Leaderboard

A few more photos that I took today. The first shows the Blagdon branch goods in the mid 1930's. The second van is another ABS kit, as I mentioned in my earlier blog these are excellent and cover the more unusual prototypes. I would also add that not all my coaches and vans have roofs this white! The second and third are shots of the platform and station building. The station buildings on the Wrington Vale line followed a standard pattern but that at Blagdon and Langford were extended a few years after opening. The extension is on the left hand side, if you look carefully you should be able to see the original end wall on to which the extension has been built. You will also see that the chimneys were originally on the ends of the station building and that the left hand pot has been replaced. I might see if I can get a better shot of the underside of the canopy where it wil be apparent that the bay windows were cantilevered out which made for interesting modelling. The roof appears to be of lead and I do need to have another look at the gutter. The final shot is of a 58xx 0-4-2T (and also the one in the first photo). I included this as it is a Rod Neep etched kit made for Puffers of York. I don't know whether it is still available anywhere but I haven't heard of it for some time so probably not. As you'd expect from Rod Neep the kit is very detailed (the instructions run to 16 pages) and went together fairly easily. I quite like the 48xx / 58xx as built when their lines were much cleaner without the added ATC piping, whistle shields and steps and handrails on one side of the bunker. The loco has a Portescap RG4C motor and was painted by Larry Goddard. The loco is spoilt by the buffers which are clearly too small for this class of loco. It should be a simple job to replace the buffer heads and one day I will get around to it but I need to check that whatever I get will fit the buffer stocks. Hope these are of interest and thanks to all those who commented. I now need to get back to the railmotor. John

Only just, but here it is... In all truthfulness I've been getting Wheal Elizabeth ready for Warley this weekend and as the layout hasn't been out since the RMWeb members day at Taunton it's taken up the majority of my modelling time, along with one or two associated items of rolling stock I hope to run at the NEC. However I've returned to track building on Cheddar, finally lifting the turnouts from the bench and placing them onto the layout boards proper. These are for the down yard. There is still quite a bit to do so I will carry on with the main running lines and up side yard turnouts. Pretty much everything happens from these pair of boards. No rush, but I'm starting to get there. See you at Warley if you're going. Come and say hello. We're next to the Scalefour Society stand.

News hot off the press We have been commissioned to make some 4mm wagons that can be built as OO or EM. The first wagons in the new range will be: LYR/LMS/BR 1plank/Bolster; LYR/LMS 7plank loco coal/double ended coal wagon and a 7 plank open that can be built as a side door only or side and end door. The latter kit can be LBSCR/SECR/GNR/NER/W^D/SR/LNER/BR as well as private owner wagons. These kits will be available around February time. If these kits sell then we will be looking to expand the range inline with our 7mm range. Marc

We all know it should be planning and then progress, but I'm one who only reads the instructions when all else fails. Perhaps not quite that bad ? By joining the sides to a footplate beam I worked out I could hold together with a couple of elastic bands. It gives me an overall view from which to make my changes. Those handrail mountings all but block off the entrance, they have to go and handrails will run down the outside. I've also decided that the cab windows will be fixed 3/4 glazed. To have safe movement you need to see, but this simple machine has no window wipers, de-icing, or de-misting equipment. That open upper 1/4 provides that, you don't even need to clean the windows !! A decoder test, if a Hornby one will fit the Lenz mini should have oceans of space. Now to open out all the required wire routes. I tried drilling for my brass handrails, but unable to get a vertical angle the lower hole to the left is way out. I'll have to de-bond the two parts to get access, re-drill as needed. Even the exhaust system is now plugged on, my radiator will be represented by a square of beading with a mesh insert on the other rearward half alongside that exhaust. So far so good. Dad-1

I wil get the hang of this eventually. I've tried taking a few photos and in the process broke my desk lamp so no modelling tonight. Instead I'll let you know what I've done so far this season (as those who read my earlier blog, modelling for me has a season, rather like grouse shooting). My first task was to finish off the outside frame brake van which needed painting. This was one of the ABS kits and I have to say they're rather good, excellent in fact. The white metal castings are crisp and free from flash and the kit goes together easily. I like also the comprehensive instructions and the additional parts included where there were variations. I also have an ABS GWR wooden mink and this too was very good. The brake van also had the parts for compensating although once gummed up with paint I'm not sure whether the compensation works. I particularly wanted the outside frame brake van as it is a better choice for my earlier period. I'd certainly recommend ABS kits and they cover some interesting early wagons. For some reason when I painted the brake van I painted everything below the solebar black. It was re-reading the HMRS livery guide that I realised this should have been dark grey. Quickly checking the other wagons I found that only the last wagon I had painted was incorrect, it's odd how somehow an idea takes root in your head. I also found myself agreeing with others who have criticised the quality of railway paints. The so called matt black I used had a high gloss finish but as this was subsequently painted over this was not a problem. Military modellers would never tolerate the paints we have to use. Hopefully a photo of the brake van in company with 1384 is in the album. The locos and rolling stock I have has been collected over a long period, probably since the late 1970's. Much of it is unsuitable for Blagdon but notwithstanding that I still feel it should be as accurate as possible. One of the most satisfying tasks i did recently was to look at every item of rolling stock and make a note of inaccuracies and breakages. All the rolling stock is in 6 stout cardboard boxes purloined from work (originally they held Lloyd's Register of Shipping). Just to give one example, from box 5 "LMS Open, tonnage not shown, transfer film needs hiding, needs load." One item of rolling stock that needed a fair bit of work was my old K's auto trailer. i think it's been generally established that it represents an A31 trailer and I've seen several articles correcting the inaccuracies in the model. One defect that doesn't seem to be mentioned is the roof which should be the 3 arc type rather than a single arc (as provided in the kit) but somehow I had a spare Airfix trailer roof. I added underframe detail using the one of my two converted Airfix trailers as a guide (don't ask where they came from, they have both been detailed with the dart castings kit and represent the trailers as built). The K's auto trailer is in BR newly applied crimson and cream but I think a lot of the panelling would have gone by then. Again a photo should be in the album. One loco that would never have appeared at Blagdon was the 64xx 0-6-0PT but somehow I have one made from a Stephen Poole kit. It's been a problem getting this running satisfactorily and last "season" I tried to improve matters using a Westward chassis fret. The first false start was using leftover wheels from the scrapbox and finding that it could never be made to run smoothly. Closer examination revealed that what appeared to be the same wheels were in fact a mixture of types (presumably Gibson and Ultrascale) with marginally different crankpin throws. Even after buying a complete set of Gibson wheels I still had problems making it run freely and it didn't like even the slightest bend in the track. Because the Westward chassis was not very deep around the central axle I couldn't compensate the chassis. Thinking about this I thought the answer might be to articulate the coupling rods as they seemed rather stiff. I had thought that this would entail buying another chassis just for the coupling rods but, joy of joy, when I looked at the coupling rods I realised they were two layers that I had soldered together. All I had to do was use a slitting disc and cut halfway through behind the central crankpin hole, turn it over and cut halfway through the other side in front of the central crankpin hole. The coupling rod is now in two halves pivoting around the central crankpin. I also replaced the motor. I had a 5 pole motor based on the old Rovex XO4, I think it may have been MRRC, but this drew too much current. I therefore replaced it with a discarded Anchoridge DS10 and Romford gears. It now runs well but I can't help thinking had I used a High Level gearbox with a Mashima motor it would be even better. The quandry I have is how much do you spend on a locomotive that is not going to see front line service and has inaccuracies that can't really be corrected. Again there should be a photo in the album for you to judge for yourself. Incidentally, to line up the bearings in a fixed chassis try using lengths of 1/8th inch outside diameter brass tube. If you use lengths of a foot or so you can thread these through the bearings and see how they line up. Because of the length of the tube any slight inaccuracy in the alignment will be magnified at the ends of the tube. The other locomotive I have worked on is the Dean Goods, a K's kit. This had an Anchoridge DS10 and Romford gears but my new controller doesn't seem too happy with this motor. I therefore substituted a Mashima motor with a High Level gearbox. This only took one evening (and that included making up the gearbox) and the loco now runs beautifully. I'm sure 6 wheel pick up is one reason for this. Others I know have commented on the High Level gearboxes and I would certainly recommend them. They are easy to assemble but you do need a 2mm reamer. I have an aversion to any gears that require the final gear to be force fitted preferring those that use a grub screw which does limit my choice of High Level gearbox. I generally use the Road Runner +, 54:1 ratio. the reason for my aversion, if the fit is too tight it is too easy to damage the chassis and it would be difficult to remove without further damage. If the fit isn't tight enough then the gear could slip. Also a grub screw means the chassis can be checked for free running by simply slacking off the grub screw. One advantage of the Road Runner + is that it allows more cab detail to be shown as the bulk of the motor and gearbox is in the firebox and bolier. The photo shows the Dean Goods numberless. It is 2322, one of St. Philips Marshs' finest used on the Sunday diversions over the Severn Bridge which may be the reason it was one of the few retaining the larger tender as supplied with the kit. Fox Transfers are kindly doing the numberplate with a red background which it had in BR days. The allocation of the loco meant it could well have seen service on the daily Blagdon goods when not hauling 5 or 6 coaches over the Severn Bridge. All in all the start of the season has been very promising with much achieved. I've now looking at my steam railmotor, a Nu cast kit. The chassis was a crude white metal casting which I had packed out so it didn't look too odd in EM. Last season I acquired a Gibson chassis and the appropriate wheels. One axle is fixed, the other sprung and I have a Mashima 1624 and High Level gearbox ready to provide the power. This is proving very difficult though, the photo in the album shows the body and chassis, the curious arrangement of rods replicates the white metal support, this engages in a hole in the body near the roof although I think this is to high and will need to be reduced. The cylinders overlap the wheels so I'm going to have to make these removable. I am thinking about fixing these to a brass plate with a screw thread. By drilling a hole in the chassis I can fix these whilst the glue is setting. Future blogs will probably focus on the railmotor, it appeared daily at Blagdon in the 1920's and unlike the 6400 is front line motive power. Dinner is now ready so must go. Will advise on progress with the railmotor in due course.

I've had an interest in model railways, on and off, since I was about 16. As I retired a few years ago (albeit at 62) that's a long time. Model railways are not my only interest, indeed during the summer months I normally don't touch the railway preferring instead to be in the garden, travelling around the country, visiting stately homes and walking. Since I retired my son and I have walked the South Downs Way, the Ridgeway, St. Cuthbert’s Way, part of the Two Moors Way and the Norfolk Coast path. More recently add cruising to that. I don't claim to be an expert modeller but I enjoy what I do and it's a nice way to while away a wet afternoon or a winters' evening. Incidentally, I'm not into technicalities of this blogging lark so please excuse any errors. My interest has long been the GWR, maybe it stemmed from my schooldays when in the last years of SR steam I watched rusty and decrepit N and U classes at Redhill on the Reading line trains and then one day an immaculate Reading Manor appeared, (I think it was either Freshford or Fringford). I can see it now, in lined green on platform 3 with a short train. It was such a contrast to our usual fare. My current layout is Blagdon, a GWR terminus in Somerset that has been modelled before as it is relatively small and therefore takes up less space. Even so without any compression the layout requires an 8ft by 2ft baseboard; branch line stations took up a great deal more room than many imagine. Much as I'd like to colonise the spare bedroom I'm not sure my wife would approve. I do have a thing about modelling an actual station. I've never quite got my head around creating an accurate model of actual locomotives, coaches and wagons and then putting them into a fictitious location. I respect those that do but I enjoy the research that is required and operating the layout with the same timetable and in the same manner as the original. Some years ago I also began modelling in EM gauge which I think is a good compromise between OO and S4 (or P4). Because the number of locomotives and rolling stock required is relatively limited I've taken the opportunity to set the layout at different periods. For example I can operate Blagdon as it was in 1902 using the locomotive used in the first few weeks, the wonderfully eccentric 1384. This was a Peter K kit and once painted by Larry Goddard in fully lined GWR green really shows why railways were at the height of elegance in the late Victorian and Edwardian period. I can also model the station in the 1920's, the 1930's and up to 1950 when the goods service ceased (passenger traffic ceased in 1931). The station environs didn't change much but an additional room was added to the station building a few years after opening. The building therefore lost its' symmetry and I think is a good example of the sort of thing that happens in the real world that a modeller of a fictitious station might overlook. I also have to overlook the fact that the trees in the background only grew over the years, when the line opened the hillside at the back of the station was quite bare. However the trees and the embankment form a good visual stop avoiding the problems of merging the foreground into the backscene. As regards research, this I find very enjoyable and the Oakwood Press book has been very helpful in filling in some of the gaps in my knowledge. There was an article in a very old Model Railway News by Michael Farr that had a plan of the back of the station building, the only clue I could find to the layout of the windows. I also found some colour photos of Wrington in the early 1960's which showed the colour of the stonework facing the platforms. In a black and white photo they could have been any colour (it looks to be red sandstone). I know the station still exists as a private house and I have seen it but felt that I could hardly barge in and ask to take measurements and check the colour of the stonework! Apart from 1384, for operating Blagdon I have a 517 class 0-4-2T, a Metro tank, three 48xx / 58xx, (two in GWR green, one in early BR livery representing 1950) and a Dean Goods in early BR livery (again representing 1950). I do have a few other locomotives acquired many years ago (I had contemplated modelling New Radnor) and also an ex Cambrian 2-4-0T using the old Gem body kit with a Mainly Trains chassis, the chassis it has to be said better detailed than the body. I bought this simply because I like out of the ordinary, non-standard small locomotives. I have my eye on the kit for Lady Margaret! Currently I am trying to get the Nu Cast GWR steam railmotor running. The old white metal power bogie chassis was jettisoned, perhaps a little too hastily, and I'm now working with an Alan Gibson brass chassis with the non-driving wheels sprung. Trying to fix the Nu Cast white metal cylinders to the Gibson chassis is proving complicated and I've also got to fit the complex valve gear. Why does no one currently make a decent kit of a steam railmotor? One visited Blagdon with the midday round trip all through the 1920's and in their day these were as much a part of the GWR branch line scene as the 48xx in later years. Incidentally, I would encourage anyone to see and ride on the steam railmotor at the GWS at Didcot. It truly is one of the most memorable experiences in railway preservation. You need to remember that 30 or so years ago the range of decent locomotives was limited, we had no Bachman then, the RTR examples were generally poor and in any event focussed mainly on express passenger locomotives so if you wanted a small branch engine you had to resort to a white metal kit. Three of the locos have Portescap motors (58xx, Metro and 517) whilst most of the others have the Mashima motor / High Level gearbox combination. Unfortunately due to space considerations I can't use the High Level gearbox in 1384 and consequently it doesn't run quite as well as most of the others but it is still far better than it was (thanks to Peter K supplying a new chassis fret). Most locomotives are compensated. Recently I spent some time looking very carefully at each item of rolling stock and checking for breakages (bits such as buffers do get broken off) and inaccuracies (my knowledge of GWR brake gear for example is better than it was 30 years ago). It’s been very satisfying bringing each item of rolling stock up to the same standard, it’s a fact that our modelling abilities improve over the years but you cannot afford to throw away the earlier examples of your work because they don’t meet the standards of the latest models. I hope the photo gives some idea of what I’ve tried to achieve. I’m aware that I fail a little on the scenery front but I have developed a few mantras as follows: Grass is green, not bright yellow or brown. Old black and white photographs have given the impression that 100 years ago people lived in an age of greys. There was more colour around than people imagine; a bright delivery van for example draws the eye of the viewer. Whilst the public (passenger) side of railways was tidier than today, the areas outside the public gaze were not necessarily cleaner. For example in an environment where horses were everywhere the inevitable by-product would be apparent, mine are moulded from Milliput but the proportions may be the reason why the horses on my layout have watering eyes. If people are interested I’ll continue to update on progress to date. This may mean having to rename the blog as under the Blagdon baseboard is a partially completed model of Westbrook and I’m starting to think I need a change.