[Delph visitors.]

Regularity,

Thanks for that suggestion.

Dave.

[Delph visitors.]

Thanks for the comments.

One of the frustrations with the layout is the ballast (C&L crushed nut). When laid, it was grey with cinder coloured ballast in the yard. Unfortunately, as can be seen, it's faded to a pale brown/fawn colour, which means that at some time it will all have to be painted to restore the original intent.

I wish I'd spent a bit more time with that section set up and also posed my Fowler 2-6-2T with a different push-pull set. Ah well.

Dave.

[Bristol Barrow Road - ' The Devonian ']

Wonderful, Robin. Beats a 4F with half a rake!

Dave.

[Bristol Barrow Road - Lockdown Update]

Oh, the Scot......

See you in a couple of years time, then.

Dave.

[Bristol Barrow Road - Lockdown Update]

Robin.

Despite the pony truck issue, the loco runs well and sound rather impressive.

O must say, you really have made good progress with the scenery at the front (inside) of the layout - quite a transformation.

Can barely wait till we get out of the lock-down restrictions and get the chance to come and see it all in the flesh, again.

Dave.

[Long time coming - J20]

Looks to have a very long wheelbase compared with most 0-6-0's. Hope it goes round curves.

Dave.

[Stour Valley Dream - strange wagon loads]

David.

Interesting and unusual wagon loads, indeed. In my view (I was a professional pressure vessel engineer for most of my career) the cylindrical tank would have been a very low pressure or atmospheric storage tank for some liquid or other. The pressed ends are too flat a profile for any significant internal pressure. Your model look fine.

Dave.

[Future project?]

David,

The crank axle components are made but I haven't built up the courage to try silver soldering them together, yet. Loose assembly is seen here:

 

The wheels are Alan Gibson. I've had the front face of the rim skimmed to give scale width and also the front face of the boss has been machined to give scale stand-out from the rim (and shortened axles, of course). Hopefully, these mods will give a bit more clearance for valve gear and inside the splashers.

I might still move the latter out a bit, just to be sure.

Dave.

[Nearly there.]

Thanks for the comments. I'm sure David will do a good job of painting, lining and, crucially, weathering.

Dave.

[Bristol Barrow Road - Proscale Princess built by Alan Sibley]

Robin,

You must have put the bits back on to good effect - it's running very nicely. An enthusiasts special or football supporters train, perhaps?

Dave.

[Stour Valley Dream - July 2020 video update]

All looking very nice, David.

You've got the Bradwell chassis B1 running very smoothly and with good track holding. It's a very complicated chassis though a well designed and produced kit. You must be rightly very pleased with the resultant model.

I've got one to do sometime. I wonder if it will run as well as yours?

Dave.

[Bristol Barrow Road - Sand Dryer]

Very nicely done, Robin. Looks as if you will need to add quite a bit of random debris on the roof.

Also, one minor point. I see from the first photo that the structure was actually built with a Jubilee behind it, not a Black Five. I'm sue you'll be able to fix that before final installation.

Dave.

[Brief up-date]

Thanks for the comments.

The Ivatt chassis is quite old, despite it still not being finished, and the coupling rods are simply as Comet etched them. Many of my earlier models have the rods split at the centre crank pin and work satisfactorily even though it's an inferior design compared with working knuckle joints. The two half rods sit on a short crank pin bush and are retained by the connecting rod and return crank.

Dave.

[Bachmann Patriot 45504 Royal Signals]

Robin.

Yet another lovely running loco by conversion from an R_T_R base. Mmm, I really wonder why I'm bothering with kit construction when they invariably run worse than your conversions. It's the joy of overcoming the challenges, I suppose, but it does make one wonder.

Dave.

[Bristol Barrow Road - Ash Plant Buildings 2]

Lovely load of ground scatter to model. What do you think the two round topped post were - some sort of fire iron rest? Interesting that there appears to be a fire iron resting against the ladder on a lighting column?

Have fun.

Dave.

[Bristol Barrow Road - Ash Plant Buildings 2]

Not very realistic - you've got the loco number wrong!

Kidding - it looks very good. The ladders must have been quite a job without etched stiles(?).

Dave.

 

[Bristol Barrow Road - Ash Plant Buildings]

Robin,

Another nice bit of detail to help add to the atmosphere. In the first photo, there appears to be rather less debris on the roof, so I wouldn't over-do it. Like the rickety old table on the running line side and the very basic fence between the shed area and said running lines.

Dave.

[Building a B1 - moving chassis]

David,

That's running very smoothly indeed, especially without any running in. I wish all my chassis were that good! Just take your time and use paper washers with a spot of oil or, perhaps, blacken the pivoting component, when assembling the valve gear joints, to help avoid soldering them solid. I haven't tried the blackening method, but think it might be the best solution and will try with my next set of valve gear.

Dave.

[Cheddar P4 - April 2020 update]

I take it that the whole roof will be removable for access - just in case....? Not that we P4 modellers ever have a derailment, of course.

Dave.

[Bristol Barrow Road - Ambulance & Mutual Improvement Hut 2]

Yes, Jeff, I'd forgotten Steve's work. Absolutely superb, as you say.

Dave.

[Bristol Barrow Road - Ambulance & Mutual Improvement Hut 2]

Robin.

Sadly, Delph/Holt has never progressed to the scenic stage, so I haven't got any practical advice. I covered the whole of the goods yard, other than the cobbled areas, with so called "ash" ballast as a first pass. Wasn't too bad, even if it was a bit uniform, but, the stuff I used has faded to a pale beige colour and now looks nothing like ash.

The best ground cover in a loco shed area I can recall was on the P4 layout Blackgill(?), set in the Consett area.

They've posted some stuff on here in the past and I'm fairly sure articles have appeared in S4News and/or MRJ, which might give some ideas for suitable methods. I wonder what John has done on Worceter?

Dave.

[Bristol Barrow Road - Ambulance & Mutual Improvement Hut 2]

The huts look very good in situ, Robin.

Rather like John, the photos caused me the think about ballasting and general ground cover in a shed area. Have you any ideas of how to represent these aspects?

Dave.

[Finally no blu-tac! J39 no longer comes apart]

Looking very smart and I'm glad to hear of your positive progress.

You won't regret buying the Dave Bradwell chassis kit, which also contains some rather nice brass casting for boiler fittings and alternate smokebox doors. Get researching your prototype!

Dave.

[Bristol Barrow Road - The Ambulance & Mutual Improvement Shed]

A very neat looking model, there, Robin. All adding to the atmosphere of the place. The prototype photo shows a much less pristine appearance. Are you planning to suitably distress your model in due course?

Dave.

[Stour Valley Dream - more brakes]

Very neat arrangement and no risk of shorting. Don't forget to trim the bottom of the etched W irons.

Dave.