Signaller69

Blimey, we had a 4 wheel trolley of LMS origin at Prestatyn into the mid 80s which was great to sit on and was used for the holiday camp passengers luggage in the summer over the crossing to the car park / taxi rank (tips galore), talk about long lost days! Wonder what happened to it now, how sad!

Yes it is correct for this vehicle which did have square cornered windows, as did many (if not most?) of the other Thompson designs. Some apparently did have radiused corners, but as to which types, I'm no expert in LNER coaches either I'm afraid.

The Thompson Buffet has now had the SE Flushglaze fitted, it went in like a dream on this coach with no filing of window frames required. The small Kitchen window had a simple rectangle of clear plastic fitted. Tissue paper fixed with Matt varnish provides the opaque window areas (my preferred method). The Kitchen side: And the other side: As may be noted, I rebuilt the Bachmann chassis after cutting away everything other than the trussing. New boxes, vac cylinders etc were added going off the Eastbank photos so it probably isn't exactly correct, but looks fine from normal distances. New metal Hornby coach wheels, plasticard footsteps and NEM coupling boxes were added to the bogies after sawing off the tension locks, and a coat of grime added to the chassis area. Looking again at the prototype photos I realise I have missed what appears to be another square roof vent, at the dining end, which will be added in due course, along with colour variations on the roof where sections appear to have been repaired. But otherwise it is ready to join the fleet.

The alterations have now been ballasted.

A bit more progress! The kick back siding has been shortened to curve off the front of the baseboard. A tiny loco (basically a Ruston 48DS or Wickham trolley!) will still just about fit if required. Needless to say a facia panel above the level of the track will be fitted! A Faller fuel tank now sits in this area and has had some light weathering along with the water tower. The fuelling shed has been painted in its base colours and awaits gutters, weathering and corrugated clear panels on the roof. Elsewhere, having become unhappy with it (mainly because it got in the way of photography), the loading platform at the front of the layout has been removed and replaced with a roadway, which may end up with a few parked cars. I need to add about an inch of track and a bufferstop at the far end (right hand edge in photo below), before ballasting it and the altered kick back siding. I am feeling much happier with these aspects now. Martyn.

Whilst the buffet is awaiting glazing, some of you may remember the Hornby Railroad class 121 to ScR 122 DMU conversion I did a while back, well, after finding it at the back of a drawer, it has finally gone the whole hog to become a class 131 Parcels car, a Scottish peculiarity of 3 redundant single units fitted with extra double doors around 1968ish for parcels traffic, often attached to service trains along with a van or two; into 1970 and beyond, one ran in green with small yellow panel (SC55013) as here: https://www.railcar.co.uk/images/9894, another in blue small yellow panel with white cab roof (SC55015) https://www.railcar.co.uk/images/181 , and the third (55014) https://www.railcar.co.uk/images/21839 in bog standard blue with full yellow end, which is the one I have gone with. The extra doors were grafted in from spare side panels, white windows painted and end details, bogie steps etc added as appropriate. A nice quickie project. just needs to join the queue for some weathering now!

It looks just like the photo James, really nice modelling there. I'm pretty much going with the same photo for modelling the inside of my Thompson Buffet, which I'm guessing would have looked much the same in the 70s, although it will probably be simplified a little compared to your "high fidelity" version! I'd forgotten how similar both vehicles were in terms of window layout etc. Martyn.

Painting, lining, transfers and varnish all done, need to get hold of some SEF flushglaze next; I need 12 vented windows for this coach, Bachmann standard models have 10 at most so I'm hoping the pack includes a couple of spares as most of them do. It's not sitting quite right on the chassis yet due to a couple of tight spots inside the body, as can be seen and the rubber corridor connections need refitting. The chassis itself needs extra bits adding for the additional catering gas bottle storage etc. I have half a Replica open interior for the seating area, which will need some adjustments to fit correctly. Quite pleased with how this one is coming together. As an aside, according to the RCTS, 1705 was the only one of the ex-LNER buffets which were still in BR stock in 1972, to not survive into preservation, going into departmental stock in 1978/9 and being cut up as late as 1989. Martyn.

Now at the painting stage. I stuck with the Bachmann roof, mainly as the sides were cut to fit the original space they were cut from, despite it not being totally accurate as Bernard pointed out above. I picked up a secondhand Bachmann coach to pinch the chassis from today, which will suffice until such time as I acquire some heavyweight bogies to replace the standard ones. Due to the differences from the LNER "as built" spec plans I had to guesstimate the 1970s kitchen vent positions on the centreline from photos. Probably not totally accurate but they can be replaced easily enough if better images or plans come to light. I also picked up a very cheap Bachmann 57' Mk.1 Suburban Brake which will hopefully form the basis of a Mk.1 Inspection Saloon (with Triang bodyside bits replacing the sides) in the near future. Martyn.

Thanks Griff, Funnily enough one of the options is to use a Mk.1 chassis, but only as a platform and rather heavily rebuilt with channel solebars - I have a few old Trix ones lying around from the 126 DMU project and I'm told they are the correct bogie centres; I'll need to buy some Gresley Heavyweight bogies along with a few other bits. I think the trusses are the angle-iron type, but as long as they can pass muster from normal viewing distance I'm not too worried. Hi Bernard, Thanks for the info and suggestion, istr reading some time ago that the roof wasn't quite right on these - I do have a couple of Triang spares so will investigate. Martyn.

In between layout modelling, I have started chopping up a couple of old Bachmann Thompson coach bodies, to produce one of the Buffet cars used on ScR until around 1978: http://www.eastbank.org.uk/images/Coaches/CS0225.jpg So far the coach sides have been cut away, sawn into pieces and stitched back together, one window bay at a time due to the reduced spacing compared to the Bachmann versions. The roof has also had all the vents cut away. As can be seen, some windows need blanking to produce plain side panels. Filler is now setting prior to sanding both sides down. As I don't have a Bachmann chassis (or bogies) I am now thinking how this will proceed; I do have a couple of ideas to play with though!

Dunnington is on the road again! Attending the 1 day show Saturday 26th November at Rainhill. https://ukmodelshops.co.uk/event/23754-RainhillModelRailwayClub_Exhibition

Although the Fuel shed is still not completed, it has now got (most of) a roof at least! The bridge abutment has been removed and an MMR laser cut water tower kit built to hide the entrance from the fiddle yard. The disused siding and buffer stop will be removed allowing a fuel tank to be featured instead. Next I need to finish the shed and fill in the gap on the backscene.....

Thanks for all the input folks. I have added some basic tank interior detail and completed the kit, moving the ladder from one side to the end, but still short of some exterior weathering. The pics make "below water" look lighter where it is in fact somewhat darker, very odd! But this is where I am: Better by far than an RTP product, also probably better than I could scratch build, and faster too.

Hi Phil, Oops, sorry I missed your post! As it happens I've just watched what I presume is the item you linked, ie the clip linked in the post above this, will check yours too though on the off-chance it's different. Thanks, Martyn.

Thanks for that, very interesting views inside Settle Water Tower tank at c. 5 mins in, can't get much closer than that! Useful views of the stays and (presumably) the water inlet pipe. Thanks for sharing!

Hello Andy, Wowzer, what a structure! The inlet & outlet pipe arrangement diagram is especially useful, I hadn't really considered the overflow.... But certainly something to work to, even if slightly simplified for my needs. Many thanks. Martyn.

Hi Ian, Strange! I reacted to your post around that time (lunchtime-ish), having not been on here for a couple of weeks (where does time go?). But I'm not aware of any other new comments. Martyn.

Hi Richard, Marvellous, thanks for that, never seen a photo of Kyle shed from that angle. Shows horizontal tank bracing at least. Looks like the supply pipework comes from outside the tank too, rather than through the base or sides (on a solid plinth possibly)? Useful food for thought there! Martyn.

Thanks Stu, hope you're keeping well. I wondered about internal bracing or frames, it does remind me of a photo I've seen somewhere back in the mists of time, if only I could find it now! Martyn.

Thanks Tim, The other kit they do has a similar roof to your photo funnily enough. Planks over stays (as mentioned by Kev above) are another option, but I'm aiming to go with the open top look. Cheers, Martyn.

Thanks Kev, Yes I tried using key words like "Water Tower Interior" to search for images, but turned up next to nothing in terms of UK structures. I found a disused Australian one which showed a ball valve, but nothing showing the actual inlet & outlet arrangement. I suspected an upturned J pipe inlet would be likely, but no idea where in the tank it would likely be - against one side would make sense. I am thinking of brass wire for the stays which your photo helpfully shows. I'm hoping to avoid having planks over the top. All the ladders and platform are included in the kit, although they also do one with a covered roof, but which looks a bit GWR-ish for my needs. Cheers, Martyn.

I am building an MMR laser cut brick water tower kit, which features a generic open top tank with clear acetate "water" (still to be fitted). A ladder is included above and below water level, as per the photo, and I have added some weathering as can be seen: my question is, I want to include a water inlet / outlet pipe and presumably some sort of float valve as found in a toilet cistern, but I don't ever remember seeing a photo or arrangement plan showing this, can anyone help with pointers? Any pointers for improving the weathering below the water gratefully received too.... Otherwise planking over the top (or most of it) may have to be the way forward...... Thanks in advance, Martyn.

Yes the R4585 is the same type of van, a much easier proposition than trying to rescue a secondhand kit purchase too! The NFV TOPS code seems to have been applied in the early to mid 70s (presumably the same period SPV vans became TOPS code NRV as mentioned by Ian above); I tend to follow c.1970-72 photos for my period where possible which predates the application of the TOPS code. (There were still a few green ones around at that point too, a possibility, should I acquire another one!) The position of the data lettering tended to vary on these vans too, I notice the Hornby model has it in the top right corner whereas the photo I used for reference has it lower right, but both versions seemed common enough in the 70s. Martyn.

Ian, Ah yes, that would explain it, amazing those vans lasted as late as they did in parcels use really. Martyn.