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Barry Ten

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  1. Barry Ten

    93XX progress

    By Barry Ten,


    GWR
    Following on from my post of a month or so back about accepting yesterday's standards as being "good enough", here's the sort of finished 93XX, now with the Comet cylinders as promised. They make a big difference I reckon.
     

     
    I say "sort of" finished because the livery and tender transfers are just to get something into BR service without doing a full repaint from the original GWR green. I removed the latter's lettering with T-cut, then added HMRS transfers for the late crest. I opted for the larger of the two sizes as these seemed about right for a photo I had of a Collett goods tender in unlined green. Now I have to fess up and say I've not been working from a photo of a 93 in similar condition, but I've made the assumption some would have carried this scheme  - however that could be an assumption too far! However as mentioned, it's the easiest route to getting it into BR condition without a repaint into black or fully lined green. Another consideration is that the model as it stands lacks the weight added behind the buffer beam that was eventually removed and the engines then renumbered into the 73XX series. However, for now... 
     
    The model was already DCC fitted using a hardwired Digitrax decoder, but after extensive running I found the performance a bit sluggish and inconsistent in speed. I've found that the inexpensive Laisdcc decoders seem to work well straight out of the box, so the model was taken apart and rewired, this time incorporating an 8-pin socket in the tender.  A Laisdcc decoder was tested and resulted in an immediate improvement in the running, having lots more power in reserve and not being prone to inconsistent speed in different parts of the layout. I'm no expert but my guess is that older decoders like the Digitrax one seem to be much more sensitive to varying current draw and voltage irregularities. In any case the cost of a Laisdcc decoder is low enough that I won't hesitate to try a swap if I suspect an older decoder isn't getting the best out of a loco.
     
     
     
     
  2. Barry Ten
    This week's project has been this Maudslay ML3 bus from the very old Peco kit.
     
    I built one of these for my old layout back in the 80s, but for some mysterious reason it never resurfaced when my train stuff finally came out of storage a decade
    and a half later. Everything else did, but not the bus, which was always considered a bit of a shame as I was fond of the model and reckoned I'd done not too bad
    a job on it considering my teenage modelling abilities.
     
     
     
    It's still not turned up (I'm starting to suspect it may be lost!) so I decided to build another one. I can't remember if I glazed the original model - there's no glazing
    material in the kit - but whatever the case, I thought I'd try flush-glazing it this time, so once the basic shell was assembled, I spent a couple of evenings cutting
    and test-fitting small rectangles of clear plastic, and securing them with Glue-and-Glaze. Once I was reasonably satisfied with the windows, I completed the
    painting in my approximation of the Western National colours, and the next job will be to apply the decals and see if my general stash of transfers has any plain
    gold lining for the division between the cream and green.
     
    The roof is only attached loosely at this point as I intend to put one or two passengers into the model.
     
    This is a really nice little kit which adds a touch of period elegance to our station forecourts, and it was enjoyable to revisit it after so many years.
     
    Edit- the original photos were lost, so here are some new ones including the underside with rocking suspension on the rear axle.
     

     

     

     
     
    In other modelling news, but vaguely connected in terms of period and regional subject, my Hornby T9 spent a few hours on the workbench last week. There were two issues with my model, which was from the original batch: some of the details had been misapplied in the factory, and the model had also suffered some damage at my own hands, not too long after purchase. Some of the damage had been fixed a few years ago, but one of the lamp irons needed replacing, a split in the footplate and buffer beam still had to be addressed, and some of the boiler details had come loose. These items were attended to, and then I turned to the things Hornby got wrong. The copper pipework between the driving wheels was fixed the wrong way around on these models, so the moulding was removed, swapped around and re-fitted - a small detail, and not really noticeable, but nice to have it right. The more annoying issue was that the tender frames were also the wrong way round, and this required some more brutal dismantling and surgery, due to the originals being glued in place.
     
    Once the model was repaired and its errors rectified, I set about weathering it, something I'd never got around to before because I always meant to fix the faults first. The look I was after was one of a loco that was showing signs of hard work, but where the attractive elements of the livery still came through, so it was mainly a question of applying various weathering hues and then taking off what I didn't need, until I felt that the effect was getting near what I wanted. I found the white boiler lining hard to tone down to my satisfaction - it was a very fine balance between too subdued, and too garish. I find that going back over the boiler work with a clean cotton bud produces a semi-gloss burnished look which begins to get away from the plastic look, and more in the direction of oily/metallic.
     
    This model still runs absolutely superbly, I''m pleased to say.
     

     
     


  3. Barry Ten

    You little Minx

    By Barry Ten,


    GWR
    After a trip to the dentist last week I treated myself by popping into the toys & collectables shop on our high street. They sometimes have some railway stuff and I had my eye on a Superquick church kit that I'd spotted in the window a week or two earlier. Alas, the aforementioned ecclesiastical structure had gone but a rummage in one of the bins turned up a nice little white metal car kit in the John Day range. Although I didn't realise it at the time, it's a prewar/war Hillman Minx.
     

     
    The kit was remarkably simple, consisting of just two main castings, one for the body and one for the chassis/wheels. The castings were of excellent quality and needed minimal attention. The only other bits were two castings for the headlamps, and a vac-formed glazing piece. I discarded the latter, preferring to make up my own windows from spare transparent packaging. It took several goes for the front windscreen but I think the end result is preferable.
     

     
    The model was "assembled" using cyano for the metal and glue-n-glaze for the windows, then brushed with Humbrol enamels. I thought it was a cracking kit so will be investigating more from the very inexpensive John Day range.
     
    Another second-hand find was a very tatty old Lesney caravan that my wife found for me in an antiques market or similar. After languishing in my get-around-to-it-one-day box, I bit the bullet last week. The model was dismantled, cleaned up, repainted and flush-glazed (there was none with the original) using the same material as the Minx. The original was a very pale blue so I went for a similar Humbrol colour (also treating the Oxford diecast car at the same time). It's one of those vaguely depressing, institutional-looking 1950s colours that look good on Fender guitars and not much else! I don't know anything about road-vermin (sorry, caravans) but I think it looks 50s ish to my untrained eye.
     

     
    And there you have it, a couple of bargain- bin finds now given new life, which I very much enjoy.
  4. Barry Ten
    Following the theme of the last entry, here are two more cheap and cheerful vehicular restorations.
     

     
    The 3.4 litre Jag is a Lesney model that was in a very tatty state. I flush-glazed it from the outside using Glue-n-glaze as I didn't want to faff around getting into the rivetted interior. It worked surprisingly well although I've not always had success with glazing big gaps like the windscreen. The model was repainted. The Lesney wheels were retained, but I swapped the original crude axles for new ones which slightly improves the look.
     
    I'm not sure if this is the same type of Jag as driven by Morse but I couldn't resist painting it red.
     
    The Rolls takes bargain modelling to the extreme - this one started off as very basic plastic toy in a Christmas cracker. I dismantled it, glazed it, added a rudimentary interior, and then painted it the same red as the Jag. It retains the original wheels but moved slightly out on their axles for a better look.
     
    Both models will benefit from numberplates when I can source some suitable items.
  5. Barry Ten
    Pushing on with the theme of digging out old kits, a good rummage in my boxes unearthed a nice little Scale Link kit for a1928 Morgan:
     

     
    I don't remember buying this, but the "GM&S" price label is a giveaway as to its age. Godfather Models & Supply was a very good Dutch model railway specialist with a finescale bias. I don't think I ever visited the shop, but they went to the two large Dutch exhibitions that I used to attend from time to time, and were a good source of things like Precision paints, Gibson wheels, Slaters kits and so on. They catered for the Dutch market but there were obviously enough modellers in the Netherlands with an interest in UK stuff to justify including some British-specific items, such as the Morgan. I think I even bought a Slaters clerestory coach from them.
     

     
    GM&S still has a website, but I don't know if it's still an ongoing business.
     
    Anyway, onto the Morgan. I'd glanced at the kit from time to time over the years but never felt quite in the mood to build it, but once I got the pieces out onto my bench, it almost fell together. The parts were generally clean and the fit was excellent.
     

     
    The instructions suggested green, cobalt blue or post office red would be good livery options. Happily, since I'd also been working on the postboxes,  I had some red already open and stirred! Actually it's just bog-standard Humbrol red, but if you don't tell, I won't.
     

     
    The finished model is tiny. How spiffing it must have been to be driving one of these around in 1928! The only addition to the kit was a pair of windscreen glasses, made from acetate.
     
    As for the postboxes, I've now completed the K6 (see previous entry for the K1) and it stands here in comparison with a ready-to-plonk one from either Hornby or Bachmann. The RTP one doesn't look too bad, but the sides, with their printed-on bars, inevitably lack a bit of relief and presence compared to the etched one. However I think either would work fine as long as they're not right next to each other. The fittings in the RTP one are much too modern for a steam-era layout but you can't open the door anyway so they don't really jump out. On the plus side, the "telephone" signs look nicer on the RTP one.
     

     
    That's all for now! Thanks for reading and hope this is of interest.
  6. Barry Ten
    Recent developments in the hobby have thrown several factors into relief, including the relative cost of new models versus spending power, and the general demographic of modellers as we all age. I've certainly been spending less on my UK outline in the last year or so, although it took a conversation in a model shop - talking about the relative merits and price points of the Accurascale and Bachmann Class 37s  - to finally pin-point, to me, the reason why I'm spending less, at least on engines. I've got a number of Class 37s, but other than a revamped Triang-Hornby one from the early 70s, they're all from about 2005 - 2010, when the second wave of Bachmann ones arrived, along with the short-lived but quite acceptable ViTrains ones. I've not been tempted by the newer models simply because, while I can see their obvious merits, the older ones already hit that "good enough" spot for me. Perhaps it's because my modelling tends to be big-picture, more focused on the 3-foot view of trains in the landscape, but these models don't represent enough of a step-change to get me considering a purchase, let alone a wholesale upgrade of the fleet. And taking a long, hard look at my modelling priorities over the last 30-40 years (back to when I was into trains as a teenager) I can't help but feel that "good enough", for me, more or less coincided with the arrival of the improved RTR locos from Mainline, Airfix/GMR (and even Lima) in the late 70s and early 80s. These models didn't necessarily look great out of the box, with shiny wheels, shiny motion awful loco-tender gaps and crude couplings, but they were (generally) more or less the right shape, were painted and finished well, and had a decent amount of separate detail - more than could always be said for the contemporary Hornby models of the period. Where the details weren't quite right, it was within the scope of the modeller to improve them. And the better models from Hornby were coming along as well, so things were generally on the up.
     
    At the risk of undermining my thesis, I did buy an Accurascale Manor. I wasn't intending to, but when I saw one in a shop, it looked so good that I had to succumb. And, it's a lovely, smooth-running model that absolutely screams "Manor".
     

     
    But then again, my 20-year old Bachmann one still does it for me - it also couldn't possibly be anything other than a Manor, even though there are subtle and less-so-subtle differences in body shape between the two releases. The Accurascale one has a slightly lower, sportier look, for instance - but that's only really apparent when they're next to each other. My Bachmann one, despite being a split-chassis model, runs superbly on DCC, complete with a decent sound decoder in the tender. Other than converting the chassis to accept a decoder (not too hard with these GWR locos) the only mod I needed was to add additional pickups to the bogie. For me, again, the advantages of the Accurascale one are plain to see, but it's a delta rather than a step-change. For that reason, unless I'm tempted by a livery not represented by my Bachmann examples, I'll likely stick with just the one Accurascale example, beautiful model that it is.
     
    In similar vein, I've retained my fleet of GWR moguls, not being tempted by the Dapol examples. When I saw the reviews, I could see negative deltas as well as positive ones - the unrealistic flare on the slide bars, for instance. Again, I'm sure they're basically very nice models, but they weren't quite enough to tempt me, not when I already had a couple of DCC-converted 53XX moguls to keep me happy (again, one with sound) which I knew to be reliable performers with about 20 years of running behind them.
     
    I'm not sure if Dapol have done the 93XX variant, but again, my preference was to turn to an older model already in my collection. There's a minor issue with the Bachmann body, though:
     

     
    The front footplate profile is correct for a 53XX but wrong for a 93XX. For the latter type (with the side-window cab) the footplate drop starts further forward, and the bit behind the buffer is correspondingly shorter. In one of his books, Iain Rice describes fixing this via a cut-and-shut conversion, so I thought I'd give it a go. Here, in true Blue Peter fashion, is one I did earlier:
     

     
    In essence three cuts are required, using a razor-saw. Separate the entire front of the footplate, including the drop, by cutting up from below in line with the smokebox saddle. The moulding gives a nice reference for this cut. With the front part then detached, make two additional cuts to remove a section from the flat part just above the pony wheels. This bit is then used to extend the main footplate, pushing the start of the drop out by a couple of mms - more or less in line with the front of the smokebox. I let this bond harden overnight, while simultaneously glueing the buffer beam section to the now-isolated drop, producing a shorter front. Once I was satisfied that these two bits were welded, I joined them together using a crude levelling platform to keep the whole assembly from drooping while it hardened off. Some Humbrol filler and Mr Surfacer was then used to tidy up the joins a bit.
     
    I had to fabricate new support rods - not sure why, as the "geometry" shouldn't have changed - but I couldn't get the old ones to fit neatly without distorting the footplate, and they were too stiff to rework. I guess it's a case of tiny variations being enough to throw things out, so it was safer to make new ones from 0.45mm brass.
     
    The shortened footplate section gives the loco a much more pugnacious, purposeful look in my view.
     
    There's more that can be done. The chimneys would benefit from replacing (but I don't have any suitable at the moment), while the undersized cylinders can also be improved. This is a cheat as it's a 53XX I did earlier, but grafting Comet castings and etchings onto the Bachmann ones isn't too difficult:
     

     
    (Sorry about that front pony!).
     
    There's no soldering involved, just a bit of filing, glueing and filler. The same cylinder mod will make a big difference to the 93XXs, too. The Comet GWR 2-cylinder parts can be obtained from Wizard Models at a very reasonable price.
     
    So anyway, more of a ramble about personal modelling standards and what's "good enough" than anything earth-shattering, but here we are. I must stress that if I didn't have any GWR moguls (or ones that ran well) I'd have jumped on the Dapol ones, but with a number of legacy models already in my collection, and liking the opportunity to do a bit of hands-on modelling, I'll be sticking with these for the foreseeable. Given that they're all more than 20 years old, there's every chance of them having another 20-odd years of gentle running in them ... at which point they might well see me out!
     
    Happy New Year to all readers, if it isn't too late to say so.
  7. Barry Ten
    At RailWells last summer I did the usual thing of buying various detailing bits which then languished in a brown paper bag until rediscovery last week. One of these was a nice pair of Shire Scenes etched brass kits for a K1 and K6 telephone kiosk. i decided to have a go at them over the last few evenings.
     
    The K1 (as I've since learned) was an early 1920s design and the first real mass produced public telephone box. Although most have now gone, there are still one or two dotted around the country. With their distinctly period look, and white and red paint scheme, I think they make a nice contrast to the more familiar all-over red type.
     
    The Shire Scenes kit is from the Dart range and goes together reasonably straightforwardly. The upper part consists of a pyramid sitting on a trough-like tray, and I found I needed a bit of filler here and there to get it all looking solid. Once complete, the model was painted all over white with Humbrol paint, allowed to dry, and then masked off for the red bits. There's a bit of interior detail which is nice. I painted the "telephone" bits red, and the dry-brushed over the top to make the letters stand out.
     

     
    I didn't really have a spot in mind for the model, but having recently done a bit of work on The Swan pub and its environs, I thought it would look good next to the post box already present in this scene. Don't ask me if this type of post box would have coexisted with the K1 kiosk!
     

     
    I also made a start on the K6 kiosk, and I thought it would be good to be able to swap them, so the K1 and K6 are both mounted on plugs of rectangular-section plastic rod which allow them to be swapped in and out of the scene. The K6 (basically the type we all know and love, at least if you're old enough to have used them regularly) is suitable for the 1930s onward. 
     
    In a wider view, the kiosk adds a welcome splash of contrasting colour to the pub.
     

     

     
    I'm really delighted with this little model, especially those fine etched finials (or whatever they are) which really add a touch of delicacy.
     
    Cheers, and thanks for reading.
  8. Barry Ten
    I enjoyed taking Paynestown to the Barry show organised in support of Alzheimer's UK. It was a very nice day out with plenty of friends involved with other layouts and just helping out, with much thanks due to Brian and Paul Rolley for instigating the event and making the whole day relaxed and convivial. By happy coincidence I was also collecting for a separate Alzheimer's event so my bucket was plonked on the same table as the layout!
     

     
    I brought along a rubber mallet, not to scare people but to give a gentle tap to the back of the layout in the event of any locos stalling! It proved quite handy and presumably an improvement on the hand of god! 
     

     
    Thanks to Dave Stone for the pics above, and for helping out with operations. It was also good to see our chum Roger drop by for an hour or two.
     
    I also took a few general snaps of the layout in action.
     
    Thanks all who dropped by, and who left some money in the bucket!
     

     
     

     

     

  9. Barry Ten
    Paynestown's public outing is coming up fast, and inevitably there's a rush to get a lot of jobs done, compounded by the fact that I'm travelling on the two days prior to the exhibition! I think it's nearly there, though, provided I get a good weekend of tasks done.
     
    Other than adding additional wagons to the stock box, by way of converting their couplings, the other main job has been further tidying up of the fascia, ready for its final coat of paint. I've opted for a satin warm grey which I think ought to work, but as ever the proof will be in the pudding. The main "presentational" job still to be done is to add a piece to the lighting rig, to support a small nameboard.
     
    The rest of the work has been on the scenic detailing side, with a few jobs still awaiting. Here's a grab-bag of random views and angles, with a few comments:
     

     
    This is the view I was keen to preserve by not wrapping the backscene all the way around the right hand side of the layout. If there was a conventional backscene, you might just be able to get a small camera into this position, but not your head.
     

     
    A similar view, showing the train waiting to depart. The Dapol bracket signal is a pragmatic compromise between "correct" and "functioning"! I've built some working signals in 00, but I couldn't wrap my head around such fiddly task in N, so the Dapol option it is. The idea is that the taller of the two signals controls departures from the main platform, while the shorter one is for the bay.
     
    Anyone who objects will be automatically entered into a raffle to get the commission to build an accurate working replacement.
     

     
    Still waiting for departure, this time with the terraced houses prominent. Still much painting and final finishing needing doing here.
     

     
    Evident in the earlier shots, I've added a barrow crossing here. I'm holding off on a representation of point rodding (let alone signal cables) for now, as I don't think I've got the skill to do it justice in N. I can just about get away with tolerable rodding in 00, but I feel it might draw attention to itself more than the absence does, if that makes sense. 
     

     
    The chapel is now fixed down and some rudimentary scenic work has been attended to around it.
     

     
    Dropping the camera down even lower hints at the kind of low-level, looking up the hillside angle I really hoped to capture.
     

     
    Sonic's 56XX still impresses, especially with a touch of weathering to bring out the exquisite detail. I've got two more of these, but I'm no closer to adding new numbers/decals to them than I was six months ago, so it'll be just the one for now. Fortunately, the three other panniers can pick up the operational slack.
     

     
    A close-up of the goods shed showing some enjoyable clutter from Langley castings.
     

     
    And a final close-up of the 56XX. Such magnificent locos - tons of presence for just a tank engine, I feel.
     
    That's it for now. Thanks for reading, and following along to date.
     
  10. Barry Ten

    Bye bye for now...

    By Barry Ten,


    LMS/BR
    Stourpayne Marshall is no more!  Or at least, it's back in its box for the time being. When I switched my layout from GWR mode to S&D mode back at the end of summer 2020, I had no idea that I'd keep the S&D theme for the best part of three years. However, it's been far too much fun running Bulleid pacifics, Fowler locos, Black 5s and so on to want to stop. However, I decided this week that was enough was enough (my GWR locos were feeling neglected)  so over the course of an evening or so, the great reversion was achieved.
     
    Stourpayne Marshall just before "closure":
     

     
    And the return of King's Hintock:
     

     
    Of course this transformation is greatly simplified by not swapping the signals, which is a bit of a cheat, but works for me. The only major job is reconnecting all the wiring for the lights on King's Hintock, a fiddly hour or so trying to remember wiring "logic" and cursing myself for not labelling things properly. Stourpayne Marshall had no lit buildings, since none of the S&D-themed trains were illuminated either, but a few of my WR ones can run at night so it's worth the trouble.
     
    This is by no means the end of Stourpayne Marshall, in case anyone was concerned - it's just going into storage for a bit, until I feel the GWR layout getting a bit samey and want a change. All the interchangeable bits go into a big plastic storage box and can be shoved out of the way with no fear of damage.
     
  11. Barry Ten

    Paynestown - pushing on

    By Barry Ten,


    GWR
    With Paynestown's appearance at the Barry show just over a month away, I've been pushing on with some of the outstanding tasks.  Most of the work has been on the right hand end, including the building of this pub from a Metcalf kit:
     

     
    I toned down/adjusted the colouring with washes, added a proper roof and some gutters and drainpipes, but other than that it's as Metcalf intended. I've named it the Railway Inn and made it a Rhymney & Crosswells pub. I spent a happy few hours looking at old photos on the internet of Rhymneys pubs, of which there are many nice examples, all displaying a variety of signs and lettering.
     
    It's not bedded down yet and needs levelling to get it to sit correctly.
     
    I've also pushed on with the terrace leading up to the hill to the pub:
     

     

     

     
    The original idea was that these houses would run all the way up to the pub, but once I'd built the latter and tried it in-situ, I decided the composition would work a bit better with a gap between the last terrace and the aforementioned inn. Partly this is to give a nice view through to the station, partly to show off the lettering on the end of the pub, and mainly to resolve the problem of what to do with the terrace chimney that would be abutting the pub wall. As far as I'm aware, such a thing would not be permitted unless the chimney was built up to at least the apex of the pub roof, which in turn would mean a much wider base to the chimney, which I felt would look disproportionate. Hence, take the easy way out and add a gap! This will be developed into a bit of rough ground, with a little lane leading to the back of the terraces.
     
    At the other end, I've added a bit of geology in the form of this outcropping beneath the goods yard:
     

     
    This was inspired (loosely) by some reddish rocks seen near the road between Mountain Ash and Abercynon, so not out of keeping for the presumed location.
     
    I've also added a smaller outcropping above the carriage shed, as seen earlier!:
     

     
    Other work has been focused on progressing with the backscene, for which I wanted a vague, misty suggestion of distant hills, reminiscent of a typical soggy day in South Wales.
     

     

     

     
    Still lots to be done! But hopefully it's within the realm of what can be achieved in a month, with steady progress.
  12. Barry Ten
    The first loco bought with the intention of an eventual South Wales-themed layout in N was the then-new Dapol 57XX pannier. At the time I could only test it easily under DCC, so I put in a small decoder and tried it on the American layout. It was rubbish. but I (naively) assumed it would  improve with some running-in and so on. Not a chance! After I got it out of its box again for Paynestown, I was reminded how hopeless it had been to begin with. It would only do very jerky starts, couldn't run at slow speed, and was prone to stalling at any excuse, seemingly often at random on otherwise plain ttrack. Absolutely no good at all for the kind of work required on a BLT although it might just have been acceptable on a roundy-roundy.
     
    No amount of tweaking or running-in made much diference, so I investigated further by dismantling the thing. I found that the root of the problem was with the motor itself, which needed quite a large kick voltage to start turning, even when not under any load. You could hear it humming as it tried to move. I don't know if this was just a bad motor, or whether Dapol skimped on the motors generally, but it's not a characteristic I've run into with any of the small can motors I've encountered, all of which which start turning silently almost as soon as voltage is applied.
     
    Seeking a solution, I found that Tramfabriek do a range of drop-in coreless motors for Dapol engines. While the 57XX wasn't one of them, I took a punt that the one for the Terrier might work in a pinch. It wasn't too expensive, and I reasoned that if it couldn't be made to work at all, I'd still have a nice motor to put in a Terrier! The main issue was going to be the compatibility of the shaft diameters, and whether the Tramfabriek worm gear would play nicely with the existing gears, or would need swapping for the original one.
     

     
    With the body off, I fashioned a motor-mount from a  piece of Evergreen I-section plastic and tacked it and the motor in place with dabs of cyano, just as an first go. It seemed to work quite nicely - certainly a vast improvement on what had been there before. I can't vouch for it being mechanically "correct" but as a bodge, it works for me - although I'll stress that the kit is not meant for the Pannier.
     
    With the original mechanism, the motor is lodged up in the pannier body. Removing it frees up a lot of space which can now be profitably filled with lead, adding to the all-up weight of the loco.
     

     
    I still wasn't 100% happy, so I took a leaf from a thread I found on Rmweb about improving a 2mm conversion of the pannier, by adding wiper pickups. I made mine from the thinnest brass I had, then added blobs of solder to make the contact point. They then need careful adjustment to make sure they're scraping the rails, but at the same time not lifting the loco.
     
     

     
    https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/64660-Dapol-pannier-a-haynes-manual/
     
    Mine aren't very neat (a first go) but it's surprising how well they're hidden once the loco is reassembled:
     

     
    They just tuck in between the wheels and behind the brake rods, and they're not even painted yet. If I can source some thinner brass, I'll make a second attempt but they work for now.
     
    Here's a short clip showing the loco in action:
     
     
    It still needs to be "driven" but previously it couldn't complete any sort of manoevre without at least a stall, so this is a great step in the right direction.
     
    Incidentally, aside from the motor issues, I think the other possible flaw is that the chassis is too rigid. The Bachmann and Sonic locos all have a tiny amount of play in the axles, equating to a crude kind of compensation. With the Dapol one, it's so rigid that there's often going to be just one wheel in contact with the rails on one side, which then only needs to hit a tiny bit of dirt to stall.
     
    Dapol seem to be revisiting their earlier N locos so perhaps the 57XX will get a better mechanism in due course. The body is exquisite, so it's certainly one well worth upgrading.
     
     
  13. Barry Ten
    I'm the worst for leaving the boring jobs until the last minute, but for this layout I was determined not to be caught out and to try and get ahead on the less exciting tasks, including sorting out the fascia and the lighting rig. It'll still be a mad rush at the end I know, but at least the presentational aspects should be reasonably finished.
     
    This view shows most of the layout, with a start made on the fascia, and also with the LED lighting in place for the first time. The latter definitely gives a different aspect to the whole thing, reducing shadows and generally cooling down the overall look compared to the "ambient" lighting I was making do with before, basically just whatever lamps I could get hold of.
     

     
    Another view in the opposite direction. I'm pleased with how the rear retaining wall's texture pops out under the LED, compared to how it looked before. I used a single cabinet-light style batten from B&Q, which runs the whole length of the layout. The unit itself was incredibly light, a real advantage compared to the fluorescent tubes I've used in the past. I've attached it to a demountable boom which projects out over the layout from the fiddle yard end (so only attached at the left hand side) and which bolts on and off very easily. I'm pretty sure the whole layout will fit in the car with the lighting rig still in place, but for the sake of a few moments it's probably sensible to take it on and off.
     

     
    A few more general shots follow, just to give a flavour of how the layout looks under the new light.
     


     

     

     

     
    There is still much to be done, but at least as I push forward now, it'll be with the knowledge that the lighting is more or less settled, especially important when it comes to things like the backscene where you want to be painting under consistent illumination. Of course
    one can't make all that much allowance for the ambient light at the exhibition venue itself, but the dominant light source ought to be from the LED now. Incidentally with the lighting rig in place, it's STILL just possible to reach behind the layout from the front, so front-of-house operation is still an option, even if it requires some awkward contortions on the part of the exhibitor! Best keep off the pies between now and August...
     
    Cheers and thanks for reading.
  15. Barry Ten
    Nothing very dramatic here, just a bit more progress in the general direction of scenery. I've begun adding some additional fencing along the road, and developed it more greenery on the right side of the layout. It all helps with the feeling that the layout is slowly knitting together.
     

     
    These rustic wooden fences were made using Peco plastic sheets, cut into short lengths with scissors, then suitably abused along the top to suggest a degree of creeping dereliction. As with the earlier corrugated fencing I added, I've scraped along the backs of the tops to lessen the thickness of the sheet a bit, although it's a dodge that only works well from the front.
     

     
    The corrugated stuff will eventually continue along nearly the whole length of the layout, hiding the wheels of the locos from view when viewed from a low angle.
     

     
    The much-modified 57XX is settling down quite nicely with its new motor, although time will tell whether it's mainly rostered on passenger or freight duties. Passenger operation is generally more forgiving as there is a lot less stopping and starting than shunting, although it does seem to be acquitting itself reasonably well in the latter role.
     

     
    Easing into view below is another Bachmann Farish 64XX which I've just acquired, and the plan is for this one to be mainly rostered on the auto-train. My first 64Xx was such a sweet runner (still is) that it was a no-brainer to acquire a second, filling another "pannier" slot in the absence of better reliability from the Dapol models. This one still has its standard N gauge couplings, but they'll soon be for the chop. I think it makes a huge difference to the realism of these locos to put less obtrusive couplings on, far more of an equivalent gain than in the larger scales.
     

     
    Another view of the 57XX. This has had a dose of weathering, which does help bring out the excellent body detail.
     

     
    A couple of tank wagons. The idea is that they've just been shunted here temporarily, before waiting to be attached to another train. I've been slowly adding more wagons with DG couplings - still got a couple more to do but at the moment there's just enough variety for a short operating session, or a long one if you take lots of cups of tea between moves!
     

     
    A low-down view showing a Hornby Little End resin chapel, which looked to be just the ticket for Paynestown. I'm not sure if it'll remain in this spot - I'm still at the shuffling things around stage, seeing what works where and what doesn't. There were two chapels on the original layout, with a small tin tabernacle and a much larger brick-built one, but I think there'll just be this one here for now.
     

     
    General work around the goods shed has seen some preliminary neatening up of the hard road surface. Comparison with much earlier shots will also show how I cut back the foreground siding a bit, allowing better access to the goods shed. It meant losing a few wagon spots but I think the trade-off was worth it in terms of things not looking too cramped and contrived. Although it's still compact and bijou!
     

     
    Yes (above) that TOPS branded 12T van is a bit anomalous but it'll get weathered or something in due course so that the out-of-era branding is not so prominent.
     
    Below, the 64XX and auto-coach wait in the bay. Being plain DC, I've wired section switches for the bay, platform and run-round loop, so while only one engine can move at a time, trains can be held on-scene for added interest and variety.
     

     
    And that's about it for now, hopefully still lots of fun ahead. Thanks for reading.
     
  16. Barry Ten
    The last couple of weekends provided the welcome opportunity for a big push with the scenery on Paynestown, although appearances can be deceptive!
     
     
     

     
    Back at the Bristol show at the start of the month, I was able to find some very cheap sheets of plastic card which were a bit discoloured, but otherwise perfectly fine for modelling. This allowed me to push on with the curved backscene:
     

     

     

     
    Once that was done, there was really no reason not to push on with developing the foreground scenery which was always meant to block off the operating holes cut into the backscene. I must admit I had some trepidation, as once the scenery is in place. the surface-mounted wiring becomes a lot less accessible ... but I've convinced myself that any wiring issues can be addressed in the future, albeit with some difficulty, and probably not in the heat of an exhibition!
     
    Proceeding forth, I began by boxing in the access areas at the rear using foam core formers, then creating contours over that using a shell of foam core contours, kitchen foil, (to provide a basic support for the plaster to come) and then several layers of plaster bandage. Nothing clever or complicated, but just a way of maintaining hollow voids under the hills, just enough for fingers to get in and work the switches from the rear, and/or a soldering iron if repairs are needed. I've found that it is possible to reach all the switches and uncoupling magnet buttons from the front, as well, by reaching back over the backscene, and one soons learns roughly where to grope! However, it's definitely more elegant to do it from the rear of the layout.
     
    Once the hill forms were in place, I added a long retaining wall at the back, using Slaters stone plastic card, with a slight lean to the rear. I then painted a layer of brown acrylic over the plaster, let that dry, then used PVA and 1mm grass fibres to getr a basic treatment in place. It's all very preliminary but it does help me get a feel for how things will look.
     

     

     
    I said appearances can be deceptive, and that's because the right side of the layout is still very much in the bare state of foam core and cardboard. I wanted to get ahead on the left side, partly to give a bit of motivation, but also so that I can provide some photos in advance of a couple of provisional exhibition bookings, including SWAG '24.
     

     
    There is still a lot to be done but I'm pleased to see the 56XX and B-set looking suitably diminished by the scenery, which was my intention.
     
    Onward, and thanks for reading!
     
  17. Barry Ten
    Following a hugely enjoyable SWAG 23, for which many thanks to Rob, Grahame, Stu, Phil, Andy Y and all involved, I returned to sunny South Wales with renewed modelling mojo and a strong desire to push on with the layout.
     
    Recent work has been focused on further tweaking of the trackwork, painting sleepers and rail sides and so on, and generally trying to get it looking semi-finished ( at least on this half of the module) before I move on to other matters.
     

     

     
    Various blobs of solder were either reduced or disguised by painting - hopefully to good effect.
     
    In the meantime, I've added the last of the SEEP electromagnets needed for operation, which has meant I'm able to indulge in some more realistic shunting moves, which has been a good test of what works and what needs attention.
     

     
    I think the positives are that the DG couplings work very well with the magnets, uncouple when you want them to, and tend to stay coupled when you don't want them to uncouple. Not having a large amount of goods vehicles yet converted, the scope for testing is still limited but it's still shown the viability of the layout with regards to the necessary moves and the positioning of the magnets. I've found that the long siding is still tricky with a 56xx and these short wheelbase mineral wagons due to the end-throw of the couplings tending to want to derail the wagon closest to the loco, but this is alleviated by the use of a judicious barrier wagon such as a van or a toad. Rather than being a drawback, I hope that this will just add another operational wrinkle which adds to the fun, rather than detracting from it.
     

     
    And as I hope these pictures show, I've begun to add some more developed scenic contours with the usual Mod Rock type plaster bandage, which I must admit to finding hugely enjoyable (and messy) to work with. There's something almost alchemical about cutting out little slivers of bandage, dipping them in water, hearing the fizz as they react, then beginning to build up three-dimensional shapes which begin to look like real embankments, meadows etc.
     
    On the subject of scenery, I've also started on a steeply sloping valleys terrace, using these Dornaplas cottages as a basis:
     

     
    I've got a lot more of these to do, and they're not yet fixed in position, so there'll be some jigging around until I find a nice arrangement of textures and colours. The roof pitch on the kits as supplied was very steep and definitely not something I recognised in my observations around the Cynon Valley and surrounding locales, so I've cut them back quite severely. I also need to recess the front doors as I've yet to see a valleys terrace building without the door being set back into the front. Other than that I think they work quite well, representing the narrower (older?) type of miner's cottage I see from time to time. Some of these kits are in brick, but since brick-built terraces are extremely rare around here, I'll be "rendering" those with a coating of Mister Surfacer.
     
    So what's this miracle ingredient X, then, almost nobody asked? The answer's graphite. I'd heard that a few flakes of the stuff can have a hugely beneficial effect on running, so I tried some. I've used both dried powered graphite from an applicator, and also just flakes of the stuff off the tip of a B pencil, and the effect is remarkable. At the risk of over-stating it, I'd say the result has been an almost total elimination of stalling, which gives me added confidence that the layout CAN work as a shunting module, at least under the sort of conditions it's faced over the last couple of days in my conservatory. That's a relief, because other than track wipers, there is little scope for improving the pickup of the locos as they stand, and I think I've probably tweaked the track to about the limits of my skill. Anyway, I am greatly motivated to continue adding DG couplings to my few outstanding items of N rolling stock, so that the testing can continue.
     
    Thanks for reading, and for the encouragement to progress with the layout.
  18. Barry Ten
    A spot of dry weather was the spur for taking an overall view of the layout:
     

     
    This is the whole thing now, with the backscene permanently mounted. Just to be on the safe side, I did see if it fitted in the car! It did, and while there was plenty of margin of error on the height and width, I was surprised at how close to the limit it was in terms of length. That's with the back seats folded down, but the front passenger seat still fully upright, allowing for a spare operator! In fact, it should be possible to go with just one rear seat folded, assuming no trestles or legs go with it, so in principle three of us could ride down with the layout.
     

     
    And I've started on the scenic landforms a bit at this end. Speaking for myself, I struggle to maintain interest in a modelling project unless I can hop around and work on different aspects at the same time. So while there's still a magnet to be added, and therefore the wiring isn't yet complete (never mind the rudimentary fiddle yard) I was itching to get on with adding some contours, so that I can start to envisage the thing more clearly in my mind's eye. 
     
    I've also been working on the final tweaks to the track, adjusting a few places here and there where there were some discrepancies in levels between adjoining rails. It's been a learning curve, as I've never had to lay track without fishplates before. To help with the alignment, I started soldering in very short lengths of phosphor-bronze wire into the outside web of the rail, which helps keep things level. I'm using the phosphor-bronze that comes with the DG couplings pack - there's a lot of it, so a few snippets won't go amiss! Another issue is that the recent warmer weather has exposed a few areas where rail expansion was still causing electrical difficulties, so I've had another round of taking care of that issue. Hopefully the ups and downs of temperature we've had over these recent weeks (the layout sits in a cold conservatory overnight) will help give it a thorough stress-test!
     

     
    That's it for now. In the next exciting installment I hope to report on some positive developments with the Dapol pannier.
  19. Barry Ten
    Over the last couple of weeks, I've been building some of the Ratio kits which form the main railway buildings of the layout. As my first venture into scenery in UK N, I quite enjoyed getting to grips with these.
     
    First up is the goods shed, which is where the engine shed used to be on the old layout:
     

     
     

     
    In keeping with the other buildings, and the original layout, I've opted for GWR colours of light and dark stone, rather than WR brown and cream, the idea being that not only has this station not had a lick of paint since before the war (or they're still using up local stocks!)  but that I could run some pre-nationalisation models if so desired.  This isn't too fanciful as some GWR backwaters did retain traces of the older colours right until closure.
     
    I also constructed the GWR signal box:
     

     

     
    This is arguably a bit on the large side (the 4mm one was the much smaller Highley-style box) but I'll just pretend that it controls more than just the visible track - perhaps there's a junction or set of sidings just off-scene. Another enjoyable kit but I found the instructions a bit skimpy. The etched windows are a nice touch, though. I sawed off the enormous chunky base that the model is supposed to be mounted on.
     

     
    In addition, and taking in a view of the layout as a whole, now mounted on a rather rakishly curved sheet of extruded foam:
     

     
    I also made the carriage shed, and I've made a start on the station building to get a feel for how it all fits together.
     
    This view also shows a test-fitting of the backscene. I've cut recesses in it which will allow the operator to work the points and uncoupling
    magnets,  but once finished, the rear scenery will rise up to box these in from the front, with a stone-built retaining wall and steeply sloping hillside. I've opted for a relatively high backscene by N standards (about 12 inches in total) which I hope will help place the models the context of the landscape.
     

     
    One thing that's maybe worth a mention is that there'll be no backscene on the right-side end of the layout, affording a view along the scene, as well as it into it. There'll also be no "proscenium arch" as such - just a dainty lighting support cantilevered off the backscene. The idea is to break away a bit from the New Layout Design Orthodoxy (NLDO) of a high vantage, wings, arch etc, as popularised by Iain Rice et all and which has understandably become the norm. It's popular because it works, and is very effective at framing a scene and constraining viewing angles, but with this one, I want the layout to be viewable from a range of angles and elevations, yet still be well-lit and appear "finished" to a decent standard. To this end, the intention is that it'll be operated from a tabletop (so no trestles or legs needing transport) and be equally suited to viewing from a seated or standing position. I think this works in a valleys context because in reality you could be at almost any given elevation in relation to the scene, so it won't look "wrong" to be looking up, down or sideways! Anyway we'll see, it could all crash and burn!
     
     
     
  20. Barry Ten
    A bit of daylight in the conservatory was the prompt to get on with the slightly fiddly work of making a few more DG couplings! 
     

     
    The Sonic Models 56XX is a lovely model but greatly benefits from losing the chunky couplers, and having the somewhat less
    obtrusive DGs fitted. I made up another two pairs which enabled two 12T vans to be added to the goods fleet, in addtion
    to a short rake of 16 tonners (and a Toad!) already one. It's not much but it does allow for some rudimentary testring, which
    has already thrown up a few "issues".
     
    Incidentally, these Sonic 56s seem very scarce now. I ordered two (both BR black) but I wouldn't mind a third, perhaps in lined
    green. They must have sold very well as none seem to be available anywhere.
     

     
    The tightest point on the layout is the entry to the longer siding, above. Using the 64XX hadn't indicated any problems, but the 56XX showed a tendency to want to derail the first wagon it was pushing, due to side-thrust from the couplers. Happily the solution was just to turn around the 56 so that it's running bunker-first into the station. The end throw at the smokebox end is a bit less than the bunker end, so no further problems were encountered. (I know 56s tended to run smokebox first "up" the steeply ascending valleys lines, to keep water over the boiler crown, but there must have been instances where they ended up facing the other way, due to reversals and so on).
     

     
    After playing with shunting moves for a while, I realised I need an additional magnet! It's a good job as once the layout is embedded onto the blue foam sub-base, it'll be a lot trickier to make any electrical alterations. So better to give it a thorough test at this stage than have a nasty surprise down the line. I've also found that subjecting it to a few temperature spikes in the conservatory has helped with identifying areas where rail expansion would have (in fact did) caused shorts, so additional gapping has been added.
     
    Onward!
     
     
     
     
     
     
  21. Barry Ten
    Over the last few weeks, I've dug my Paynestown project out of the attic and made quite a bit pleasing progress.
     
    To recap - and unfortunately my earlier pics were lost in the image crash - I built a 4mm layout with the same name in 2010, then sold that a few years later.  I'd always said to myself that might have another go, this time in N, provided there was an easy route to getting a 56XX, vital for a layout set in former GWR territory in the South Wales valleys. Thanks to Sonic Models announcing just that engine, I was able to start making plans (for Paynestown).
     
    Again, to recap, I decided to have a go at using the Finetrax system of Code 40 track parts. I'd had a lot of experience with Peco Code 55 track on my American layout, and while I was satisfied with it in that context, I felt the possibility of a small layout, with small locos, invited the idea of attempting finer trackwork. Early in 2021 I ordered a bulk pack of points and plain track components from Finetrax, and set about making my first point in N! This went quite well, although it appears that the Finetrax products have now been revised to make assembly even more straightforward, something to consider were I ever to go another layout in Code 40.
     
    Back in 2021 I got as far as completing the basic trackwork, as well as beginning to ballast some of it, but the sidings were mere stubs and there was no fiddle yard as such. I've now completed all the sidings, revisited the ballasting, and added a rudimentary "stub" fiddle yard just for play value for the time being. The whole thing is about 5 foot long, and won't be much longer once it's fully embedded into its scenic context. It'll be narrow, too, emphasing verticality rather than depth.
     
    I took some rather ropey photos with my wife's camera.
     

     

     

     

     
    These can be related to some pics I found of my old Paynestown, showing the general similarities.
     

     

     

     

     

     
    These were taken at exhibitions after I'd sold the original, so the stock wasn't mine, but it gives a flavour of the layout. The new one will be similar but different - certain common features (such as the carriage shed) but some other changes, such as no engine shed, and no road bridge under the tracks.
     
    Hope this is of interest, and with luck there'll be more progress in the coming months.
  22. Barry Ten

    Pug improvements

    By Barry Ten,

    This Dapol pug was one of the first models I bought after returning to the hobby in the mid 1990s. Living in the Netherlands at the time, my purchases were confined to occasional visits to the UK or those few Dutch retailers who sometimes had British stock for sale. This model, if I'm remembering rightly, was bought at one of the big Eurospoor model shows in Utrecht, for the princely sum of 115 Guilders, from the stand of "De Spoorzoeker". This friendly Dutchman (Harry, if I'm also remembering rightly) had a very well-stocked shop in Borkel, near the Belgium border, which I visited on subsequent occasions, mainly because he always has good stocks of Hornby.
     
    Alas, the pug was a terrible runner! I don't think it ever made it around my layout without stalling at every bit of pointwork or mildly dirty track. It ended up getting a test run every few years but to no discernible improvement! 
     
    I know these Dapol models are not regarded as particularly good runners, but this week I decided to take a more methodical look at the problem and see what could be done, without going to the time and expanse of a new brass chassis.
     
    Some disassembly showed that the basic chassis is perfectly free-running, so it ought to have a chance of running reasonably well. So why was it so temperamental? Testing revealed that while pickup from the rear axles was reliable, there was almost none to speak of from the front wheelsets. In addition, the back to backs were found to be very tight, such that it wouldn't run through a Peco double slip without bumping over the crossings.
     
    Suitably motivated, I decide to tackle these issues.
     
    The back-to-backs were adjusted first, using the high-tech approach of gently levering the wheels out with the flat part of a screwdriver, a tiny step at a time.  I was surprised at how far I had to shift them before the Pug traversed the slip without bumping. Since I also use shims to tighten my Peco flangeways, the wheels were eased out even more . This done, the Pug could be pushed through slips, crossings and points without resistance.
     
    I then took a careful look at the supplied pickups. These are very flimsy fixtures which might work if properly adjusted. The problem is that once the wheels are in place, the pickups are all but inaccessible. I tried cleaning and re-bending them, but nothing improved the pickup from the front wheels. I therefore decided to fashion a new set of pickups for all four wheels, as shown here:
     

     
     
    The problem here is that there's very little room to work, due to the minimal clearance between the keeper plate and the tops of the rails. I therefore had to get a bit creative. Areas adjacent to the wheels were carved away to allow the pickups to bear onto the treads without touching the rails (not a problem on plain track, but an instant short circuit through points and crossings, for obvious reasons). PCB pads were fixed to the keeper plate and 0.35mm Phosphor-bronze wire used to form both the pickups, and the extensions which take the current to the pads at the rear of the chassis, and then up to the motor terminals. Unfortunately, the clearances were still too tight. I therefore opted to melt the extensions into the keeper plate, touching them with an iron until they sank into the plastic and allowed that vital fraction of a mm which then permitted the main pickups to be arranged within the available room. I retained the original pickups and wiring as a belt-and-braces approach.
     
    Also visible in this shot are areas of the cylinder cover which have been trimmed back slightly to provide for the crosshead movement, now that the wheel spacing is wider.
     
    The effect of these two tweaks, the back-to-backs and the pickups, is an immediate and pleasing improvement in slow speed running, with the pug now proving fully capable of slow running and being stall-free across all pointwork. It's still somewhat noisy compared to a Hornby Peckett and can't be got down to an absolute crawl, but it's still not a bad showing given its age, and the less than brilliant reputation of these mechanisms.
  23. Barry Ten

    A revamped Duchess

    By Barry Ten,


    LMS/BR
    Back in October I reported on a revamped Hornby Princess, using a Comet chassis under the body of an old tender drive model. Keeping on the same theme, toward the end of the year I also embarked on a similar upgrade to a Princess Coronation - aka Duchess - from the same source.
     
    Here's the loco nearing completion:
     

     
    The basis of this model was an even older specimen than the Princess, which was a relatively recent 1990s release. This one goes back to 1979! The original tender drive Duchess of Sutherland was bought from Holt Model Railways with (I think) birthday money, with some careful budgeting allowing for the purchase of the loco and a pair of Graham Farish LMS-liveried coaches. Modellers who haven't been involved with the hobby for donkey's years may not realise that Grafar did a range of 00 rolling stock, including carriages in various bogus liveries. I'd have preferred the then-new Hornby LMS ones, which (like their contemporary GWR, LNER and Southern stock) were slightly less generic, evem if making use of many common parts, but the budget wouldn't reach to those! I should add that my parents were incredibly generous and supportive of my hobby over the years, but were also careful to set limits.
     
    What of the Duchess? It ran very nicely, and even after a bit of valve gear fell off, Hornby repaired it free of charge. I liked it a lot. But then an article appeared in Model Trains showing how to improve one with Crownline parts, and I decided to try and make mine look better as well. The only problem was that I didn't have the Crownline bits (nor the skills to use them) so I bodged my way along instead, substituting enthusiasm for finesse! Inspired by a photo of City of Manchester, I cut away the front framing of my Duchess to make one of the de-streamlined type with the utility front, which I'd always thought looked more impressive. I painted the loco in BR maroon instead of LMS red, hand-lined it, and added City of Manchester nameplates made from paper and a fine black Rapido pen. They weren't great but I was dead chuffed with them at the time as it was the first occasion on which I'd ever changed the identity of a loco. The cherry on the cake was when I took 46246 for a running session at the Bridgend Model Railway club, Word came down that one of the older, proper modellers had asked about the City!
     
    Fast forward to 2022, and I must confess that the Duchess had been languishing for some time. I'd added some extra detailing bits in the 90s, then repainted it using a too-bright shed of red (a pity as the lining was good!) and then decided that, while the tender drive was still very smooth, I wasn't so happy with the clunky loco chassis, with its lack of detail and overscale valve gear. An attempt to graft a newer Duchess chassis onto the old body only got so far before I lost enthusiasm again. With the Princess done, though, thoughts turned to the possibility of repeating the exercise with another Comet job. As luck would have it, a complete kit came up on ebay, and fortuitously it also came with a complete wheelset, making a considerable saving on ordering them separately.
     
    Here's the start of the work:
     

     
    I would estimate that there are about 3 - 4 nights of low-stress modelling to get to this point. I usually get the frames erected on night 1, complete with bearings. On night 2, I might add the wheels and coupling rods. After that, adding brakes and possibly installing the motor and pickup might be another night or two.
     
    These Comet kits go together very well, with excellent fit of the various parts. The Duchess chassis above is an older etch, but the newer ones are as good if not better - they've just tweaked a few things to make (for instance) fitting hornblocks easier, and generally allowing for a bit more detail. There aren't any slots and tabs with these kits, which could be slightly intimidating, but provided you take care, make use of axle jigs where possible, and constantly check for squareness and parallel-ness before soldering everything up totally, there shouldn't be any snags. I don't consider myself any kind of clever modeller, and my tools are nothing sophisticated, but I find that I can make these work very nicely provided I exercise care and approach the work with the right mindset.
     
    With the chassis coming along, I like to begin checking the fit against the RTR body. Comet kits are designed to work with RTR products so generally there's very little problem.
     

     
    Things are looking good already, with the wheels looking just right and no clearance issues between the rods and the footplate, or at least mothing that can't be resolved with a few file strokes. Since I've added the pickups at this point, the model can even be test-run. There's little weight in the body as it stands, so if the model performs as a basic 0-6-0 at this stage, it bodes well for when some more adhesion is added.
     
    Oh yes, and that lurid red is well on display here. I think it was some car spray labelled maroon or similar. Unfortunately, while the BR Red applied to these locos could look quite vivid, I decided I'd need to repaint and reline (again!). Further sealing the paint job's fate, I've been adding the missing continuation of the boiler, where Hornby had vertical skirting, long since cut away.I just added bits of plastic card along the approximate arc of the boiiler, along with plenty of filler and sanding to blend them in. Was it worth it? Undecided!
     
    Incidentally, it's a good idea to have reference material when working on any model. I don't always follow this advice, I must admit - I'm not going to buy an expensive book for just one project - but as I've always had a thing about Duchesses, that wasn't a problem this time.
     

     

     
    Matters progressed quickly with the addition of valve gear. Compared to the Princess, this was a much easier job. That's just down to the way the prototypes had their valve gear arranged: the motion bracket on the Duchess is much easier to work with than the Princess type, enabling the work to be much more easily broken down into small steps. As with the rest of the chassis parts, the Comet parts all work with little or no fuss. A few bits might need a bit of fettling or opening out, but there certainly won't be anything that's too big or too small.
     
    I was going to retain the older tender moulding, with a new sub-chassis, but the more I became familiar with the de-streamlined types, the more I realised this wouldn't do. The ex-streamliner tenders were a bit different to the type supplied for Duchess of Sutherland, so I decided the easiest thing was to order a complete tender as an ebay spare. I got one in LMS red but it didn't really matter as it was going to be resprayed anyway. 
     
    A loco-tender coupling was arranged and some proper running trials could commence!
     
     
    This is just on DC for the moment, but once I'm fully satisfied with the running, I'll be fitting a decoder.
     
    The remaining work has mostly been cosmetic. I reprayed the model with BR maroon, which is arguably a bit too ... err .. maroon, for BR red, but I didn't want to go down the same road as before and end up with something that was too bright a shade. In any case, I've told myself, whatever shade was applied to the Duchesses in BR days, it seems to have weathered to a much more maroon-y hue as soon as a decent coat of grime appeared, which seems to have been almost instantly, judging by the conditons of some in photos. Incidentally, I've seen that livery described variously as crimson lake, red and maroon, so there's clearly some disagreement among the scholars. And regardless of what you call it, was it the same hue that the LMS applied, or a distinct shade of red?
     
    Moving on, lining is Fox, and numbers and tender crest thingy are HMRS. There's still more to be done: front numberplate, lamp irons and lamps, cab glazing, cab doors etc but it's coming on and looks OK from normal layout viewing distance, as I hope the below illustrates. I do like a good going-away shot.
     

     
    Cheers and thanks for reading.
     
     
     
  24. Barry Ten
    This week  has seen a wee bit of progress on the new scenic extension to the layout. Recapping from July, I showed how I'd decided to push the scenery onto one of the previously non-scenic connecting bits, by reworking the end of the summer module:
     

     
    Into this revised format, where the sky board is now "unwrapped" so that it continues out over the former connecting bit.
     

     
    I've now begun landscaping the new bit:
     

     
    The gist of it is a cutting, with land held back by retaining walls on either side, and with the level gradually lowering down to the track as it progresses out over the board. It's really just an excuse to find space for a few cottages that have been gathering dust for far too long, and you'll quickly spot the Superquick and Readt-to-plonk factor here! The thatched cottage is a Hornby one which has been lightly repainted, while the remaining trio - not yet in fixed positions - have great sentimental value. Two of them were made by my wife about 25 years
    ago, while the oldest one is the work of my mother, and must be much nearer 50 years old than 40. I make no apologies for finding space for these old buildings, and besides, it's not as if layouts tend to be dominated by Superquick kits in the way that they were a few decades ago. Now it's more likely to be a row of Metcalf cottages!
     

     
    Quite a bit of rough-and-ready modelling has been necessary to rework the roadway across the bridge, with much use of Wilko's fine surface filler - surely the greatest modelling product in history? I go through buckets of the stuff, and it occasionally gets used for its intended purpose around the house, too!
     

     
    The reinforced retaining wall was inspired by one in Mountain Ash which I've always thought was very modellogenic, although it took me a while to remember where I'd seen it, until I was driving back through "Mount" yesterday. There's a single-lane road in front of the cottages; I don't really envisage it as a through-road, but just a lane which will eventually peter out into some allotments at the lower end of the cutting. 
     
    And that's where it is for now. I don't know about other modellers, but once I've got things to this basic landform stage, I can sort of fill-in the eventual result with my mind's eye, so it already makes a pleasing backdrop for trains.
     
    Onward...
     
     
  25. Barry Ten
    You couldn't get further apart than these two locos! They've both been on and off the workbench in recent months,
    though, so I thought a brief write-up was in order.
     
    Let's start with Queen Maud, a Princess Royal. This one started life as a 1980s-1990s era Hornby Princess with tender
    drive, in LMS Black - I think possibly Princess Marie Louise. She was repainted into BR green about 20 years ago but
    hasn't seen much service since I went over to DCC. She did run pretty nicely (certainly one of the better tender drive
    locos that I've owned) but once I became aware of some "issues" with the representation of the wheels and valve
    gear, I found it hard to unsee them. The wheelbase was wrong, the gear was too chunky, and the brakes were
    the wrong way around on the wheels - presumably because of Hornby re-using one of their earlier chassis, I guess.
     

     
    Earlier this year I seized the bull by the horns and substituted a new Comet chassis, using a DJH motor and gearbox.
    Since I built the chassis with the correct wheel spacing (it allows for both correct and incorrect options), I had to do
    some mild reworking of the Hornby body to get the splashers in the right place. I thought it was worth the hassle
    to get that characteristic Princess look.
     
    So far so good, and I thought that was about it, but I hadn't reckoned the problem of choosing a name that worked
    for both the body and the chassis! It turns out that these locos are complicated, who knew? The problem is that the
    1980s Hornby moulding has the shorter firebox type as originally fitted to the first two locos. Those were built with
    GWR-style motion supports, though, so the Comet chassis, with the later LMS-style, doesn't quite work. The only
    solution was look through photos and boiler records (all in the Irwell book of this class of locos) and find a loco from
    the later batch that happened to be running with one of the short firebox boilers at some point in its life. Unless I've
    completely boo-boo'd, Queen Maud is one such, but the catch was that the boiler would still need modification to
    put the dome and top-feed in the right place. The loco then went back into its box until around the RMweb show
    in Taunton, where I think I was able to pick up the relevant parts from 247 Developments. I still had to go through
    the fairly tedious job of removing the old, putting on the new, and then tidying up and repainting, which in turn
    took me well into the later part of summer.
     

     
     
    The rest of it was relatively straightforward - sort out some extra weight, put in a decoder (after a lot of test-running)
    and finally take care of missing lining, lamp irons etc. The tender, incidentally, is the original Hornby body fitted to
    a spare Bachmann Stanier tender chassis that I had lying around. It was originally under a Patriot so may not be
    entirely correct for a Princess but looks ok for now.
     
    While I was at it, I made a short Youtube clip of some test-running with the Pines Express. This is quite a stiff
    test as these Bachmann MK1s are quite draggy, so any loco that can take these is going to be fine with my
    other trains.
     
     
     
     
    So anyway, that's where we are with Maud. Now onto the J72!
     
    This build was a lot simpler as I didn't have to do the chassis from scratch. The original model was a BR black Bachmann J72 which I got from Holt Model Railways in the mid 90s, around the time that I returned to the hobby. I was amazed by what a smooth, silent runner it was, and it remained a firm favorite for layout testing for many years. However, at some point it picked up the dreaded split axle problem, rather scuppering the smooth running. I did try substituting some new axle muffs, but I could never get it back to ts original running quality, much the pity.
     
    I was half thinking of adding a new Comet chassis when I found one for sale already assembled! It didn't have a motor, but it did have wheels and a complete body. I took a punt on it as it wasn't too expensive (especially given the cost of Markits wheels now). The free-rolling chassis did need some attention, as it er... didn't. Free-roll, that is. Not a good sign. Taking it apart, I found that the frames appeared to have been assembled square, but the middle bearings were just loose on the axles, free to slop around in oversize holes in the frame! I can't quite see what that was meant to achieve - perhaps it was a half-way step to some sort of springing? In any case, whoever had the chassis had clearly given up with it, as there were some rudimentary pickups and signs that a motor had been wired in at some point.
     

     
    Once again taking the bull by the horns, I cleaned up the brass around the loose bearings and soldered them in as accurately as I could. Can't remember if I used a jig, or just eye-balled where it looked like they should end up using the existing rods. The latter then needed broaching out as they were still too tight on the crank pins, leading to the stiffness and tight-spots already evident. However, taking it a side at a time, it all came good and I ended up with what seemed to be a decently free-running chassis.
     
    There matters rested, as I was convinced I didn't have a suitable motor/gearbox to drop into it, but having had a proper rummage, I turned up a Branchlines motor and gearbox set that was just right for the job. This was assembled, test-run under no load while lightly lubricating, then gradually allowed to run under increasing load while keeping an eye on the temperature. Once I was satisfied that the gearbox was good, I put it in the loco and fashioned some replacement pickups. I put it on the track and ... dead as a dodo.
     

     
    However, it just turned out to be a tiny case of one motor contact shorting against the frame, phew! Once I restrained the motor with a simple wire bracket, it ran like a treat, and after some weighting, proved more than up to the task of a 20 wagon goods. As intended, I've retained my BR bodied J72 and kept the LNER body for spares. 
     
     
    That it's for now. Hope this is of interest to anyone like me who enjoys keeping older models going.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
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