“WASHBOURNE”

[Regularity]

8 hours ago, Northroader said:

Quote: “we’re an award winning, anti capitalist, BDSM inspired, techno punk, cyber goth, entertainment, opera influenced performance entourage founded with the goal of exposing the anomaly of neoliberal society and the relentless scam that we call everyday life. It is a reflection on power and powerlessness, hope and hopelessness.” 

Stick with rock and roll, eh?

Having just seen it, they looked and sounded like the unwanted illegitimate offspring of Alien Sex Fiend* and Einstürzende Neubauten*, or possibly SPK*. 

In other words, derivative and not very good, and about 36 years behind the times, if not more in the case of SPK.

 

* My musical tastes are very wide!

[Northroader]

Wish I knew what you’re going on about. There’s a German Railway in there, plus a Balkan left wing party, and maybe a serial offender?? Music? Nah.

 

”We built this layout on rock and roll”!!!

[Donw]

I have read novels where the author has given a list of tracks that have listened to while writing the novel. Are you going to do the same with this layout thread.

 

I was listening to Caravan yesterday. I made a tape of it which we played a lot while exploring the Cornish coast at weekends. The music is forever associated with those cliffs between Harland Point and Rock in my mind.

 

Don

 

VAndals have smashed up a model railway exhibition at Stamford vey depressing

Edited May 19, 2019 by Donw
just seen on the net.

[Northroader]

Thanks for the tip about the Stamford show,Don. I had a look and I’m totally heartbroken for these guys. How would you feel going in and seeing that?

[Nearholmer]

One of the guys in the TCS group made this interesting point:

 

“My psychologist partner suggests that the motive behind this appalling act is jealousy. Here we have a group of creative people happy in what they are doing and buoyed up by a common purpose. Happy to show the world the products of that creativity. The people who did this have none of these things and resent people who have. It would have been a happy time at the show for the participants but these four didn't want that to happen. Jealousy.”

 

Which is a possible answer to the question spinning in my head.

[Regularity]

That suggests an ability to appreciate the work that went into creating the layouts and models, and the ability to understand the satisfaction gained thereby.

 

I don’t think this is the case: a simple lack of respect for other people and other things, possibly fuelled by drink and/or drugs.

[Martin S-C]

I agree with Simon, it may even be the case that the youths didn't know there were model railway exhibits in the hall and broke in just for kicks and decided to trash things, again, for kicks, because they could. No idea if drink or drugs was involved but I really don't think it would have made much difference. It was perhaps just a reaction by some have-nots against the haves. It could have just as easily been a flower show or craft fair display, they may well have destroyed whatever they found.

This social phenomenon (if that's what it is classed as) has existed throughout history. In a bigger sense, revolutions grow out of these feelings.

 

(Anyhow, no further comment from me about this subject on this very fine thread).

Edited May 20, 2019 by Martin S-C

[Northroader]

Thanks for the comments and thoughts, folks, it is scary the uninhibited behaviour that people can sink to if they’re unrestrained, although in this case they had to carry out a planned break in first. Behaviour? Parental control? Under the influence? Disadvantaged resentment? I suppose sooner or later we’ll get the answers to that. 

I’m more worried about the effect on some of the club members, having the rug pulled from under them like that, especially if they don’t have family support and their lives are built around the hobby. Seeing the picture of them wandering round the wreckage on Saturday makes me wonder what it’s done to them, can they rise above it? Don’t let thebastards get you down always strikes me as good advice.

Edited May 20, 2019 by Northroader

[Northroader]

Doesn’t everything take such a time? Back on page 40, in March, I was looking at the idea of layout design where instead of a small terminus to fiddle yard, you had a small through station fed with a fiddle yard at each end. I didn’t want to change Washbourne to that, but it struck me that it would be a good idea for my Englefield line, which uses American practice, the thinking being that the trains tend to be worked facing one direction, diesels with a cab just at one end and so on. So I got stuck in with a thorough going rehash, and things have gone quiet on here as a result. Once I’ve got track down and trains running I tend to wander off to something else, but this time I adopted the revolutionary approach (for me, that is) of sticking with it, scenics, buildings, details, outstanding rolling stock. This is just about getting there, just two big jobs to complete, and then I really must try the same approach on this line.

I’ve been doing test running to check it all out, with some operating. Very simple, just passenger train pass through and turn on a cassette, freight train in and swap a wagon in and out of the siding and off.  If it was done at an exhibition, the operator would lose the will to live quite quickly, but for twenty minutes pootling up in the loft, I find it suits me quite nicely.

[Northroader]

Nothing has happened on this thread for far too long, and as I explained in the previous post a lot of time has been spent on rebuilding my North American line from a terminus to a through station, and going to make it look as if somebody cares for it.

After that, the next job has been launching a new thread for my whimsy line, (“it’s pregroup, Jim, but not as we know it”)

Then last week we were lucky enough to have a week’s holiday down in Devon with my daughter and her family. It was a quiet week, but I was able to fulfil a long held ambition, getting off for a trip one day to Martinhoe Cross, aka Woody Bay station, home of the Lynton & Barnstaple. The day I went was a bad pick, as it rained steadily all the time I was there, and on top of that as the place being at nearly 980 feet a.s.l. (the highest SR station) cloud coming over this shoulder of Exmoor brought the visibility down to less than 100 yards at times. Nevertheless, it was most enjoyable, the old station looked really good, and the track and signalling just so. There was a rake of four new coaches to the old designs, highly atmospheric to ride in, and at the centre of it all the Baldwin replica 2-4-2T “Lyn”, looking really magnificent. Considering the conditions, there was a good turnout of punters, which was nice to see, though the ride was a solemn trundle of nearly a mile, looking at wet sheep and neat post and wire fencing done by the volunteers to end up at a runround loop and small shelter, then back again. I like to keep in touch with the goings on on the Lynton-rail site, all the mountain of paperwork has been passed for the extension, now it’s just money, I gather the length that’s open came in a around a million. At present contractors are reconstructing two bridges south of Blackmoor, but a hell of a lot of work before you reach them, so good luck to the folks doing it.  All in all I was still a very happy bunny standing on the main road in the pouring rain waiting for the bus back to Barnstaple.

Back home, and recovering from post holiday torpor, I turned to Washbournian affairs. Some time back I showed a chassis adapted from a Slaters kit for a LSWR horsebox, and there’s now a top fitted to it, made from plastic sheet.

This gives me a “Horse Box Special”, reading from the back, there’s a Roxey Mouldings kit for a LBSC brakevan, the new LSWR horsebox, a SERkits shortbody LBSC horsebox, and a Roxey kit for a LBSC horsebox,  headed up by 2-2-2T 214 “Seaford”

[Nearholmer]

I’ll say again that your creativity and productivity are examples to us all!

 

On the L&B, when we went to Woody Bay, I had the weird sensation of stepping into all the old photos of the place in the 1920s that I've looked at, and a slight dizziness because it wasn't all in black and white, which is quite a tribute to the restoration of the site.

 

Saw this in a book shop, and thought of Washbourne.

 

 

Edited September 6, 2019 by Nearholmer

[Compound2632]

3 hours ago, Northroader said:

There was a rake of four new coaches to the old designs, highly atmospheric to ride in,

 

Each of the now five "heritage" carriages includes, to a greater or lesser extent, material from the original carriage. Evidently they are not quite "original" in the way that the Talyllyn's carriages are, but how much of the material in those carriages dates from 1866 and how much has been renewed? I think of the L&B carriages as reliquaries.

 

Such considerations aside, they are among the most magnificent carriages I have ever travelled in - beating hands-down the usual Mk 1 or even Mk 2 open stock found at standard gauge heritage lines - nothing special about those, they're the carriages of my 1970s childhood...

 

Especially the firsts:

 

 

We were probably lucky not to get thrown out, the amount of bouncing that went on...

 

[Donw]

Very inspirational as usual. I am a sucker for Horseboxes myself lovely to see a train of them. PLus Englefield and the flights of Whimsey I `don't know how you find the time.  I must get over to Woody Bay myself sometime it is not so far. 

 

Don

[St Enodoc]

5 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

I’ll say again that your creativity and productivity are examples to us all!

 

On the L&B, when we went to Woody Bay, I had the weird sensation of stepping into all the old photos of the place in the 1920s that I've looked at, and a slight dizziness because it wasn't all in black and white, which is quite a tribute to the restoration of the site.

 

Saw this in a book shop, and thought of Washbourne.

 

 

Skeggy to Cuckmere Haven would be quite a trip.

 

I do love paintings like that. I don't know what the style is called but it's one of my favourites.

[Mikkel]

10 hours ago, Northroader said:

Some time back I showed a chassis adapted from a Slaters kit for a LSWR horsebox, and there’s now a top fitted to it, made from plastic sheet.

 

That's a very modest statement for a scratchbuild. It looks excellent. The straight ends must have been a relief.

 

The horsebox special is wonderful. That family on the bridge are a lucky bunch  

[Northroader]

Thanks for all the kind comments, everyone, a ride in the restored L&B carriages really captures something very different. Funnily  enough this last week found me walking along the Seven Sisters, from the country park at Exceat to East Dean. Magic! These days what strikes you is the number of Chinese tourists this area attracts, presumably the White Cliffs. Good for the balance of trade, I’m sure, though none of them have set up a stall selling knock down Dapol Terriers.

[Martin S-C]

I adore the SER kits shortbody LBSC horsebox. Must get myself one - are they still in production? These very short wheel base early vehicles are chock full of character. Plus you can have a lot of them and the train doesn't take up much room.

[Northroader]

Glad you like it, Martin, if you get one, it might be your first step in gauge conversion, as I’m afraid at present SERkits cater primarily for 7mm modellers, though I think there’s one or two 4mm loco kits produced. I think it’s well worth visiting their site to admire the pregroup scene that can be formed.  https://serkits.com/

A bit here, a bit there, and tuck in a little scenic tuning fork in one small corner of that big shed of yours? That small  horsebox would be a good place to start, wouldn’t it?

Edited September 17, 2019 by Northroader

[Northroader]

There’s another wagon been pushed out of the works today, a NER cattle van. Cattle vans seem to be one of the more involved jobs to build, and so I did a short cut and used a kit from Marc of Furness Wagons.

https://pregroupingrailways.com/

The body is formed from resin castings, so I suppose in these days of 3D printing, this method will go the way of elastic sided boots? Certainly that seems to be the case for 4mm work, in 7mm there’s a much bigger volume to cover, and it looks like you need to incorporate an involved spiderweb of supports until the job is cured, so for me 7mm 3D does come out as rather expensive. Maybe because you can do it, bodies are produced as one piece jobs, I would have thought still making separate sides and ends which can then be assembled just like a resin kit would help to keep the cost down, but there you go.

Theres nothing special about the build, I used 24 hour Araldite to join everything, and there’s some extra bits placed under the body to support the brakework.

[Charlie586]

The photon 3d printer has a max size of about 105 x 65 mm, I'm not sure if that would fit or not. There's quite a big step up on printer price for a larger build plate, but I'm sure that will come down. The gaps between the planks on a cattle wagon would be a problem area for printing as one piece. Printing sides and ends in pieces would maybe treble the build area needed as the best quality comes from a side being printed face up at a horizontal  angle. It maybe needs a few more years for technology to get cheaper. 

Very nice build.

[Nearholmer]

Is resin such a bad way of producing parts for small batch production?

 

Early, and still some questionable, resin kits were pretty awful, but the better recent ones seem very good indeed, and it strikes me as no bad method for tens or small hundreds of copies from a good master. Less post production prep than some 3D printing too.

[Northroader]

Thanks for your comments, Charlie, I have to admit that I’ve been highly impressed (dare I say, envious) at the way you’ve managed to grasp the technology and start to build experience with 3D printing in the last few months.

 I’ve tried resin casting myself on my American line some time ago, so I’m aware of what can go wrong, and have really liked what I can get as kits from the Broad gauge society and Furness Wagons. It must be a good method for low batch production, but I do sense that computerisation is taking over more and more.

[MarcD]

The patterns for our wagons are 3D printed and have been for about 10 years. If you are using 3D printing for finished models then you do need to bear in mind the material used. I resently built a kit were the axle boxes were printed and they desintergrated as I was fitting them. Nothing wrong with the quality of the print but they were printed in the wrong material.

Marc 

[Northroader]

Oh me, oh my, yesterday Hattons announced the launch of a set of pregroup 4 and 6 wheel coaches for 00, and it really took off, the thread has mushroomed since, and it’s impressive how positive it’s been, suggestions and feedback, and a lot of folks really keen to preorder. It must lead to a growth of interest in pregroup Railways, which is really good to see.

In O finescale I feel we’ve done well for old coaches, Slaters leading with some good prototypes, then lesser firms like Roxey mouldings, and what might be termed the cottage industries, one of whom  (Marc) has taken the trouble to give some information in the very last post, thanks for that, I have an eye on some coaches from there. Besides the wealth of specific types, you can also go generic, just like Hattons. The obvious feature of old coaches was that the sides were formed from wood panels, and the joins were covered with raised wood mouldings. This is probably the most troublesome feature to model and might put a lot of folks off. A wide range of the old lines had coaches of very similar appearance and style of mouldings, with slight variations in panel sizes, and these can form the basis of a useful range. Here’s two generic coaches going through the Washbourne shops at present.

They’re from Connoisseur models, by Jim Geown.  http://www.jimmcgeown.com/0 Gauge Coaches.html 

You’ve got a five compartment third, and a composite with luggage locker, and there’s also a third brake,  as well as two NER coaches. They’re based on SDJR drawings, but I’d suggest that there’s a lot of lines running very similar types they could be used for. You’ll see on his site that they do look good in big four paint schemes, and I have seen several colonel Stephens type layouts with one. You won’t find any in LNWR or GNR colours, I would say that the panelling of these lines is sufficiently different to lack credibility in generic usage.

The  cost per coach is about twice that of the Hattons coach, and to me that is very good value, although what you get is  a kit of etched brass, which takes all the sweat out of forming those damned mouldings, rather than a RTR. You still have to build and paint it, and I’m finding the one thing you can’t get off the eBay is time.

[Nearholmer]

Very nice!

 

I chipped into that thread about the Hattons ones, largely with a view to learning more about late (post WW1) use of 6W coaches, and contributing from what I've already discovered on that topic, but I "ignored" it fairly swiftly because (a) its an overwhelming torrent, and (b) a minority of people do seem to be using it to pour scorn on the idea of generics, and almost to our scorn on anyone who buys r-t-r, which seems a bit peculiar to me. When people write "I would never, in a month of Sundays, buy one of them" posts, it makes me wonder why they believe that their not-purchasing decisions are of interest to everyone else.