Jump to content
 

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


Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, SteamAle said:

Great to see that you have managed to get round to M&C again. Articles in the CRA Journal have been good of late. Hopefully coaches may appear later in the year.

If you need anything to add for this build let me know.

 

Cheers Phil and some 4mm M&CR cauldrons for No.7  to haul in and out of Allhallows pit would be very welcome ! I hope you liked the subtle plug for the CRA...

Edited by CKPR
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, CKPR said:

 

Looks familiar ! This is my third attempt at M&CR No 26 and it may have the odd part from the Nu-cast 'BTP' kit that formed the basis of the first two attempts that are best forgotten about. It  has the same basic specification as No. 7, with a Mashima 1220 and flywheel hidden in the well tank and connected via a neoprene shaft to a ModelYard gearbox on the front driving axle. All the usual 0-4-4T fun and games applied and after several attempts to produce a properly compensated chassis, the rear driving wheels are compensated and the bogie is centre pivoted and sprung vertically and, less successfully, laterally. Aside from the chassis, the most awkward part of the whole build was sourcing the parts for the buffers and from memory, these are made of at least two different makes of buffers. Surprisingly, it runs really well, albeit needing some careful adjustment now and again and I really must finish the lettering, install her crew and wire up the GOW bulb for the firebox glow effect  ( I've got a thing about fully detailed cabs that probably dates back to my teenage apprenticeship in military modelling  - anyone else remember Bandai's 1:48 scale AFV kits with full interior detail ?).

IMG_20200113_142655.jpg

 

Stunning loco - BTP double-take!

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
  • Craftsmanship/clever 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

On 13/01/2020 at 16:29, SteamAle said:

Hi, which book is that you have open?

 

 It's my now very battered copy of Essery & Jenkinson's "An Illustrated History of LMS Locomotives Vol. 2 - Absorbed Pre-group Classes Western and Central Divisions (OPC 1985) - it's an excellent source of information on the FR, M&CR and even the C&WJR. It also covers the L&YR and the North Staffs., so you can cross-reference 'out-sourced' engines built by Beyer-Peacock, Sharp-Stewart / North British, Naysmith-Wilson, etc.  

Edited by CKPR
  • Like 1
  • Informative/Useful 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

On 13/01/2020 at 16:00, Edwardian said:

 

Stunning loco - BTP double-take!

I sometimes think the M&CR's locomotive policy waz ter hav deek aboot Carlisle Citadel fer wat waz barrie then gan and makzit at Merrypurt.

Edited by CKPR
  • Like 6
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
1 hour ago, CKPR said:

I sometime think the M&CR's locomotive policy was to have deek aboot Carlisle Citadel for wat waz barrie then gan and makzit at Merryport.

 

I'm inclined to think that the Sou'-West's shed being off M&C metals may have had some influence too - the 0-4-2s and 2-4-0s have something Stirlingesque about them.

Edited by Compound2632
  • Like 1
  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

On 13/01/2020 at 18:48, Compound2632 said:

 

I'm inclined to think that the Sou'-West's shed being off M&C metals may have had some influence too - the 0-4-2s and 2-4-0s have something Stirlingesque about them.

Indeed and it probably  goes both ways as Hugh Smellie worked for the M&CR before he went to the G&SWR  to succeed James Stirling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Smellie . Somewhere, I've got a plan  (G&SWRA ?) for an early G&SWR 0-6-0 (class 224 ?) that seems to be a first cousin of the Maryport-built M&CR 0-6-0s and in the absence of anything else,  I'll probably consult it for cab fittings, etc.

 

Edited by CKPR
  • Informative/Useful 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

Whilst I'm uploading old photos, one more to prove that 'Mealsgate' really does exist - when I get it set up more permanently, I'll probably add a 12-18" extension to lengthen the sidings and maybe add a siding on the line that goes off at a tangent, supposedly to Allhallows colliery (I've got a lot of Smallbrook Studio cauldron waggons that need a home).

 

To my eyes, this photo has the look of the type of picture that used to grace MRN and RM in the late 1940s -early 1950s - so much for digital technology, eh ?! These pictures were taken at my old 'three up, two down' terraced house in Macclesfield and hence I was able to set it up in the spare bedroom. Of course, we now live in a five bedroom detached property but funnily enough, none of the bedrooms are 'spare' in the sense of being available for model railways...

 

DSC01548.jpg

Edited by CKPR
  • Like 14
Link to post
Share on other sites

Hmmm, did I really say that I was looking forward to making the buffer beams ?! This represents progress so far - what looks like the front buffer beam is actually the four  buffer beam faces (two outer and two inner) that will sandwich the wooden beam proper. I need to drill a fair few more holes through all four of them whilst they're soldered together as I'm planning on inserting wires to represent the larger of  various bolts with the wires then adding strength to the brass/wood/brass composite. Of course, my minidrill is still up in Cumbria so I'm having to drill everything with a pin vice archimedean drill and a reamer...

 

The buffers temporarily in place are the same ones as fitted to my earlier models of No. 26 and No. 17 and are, I think,  MR coach buffers by either 247 or Wizard Models. Looking at pictures of other M&CR 0-6-0s (I know, I really should get out more), several seem to have been fitted with heavy duty self-contained  buffers with a straight shank and square base and somewhere I've got a photograph from 1986 of just such a buffer doing duty as part of an abandoned buffer stop at Maryport station.

IMG_20200121_222710.jpg

Edited by CKPR
  • Like 13
Link to post
Share on other sites

Nearly completed the buffer beams for No. 7.  Assembling them involved some very messy business with 5 min epoxy but they are now very solid (the 'bolts' are wire going all the way through the wood to the back plates) and they cleaned up nicely. After the battle with the epoxy, gently sanding the wood to shape was rather therapeutic  - there's something very comfortable, almost cosy, about working on wood and metal with worn sandpaper and an old file. Next job is to fit the draw hook and then attach them to the loco and tender (and hopefully remember to trace around them to facilitate making the set for the  Beyer-Peacock kit-bash that I'll be starting soon).

 

The buffers are still only loosely fitted, albeit that I started cleaning them up a bit. I would normally remove w/m buffer heads, drill out the bodies and fit steel heads and rams but I'm putting that off in this instance given the size and double quantity. That said, I'll probably end up trying to make them work...

 

IMG_20200128_225345.jpg

 

IMG_20200128_225415.jpg

Edited by CKPR
  • Like 14
  • Craftsmanship/clever 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

Hmmm, just about to re-profile the tender sideframes to match the buffer beam and realised that I've made two front buffer beams ! The buffer beams on M&CR tenders  seem to have been normal depth without the wooden packing. Oh well, that's a buffer beam in stock for  0-4-2 No.4  or the Beyer-Peacock 0-6-0 and it should be straightforward to scribe and saw out another couple of buffer beams (might as well do another one  for stock).

  • Like 1
  • Friendly/supportive 5
Link to post
Share on other sites

I expect everyone is now very bored indeed with the saga of the buffer beams on No. 7 and so after an evening's work, these are now finished and attached to both engine and tender (the buffers are still loose and will be attached last thing). NB The two vehicles on the shelf are destined for 'Weston Standon', the GWR BLT I'm building for fun (!) , although there is photographic evidence of a GW 'Python' on an M&CR passenger train so this will be added to the pre-grouping NPCS pool - I've lots of horseboxes but only one other CCT (well, a LNWR OCT to be precise).

IMG_20200202_224030.jpg

IMG_20200202_224046.jpg

IMG_20200202_224012.jpg

Edited by CKPR
  • Like 9
  • Craftsmanship/clever 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Strictly for them as likes this sort o'thing, here's a buffer update -  I've just followed  Edwardian's link to 5&9 Models on the MSWJ wagon thread and saw some strange southern contraptions called Craven / Stroudley locomotive buffers that bear more than a passing resemblance to the buffers on No.7. Curious and curiouser...

  • Like 5
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Up in Cumbria for a few days visiting t'owd folks and checking on Mealsgate and High Blaithwaite after some recent redecorating, so not much modelling of any Cumbrian railways this week. As recompense for the lack of any progress on No.7 this week, here's a couple more old photos of High Blaithwaite. It doesn't really show but both the station building and the block post have fully detailed interiors but I still haven't got round to arranging any lighting in them. 

 

DSC01415.JPG

DSC01417.JPG

Edited by CKPR
  • Like 16
  • Craftsmanship/clever 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

This is pretty much the entire reference material for my model of  High Blaithwaite  - http://www.cumbria-railways.co.uk/blaithwaite2.html .The slight discrepancy in the door of the station building is because  my model is actually based on the very similar building at Bulgill on the M&C mainline and was made before I built High Blaithwaite.

Edited by CKPR
  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

Starting a new job tomorrow - working from home now, so no more travelling to South Wales every Monday morning and staying in B&Bs for half the week. Aside from everything else (less stress all round and more money from not having to fork out £400+  each month just to go to work), I'm looking forward to having time in the evenings for important things such as gardening and railway modelling so expect some progress reports on No.7 and her sisters. Now, if I can only find where Mrs CKPR-to-be's daughter left my big box of brass and card after I told her to help herself to some mounting board off-cuts about a year ago... 

Edited by CKPR
  • Like 6
  • Friendly/supportive 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Been rummaging in the eaves and have now retrieved my stock of raw materials from behind several large  boxes of books belonging to Mrs CKPR-to-be's daughter, her never played guitar, an old carpet, a spare pair of curtains and the cushions from two Arne Jakobsen armchairs - Friday night is now boiler rolling night !

Edited by CKPR
  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

The results of two evenings metal bashing ready for the final filing, shaping and then soldering of the boiler & smokebox and forming the firebox. Yes, I know that Peter Denny once famously built an 0-6-0 in a week but then he was a reverend gentleman who could possibly call on a bit of divine intervention, or at least inspiration, to speed things up a bit. He (Rev. Denny, not the Good Lord) certainly had a Hobbies fretsaw, which probably heIped a bit as well. I, on the other hand, am a mere clinician / scientist with a piercing saw and selection of files...

IMG_20200316_134320.jpg

Edited by CKPR
  • Like 5
  • Craftsmanship/clever 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

Boiler and smokebox assembled and half-attached to the running plate after much fettling of the front splashers. Forming the firebox is the next step but I couldn't resist drilling the holes for the main boiler fittings and trying out some domes and safety valves from my stocks. The latter are definitely correct  but I'm not sure about the dome  - might be time to rummage through the stash of unbuilt loco kits to see if there are any other candidates for the dome and chimney. I've got a smokebox door from the stash of  'Peter K' parts  and a pair  of  'Caley Coaches'  clack valves that are both spot on. You've probably gathered that my engines are basically a  shameless bricolage of bits and bobs that have been squirrelled away over the decades.

IMG_20200323_220311.jpg

Edited by CKPR
  • Like 14
Link to post
Share on other sites

Hmm, a waisted firebox. My V blocks and height/depth gauge are somewhere in the Aged Ps' attic in Cumbria so more fun and games (aka out and out bodging) with a scriber and engineers square are in store.

  • Friendly/supportive 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Having been very busy with decorating, gardening and a new job which has involved getting up to speed with the rudiments of AI and vision science, I've cleared the decks of other projects [I'll be posting elsewhere about converting  an old Mopok GUV into a bogie ferry van but my word, those near 50 year old Mopok kits are excellent ] to refocus on 'Mealsgate' and will be tackling No.7's firebox this week.

 

Now, sitting next to No.7 on the bookshelves was a very nice conversion of an Airfix / Mainline Dean Goods into the round firebox variety as once ran on the Manchester & Milford and which I purchased from 'Quarryscapes'  when he was selling off his EM stock. And when I say nice, I mean way better than anything I could ever do. Then I took the original cab and the lovely Ex-Lord of the Isles dome off as they weren't glued on and then started measuring it. Hmmm, same W/B as M&CR No's.6 & 20 and same frame length, same wheel diameter, same splashers, same boiler pitch, etc - is this another hitherto unknown of  example of Maryport's legendary plagiarism ?! Seriously, it just needs a new cab, boiler fittings and the valance filled down and there's another M&CR engine for 'Mealsgate'. I have to say that I don't really like working in plastic for steam engines but I'll have to make the cab in brass for strength and it's pretty much the same (i.e. a basic and rudimentary 'Stirling' cab) as No.7 so I can work on them at the same time.  At which point,  I must apologise in advance to Quarryscapes for what is about befall his lovely Manchester & Milford engine...

Edited by CKPR
  • Like 8
Link to post
Share on other sites

An evening on the workbench has seen me throw caution to the wind and despite lacking my vee block, height gauge, etc, I've finally tackled the waisted firebox on No.7. I'm quite pleased with how it's turned out , especially the miniature boilersmithery involved in forming the front of the firebox, and looking to making the backhead, always one of my favourite jobs on a locomotive (unlike making splashers). The firebox needs trimming as it is currently fouling the frames, which is why No.7 is propped up on the blocks until tomorrow evening. 

 

#7 [3].jpg

#7 [2].jpg

#7 [2].jpg

Edited by CKPR
  • Like 9
  • Craftsmanship/clever 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

Following on the last but one post about the possibility of a second rebuild [very M&CR !] of the ex-Manchester & Milford Dean Goods to M&CR No.6 or 20, here's the loco in question together with my references- LMS weight diagram from the Cumbrian Railways Assoc., Simmons (1947) history of the M&CR, which helpfully tabulates the locomotives and their rebuilding, allocation to the reserve list, etc and the relevant page in Essery & Jenkinson. The latter shows No. 20 in LMS days (1923-1928) after her second rebuild in 1921-22, which out of my time period of 1908-1913 (OK, so my model of No. 29 built from the Millholme Models kit is well out of this time period as well but it's the only M&CR engine ever offered in kit form and she runs like a silent sewing machine), so I'm on the hunt for some pre-WW1 photos showing her after her first rebuild in the 1890s. 

 

PS Anyone got a spare SECR  class 'O1' tender they don't want ?!

# 20.jpg

Edited by CKPR
  • Like 8
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...