Castle Aching

[Compound2632]

5 hours ago, Clearwater said:

 

If you'd gone through Crewe at 113mph, you'd have had no need to stir your martini!

 

My not-so-inner pedant begs to observe that the train was "only" doing 60 when it hit the Crewe crossovers, the brakes being on - hard. Anyway, that's besides the point - this cocktail bar was a proposal for the 1939 trains.

 

5 hours ago, rocor said:

Presumably this could have been circumvented by the cocktail bar expediently not serving any beer.

 

But the third class passengers wouldn't have known that. Unless there was a notice on the door through to first class: No Beer No Rif-Raf No Scots.

 

[Caley Jim]

39 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

....No Scots.

Cheeky b****r!

 

Jim

[Edwardian]

Just now, Caley Jim said:

Cheeky b****r!

 

Jim

 

The way things are going, you'll need a visa before too long! 

[monkeysarefun]

7 hours ago, Caley Jim said:

At one time in Scotland alcohol could only be served on a Sunday to 'bona fide travellers'.  My father told me that the bus service between Hamilton and 'The Popinjay' at Rosebank, in the Clyde valley, was very busy of a Sunday, as was the bar in the hotel!  It was the first hotel on the route.

 

Jim

That was the case in Australia (or at least NSW) until the '70's I think. There is a ring of towns about 40km from Sydney that would face an onslaught each  Sunday when city folk would descend for  a beer and a fight then drive back blotto.

[Edwardian]

45 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

 

But the third class passengers wouldn't have known that. Unless there was a notice on the door through to first class: No Beer No Rif-Raf No Scots.

 

 

Meanwhile, on the East Coast Mainline, a Scot goes to extreme lengths to reach the bar ....

 

[Compound2632]

You'd think he'd at least have the sense to clamber along the nearside.

[Edwardian]

3 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

You'd think he'd at least have the sense to clamber along the nearside.

 

Nah, it's the Forth Bridge; the paint's still wet on that side

 

 

 

Edited April 27, 2021 by Edwardian
spelling

[Caley Jim]

4 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

 

The way things are going, you'll need a visa before too long! 

If madame had her way she would literally cut us off completely and float us out into the Atlantic if she could!!

 

1 minute ago, Edwardian said:

Meanwhile, on the East Coast Mainline, a Scot goes to extreme lengths to reach the bar ....

Ah! but that bridge is past Edinburgh!  (presuming he's come from London).

 

Jim

[Compound2632]

Just now, Edwardian said:

Nah, it's the Forth Bride; the paint's still wet on that side

 

He divorces them once the paint dries?

[Compound2632]

1 minute ago, Caley Jim said:

Ah! but that bridge is past Edinburgh!  (presuming he's come from London).

 

Good point. Very largely the property of the Midland Railway.

[Edwardian]

1 minute ago, Compound2632 said:

 

He divorces them once the paint dries?

 

Hah.  Perhaps he's on the way to Gretna Green for a fifth?

[Compound2632]

Just now, Edwardian said:

Hah.  Perhaps he's on the way to Gretna Green for a fifth?

 

I thought the traditional approach was to bring your own, rather than expect one to be provided locally.

[Edwardian]

1 minute ago, Compound2632 said:

 

I thought the traditional approach was to bring your own, rather than expect one to be provided locally.

 

Don't worry, he'll be handcuffed to one before he gets much further. 

[Adam88]

7 hours ago, Edwardian said:

 

Musical interlude clearly called for, although, the composer's inspiration was. apparently, his trips on the Great Western. So that's a Swindon exhaust beat I imagine we're hearing, but, then, Stannier was a Swindon man, so ...

 

A classic '50s recording (with prettu pictures)

 

 

What sounds like a modern performance, but with contemporary footage

 

 

 

By Timothy!

 

[monkeysarefun]

10 hours ago, Edwardian said:

 

Musical interlude clearly called for, although, the composer's inspiration was. apparently, his trips on the Great Western. So that's a Swindon exhaust beat I imagine we're hearing, but, then, Stannier was a Swindon man, so ...

 

A classic '50s recording (with prettu pictures)

 

 

What sounds like a modern performance, but with contemporary footage

 

 

 

 

1937 seems to have been the year for launching  fancypants blue trains.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Malcolm 0-6-0]

6 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

That was the case in Australia (or at least NSW) until the '70's I think. There is a ring of towns about 40km from Sydney that would face an onslaught each  Sunday when city folk would descend for  a beer and a fight then drive back blotto.

 

Same in Victoria up to the early 70s IIRC. It also helped to increase the incidents of drunk driving on Sundays. Clearly the wowsers had not anticipated the horseless carriage...

 

 

  

Edited April 28, 2021 by Malcolm 0-6-0

[Edwardian]

Work has started on some GE goods stock.

 

 

On the right is a Diagram 16 5 plank (wooden underframe) from 3D printed components.  The buffers I've used are too short.

 

On the left the steel u/f Diagram 17.  Holden was keen to replace wooden u/f wagons and large numbers of Dia.17s were built.  This is a D&S kit, the first I've attempted.

 

My initial assessment is that it makes a simple vehicle into an unnecessarily complicated kit with instructions designed for people who already know what they're doing (which I don't).  I take the view that finescale modellers who insist upon overly complex moving components on wagon underframes are compensating for something.  I just binned the whole lot and built it as much as possible as I would a Ratio/Slaters/Cambrian etc plastic wagon kit.   

 

Unfortunately, D&S is about the only source for  GE wagons, and I have a total of 8 opens to get through. It's certainly a manufacturer I will avoid where possible in future, as it's proving quite a frustrating build.   

 

 

Edited April 28, 2021 by Edwardian
spelling!

[Annie]

Oooooo nice, - some proper wagons at last.  I would have thought that for your era James. - which is a bit earlier in the Pre-WW1 era than wot I'm modelling. - you could get away with having more Diagram 16 wagons than just a representative singleton.  

 

In the madness of my youth when i had good eyesight and a steady hand I built a P4 wagon with working brakes, but I don't really recommend it for any more than a single 'showing off how clever I am' wagon to wave about under people's noses.  Compensated underframes are all very well, but for 00 they really aren't needed unless you're modelling a lightly laid mineral line with lots of seriously wiggly trackwork.

[Edwardian]

17 minutes ago, Annie said:

Oooooo nice, - some proper wagons at last.  I would have thought that for your era James. - which is a bit earlier in the Pre-WW1 era than wot I'm modelling. - you could get away with having more Diagram 16 wagons than just a representative singleton.  

 

Dia.17s were built from, IIIRC, 1892, and were done by 1903.  They were succeeded by Dia.48 7-planks. Given the numbers built, and the period built, I'd expect to see a fair few in 1905, and, depending on the rate of withdrawal of wooden u/f wagons, may have under-catered slightly for them, if anything. 

 

The plan, however, is based on what I have, and I hope ought to provide a reasonable balance:

 

- x1 Round ended (perhaps 5and9, (NYA) or scratch-built (depending on the type - looking for last generation of round-ends).  The WNR may have some older GE ones as second-user.

 

- x2 Pre-diagram 4-planks (probably scratch-built bodies on 3D print u/fs

 

- x3 Diagram 16 5-planks (x2 3D print (as pictured) and x1 D&S)

 

- x4 Diagram 17 5-planks (D&S)

 

- x2 Diagram 48 7-planks (D&S)

 

- x1 Diagram 140 3-plank dropside (D&S)

 

Excluding the dropside 3-plank, that's a dozen general merchandise opens, half of which are steel u/f wagons built 1892-1905 and the other half older wooden u/f wagons.  

 

I plan to add a couple of covered wagons and a Mac K (doubtless a bodged one hacked from a Dapol Lomac kit), and I think this should be a reasonable number and mix of GE wagons for general traffic. 

 

The idea, of course, that the GE represents by far the largest category of 'furrin' wagons on the WNR, and, of course, they would be native to the GE-WN Joint Bishop's Lyn Tramway. 

 

If only I could acquire a D&S GE 10-Ton brake without re-mortgaging the house I do not own. 

 

17 minutes ago, Annie said:

In the madness of my youth when i had good eyesight and a steady hand I built a P4 wagon with working brakes, but I don't really recommend it for any more than a single 'showing off how clever I am' wagon to wave about under people's noses.  Compensated underframes are all very well, but for 00 they really aren't needed unless you're modelling a lightly laid mineral line with lots of seriously wiggly trackwork.

 

I know my limitations!

[Compound2632]

1 hour ago, Edwardian said:

I take the view that finescale modellers who insist upon overly complex moving components on wagon underframes are compensating for something. 

 

Yes, their inability to lay flat track. 

 

Persist with those D&S kits though - whitemetal wagon kits can be a challenge but not one that is insurmountable as I hope my own efforts show. Not every one will be perfect first time. If I am interpreting what I see correctly, you have used fixed etched brass axleguards, which is the way I prefer to go - kits with cast whitemetal axleguards are tricky to build so that everything is square. So long as the axles are parallel by eye - looking along the wagon and from below - there should be no running problems.

 

You will find that you will want to weight all your plastic kit wagons to match the weight of the whitemetal ones. 

 

The print looks nice. What's the wheelbase? It looks longer than the conventional 9 ft but that might just be the photo.

Edited April 28, 2021 by Compound2632

[Edwardian]

1 minute ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Yes, their inability to lay flat track. 

 

Persist with those D&S kits though - whitemetal wagon kits can be a challenge but not one that is insurmountable as I hope my own efforts show. Not every one will be perfect first time. If I am interpreting what I see correctly, you have used fixed etched brass axleguards, which is the way I prefer to go - kits with cast whitemetal axleguards are tricky to build so that everything is square. So long as the axles are parallel by eye - looking along the wagon and from below - there should be no running problems.

 

Yes, effectively I'm taking the D&S kit back to how I have set about scratch-building a wagon. I replaced the brass floor with a nice slab of styrene, to which the fold-up W irons may be glued.

 

What makes white-metal kits more user friendly (albeit that I may never experience the joy of mastering low-temperature soldering, a sacrifice I am prepared to make) is the Roket purple gel (the tube is purple, not the gel). 

 

1 minute ago, Compound2632 said:

You will find that you will want to weight all your plastic kit wagons to match the weight of the whitemetal ones. 

 

Yes, annoying, but inevitable!

 

1 minute ago, Compound2632 said:

The print looks nice. What's the wheelbase? It looks longer than the conventional 9 ft but that might just be the photo.

 

Well spotted.  The steel u/f 17s and 48s are 9' w/b, but the wooden u/f 16s were 9' 6", hence the need for the correct w/b 3D print u/fs. These were produced by Coastline Models, at my request, but they have long-since stopped doing them.  I wish I could have afforded more at the time!

[Compound2632]

6 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

Yes, annoying, but inevitable!

 

.. and, I hope you will find, beneficial. In our scale, we need every bit of mass we can find to help simulate prototypical movement.

[Edwardian]

PS, I note that Guy Rixon of this parish produces 3D print wagon brakes for a 9'6" w/b.  

[DonB]

12 hours ago, Caley Jim said:

If madame had her way she would literally cut us off completely and float us out into the Atlantic if she could!!

 

Jim

 

She's on a loser then, The Atlantic water would not convert into a decent Malt Whisky

[Guy Rixon]

2 hours ago, Edwardian said:

My initial assessment is that it makes a simple vehicle into an unnecessarily complicated kit with instructions designed for people who already know what they're doing (which I don't).  I take the view that finescale modellers who insist upon overly complex moving components on wagon underframes are compensating for something.  I just binned the whole lot and built it as much as possible as I would a Ratio/Slaters/Cambrian etc plastic wagon kit.   

A kit with a properly-designed, compensated underframe is actually easier to build than an old-school, rigid suspension. By properly-designed, I mean that it's all self-aligning, so there's no chance of getting the axleguards out of line, or at the wrong wheelbase so that the brakes bind, or higher at one end than the other, or with the buffers at the wrong height.

 

Most wagon kits with compensation do not have this kind of underframe. The D&S ones certainly don't.