“WASHBOURNE”

[Donw]

I have some of those Conoisseur coaches to build as there were some very similar Cambrian ones. Ooops just given the game away. I bet very few would have been able to say they weren't actual Cambrian coaches.

 

Don 

[Charlie586]

Nice. I hadn't realised how similar coaches were, food for thought there. I tend to avoid the detail of threads like the Hattons, Oxford rail Dean goods etc, I find it too easy  to lose a few evenings.

[Compound2632]

1 hour ago, Charlie586 said:

Nice. I hadn't realised how similar coaches were, food for thought there. 

 

The joy is in the infinite variety of small differences.

[Northroader]

The joy will be when the compo appears in crimson, matey. (Whoops, me, too, giving the game away) I’m with you, Don, paint them bronze green, and perhaps cream, and they’ll be dead ringers for the Cambrian as far as I’m concerned. (By the bye, Don, have you spotted the old outside frame coaches and the Ashburys on Marc’s site, also suitable for Cambrian operation)

Charlie, I think I’ve seen some narrow body 6 wheelers running on a broad gauge layout. I wasn’t too sure how correct they were, they looked quite nice if you don’t have anything else. Must do a check on that.  I don’t know how kindly a Hattons chassis will take to being filleted down the middle, six wheelers are touchy little creatures at the best of times. Still you will need some standard gauge running through Wantage as well, and they’d be good for that.

Edited October 10, 2019 by Northroader

[Donw]

I think some may have been built to broad gauge with the intention that a strip down the middle could be removed to 'narrow' them when the time came. So doing the reverse seems quite logical

 

Don

[Charlie586]

I had a little look on Penrhos last night, only really the 5 compartment 3rd would be accurate if placed on a broad underframe. Though I may have overlooked other diagrams. As you say,  these will be useful for standard gauge and filling in until I get the time to build and paint kits.

[Northroader]

Quote:

” A vest pocket LR terminus is an easy thing to find room for, and would be quick to build, and I’ve always fancied doing a LR in its brand new, pristine state...” (and in O )

no names, no pack drill.

[Nearholmer]

Crikey, another pop-up Railway!

 

Where is that acting as a backdrop? It looks vaguely familiar, and I thought at first it was Tenterden, but now I’m doubting.

[Northroader]

Chilham.

[Nearholmer]

Why kill ‘em and cart ‘em to Canterbury?

 

A very old mnemonic for remembering the order of stations.

[Edwardian]

51 minutes ago, Northroader said:

Quote:

” A vest pocket LR terminus is an easy thing to find room for, and would be quick to build, and I’ve always fancied doing a LR in its brand new, pristine state...” (and in O )

no names, no pack drill.

 

A LR terminus right in the market square, as was the original intention for Wantage.

[Northroader]

........ and just by coinkydink....

This is what they’re going on about (note Colonel Stephens soc copyright.

[Nearholmer]

Nice coaches, as were the Lambourne Valley ones.

 

Of course, both Hornby in England and JeP in France have already done the Rother Valley ones RTR.

 

i can’t find a picture of the JeP version, but I do remember it is longer, with, I think, six windows per side.

[Northroader]

There you are, then. Now go to bed with a small nip, and forget all this 4mm talk.

[Compound2632]

That panelling is way out for LNWR - generic carriages, pah!

[St Enodoc]

7 hours ago, Northroader said:

Chilham.

Cheat...

[Northroader]

Now here’s an engine pulling a tale behind it. It’s the result of an eBay adventure around a year ago, when I picked it up at what I thought was a  reasonable price. Mind, the picture shows it after I’ve been doing a bit of soldering on the superstructure and renewed the chassis, but you get the idea. I fancy it’s an ancient kit, as the coal rails, somewhat bashed, are etched. Getting it out of the box, putting it on the rails, see what happens.... nothing. The seller had covered himself by saying “not tested”, so I wasn’t too surprised. Undo two screws, lift the top off, and there’s this big, old Pittman motor looking up at me. One of the brushes is dangling loose, and I see the reason is that the brush carrier, a strip of Paxolin type material riveted to the motor frame, has cracked across one of the slots for the brushes, and the other was just hanging by a thread.

I should really have boxed it up and sent it straight back, but you know how it is, a bit like being in the stray dogs home, seeing a mangy mutt, and going “Ahh, poor little thing” and blueing a grand on vets bills, when you should really get the b**** thing put down out of its misery. So rummage round and find a spare Mashima which could be reallocated. I’ve stored the Pittman bits, whether I can ever bodge them up, wait and see.

The frames were two profiled strips of sixteenth inch steel, with a spacer at each end, held by loose cup headed screws, and with loose axle bushes, so I’ve tinned the frames, added an extra spacer in the middle to support the motor, countersink screws all through, solder up everything solid, and reamer through the bushes.

The wheels were lumpy old cast jobs, push fit on the axles, with screw in crankpins. The electric pickup is done by having the wheels on one side having insulating bushes fitted, and these were starting to crumble. Refitting the wheels back in after I’d fettled the frames and added the motor and gearbox,  could I hell get them quartered satisfactorily. Give up and order a new set from Slaters, beautiful machined quartering on the axles, decent crankpins, insulated all round. The coupling rods copied the prototype in being in two parts, meeting in the middle with eye ends on both round the crankpin, rather than one having a knuckle joint. However, the eyes had been opened out when fitting to the extent there wasn’t much “meat” left on them, and in the end I soldered them up to form a one piece, with 6BA washers added, and refitted them. There was a strip of copper clad insulation sweated to the outside of the frame on the one side for the pick up, and I replicated this on the other side, adding some phosphor bronze whiskers to contact the wheelrims. I belong to the school of thought that holds that people don’t notice a lot of detail below the footplate as long as the wheels are there, and a lot of my models have the brake work missing, so I have to find a weedy excuse for this, in this case that the pickups are in the way. Anyway, the chassis was nice and smooth running, all the wheels on the rails, and at the right height both ends, so have a look at the superstructure.

The coal rails were redone, a shelf added inside the bunker to put the coal on, and a blanking plate placed between the bunker and the cab. The roof and spectacles were resoldered, and the yawning hole inside the front of the cab left for the Pittman was addressed by a new floor and backhead, now to think about what’s in front of the cab.

You will have recognised the model, I’m sure, as a GER Holden 0-6-0 tank engine. There were 260 of these built, in various varieties. The pioneers were the T18, fifty built in 1886-8, intended for goods working with just handbrakes, and these became LNER J66. A lighter weight version, some reduced dimensions and smaller water tanks, followed, twenty in 1889-93, class E22, (J65) used on the Blackwall line and country branches. One ot the T18 had air brakes added and tried out on suburban working, and it was found to be quite capable of storming up the hill to Bethnal Green lugging a long set of four wheelers. Ten of the T18 were adapted to follow suit, with some change in bunker lengths. This led to the R24, with a longer wheelbase, a hundred built 1890-1901 for passenger working, air braked and screw reverse, and forty of the goods version A and B26, with steam brakes and lever reverse. As the R24 appeared the passenger T18 reverted to goods working. The early R24 had condenser gear added from 1893 to work through the Thames Tunnel on the ELR, later builds were built with it. There was a condensing chamber on top of the side tanks, and the side tanks had an upward extension to cover it. These builds were later rebuilt with the boiler pressure raised from 160psi to 180psi, and also the side tanks could be increased in width for greater capacity. The high pressure ones could be distinguished by a squarish safety valve housing just forward of the firebox. The LNER classed the low pressure as J67 and the high pressure as J69, and both goods and passenger versions appeared in both classes, and several gained cabs with high roofs.  Another twenty, S56, appeared in 1904, with wide water tanks, also flush with the cabs, and a final batch of thirty came out from 1912-23, passenger and shunting types with larger cabs, C72 (J68).

Looking at my engine, it had air pump, condenser gear with the tanksides extended up, and high pressure boiler, making it a rebuilt passenger R24. Just painting it blue and I would have a nice characterful model, and they did appear out in the country. However, being perverse, I felt an engine in black goods livery would be more suited, so the air pump, condenser plumbing and tank extensions were removed, and the safety valve housing replaced by a Laurie Griffin casting for a Ramsbottom housing put close to the front of the cab. Finish off some small details, and being curious, I wondered what the tank widths were, so I gauged them. The wide tanks are 5” broader then the original version, and mine are a foot wider than original. The chimney height is right, but the overall length is a foot and a half short. Oh well, never mind, eh, get the paint pot out. I’ve given it a number in the B26 goods batch from the 1890s, all it needs now is a crew and some numberplates.

[Northroader]

Sorry, the post went wrong, back tomorrow. Talk amongst yourselves.

 

 

Edited November 8, 2019 by Northroader

[Donw]

1 hour ago, Northroader said:

Sorry, the post went wrong, back tomorrow. Talk amongst yourselves.

 

 

 

Is that meant to increase the suspense, make us go to bed wondering what it might be 

 

Don

[Northroader]

I’ll try again, isn’t it a ***** when you press the wrong key? Sorry, Don, I do hope you haven’t been up all night worrying about it. Anyway— what I was going to say is that this week is Knotty Week, Annie’s got a virtual loop line going, and a new thread has opened up exchanging information on the North Staffordshire Railway, so I mustn’t let it pass unnoticed, as I’m quite fond of the line. It served a special area, whether it be the Little Switzerland of Alton or the verdant dales of Etruria, both of which could get you locked up under the Trade Description act, and somehow it kept its individuality, when all logic would have expected it to be swallowed up by the LNWR long before. It would be nice to claim I’ve got some model of it on the go, but I’m afraid not, too much else is in the loft occupying my time.

From time to time I like to draw attention to a layout that’s got it right, so for the Knotty there’s “Fegg Hayes” a 4mm job by Mr. Keith Hayward. It featured in the RM for September 1992, and I like the small colourful pregroup models, the grasp he has for the “setting”, and some nice architectural work, as the NSR did do themselves proud with their buildings, you may recognise a copy of Cheddleton, on the happily preserved stretch in the Churnet Valley. He said in the article he was inspired by “Llanastr”, which I’ve featured back in page eight of this thread. This has given it a nice compact feel, which I always enjoy, making best use of limited space. In this case it was built to fit on a shelf, 8’ x 15” (2440 x 380 mm)

Talking of a Knotty model,  I always feel it should be linked with a canal. After the pioneer Bridgwater canal was opened, James Brindley went on to propose a “Grand Cross “ scheme for linking the four major English Ports by canal, Hull by the Trent, to Bristol down the Severn, and Liverpool along the Mersey, to London on the Thames.  The initial stage of this was the Trent and Mersey canal, which ran closely parallel with the NSR main route for its length. The improvement in transport links was a major factor in the Industrial Revolution, Stoke on Trent in particular benefitting greatly by clay coming in, and pottery goods moving safely out, as well as coal production. I find doing a walk along the towpath in the Stoke area is fascinating to see the old brick buildings by the canal, with the railway just over the wall.

[Annie]

Thanks for the pictures Mr Northroader.  The Knotty certainly did have its own architectural style which is unique and very appealing.  At one time I did have some good books on the Knotty, but they got lost a couple of house moves ago unfortunately.  I'm trying not to get too drawn into virtual Knotty land since I have other projects I really do need to finish first, but it is an awful temptation.

[Argos]

A trip to Middleport Pottery is well worth it if you are in the area (there's a good cafe there also).

 

My wife used to sell some of her artwork there so we had quite a few visits, it a great place to wander round and soak up the industrial ambience (not atmosphere, that would have been rather unpleasant).

 

I did plan a small shunting layout based on the building and canal arrangement at Middleport but realised the buildings would make it quite a time consuming build.

Edited November 10, 2019 by Argos

[Nearholmer]

I know next to nothing about the NSR, but have always admired the station building at Stone, which is quite magnificent.

[Compound2632]

The building at Sandon is rather fine too, with its porte-cochère - all in the same characteristic Jacobean style. It was the subject of a very fine 4 mm scale model that adorned, rather incongruously, a layout set in Gloucestershire (Midland I think) that was on the exhibition circuit some yeas ago (probably last century). Was in MRJ I think.

Edited November 9, 2019 by Compound2632

[Northroader]

By rights, Sandon doesn’t really deserve that port cochere, the village is too small and remote. I associate them with places like Marylebone. It seems there was an Earl had his country estate nearby, and it was put in for his convenience.

Stone is different, the way it’s placed across the vee where the two lines split, and a magnificent Jacobean style. On the model I showed there’s an advert for Joules Ales on the end of a building, and their brewery is /was at Stone. Joule was a physicist who gives his name to some unit of heat (?) but I’m glad to say he did turn his creative talent into brewing as well.

Edited November 10, 2019 by Northroader