thegreenhowards

I suppose, looking on the bright side, at least there’s something which isn’t going up in price!

Hi John, Thanks for your comments. I’ll fit the door handles shortly - I forgot that bit until after I’d taken the photos! There are also some rails on the ends to fit. I don’t normally bother with compensation, but as it was designed into the kit it was easier to fit than not. I’ll probably try it as is and try to rectify it if I have problems with derailments. Andy

It has rained this morning, so after a quick sail with my daughter I retreated inside and cracked on with the kit. It’s now just about complete except for the roof and a lot of cleaning up and painting. Quite a pretty vehicle, I hope you’ll agree. Jonathan’s useful links allowed me to sort out the underframe and I got the spring hangers in by removing the compensated W iron and a bit of bending at the other end. The problem I now have is the the compensation doesn’t work as the spring hanger is wedged against the buffers. I think I may have to cut off the end of the spring hangers but any other ideas would be welcome. The sun’s back out now, so I’m off for some more sailing. Andy

That’s a good question John, As far as I can see the kit only has one lever and D&S kits are normally pretty accurate. Also, I think Jonathan’s photos show no brake lever on one side, so that suggests to me that it’s OK. I await higher authority to put me right! Andy

Jonathan to the rescue again! Many thanks. I was cursing myself about not looking up some reference material before I came away. But Steve Banks’ site is very helpful. Sadly the prototype photos don’t show enough underframe detail, but his model photos are very good. They seem to show the axle boxes the other way up from mine. I know one should ‘never base a model on a model’…but this is Steve Banks and I don’t have any easy alternatives, so I’ll go with his take on it. In the meantime, I started work on the body. Photos in a couple of days - family duties permitting! Andy

I’m on family holiday at the moment but that doesn’t mean all modelling has to stop…I’ve been doing an hour every day during siesta time. However, my workbench has got smaller and neater and with a better view! I brought a small selection of tools with me - soldering iron, snips, files, small drills etc. - just enough to build a D&S etched kit for a 7mm GC milk van (DS73). I’ve more or less finished the chassis. However, the instructions on the brake rigging and white metal bits range between less than clear and non existent, so if anyone can spot any errors please point them out. In particular: 1. the springs shown below are the last thing it mentions to attach but I cant fit them behind the foot boards. Any suggestions on how to fit them? 2. The other bit of white metal with the springs is not mentioned. I imagine the spring mounts onto this and then the whole assembly fits behind the solebar. Any confirmation or alternative suggestions appreciated. 3. I’m not sure which way the axle box goes on. Have I got them upside down? (They’re only resting in place!) Thanks Andy

Thanks for adding that @harris0169. I ought to go back and reinstate some of the lost photos, but I’m afraid life is too short! It actually changed slightly in the good yard for the final iteration. So here is the final track plan as laid. Now that we’ve had a couple of running sessions, I feel confident that we’ve got a good plan, both for operator interest and for keeping trains running when we exhibit it.

Here are a couple of photos of my latest weathering job - 3 x 7mm Dapol Turbots. One was pre weathered rather crudely but had the doors distressed quite effectively. So I’ve toned that down a bit but left it as the dirtiest of the three. The others are relatively clean befitting fairly new vehicles in the early ‘80s. One has some loose 4mm Legacy steam era shed ballast. I think this looks convincing as 1980s 7mm spent ballast but I’d welcome other people’s views. Andy

I did look at that. But the only ones I can find in 7mm are by Aquitrain and they only do the more common coach types. I might use one of their sides to go over the horrible jumble of parts I’d have left for the other coach after the conversion!

I’d be interested in people’s experiences of painting blue grey. I’ve always found maroon easy and blood &custard harder but possible with use of the lining decals to cover the join. But blue grey looks very hard with the curves round the grey at the ends and ultra thin lining. I’m minded to have a go at cutting up a couple of Lima or Darstead mk1s to make a blue grey BFK, but the painting is putting me off. Andy

All this talk about Turbots has encouraged me to weather mine. One of mine was weathered when I bought it. Whoever did it had made a nice job of distressing the doors but the rust was a bit unsubtle. So I removed some of the rust and toned the rest down under a thin streaked coat of roof dirt. The other two I’m leaving lightly weathered as they would have been fairly new in the early to mid 1980s. The underframe on all three was treated the same with my standard mix of precision frame dirt, Humbrol Matt black and Humbrol 27004 metalcote. I used precision weathered wood on the interior floor. I’d be grateful for any constructive criticism. In the nearest wagon on the second photo, I’ve added some Legacy steam era 4mm shed ballast (loose) as a trial. Could this work as spent ballast? PS Sorry about the gardening glove. They’re such free running wagons that it was needed to stop them running away!

More progress at the club tonight. We glued the platforms down with just one section lifting on each platform at the baseboard joint. Rob has case several more resin retaining wall sections and we got them all painted in yellow filler primer which doubles up as base yellow brick colour. It’s starting to look like a station! Next week we will hopefully fill in the ballast along the platform edges.

Yes, I like the racehorses and they were the only ones named from new (I think?). I always think a Deltic looks strange without a name, so that’s a good reason to keep her as Pinza. Plus Accurascale provide nice etched nameplates to fit and it would be a shame to waste them. Andy

Hi Gilbert, I’ve now got mine and I’m very impressed. The loco is very nicely executed and I love the sound although there is a slight rattle as times. The packaging is comprehensive and very professional. Although the large box is a bit bulky for taking it to the club, so I may use a standard loco box for that. Despite the cushioning, mine had lost one of the bogie chains (a detail I don’t remember seeing before) which is slightly frustrating, but a smidge of superglue sorted that out. Here is a link to a video of it running on Gresley Jn. Regards Andy

Gresley Jn hasn’t seen much use recently as I’ve been concentrating on my garden O gauge during the warmer months. However, last week the postman brought a nice package in the shape of an Accurascale Deltic ordered over three years ago (at Ally Pally pre Covid). First impressions were very good. The packaging is impressive, if bulky, and the detail on the loco is a cut above other RTR versions. I had one bogie chain loose which had to be glued back but otherwise it was in immaculate condition. Having run it in on the rolling road, I gave it a run on the up Tees Tyne Pullman this morning. They have captured the Deltic drone well and I think it sounds magnificent under power. There does seem to be a bit of a rattle as it slows down (evident on the video) which I think may be the speaker cone rattling against something. I will have to investigate. He is the video so you can appreciate the sound. I will now add all the extra detail, investigate the speaker and need to decide which train to allocate it to permanently as it’s prodigious pulling power seems wasted on an 8 coach Pullman! More photos in due course. Andy

I’d echo the other responses on here that they work very effectively on rakes of 10-12 or more RTR coaches. However the big proviso is that they have to be set up carefully for the layout that they are going to run on. Tony may repeat stories of mine playing up chronically when I brought some of my rakes to photograph on LB. This was caused by turning coaches round inadvertently and thus changing the gaps between them. I find that I can use the short couplings provided only one corridor connection is used between coaches. But if two corridor connectors are together then this can force the coaches further apart on corners and cause the couplings to separate. Obviously this depends on the radius of the curves - mine are minimum 3ft radius apart from a couple of Peco curved points on which the inner radius is 30”. So, my advice would be to experiment with short, medium and long coupling lengths to get the right gap between your coaches to suit your curvature. Set up correctly, I have had 15 RTR coaches running happily with these couplings. I find them excellent for fixed rakes or for rakes where you want to swap coaches in and out in a regular basis in the fiddle yard. The magnets make this very easy. Andy

Morning James, Thanks for the images and your experience. That’s a lot of cuts. If I was trying that many, I think I’d have to use old Lima Mk 1s as the Darstead sides are brass (and expensive!). They only did a CK and a BSK so my options would be limited but I’m sure it’s do-able. Your windows look OK to me. I await with interest someone telling you what you’ve got wrong so I don’t make the same mistake! Cheers Andy

An interesting formation once we’d got past the first five!

I’m looking to create a Mk 1 BFK in O gauge for my early 1980s West Highland line layout. So I thought I’d reopen this thread to ask for thoughts. I’m wondering about bashing some sides which Darstead sell separately. Has anyone considered doing this by merging an FK and BSO. The BSO brake end seems to have the correct door configuration but is slightly too short (c. 2 feet I think). I’d be grateful for any thoughts. Regards Andy

Mine’s due today - the same version but with sound which is supposed to be very good. I can’t wait!

Hi Rob et al, This has proved an interesting debate and you do find some great photos on Flickr. I have looked at the excellent Robert Carroll PTMs. While they show the plan, photos suggest that it varied from day to do depending, presumably, on coach availability and demand. I plan to start with two rakes on my layout (O gauge is expensive!). One will be a typical 2 coach off season train which depending on the year could be almost any combo of brake and non brake, but I think BSOT-TSO is about as typical as I can get. Like this photo. https://scotphoto.com/product/class-370127-heads-a-two-carriage-mallaig-to-f-william-train-nr-mallaig/ A Mk1 or 2 BFK might be better for some years but they’re currently difficult in O gauge. The other rake will be the 1982 observation car rake with SC1999 Lochaber (which I have a cunning plan to build). I’m basing this on the 1983 formation minus the second observation car. So it will be TSO,BSOT,TSO,BSK plus the saloon. Any observation on that formation would be gratefully received. Looking again at your photos (and being slightly mischievous!), I’d say the other type of brake not evident in your photos in a standard BSO without the buffet. I think I can make out a feint red line on all your BSO contenders but could be wrong. I know they did appear, but I think the non buffet versions were one of the rarer brake vehicles. Regards Andy

Rob, You could probably leave off the boiler bands. If you’re going to line it, then that would be sufficient thickness and anyone who doesn’t want to line it could easily add them with tape. I wouldn’t compromise strength on things like the cab sides. You might just have to live with them slightly thick. Looking good Andy

Great photos Rob, I take the point about two brake vehicles, although I’m looking at the extension to Mallaig where one was the norm I think. From the PTM docs it seems to vary a lot from year to year which sort of brake is the favourite. BFKs were often on the extension in 1983 which is a pain because nobody makes one in O gauge! Interesting comment about the ratio of opens to compartment stock. Your observation fits with the PTM docs but my memory is of snuggling down in compartment stock. I would have deliberately chosen compartments over opens, so my memory is biased but, even so, I think they were more common than the PTMs would suggest. This is not helped by my inability to tell the difference between an SK and a TSO from photos unless the roof is very clear! What are other peoples memories of the ratio of compartment stock to opens and when did the move towards opens start? This photo from the galleries that you pointed me to yesterday is one I could see myself modelling. This has an SK and BFK/CK (I think!), although from a later year (1987). https://www.flickr.com/photos/deepgreen2009/7159221751/in/gallery-190808970@N06-72157716654499327/ Regards Andy

Tony, Just to add to what Gilbert has said, some of these sets were originally used on semi fast KX- Leeds services. I forget which time period you model but pre war you could certainly run them through Wakefield. Post war they tended to lose the D.190 as Gilbert said which was replaced by a Thompson or Mk 1 CK and the remaining artic twins were mainly used on KX-Peterborough semi fasts and the East Lincs. Later they seem to turn up on relief services so you could justify a twin on such a train through Wakefield. Steve Banks has a write up of them here https://www.steve-banks.org/prototype-and-traffic/422-lner-steel-quintuple-sets I hope that’s useful Andy

Recently we had another test running session on the layout. This was the longest running session that we’d had and, I think, the most successful. Trains behaved themselves more often than not and derailments were much less frequent than before although there’s still work to do. Having platforms and the beginnings of our resin cast retaining walls made a difference as did having the over bridge and mocked up warehouse in place. Here are some photos. The C4 and N2 wait to depart on their respective trains. Wagons on display in the gap between overbridge and warehouse. Rob’s impressive 3D printed 6 wheelers taking centre stage. Milk tanks being reversed into the milk dock in front of the new retaining walls (as yet unpainted).