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  1. And so to the canopy glazing! Must admit that this has been a bit of a headache. As Geoff Taylor reminded me, anything to do with glazing needs painting first before the glass is fitted. So my first thoughts were to construct a frame of glazing bars to which the clear sheet could be added later, but it would have to be too thick as can be seen in the first pic. I then tried cutting the glazing from 20th Perspex intending to fit the bars over it but again this was unsatisfactory. I have now decided to use the Portrait cutter to produce a self adhesive vinyl overlay for the bars stuck to slaters 10th clear sheet. The vinyl is Dark Grey matt so no painting required. The clear sheet is cut after the vinyl is stuck on. I think it works Ok!
    31 points
  2. A few Settle and Carlsile photos today, from a range of dates. Kirkby Stephen damaged Class 156 15th April 99 C24396.jpg Culgaith 4th April 97 C21739 Langwathby 80080 Carlisle to Kirkby Stephen 22nd Feb 93 C18282.jpg Langwathby A2 60532 Blue Peter special The Waverley Newcastle Leeds Carlisle and back 6th March 93 C18338.jpg Low House Crossing Class 158 Carlisle to Leeds 30th April 08 NDSC_4296.jpg David
    29 points
  3. Golf soon, and it isn't raining, yet. At PN the light must be fading, as it is getting on for 9.30pm. 61603 has come off the Glasgow, and 60002 has backed on. Tim can't wait to get his hands on this one. It won't be leaving yet, so another J6 hauled trip working can pass by on the slow.
    24 points
  4. Brave photographer!
    23 points
  5. Here goes with a couple from me. Not a train (or Pannier) in sight...!
    18 points
  6. 47 407 ‘Aycliffe’ storms out of Catesby tunnel towards Charwelton with the 1O09 Newcastle - Poole service.
    18 points
  7. I've just remembered that there are a few plonks left, so here's another DE view.
    17 points
  8. Tony, It was lovely to see you and Mo yesterday when you came to see Retford. Thank you for kindly lending me some stock and converting it to EM. As I said to you, now I am the owner of Retford, my aim is to complete it. A large amount to work has been done on the layout but a lot still needs to be done, particularly in completing the buildings many of which are just mockups. I admired the layout from the moment I first read about it in MRJ. I was lucky enough to talk to Roy Jackson at an Expo EM exhibition and to my surprise he invited me to visit Retford. On entering the railway shed I was completely captivated by the “train-set” as he called it. It took enormous imagination to visualise a project such as this. He started it not even having anywhere to erect it in full. It even went out on exhibition two or three times which must have been an enormous undertaking. In the marvellous photographs taken by Tony two of the locomotives are mine. The V2 is from a Nucast kit I built and painted during lockdown. It still needs weathering as well as crew and lamps. The A1 “Madge Wildfire” is actually a Hornby “Tornado” converted to EM gauge by changing the bogie and tender wheels but moving the Hornby driving wheels out on their axles to the EM back to back. Other changes have been made including extensive alterations to the tender and new smoke deflectors. Although Roy Jackson was the driving force behind Retford many other people made enormous contributions to the project. I would love them to continue to work on the railway if they feel they can . I appreciate that without Roy it will not be the same but I would like the railway to be finished as a tribute to Roy. Sandra
    17 points
  9. A few quick shots of the new Hornby large prairie this afternoon. I was a bit concerned on unwrapping the parcel as I could hear the dreaded rattle inside. A front buffer had come off in transit but was in the box and duly returned to the hole with a push. Now my thoughts. Very plastic looking ,look at the shine, although the green is better but still miles behind Bachmann. It runs through all my points with no problems, the pony truck is fine on mine although so have had issues. The front steps are splayed like @County of Yorkshire pointed out yesterday. They may correct with light pressure. I had hoped the front boiler step was in the high position for this version but looks too low to me on inspection. Not having much diecast in it's construction means it's a lightweight but it appears elsewhere to have prototypical haulage capacity. Photos on an up service anon.
    16 points
  10. 15 points
  11. Good moaning, just, from a rather warm Charente. A good evening's trainspotting was had last night and our new pool is finally starting to fill up without any apparent leaks so I've time to post some more photos. The Tardis has been reversed I I realised that I'd missed some slides that I took in 1991. First off the ferries of the time soon to have severe competition. This batch were all taken late July/early August 1991. Then we visited the exhibition centre at Cheriton and the 1880's tunnelling machine that had been recued from it's chalky grave by TML. Then the one from, I believe, the 1920's attempt that was entombed in the cliffs above Folkestone. Finally Finally one of the 1980's ones that had bored from Folkestone to Cheriton. I seem to remember that when it's twin was being lifted out it got dropped and the 500 ton machine caused a measurable earthquake in the area. Then to Leeds and a 307 coming in from Doncaster. I seem to remember that West Yorks got some other ex Eastern region units until the 333's came along when the Aire Valley scheme went live but the order for extra 323's had been scuppered by privatisation. Finally a visit to Crew Electric depot and a line up of early series electrics probably due for scrap. More to come. Jamie
    15 points
  12. This was always my favourite picture of Highbury even though very little of the colliery is visible. The composition is perfect and it really captures the drama of No. 88 slogging up the bank with a heavy freight - I even like the added smoke effect which I'm normally a bit ambivalent about. Andy Y took it - the boy takes a good snap - and it did appear in BRM some years ago but it was unfortunately in an issue when the chap in charge of the inkpot forgot to turn the tap off and the pictures were very dark and completely saturated which didnt do them any favours at all. Agree with the comments about the 47 on Charwelton picture above - simply stunning. Jerry
    15 points
  13. 14 points
  14. It's time for some more Duff action! 47146 and 47575 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Joining the fleet this week is a varied pair, Railfreight Distribution 47146 Loughborough Grammar School and former Post Office 47575 City of Hereford. The starting point for both locos is the Bachmann model, both were in the right colour schemes but just a little plasticky and needing their respective body detailing to be updated, along with a simple renumber & renaming. 47146 and 47575 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The areas to look out for on a '47' body is the boiler area at the No.2 end and subtle variations around the ends, headcode panels and jumper cables and so on. Numbers and nameplates come off nicely with Humbrol enamel thinners, before coating the whole body in gloss varnish before the new transfers and plates are applied. I love cutting corners where I can, one bodge is using Humbrol Maskol over the windows to save removing (and the pain of them not refitting in as well!) - just dollop it on and give it a few mins to set before spraying the varnish, and remove later in the project. 47146 and 47575 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr As with the previous projects, nameplates are applied using varnish as the 'glue' - giving hours of setting time and any overspill is hidden once the final layer of matt varnish goes over the top. The final matt varnish layer also hides a multitude of sins - handpainted in-fills soon disappear after a gentle coating! One of the fun things about all the recent loco projects is finally mating up all the cheap spares I've accrued over the years, ending up with a few dummy locos for double heading or top n' tailing trains! 47146 and 47575 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Using spares from places like East Kent Models and some from Bachmann themselves, the innards of 47146 come together, the other chassis heading towards one of the other locos in the project. I also pugged away a good number of Freightliner Class 57s as chassis donors - back around 2008, there was a Bachmann 'Fire Sale' resulting in retailers knocking them out for £39.99 each! 47146 and 47575 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 47575 City of Hereford was a long term desire - it was one of the motley collection of EWS locos that used to help out deputising for the unreliable Virgin Class 47/8 fleet in the late '90s, as well as turning up on all sorts of freight work too. 47146 and 47575 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Having not visited the paintshop since 1990, as the Millennium approached, 47575 was looking rather tatty indeed! The faded livery was covered in numerous chips and the plaques accompanying the City of Hereford nameplates long since disappeared. 47146 and 47575 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr One interesting weathering aspect was the amount of yellow showing through the battered livery - a fantastic hangover from the full wraparound-yellow ends carried during it's BR blue days before its Post Office livery was applied all those years ago. 47146 and 47575 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 47575 was fun to do, the original-style bufferbeam and train heating sockets setting it apart from many of the pure freight 'Duff's tackled recently. 47146 and 47575 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Of course, we can never have too many RfD 47s! 47146 and 47575 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 47146 Loughborough Grammar School is another one that was long crying out to be modelled! The loco had the full complement of underframe tanks, paired with an odd variation of the cutaway bufferbeam, but retaining the existing body fairing! 47146 and 47575 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr And to top that off, oval buffers at the No.2 end - a bit of an oddball! 47146 and 47575 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The loco was in fairly good condition in the late '90s, livery largely intact with only a few paint chips and surface rust spots, and glorious large nameplates still attached! This is another perfect one to double-head on the automotive trains, as well as appearing on MOD trains of the time. 47146 and 47575 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Bringing the story up to date, our 47146 here was an early casualty, laid up in August 1998 and left to rot, later losing its big plates and eventually being transformed into scrap metal by Booths of Rotherham in 2006. 47575 meanwhile would be slightly luckier, soldiering on until 2001 with EWS, later seeing a refresh of it's retro red Post Office colours under ownership of Riviera Trains. However, as nice as it looked, the sound of the gas axe was never far away and the loco met its maker at the same infamous Rotherham yard in 2010. 47146 and 47575 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Another fun pair to create, and some interesting trains await these locos in the future! Cheers, James
    14 points
  15. Some from this evening, shotton to shrewsbury shotton, thought I’d better get some pics of the 150/2 as they will so be replaced by 230 units And climbing away toward hawarden And another dropping in to the high level station And in came my train, 66715 In Wrexham I parked up in the local meadow And admired the flowers And into shrewsbury lots of different types of signals to be seen in one shot (even a lower quadrant in the distance!) and that’s it until Monday night
    13 points
  16. Roy delighted in telling me the tale on my one and only visit to Retford. May I be the one to say that chassis compensation and side control of bogies are actually different things? This loco is my only essay (to date) in bogie side control - it has a 'proper' lateral springing between the bogie frames, acting on the bogie pivot pin exactly as per the full-size thing. It rides like a Rolls-Royce and negotiates curves down to two foot radius with ease. One interesting aspect, being a pacific, is whether to do anything similar for the rear pony truck? This one on this loco just flops around and I think it is quite noticeable when curving through pointwork how much the cab swings out in relation to the tender, particular when in reverse. My take? Fun to do and satisfying when it all works - but I can fully understand when there is a time imperative for a professional builder then, unless the buyer is prepared to pay extra, then not really worth doing.
    13 points
  17. 13 points
  18. Dear All, I have nearly finished the area behind the rail viaduct. Photos are below. View from level with the rail viaduct. View from level with the road viaduct Area Behind the rail viaduct. Still need to add a stairway , finish the far wall and add the track at the bottom of the road viaduct. View through the rail viaduct arches Next I shall do some more paper mache at the end of Penaenmawr to finish the mountain around the corner of the layout from the mountain. Once this has been painted I shall do the track work through to Bangor. Regards, Anthony Ashley
    13 points
  19. For your entertainment tonight, two slightly different angles on a WD going round the bend. too dark, this one.
    12 points
  20. The most recent crane arrival now appears to be assembled. It is the one running left to right intermingled with the others on site!
    12 points
  21. One or two pictures would be worth several thousand words here.
    12 points
  22. I have folded up a couple of the poorly etched W-irons to see how they will sit with the unequal floor height. I needed to reduce one end by the thickness of the lower floor which is made from 60 thou plastkard. So on one of the W-irons I soldered a section of milled brass T section on end before cutting them apart. I then cut off the lower part to leave a shorter height W-iron that matches the other end, if that all makes sense. I have cut out a new inner partition and glue it to the new floor. I need to make new doors before doing all the usual detailing of the body. I still need to find some 12 mm Dia 6 spoke hand wheels either cast or etched if anybody knows a source.
    12 points
  23. All of these without exception are totally brilliant. We all see things slightly differently when we look at photos, but in response to the OP this is the photo (from those submitted thus far) that made me personally do a double take and think someone had tried to slip in a photo of the real life Railway: Keith.
    12 points
  24. And the last one from me... Goodnight from Sheep Dip. Rob
    12 points
  25. WD rolling on passes grubby B1 setting off for Grimsby. and the Colchester-Glasgow arrives headed by Cambridge B2 Framlingham.
    12 points
  26. 11 points
  27. Hi Inspired by the above post I dug out the Worsley Works Freightliner flats I bought in 2006 and ordered a complete new set along with parts to replace the ones I attempted to build back then. I used the second picture down on this post for inspiration for the first five flats. Using the ones I built back in 2006 I experimented with ways to get the correct ride height / buffer height in conjunction with images provided in this thread. In then end I decided to use the 2mm SA ride control bogies as the centre bar is already lower than the sides meaning I didn't need to cut the sides of the NGS bogies. However, there are no suitable 5.1mm diameter N gauge wheels sold by the 2mm SA to fit these bogies so I shortened the axles on the Parkside Dundas wheels. The bogie pivots were turned on a lathe from 2mm A/F Hex bar and then tapped M2 for the screws. I've also added the ISO mounting points to the sides of the flats along with the air cylinder (again made using the lathe) and distribution valve (TPM). As the prototype photo shows the wagons have the stone shields over the bogies so these were fabricated from 0.2mm brass strip soldered to the underside of the wagon. Plasticard was then super glued to the top to bring the strips level with the top of the body. Couplings have been added from the NGS coupler sprue mounted on brass strip soldered to the bogie. I now have another five wagon set to build but first I am going to have a go at building some of the earlier containers including the Manchester Liner one shown in the link. Simon thanks for the inspiration and photos, sorry for the thread hijack. Cheers Paul
    11 points
  28. Many thanks gentlemen, very useful advice. I wanted to try out Lasercut kits and am clearly learning my lessons! Thanks Simon, seeing yours and others' excellent structures was one reason I became interested in lasercut buildings. I had missed your dedicated thread on the topic though. I would have thought the combs became too fragile in 4mm scale, but looking at the Intentio 4mm kits that is evidently not the case. Thanks. I have been admiring the weighbridges in your range for some time, the 7mm GWR ones look superb. Yes with the chamfering the dimensions have changed a little, but I have modified the other components to suit. I'm not using the supplied base etc, as the structure will sit next to an etched Pooley weighbridge in place of this old Smiths card kit (assembled temporarily with Bluetack): Thanks Wolf, I did know of the general Formaldehyde issue but reading up on the dust is not pleasant. I won't do that again. I like to tinker with kits, but this does not seem to be the medium for that sort of thing!
    11 points
  29. Down at Seven Mills this morning, and in some glorious sunshine, the Resident 08, No 08173, trundles past Scottie Dog Class 37, No 37081 Loch Long.
    11 points
  30. This is definitely a first for me. I've never built a 3D-printed kit before and so here goes... The kit is from Corbs, at his railwaymania.net store but this particular version isn't on general sale yet. It's designed to fit on the Hornby Peckett 0-6-0ST chassis. The wheel diamters on these Avonsides differed between individual engines, so the Peckett's 3ft. 7in. dia, wheels are going to be more of a compromise on some prototypes than others. I understand that some were as small as 3ft. 4in., others were 3ft. 6in. and some were even 4ft. 0 1/2in. There may even be others. I don't know what the prototype Avonside wheelbase was but the Peckett was 10ft. There really isn't a lot to it and it's really only a mattter of glueing parts together but the key to making it a good model is going to be the finish as 3D-printing, unless done on the most expensive and up-to-date printers, seems, inevitably, to have print lines. The version that I am building is with flat tank sides and rivets, which will make this task more difficult. Unlike some printed kits that I have seen, the design is more clever and instead of an ill-fitting, and far too thick, cab roof, the roof is already part of the cab and the cab is a separate part that fits on the running plate in much the same way as Hornby do it on their Peckett model. Other features that similar kits don't have are separate buffers. This should not only make it easier to prepare the surface of the buffer beam but will make replacement of the buffer easier in the event of damage. It will also make easier the fitting of alternative buffers. Here are the printed parts. The detail parts on the sprue. The underside of the running plate still has the remains of the support sprues, which will need to be flattened in order to get it to sit properly on the Hornby chassis. A similar situation on the bottom of the tank but I don't expect this to be a problem as it won't be visible once assembled and a tentative scratch of the material has shown it to be quite soft. A cruel close-up of the tank side. I'll crack on and see how it goes...
    10 points
  31. One more recent Retford picture to finish the day. And, what a wonderful day of comments. Many, many thanks to all..................... A rigid Retford V2 waits for the road on a short cement train. Buccaneer John's wonderful houses in West Carr Road are crying out to be completed....................... And, his footbridge in the background (to feature in close-up soon) is magnificent.
    10 points
  32. Missed out on a Bachmann Blue Pullman? Got a spare HST? http://railwayherald.com/uknews/blue-pullman-takes-to-the-rails-in-november
    10 points
  33. going back to the op question and thoughts about the GOG. I used to be a member until last year and since the question has been asked here's the truth. There have been so many arguments on their forum about modernising over the past few years its sickening. Not because of the reforming people who want to do something, but because of the complete lack of understanding of the need for modernisation and openness by the management and its out of date supporters who seem in complete denial and can not let go of old ways and their annual shindig at Guildex. The whole management thing is jobs for the boys. I just could not carry on being a member of a club that is so introspective and arrogant. It actually stopped me from making models rather than helped me and i got quite depressed. This thread is the first time I've talked about it publicly. Modelling should be fun, like i see on here. The GOG is not fun. I'll stick with MIOG who are relaxed normal guys.
    10 points
  34. Thanks Jonathan, it does indeed look a lot better this morning, now it's dry and I've let Henry get at it... Thanks for looking, Al.
    10 points
  35. 10 points
  36. Great scenic break! https://www.railpictures.net/photo/743678/
    10 points
  37. Good evening Chas, As an example, a 4-6-0 locomotive running without bogie side control, is effectively a long nosed 0-6-0 pushing a wagon. Depending on their position on the curve, the wagon, lets call it a bogie, and the 0-6-0 chassis are trying to go in different directions. What they are trying to do is jack knife, imagine pushing an un powered chassis along a table top with a unrestrained bogie flopping around up front. What will the bogie be trying to do? The addition of side control prevents the bogie wandering about like an errant child, by returning it to the centreline of the locomotive. The chassis and bogie are now connected, in effect the two are now articulated. Thus the sideplay required to negotiate a curve is transmitted through the length of the locomotives wheelbase. As a result masses of swing is no longer required at the bogie pivot. The errant child is now holding hands with a good parent. Were the child will go, the parent will now follow. The bogie is now guiding the chassis around the curve, so that the two are not fighting to go in different directions. Now consider the traditional long nosed 0-6-0 pushing a bogie. The long nose on the chassis is the first problem, because it is a bad parent, it wants to swing out and hit things. Its child, the bogie is no better, it wants to hit things too, ie the cylinders on the chassis. You can perhaps now see that the unrestrained swing of the two results in a crunch. The errant behaviour of the bogie is tolerated by the modeler, who instead of restraining the bogie, seeks to move objects out of the way that it might hit. For example, chopping bits of the cylinders. The irony is that by removing items that the bogie might hit, the modeler is actually increasing the swing and the tendency to jackknife. The reality is, that there is enough side play in the chassis and in the bogie combined, that the locomotive doesn't even need all side play given to an unrestrained bogie, to hit the cylinders. Bogie side control insures that the chassis and bogie work together. An unrestrained bogie will take all the play that you will give it, whether it needs it or not. This is the point, a bogie with side control uses only the swing that is required to get the locomotive around the curve, This is because it is acting in consort with the side play in the chassis.
    10 points
  38. Now, this is an interesting one....... Layout ( Bleat Wharf) and photo by Norman Lockhart. Loco courtesy of Mon Capitaine Kernow Trousers. Weathering by Tom Foster.
    10 points
  39. A selection of RTR wagons by Hornby and Bachmann.
    10 points
  40. Now stop it, the pair of you!! You're ruining someone else's perfectly good Rant, y'know!!
    9 points
  41. It was a bit of a Novelty. Oh sorry that was 86235. Jason
    9 points
  42. Hornby stopped using Sanda Kan way back in 2008-2012. Which was the main reason why they went through quite a bad patch in terms of delays and deliveries as they had to look for new factories in China.
    9 points
  43. That's 2 things I've won today... https://www.world-of-railways.co.uk/news/see-it-make-it-challenge-round-five-winner
    9 points
  44. I use to be totally unable to saw in a straight line or follow any sort of curve with the blades I used to buy from model railway show trade stands. Once I got the Swiss blades, I can cut a 6" line dead straight and only touch it with a file to clean it up. I attach a photo showing the packet of blades, the OLFA cutter and my most useful sawbench. Mine was made by the late Malcolm Crawley but any metal or even wooden bench, clamped well to a workbench, makes sawing so much easier. I also attach a couple of examples of complex shapes sawn out using this table and blades.
    9 points
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