RMweb Gold checkrail Posted January 6, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 6, 2019 Strike while the iron's hot (or you'll never get round to it!). Today I addressed the issue with the cess in the cutting, to which 'Regularity' of this parish alerted me yesterday. Does this look a bit better? I attacked the unruly hanging basket liner 'grass' with hairdressing scissors, but it kept bouncing back again, with scale 10 foot fronds suddenly arching over the track. I tell you, it's evil. Eventually I got it into some semblance of order, applied some PVA and some more ash ballast, and toned it in to match the rest with various brown, black and grey washes. The loco is 4908 Broome Hall on an up parcels train. John C. 18 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Regularity Posted January 6, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 6, 2019 Wow. What a difference! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 81C Posted January 6, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 6, 2019 Funnily enough I seem to be going through a phase of building GWR open wagons at the moment. I don't think there is severe shortage as such; you can currently purchase the following diagrams: O11 - Parkside O13 (China Clay) - Parkside O29 - Ratio O30 - Cambrian Moreover, eBay, swapmeets and some traders at exhibitions throw up Coopercraft diagrams on a semi-regular basis, with diagrams O2, O4 and O5 popping up now and again. Or, if you're feeling brave, Model Railway imports of Canada have some Coopercraft kits listed for sale at the minute - shipping costs will be a factor though. Make a start on those listed above, keep your eyes peeled for Coopercraft diagrams, and eventually you'll have a nice range of GWR opens! CoY It's a start but not that many considering how many diagrams there were made, there are about 20 wagons 011 & 029 in number are on my layout plus an odd 030 and other company wagons.. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold checkrail Posted January 6, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 6, 2019 (edited) Work on the cess in the cutting led me to a closer inspection of the permanent way prior to Andy Y's visit. To my dismay I found a few quite significant bald spots in the ballast near the rail overbridge, not far in front of King Henry V in the attached photos. There have been no problems, accidents or issues in the area previously, but I have on occasion noticed one or two tiny flying insects in the loft. Carr's ballast is made from ground nut husk. Could there be a connection, and is my ballast being eaten by some kind of fruit fly, or am I imagining it? Anyway, new ballast was soon added and subsequently toned in to match. These two pics are very similar, but I couldn't decide which was better (or worse). They also show some more new trees above the tunnel. Edited January 6, 2019 by checkrail 19 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Limpley Stoker Posted January 6, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 6, 2019 (edited) I love the spacious feeling you’ve created- I hope it comes across in the press pictures. I blame woodlice for all the damage in my miniature domain: They remind me of overscale armadillos without heads. Edited January 6, 2019 by Limpley Stoker Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Barry Ten Posted January 6, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 6, 2019 Carr's ballast is made from ground nut husk. Could there be a connection, and is my ballast being eaten by some kind of fruit fly, or am I imagining it? I believe Woodland Scenics ballast is also made from nut husks, so it might be a more widespread problem if that were the case. I'd be more inclined to suspect the occasional lump of ballast that hasn't bonded well, and gets dislocated in track cleaning etc. In any case I've rarely seen neater-looking ballast, so I imagine it will all look great in Andy's photos. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold checkrail Posted January 7, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 7, 2019 Talking of open wagons I've recently acquired one of Oxford Rail's ex-NBR 8 ton 4-plank opens, brakes on one side only, in LNER livery. Am I right in thinking that such a wagon would have been very unlikely to find its way to south Devon in the 1930s or do you think I could get away with it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Regularity Posted January 7, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 7, 2019 (edited) Such a wagon (hand brakes, open, general goods) would be part of the common user pool, so could turn up nearly anywhere. LMS and LNER unfitted opens and vans would constitute well over half of the ordinary goods wagons in your era. Between them they accounted for about 90% of such stock. But photos suggest that GWR were more common in GWR country than raw statistics might suggest. There are two reasons for this: “station wagons” loaded at major transshipment centres were not common user, in fact were often restricted user (i.e.specifically allocated) and thus a lot of branchline “smalls” traffic was in company wagons. Also, a lot of traffic would be within the GWR network, and the GWR reckoned their wagons were better made and also had such things as sheet rails which made them more popular with other railway companies, which meant that the other companies often kept them on their systems if they could. To prevent this, GWR employees would show a preference for using their own vehicles for goods traffic remaining on their system. Proportions of wagons owned, which was fairly constant throughout the grouping era, was: LMS: 16 LNER: 13 GWR: 5 SR: 2 However, the LNER had a number of hopper coal wagons which generally remained on their own system, particularly in the Northeast of England, so the proportions appearing on anyone’s layout might need adjusting. Also, those figures are not adjusted to reflect possible variations in the quantities of fitted and specialised stock. Some variations are to be expected. Edited January 7, 2019 by Regularity Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold checkrail Posted January 7, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 7, 2019 Useful info Simon, for which thanks. I was aware of pooling, and of the rough proportions of big four freight stock, and already have some LNER wagons. My query was more on the lines of: 'Would such an ancient clapped-out wagon have been used at this period over the great distances involved, or would it have spent its days on local trips?' But what you say is persuading me to keep it! (And in the 1930s I don't suppose it was actually that 'ancient'.) John. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Prism Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 I too am wondering whether there would be many ex-NBR 8 ton 4-plank opens around in the '30s, particularly with single-sided brakes. Is there an RMweb thread on these things? (I try to avoid Oxford stuff where possible.) 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Regularity Posted January 7, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 7, 2019 The requirement for brakes with a lever (not brakes) on both sides was issued in 1911, and applied to new builds. The regulations stated an intentention to remove all wagons with brakes operable on one side only by 1938. It is questionable if this deadline was met for all general wagons, but the majority would have been either fitted with a independent either-side brakes, or a lever each side and a Morton clutch on the side with the brakes. It depends on the build date and usage as to whether or not a ex-NBR open would be around in the 30s, but with so many built, it is highly likely that some were (the LNER was not the richest of railway companies!) although they might be somewhat worn and faded by then: nice weathering opportunity ahead! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post checkrail Posted January 7, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted January 7, 2019 One job that's been on my 'catch up' list for a couple of years was to alter the livery on my Hornby Collet coaches, forward dating about half to the 1934 'shirtbutton' finish. (I know, I should have waited for Hornby to bring this variant out - it didn't take them long.) The remainder have kept their 1928-34 livery, but the double lining has been reduced to single on all except the unrebuilt H33 restaurant (which might get new Comet sides one day). I know that double lining was applied to all stock from a brief period in 1930 but the practice didn't last very long and all the photos I've seen of this finish were ex-works rather than in service. The third pic (below) is more controversial. While I was at it I removed the pre-1928 garter coat of arms and flanking crests from my old Hornby clerestories and substituted the twin shields. Of course these would never have been seen with the gold lining, but in this case the lining acts as a proxy for the absent relief panelling, until such time as I acquire the materials and skill to do something about it. Some may think it's like putting lipstick on a pig, but they don't look bad from a distance, and I couldn't bear a 1930s layout without a small handful of clerestories. Now off to the loft for final housekeeping tasks before Andy comes tomorrow. Let's see if I can clean the track without breaking anything. John C. 24 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Bear Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 That Clerestory looks good enough to me, better than something without any hint of paneling (like mine). Can't wait to see Andy's pictures of your layout in due course, hopefully quite a good few pages. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KNP Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 Layouts looking good and Andy's pictures will be a delight to see in the magazine. Just ply him with coffee and biscuits, I picked his brains on taking pictures which changed the way I approached my own layout photography. Clerestory looks fine to me so I would tend to leave it for now, must be more urgent things to get on with? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold gwrrob Posted January 8, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 8, 2019 How did you day go with the guv'nor then ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold checkrail Posted January 8, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 8, 2019 How did you day go with the guv'nor then ? Thoroughly enjoyable morning thanks Robin! We had a good old chat. He's very good company, and easy to get along with. Everything worked well, and I saw my own layout from some new viewpoints and angles. It's going to be nice, in due course, for you and others to see pics of my layout by a real photographer. (On the other hand it may just expose the many blemishes.) Will keep you posted. Just in the process of knocking out an article now. Cheers, John. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Andy Y Posted January 9, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted January 9, 2019 A lovely time with John yesterday; the layout is quite superb. It's evident from all of John's pictures that he's a remarkably tidy and exact modeller and everything looked 'just right'. Every aspect has room to breathe and there are some wonderful viewpoints as we know. Anyway, the pictures will do the talking in due course! 47 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Fatadder Posted January 9, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 9, 2019 Really looking forward to seeing this in the mag, hopefully will give some motivation to pull my finger out and get on with Brent! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Andy Y Posted January 9, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted January 9, 2019 48 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulwell Hall Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 Feature_5BW.jpg Beautiful photo - full of GWR atmosphere! Gerry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgman Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 Feature_5BW.jpg Panniers never fail to disappoint ! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold gwrrob Posted January 9, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 9, 2019 Feature_5BW.jpg You have to say that's magnificent. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KNP Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 (edited) Lovely couple of pictures, bodes well for the rest of them..... Excellent, any ideas for the date of the magazine article? Edited January 9, 2019 by KNP 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vulcanbomber Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 A lovely time with John yesterday; the layout is quite superb. It's evident from all of John's pictures that he's a remarkably tidy and exact modeller and everything looked 'just right'. Every aspect has room to breathe and there are some wonderful viewpoints as we know. Anyway, the pictures will do the talking in due course! Feature_3s.jpg Do you mind me asking who makes those figures Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold checkrail Posted January 9, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 9, 2019 Thanks to all for kind comments, (and many thanks again Andy).. What a great job he's done. When I saw those two photos I had to pinch myself - was this really my layout? John C. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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