Geordie Exile

Excellent event. Thank you to the organisers and exhibitors. Not sure what Derby Conference Centre has against traditional DC, though...

Gosh, I hadn't realised how long it is since I packed up the nascent Fenwick Pit as we put the house/croft on the market. And in those boxes it still lies, along with my modelling mojo. Seriously considering a visit to Derby to see if I can regain said mojo by osmosis. And there are so many RMWeb things to catch up on too. Well, it's officially summer in the Highlands, so that'll guarantee rain for some time, which'll give me the opportunity I crave...

Looking fab, Jim. And you don't have to cross out "play"

Hi Ray I'm afraid the demands of the 12-inches-to-the-foot life have got in the way over the summer. Things should quieten down soon (not much crofting gets done in the dark) so I'm hoping to get back into the 2mm-to-the-foot stuff soon! Richard

Hi Ray. The last remaining building is the winding house (or winder house, depends who you ask!). It forms the central feature of an 'executive development' that's in the pipeline.

This is the 15.4m of 2x1 that I bought to start framing up a baseboard... This is what I used it for... And these are the red deer that were watching me do it! No wonder I'm not making any progress.

Hi Ray Progress has stuttered to a halt as real life intervenes. I've now got plenty of wagons, enough buildings to form the core of the colliery element of the layout, and a couple of turnouts built, but I'm at the stage where I have to draw everything together and actually make some decisions. Specifically: track plan, turnout operation, baseboard construction and overall layout 'geography'. I've also got to make the amendments to the RCH hopper, and I think I've decided to redo the coal processing plant (the tall 'office-block' building) after finding a side view that shows I've got the dimensions all wrong. It's a frustration after the hours spent building the first one. So, lots of stuff to make decisions on, and I'm happy to let my subconscious mull them over while the rest of me gets on with 12-inches-to-the-foot stuff! Richard

Do you want to borrow a 2mmSA quartering tool? And I understand there's a pretty good detailing etch available too

Cheers, David. It's quite sad to see her in bits like that, especially the rusting hulk outdoors, but at least she's getting some attention.

Nice first attempt, Andreas, and certainly better than my first! I 'invested' (although I can't see me ever getting my money back!) in an ultrasonic bath, and I pop the etch in for its default three minutes every time I switch off the soldering iron (so bearings, clean, laminating solebars, clean, adding solebars, clean etc) then a longer zap at the end of a session. It has made an immeasurable difference, and it's much easier to find the wee bits that fall off

But you'll know it's there!

They were originally numbered 1400-1600 according to Elliott & Charlton, but the three I can make out in the photo above say "1174", "1226" & "1527". The two photos I've seen of them in original Backworth livery show "1101" & "1417" so it could be - dare I suggest it - that E&C are mistaken! I've just gone for a 4-digit number, to be honest. And as you can see from the picture, some but not all have "Backworth Colliery" (Not "Collieries", my mistake), some but not all have a tare, and all have "Internal Use Only". Take your pick!

And no doubt I'll have posted this view of Fenwick before, but it does show how busy the site was. A fairly eclectic mix of wagons, but the majority are the Chas Roberts 15 tonners, which is why I couldn't leave them out!

Just realised I haven't put up any pics of the painted wagon. Can't say I'm a massive fan of the asymmetric lettering, but it's prototypical so who am I to argue? Lots of the wagons also have "Backworth Collieries" on their sides. I don't think I'll attempt to replicate that!

Hi Ray I'll message you once I'm happy that the next test etch works (which I haven't sent yet, because I haven't drawn it yet!) R

Yeah, yeah, I know! I'll correct (well, amend!) the hopper artwork and resubmit, so some replacement railings may well be added! The washery has similar railings which I might replace too. Mick's after some sheaves, so they'll be on the next one as well. Oh, and there's no access from ground level to the first set of ladders on the headstock... I'm going to end up with an A3 sheet just full of stuff to improve what I've already built. As for the origami, I'm pretty happy with how tightly one hopper's squeezed now, so working out the final (ha!) production run is just a question of tesselating rectangles. R

Gosh, I got me a rake. There's no escaping it, I need to start laying track.

As part of the hopper test etch, I added some sheaves and walkways to enhance (I hoped) the heapstead. The previous sheaves were 3D-printed from Shapeways which were certainly finer than anything I could manage, but the etched versions are much more delicate again. The spindle needs a lick of paint, and I'll add some spacers between the sheaves: I also etched some safety rails for the steps up to the sheaves, and a ladder and roof walkway to access those steps. Possible the most delicate thing I've ever had to solder, and I'm now terrified that I'll squish them, but they've come out quite nicely: ...and once again the close-up shows the worst as well as the best! A squirt of matt varnish should take the shine off that rendered wall. Richard

Fiddly maybe, but it brings the building to life.

Whereas "variable shrinkage" can describe many of my attempts!

Not that I was excited or anything, but from etch to paint shop in three days is probably a bit of a record for me. Here are a few pics and comments on the trials and tribulations of putting my first self-designed wagon etch together. First things first. I spent an hour or so just staring at the etch, trying to spot anything that wasn't quite right. It didn't take long! - the fold lines on the main body only extended half way. My mistake completely as I changed the design of the ends half way through the process, and forgot to extend the fold lines. - none of the 0.3mm holes had etched through, nor had the notches for the brake gear. I need to get my head round what size hole on the drawing produces what size hole in the etch. - I had more tabs on the outside of the etch frame than I expected, and realised I hadn't hidden the tab layer when I produced the (reversed) artwork for the rear of the etch. A 0.3mm drill bit can fettle the holes, but the notches were useless. - all of my tabs are too wide. I'd gone with PPD's spec of 1mm, but could easily have halved this. More to cut, more to file, more chance for distortion. I started writing these down so I'd remember to fix them in v2. On to the build: the main chassis folded out nicely. The unique (?) open-ended design of these hoppers meant part of the frame is visible, but the way the coupling mounts fold down and out of the way means they're quite unobtrusive. It turned out that the notches for the brake gear were not only useless - they were in completely the wrong place! If I'd used them, the brakes would have been behind the wheels. So I filed off the tabs and held them in place with a spacer before soldering them: This method actually turned out much easier than trying to hold them vertical while soldering, as long as the spacer doesn't end up soldered. Like I did on the first one. The eagle-eyed reader will spot the spacer says "Fence Houses Model Foundry" - bits of the fret from the P4s I'd just done fitted perfectly around the top-hat bearings (thank you, Bob Jones!). I am seriously considering making this my standard way of fitting brake gear, with notches/tabs to get the alignment right, and a bespoke spacer that'll fit around the bearings. Here's a Haynes Manual (remember those?) exploded diagram of the method: Laminating the middle and cosmetic solebar was standard, but when I offered them up to the chassis they were 0.25mm too long at each end! More notes on the snagging list, and a little bit of filing sharp fettled that: I love how much detail etching can give - the bolt heads and other bits are so sharp, it's a shame to paint them! And the (not pictured) buffer beams have a folded element at each end that hides the mistake. Next the body. As I said, the fold lines were incomplete, so much scrawking and dremmeling ensued. The sides have a 45degree fold at the bottom, and I hadn't dared etch a fold line in as it was opposite a plank line and I was concerned it would etch through. I needn't have worried, so that's been added to the list too. More scrawking and dremmeling. Then the dilemma of when to add the strapping. I'd just etched lots of strapping the right length, with a view to supergluing them on. I decided to make the body first, which I did. The interior walls fitted really pleasingly inside the exterior, with easy 45degree folds. In hindsight, I should have fitted the interior strapping before soldering the body together, as it was quite fiddly to get them in and straight. And the next version will have lines etched on to show where to put the strapping. I'd put a dimple on the corner plates to show where the diagonal strapping started, but it'll be much easier to etch lines on the body itself for all of them. The corner plates themselves were fiddly, but I knew they were going to be. They incorporate an angle at the bottom, so the etch has a vee notched out of it to take this into account. First step was to fold them vertically into a right angle, then bend the bottoms inwards (after more fiddling and filing to get them to the correct angle). But the end result is acceptable: This picture also shows the stanchions, which have come out very nicely. I'd hedged my bets on the etch and included stanchions made up of 4 laminated layers a la the Fence House P4, but I also included a foldable version with boltheads etched on. I tried these first, marking the fold lines with a knife, folding them first with pliers then pinching them onto the edge of a metal ruler, and I'm delighted with the outcome. The open end is quite a feature. But before I get too smug, take a look from above: I can't imagine massive holes at all floor edges are prototypical. The next version will therefore include a drop-in floor to disguise the holes left by the coupling mounts and the solebar spacer tabs. Ho hum. And the internal lateral crossbeam was far too short, so this model now has a plasticard version! Finally, brake levers and hand rails, the latter of which I didn't bother etching as I've found that 0.3mm wire is more robust and less square, if a little bulkier. And this is the finished version: (and I've just spotted that an axle box has fallen off! B*gger. Fortunately, I included two spares on the etch!) I have thoroughly enjoyed creating this from scratch, in spite of all the things I got wrong. I've ended up with a snag list of 20 individual items for improvement or correction, but that was the point of doing it. My best hope was for a static model and enough learning to get the next version right, but with lots of guddling about, filing, drilling, scrawking and extemporaneous remodelling, I've got a wagon that, while not perfect, I'll be happy to see on my (future, still in my head) layout. Thanks for reading! Richard

Think she'd notice - and a phrase which rhymes with anchor might ensue!

The anchors are for my missus who crafts - I had spaces to fill. I like the idea of a pub, but I'd call it The Windin' Hoose! I've got a dozen of the 21tonners to do. I started another 4 P4s to keep me going until the Backworth hoppers arrived - just the brake levers, stanchions and handrails to do, then I'll hold off painting them while I make a start on the lovely shiny new stuff!

It's arrived. My first (how many of my posts contain those two words?!) wagon etch. It doesn't look as though I've left anything important in the post-etching soup. I'm busy on another batch of Fencehouse P4s at the moment, so it'll have to wait until at least, erm, the weekend

The exterior strapping for one side of a P4. Each P4 has, as is traditional, two sides. And two interiors. Is there something inherently nuts in what we do for 'enjoyment'?