Roger Sunderland

As printed. One of the 12 girder spans in the roof of the station.

Well, sadly, not me ikcdab, the 3D work is all being done by Simon. He is a bit of a specialist though. Sorry to hear about your issues. For those”in the know”I’m told that he uses an Anycubic 4K mono X printer with Anycubic resin. As you will already know, the time spent drawing up this stuff is the real work. So far he reckons he has spent over 10 DAYS! drawing up the various parts .

Thanks John, most kind.

As promised on the Bournemouth West thread this is the first instalment on our new venture. Our group have settled on a new project to build a scale model of Bournemouth Central station, the area between Beechy road bridge and Holdenhurst road bridge, which includes Bournemouth shed. Total length in 4mm scale is around 28’, width is 3’6”. The plan lends itself to a model really well with the two bridges forming natural scenic breaks. The view of the model will be looking north. The model will be set in the final steam era, prior to electrification in 1966, but allowing the use of early diesel power. we have been joined by a new member who is a 3D print specialist and it is this which has swayed the decision to model Central. Early work has concentrated on producing a track plan, while Simon has been doing some work on the main station building. This building is some 2 metres long, 630mm wide and 167mm tall. The main structure will be built from ply with openings laser cut. All details will be 3D printed. There are a lot of these - 48 wall panels, 144 top windows for example. These are a few early pictures Some of the cad work A test wall panel (47 more similar to this) A large amount of windows. One of 12 girder spans (each one takes 2.5 hours to print) Thats all for now. Next time some techy stuff on the print process and some details on the track work. Roger S

John Give Steve a ring at Model Railway Solutions 01202 798068, in the shop. He may be able to give you the contact number for our 3D guy. Incidentaly I was at Frank Robinsons funeral on 3rd January, he was a great help to us in building West. I know the group building Bournemouth Central had a lot of contact with him. Do you know if there are any plans/photos etc he shared with you of structures around Central station? We have the plans for the overall roof section of the station and track plans, but that’s about it.

Yes a bit on the large size but mainly the reason is letting our 3D printer guy have full reign on the buildings at Bournemouth. There is quite a lot.

So just an update on things for those who still follow this thread and a little teaser as well. Things are progressing, albeit slowly, to affect the transfer of ownership to the new group. All being well (and a control panel blow up at New Milton show is not helping) the layout will have its last run out under our ownership at Wimborne show in April 2023. so I and a few other like minded individuals have been discussing what to turn our hand to next. A decision has, at last, been reached to build a scale model of Bournemouth Central station from Beechy road bridge to Holdenhurst road bridge, including the shed. At some 28 scale feet, not a small project. Now I am well aware that others have done this before but I believe this model will be worth doing. One reason is we have within the group a number of people with suitable skills eg. Track building, scenic, weathering etc. but we now have someone with access to a state of the art 3D printer. Not only that but he has all the skills to use it to its max potential. I will shortly start up a new thread on this project as the printing of parts for the main station building is well underway.

On the subject of what was done in 2022, it was a very productive year, all told. New locos included A Caprotti Std5 from a DJH kit sold by Sir. A B16/3 from a PDK etched kit A Fowler 7F from the revised SEF kit on the carriage front: A Gresley all steel BG from the fabulous kit by Mac Geordie. A Gresley TPO from an Isinglass 3D kit. A Siphon, again from the wonderful Mac Geordie. Not too many wagons but these two are also from Mac Geordie kits. (There were also 2 GW Insul X 6 wheel fish vans!) A Happy New Year to you Tony and indeed to all contributors to this fascinating thread. Here’s to some great modelling in 2023.

Yes Tony, definitely Chris Pendleton- one of the most atmospheric layouts ever built I think, even included scratch built Tyneside electrics.

So very very sad to hear the news of Frank’s death. Many will know that Frank was instrumental in getting Bournemouth West off the ground. He managed to get the original group of us together with Peter Smith (ex S&D fireman) and others at the local library to discuss how we could go about building the layout. On the day he arrived with armfuls of track plans and the like. His knowledge of the railway around Bournemouth was legendary. If he didn’t know the answer, and he usually did, then he’d know who to ask. He provided hundreds of pictures for us to work from but he really came into his own when we needed scale drawings for the buildings which he managed to do using Sketchup. It is fair to say that without his help the Bournemouth West layout would never have become the great success it has. Thank you for all your help Frank. I would say rest in peace but knowing him as I did, he’s probably hard at work on some great railway ideas in the sky. Roger S

Guys thank you so much for all the info. I have the Comet kit for the ex LMS kitchen car and picked up the fact that some were converted from their instructions. I would like to try modelling this conversion, the window changes are the main issue though. Thanks to you all I do now have enough to go on. I’ll see if I can think a way round the window issue.

Perfect, thanks very much Clive. Don’t suppose you have an interior diagram too? Thanks for that- I think you’re spot on about the windows - very Eastleigh.

Paul Thanks very much for that, exactly what I’m looking for. This is definitely one of the ex LMS kitchen cars that was converted to the so called “party cars”. I’m wondering if they were further converted to “cafeteria “ cars at some time. The windows are really strange. Any further info on conversion , build dates, useage etc would be much appreciated.

Thanks for that. Noted the W prefix as well. Is the photo dated 1965?

Wondering if anyone out there can help? in 1955 BR converted 6 ex period 1 LMS kitchen cars to party cars. Does anyone have any info about these, trawling the web hasn’t come up with anything. I’d like to know all/ any of the following if possible. We’re they given any specific branding eg “Party car”? What was the interior layout like? Any examples of their use? Eg excursions? How long did they last? Any photos? What stock were they coupled next to? in fact any info at all really.

For what it’s worth I have had nothing but excellent service from Mark. He’s returned telephone calls even when I’ve not left a message. Yes he likes to have a chat, nothing wrong with that, but I’ve always had my order within a few days after ringing him. God forbid he should decide to chuck it all in because that would mean , for me anyway, that kitbuilding would cease . I cannot/will not use Gibson driving wheels. Devils spawn as far as I’m concerned.

Tony Wright will probably be able to help you, try a PM.

Zimo seem to be filtering through now, You Choos have restocked quite a few types. The basic “budget” decoder, which is truly excellent, has gone up to £25.

Yes indeed Robert. I have waited a long time for these as well. Many on order!

Thanks Tony, that confirms my thinking.

Much appreciated Ray. I thought I’d seen some 9Fs with larger numbers. I remember now it was in a book I’ve got on Darlington works.

A question, if I may please, to the helpful, and very knowledgeable ,people on this site. What size were the cab side numerals on 9Fs? We’re they 8” or 10”? And did they differ between LM locos and ER locos. Many thanks in anticipation.

I am that man who modified a Dapol Stove with your excellent 6 wheel chassis some time ago. Well done for doing this Ian, I suspect there are many Dapol Stoves that either do not see the light of day or lie idle because of that appalling chassis. My “prototype “ continues to run superbly - what’s next?

Thanks for all your replies, particularly the last two, very helpful, I had already tried Zimo and their distributor without much success .

Hi there I know why there is a current lack of availability for (all) decoders, ie China, but does anyone in the know on here know when Zimo MX600 decoders may become available again?