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Modelling the M&CR's branch lines in EM gauge


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22 minutes ago, CKPR said:

I'd also forgotten about Farish's generic coaches in 4mm

I was rather fond of the LMS pair I had, behind my Triang-Hornby Ivatt 2MT, which also suffered somewhat from the use of "generic" components to bring the cost down.

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On 05/12/2020 at 14:01, Furness Wagon said:

That be the one. I'm building some for a client in the US from the last of our 7mm kits.

 

@Furness WagonI've just purchased an unmade pair of Westerfield YVRR hopper kits in HO. Opens box and unwraps a multitude of exquisite fragile resin components...O...M...G...wibble, wibble, wibble...this is actually supposed to be buildable ?! Puts the box into the back of the stock cupboard and returns to easier Saturday afternoon 'leisure' activities, such as fabricating three part sloping tender flares.

 

 

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The body of the  4 wheel tender for No.20 cut out and soldered up by close of play this afternoon - from what I can work out from the available photographs and the LMS weight diagram, the M&CR tenders are what I would call 'Ramsbottom' or 'Crewe' style with a very large tank and proportionally less space for coal, hence the flared flares. I'm quite pleased with how this has turned out and actually looking forward to tackling the 6 wheel one tomorrow, which will have semi-circular ends to the 'legs' of the tender tank - the gas range and a drill shank will probably be involved together with some miniature blacksmithing. 

4w tender.jpg

Edited by CKPR
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On 03/10/2015 at 22:24, CKPR said:

As requested, here's some photos of High Blaithwaite - my favourite one is the view under the bridge. There are a few commercial parts, such as the modified Ratio hut which is pretty similar to M&CR plate layers huts, the cut about Wills girder bridge and the Dapol / Airfix fencing, which again is pretty similar to M&CR line side fencing, but otherwise it's all scratch-built - I aim for atmosphere rather than strict accuracy and it probably shows ! I tend to avoid putting any figures on my layouts but I have a small selection that can be added to ring the changes (there are some discrete pin holes here and there for this purpose). Please excuse the lack of signalling (the necessary S&W parts have been in the projects pending box for decades  - the one and only set of signals I've ever built were some non-working Ratio ones in the 1970s), the FPL covers that are very evident in one of the prototype photographs (constructed from Masokits parts but not yet painted) and trees. As you can see, it's a real-life 'inglenook' design and very occasionally sees duty as such but  to date only with my Bachmann Cl 25 and a selection of 1970s wagons. I really should work out a shunting game based on the real-life one coach and 3-4 wagons that constituted the thrice-weekly train from Mealsgate in the early 1920s.

post-20683-0-52101900-1443906694_thumb.jpg

post-20683-0-69003900-1443906715_thumb.jpg

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Well I never, a mystery photograph was just sent to the CRA for identification, forwarded on to me by the redoubtable Phil @SteamAle and if this isn't a third and very high quality picture of High Blaithwaite, then my  name is D.J. van der Hare... I'm just taking in the wealth of detail revealed in this image and pleased that I wasn't too far out when I built 'High Blaithwaite' using only an old map and two photographs, neither of which showed the coal drops. It obviously shows a temporary station building in the form of an old coach body (as per the Kelvedon & Tollesbury, etc) as the other two photographs show a 'standard' M&CR wooden building as seen on my version. Looks like I'll need to extend my coal drops to six cells, add in the path from the line to the coal depot and the fencing at the foot of the embankment but otherwise there's not too much to do. The presence of the planks in the end coal cell on the new photograph and the repair in progress on the model is complete co-incidence !

High Blaithwaite.jpg

Edited by CKPR
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I've just bought Peter Smith's (Kirtley Models) book on building buildings. What I have read so far is very good and easy to follow. Might be a good place to start. 

 

The big question is has Phil got any more gems he would like to share?

Marc

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He's increased the total number of photographs of High Blaithwaite by 200% thus far, so fingers crossed - I'm just amazed that material on the M&CR is still coming to light nearly a century after its demise and the passing of anyone who could remember it let alone who worked on it. 

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Dougal

This came out of the blue and is an amazing find. Full of detail and as you say increases the number of images of High Blaithwaite, that we know about, so far!

Some MCR ledgers have surfaced and I'm hoping we can get to see them in the fullness of time. Covid 19 restrictions have prevented anybody from getting to them at present.

I do wonder what will turn up next?

Philip

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  • 3 weeks later...
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40 minutes ago, SteamAle said:

Bad news about the ledgers. It is now thought that they were thrown out by another lady of the house that did not know that they had been oferred free to a good home by her sister! Arghhhhhhh.

 

This highlights the importance of ensuring that if one has a collection of original material, one should make arrangements for its transfer to a public archive (such as the collection of a line society that is constituted as a charity) before one passes on to the great muniment room in the sky.

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On 07/02/2021 at 11:41, SteamAle said:

Bad news about the ledgers. It is now thought that they were thrown out by another lady of the house that did not know that they had been oferred free to a good home by her sister! Arghhhhhhh.

Oh no , that's really bad news and just as they were about to go to the CRA as well (Reminds me of how I once saw a pile of 18th century legal records dumped in a skip outside a solicitors office in Macclesfield, which I fished out and carried across the street to the county archives office who were very pleased to receive them - somewhat ironically, you could see the skip from the archivist's office). 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Currently back in hospital for medication changes and observation after severe angina attack on Sunday evening. Hopefully I'll get back to some  'proper' EM modelling (M&CR and L&Y) when I'm feeling better, having been pottering about with less demanding projects of late (chopping up Roundhouse Pullmans for the AV&PRR and kit-bashing a 1/35  bren gun carrier out of the old Tamiya universal carrier kit). 

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On 09/02/2021 at 18:28, simonmcp said:

In the mid 1990s someone burnt all the "Extent of highway" paper maps of Cornwall after they had digitised the centre line of the roads. Thing is no one thought about recording the actual extent of the highway:wacko:.

 

BT should have digitised maps of where there plant is which should show the edge of the roads and the kerbs. You do need to know whether a joint box in in the highway or foootpath. Mind you in the old paper plans days we were looing for a aprticular joint box that seemed to be missing. We worked out the highway had been raised about 10ft to 15ft (road leading to Telford New Town). Yes the joint box was still there just not accessible.

I hung on to one or two maps that I saw had railway info Shifnal was one. Ooops probably committed and offence there.

 

Do hope you are 100% soon Capt

 

Don

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21 minutes ago, Donw said:

 

BT should have digitised maps of where there plant is which should show the edge of the roads and the kerbs. You do need to know whether a joint box in in the highway or foootpath. Mind you in the old paper plans days we were looing for a aprticular joint box that seemed to be missing. We worked out the highway had been raised about 10ft to 15ft (road leading to Telford New Town). Yes the joint box was still there just not accessible.

I hung on to one or two maps that I saw had railway info Shifnal was one. Ooops probably committed and offence there.

 

Do hope you are 100% soon Capt

 

Don

BT does have digitaised plans of all its plant, but people continue to put excavators through cables. Heyho. 

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Several years ago when we were in our previous house at Hyndford Bridge (3 miles south of Lanark) our phone line went down.  they eventually traced the fault to an old, lead-covered cable on which there were no spare pairs.  They knew where either end of it was, but had no idea where it went in between!   They said they didn't have the budget to replace it.  It took emails to the then CEO to get it fixed!

 

Jim

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3 hours ago, Caley Jim said:

Several years ago when we were in our previous house at Hyndford Bridge (3 miles south of Lanark) our phone line went down.  they eventually traced the fault to an old, lead-covered cable on which there were no spare pairs.  They knew where either end of it was, but had no idea where it went in between!   They said they didn't have the budget to replace it.  It took emails to the then CEO to get it fixed!

 

Jim

Someone being a bit lazy there Jim I think. 

 

Don

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Hmmm, well here's the promised update but I've seen much better work and I've done better myself. Mostly, I'm kicking myself at just how out of alignment the 6w tender is and I can't do anything about it as the tender is chock full of lead weights and pretty much impossible to disassemble.  The tender flares aren't too bad but perhaps more appropriate for a 1950s pre-group goods engine rather than a recently rebuilt and  well maintained engine from Edwardian days. Oh well, I've always intended my 4mm locos to be working engines on a model railway rather than a hyper-accurate model of a railway  (I've always been more enamoured of 'Buckingham' than 'Heckmonwyke') and the tender will suffice until I build a better one. Right,I'd better get on and tackle the flared tender flares on the 4w tender...

tender1.jpg

tender 3.jpg

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Another update  for both engines and if you can't see anything obviously new in the first picture, then  that's all to the good as I've fitted the motors and gearboxes to both engines. No. 7 was planned around a Mashima 1220 & Branchlines 80:1 gearbox combination and just needed a little bit of filing on the firebox and a chassis member to fit everything in.  I also took the opportunity to simplify the fitting of the long screw through the smokebox  fitting the body, footplate and chassis together as well as forming the spigot for the chimney, which I seem to have mislaid.

 

I thought that No. 20 would be a bit more tricky given her modified Dean Goods origins but another 1220 and a High Level "Hump shunter" gearbox were 'borrowed' from my model of  'Repulse', an NCB Austerity allocated to Haig Pit, Whitehaven in the 1970s. For some reason that I've completely forgotten, 'Repulse' is currently disassembled but her motor and gearbox fit perfectly in No.20. It's just temporary as I want to get 'Repulse' running again and I've got another High Level gearbox, with a somewhat more sensible gear ratio,  in stock along with yet another 1220 that will power No. 20. Next job will probably be to permanently affix the cabs and make a start on the brakes on both engines. I also discovered that the centre axle on No.20 is arranged to be sprung so I just need to add a couple of old Maygib hornblock springs that I've had in stock for over 30 years. 

motorised engines 1.jpg

motorised  No 7.jpg

motorised No 20.jpg

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Here's a rum thing  - I went to fit the coupling rods to both engines and couldn't find either set. Ho hum,looks in general stores to draw out some  more Gibson 'universal' coupling rods to make two new sets and what should I find but an obviously old set of rods that are a perfect fit for No.20 (based on a Dean Goods bought  S/H last year). Now, I've never made a Dean Goods/ 22xx in my life so how come these were there ?! Then I find a half-completed but again perfectly fitting set of coupling rods for No.7 but not the completed set that she used to have...

 

Just realised the amount of forgetfulness I've referred  to in this and the previous post - just to allay any concerns, I've always had poor prospective memory functioning as Mrs CKPR-to-be will attest !

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  • 3 weeks later...

Brakes, guard irons, etc have all been fitted to No.7  -  a straightforward two evenings of soldering and fettling (not bodging, fettling - there is a difference) using the  usual Iain Rice designed 'Mainly Trains'  etched LMS/MR locomotive brakes from Wizard Models. I initially thought that the holes on the hangers were over-sized but using larger diameter rod meant that it all went together more easily than previously and the end result is very sturdy.I can't see any obvious signs of the firebox sides  or indeed of the brake linkages on the various photographs of No.7 so I've left these off for now. Talking of bodging, No.20 is falling behind so I need to bring her up to the same state of completion as my next job.

 

 

No 7 brakes etc.jpg

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