' ( actually, I used a word with different letters after the 'b') Oh well, clean up and try again with the delicate balancing act. Use of ratchet clamps By now, I had decided to use this wagon as an experiment, to discover better ways of building the next one. I cut the plasticard to size for the floor, fitted the rather horrible mis-shapen buffers, which didn't fit the holes in the buffer beams, and carried on with the rest of the assembly. When I slotted some wheels into their bearings, it was clear that things were very out of true - the axles were far from perpendicular to the axis of the wagon. Mis-aligned axles Right, I've now paused for reflection. I find that problems like this find some recess in the back of my mind and churn away there. A potential solution then pops out at an inopportune moment - for example, at 3am, when I am trying to sleep. In this case, the idea was to cut out a rectangle of brass sheet, to form a rigid floor / chassis, with fold-down tabs to support the ends. I could mount the sides onto this chassis and run a fillet of epoxy under the floor, to make everything secure. Then I could prepare the sides to receive the two ends, making sure that everything was square against my brass template. I'll stop at this cliff-hanger, in case better ideas pop out in the next day or two, but I think (hope) I'm on the way to a successful model. I must find some nice buffers, too!

Hi I am currently on holiday in Guernsey. On Monday, 26th August, bank holiday, I visited the only railway on the island. http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/guernsey/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8849000/8849444.stm 2nd Picture posted from phone. Lisa

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 taken at the Horwich works and is from a smashing article about the 'Ugly Ducklings' in the British Railways Illustrated mag of October 2012. It was this picture that really kick started the project. and my take in 'D' Shop I couldn't resist this pic of D186, my other purchase, as it really is a magnificent machine.

To add some details to Northall Dock I did some research. As a guide I used the Hounslow - Street Scene Design Guide from October 2012. Although not the area I’m building it gives a good overview of how you can design streets and what kind of elements are used. From this guide I selected the following vertical street elements: Advertising signs and A-boards Bespoke Furniture Bins Bollards Boundary Railings Bus Shelters Street lighting Covers and gratings Surfacing as kerbs, milestones, channels, setts, brick or cobbling (war) memorials Street Name Signs Telephone Kiosks and Public Amenities Traffic and Road Signs For Northall Dock I selected the following: 1.Advertising sings – ghost sign on one of the buildings 4. Bollards 7. Street Lightning – lamp on the wall of the central warehouse 8. Covers and gratings – hydrant ground cover and wall sign 9. Surfacing – small sidewalk along the warehouses 11. Street name signs – street names for all the roads and alleys in the diorama 13. Traffic and road signs – optional Some street furniture illustrations. The Hounslow guide describes also the colour that should be used: The colour of all street furniture should be Black, RAL No. 9005 (with the exception of natural wood) unless there is an opportunity to use good quality austenitic stainless steel, particularly in conservation areas or areas of special distinctiveness. I will also use period colour pictures as a guide. The most difficult for me are the street name signs. In my research on the internet I saw different types of street name signs in London. There is a nice set at Flickr. It wasn’t always clear to me in what period which street name signs were used. So I decided to use street name signs without borough names. If anyone can give me more information on this subject its welcome. Making pavements along the buildings asks for some new planning for the road and alleys. I think that I also have to make some more detailed designs for the two other warehouses. Some modelling progress , which goes slowly at the moment, again next week. Regards, Job

It's been a while and a little more progress has been made... The layout has gotten a name - 'Barcoombe' I don't know why it sort of came to me and has been pleasantly irritating me ever since. The missing stove for the Springside signal-box detailing kit arrived and now the signalman can keep warm, dry and have a cup of tea... Springside were very good about the missing part - even though I bought he kit over a year ago - and sent it over for free. I managed to acquire some Skytrex items before they declared bankruptcy - they announced that there would soon be a sale of all their stock. I am not sure if this represents a final liquidation or not. This picture shows their GWR lamp hut. It comprises of five resin parts which, after some cleaning, easily come together. I managed to get the roof on back to front, which is typical. It comes without instructions of any kind but there should be more overhang on the end with the door, and less over the window end. The GWR station platform lamps are made by Duncan Models - although I got these from Scalelink. They come together quite easily, provided a lot of care is taken to think it through before starting, "What can possible go wrong?". The grain of wheat bulb was quite a surprise, I did not expect them to be able to light up. The kit has five parts - the top 'roof', cast from white metal, has to be drilled to accept a finial, similarly made from white metal. The 'glass' is made from a piece of moulded plastic. The column is white metal with the bulb already inserted with about 14" of wire extending. A lot of care is needed in the assembly to check that all is in line and stays that way whilst the glue sets. The station sign came from a double kit made by Skytrex . It is made from white metal, and comes in three parts - the board and two pillars. It was just crying out to be soldered, so I had a go - never before having attempted to solder a white metal kit. So summoning all my courage and experience soldering copper pipe, did the deed without melting too much of the kit in the process. The station name was designed and printed using Photoshop. (who knows if it is in anyway close to being prototypical...) The station bench was made from a white metal kit by Skytrex - the back rests were made from thin pieces of styrene. The kits were glued together using mixture of super glue and epoxy resin - the superglue was used to hold the parts in place whilst the epoxy set. The platform has now got a red-brick face and a white edge. To make it look a wee bit more than just an artists impression of a platform. I am experimenting with ways to grunge up the bricks. The experiments so far have been restricted to smudging damp charcoal from an artists stick over the pristine bricks and mortar. But I am not yet satisfied with the results.. Any ideas welcome... Lastly... This signal came ready made (at a price) from Wizard Models. Its an MSE kit assembled and painted by hand. . Its not perfect but acceptable. The build is great but its possible to improve a bit on the paint finish. On the subject of signals... Does anyone know the purpose or meaning of the white diamond shape half way up the signal pillar? That's it for now... Upcoming are some signal kits, including ground signals needing to be built... (And that should provide a real challenge - as well as a lot of fun!) A Parkside-Dundas GWR style Toad Guards van - Into the unknown with all seriousness. Just how difficult can it be? The decals had me worried me when I first inspected the kit. I just could not figure out how they worked never having seen anything like them before.. It took a while before the penny dropped and I realised they were definitely not of the waterslide variety.... And a white metal kit of a totters cart from Duncan Models for Henry the Shunting Horse to tug around... Which will probably be tackled next Onwards with enjoyment Bill

Blacklade had its first tentative public appearance a few weeks back, when I took it along to the CMRA Workshop event as a display item. It's been taken along to a society area group meeting twice, but this was the first time it had gone into the wider world. Chiltern Model Railway Association is the federation of model railway clubs and societies in the South East of England and beyond (Indeed over the last few years they've picked up members well into the North of England, and seem to be growing into the nearest thing to a national association of clubs we have.) As well as organising the St Albans exhibition each year in January, for a good few years they've run an event for members of CMRA clubs at Watford in July. Essentially it's a bit like the demonstrators section of an exhibition - except that there is no general public, just the folk demonstrating and other club members . (There's also a programme of talks and a couple of traders) It's a good event , and I've gone for a number of years and enjoyed it (both my club and a couple of societies I'm a member of belong to CMRA). This year I decided to take something along to display, under a society banner The theory was that the layout, spread across two tables on its side, would be a demo of DCC for layout control - as opposed to DCC for loco control. I don't claim to be any kind of guru , techie, or expert, but after being involved with a club project and my own layout where all the points etc were DCC controled without a conventional panel , I suppose I must know more about it than most. With three types of point motors, and three types of decoders on view , working signals interlocked with points , and route control by macros , I was hoping there would at least be something to talk about and show. If I'm honest , I wasn't exactly knocked down in the rush . A couple of people were interested to see the working signals, and whenever a potential punter came in view I gamely launched into my "what this is all about" spiel. I'd prepared some handouts on DCC , plus a sheet giving the background of the layout and a copy of the DOGA OO Intermediate standards, but I think only one of the DCC sheets was taken. However I did get a potential invitation to demo at a show so someone must have been moderately impressed, and I think there were some tables that were quieter than mine While in theory Blacklade was there as a static item, I did bring some stock on the sly, and for the last hour and a half I turned the layout right way up and ran it . What I hadn't realised was that Bradfield Gloster Square was also going to be there , and inevitably made my little effort look like a clockwork torch in competition with Spurn lighthouse. Even worse , the gremlins came out for a carnival as soon as they saw one of the Bradfield team was watching - and no layout on the circuit runs as flawlessly as Bradfield . I think part of the problem may have been that access to the fiddle yard is tight, and it is difficult to see if all wheels are on the track - some stock may not have been on the rails when it left the fiddle yard.... Once this was sorted out, things settled down and it ran reasonably smoothly while a couple of people from the adjacent EM gauge tables were watching. The main weakness of the layout has been reliable throwing of the points - the Marcway points are very stiff , and I didn't cut adequete recesses in the cork before laying them. In the run up to the show I had done a lot of work digging out the cork around various points to free them up , and this paid dividends. I also refitted the Hoffmann point motor , which in one direction was buzzing - meaning that it wasn't moving quite far enough to work the cut-off switch . The overall result was that everything bar No 1 crossover worked every time and point derailments, except at No 1 crossover (which has teeth and likes a Hornby 31 for breakfast) stopped. In the run up to Watford Workshop I also , finally, managed to sort out various ragged edges to the ballasting , and touched in exposed cork with brown cork acrylic, as well as touching up a few bits of the hard standing. That dealt with the obvious defects - the rest of the scenic work had to wait till after Watford (and merits a separate post) One discovery was that Blacklade is most comfortably operated from a chair at the station end , with the layout set up on a pair of tables. Unfortunately the clutter in the study at home has prevented it ever being set up as originally intended - on top of the bookcases and modelling cupboard. It only ever gets set up in the sitting room with the (very basic) legs.... I also had a running session with the layout the week after Watford . One of the Bradfield crew recommended a Peco railer, which does seem to help get things on reliably in the fiddle yard. The main problems seem to be with the parcels train - the body of the kitbuilt Van B was lolling to one side enough to catch the bridge abutment and derail (I've tightened up the fixing screws on the bogies as far as I can , though one bogie is still loose) and the 31 and No 1 crossover kept disagreeing. As this is one end of the runround loop, and as at present the Hornby 31 is the loco that works the two parcels trains and the trip TTA , this is unfortunate. One solution may be to get on with the detailed body for the old Airfix 31 (not to mention the fitting of Kadees) on the theory that Hornby 31s are a little track sensitive, DMUs seem to cope, and a loco with a slightly coarser wheel profile may be better (This is in no way a problem of the track standard - it's a question of the wire from the point motor to the tie bar being a little too flexible leading to closure not being quite positive enough. A more drastic step is replace one or both Tortioses with Cobalt Blues - meaning shorter, stiffer wire, over £30 and a certain amount of rewiring work.) It's clear I need a second 31 if I'm to run loco hauled stock as a DMU-substitute - that will have to go into Pl 3 as the only platform long enough, and that doesan't have access to the run-round loop. So the Hornby 31 will still be needed, and it's not as if I'm adding an extra project to the list Also on the subject of Pl 3 , despite efforts to ease the clearances of the edging slab - through repeated rubbing with an Xacto knife handle to crush the balsa down - the 108 seems to stick , derail and somehow this scrambled the decoder. I tried to reprogram in haste, forgot that the MERG point decoder is sensitive to programming commands , and scrambled that... Reprogramming the thing requires flyleads , taking down the layout etc so that was the end of a running session. I hope this is the last time for this particular problem. Some time ago I removed the NCE AutoSwitch which was supposed to switch off the rest of the layout when programming - because it didn't seem to be doing anything. I fitted a DPDT switch instead - and that doesn't seem to be doing anything either. It looks like I have somehow created an inadvertant connection across the isolation of the programming track (the fueling point siding) . However all this meant I had an unused NCE Auto Switch in the decoder bag, so I installed it between the MERG decoder and the DCC bus. Oh and a fault book is now in operation , to identify any gremlins...

I have started this Blog as a means to track my progress as I begin to return to my most favoured hobby of my youth. I last had a model railway over 28 years ago and always intended to get back into it one day and to possibly to go down the P4 or EM route. However I now do not wish to spend time and expense that it would take to learn to build my own track and modify rolling stock at this time so I will be going down the OO route. The fantastic level of detail available in RTR now, compared to 28 years ago makes me feel that at least in the short term I will be satisfied. Over the last Year or so I been researching up on what is new to the hobby and testing out some of my old and new methods in a small way but have not actually done much modelling. I Have come up with a first probable layout which would be (please don`t groan!) based on a blue and yellow era diesel depot, to which end I have drawn up several iterations of a plan but have yet to get any further than buying some locos. One of my ideas for this layout was to have a small area with a Woodhams type scrapyard nearby and whilst researching this I came across the wonderful Woodmores Scrapyard by cactustrain( Michael Russell). This inspired me to get on with that part of my first project in the form of building some scrap locos. This would also allow me to practice and hone some of my very rusty skills. This However has proved to be far more time consuming than I had first thought because I find myself trawling the internet for detailed photos or drawings of the relevant locos I am trying to recreate. Whilst I do not need the locos to be perfect representations, I do want to produce them as accurately as the available internet information allows. This about brings me up to date and I shall be posting photos of the progress on this which I have made so far.

Well, I've finally bitten the bullet and begun a journey into 12mm gauge as well as 009 (and 00!) My first foray is a Roxey Mouldings Isle of Man Empress Van. I ordered it a week or so ago and this morning it dropped through my letterbox. I do intend to build a second set of bogies for the vehicle so that I can also run it on my 009 layout (after all, the Ffestiniog have a number of carriages built on ex-IoM underframes, so there is almost a premise!) I've never built a Roxey kit before, so I was looking forward to getting the box opened and have a look at the contents. For what is a NPC vehicle I am most impressed with the amount of etched detail provided on the frets, along with the whitemetal castings for bogie/brake details. There's certainly plenty to keep me quiet for a while! I'll document the building on here so anyone else wondering what these kits are like can see one going together (hopefully), and anyone who has experience can point out where I'm going wrong! I do have a few other irons in the fire at the moment so progress might not be overly quick to begin with! Regular readers will not be surprised at this! Cheers J

3 posts from S4 crammed into 1. ? 1) ---- I have a small update. Nothing mind blowing. I've rebranded the numbers to D3 in nickel silver by Fox-Transfers. Added all the buffer beam detail to both sides. Ignored the plastic screw link and forced a Hornby semi working one in instead. I had to drill a hole, file the hole and also file the stub on the coupling to complete the join. I've also fitted the letters to the front, but they look cack because I cannot put them in neatly to save my life. A blackened dingham has been fitted to the back, but I had to drill a hole through the metal chassis to accept it. I think this means I won't be able to get inside the model unless I remove it, but the good news is I have it retained by a simple bend, so if there is a problem I'll just bend it back, if I do make a pigs ear of things then I'll have to make a new coupling. Like I say, nothing mind blowing. 2) --------------------------------------- I gave my desk a mini clean yesterday. Took the old board off it and dumped it. Then I dusted the layout and painted it in a sort of cream coloured acrylic mix. Not the same as the desk but similar. Now my mind doesn't hurt when I look at the desk and it's more inviting, "Build something" it says to me. So I went in the loft and dragged this shed out from a box. I like the shed as RTP buildings go, but I'm not sure it really fits the scene. Seems too grand a shed to me, as I'm thinking more a wooden bothy with corrugated roof or something. Plus the clearance on the adjacent rails is fag paper. I'll probably change it, what you think? Something else I did was to hunt for the remains of my Vollmer Roundhouse shed. I knew it would come in handy. I'm thinking of using some of these panels to form the basis of the workshop / factory, or whatever building it will be. I think it looks suitable, within reason. This is the general idea. The 2 tracks that go inside will have a lower roof. The wooden block further right represents the dock thing. It's actually my right angled wooden soldering aid for chassis construction. What you think? I still haven't decided on the industry or theme but I know roughly how I want the buildings to look. 3) ---------------------------------------------------------------- I built a wagon way back in 2004, when I was working for the UN in Cyprus. I fitted it with Slaters 3 links, and other than that it was pretty much a standard build. Over the years it got somewhat battered on my layout and was generally neglected. Being a slightly nostalgic piece and wanting another P4 wagon, I thought I'd have a go at simultaneously restoring and converting it. Now with P4 wheels popped in, one wheel-set rolled nicely, the other didn't. This I tried to rectify by melting in some bearings which I'm sad to say became a whopping great fail. There's no way to explain it, it just...well, didn't work. So then I thought 'Oh dear, looks like I'm going to have to faff with this one'. I like Bill Bedford's springing units as I think you know. Real easy to make, and not that hard to install. Wagon rolling resembles greased cow dung. That scores high in my book, only problem is I've only so far built them off the wagon, not in situe. Seeing as I wanted to know how a fixed axle combined with one sprung axle ran, I guess now was my time to find out. I proceeded by Xuron clipping the frame detail to oblivion, followed by trying to clip the W-Irons thinner as I would if already off the wagon, being fixed I didn't do too well and ended up clipping them off and retaining the axle box and springs like on my other wagons. One I broke....AS ALWAYS! :twisted: It's a rule you see, I finally understand it. It must be a rule of Will's Carpet God... "Thou Shalt break at least one axle box and spring when attempting to retain them, for in doing so though shalt build up the railway modelling industry by necessitating the purchase of a cast replacement." Luckily I already have some replacements. ? First pic. Nice mess. ? Second pic. Clipped space smoothed with mini drill, complete with a packet of Oatcakes and my favourite tea mug containing Yorkshire tea, black, one flat sugar - perfect. ? Third pic. W-Iron assembly test fitted. I used Brassmasters axle spacing gauge to help as always, but Unlike most times when doing this, it was a very tight fit which helped a lot for roll testing on my layout. I usually use some contact adhesive to test it then superglue it when happy. (Unsure on best methods, open to suggestion) Whilst testing I used a little bit of lead stuck to blue tack on top of the roof. I was very surprised with the performance. Usually I have to piss fart about getting it to roll straight because maybe an axle is at an angle or whatever. I suppose only having one won me a success first attempt. Rare indeed. ? Fourth pic. Having drilled the axlebox holes into an oval to make room for the springing, I superglued the retained plastic box and springs on one side, and on this side you can see the casting with superglue. I think actually the casting might be a different type of box altogether, that or a much more accurate one. it looks a wee bit different. Either way I can live with it. Furthermore the ba that joins both W-Iron bottoms has been reinstated by soldering with some 1mm x 0.5mm x How Long Do You Want Me? Oh yeah, I melted it in on the plastic end, followed by a small superglue dab. ? Fifth pic. Ends clipped. Might need to trim or file a bit more though. Wagon paintwork here is 9 years old btw. Still quite happy with it. ? Sixth pic. These are the castings I used if anyone's interested. Seventh pic. Becasue I drilled a massive hole in the past, the 3 links kept twisting sideways, now that I have the hole I needed to close it. Luckily Dingham supply several 'Thingummy's' on the fret. You can see it on the black handles. To make room for it I cut the original thing out of the way. Name please? Eighth pic. Please read text in pic. Ninth pic. Please read text in pic 2. Tenth pic. Sort of finished. The lighting was real bad at this point so all the colours are wrong, plus I have weathered it a slight over how it already was. Not sure those black blanks are real, might make them lighter to represent new ones. I was going to wait until I've lettered it before I showed you but I haven't any the right size so that will have to wait. Eleventh pic. REWARD!!!

Scenic work at Diddington progresses, with the addition of a small coal merchants premises in the goods yard. I spent some time thinking about the buildings, and finally decided on a small coal office, with a disused container as a store, and a set of coal cells. The office building was made from the Wills kit. After assembly, the brickwork was painted with red-brown Tamiya acrylic, and some individual bricks were picked out with different shades of Tamiya acrylic. Once dry, the brick areas were given a wash of very runny Artex( I think any plaster would do, I happen to have a bag or Artex to hand) The mixture was quickly wiped off with a damp cotton bud, leaving the mixture in the courses which when dry represented the cement pointing. This was then given a wash of dilute black Indian ink. The use of Indian ink in this way was a technique I discovered on this forum and have found very useful. Finally the building was dry brushed with Tamiya matt medium green and dark earth. The "A" type container is from a Cambrian kit, assembled straight out of the packet, and sprayed Railmatch LNER oxide (I'm out of BR Bauxite) with a Tamiya Dark Grey roof. Transfers are from an old Woodhead sheet . Weathering was more dilute indian ink, and dry brushed dark earth. The coal cells are from a mixture of Wills and homemade parts. The cells were assembled on a piece of styrene sheet. They were sprayed with Tamiya NATO black, and dry brushed with various shades of black, dark grey, medium green and dark earth. At this stage the assembly was blended into the layout using a plaster/pva mix.. The coal cells were partly filled with plaster, which was painted flat black, and covered with real coal. The office and container were fitted to a card base which was blended in to the layout. It was painted dark earth, and the road areas were treated with fine ash sprinkled on to dilute pva to match the rest of the yard. Grass areas were covered with a mixture of hanging basket liner and static grass. A weighbridge was set into the road. There's a moulded one in the Wills kit, but I had an old etched one that a friend gave to me when they were clearing out their loft for a move of house. (He also gave me a Lima siphon G, but that's another story) Bushes ware added , made from theatrical hair, sprayed with hairspray and sprinkled with Carr's foliage, before being fixed in place from pva. Tools, coal sacks, scales and weights are from Coopercraft and Ratio, superglued in place. There's a few details still to add. I want to have a couple of coalmen, and a coal merchant's lorry. Having built the model, I am slightly wondering how the site would operate. The backs of the coal cells are slightly high for a wagon door to be opened to discharge directly into the cells. Would the wagon be discharged adjacent to the cells, and the cells used just for sorting and storage? Also, should I have allowed more clearance between the backs of the cells and the track? I measured the clearance using the steps on a BR 20t brake van, and wonder if I should have allowed a little more? The next episode will look at developments by the river.

The latest incarnation of Hornby's Caley coaches suffer from the drawbacks of their origins; namely a representation of the two preserved coaches attached to their now dated Mk 1 chassis, still with no interior and those brass nuts holding the whole thing together. In the past I have attempted to blend the sides with a more appropriate vehicle, with none too much success, so when the Caley 123 train pack appeared I gave it little attention. It is the same old tooling, and although the engine now has a better motor, it has also acquired traction tyres, which is not a move forwards. However, the decoration is first class, and I got a set with the intention of doing an upgrade to the engine, but came to the conclusion that it was beyond practicallity- not for the first time BTW. The announcement of City of Truro finished any further ideas of modifying 123, but I was pleased with the coaches finish, and decided to do something with them. What follows now is not for the purists- but it gives me an acceptable coach for a minimum of that most precious ingredient- modelling time- and once again involved my stockpile of old Airfix LMS bodies and chassis. Rather than adjust the length of the body and damage the finish, I decided to leave the body as it was. The first line was to join two Airfix underframes to the correct length, but it proved easier to keep the Hornby chassis and fit Airfix ends and roof, to hopefully give a more pre-grouping feel to the whole thing. The coach was dissassembled and all underframe detail removed, and the new ends fitted. Trying out the new profile roof. A comparative shot of the two diffferent end profiles- I think it does make the character change. An interior was also added, but I forgot to photograph this before I stuck the roof on, so here is one of a old Mainline coach that is also being titivated- the old Peco kits being used. To be honest, its hardly seen, but I know its there. Two shots of the interiors as seen from outside- it is better than seeing straight through originally. Some shots of the finished coaches in service, and showing a before and after comparison as well. As I said, a very crude approach to coachbuilding, but it does make the most of the best bit of the original, the finish. I have been pottering about with some other coaches as well, and these will be here soon. Richard