Leaderboard

Afternoon all It's been a while since my last instalment, partly due to exhibiting requirements and prep taking up the limited amount of modelling time I have. Clevedon will be out and about at the EM skills day next Saturday albeit in a slightly stripped down form to show the 'naked' foam baseboards. In the meantime, I have been making slow progress with the T9 watercart tender. I'm discovering that you can't really rush a Finney kit. There are quite a large number of parts that have to be fixed to other parts and so on. I have to say though that when you eventually get to fit bits together, they do fit with the minimum of fettling. So anyway, here's a few progress photos of the thing so far. The coping plate was a bit of a fiddle but I'm pleased with how it's gone so far. As it's won't be long now before I'll have to think amount painting, I have finally got round to buying an ultrasound cleaner which will help get rid of the very obvious gunk and grot.

So, another Granite City train show is in the books, and once again a great time was had by all. This little layout was probably the most labour intensive of the layouts I've shown there. The coal loading really making it a 2 person operation for smooth running. The working coal loader really grabbing peoples attention. A couple of people asked about the rolling stock as it was British outline, but most people were just content to watch the layout work. The coal loading was, as I've said, quite a labour intensive operation. We found it worked best with one person operating the railway watching the position of the wagons under the dispensing chute to see when they filled, and the other person actually doing the filling. Something that definitely needs to be worked on is cutting down on the spillage around the chute. This led to a lot of derailments very quickly and many breaks had to be taken to clear the coal away from the rails. Another thing I learnt is that the couplers on the Dapol hoppers were not as effective as the Bachmann ones in constant push-pull situations. The direction to take with the uncouplers needs to be worked on. I made a couple of hand uncoupling tools out of styrene before the show and they certainly did the job. I'm sure I'll get well meaning suggestions to use "Sprat and Winkle" or some other auto uncoupling brand, but they'd have to be shipped over from the UK and when you have to pay more for postage than the item its just not cost effective. I could use Kadees but they don't look right on 1960's UK stock. The Bachmann ones are surprisingly unobtrusive so I might just stick with them. There is a supplier in Canada that I get my Bachmann stock from. The next plan will be to rebuild the loading screens out of styrene and get a bit more detail into the structures. A fiddle yard rebuild is also on the cards. It was just a tad too short as it was. I'll try to rig up a three road sector plate for the next time. The next Granite City Train show is on November 15th so there is plenty of time. All in all, a good day out. I did come away with an O scale US outline boxcar kit. Who knows where that will lead? Above: The layout all set up before the show started. The layout stands on 2 plastic crates that we transported stock and tools in. The whole layout set up and knocked down in about 10 minutes. Below: A few shots of the loaded hoppers. The pictures were taken at the end of the show so some of the structures are showing a few "battle scars" Huge thanks, as per usual to the wife for being the joint operator. With the layout being so labour intensive there wasn't a relief operator.

Enough of Duke of Gloucester and on with the current layout. The Grand Plan – at inception As planned and initially constructed the layout was to be ‘Out and Back’ with a Main Terminus, a double track mainline leading to ‘the Main Junction’ and then heading off to a return loop with storage sidings. The plan would build on past experience. The Bracken Ridge Layout My first serious layout, the Bracken Ridge layout dated from around 1980. It was an ‘out and back’ layout and occupied about 16ft x 6.5ft with a minimum radius for running lines of 3ft. Entry was at the top left by ducking under. There were three levels. The terminus was at the top right on the intermediate level. The hidden sidings and reversing loop were at the bottom right at the lowest level. There was an intermediate station at the top left at the highest level. I wanted a continuous run (for testing) and this was achieved with a non prototypical single line along the bottom of the layout which joined the exit from the reversing loop to the line from the low level terminus. Trains could shuttle between the Terminus and the intermediate station, or they could go off and disappear round the reversing loop. The Park View Layout We moved house around 1990 which saw the creation of the Park View Layout. This time the space available was about 11ft x 8ft. Again this was an ‘out and back’ layout with a minimum radius for running lines of 3ft. The maximum train length for the Main Terminus was seven Mark 1s whilst branch trains were limited to four coaches. The doorway opened into the room at the bottom right which required some cunning construction to support the baseboards. The Branch Terminus was at the highest level, top left. The Main Terminus was at the intermediate level, top right. The hidden sidings and reversing loop were at the lowest level. The hidden sidings are not shown on the drawing but are hidden beneath the tracks at the top left. There was an Intermediate Station adjacent to extensive loco facilities which occupied an intermediate level between the Main Terminus and the reversing loop. A major disadvantage with this layout was that there was no continuous run! The Park View Layout – hidden sidings with supports for the Main Terminus When it came to planning the current layout it would be ‘out and back’ with a reversing loop and hidden sidings. It would handle seven coach trains and most importantly of all – there would be a section of continuous double track (the Round and Round bit). The layout would be like a letter P. The Main Terminus would be the stick of the P. For the Round and Round bit there was a space of about 12ft x 9ft which also had to accommodate the hidden sidings and the reversing loop (the Up and Down bit). The Main Junction at the Planning Stage The layout above is essentially what is visible and should be compared with the drawing below used in a previous Blog. The Main Junction as built The reversing loop and hidden sidings were added in beneath the Main Junction as shown below on a very poor paper drawing. The Hidden Sidings beneath the Main Terminus The ‘out and back’ lines from the Main Terminus are shown at the bottom left at the lowest level. These climb up to join the Round and Round bit that includes the Main Junction. At the same time lines drop back down to form the Reversing Loop. Under construction – the hidden sidings Finally for tonight an under construction picture showing the arrangement of tracks at the rear of the layout. The Up and Down bits at the back of the layout FT and TT are the main tracks From the Terminus and To the Terminus. ‘Round and Round is the continuous run through the Main Junction Station. RLU and RLD (between FT and the continuous run) are the Reversing Loop Up and the Reversing Loop Down. GWR (Great Way Round or ex GWR branch) was discussed in a previous Blog. Similarly LNWR is the branch connection between the Main Junction and the Branch Junction Stations. Perhaps some more pictures next time!

Considerably further on with the Gorton Mogul now... I've added a new smokebox saddle out of plastic sheet, and I then used the same material to extend the tender sheets up by 6mm to get closer to the Robinson design. New buffers have been added- cheking through my spares box I found a complete set of Robinson oval buffers which have now found their way onto the model. The only major bits left for the loco are footsteps and handrails- of which more anon pending experiments later this week- the focus is now shifting to the tender.

When I handed the painted EWS Queen Mary brake van back to Jim McGeown of Connoisseur Models for his exhibition stand last spring he said, 'Thanks very much old chap, would you like to do one in Southern livery too?' I said 'Yes please Jim, delighted to, old bean,' and skipped away with another heavy box of brass and whitemetal. When I got home I opened it and found the model constructed to Jim's usual high standard; free from excess solder blobs and squeaky clean. Nevertheless it now had the oils from both his and my hands all over it, so I gave it a good scrub with Barkeeper's Friend, a rinse in hot water and left it to dry for 24 hours before blowing it over with a hairdryer to chase out any trapped droplets. After blackening the wheels with Birchwwod Casey Super Blue I drifted Clostermann black etch primer over the sprung(!) bogies and Acid #8 over both the body and roof. The Clostermann primer goes on very wet out of the tin, so I had the hairdryer at the ready, just in case it decided to droop or run, but all was well, and half an hour later it was dry enough to remove the paint from the wheel treads with a moistened cotton bud. The coverage was such that no top coat was needed on the bogies and they were ready for weathering. As well as reducing the time and expense, on less coat of paint helps to keep the detail nice and sharp. I applied the vermilion to the body first then while that was drying painted the roof white. 24 hours later I masked off the ends and painted the body brown. All the Precision paints for wagons have a dull finish, so after leaving the paint to cure for 72 hours I sprayed Windsor & Newton Galeria gloss varnish in the areas I was going to add transfers and left it to dry for another 24 hours. Transfers were a mix of Parkside left over from the earlier Pill Box and some Fox waterslide I had in stock, and I sealed these with a mix of matt and satin Galeria varnish. Weathering was pretty much as before - my limited palette of Humbrol matt black and satin brown, with addition hints of leather, light grey and gunmetal where appropriate, putting it on and taking it off again to build up the patina. Again, I spent much more time than anything else over adding the highlights and shadows with a dry brush, finishing off with a grain or two of powders here and there. It's a bit of a beast of a brakevan - there's certainly a lot to it - and I can heartily recommend the kit Southern aficionados with a couple of etched kits under their belt. These are the last completed photos I can find on my cloud (so far) so until I get the computers up and running again things could a little quiet. I have some 'work in progress snaps' on my phone, but they may not be up to publication standard - I'll work through them and if anything jumps out will post them.

Hello, Brief update! I have finally been able to secure a 14xx (The Hornby one for a decent price) so I have added that to my Autocoach (which I have detailed) it really adds a nice flavour to the layout and I am sure once it has been weathered that it will fit right in! The idea behind the 14xx and Autocoach is that it allows local workings into...what would be North Wales, maybe a forgotten branch line or a workers service? Also you can see some of my weathering on the 5MT. The 4F has had crew added and will be HEAVILY weathered soon! The 45xx is also a new arrival and pulls a Dapol B-Set (to be weathered and re-numbered) the B-Set is runningr eally well on Bachmann metal wheels. Now... I have a problem. The PECO hydraulic buffers are too large to allow locos to reverse through the points. What can I do? I am going to try creating some smaller buffer stops- any feedback welcome? Best Dan

It was payday weekend, and I fancied a run out in the car... and, well, I hadn't been to that shop in Liverpool for what? 40 years? Anyway, came home with this utter delight.

Late February means it’s time for our annual pilgrimage to the frozen North and Model Rail Scotland. This year’s trip started a day early on the Wednesday, for reasons that will become apparent shortly. First stop was to stoke up at the Little Chef just off Jcn 16 on the M6 (Crewe), our usual breakfast stop for this trip. Several en-route photo opportunities had been discussed but in the end we went to a favourite from last year; Docker, on the WCML in Cumbria. Upon arrival, a search on Real Time Trains quickened the pulse as the ‘logs’ to Chirk was due. Almost as I finished reading the words the unmistakable pounding of a 56 drifted into auditory view and we prayed for the sun to stay out. And stay out it did, I still can’t believe how lucky we were. Subsequent shots of an unliveried 350/4 and a Plasser tamper pushing a trolley-thingy were nowhere near as good with the sun in (even after adjusting the white balance). From there it was a short hop to Greenholme by which time the rain came on. The intermodal DRS 66 working which normally flies through Atherstone was reduced to a crawl on the climb to Shap and made for interesting listening. A mental note and reference shots were taken of this excellent location and then it was onwards and upwards to a sadly freight-free Carlisle station. The first night stop was at Moffat, staging post for the final thrust in the morning. If you’ve never visited Moffat I can thoroughly recommend it, plenty of good hotels and restaurants in a beautiful setting in the Southern Uplands, and after breakfast only an hour to Glasgow. The subject of Thursday’s attention was a 35-year old successor to the famous ‘Blue Trains’; the Class 314. This recording session had had a very long gestation. Following a steer from a DEMU member in early 2013 (thanks Peter), a session had been set up for February last year, but was cancelled at the last minute when the host called in sick – doah! Luck was on our side this year and thanks to First Group and staff at Shields Road this veteran unit has now been captured for posterity. No model yet as far as I’m aware but a set of recordings ‘in the bank’ nevertheless. We never thought we’d see models of Lion / EM1 / Blue Pullman etc so someone will do one eventually. Friday and Saturday was a great opportunity to catch up with old friends but sad news was to arrive. My very good friend and ‘chauffuer’ Richard had to drop everything and leave for Manchester where his aged father had taken a turn for the worse. Sadly he died not long afterwards but Richard was fortunate enough to get there in time. The rest of the show wasn’t quite the same, and getting myself and all my stuff home was interesting with no transport. Plenty of offers were forthcoming from fellow modellers and traders passing through the Midlands, but everyone was leaving on Monday. As I needed to get back on Sunday the services of Virgin & London Midland were called upon. An offer of £92 First Class was grabbed with both hands. My camera, recording gear and show purchases went to Manchester with Richard. The stock boxes that would fit in Charlie’s already-bursting van went to Leeds, and the rest was kindly taken by Fiona of DCC Supplies back to Worcester and I will be re-united with them all at Leamington show. Oh, and my car was stuck at Richard’s house, half an hour from home. Recording sessions for later in the year are shaping up nicely. Nothing I can divulge just now but suffice to say that there are some interesting and innovative things in the pipeline. Finally, with the assistance of Pete Harvey we will shortly be launching a range of 'easy-fit' resin underframe tanks incorporating loudspeaker enclosures, to make high-quality sound much easier to achieve. First examples will be for the Heljan 26, 27 & 33, with a set for the Bachmann 40 currently in development.

As a bit of a change to all the scenic stuff I decided to make an inroad into the rolling stock. Some Wrightlines skips would be ideal. My first task though was to find them! I knew where 4 were but was sure that I had bought 3 more - or was I imagining it. Spent ages looking for them only to eventually find them pretty much in front of me and in a Wrightlines box which for some reason I hadn't been looking for. Just to carry this theme on, something dropped out of the box when I opened it. Iis hard enough to find anything on this floor at the best of times but when you don't know what you are looking for ..... Still don't actually as never found it. Anyway, this is what I had; Seven skips of three different designs but all making up into the same thing. Incidentally, the Hudson type skip was the most numerous of all the wagon classes of the WDLR, not that you would know it though from the lack of pictures! One chassis is an exquisite lost wax brass casting, three are white metal one piece and three are white metal two piece castings. After much cleaning up of chassis bits, I realised that I had a bit of a bearing problem as there were not enough flanged bearings to go around and I couldn't find any in my various boxes. All I could find were the plain ones but these are too small. So I turned to the skip bodies. I had made a start on one of these a couple of years ago but hadn't really got very far. It is all butt joints in pretty thin half etched brass and I found it impossible then to get it to hold together properly. This time though, I got a bit more creative; What we have here is a sheet of glass with a square sitting on it. The clever bit though is the magnet holding the end piece square to the square. Things got even more interesting when it came to the other end as held the side down also with another magnet attached to a Stanley knife blade on the other side of the glass. There were a couple of little bulldog clips in there as well to act as heat sinks. So here we have a basic tub; And, about two hours later, it finished with all the side, end and top pieces in place. I really hope I can speed the next ones up a bit or this is going to turn into a two week job!