Midland Musing & Modelling

[Hair_Dave]

Gentle ladies and men i have been lurking on the board here for a while and quietly been working away in my free time.

 

I am collecting the Midland in about 1912, this is a date which keeps getting earlier, before Christmas it was 1920. After a generous donation of project material by my father recently the L&Y and LNW have entered my interests.

 

As yet there is no layout aside from my test loop, however I have ambitions towards something grander potentially a fictional line in the North West linking parts of the MR and L&Y together. This hasn't yet even made it to the drawing board, but i do have approval from she who puts up with my mess!

 

Instead i have been working on rolling stock for about a year now, i will be coming back and adding more pictures of what I have completed later as i only have access to limited photos at work.

 

So here is where I began, almost a year ago. I acquired a ufo (un-finished object) off my dad which had been sat in a sorry state since long before i was a twinkle in his eye, its a GEM Belpair on one of their L1 chassis with a set of old Romford wheels. The chassis worked, but ran backwards. The body had been mostly stripped of paint and there were several pieces missing or damaged. I finished the stripping of the old paint, repaired the damage and replaced the missing parts.

 

Bear in mind this was my first railway model, I am a reasonably experienced modeller, mostly making wargames figures and vehicles.

 

Base coats came from a rattle can, first Army Painter chaotic red (its a dark ish red brown) then a dusting of humbrol no.20. As you can see from picture 2 my first attempt at lining was something of a failure, but I overcame this and got to a point i was satisfied. Transfers are hmrs pressfix, and something of a learning curve as i had only used waterslide before. (yes i got the heraldry on the cabside way out of position) To protect the finish i used a layer of satin varnish. I learned a phenomenal amount from this build up, this one is going to stay as it is, I have no plans to go back and update the paintwork, if i want a "better" belpair in my collection i will look into getting another. Now, enough text, here are some pictures:

 

[Edwardian]

Gentle ladies and men i have been lurking on the board here for a while and quietly been working away in my free time.

 

I am collecting the Midland in about 1912, this is a date which keeps getting earlier, before Christmas it was 1920. After a generous donation of project material by my father recently the L&Y and LNW have entered my interests.

 

As yet there is no layout aside from my test loop, however I have ambitions towards something grander potentially a fictional line in the North West linking parts of the MR and L&Y together. This hasn't yet even made it to the drawing board, but i do have approval from she who puts up with my mess!

 

Instead i have been working on rolling stock for about a year now, i will be coming back and adding more pictures of what I have completed later as i only have access to limited photos at work.

 

So here is where I began, almost a year ago. I acquired a ufo (un-finished object) off my dad which had been sat in a sorry state since long before i was a twinkle in his eye, its a GEM Belpair on one of their L1 chassis with a set of old Romford wheels. The chassis worked, but ran backwards. The body had been mostly stripped of paint and there were several pieces missing or damaged. I finished the stripping of the old paint, repaired the damage and replaced the missing parts.

 

Bear in mind this was my first railway model, I am a reasonably experienced modeller, mostly making wargames figures and vehicles.

 

Base coats came from a rattle can, first Army Painter chaotic red (its a dark ish red brown) then a dusting of humbrol no.20. As you can see from picture 2 my first attempt at lining was something of a failure, but I overcame this and got to a point i was satisfied. Transfers are hmrs pressfix, and something of a learning curve as i had only used waterslide before. (yes i got the heraldry on the cabside way out of position) To protect the finish i used a layer of satin varnish. I learned a phenomenal amount from this build up, this one is going to stay as it is, I have no plans to go back and update the paintwork, if i want a "better" belpair in my collection i will look into getting another. Now, enough text, here are some pictures:

 

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Welcome, and well done, from another first-layout builder!

[sem34090]

Like the look of this: welcome to the exclusive Pre-Grouping Gentleperson's Club!

[Compound2632]

That looks a nice kit to cut one's teeth on without risking too many tears. I believe the GEM Belpaire was sold as buildable either as a Belpaire or a 999 and was designed to fit the Triang L1 chassis, so wasn't that close to either. David Jenkinson wrote an article in the July & August 1968 issues of Model Railway News on making a scale model of an LMS-condition Belpaire out of the kit.

 

I hope you will excuse and not take offence at a little Midland pedantry: the GEM kit gives you a superheated engine, with smokebox extended forwards. The first Belpaire was superheated in 1913. Also, I think around 1912 most Belpaires retained their original 8 or 6 wheel tenders with flared tops, the rebuild to the "Deeley" straight-sided form coming with superheating - at least I can't find a photo with both together. So, ironically, your model is better for 1920!

 

Actually, I'd be inclined to stick with 1920 for now - it's a much easier period to get going with - there are even RTR engines!* (And by 1912 goods engines were going black anyway.) Also the well-known Ratio kits for Midland clerestory coaches are suitable for that date but need a fair deal of fiddly work to make them suitable for pre-Great War condition. On the other hand, anything you build in genuinely c. 1912 condition is likely to still be good for c. 1920.

 

Trouble is, the further back you push your date, the more finnecky you'll find yourself becoming. Look out for second-hand books, especially Lacy & Dow, Midland Carriages; Jenkinson & Essery An Illustrated Review of Midland Locomotives; Essery, Midland Wagons, and, if you can find it, Dow & Lacy, Midland Style - that's the backbone of a Midland enthusiast's library. Have you considered joining the Midland Railway Society? Be warned, though, you could end up spending more time doing research than actual modelling!

 

*Though the Bachmann 1000 is in 1950s condition...

[Hair_Dave]

I am working on Ratio clerestorys at the moment. I have decided against changing the door toplights and I am living with their LMS condition.

 

Regarding the Belpair, you are correct, and it certainly does not feature in my elaborate and beyond my ability plans. If i choose to make another i will chase down the Jekinson article to make more accurate model.

 

I have been cultivating something of a library of reference books, 4 volumes on locomotives, 2 on wagons and one on carriages by Essery. The Lacey and Dow carriage books are on my hit list.

 

My pictures are all over the place so posting is more difficult than i anticipated. So here is something to tide you over whilst I get my house in order.

 

Edited March 9, 2018 by Hair_Dave

[John_Miles]

 

This is a bit of model railway history which I am lucky enough to own. It is a David Jenkinson loco which ran on his Settle and Carlisle layouts when he modelled in EM. The basis is a K's kit. It has a tender drive which is heavily weighted. I acquired it from Tudor Watkins who bought it from Roger Carpenter (the photos man) for IIRC £10. I never ran it until last autumn when I cleaned the wheels and tested it on Dunvant at Cardiff Exhibition. It ran beautifully and happily pulled a rake of 5 carriages.

[Hair_Dave]

That spinner is a beauty, mine has similarities, its a K's tender driven loco with as much extra weight as i could cram in. It however does not have the pedigree that one does, and i am jealous. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Hair_Dave]

I was inspired! I decided to make myself a CCT, using the plans in Essery's Midland wagons vol 1 a wrecked Parkside LMS CCT, some spare MAJ solebars, MJT compensated w irons and some plasticard & microstrip. In all a fun little project.

 

[technohand]

All you Midland Railway Modellers. There is a topic: "Midland Railway Company" which is starting to come alive which will hopefully become a source of information.

I am informing the Midland Railway Society of its existence so hopefully it will access a wider more knowledgeable base.

Regards to all

Tony 

[Compound2632]

All you Midland Railway Modellers. There is a topic: "Midland Railway Company" which is starting to come alive which will hopefully become a source of information.

I am informing the Midland Railway Society of its existence so hopefully it will access a wider more knowledgeable base.

Regards to all

Tony 

 

As Midland Railway Society members will know from the latest Newsletter, our Chairman, David Hunt - no mean modeller himself - is keen to raise the profile of modelling within the society. It would be good to encourage technohand's general thread but also let's keep up the number of individual workbench threads dedicated to Midland modelling! - and perhaps link to them from the general thread? There are three very active Great Central themed threads on the go - we shouldn't be outdone!

[Hair_Dave]

I have mostly been adding bearings and replacement wheels to the ratio stock i got off my dad this week, a tedious but rewarding task as they run so much more smoothly now.

 

As a treat i started a new kit (ok, ok i ran out of wheels and bearings with 3 coaches left to do)

 

This is my first foray into brass and as a hybrid kit i am hoping that it will be a nice simple introduction. The kit is a Branchlines D466 48ft picnic saloon. The sides and ends are brass, the roof and underframe is from the plastic ratio kits i am familiar with.

 

So far i have bent up one of the sides successfully, and it is placed on a spare underframe from one of my other coaches. I plan to clean up and bend the other etched pieces before tackling the dreaded soldering iron.

 

[Hair_Dave]

You have to love the days when your hobbies coincide.

 

On the recommendation of Compound2632's D299 appreciation thread a brand new copy of Private Owner Wagons of the Ince Waggon & Ironworks has been procured for the princely sum of £7. Very impressed with the content so far, I already want to make several wagons..

 

Then at the opposite end of the spectrum, a 1/60 scale transforming jet fighter from an anime called Macross Delta. Maybe i should do some ultra modern S gauge Japanese models.

 

Instead,the missus is out this evening so i can crack on with the soldering (i am so bad at soldering) on the picnic saloon.

 

[Hair_Dave]

I have been quietly busy, I have finished up my Ratio coaches.

 

Square panelled clerestory 3x brake 3rd,3xall 3rd 2 composites

Bain suburban 1x 3rd 1x 1st 1x 4 cmpt brake 3rd

Test coach, an unidentified 6 wheel composite.

 

Then I finished construction of my picnic saloon and got an undercoat of halfords grey on it.

 

And did an old K's SECR van with replacement W irons and axleboxes. Quick, satisfying and just what i needed.