Stoke Courtenay

[checkrail]

1 hour ago, Bishop of Welchester said:

'K's? Obviously much upgraded.

 

Yep, dead right.  Old K's 40 foot Dean passenger brake van kit, via eBay, which I hacked about a bit.  Changes include Kean Systems ends for Hornby corridor clerestories (roof profile needed carving a bit to fit, but it provided the desired scissors gangways), 247 Developments 'American' bogies with Alan Gibson 'Mansell' wheels, and grab handles, door handles and luggage grilles from Brassmasters.  Some of these ancient products are very worthwhile.

Edited November 7, 2019 by checkrail

[Brassey]

4 hours ago, checkrail said:

 

Yep, dead right.  Old K's 40 foot Dean passenger brake van kit, via eBay, which I hacked about a bit.  Changes include Kean Systems ends for Hornby corridor clerestories (roof profile needed carving a bit to fit, but it provided the desired scissors gangways), 247 Developments 'American' bogies with Alan Gibson 'Mansell' wheels, and grab handles, door handles and luggage grilles from Brassmasters.  Some of these ancient products are very worthwhile.

 

Also minus its lookout duckets

[Welchester]

23 hours ago, checkrail said:

 

Yep, dead right.  Old K's 40 foot Dean passenger brake van kit, via eBay, which I hacked about a bit.  Changes include Kean Systems ends for Hornby corridor clerestories (roof profile needed carving a bit to fit, but it provided the desired scissors gangways), 247 Developments 'American' bogies with Alan Gibson 'Mansell' wheels, and grab handles, door handles and luggage grilles from Brassmasters.  Some of these ancient products are very worthwhile.

 

Far superior to my mere bodging.

 

18 hours ago, Brassey said:

 

Also minus its lookout duckets

 

They are separately attached whitemetal castings.

[Mophead45143]

I'm a 70's Diesel modeler, but have always had a penchant for WR steam (in fact my original plan for a railway was a 20's - 30's GWR layout!). That's irrelevant though, as far as I'm concerned it doesn't matter what the era or setting is, it's capturing the atmosphere of a given time and place - something you have done beautifully. I must admit I always find steam layouts seem more tolerable to tighter curves and are better suited to limited space without looking 'wrong', something an HST would look silly on. But even there you've managed to create the illusion of space on a layout that is not massive, and it it still feels like a mainline. Hat's off, very enjoyable thread. 

[Coach bogie]

6 minutes ago, Mophead45143 said:

I'm a 70's Diesel modeler, but have always had a penchant for WR steam (in fact my original plan for a railway was a 20's - 30's GWR layout!). That's irrelevant though, as far as I'm concerned it doesn't matter what the era or setting is, it's capturing the atmosphere of a given time and place - something you have done beautifully. I must admit I always find steam layouts seem more tolerable to tighter curves and are better suited to limited space without looking 'wrong', something an HST would look silly on. But even there you've managed to create the illusion of space on a layout that is not massive, and it it still feels like a mainline. Hat's off, very enjoyable thread. 

 

One issue with HST sets on tight curves is the length of the coaches. On GWR modellers if you run 70ft stock you can have the same issue. When I had a smaller layout I would not run 70ft stock as the overhand on rtr curved was silly and it stopped me having platforms on curves. The passengers would have to long jump the rest of the way.  Here are my hidden sidings under construction. Even with the luxury of a double garage the longer stock is restricted to the outer 4 loops and the outside lines in the viewable area.

 

Mike Wiltshire

[checkrail]

5 hours ago, Mophead45143 said:

Hat's off, very enjoyable thread. 

Thanks Mophead45143 for kind comments.  It's always gratifying when someone can see what you've been trying to do, and even more so when they suggest that you're achieving it!

 

 

[checkrail]

4 hours ago, Coach bogie said:

One issue with HST sets on tight curves is the length of the coaches. On GWR modellers if you run 70ft stock you can have the same issue. When I had a smaller layout I would not run 70ft stock as the overhand on rtr curved was silly and it stopped me having platforms on curves. The passengers would have to long jump the rest of the way.  Here are my hidden sidings under construction. Even with the luxury of a double garage the longer stock is restricted to the outer 4 loops and the outside lines in the viewable area.

 

You're right Mike.   At the outset I exercised a self-denying ordinance against 70 footers because I wanted curved platforms and as scale a six-foot as possible*. I thought I might live to regret this - GWR 70 foot coaches are magnificent - but due to the glacial pace of my coach building efforts I haven't done so yet.

 

BTW, nice neat hidden sidings.  What are the big screws for?  An upper tier?

 

John C.

 

* In the end I settled for a six-foot way of 27mm, just 9" over scale, allowing 60 foot coaches at least.  This almost exactly compensates for the underscale-ness of 00 gauge, so that the distance from outer up rail to outer down rail is spot-on.  And yes, I know I could have made the 'six-foot' much wider and just said 'Ex-broad gauge clearances mate!', but I really wanted to replicate the look of conventional British double track. And it still wouldn't have solved the train door to platform gap issue.

 

[checkrail]

Hall and Star today.  Here's Winslow Hall bound for Plymouth, starting from a station stop at Stoke Courtenay

 

And here it meets Knight of the Grand Cross on an express with an inside-framed Siphon G behind the loco.

 

 

John C.

[Coach bogie]

4 hours ago, checkrail said:

BTW, nice neat hidden sidings.  What are the big screws for?  An upper tier?

 

 

 Yes the screws provide support for the upper board. This is the station approach above the hidden sidings previously shown.

 

Mike Wiltshire

[checkrail]

1 hour ago, Coach bogie said:

This is the station approach above the hidden sidings previously shown.

Impressive!

[checkrail]

B & w King photos were well received so I've tried one with the Star.

 

And here's the colour version.

 

John C.

[Barry Ten]

My eye's drawn to that wonky handrail...

[checkrail]

14 hours ago, Barry Ten said:

My eye's drawn to that wonky handrail...

Yes, must have a look at that.  Cheers.

[checkrail]

This nice little item arrived a week or so ago - I'd forgotten I'd ordered one!  A quick roof spray (Humbrol tank grey), replacement couplings (shortened Bachmann short tension-locks), and a toning down with Vallejo black wash and it was ready for the road.  Lovely!

 

I did think for about half a second of repainting it into the pre-1937 style but was unsure quite where to place the 16" letters and thought they might not fit into the narrow vertical panels.  Perhaps that's why Rails/Dapol gave that livery a swerve.   Anyway, how nice to see another pre-grouping wagon.  Wonder what they'll treat us to next?

 

Here's one of this van in the branch goods, returning from Earlsbridge.  Next vehicle but one is an LNER box van from a Parkside kit, completed the other day.

 

John C. 

[gwrrob]

Nice too also see that Aitken wagon again in the background as I now have the ingredients myself to do one John.

[checkrail]

Here's another shot of the LNER van from the re-packaged Peco/Parkside range.  Enjoyable to put together, with decent wheels and bearings.  Brake gear, inc. vac cylinder, is well represented, so why no vacuum pipes?  (Just the opposite to Oxford Rail's LNER cattle wagon, which IIRC had brake pipes but no cylinder!)  Anyway, I had a few Dapol ones in stock, so no prob.  

 

The instructions note that these vans had remarkably high roofs.  In contrast the ex-SECR van from Rails/Dapol had a pretty low roof profile.  Here they are together.  (This last picture was taken before the NE van had had the Vallejo black wash treatment.)

 

John C.

Edited December 15, 2019 by checkrail
SECR, not LBSCR!

[checkrail]

All this enjoyable messing about with wagons is just displacement activity, as I avoid the intimidating main project in hand, building more toplight coaches.  Under test here can be seen the underframe and ends of a C31 third from an ancient PC kit I acquired some years ago.  Fortuitously it came with a nice pair of etched brass sides as a bonus!  Let's see what I can make of them.  I've yet to form the tumblehome, but I have drilled out holes for door and grab handles on one side more or less accurately.  I'm also worried that the aluminium PC lower side profiles might get in the way of the handle tails and make glazing awkward.  It'll all come out in the wash.

 

 

A few bit and pieces of incomplete kits got mixed up here, and though I found a pair of American bogies among them I could only find one bolster, hence the plastikard fettling. 

 

The good news so far is that the underframe, close coupling and gangway connections all seem to run well in the train after a bit of fine tuning.

 

John C.

[checkrail]

Speaking of toplights there are a couple here behind 'Knight of the Grand Cross', Wolverhampton-bound.

 

 

 

(Thought I'd sorted that bent boiler handrail on the Star, but might need a bit more work with the fine-nosed pliers.)

John C.

[Neal Ball]

Lovely to see the Toplights out on the railway.

[Brassey]

Looks great yet begs the question, what route did that train take from Plymouth and whereabouts is Stoke Courtenay on that route?

Edited December 16, 2019 by Brassey

[checkrail]

4 hours ago, Brassey said:

Looks great yet begs the question, what route did that train take from Plymouth and whereabouts is Stoke Courtenay on that route?

 

Thanks Brassey.  The Penzance - Wolves train as shown has left Plymouth and is now bound for Exeter and Bristol. 

 

Where is stoke Courtenay?  Somewhere in my imagination, but this old pic from 2016 might provide a clue.

 

John C.

[checkrail]

Three more of the Star and train to complete this sequence.

 

 

 

John C.

[checkrail]

5 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

Lovely to see the Toplights out on the railway.

 

Thanks Neal.  Yes, lovely kits of lovely coaches.  Echoes of Edwardian elegance.  You can see why I want more!

[Barry Ten]

21 hours ago, checkrail said:

All this enjoyable messing about with wagons is just displacement activity, as I avoid the intimidating main project in hand, building more toplight coaches.  Under test here can be seen the underframe and ends of a C31 third from an ancient PC kit I acquired some years ago.  Fortuitously it came with a nice pair of etched brass sides as a bonus!  Let's see what I can make of them.  I've yet to form the tumblehome, but I have drilled out holes for door and grab handles on one side more or less accurately.  I'm also worried that the aluminium PC lower side profiles might get in the way of the handle tails and make glazing awkward.  It'll all come out in the wash.

 

 

A few bit and pieces of incomplete kits got mixed up here, and though I found a pair of American bogies among them I could only find one bolster, hence the plastikard fettling. 

 

The good news so far is that the underframe, close coupling and gangway connections all seem to run well in the train after a bit of fine tuning.

 

John C.

 

 

I tackled one of these earlier this year, although it appears I only took a photo of it at this stage:

 

 

I think going the way yours is. with etched sides, should produce a really nice result. I couldn't see any easy way of making the thing without fixing the roof permanently in place, unfortunately, which I'd rather not have done.

[Brassey]

5 hours ago, checkrail said:

Thanks Brassey.  The Penzance - Wolves train as shown has left Plymouth and is now bound for Exeter and Bristol. 

 

Where is stoke Courtenay?  Somewhere in my imagination, but this old pic from 2016 might provide a clue.

 

OK. It was the Wolverhampton reference that threw me.  I thought SC might be more north.

 

In 1912 the 15 coach 10:35 Penzance/Wolverhampton also included portions for Paddington and Cardiff, the Wolverhampton section included a dining car.  I don't have any equivalent data for the 30's though someone else may.