steverabone

Inspiring model making. I bet they were horrible coaches to travel in though.

We start this issue of TRACTION with the first part of a series of articles about the liveries applied to locomotives at Eastfield depot in Glasgow. A former member of staff, John Baker, reveals some of the intriguing details behind the development of the ‘Eastfield Style’. David Hayes concludes his description of coal traffic to Ironbridge power station, this time concentrating on the period from the 1990s until its closure in 2015. Our European feature looks at the development of Swiss electric locomotives in the 1960s and 1970s which produced some of the most successful Bo-Bo and Bo-Bo-Bo designs ever to run in Europe. To coincide with the announcement of the forthcoming Accurascale’s Steel Coil A wagon model, John Dedman has searched his photo archive and looks at one of the last flows of traffic that used these wagons. It conveyed imported steel coils from Hamworthy in Dorset to Llanwern in South Wales. Keeping main line diesels in running order is a mammoth task and the Western Locomotive Association ‘Western Ranger’ bogie overhaul is no exception when it comes to funding this type of work. Members of the society explain what is happening. The humble Class 73 electro-diesel drew Lancastrian Tom Heavyside down to the south of England to photograph these locomotives hauling freight trains. He has chosen a selection of images for our enjoyment. Keith Widdowson’s contributions to TRACTION are well known and this time it is the turn of his travels behind the Brush Type 2s. He first encountered the class on suburban trains out of Moorgate and King’s Cross in the 1960s. The ‘Little North Western Line’ between Settle Junction, Morecambe and Carnforth has always been in the shadow of its more illustrious neighbour the Settle and Carlisle Line, but it is by no means an uninteresting route. Gavin Morrison’s selection of photos gives an idea of some of the types of traffic that used the line before it became a real railway backwater. In TRACTION MODELLING we look at an intriguing N gauge layout based in spectacular scenery in the north of England and features lots of variety in the traffic to be seen. In our review section we look at the superb O Scale model of the ill fated ‘Clayton’ Bo-Bo diesel.

Ring 01778 391180 and ask for back issues.

You can almost certainly get it from most WH Smiths shops otherwise the subscription dept should be able to help Tel. 01778 392012

Really superb work -inspiring modelling.

The model has now been painted and will be weathered shortly to make the lining less obvious. Everything above the footplate except boiler fittings is from cardboard.

To complete the trio of LMS two-cylinder 2-6-4Ts that I remember from my boyhood days in the North of England in the late 1950s and early 1960s I decided I wanted a model of the original Fowler class . The model uses the chassis and footplate from a spare Alan Gibson Stanier 2-cylinder 2-6-4T S Scale etch with some minor alterations, but l needed a scratchbuilt body, which has been built largely out of cardboard. The chassis for the Fowler is now complete and has been built in much the same way as the Stanier version except for the method of constructing the crossheads. Rather than fabricating them out of three small pieces of nickel silver sheet, which was extremely fiddly I've used the method I tried with my Deutsche Bundesbahn 2-6-2T. This German loco only has one slidebar and the crosshead was made from a strip of nickel silver folded at the top into a D shape which slides along the top slidebar. Using the same method for the British engine means that the crosshead doesn't actually use the lower slidebar. The piston rod is soldered onto the back of the strip whilst the connecting rod is pivoted from a pin passed through the strip. Obviously, the crosshead is more clunky in appearance than the fabricated ones but isn't significantly worse than the Fairburn model that was built by Alan Gibson which has an equally large crosshead. Once the chassis is weathered and the loco is running I doubt it will be really noticeable. I found a good scale drawing of the Fowler 2-6-4T on the internet showing all the necessary elevations. Having resized the drawing to S Scale I printed the cab, side tanks and bunker onto thin card. I joined them together with a extra piece for the rear bunker and then backed the majority of the thin card with a layer of mounting card. The cab roof extensions, the rear of the bunker and fronts of the side tanks were left as a single layer of card. The resulting net is shown below. It is very flimsy at the moment but will become completely rigid as construction progresses. The tank sides, cab and bunker have now been secured to the brass footplate using strips of mounting board glued to the footplate as location points. I've now added the front and rear of the cab and folded the roof to shape and secured it in place. The inside of the cab roof and the upper curved cab sides have been coated in a layer of epoxy resin to give it some rigidity. The cast metal firebox has been glued to the front of the cab and is also supported underneath by a strip of mounting board secured to the tank sides. The rear of the cab has two circular windows which were cut out by making a series of cuts with a scalpel held vertically. A large circular file then tided up the edges of the card. The boiler was made from a length of plastic central heating pipe. Several lengths of thin card were wrapped around the tube until the desired diameter was achieved. In order for the boiler to be secured to the curved extension at the front of the firebox this card wrapper was made about 2mm longer than the boiler tube. Two layers of card were the wrapped around the front of the boiler tube for the smokebox which on the Fowler boilers is very obviously of a different diameter to the boiler. The boiler is now secured in place to the firebox and to the base of the smokebox saddle using epoxy resin. The loco superstructure is now complete. The various castings are by Alan Gibson. The cab roof and upper sides have been strengthened by coating inside with several layers of epoxy resin. As usual the card has also been given a coat of wood hardener. This rear view shows the rear spectacle plates with the wire protection for the glass. These were made by soldering four lengths of fine brass wire across the end of a brass tube. After trimming the wire to the correct length the tube was cut about 3mm from the end and pushed into the holes in the cardboard. Various pieces of wire and metal strip have been used for the bunker steps and the balancing pipes for the rear water tank at the back of the cab. On the other side there are various pipes all made from wire and a few lost wax castings. The curious tank overflow outlet was fashioned from a length of thick brass wire and a shaped piece of solder for the domed top. The final details have been added and the model now awaits painting. Now of course there is another Fowler 2-6-4T I could build - the one with an enclosed cab - there is another etching in my kits box. Should I build one?

Markits do a 4mm scale wheel of 32mm which will be the right size. They also do S Scale axles. I used them on my Jubilee - http://www.steverabone.com/sscalewebsite/building_jubilee_460.html Highly recommended as quartering is automatic with screw fixings and the wheels are, I think, RP25 profile. Markits (UK) Ltd. PO Box 40 Watford Hertfordshire WD24 6TN UK. OrdersTel (44) (0) 1923 249711 Monday to Friday 11:00 - 16:30 (UK TIME!!!!) e-Mail: markits@btinternet.com

Publication date is the 1st April so should be available in the shops and sent out by post any time now. There can obviously be delays caused by Covid issues in the various supply chains.

I've just done a few Hornby couplings -these have metal hooks. I turned the model upside down and let the coupling drop so that is vertical. Then using a pair of tweezers (or a very small pair of pliers) give a very, very gently squeeze to compress the metal part by putting one of the jaws under the plastic and the other on top of the metal loop. If you compress it to much it will stop the loop falling back under gravity. Not easy but possible.

Thanks everybody for your suggestions - the "nipping" technique seems to work best for me. Quite why the manufacturers keep producing couplings that aren't well made I don't know!

The decline of coal traffic on Britain’s railways in the last few years has been rapid and dramatic, with once busy locations loosing much of their railway importance. To commemorate the end of this traffic David Hayes looks at one such power station at Ironbridge in Shropshire in the years until the mid 1980s; the later years will be covered in the next issue. In his article ‘The Wandering Weedkiller’ Keith Widdowson recalls a day chasing and photographing a Class 20 hauled weedkiller train around Kent in spring 1989. Class 40s had a great following among enthusiasts in their later years in the 1980s and Steve Ireland, like many others, set out to photograph them; here we present just a few of his many images of the class. The Swiss railways have always been at the forefront of electric locomotive developments. Colin Boocock begins an examination of the post war electrics starting with the 1944 built BLS Bo-Bos from which all modern electric locomotives have been derived. Gavin Morrison’s multi-part photo study of the Manchester to Leeds Trans Pennine main line concludes with the section between Huddersfield and Leeds. Jeff Nicholls takes us on another of his family holidays to Scotland when he combined visits to depots in Motherwell and Glasgow with trips around Fort William and Oban. The editor spent many happy hours watching trains at Guide Bridge in the early 1960s but missed out on visits there in later years. Ray Briscall’s feature describes this Manchester junction during the late 1970s when the Woodhead line was still busy. Chasing after the ‘Westerns’ in the 1970s became a passion for Graham Callaway and his friend as they attempted to see as many of the class as they could before withdrawal. He tells his engaging story with its successes and disappointments. In TRACTION MODELLING the featured layout is Steve Farmer’s layout Lymebrook Yard in N Gauge and is a compact layout set in Staffordshire in the 1970s. There is plenty of railway action and some delightful urban scenes.

I'm sure that I am not the only one to experience this problem. I use the plug in NEM type coupling on my models, both on rtr models and on my scratch or kit built S Scale models. On numerous occasions the coupling hook - metal on Hornby couplings and plastic on Bachmann couplings - comes away from pivot point into which the hook clips. It's almost impossible to get the hook back in satisfactorily and often comes away again. Has anybody found a solution to this issue?

Having built the first of potentially three Deutsche Bundesbahn "Umbauwagen" (there were 3 types - 2nd class, 2nd/1st class and a baggage/2nd class) I obviously had to tackle another one and the most useful for my layout is the baggage/2nd. It's built in much the same way as the full 2nd, but strangely proved a little more difficult because of those odd things that can happen when building from cardboard. As usual the photo shows up all those small faults that you don't tend to notice when it's running on the layout. And then I just had to build the 1st/2nd class coach.

Some years ago I built a Kirtley 0-6-0 outside framed loco which has a free rolling loco chassis and a powered tender - my preferred method for steam locos. The construction is rather rough and ready compared to the work of many S Scale modellers but it runs well and so far the loco chassis has given no problems and happily romps round 36 inch radius curves on the goods lines of Halifax Midland. I used Alan Gibson wheels and their plastic crankpins which I found easy to use on a non-powered chassis. As you will read assembly of the wheels was done by inserting the wheels between the normal inside chassis axle holes and the cosmetic outside frame and pressing the axles through the wheels in situ. It sounds horrendous but the method worked first time. http://www.steverabone.com/sscalewebsite/building_a_kirtley_0.htm The other outside framed loco I have is the 08 diesel shunter built from a kit. This has a normal inside chassis whilst the outside frames are attached to the loco body and drop down over the extended axles. The crankpin method I used has, I believe, caused raised eyebrows!! I originally tried plastic crankpins but didn't feel that they were secure enough for long term use. http://www.steverabone.com/sscalewebsite/class_08.html As Regularity says above there are many ways to tackle most S Scale constructional matters and trial and error is often necessary to get what you want.

Yes those look to be the tools he is using. Not cheap - about £25 for one made in Sheffield.

Ha!Ha! I was sure you'd recognise the sound of a JNR electric multiple unit suburban train....Mind you we had a washing machine that sound just like an LNER HST leaving a station. There are some fascinating tips in their such as using fine emery paper for smoothing joints in card. He also uses what looks like a 90 degree curved "chisel" to cut window corners. Where can they be obtained in the UK I wonder?

With all this talk of hi-tech methods of producing bogies I thought you might find some of these You Tube videos by a Japanese modeller scratch building electric multiple units thought provoking. The models run on 16.5 mm gauge track and a scale of 1:80 and what look like Tenshodo motor bogies for power. He uses card for the entire model including the bogie frames with brass bearings and coiled wire for springs - go to 13mins 10secs for the start of that part of the construction. Even I haven't tried to use card yet for running gear! It appears that he is using PVA glue often applied with a toothpick. This link will take you to the thread of his videos but the film I've embedded is the one which shows bogie construction in detail. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu30DOMjaeEWj8PzsHOGi0A

Inspiring model making. I look forward to reading more.

Welcome to TRACTION issue 262 which is on sale from 29th January Don't forget if you can't obtain a printed copy you can order by post or subscribe to our digital issue. Details can be seen below. David Hayes concludes his feature about the operation of the tanker trains for the British Oxygen Company with a look at their final years in the 1990s. To complement this article David Ratcliffe has provided details of some of the wagons used on these trains. Railwayman Robin Morel talks about the variety of Class 47s that turned up at Wembley Yard on freight trains and the problems that these differences could cause. Long after British Rail steam finished it was still possible to see steam locomotives hard at work and Jeff Nicholls visited Bickershaw Colliery in 1978 to photograph National Coal Board steam working side by side with Class 47s on MGR coal trains. Another type of freight operations attracted Chris Lenton when he photographed aggregate trains in Norwich during the 1990s which were hauled by a surprising variety of motive power. Heading north, David Lindsell’s photographs of Class 37 hauled trains in the Fort William area will bring back many memories of their use on freights and the sleeping car trains even after they had been displaced by ‘Sprinters’ from most passenger services. The long summer evenings were often used by enthusiasts to get out and about watching trains that might otherwise not be seen during the darker months of the year. Alistair Fyffe had two favourite locations on the West Coast Main Line near Warrington and at Wigan and ventured out on several beautiful evenings. Colin Boocock returns with another of his contributions about European railways; this time it is about a chance discovery in the Netherlands of a remarkable collection of classic diesel and electric locomotives. Many enthusiasts ignored the interesting variety of industrial locomotives that could be seen all over Britain at one time. David Ratcliffe continues his series of features about them, this time considering the products of Hudswell Clarke. Change on the railway is a continual process and in 2021 we can expect to see dramatic improvements on the railways in the Liverpool area with the introduction of the new Stadler Class 777 trains. It’s a good time, therefore, to look back over the years, using photos from Gavin Morrison, of the Merseyrail Class 503, 507 and 508 in the Wirral area. In TRACTION MODELLING we feature the superb 4mm scale Riddings Junction which is set on the Waverley Line between Carlisle and Edinburgh. There is also a close look at the new Graham Farrish Class 31.

Sadly, I've almost come to the end of the range that Alan Gibson made - The ones I've completed are MR 3F 0-6-0T 'Jinty' (Alan built this but I've modified it and repainted it) Fairburn 2-6-4T (I believe this was built by Alan but I've modified it very slightly to run on my layout and finished its livery off) Stanier 2 cyl 2-6-4T (I have a couple of the 3 cylinder versions in unbuilt format, one of which I'm going to use some of the parts of to build a Fowler 2-6-4T) MR 4F 0-6-0 Hughes Crab 2-6-0 Stanier 2-6-0 Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 Patriot 4-6-0 Jubilee 4-6-0 Stanier 2-8-0 There's also a LNWR 0-8-0 There are also probably enough bits to cobble together another LMS Fowler 4F and a MR/LMS 2P 4-4-0 if I can be bothered to do so. Sadly I also had part built Fowler and Stanier 2-6-2Ts which I sold when I had damage to my hand and thought I'd have to give up constructing locos. If anybody knows where these are and would like to sell them back to me I'd love to know.

I I imagine that if you want a Jubilee you will either have to scratchbuild it or try to find one of the old Alan Gibson kits. I've just finished putting mine together from the kit. I had to make the boiler (out of a plastic tube and layers of card) and fabricate the slidebars out of nickel silver strip. These are rather crude although a Fairburn 2-6-4T built by Alan has something similar. Once painted a mucky brown/grey they become less obvious. And yes it goes happily around my checked-railed 36" radius curves. The wheels are all set to gauge with an SSMRS back to back gauge and are either Markits RP25 or Gibson. There is still some filling work needed before the final paintshop visit.

As mentioned above I have managed to build a series of "big" locos that will go round my ridiculously tight 36" radius curves on one of my layouts (and if I chose at even more ridiculous speeds without derailing!) . Point radii are at least 48" on my British layout. These are all LMS locos - the Class 5 and Patriot and Jubilee 4-6-0s (the latter is just about to enter the paint shop) as well as several 2-6-4Ts and a Stanier 2-8-0. I've used a mixture of wheels - some Gibson and some Markits with axles as made for the SSMRS. None of the chassis needed to have flangeless wheels although my LNWR 0-8-0 prototypically does have one set of wheel like this. The chassis were built exactly as designed except that I've chosen to move the cylinders/ slidebars and support brackets out about a millimetre to give me a little more clearance behind the slidebars. What I have found is that on the 36" radius curves it helps to have a continuous check rail which stops any of the wheels which want to go in a straight line and ride up over the outside rail - just like the real thing. I always think of that horrendous curve on the Leeds to Harrogate line at Crimple viaduct when a driver took the curve too fast and luggage came flying down off the luggage racks.... As Simon says I won't be able to run my locos on other layouts so if that is important to you best stick to the standards and 48" radius curves.

Some years ago Simon Dunkeley encouraged me to scratchbuild a model of a Midland Railway 0-6-0T using a series of articles in the old Model Railway News. I'd definitely recommend something like a 0-6-0T or even a tender loco - this would give you more space for batteries and RC controls. I actually found it easier in many ways to build it from raw materials than some of the kits I've built. It was built, like most of my models, on a card table in my box room using only simple hand tools. I wrote a description of the process on my website so that when I decided to build the "half cab" version I wouldn't have to try to recall what I did. I still haven't got round to that though! The wheels are Alan Gibson's and it has proved to be one of the best running locos (and very powerful) I have. If you are interested I've put a link to the description below. http://www.steverabone.com/sscalewebsite/building_a_johnson_0-6-0T.htm

This looks to be an absolutely superb model. I wonder what else 3D printing will produce for us in the future. Of course it requires the skill of a good model maker to put it all together so well.