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Stoke Courtenay


checkrail
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1 hour ago, gwrrob said:

Nice to see your layout is going to this weekends BRM virtual exhibition John.;)

Thanks Robin.  Must say I was rather chuffed to learn that it's been chosen to feature among such illustrious company!

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On 02/07/2020 at 19:20, checkrail said:

Must say I was rather chuffed to learn that it's been chosen to feature among such illustrious company!

 

Well deserved John! Thanks for allowing us to feature it.

 

Thanks for the nice comments you left for other layout owners too!

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1 hour ago, AY Mod said:

 

Well deserved John! Thanks for allowing us to feature it.

 

Thanks for the nice comments you left for other layout owners too!


Great exhibition @AY Mod thank you

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I wasn't aware John of that option for doing a scissors gangway and to that end would be useful on the old Hornby/Airfix/Mainline Siphon G.

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2 hours ago, checkrail said:

Having built a couple of Slater's toplights some time ago I'd learned some lessons, the main one being that they're far too sophisticated for a bodger like me!

 

So first things that had to go were the bogies - I'd never get those put together and working in a million years.  So I used some 8 foot American white metal castings I had in the spares box.  I didn't find any bogie stretchers, but soon made a pair from layers of Plastikard, which also served as mounting for hook & loop couplings and vac/steam hoses.  

 

The buffers too went on the scrapheap in favour of some ready-made GWR sprung coach buffers from MRD.

 

The next things were the gangways.  Ingenious things of joy and beauty for a skilled craftsman but I don't want to spend a fortnight making a corridor connection. I was about to deploy a couple of those rubbery PVC-type ones from some old PC kits (a bit fiddly themselves) when a thought occurred,  I had a couple of Keen Systems ends for Hornby clerestory coaches!  The scissors gangway was sawed off the ends (easy, with the soapy plastic or resin from which they're made) and then attached to the coach with the floating end plates supplied.  After a lot of adjustment to hooks and bars I got them to work well in the train with gratifyingly close coupling, and able to negotiate the inside radius of Peco curved points on the way in and out of the fiddle yard.  So the aim was achieved - gangway connections with no 'daylight' and a representation of the scissors typical of these earlier coaches.

 

 

 

Next - painting and glazing.  I always find glazing the hardest part.

 

John C.

 

Very nice indeed  John and some good lateral thinking there to help a bodger like me too! 

 

If these ever get re-introduced I'll be trawling my library to see if any lasted into the 1950s.

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1 hour ago, gwrrob said:

I wasn't aware John of that option for doing a scissors gangway and to that end would be useful on the old Hornby/Airfix/Mainline Siphon G.

 

Now there's an idea...

 

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3 hours ago, TrevorP1 said:

If these ever get re-introduced I'll be trawling my library to see if any lasted into the 1950s.

Yes they did... although whether they were the exact same diagram I don't know. There'll definitely be a few running in Mid-Cornwall (one day).

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9 minutes ago, checkrail said:

Yep, loads of pics in the Russell volumes of toplights in BR red & cream with W prefixes.

That's right John. What I haven't done (yet) is to check which are the same diagrams as the Slater's kits and, of those, whether they are in the same condition e.g. panelling, blanked-off toplights, etc. If anyone already has, then please share the fruits of your labours!

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8 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

That's right John. What I haven't done (yet) is to check which are the same diagrams as the Slater's kits and, of those, whether they are in the same condition e.g. panelling, blanked-off toplights, etc

 

For BR (and post 20's GWR) it is a nightmare. Over 180 toplights came back from the war and rebuilt from Panel to Steel sided, no toplights, electric lighting etc. Thirds were rebuilt as brake thirds etc . Here is one of my ex ambulance toplight rebuilds. After returning to the GWR Swindon rebuilt it as steel sided brake third with bollections.

 

Mike Wiltshire

IMG_7590.JPG.bf3f5eaa8c47d3e52ec7458b436bf5d3.JPG

 

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Ah! 
I was only looking at my Slaters Toplights today..... and promptly put them back in the box!

 

Need to get them finished.....The bogies are the issue, I think I managed a couple of corridor connections..... tbc!

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Hi John,

I've just spent a very enjoyable day working through your site. I now need to go back through in slower time and absorb all the detailed content, and take another look at all the photos. 

My initial reaction is that I don't know whether to be inspired, or just give up ! Your layout is everything I would like to achieve.  I moved out to Oz a couple of years ago, and have not modelled for ages.  Masses of models/kits, but work and then ten years as a carer left no time for hobbies. At 78 I'm wondereing if it's too late to start.

One question for now, please. Have you added any elevation/cant to your curved main line ? Looking at the photos I'm not sure - in some there does seem to be a cant to the track, but it may just be an optical effect of the curve.

A wonderful layout, and a joy to browse through everything you kindly share.

 

Geoff

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9 hours ago, Biggles Dog said:

Masses of models/kits, but work and then ten years as a carer left no time for hobbies. At 78 I'm wondereing if it's too late to start.

Thanks @Biggles Dog for kind comments.  

 

No, it's never too late.  And you say you have masses of models and kits, which gives you a flying start.  I started the layout with no stock whatsoever and gradually acquired models of suitable prototypes as opportunity allowed.  Having completed the layout I'm enjoying myself retrospectively bringing them up to an acceptable standard.  (Acceptable to me, that is.  Others have higher standards I know!)

 

So go for it and let us know on this forum how you get on.

 

Best wishes.

John C.

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