JohnBS

Hi folks, The latest arrival on my workbench is a recent purchase of a 56XX 0-6-2T by Sonic (no, not the Hedgehog one). The prototype is an ungainly thing, looks like the boiler has been jacked up on blocks and someone has nicked the outside cylinders and a front pony truck. Well, that’s what happens if you leave it parked in the wrong street! At least it’s not as ugly as a "Kruger". All that I’ve done to it is fit some Microtrain couplers and carried out a fairly serious bit of weathering - well, who has seen a photo of a clean 56XX, other than a works grey one. The loco has a split frame chassis, all wheel pick-up (including the lightly sprung pony truck), no traction tyres and apparently has a coreless motor. The plastic superstructure is accurate with excellent details and beautifully painted. It weighs a reasonable 47g (about the same as a pannier) and runs very well. I haven’t yet found out how many wagons it will pull - my guess is 30+ on level track which will be fine for Totnes. Best wishes, John

Hi folks, The latest arrival on my workbench is a recent purchase of a 56XX 0-6-2T by Sonic (no, not the Hedgehog one). The prototype is an ungainly thing, looks like the boiler has been jacked up on blocks and someone has nicked the outside cylinders and a front pony truck. Well, that’s what happens if you leave it parked in the wrong street! At least it’s not as ugly as a "Kruger". All that I’ve done to it is fit some Microtrain couplers and carried out a fairly serious bit of weathering - well, who has seen a photo of a clean 56XX, other than a works grey one. The loco has a split frame chassis, all wheel pick-up (including the lightly sprung pony truck), no traction tyres and apparently has a coreless motor. The plastic superstructure is accurate with excellent details and beautifully painted. It weighs a reasonable 47g (about the same as a pannier) and runs very well. I haven’t yet found out how many wagons it will pull - my guess is 30+ on level track which will be fine for Totnes. Best wishes, John

Hi everyone, A rare thing these days - Pictures at an Exhibition - (no, not Mussorgsky's). Below a few photos of Ashburton at the WAMRC Frome show today. The show was at the Cheese and Grain venue in Frome and, despite the weather on Saturday, was well attended. I dare say that people were desperate to find something to do! John cleaning tracks before the show. Jerry and John with the "Best in Show" trophy. So nice to get out and about again. John BS and Jerry Clifford

All ready for Ashburton's first public appearance in years, this weekend in Frome. I'm looking forward to it. John

Hi everyone, Thank you Bécasse for your advice. I have made up a "lampshade"from 2mm MDF, sprayed it matt black and fitted it to the lamp housing with the ubiquitous duct tape. The shade cuts off all the transverse direct light shallower than 45 degrees so that should avoid too much spill. i am looking forward to seeing it in operation. John

Hi everyone, Here is the final stage of construction. The light pole is about 3m high - now you can see why I had to photograph the structure outside! The thinking behind the lighting scheme was to set a single intense light source as high above the layout as reasonably possible to give an approximation of summer sunlight. I used a LED street light unit, obtained via the internet. It has an aluminium weatherproof case, 50 individual LEDs and gives out a lot of lumens. I can’t find a record of purchase so I am unsure of the model and specification (made in China of course). The pole is from steel tube wardrobe rail. The lower section, fixed to the wooden base, is 25mm dia and 1.2m high. The upper sections are from 19.5mm dia and 1.8m high, with a cut-down 19.5mm dia tube ladder hook to give the offset for the lamp. I needed a side entry to the lamp itself so drilled a 20mm hole in the aluminium lamp base and clamped the tube with a U-bolt. The cable was then fed through the whole upper structure from a hole in the side of the lowest tube, leaving about 200mm to insert into the 25mm base tube. I took up the discrepancies in diameters by using a 22mm dia polypropylene overflow pipe as a sleeve, and with judicious layers of duct tape. For transport, the main pole is separated into two pieces with the lamp and offset, all joined with the sleeve of overflow pipe, reinforced with pipe clamps. The one problem I had was the lamp colour temperature - very harsh, probably 5000K plus - so I fitted a stage light filter gel to warm the appearance. This was simply cut to size and stuck on with duct tape. I hope that this is of some interest. John

Perhaps slightly off-message but I have managed to turn a Peco code 55 large radius turnout into a mimic of a Peco curved turnout by cutting through webs between alternate sleepers. Obviously more subtle changes are possible. John

Hi, To continue . . . The transverse beams at the front and back are simply hooked over the end frames, using the angle brackets, located by small timber squares - see below. The Velcro strips were fixed at key locations with contact glue, reinforced with staples where necessary. Then the naked legs were covered with a wrap-around fabric skirt with matching Velcro pads stitched to the top edges. I also fixed Velcro strips to the bracing pieces and matching pads to the inside of the end frames so that the bracing pieces didn’t flop around when the unit was disassembled (see first photo). Final details to follow. John

Hi, So on to construction. I began by making up the two R-shaped end frames - legs L-shaped in cross section with rectangular crops pieces, all joints pinned and glued. I decided that the glue joints would impart sufficient rigidity to avoid the need for triangulated bracing. The front and back transverse beams were cut to length and the angle plates/brackets were fixed at each end to clip over the tops of the end frames. Then the bracing pieces were cut and fixed to the lower end frame cross pieces with the back-flap hinges. These were aligned to be behind the front and back transverse beams (see photo of "flat pack" parts below.) The white pole is the mounting tube for the lighting fitting and the white board to the right is the worktop shelf that fits behind the layout. Photos were taken outside for reasons that will become apparent. Then it was a matter of assembling the bits. Luckily, no tools were necessary. This is how the top ends of the braces are fixed - the bottom ends being hinged. More to follow, John

Hi, In preparation for the January show, I decided to make a new support structure for Ashburton. The existing structure is in the form of a fold-out storage box - great for keeping all the cables, lighting and bits and-pieces in but pretty heavy (see photo below). Besides, it doubles up as the support for Totnes (with some extra panels) and Totnes has been locked down in Wells for the last eighteen months. I wanted the new structure to be strong and rigid but as light as practicable. I came up with a design which comprised two R-shaped end frames, spaced with a pair of shallow beams and braced with hinged and pinned triangulation pieces (see back of envelope sketch below). The layout and working surface then merely rests on top. I then worked it up in more detail in CAD and produced a (boring) materials list: 4 No 2.4m 22x44 planed softwood 2 No 2.4m 22x22 planed softwood 4 No 44x8dia wooden dowels 4 No 40x40 backflap hinges 4 No 50x50x20 wide angle plates 4 No small hooks and eyes 4 No white rubber feet Wood-screws, 40mm pin nails, PVA glue 2.5mx1.2m drape Velcro tape And so to work - more to follow. John

Hi, folks, Just to let you know that Ashburton is due to appear at the WAMRC show in Frome on the 8th and 9th January 2022 - see poster. Best wishes, John

John, Lovely work. My water tank at Totnes was, IIRC, constructed of that new-fangled material, reinforced concrete, during the 1930s. I made mine out of mount board with thin card overlays, sanded and painted, and with etched brass and wire details - gauge, ladder and guard rails. I don’t think that GWR painted the concrete. Attached is a photo.

John, Lovely work. Tavistock Goods Shed looks very similar (but not identical) to that at Totnes - so much for GWR standardisation. (Horizontal boarding, different fenestration, office with double-pitch roof.) Best wishes John

Thanks Ray. Both Ashburton and Totnes are available for exhibition at venues not too far from Somerset but, in these difficult times, nothing has been arranged. Here’s hoping! John

Jerry, I look forward to it - see you soon. John