Brassey

It's frightening how long it's been since an update. After I said I was using a Mainly Trains chassis for this project, Mainly Trains promptly announced that they were no longer going to be trading. I thought using the chassis for a vehicle that might not see much use might be indulgent so I made other plans for it. But I also sourced alternatives from Haye Developments as standby. Mainly Trains then continued to trade and made their chassis available again so I acquired a few. In the meantime, I had Araldited the Cleminson underframe to a Ratio chassis: Although the marshalling of trains on my layout will feature many 6 wheelers, I discovered via the working timetable that the Tenbury & Bewdley branch line train would have passed through the station on its way to working the branch all day and that would have featured 4 wheelers. That gave me an excuse to use all the Ratio GWR 4 wheel carriages I'd been stockpiling over the years married to the above mentioned chassis. So I have not been totally idle. Apart from getting on with the layout, I have 2 x 4 wheel chassis in hand; one Mainly Trains the other Haye. Here is a shot by way of comparison, the Haye one is in the foreground. Astute readers will note that I have not added the brake linkages. For the 6 wheelers with Cleminson workings I think they would get in the way so I will have to leave them out. To be consistent I have left them off the 4 wheelers too. Also the lower footboards are missing. I am constructing IKB 6 wheel chassis with the Brassmasters cleminson under frame and managed to knock both the lower footboards off these (see below). I find the method of fixing the footboards in these IKB chassis very fiddly so I will have to work out an alternative method for fixing. I've left them off the 4 wheelers till I have cracked the solution and to prevent damage via handling: Herewith a shot of an IKB 19' 6 wheel chassis under construction amended to have the Cleminson baseplate soldered in place.

Alan Gibson does the safety valve as well as the dome

Some of the 247 range is duplicated in Stevensons LNWR range but not all most notably the 12 wheel dining car (thankfully I have one). There was talk of the range moving to Stevensons but I understand the original owners want far too much for the rights which the previous owner of 247 never acquired.

Are you going to make this etch generally available?

If anyone is wondering about the pasting up of the o/s map to produce the layout, Templot conveniently produces and outputs A4 sheets of the track plan and any background images that have been added as explained earlier on in the thread. The individual sheets are numbered and include trim marks that allow you to line them all up next to each other - very clever. I just stuck them down onto large sheets of ply to produce templates for the baseboards to cut them to shape etc. As can be seen, after almost 3 years and a certain amount of abuse such as being thrown into the loft, some of the A4 sheets stuck on the templates are lifting and looking worse for wear but I trust the ones now stuck under the track work will hold! I just used slightly diluted PVA to stick these down and so far, so good. Now I need to build more stock to fully test the track work before I am confident enough to ballast it having added any cosmetic chairs required beforehand. There are also a couple of point blades still to be secured but the layout does run in both directions. The layout is non DCC as, according to the 1912 timetable, only one train was ever passed through the station at one time so it will not take too much to control. Only 4 local goods stopped each day: one for each company in each direction. So not a great amount of shunting either but my aim is to watch the fascinating mix of train formations go by.

The Methfix is supposed to give a cleaner end result. I have no LNWR sadly but plenty of GWR so I will give those a go to compare. The HMRS have continued the GWR in methix too.

A brief update. The third and final scenic board has long had the track laid and wired. Trains can now run successfully from each end of the layout though I have not fully finished the fiddleyard cassette systems. Appended is an image of this board with a template overlaid which has a scale enlargement of the o/s map stuck on it. This shows the location of the station building in relation to the track plan and the road over bridge. A friendly member on here who lives in the locality has kindly made contact with the current owner of the station building and taking some measurements. These, along with pictures I have collected will help in the accurate construction of the building. Some of the earlier photos confirm how close the siding actually was to the rear of the building.

I don't know if HMRS ever did they LNWR in Methfix but they only do them in Pressfix now. Peter

Any progress to report as I have also recently acquired a Mallard Duke kit? It might be me but, should the tender brakes not be behind the wheels rather than in front?

I have a couple of these tenders to build too. I got mine from the Broad Gauge Society as they go with their whitemetal BG Rover kit but sold separately; they also sell the springs separately too which are nice lost wax castings. I am building mine in P4 as converted to standard gauge of course. Regards Peter

I'm minded that the interior of LNWR cabs was indian red even in LMS days but I could be wrong

If you file the end stanchions flush on the ballast wagon it makes a standard D3 - 2 planker with fall doors. I don't have much call for an LNWR ballast train as on my layout the permanent way was in the hands of the GWR so all my ratio 2 plankers, of which there are 2 in each of these kits, are getting this treatment.

I recently acquired a Gaugemaster 100m, as a backup, which also has a lot of hum compared with my H&M Executive. Both can power my Gaugemaster walkabout through their 16v outputs which is ideal for my needs. Peter

The silence from the new owner of the Martin Finney 4mm range speaks volumes. It also does not say much for the new owners marketing acumen not to strike when the iron is hot; a lot of their potential target audience will be readers of this forum and are awaiting news. The lack of communication smacks of other ranges that have changed hands and then disappeared. I do hope this range has not gone that way.

The Easter break saw the transition board track laid, wired and completed and inserted into the layout. My tests thus far show that a loco and a few wagons can negotiate this twisty piece of P4 track but I have yet to build a full length train to travel over it; so we will see. I have also added the start of a scenic break on entry into the fiddleyard and cut the arch to allow the trains to leave and enter. This will be another road over bridge which was not on the prototype but I can't come up with a better scenic break. Coincidently, the new track aligns precisely with the cassette system I am using in the fiddleyard. This was unintentional as the fiddleyard was only built as a mock up but the 6mm MDF top allows the 12mm MDF cassettes L angle aluminium to line up with the top of the rails on the scenic section. So another headache avoided. Next step is to complete this fiddleyard and its wiring before moving back to the third and final end board and its fiddleyard that includes most of the pointwork on the layout. Peter

That's some loco build list; paticularly in 7mm! I have a similar list but in 4mm for the LNWR/GWR joint line Summer 1912. Looking forward to seeing progress. Good luck. Peter

I too am building 2322 with the B4 belpaire. There were many pre 1914 Belpaire Dean Goods with the wider footplate. I guess it depends on whether you can source a photograph and the numberplates as to which you want to build. The RCTS volume lists the boiler change dates. I think 2322 got the B4 in 1901 but some were still being outshopped with the roundtop S4 boilers in 1912. I have one of these to build too. I am using the parts mainly from a Finney kit to make both versions. Peter

Next stage, similar to the build on the scenic boards, I mounted the plan onto an appropriate piece of 6mm ply. This was to make a template for the roadbed but also I plan to use the templates as the actual roadbed though I scrapped the ones I made for the scenic sections. I did not have any of the birch ply left that I used for the main baseboards so I used a scrap piece of 6mm marine ply for the top of this transitional board. It was not worth buying another sheet just for such a small board. I may live to regret it though as this 6mm ply is not as thick as the birch 6mm ply (5.5mm v 6.5mm approx.) so I am going to have to make adjustments to get matching rail heights at the baseboard joints. This board was curved to shape using my jig saw. I also cut out the two track templates with the jig saw and these can be seen placed in position. Under this board I am going to add cross-members to hold the trackbed in place better, particularly as I have used some inferior ply in the sandwich. On top will be added cork floor tile which will also have to be pre-cut to shape. Setting the jig saw at an angle should help to achieve a reasonable ballast shoulder The fiddleyard as such is seen attached at the other end of the new board. Again I will have to take care to get the rail heights correct. This currently has an MDF surface and I plan to use a cassette system; I guess this sould be sufficient for the purpose rather than ply. My dilemma now is, should the new tansitional board be part of the scenic layout or is it part of the fiddle yard? I could do with the extra length to fit in a signal particularly as I am going to have to devise some form of scenic break at this point, probably another road bridge, so the signal would need to be before that in order to be seen. Peter

Readers may have observed that the last picture of the baseboard end finishes on a curve and cant which is not the ideal way to enter or leave a fiddle yard. I had not really concentrated much on this end of the layout as the opposite end features the station building and a road over bridge which makes a natural scenic break. Under the bridge I had allowed for a straight, flat roadbed. Anyway, at the other end I need to add a transition piece to remove the curve and cant before the "minimal" fiddle yard. So it was back into Templot to add an "easement to straight" as I wanted a smooth transition from the existing transition curve (which might help prevent derailments in P4 too!). Herewith an image of the Templot plan which is not the most exciting piece of track ever drawn but shows what is required. Templot automatically created the additional piece in one panel length (294mm) which conveniently is about the the amount of room I have to play with at that end of the layout. The track is to LNWR spec.

Well not too much progress to report a year on. The track is laid on 2 of the 3 scenic boards with the 3rd started. A change in location though has required a rethink on the fiddle yards so I am occupied with that at the moment. Here is a shot from one end; point blades etc. still to be added when this shot was taken. Peter

Not sure whose make the GB4 gearbox is but some with grub screws recommend filing a flat on the axle where the grub screw engages. Otherwise the screw can throw the gear off centre when fully tightened resulting in too tight a mesh in places. Peter

Gordon, I've laid half my track with the chair keys pointing the wrong way - I know it's there but who else will notice so I've left it. Peter

Great photos all. It would be nice to see some much earlier examples from pre-grouping days

Both look very well David. Sorry that your flanges have taken a bashing again on the LNWRS Forum - guess it was I who started that one. Look forward to a lined version sometime soon. Cheers Peter

Hi David My kit is Brassmasters etched brass and I already have the wheels (Sharman's), I just wanted to make sure that I had not missed something with the flanges as all my drivers have them on. I have a set of wheels for my LRM C Class from Alan Gibson including a pair in a flangless version all in the correct H spoke profile. For me the C class 0-8-0 will be ahead of the Experiment though I have to make sure both will run round my curves; not sure which will be the most troublesome. In the meantime I might have a go at an LRM underframe kit inspired by your thread. i have a 32' 6 wheel PO vehicle to build. Peter