thegreenhowards

Tony, You’re jogging my memory now. When I first built the Talisman I don’t think I’d heard of Southern Pride - they don’t have a big presence online or in print! So I started on the catering and used the nearest available that I knew about which was a Thompson RSP from Comet - this now runs in my Norseman rake. I later discovered Southern Pride, probably when I was looking for a source for the BSOs. I’ve now replaced the RSP with the correct PV RSO from Southern Pride. Ironically this runs on Comet HD bogies which they do now make. Andy

Tony, Thanks for your comments and photos about the Talisman. I decided to model the formation quite early on in my conversion to real formations thinking that as an 8 car formation it would be easy.....wrong! Six of the eight needed kit building, which I achieved Comet brass sides For the RF & RSO and Southern Pride for the two BSOs. I also missed the extra doors in the twin FO. My set does three trips in my sequence: 1. Up morning Talisman 2. Down Afternoon Talisman 3. Up evening Talisman. The sequence doesn’t start early enough for the down morning version. I can get away with this because pre 1958 the same set worked up and down trains, so 1 and 2 above should be the same rake. 3 would also be the same formation, but should be a different set of coaches, so I have to hope there are no coach number spotters on my platforms! Andy

And now for the mainline artics. First our we have the West Riding which had twins of the pre-war West Riding Limited. First up a BTO-TO created from Mailcoach sides which I managed to get from Coopercraft even though he couldn’t supply the rest of the kit. The rest was cobbled together from MJT and 247 bits. and then a RT-TO. This was acquired from Gamston Bank via Tony and was built from a D&S kit. and here they are sandwiching a Thompson FO on the West Riding in very early ‘50s formation. Then we have the Talisman with its twin FO built from a Mailcoach kit acquired from Coopercraft when he was still functioning semi normally. The the ex Silver Jubilee triplet again acquired from Gamston Bank. I think this is a Marc Models kit. It forms part of the 1735 Kings Cross - Newcastle in mid ‘50s guise. And finally a Kirk triplet built by me from a Kirk kit acquired second hand from a friend at my club.

Next up I’m showing my suburban artics. Pride of place must go to the quad art set. This is an unembellished Kirk kit and was built quite a while ago, so is not up to my current standards (which I hope have improved), but it took a year and is quite rarely modelled as a full 8 car set so I’m very fond of it. Next is probably my finest artic model (of the ones I’ve built). This is a D.210 BT-CL built from Mousa sides with the rest cobbled together. The N7 is SE Finecast on a Bachmann Pannier chassis. Next up a 51ft F-T built from a Kirk kit with MJT underframe. I bought this half completed as part of a job lot and finished it off. It runs as part (coach 5/6) of an early post nationalisation outer suburban set which also includes a rather poor Hornby BS-CL combo (coach 1/2) which is best glossed over and will be replaced in due course. Next an outer suburban steel panelled artic as already shown by others. This is built from Mousa sides on a Hornby railroad Gresley donor. It runs as part of a five set, but I haven’t yet built the other pair, so a couple of Hornbys stand in. Next up mainline artics. Andy

Andrew, I use 800 grade sandpaper on the back of the glazing. On close inspection it looks like I was rather enthusiastic with the middle windows but the three on the right look about right to me. Andy

I'm loving all the photos of artics - they are so LNER/ER! My photos are not particularly well filed so it will take me a while to sort all mine out. But here's a starter for 10 with sleeping car trains - probably my favourites as there was so much variety and I like the associated romance. Firstly the Aberdonian which for most of it's life had a Gresley twin SLC in the formation. There were only two of these built and they ran North and South on alternate nights in the Aberdonian. These were cobbled together from Kirk 'cut and shuts' and fitted to a Hornby Railroad Gresley donor. Here they are in the full train (mid '50s formation). Next up we have a Gresley Twin SLF which runs in my 'The Night Scotsman' formation. This was created from Mousa sides again on a Hornby Railroad Gresley donor (lesson learnt - when I build my second I will use a more modern Hornby for the donor). Here it is in the Night Scotsman (1958 SO) formation. More to follow later. Andy

I have to say I agree with you on the point rodding. It looks fantastic when done, but I don't notice its omission. I think it's too big a job for Gresley Jn, even if I ever get the rest of the scenery up to an acceptable standard, so I will live without it. I would stick to your guns and accept that what you have is a truly remarkable model railway and that it makes up for the lack of point rodding in other ways.

Thanks to everyone for their encouragement on my artic pair. I had a very quick and helpful response from Andy Edgson at Isinglass Models and he’s doing a bit of further research. Anyway having thought about it further, I think I’m going to keep them as they are for two reasons: 1. There is a (remote) possibility that some of the sets had domed ends. All that Andrew’s picture definitively shows is that the first set had straight ends at some point (I assume when built?). 2. But more importantly, if I change it to straight ends, it just becomes the same as a Plywood version and I already have some of those. I built this because I wanted something different. Mick, in answer to your question, the Mailcoach kit is (I think) supposed to represent the plywood version which was D.171. However, the steel version (D.307) with straight ends is essentially the same in model form. Andy

Ahh the streamlined post fire problem. Better a door than a roof!

Better than Gresley - I like that idea!

Thanks Tony, Mick and ‘Hollar’ for your thoughts, I must admit that sticking them on eBay and being slightly ‘economical with the truth’ was my first thought. But that would be a bit naughty - plus a significant chunk of the potential market has just read this! And on second thoughts, it would be a shame to lose them as I’ve put the effort in...particularly all that sanding down. So I think I will contact Isinglass first - it will probably be a fairly easy mod to the kit to correct, and he ought to know. Then I’ll run them for a bit to check how they perform. Removing the roofs would probably be possible - they’re superglued on, but have come apart in places so I think the ‘super’glue was not so super. So that sounds like a possible route - I have a box of badly built Mailcoach ply versions which I could raid. I’m not sure how easy patching the ends would be, but I could use a Mailcoach one if I can get them off. I’ll look forward to seeing your articulated stock. I’m a bit of a sucker for them as they’re different and they’re so Gresley. Andy

The main track laying and wiring for my modification is now complete. There was a pause because I ran out of Gaugemaster DCC Autofrogs, but Hattons came to the rescue pretty quickly, so all the points are now wired with motors. The only work remaining is to relay the goods yard which now has a gap on the entrance. Hopefully this will be quick as its not used very often so the points are manually operated. I’ve lost some space, so it will probably become 4 sidings rather than the five at present.

Very frustrating, but thanks Andrew. Any suggestion as to what I do with them other than throw them in the bin?!

Some time ago, there was a discussion about the Isinglass Gresley kits. I’m now nearing completion on my first attempt, so I thought I’d share it to give an idea what they come out like in the hands of a somewhat impatient modeller. This is the D.307 twin which was similar to the plywood tourist stock but made from steel. The diagrams and Isinglass show this as having Gresley style domed outer ends, however Clive M of this Parish has raised a question as to whether they in fact had straight ends like the plywood sided stock - I haven’t found a picture so any comments welcome (although if its the wrong answer I’d probably rather remain in blissful ignorance!). Overall I’m fairly pleased with the result. However the sides took a lot of rubbing down to remove the 3D printing lines and some roughness is still evident close up as I ran out of patience. This rubbing down would be more difficult on a teak panelled coach as the panelling would get in the way. However in this case a little remaining texture might be less obvious and could possibly be passed off as wood grain? I bought the Isinglass underframe as well (optional extra) which consists of the floor pan, sole bars and bogies (heavy duty in the centre and standard at the outer ends in this case). It is a wonderfully simple clip in fit to the body. The bogies seem fine, but the design takes Hornby ones as well, so I’ve tried a Hornby at one end. Other underframe bits are MJT. I’ve followed the supplied diagram, but this shows only one dynamo which I thought was surprising. Is this plausible? Main work remaining is glazing and interior. I’m not sure what to do about the interior as my normal approach is to use Southern pride seats, but their second class one is out of stock and has been for over a year. Any suggestions welcome. Andy

That’s what I was trying to say, but you put it much more succinctly! But if you’re going to spend the Modellers Mecca type of money, I agree with Steve (31A) that the MJT ones are better still. For me the cheap Fair Price Models one do for ‘layout rakes’ - e.g. a rake of Bachmann Mark 1s. However, if building a special one off coach, I may treat it to an MJT version. Andy

I have used the modellers Mecca corridor connectors and they’re good, but rather expensive if fitting a whole rake. I use Fair Price Models who advertise on eBay. They do a range of different connectors at 12 for £3.99 postage included with discounts for multi purchases. For example: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12-x-00-Gauge-Bachmann-Hornby-MK1-Corridor-Connector-Gangway-Bellows-4mm-BR/122128749200?hash=item1c6f70d290:g:~K4AAOSwQSZXPlEc I have found them easy to fit and very reliable. Andy

Tony, Even though I’ve seen the yards in the flesh they still look quite remarkable in a photo. I think they’ve expanded since I saw them - the cassette system is new isn’t it? How are you getting on with persuading locos to pull a decent length train up the gradient to the upper yard? Andy

Hi Andy, Good to hear from you. I don’t get round to operating the layout very often except when I have visitors, so it was good to have an excuse to run the trains. I particularly enjoyed trying to recreate all the formations as accurately as possible, some of which I’d never done before. I never did too long at a single session, but it took lots of time overall. Each train could take anything between 20 mins to an hour depending on how long it took to put together and whether it needed any retakes. These were more common than they should be, either because of derailments (thankfully quite rare) or more likely because of operator error (signals normally!) or photographer error. It was all good fun, and I’ll probably do it again some time, but I’m enjoying a break at the moment. How about doing something similar for ‘Two Bridges Up Sidings’ given that we’re not likely to have an exhibition any time soon. Andy

Certainly not! If it was such a thing, it would be a long video with 5 minutes of self promoting waffle being getting to any substance. Seriously, it made quite an impression on me as being more beautifully presented than any kit I’ve dealt with before. I made some progress yesterday and will post again once there’s something worth seeing.

Isn’t that what Isinglass are doing? Admittedly only a few diagrams so far, but he’s getting there. Andy

Following on from the discussion on here about A5 kits a couple of weeks ago, I took the plunge and ordered a 52F A5. I arrived yesterday and first impressions are very favourable. The packaging is superb. The contents look beautifully etched and it has comprehensive instructions. I intend to make it my ‘lockdown project’ after I’ve finished the track work and will write up progress on my Coulsdon Works thread. Andy

I’ve been quiet on here for a while, but things have been progressing. Now that the sequence is finished I have taken an ‘engineering possession’ of the station area and I’m implementing my plan for a fifth line through the tunnel mouths at the South end of Gresley Jn. I discussed this briefly on my 2nd December post on page 3. The tunnel mouths were modelled on the Gasworks exit from King’s Cross but I never had a need for the third tunnel mouth. I’ve filled it with a single track as below. Hopefully you can see the new track (on cork) curving out through the tunnel. This will lead to a branch line with a connection onto the down slow the other side of the tunnels to allow up goods trains to exit that way. I’ve got to the stage of wiring and electrical testing and it all works but the point motors are not yet wired. I’ve also decided that the northern approaches to platform 6 need remodelling. This is to create a long enough goods loop having lost some length with the southern changes and to avoid having a point alongside the platform which I never thought was very prototypical. Here is the before picture as a reminder. This end is still in chaos, but you can see the track bed is in position. Andy

Thanks for all your suggestions on weighting the boiler. I think it needs to be glued in place otherwise it would come out through the chimney! So I think I’ll try Jon’s method first. And if that doesn’t seem secure, I’ll follow up with Jonathan’s method. I’ll report back in a couple of days. Andy

Sounds to me like a job for those who find ballasting too exciting! It looks great and I’m full of admiration but I doubt I’ll have the patience to follow suit - I’ve only done half the ballasting so far!

There are undoubtedly a small minority of selfish b......s out there. However, I think that a lot of what has been reported today is more a case of an over Zealous application of the rules. People who live in flats in inner cities need somewhere to take their exercise and visiting an inner city park does not seem unreasonable to me. Obviously they shouldn’t linger too long and need to keep 2 metres apart. But if they pass at 1.5m for a brief moment I can’t believe that the risk goes up dramatically. Shutting the parks just makes the problem worse as people concentrate on the few green spaces left open. Ideally the busy parks should be managed like supermarkets with a one in one out type system and checks that people don’t stay too long. But I realise that may soak up lots of police time which they don’t have. I’m lucky enough to have a garden and live next to the North Downs with plenty of green space, but I really feel for those who are cooped up in a flat. A little bit more tolerance and common sense in application of the rules would be very welcome. I fear that some in authority are relishing the chance to turn the country into a police state.