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MikeOxon

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  1. Thank you for the info. - my knowledge of brickwork is minimal. Yet another skill required for railway modelling 🙂
  2. There seem to be some unusual brick sizes being used in the pillars between the windows. Compare with the English bond courses below the windows.
  3. The one Sir John ascribed to Blanche might be too big for your purpose: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/blogs/entry/14670-a-hat-box-for-blanche/ Mike
  4. I like the result very much. It is interesting to note that the 'DCC Concepts' platform lamps that I used at North Leigh contain filament bulbs, rather than LEDs, since the manufacturer claims that incandescent lamps provide a more authentic 'glow'. These lamps have a variable resistor in the control unit,so I could adjust the glow to meet my aspiration. There is something very special about watching the trains pulling into the station with just the glow of the oil lamps on the platform. One day I shall do the same for some of my carriages and intend to use you proposed method of an internal battery 'somewhere in the rake to provide power to all the carriages.
  5. I think your work on the interior is really splendid. There's no doubt that 7mm scale offers far more scope for real detailing, rather than 'suggestion', which is often the case in smaller scales. I rate this 5 stars but the system didn't seem to respond to my attempts to show these.
  6. I tend to agree with Magmouse that the coach-style rounded mouldings go with a black finish.
  7. Sorry it came too late for you! As I recall, that undergear was very tricky but I learned a lot from making it.
  8. It was your post, Nick, that reminded me I had made one just over 10 years ago! I was going simply to restore the original pictures but then I found I had lots of other photos on my computer. I don't know why I didn't use them at the time. It seemed a pity to waste them. According to the 'Wizard Models' instructions: "Livery details are believed to be as follows: body sides and ends coach brown, possibly crimson lake between 1912-22. The sides were almost certainly lined in gold at first with black mouldings, with droplight frames and window bolections in Indian red. An unlined livery was later adopted, probably during the Great War."
  9. In my very first post in this Blog , I referred to the need for plenty of horses and the facilities to support them. As part of "Turning Back the Clock", I decided that an essential railway vehicle would be a Horse Box, so I chose to build the Wizard Models/51L etched brass kit of the GWR diagram N6 box. Inspired by @magmouse description of his 7mm scale model, I decided to restore my own early post about my 4mm scale model. Although at that time (2013), I had not started writing detailed descriptions of my ‘builds’, I found that I had made a collection of photos, stage by stage throughout the build. So I am now able to add extra illustrations, which date back to 2012. I hope that my 10-year old ‘build’ may continue to be of interest to current modellers. I felt that construction of the ‘Wizard models’ N6 kit was achievable for a beginner in etched-brass construction, since the prototypes, dating from 1890, were of a particularly simple, straight-sided construction, albeit with quite a lot of panelling on the sides and ends. The panelling is, of course, taken care of by the etching process but I liked the fact that this model did not need any 'tumble home' to be formed, so everything looked pretty straightforward. Chassis Construction I decided to start with the chassis , carefully following the instructions to bend the buffer beams, vee-hangers and axleguard-brackets down. This was followed by adding the solebars, which fit through slots in the floor and were soldered in place. Initial chassis construction I then moved on to adding the brake blocks to the axleguard etches – the instructions advise to do this before bending the W-irons. The axle guard is then fitted at ‘the grooms end’ with the linkage hanger pointing to the end of the vehicle. I puzzled for some time over which was the ‘groom’s end’. I eventually realised that the fold-out steps on the solebars are the key to this, though not mentioned in the instructions. The ‘linkage hanger’ is the fold-up part that looks rather like a sub machine-gun on the etch! Adding brake blocks to chassis etch After folding up the W-irons and adding bearings to the etch, I carried out a test fit of the Mansell wheels, to check for free running Complete axleguard assembly The second axleguard is assembled in the same way but is designed to pivot on a shaft between raised tabs on the chassis etch. I struggled for some time to understand how to bend the handbrake lever stirrup and then realised (too late) that it is necessary to fit this before fitting the pivoted axleguard assembly. Otherwise, it is impossible to solder the tab on the inside of the chassis, without removing the axleguard assembly again! Folded handbrake ratchet etch Next, I realised how little I knew about brake gear, so had to give myself a crash course on 'safety loops' and the like. The N6 underframe superseded the earlier outside rigged brake gear, by using the later standard pattern, with triangular tie-bars between the brake blocks on opposite sides of the vehicle. The basic method of operation of the clasp-type brake is shown below Clasp brake operation The triangular links between the brake blocks on each side were fitted next. There are several diagrams in the instructions to show how the various parts should be fitted together. Then the various ‘safety loops’ were bent and added to the axleguards as described in the instructions. These parts were fitted on the prototypes to catch any loose parts of the brake linkage that might otherwise drop and cause an accident. Next, I added the vacuum brake operating cylinder (white metal casting), followed by the linkage to the clasp brake assemblies, as shown below. To describe this as a fiddly process would be an understatement and I found it easier to attach several small parts by using drops of superglue rather than soldering, which tends to loosen adjacent parts. Brake linkage and safety loops added to chassis I summarised the steps in the construction of the chassis in the illustration below: Stages in construction of the N6 chassis Body Construction Once the chassis was complete, I built the body as a separate item. This proved relatively straightforward, with just two etches that are each folded to form one side and end, then soldered together. Inner body shell folded and soldered The detailed overlays carrying all the planking details and framing then fitted easily over the tabs raised from the inner body shell (one tab ringed in above image). These tabs also serve to represent the hinges on the doors. Etched overlay added to inner body I had some difficulty in persuading the roof to sit flush to the ends, near the centreline of the body, so I soldered a pair of small right-angle brackets inside the body, to hold the centre of the roof in place – easy to do, if you assemble the body and chassis separately. Finally, I added the various white metal fittings and found that the spring and axle box assemblies tended to foul the rocking compensation of one axle. A fair bit of filing down was needed to keep everything working! Eventually, however, I had an attractive model, to play its part in generating the 'feel' of the of the earlier period that I am trying to represent. As in the case of the chassis, above, I made a collection of images to show the stages in the construction of the body and the final assembly of my complete model: Stages in construction of N6 Body At the time of writing (2023), I must confess that this model is still missing lettering and various handrails. My model of N6 horse box after painting Later on, I built several other vehicles, such as a carriage truck, so that this model could be included in a complete train , to carry the Wilcote family together with their carriage and its horse to London for ‘the season’ Mike
  10. This took me right back to my own first etched kit model, which was an N6 horse box in 4mm scale. Your comment about 'grooms end' struck a chord since I wrote back then "I decided to start with the chassis and puzzled for some time over which was the ‘groom’s end’, when looking at the chassis parts. I eventually realised that the fold-out steps on the solebars are the key to this, though not mentioned in the instructions." Mike
  11. Many of Armstrong's designs had double plate frames. One difference between the Armstrong and Dean 'standard' goods engines was that Dean only used single inside frames on his version. John Gibson in his 'Critical Appreciation' of GW engine design commented that "Swindon was always noted for astonishing reconstructions but for broad gauge 0-4-2 tanks to end up as standard gauge 4-4-0 tender engines was the most remarkable re-build ever." Dean returned to double frames with his larger 4-4-0s and Gibson again commented that "... we mostly had double-framed Bulldogs , which were horrid to work on. After 55 years I still remember working, with a smoky paraffin flare lamp, with head and shoulders in the space of some 14in between inner and outer frames, with an inch thick layer of filthy black grease all around and above me." The use of inside frames for driving wheels and outside for carrying wheels was a feature of David Joy's 'Jenny Lind' design, which was highly successful and set the pattern for many engines thereafter. Joy wrote in his diary about his design: "Inside frames, which must be made to carry the cylinders, the frames stopped at the firebox, so that the firebox was got as wide as the wheels would allow it. ... Then I put on the Gray's outside frames for leading and trailing wheels, 4 ft. diameter, giving the bearings below, thus making a firm wheel-base, with no overhanging weight." Mike
  12. A wonderful collection and difficult to believe that the most recent photos are from the 1980s
  13. At the time Whishaw was writing even the GWR itself was not fully operational. He wrote (p.158): "The line was first opened to the public on the 4th June, 1838, as far as Maidenhead; … and now it is opened to the Faringdon Road, a distance of 63¼ miles from London. The opening of that portion of the line between Bath and Bristol took place on the 31st August last, so that the public have now the use of about 75 miles of this railway; and the whole line Mr. Brunel expects will be finished about August 1841." The directors of the Bristol and Exeter Railway decided to avoid capital outlay by arranging for the GWR to operate their line for them. The first section of the B&ER line was opened between Bristol and Bridgwater on 14 June 1841, just before the GWR completed its line from London to Bristol.
  14. Those were competitive times that broke out into real fighting in a few places. I notice that the 1849 map, on which I based my North Leigh layout, shows a different alignment at the Eastern end of the OW&W, The planned route dipped further South near Cassington. 1849 Map of the Witney area reproduced from http://www.fairfordbranch.co.uk/ , with permission from Martin Loader
  15. That's exactly how I felt when I looked back at my old posts! The updating of my old post was triggered by Jim Champ's musings about 2-4-0s. I remembered my old forum post and found it had been archived and lost all its images, so decided to revive it. It led to a session of nostalgia as I read through what I was doing almost 10 years ago. It's cold gloomy December weather here, so sitting by the fire reading old posts has been a pleasant activity. Perhaps I'll decide on a new modelling project soon but, at the moment, I'm enjoying a quiet contemplative period. Let's hope that images in RMWeb survive for many years to come 🙂
  16. I agree, Annie. I have now restored the images in my series about modelling No.184 (formerly OW&W No.23). It reminded me of how much more difficult modelling was before 3D printing turned it into an armchair activity 🙂
  17. I wrote a Forum post about some of these ‘absorbed’ engines back in 2014 but it has now been archived and has lost its illustrations, so I thought it was worth restoring these in this blog post, which is partly based on my original text. Some time ago, I acquired a bound set of the RCTS "Locomotives of the Great Western Railway", mainly to learn more about the various pre-grouping designs by William Dean. I had tended to skip over the volumes on 'Absorbed Engines' but later found myself browsing Volume 3 and realising what a strange and wonderful collection of engines made up the first standard-gauge locomotives to run on the GWR. These booklets are now available again on a print-to-order basis or in digital form. Of course, the early GWR was a Broad Gauge railway and it was only in 1854, during the drive Northwards, that it came to own any standard-gauge locomotives at all. The first batches of these were acquired from the Shrewsbury & Chester and Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railways. What an extraordinary mix of types these were, quite unlike anything we usually associate with the later GWR. Shrewsbury & Chester Rly. as GWR No.14 Some were Bury-type locomotives, with bar frames, others were 'long-boiler' types, with a gothic firebox hung behind all the wheels, and there was even an 0-4-0 with an intermediate drive shaft (built by the Vulcan Foundry). At that time, there was a brief vogue for intermediate drive shafts, since these decoupled the valve gear from both vertical movements of the springs and lateral thrusts from the flanges on the driving wheels. Shrewsbury & Chester Rly. - GWR No.34 This 0-4-0 was one of two that became GWR Nos. 34 and 35. They were delivered in 1853 and both were withdrawn in December 1865. Another former Shrewsbury & Chester engine that later gained notoriety was the long-boiler 2-4-0 GWR no.5, built by Longridge & Co., which was involved in a fatal accident at Rednal on 7th June 1865. Shrewsbury & Chester Rly. - GWR No.5 A little later than this first group were the former West Midland Railway engines, which were added to the GWR fleet in 1863. This amalgamation brought in some of the old stock from the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway (frequently referred to as the 'Old Worse & Worse'). The only known illustrations of most of these early locomotives are drawings by E.L.Ahrons, a great chronicler of early locomotive history. One of his drawings shows an ex-OW&W engine that would, perhaps, have seemed more at home in the Wild West than the West Midlands: OW&W Rly – as GWR 223 There were two of these engines, one carrying the name 'Ben Jonson', and they worked branches in the Chipping Norton area until 1877, the other becoming known colloquially as "Mrs Jonson". Note the outside steam pipes to the cylinders and the (somewhat squashed) safety valve cover. Another West Midland engine, which is better known because its photo appears in 'Great Western Way', had the unusual feature of outside Stephenson valve gear. It became GWR No.219, from a class of six, originally built by the Vulcan Foundry for the Shrewsbury & Hereford Railway in 1853/54. Shrewsbury & Hereford Rly. - as GWR 219 I found that there are extensive records of all the locomotives built by the Vulcan foundry on the web. These records includes lists of locomotives deliveries by years, in which the S&H engines appear as below: There is also a drawing of one of these engines in ‘The Engineer’, showing both the locomotive and its tender, which gives a better sense of its proportions than the oblique photograph. Shrewsbury & Hereford Railway – as GWR No.215 According to Ahrons, one of these engines could still be seen "lying in a heap of scrap behind Swindon Works in 1886". Some of these early engines survived well into the 20th century, usually after having been re-built several times. The last engine from the OW&W. 0-6-0 No.58, seems to have been around until 1921, by which time, after several re-buildings, it had acquired a conventional GWR appearance as GWR No.47. OW&W Rly. Re-built as GWR No.47 After my initial look at thee ‘absorbed’ engines, I came across an article entitled "Some Early Great Western Recollections" by C.M.Doncaster in the April 1942 "Railways" magazine. The author photographed engines in the late 19th century at Reading Station, as a member of his school's photographic society, and recalls that he casually snapped No.184, never dreaming that this engine dated back to 1853, when it was supplied to the OW&W by E.B.Wilson and Co. He wrote that, in 1895, it was not unusual to see these engines drawing trains of ten 6-wheel coaches He even made a simple water colour of such a train, since, most unfortunately, he wrote that his photograph was not fit to reproduce. This article led me to explore these engines in more detail. Six were supplied to the OW&W in 1853; they were 2-4-0 engines, somewhat similar to the 'Jenny Lind' 2-2-2 design produced by the same company. As it happens, No.184 was not camera-shy and appears in two photographs in the RCTS survey of GWR Locomotives (Part Three): one as re-built at Wolverhampton Works in 1877 and another, after a further re-build in 1893. This particular engine was finally withdrawn in late 1899 and the whole class had gone by 1904. OW&W Rly. - rebuilt as GWR No.184 I have looked into some of the background to both this locomotive and the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway, in general. so share this information, in case it is of interest to other modellers. The OW&W was initially planned as a mixed-gauge line, with Brunel as chief engineer. Apparently, Brunel grossly under-estimated the costs and the money ran out in June 1849. After a lot of wrangling, the line was eventually completed as standard-gauge only. David Joy (best known as the designer of the 'Jenny Lind' and of his radial valve gear) was appointed locomotive superintendent in 1852 and his diary (see https://steamindex.com/library/joydiary.htm ) gives some idea of the precarious state of the railway at that time. He writes that when he arrived, the line was due to open in a fortnight's time, on May 1st, and he had to scour the country to get some locomotives for working the railway. He scraped together a miscellaneous collection for the opening day, including a four-coupled " Jenny" (known as engine 'A') from the Railway Foundry in Leeds, with the cheque (£1,250) in his pocket to pay for it! Remarkably, this ‘second hand’ engine survived into GWR ownership as No.206 and was finally withdrawn in 1876. David Joy’s engine ‘A’ – later GWR No.206 Fortunately, after a few months working with these second-hand machines, relief came with the arrival of the first new locomotives, built by Hawthorns in 1852, and six more by the Railway Foundry (then recently re-named E.B.Wilson & Co.) arrived in 1853, starting with No.21. It was these latter engines that later became the GWR '182-class' and they were clearly David Joy's favourites. He wrote "This 21 class would always answer to any little nursing, and would go" For example he: "received an order for an engine, two first-class carriages, and a van, and a driver who dare run........ We were at Yarnton or Wolvercot Junction on the morning, and all ready to take our passengers from the Great Western Railway special. I was, of course, on the engine — No. 21." A report was sent from one of the stations that the "special train had passed at 60 miles an hour." , This report, in due course, came before Joy, who remarks " I countersigned it, ' Yes, all right.' ". There are plenty of other fascinating insights into the running of these early engines in the diaries, including several accidents, which Joy described as 'spills'. OW&W Rly. No.21 (From David Joy’s diary) In 1860, the OW&W amalgamated with the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway and the Worcester and Hereford Railway, to become the West Midland Railway, which, in turn, was amalgamated into the GWR in 1863 OW&W No.21 (later GWR 182) All this colourful history convinced me that one of these engines would be an excellent subject for a model. I found that No.23, re-built as GWR No. 184, survived until October 1899, still working trains in the Oxford area. The construction of my model is described in a series of posts, starting with https://www.rmweb.co.uk/blogs/entry/14895-another-new-old-engine-1/ My model of GWR No.184 with motorised tender (in Wolverhampton livery) List of OW&W Locomotives nos. 1 - 20 12 Passenger 2-4-0 and 8 Goods 0-6-0, built by Hawthorn in 1852/3 became GWR 171 – 181 (Pass - with some exceptions) and 239, 241 – 243/5/7 (Goods) nos. 21 - 26 6 Passenger 2-4-0 built by E B Wilson in 1853 became GWR 182 – 187 nos. 27 - 30/ 34 5 Goods 0-6-0 built by E B Wilson 1854/5 became GWR 248 – 252 no. 31 Engine 'A' 2-4-0, built by E B Wilson in 1849, bought second-hand 1852 converted to 2-2-2 in 1855, became GWR 206 nos. 32, 33 'Ballast' engines 0-6-0, built by E B Wilson 1854/5 became GWR 278 & 279 nos 35, 36 small 0-4-2ST, built E B Wilson 1853 became GWR 221 & 222 nos 37 - 39 3 Goods 0-6-0, designed Peacock, bought from MS&LR 1854 one (38) sold, others became GWR 237 & 238 nos. 40, 41 2 Passenger 2-4-0,built by E B Wilson 1855 became GWR 188 & 189 nos. 42, 51 2 Passenger 2-2-2, built by E B Wilson 1856 (large 'Jenny Lind' type) became GWR 207 & 208 (51 named 'Will Shakspere' sic) nos. 43 - 46 4 Goods 0-6-0,built by E B Wilson 1856 became GWR 264 – 267 (264 rebuilt as no.49) nos. 47 - 50 4 Goods 0-6-0T, built by E B Wilson 1856 became GWR 231 – 234 nos. 52, 53 2 Passenger 2-2-2T, built by R Stephenson 1859 became GWR 223 & 224 (52 named 'Ben Jonson') nos. 54, 55 2 Goods 0-6-0,built by Kirtley, bought from MR 1860 became GWR 280 & 281 nos. 56 - 59 4 Goods 0-6-0, two built by Kitson and two by R Stephenson 1860 became GWR 294 – 297 (294 rebuilt as no.47) Examples of each of these types are illustrated in RCTS 'The Locomotives of the GWR - Part Three'
  18. Glad to know you've got everything working in Linux. When I tried several years ago, I found Linux worked very well until it didn't, and then it was a nightmare to sort out. It's probably improved since then. I've never worried about Windows versions running out of support, although some software does want to see the latest version - often it's just the installer that objects and I have successfully transferred software that wouldn't load into Win10 from a Win7 machine. I even still use WinXP (under Win7) for some peripherals that won't talk to later versions.
  19. I missed seeing this collection for a while. Although I've been exploring the early broad-gauge (BG) era recently, I started my own scratch-building with the simple, well-proportioned Armstrong designs. I was attracted back then by that 'missing link' to the BG: the 'Bicycle' class and, now that I can use 3D-printing, I may re-visit the idea.
  20. I recall several previous discussions about how many different subjects one can learn about through railway modelling - the list seems endless: perspective, lubricants, colour specifications, breeds of cattle, arcane subjects like Cotswold roof tiling or timber frame roof construction - and on and on. Now we have typography - for anyone interested in some of the details, there is a good article at https://99designs.com/blog/tips/typography-design/
  21. I suppose that the more significant differences are the presence of compensation beams on the earlier engine and the change from round-section coupling rids to flat rods in the later version. There are difference in the boiler and firebox supports, as well as in the smokebox wrapper. The spring gear looks to have been beefed-up in the later engine. The reversing lever has changed and so has the spring balance but these could be something on the drawings, rather than on the engine itself! I'm surprised that the leather buffers do not appear to have changed! i assume that the vertical lines above the backplate on the later version are the edges of a small spectacle plate.
  22. Thank you for the reference Jim. The good thing about the early period is that there is very little information to prove if you've got it wrong 🙂 On the few occasions where there are photos, however, I have found frequent discrepancies from the drawings. It's an old problem: as long ago as 1898, Sekon wrote in his book ‘The Evolution of the Steam Locomotive’ that “Readers may wonder why such obviously inaccurate statements should be published. One can only conjecture. Many lists of early locomotives have during the past few years been published. These should, however, be accepted with the very greatest caution.” Always try to find primary sources whenever you can and be prepared for later information to be inaccurate.
  23. I was just thinking of metal pin-point axles and bearings. I admit to being unfamiliar with current RTR wagon models.
  24. This comment and other items in this thread made me think about how short the 'grouping' period was within the overall time-frame of locomotive railways. 1923 - 1948; just 25 years, with a large chunk of these disrupted by war time and its aftermath! Go back a century from there and it took longer than that for railways to 'find their feet', while companies such as the Midland were around for almost 80 years. Looked at like that, the 'popular' modelling scene has been dominated by a very small segment of the overall picture.
  25. That really struck a chord with me, Mikkel. 🙂 I think it is very enterprising of Duncan to take his designs through to completion. I'd be interested to read about how he decides to draw the line between 3D-printed parts and what he buys in. I suppose part of it is knowing what is available from the trade but there may be other factors as well. I can see that running gear needs metal parts for reliability and there's the issue of weight too. The finish on that iron coal wagon looks excellent and fully up to commercial standards. I hope they sell well.
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