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Here's another contribution to the RMweb "Horse Drawn Weekly" as Dave calls it. My efforts don't even get close to his superb models, but a horse is a horse as they say in Farthing. Today's subject is a wagon from Ratkin & Son, makers of finest jams and marmalades (or so they claim). The build was inspired by scenes such as this one, showing the GWR sidings at Henley and Sons cyder works (sic) in Newton Abbot, October 1908. Source: Getty Images. Embedding permitted. The wagon is a straightforward build of a Dart Castings kit. As usual I modified the parts lightly to allow the front axle to rotate freely, which adds a bit of flexibility when positioning the wagon. I don't know whether trade/industry wagons followed the local styles of farm wagons. If so I'm in trouble, as my model isn't a Wiltshire type, where Farthing is located. An excuse could be that it was acquired secondhand from elsewhere, or built to the standard design of a large manufacturer. The example above was built by the Gloucester Wagon & Carriage works (who also made horse drawn vehicles). The style of the wagon didn't allow for lettering directly on the sides, so I made a sign. Whilst browsing a discussion of marmalade on CK's Bethesda Sidings thread, I realized that I had used the Danish spelling. It's the little details that reveal who we are, as Poirot would have said! Anyway, a new sign was made, and I took the opportunity to modify the name. If you're wondering about the point of the name, there's a clue in this photo. The rear flap was detailed with interior bracing and chain from Cambrian models. An Andrew Stadden figure was added, and some of those nice bulky sacks from Dart Castings. The horse is also from Dart Castings. I thought I'd have a lighthearted go at a nosebag, made from ordinary printing paper, rolled and glued. Getting a decent fit and fold was surprisingly tricky. As this delightful photo shows, I really ought to add a strap to hold it in place. Source: Wikipedia. Embedding permitted. Wagon done. It is manned by D. Woods, formerly of the GWR and His Majesty's Prisons, now happily employed at Ratkin & Son. So here we are in one of the mileage sidings at Farthing Old Yard. Obviously there is work going on - but, er, what exactly? Ah, an unloading procedure of sorts. The work seems to be all done. The loco crew must be very impatient, as they are already removing the goods wagon. Quite unusual. The siding has been cleared and we get a better view. A delivery of low grade oranges has been received, soon to be recycled as Ratkin's Finest Quality Marmalade.

I notice that I have not written anything here since June and, recently, Mikkel wrote in his blog : "I hope we get to see some more of your BG work soon?" so, here goes: The heat wave has made my work-room very uncomfortable, so I decided to do a few small jobs on carriages. In my previous entry, I commented unfavourably on the perspex undergear parts in the Broad Gauge Society kit for a luggage van : "I’m not sure why the designers chose this material and method of construction but I may make some frames of my own out of either polystyrene or brass strip." I decided to make my own frames. My first step was to scan the BGS frame and then trace over the outlines using Autosketch. I then transferred the drawing, as a DXF file, to my Silhouette cutter and made a new set of frames in polystyrene. All the bolt holes were marked as small circles and I was pleased to see that the cutter reproduced these successfully. My original plan had been to laminate 3 layers on each side of the vehicle but the construction still felt too flimsy, so I turned to brass sheet. I first cut out a rectangle from the sheet, the same length as the frames and twice the overall depth The outline of the frame, including the axle guards, was very easy to cut out by means of jewellers' snips, using one of the polystyrene frames as a template. The square openings in the axle guards, however, were more of a challenge, which I met by drilling (circular) holes with a 3mm drill, sufficient to include the diagonal of the cut-outs. I then glued a polystyrene frame as an overlay on the brass support, in which the drilled holes allowed daylight to show through the square apertures in the overlay. I then folded the brass strips longitudinally to form L-shaped members that I could glue to the floor of the van. Further openings were cut out, using snips, for the wheel apertures in the floor of the van. All the bolt detail on the overlays shows up well and, in most places, a little glue seeped through to form reasonably realistic 'bolt heads' - this was an unexpected bonus. I think the end result is quite pleasing and the oblique lighting that I used for the photograph brings out the very nice detail in the outside frames of the BGS kit. The frames are not yet fixed to the van floor, which I hope will correct the slight curvature that is visible on the photo. Springs and other underframe details are still to be added. I shall use the same method of frame construction for the other carriages in my mail train, for which I have already printed the sides as described in an earlier post. My 'Waverley' locomotive is now in primer but a lot of details - handrails, backplate, etc. - still need to be added. Once the weather cools down a little, I hope to be able to address these time-consuming tasks Mike

The areas around the axle boxes are to be portrayed as oily and affected by accumulated gunge. The beginnings of this process incorporate a layer of Railmatch Weathered Black. This is applied thinly and from fairly close up, to control the area covered. Overspray onto the running plate is deliberately not avoided. In this photograph you should be able to see the result of applying the small amount of engine oil to the base of the bodyside filters.

Holiday over and back to work. The airbrush has been loaded with a small quantity of AK Interactive Engine Oil in order to replicate the oily residue at the bottom of the filters. I have masked off the underframe while doing the filter area, just a piece of card laid against the running plate. Only a very small area has been thus affected on this particular locomotive.

In the TV series, the models used were made to the scale of 1:32 or Gauge 1 using a series of Marklin parts and perspex sheets and tubing. Recently I've seen fans of the show tackle at making replicas of these models using the same parts that were used, some going as far as to fitting a working eye mechanism and smoke. It's quite impressive. But I've also seen fans and also a few modellers making their own Thomas by means of a simple conversion of a simple toy. The die cast company ERTL once made an RC Thomas which was a larger version of their pull back and go toy. Two versions of this toy were made, the second being used as a money box. But the boy it's self is a suitable size of gauge 1 and this is where some modellers use it for their advantage. Some years ago I came across modeller Ronald Pointer's model of Thomas which was made using an ERTL body as it's basis. He simply made an RC chassis for it to run on as well as adding a few extra items such as steps and a chimney cap and that was that. You can find photos of that model via the link here: http://www.wisbechstandard.co.uk/news/gallery-hundreds-celebrate-100th-birthday-of-thomas-the-tank-engine-author-1-919838 Having a g-scale garden railway of my own, I thought it would be fun to have a gauge 1 Thomas to run on it. So using Ronald's model as a reference, I set to work on gathering up the items to make it. The first thing to get was an ERTL Thomas. Luckily for me I managed to obtain one off eBay for £1 - what a bargain. I next then had to see about what chassis I was going to fit it with. The best one i could find which also had the correct wheel spacing was the PIKO motor blocks which can be available to buy from g-bits.co.uk Finally are the buffers and couplings. These have been ordered from Walsall Model Industries so once they arrive I can fit them on. In the mean time I can see about getting the motor block to fit onto Thomas' body. The body comes away by two screws and the footplate the same. Now I had to cut a small amount away from the middle of the footplate to allow the top part of the motor block to fit in snuggly. This also gives me enough room as well to store the LGB MTS decoder as well. Now lets see how Thomas looks with his body now back on. So far so good. There are a few gaps that can be filled with some postcard which will also give the motor block extra support. I will also see about making up some steps as well to add a bit of extra detail to the model. Finally I had these side rods made for me by a friend in the USA. They slot into these plugs which are made to fit into the holes in the wheels. Just need to get some E clips to secure them on and that should do it. So for now this is how Thomas currently looks. As soon as the buffers and couplings arrive, I can make a start on fitting them on and start repainting the foot plate as well as repainting the motor block. Part will cover all of that.

Some photos from our trip to Minehead today The venue is an indoor skateboard park - note the rampy things against the wall. The nextdoor neighbours seem to to be even more into their hydraulics than we are. They had a layout to put them on too (Seven Ash) The Gravetts were there too. Very nice! There was a 305mm layout on the doorstep too. They do seem to have some implausible stuff though. Maybe this was the silly last half hour? And a Weatherill wheel loader too - not the right kind for my shunting tractor but the right manufacturer Thanks to Dave and his team for an enjoyable show and for the Belgian buns. Yum! ... and thanks to Jim Allwood for being guest op this afternoon.