Middlepeak

With an appearance at Scaleforum in the offing this weekend the past couple of weeks have seen much midnight oil burned to finish the Frichs diesel and the two rejsegodsvogne. The diesel has been on the stocks for a considerable period of time, so it's good to see it finally running. All three axles are sprung, with a small Mashima motor mounted centrally driving the two outer axles through amended High Level gearboxes. Bodywork, as described before, is from my own etches. Unfortunately the Litra N didn't make it this time, but that will hopefully be ready for the next exhibition appearance in February. Look forward to seeing faces old and new this weekend. G

Sometimes the smallest steps forward can bring the most rewards. Having battled to get the wheels correctly quartered on the axles of the Litra N, I decided that progress needed to be made on the boiler fittings. I had a spare set of castings for a Litra F, but whilst they were of the right design, they were too tall and bulky for this diminutive beastie. I therefore drew a better version up in TurboCAD and had them 3D printed by a friend. Much better methinks! They will need a small amount of tidying up before they are fixed permanently. Progress can now be made on three separate units in parallel - chassis, footplate / cab and smokebox / boiler. Get bored or stuck with one and you can always switch to another! G

Peter, As far as I can tell, and perhaps supported by the attached signalling diagram that I posted on Rowsley 17D's thread, goods trains would have to work into one of the platforms, with the station pilot then coupling up at the rear of the train to remove the wagons and release the loco. Unusual, I agree! Perhaps Jonathan (Rowsley 17D) can elaborate? Geraint (with my apologies that this always seems to load upside down!)

Well the two rejsegodsvogne have now had a coat of wine red which has also prevented the Archers rivets from escaping. Brush painting of the black fittings will follow, then application of transfers and glazing. Maybe I can start on the roofs next week. In the mean time the Litra N has grown some more bodywork, with the single wrap round piece forming the cab back and sides and tank sides and fronts now bent up and soldered on. A very strong structure as a result. I also abandoned thoughts of rolling the boiler from n/s sheet and instead opted for a brass tube, which although 0.5mm larger in diameter than it should be, made the whole process much easier. I did however have to cut out new smokebox formers and wrapper, as the original etched ones were now too small. The boiler unit is designed to pin into the cab front, with a 12BA bolt through everything at the front to secure it. This is necessary because the motor and gearbox is such a tight fit in the loco body that it requires the footplate and boiler to be assembled around it. Back to the chassis next methinks. G

Peter, A real treat to see this yesterday. Instantly recognisable and full marks for the exceptional modelling of the sweeping ironwork of the overall roof. With such a repetitive structure it's essential that the even spacing of columns is maintained, which you have achieved perfectly. Once the track and buildings are completed, I look forward to seeing how you portray the hustle and bustle of the station without overdoing it. One of the advantages of doing it in 2mmFS is that your eye can initially take in the whole of the scene before focusing on the detail. I hope that feature can be maintained. Thanks for your contribution to what was an excellent day. Geraint

Jonathan, Hoping you have received some positive news today. My day has been spent in the archives of the LNWR Society, helping to catalogue a bequest from a deceased member with a specific interest in the Cromford & High Peak and the railways around Buxton. In the middle of one of his collections of miscellaneous paperwork I found this and thought of you straight away. (Apologies that it's uploaded wrong way up). Not that I'm suggesting that you change your wonderful creation in any way! Best wishes, Geraint

Riveting stuff! Back from an enjoyable holiday in Norway, I judged that it was time to get on with applying the Archers rivets to the rejsegodsvogne. Of course none of the rivet spacings matched those on my sheet, so they all had to be applied individually. And, having taken the photograph, I find there's one missing. No prizes for guessing where! Only 3 more sides and 4 ends to go - about 360 rivets I think. (Sigh!)

The picture from Alan Rimmer that inspired the model. G

Yes, lots if individual bricks laid in a herringbone pattern onto a plasticard base covered with 1mm graph paper. Took me a long time and probably accounts for my fragile mental state for a good while afterwards! G

Answer = plasticard + wire + lots of individually placed rivets. Great fun! Must get round to restoring this model some day! G

Starting to think about the internal detailing of the waiting room at Bricket Wood. The drawings I have show a fireplace, but are not detailed enough to tell me exactly how they are designed. Given the North Western's propensity for standardisation, I'm assuming that there was a standard fireplace. The question is - does anyone have a picture of one please?

Chris, Sorry if I haven't picked this up elsewhere, but do you have any observations on the choice of materials used? I tried laser cut 1mm mdf for a couple of Danish wagons I am building (see my thread elsewhere), but concluded that it was just too difficult to get nice square framing and accurately spaced planks, so I went back to my favoured plasticard instead.

Just a brief note to explain the lack of posts on this thread at the moment. For the past 10 years or so, my focus has been quite far away from Derbyshire, modelling the private railways of Denmark in P87. Whilst the layout (Obbekaer) has been finished for some time, there are still some items of rolling stock to be built, and with a couple of exhibition invites received for September and the following February, I've decided that my priorities should be to finish those. That's not quite all, however, as the model of Friden is designed to be a home layout that will be open to visiting operators from time to time. I therefore decided that it needed proper accommodation to make it an attractive proposition for myself and my visitors. Building work is therefore on the cards over the coming months, and the first stage in that process is to relocate my workshop to the smallest bedroom in the house, keeping the paraphernalia of modelling away from playing trains. I'll keep up the periodic posts on this thread when something interesting occurs. The truth is that I'm itching to make more progress on the layout, but sadly the builders must come first! In the mean time, here's a few pictures to remind you of the subject. Source - Les Nixon 68006 ready to leave with water tanks for Middleton, 1966 Source - Les Nixon Ivatt 2-6-0 46465 shunts the Buxton goods, 22 July 1966 Source - Anon J94s about to leave with railtour for Middleton, 4 March 1967

Springing and brake gear on the first rejsegodsvogn this afternoon. Wheels are Gibson 10.5mm 10 spoke - they should really be open spoke but these are not available. P4 profile with a few thou skimmed of the front and back to give the required tyre width of 1.75mm for P87, then mounted on short muffs of 2mm OD x 1mm ID brass tube. Final assembly will have them mounted on a 1mm diameter axle with parallel ends that runs in Exactoscale parallel bearings. The springing arrangement mirrors that used in various P4 applications these days, with the bearing carrier retained by a combination of the spring wire and two small tabs on the w-iron. Brakes are from my etches. These would have been operated by hand from a capstan inside the van and will require a pair of v-hangers holding a transverse rod in the middle of the floor. The small lengths of tube on the inner end of each w-iron will have the Jackson couplings secured there by Loctite in due course and the two protruding plates at the outer ends have a v notch which help to centre the coupling and maintain it at the right height above the rail head. Hopefully I can get the other van to the same stage this week. All a bit fiddly, but quite satisfying!

More progress with the rejsegodsvogne. Both bodies are now assembled and have turned out to be robust little structures. The plasticard framing is a lot more crisp than the previous mdf version and will allow all the bolt detail to be applied with Archers' transfers in due course. Buffers from Weinert have now been added and I've made a start on the chassis, using 3x1 brass U-section for the sole bars and my own etched w-irons. Springing will follow, along with brake gear. There's a wealth of further detail to add, but for me, that's the most enjoyable bit!

There are times when you have to accept that what you thought was a good idea actually has its problems. I'm afraid that was the case with the laser cut rejsegodsvogn. Whilst the parts had cut out reasonably well, the external framework was rather brittle and because the laser makes a V-cut in the material, thin parts like this end up being narrower than designed. Given that the framework carries some quite visible bolt detail, dimensional accuracy was important. So it was back to my old favourite medium - plasticard. This time the sides and ends are being made from two layers of 20thou, cut out using CAD printouts as templates. The top layer needs the planking detail, which is set out using another template with the planking pattern replicated outside the shape of the plasticard. It's then easy to position the planks with a ruler aligned across the template. The red lines on the template also allow the external framework to be aligned correctly. All of this is building up into a strong little structure, with plenty of opportunity for detail. Best of all, it's proving to be a most enjoyable experience!

Jay, Back home tonight, so will hunt out the plan for you. Layout looking good now, but I was a bit confused by the plant posing as a rather tropical tree in Redhill Quarry! G

Jay, Away with family at the moment, but when I get home I think I've got a detailed plan of the site which shows the relative position of the three buildings, if that’s of any use. G

An opportunity for a tiny bit of research yesterday as I spotted this in the yard at Ropley on the Mid Hants Railway. One of these (12006) was trialled on the High Peak in the 1950s, but the trial was obviously unsuccessful. G

Jay, If I recall correctly, Gordon and Maggie Gravett have used a thin layer of PVA with white pepper dusted on, applied through a sieve. Probably worth having a practice first! G

A bit more progress, as the tank formers and cab front have now been assembled on the footplate of the N. Starting to realise what an odd-shaped little beast this is! G

John, This may have been covered elsewhere, but if the home signal remains in the off position for a while, shouldn't the distant cycle through amber, double amber, then green, which implies that the train in front is progressively clearing the sections ahead? Or have I missed something? G

Despite the recent blackout, there has been an upsurge of activity in the RGVJ workshops, prompted primarily by a couple of exhibition invites being received for the 2022/3 'season'. Firstly, the Frichs diesel is progressing through the various stages of painting. When I last reported, the roof and bodywork had been completed and both had received initial primer coats. Since then, the underframe has also been completed, with the addition of 3D-printed axleboxes, and has now progressed through to a first coat of weathered black. The body is now in RGVJ 'wine red' and transfers have been applied. The remaining work includes fitting of brake gear to the chassis and glazing to the body, before testing and weathering. Secondly, the first body for the rejsegodsvogne has been assembled. This has at least proved that the principle of a laser cut mdf 'kit' is feasible, but I'm not too happy with the external framework, which needs to be more substantial. Back to the drawing board methinks! Finally, and most notably, I've made a start on the Litra N 0-4-0T. PPD have produced the etches for me, and I've made a start on the chassis, which is seen here being fitted with its hornblocks. As usual, I've made a jig on which to assemble things, comprising a copy of the CAD plan stuck to a sheet of 6mm ply, which is invaluable when it comes to handling such a small beast - the loco is only 70mm long! The same jig is then used, with packing pieces, to mount the footplate for the fitting of buffer beams and splashers. And just to remind you what we're aiming for ............ More to come as the project progresses! G

Jay, The theory was that both locos could be employed to get the daily 9a.m. freight to the top of Hopton, where one would be detached to work back to Middleton via the quarries at Hopton Wood and Prestwich Intake, whilst the other did the round trip to Friden or Parsley Hay. That said, I've never seen a photo of the 9a.m. freight being double headed. Maybe the trains operated separately, one on the staff and the other on a ticket, with the wagons being combined into one train at Hopton Top. By the mid-60s the traffic had shrunk to the extent that only one loco was needed. Regards, G

Was looking out for you today, but we obviously weren't in the same place at the same time! It was good to catch up with Gordon and Maggie again, plus a few others. 7mm is quite tempting, but I can't contemplate a new scale at my time of life - too much left in the "cupboard of shame"! Must arrange the High Peak get together, now that the weather's improving. I like the engine shed by the way - very impressive! G