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Churminster & Stowe Magna, Southern Railway


Tony Teague
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15 hours ago, Tony Teague said:

Surprised no-one mentioned the green.......:biggrin_mini:

 

Looks too light, I hope it will be corrected on the production mod- wait, wrong thread...

 

 

 

 

 

The Banana Van looks excellent - I've built a few of the 7mm Parkside versions. A scaled down  one would be a welcomed addition. I have a few meat and insulated David Geen kits to get around to, they share a similar level of intricate detail on the underside. 

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Having got the control panel back into normal use I have spent the last couple of days running trains - something that had not happened to any great extent for all sorts of reasons, for about 6 months - and very enjoyable it has been too!

 

The most pleasant surprise has been the extremely high percentage of trains that have moved away without hesitation, just as soon as they were "called" from the panel - I had certainly expected a few hesitations or failures.

 

877356523_SJP2020-09-2018-28-54(BRadius8Smoothing4)02200920.jpg.5b4fcd4ab840641c585008bc7127bfbc.jpg

 

Here is Maunsell Q class no.543 pulling into the yard ast Stowe Magna with a (very) short Enginner's train.

 

Aside from 'playing trains' I have also been looking at a number of locos that had ended up on the work bench over the last few months - and trying to work out why they were there, and then fixing it where possible. Where a 'quick fix' is not practical they go into the (non-PC) 'cripple drawer' which forms part of my roundtuit pile!

 

Tony

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1 minute ago, Tony Teague said:

Having got the control panel back into normal use I have spent the last couple of days running trains - something that had not happened to any great extent for all sorts of reasons, for about 6 months - and very enjoyable it has been too! :drinks:

 

Hooray!

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2 hours ago, Tony Teague said:

a number of locos that had ended up on the work bench over the last few months - and trying to work out why they were there

I often find that if I give them a try they seem to have seen the error of their ways and behave themselves again.

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  • 2 weeks later...
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Again I'm surprised to find that two weeks have passed since my last update, but I have certainly made progress.

 

On the Control Panel, the levers at the front have received attention:

 

SJPPA04001202201004.jpg.4110dc9002119e3e161325d3f63f8da6.jpg

 

The colours reflect their function and, ahead of the permanent printedsub-panel becoming available, I have placed a paper version behind the levers to help me remember what they do!

 

SJPPA04001402201004.jpg.e42bd8db64dd994dc414ba6d080e60ed.jpg

 

When you are seated at the panel the levers do actually line up with their labels!

 

I have also been preparing to do my first batch of weathering for rather a long time - unbelievably it's been 20 months according to what is shown on p.20 above! :nono:

There is a very long line of wagons and vans, constructed in the intervening period which are waiting to be treated, quite apart from complete trains sitting in the Fiddle Yards - but first I had to clear the workbench.

 

SJPIMG_20200930_16405902200930.jpg.68dc1fba142b53fca6d83e863370060e.jpg

 

As mentioned previously, there were a number of locos sitting there with unknown defects, but one in particular had me stumped until I realised that there was a historic repair hiding behind black insulation tape on the connection between the loco and tender; I had bought this loco 2nd hand and the repair had since come apart under the tape, where these bare wires were touching each other and causing a dead short!

 

SJPPA04000802201004.jpg.5d9e6e2c692224a53b428cfde4e1beea.jpg

 

Rather than repeat the bodged repair I phoned Peter's Spares, where a very knowledgeable chap immediately told me that the connector was available as a spare, even though it is not shown on the Hornby exploded diagram - so thanks to him, all I now need to do is work out where to solder which wire ate the other end!

 

SJPPA04002302201004.jpg.9ba274552688c0eaf63f7ba407ee1e69.jpg

 

As I am not a DCC user this is pretty simple and I can use the wires in pairs rather than singly; so No.932 Blundell's will shortly return to the operational fleet!

 

SJPPA04002502201004.jpg.9c1570d0b67afcedcae047983be6cbd0.jpg

 

The final workbench clearance activty has been to re-number / re-name and detail a small number of RTR locos that I had acquired over recent months, and these too will be joining the weathering queue. So with all of that done, it's back to the great smell of thinners! :crazy_mini:

 

Tony

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Snap!

 

I spent some time recently sorting out the same connection on one of mine (918 Hurstpeirpoint). I feel like this model in particular suffers from issues with fragility, especially with the loco/tender connection. 

 

Have you managed to amass all 40 Schools? 

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2 hours ago, Jack P said:

Snap!

 

I spent some time recently sorting out the same connection on one of mine (918 Hurstpeirpoint). I feel like this model in particular suffers from issues with fragility, especially with the loco/tender connection. 

 

Have you managed to amass all 40 Schools? 

 

Snap is about right!:D

 

...and no, that would be excessive! :danced:

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On 04/10/2020 at 17:49, Tony Teague said:

SJPIMG_20200930_16405902200930.jpg.da562910b83165b5a1a45fda38c42596.jpg

 

As mentioned previously, there were a number of locos sitting there with unknown defects, but one in particular had me stumped until I realised that there was a historic repair hiding behind black insulation tape on the connection between the loco and tender; I had bought this loco 2nd hand and the repair had since come apart under the tape, where these bare wires were touching each other and causing a dead short! :scared:

 

SJPPA04000802201004.jpg.dc596d8d93a3c51b43e03ff0008d3a97.jpg

 

Rather than repeat the bodged repair I phoned Peter's Spares, where a very knowledgeable chap immediately told me that the connector was available as a spare, even though it is not shown on the Hornby exploded diagram - so thanks to him, all I now need to do is work out where to solder which wire ate the other end!

 

SJPPA04002302201004.jpg.f22253fac572714c1e31b705a09ee4f6.jpg

 

As I am not a DCC user this is pretty simple and I can use the wires in pairs rather than singly; so No.932 Blundell's will shortly return to the operational fleet!

 

SJPPA04002502201004.jpg.2dcde4f2f0f22b8b08585d7a589b5a5d.jpg

 

The final workbench clearance activity has been to re-number / re-name and detail a small number of RTR locos that I had acquired over recent months, and these too will be joining the weathering queue. So with all of that done, it's back to the great smell of thinners! :crazy_mini:

 

Tony

 

Tony, I feel your pain, I have a similar spare part waiting for one of my Schools, for the life of me I cannot remember which one. It is not as bad as yours so it is still operating, but I have the spare and will need to pull the loco apart one day to fit it. As soon as I work out which one it is!! :sad_mini::O;)

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54 minutes ago, gz3xzf said:

 

Tony, I feel your pain, I have a similar spare part waiting for one of my Schools, for the life of me I cannot remember which one. It is not as bad as yours so it is still operating, but I have the spare and will need to pull the loco apart one day to fit it. As soon as I work out which one it is!! :sad_mini::O;)

 

Good luck - it is obviously a weakness as Jack P has said. I have another one in a drawer somewhere which fell from a great height to the floor and it also has this problem - however, it is not the worst of its issues, so it may not get treatment for some while yet!

 

Tony

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On 04/10/2020 at 17:49, Tony Teague said:

 

On the Control Panel, the levers at the front have received attention:

 

SJPPA04001402201004.jpg.ee709b663e44c435f41e82c4b20c6d48.jpg

 

When you are seated at the panel the levers do actually line up with their labels!

 

 

That looks much better. Good job!

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10 hours ago, Mick Bonwick said:

 

That looks much better. Good job!

 

Thanks, just waiting now for the printed / laminated trim to go around the back and sides of these levers to finally complete the panel.

(Final is of course a relative term as there may still be wires to be connected.....)

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Encouraged by what I did yesterday I finished off the 2nd batch and a few bits and pieces today.

 

One of the problems that I have had since I first learned about weathering, is a tendency to over-spray things, because I can't see an instant result - so I just keep adding more!

 

When it dries, I then realise that I have overdone it :o!

 

One of yesterday's batches fell into this category (the word 'obliterated' springs to mind), and so rather than smash the offending vehicles with a hammer, I put in an emergency call to the weathering Jedi Master, aka Mick Bonwick, who quickly told me what I needed to do (as well as chastising me for my impatience!).

 

So whilst the resulting vehicles will remain heavily weathered they are at least acceptable to me - lesson learned (again / for the time being).

 

391525136_SJP2020-10-1015-10-31(BRadius8Smoothing4)02201010.jpg.dd806d3f12405242b5697bc941304045.jpg

 

The three in the foreground being the vehicles in question.

 

With those three shunted out of the way, one can see that a weathered van train is beginning to emerge in the road behind:

 

1550211923_SJP2020-10-1015-39-27(BRadius8Smoothing4)02201010.jpg.dec9aa190d1ca58de461a987bd476979.jpg

 

and panning out to see the full extent:

 

1565196350_SJP2020-10-1015-24-25(BRadius8Smoothing4)02201010.jpg.f04a79306a346fe06b6846dab47fbe15.jpg

 

The weathering queue over in the Churminster headshunt is shortening nicely!

 

Tony

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33 minutes ago, thegreenhowards said:

Looking good Tony. I particularly like the plank weathering on the LMS long low. I’ve signed up for Mike’s virtual weathering Workshop at Missenden next week, so hope to be emulating you soon!

 

Andy

 

I think weathering is the best "bang for the buck" in terms of making a convincing model, and that model absolutely nails it!

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1 hour ago, thegreenhowards said:

Looking good Tony. I particularly like the plank weathering on the LMS long low. I’ve signed up for Mike’s virtual weathering Workshop at Missenden next week, so hope to be emulating you soon!

 

Andy

 

42 minutes ago, StuartMc said:

 

I think weathering is the best "bang for the buck" in terms of making a convincing model, and that model absolutely nails it!

 

 

I thoroughly recommend Mick's curse course at Missenden, so next week's live stream will be especially worthwhile for anyone who has not been able to get there.

Tony

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Another two and a half weeks...... but I was away for one of them!

 

Back in June I started a separate thread by raising a question about a pet subject of mine - Continental Ferry Vans - and I received an enormous amount of helpful advice from a number of people who have studied the topic far more than I.

 

There are two continental freight trains running on Churminster & Stowe Magna at present, but neither is satisfactory in that they are made up entirely of HO scale vans - which sort of look OK until they are stood next  to the rest of my OO stock! - and many of them are also out of era for the time period that I model. The aim is that over time I will build a replacement rake to form a more suitable continental freight train so that the two existing sets can be disposed of.

 

So this week I started at the easy end of what needs doing, and set off to build four SR 10T Ferry Vans from Ratio Kit No.594, and this is where I have got to at present:

 

SJPPA28000802201028.jpg.e4722e666e610e49bd2388c0ff8fe2cc.jpg

 

More of what has been involved is shown on the other thread, and I have now added a link to it, below.

 

Some detailing , fettling, painting, decals and weathering will be needed to complete these vehicles, and my intention in future is to divert some effort to working on the ferry vans from time to time, but maintaining the main focus on the layout and other related "stuff" here.

 

In that respect, weathering remains a critical focus, and next up is a batch of Schools!

 

SJPPA28001202201028.jpg.fca62313219603420c9e202945fc11f6.jpg

 

The driver of 'Tonbridge' clearly needs to re-fix one of his headcode discs!

 

Tony

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3 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

Nice work Tony, I Particularly like the schools. I always find a light weathering harder than a heavy one and I think you’ve carried it off well on those. 

 

Andy

So do I!

Being impatient for results, I tend to look and not see the desired result so I spray some more, whereas one really needs to let things dry as well as considering what the outcome looks like compared with the original - in this case a fairly glossy plastic model. So I'd say patience is key, and certainly as I have been told many times, "less is more"!

Tony

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