Charlie Strong Metals (and Watery Lane Sidings)

[F-UnitMad]

12 hours ago, Ruston said:

I couldn't quite get what the shunter was saying.

Whatever he was moaning about, it would sound even worse in that awful, dreary Brummie accent....  

[Ruston]

It's not well known but Ruston & Hornsby produced a single example of the LSSE design as an industrial 0-6-0. All the others were built for British Railways. The sole example was exported from new but returned to the UK via The Shelby Group, who added it to their loco hire fleet and it was seen between contracts shunting Watery Lane Sidings, and Charlie Strong's scrapyard.

 

 

 

[Alister_G]

I bet the shunter had a sharp intake of breath when the loco passed the shed...

 

Al.

[Ruston]

A 48DS Ruston arrived by road. As a non-runner, and with the market for such small locomotives shrinking rapidly, it will probably go straight to the cutting area and become part of the scrap pile.

 

 

 

It really is a non-runner. I put some Gibson Lowmac wheels, on a rudimentary frame, made from wire, under a Hornby body. The body was given to me by @Sandhole - thanks Chris!

[sb67]

Lovely weathering on that Dave, the rusty colours look superb. How did you get that? it really looks like the rust is breaking through the paintwork 

[Ruston]

3 hours ago, sb67 said:

Lovely weathering on that Dave, the rusty colours look superb. How did you get that? it really looks like the rust is breaking through the paintwork 

First, I had to remove all the wasp stripes and white paint from the cab. Hornby put the paint on quite thick there and it would show through if not removed. Then I sprayed on a coat of primer, followed by brushing on an all-over covering of rust-coloured paint. That was left to dry for a few hours.

 

I then sprayed everything with pound shop hair spray and before that dried, I sprinkled salt on. Immediately after that, a coat of green was airbrushed on. The final step is to wash off the salt. Areas can also be rubbed and scratched to remove paint within maybe half an hour of applying the hair spray. The Hair spray works in the same way as these expensive "chipping fluid" things but is a fraction of the price. The salt also stains the paint and gives a faded effect.

[sb67]

Thanks for that explanation, the faded effect on the paint looks great and works really well. As I said it really looks like the rust is breaking through and taking hold of the loco.

[Sandhole]

On 12/05/2021 at 17:07, Ruston said:

A 48DS Ruston arrived by road. As a non-runner, and with the market for such small locomotives shrinking rapidly, it will probably go straight to the cutting area and become part of the scrap pile.

 

 

 

It really is a non-runner. I put some Gibson Lowmac wheels, on a rudimentary frame, made from wire, under a Hornby body. The body was given to me by @Sandhole - thanks Chris!

What a superb job Dave, that's great work.

[Sandhole]

On 12/05/2021 at 17:07, Ruston said:

A 48DS Ruston arrived by road. As a non-runner, and with the market for such small locomotives shrinking rapidly, it will probably go straight to the cutting area and become part of the scrap pile.

 

 

 

It really is a non-runner. I put some Gibson Lowmac wheels, on a rudimentary frame, made from wire, under a Hornby body. The body was given to me by @Sandhole - thanks Chris!

Once again, the Wagon makes the shot, your road vehicles ROCK.

[Ruston]

 

[F-UnitMad]

I'm often a bit ambivalent about sound in steam locos; it seems to me to emphasise the lack of actual smoke & steam, especially when the sound portrays the loco working hard.

However in that video the cheeky whistle right at the end is just wonderful, and very realistic!! Fantastic.  

[Ruston]

Ruston power at Watery Lane.

 

[Ruston]

More wagons arriving to be cut up. @SteveyDee68

I found one last 22-ton ironstone hopper that didn't go with the layout on which it was built for.

 

This Hornby Bogie Bolster A has been added to the pool of rolling stock.

 

 

[Ruston]

I had a visit to Charlie Strong's yard and found this huge whale of a thing, parked on the back siding, next to a tiny Ruston 48DS.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 12, 2022 by Ruston

[SteveyDee68]

On 31/05/2021 at 17:20, Ruston said:

More wagons arriving to be cut up. @SteveyDee68

I found one last 22-ton ironstone hopper that didn't go with the layout on which it was built for.

 

 

What a shame it is for the cutter's torch at Charlie Strong's - DRS Engineering were on the lookout for a suitable example to use as a template for a forthcoming conversion contract!

 

Thank you for the earlier head's up to the relevant page on your thread/s re these wagons. This thread has left me drooling and wanting to model a grotty industrial railway (there was one a few minutes away when I was a kid, at Heap Bridge in Bury) but right now my modelling skills could not hope to emulate the variety and quality of rolling stock (and locos, let's not forget locos!) that you produce!

 

Long may Charlie Strong's continue to thrive*.

 

Steve S

 

 

* I wanted to quip about how scrap metal merchants, like undertakers, will never be a dying trade, but as the latter literally is, I always get confused about getting the joke to work...

Edited June 3, 2021 by SteveyDee68
Typo

[Ruston]

The post to which this refers has been erased. When I watched it on Youtube, it screwed my computer up! It took over an hour of a blue screen, and a noise before it would work again. I removed the post and video as a precaution.

 

I forgot to say something about the video. The Brush is now fully functional and has sound. Obviously, no one does a sound file for either the National or Mirrlees-engined versions, so the nearest large and slow-revving diesel is the EE unit in the BR Class 08. I have an 08 and I didn''t want the two locos to sound the same.

 

The 08 has Paul Chetter's sound file in it and it is spot-on for an 08. This loco has the Youchoos sound file, which I personally don't think is anything like as good as an 08, but it sounds so different that it suits my purposes here perfectly. I was going to fit a stay alive but it doesn't need it. It picks up on a ll 6 wheels and is very heavy. It now weighs in at 300g, which is about 50g over the Bachmann Class 08. If it came off the rails with a stay alive inside it would keep on running for about 12 inches, and with all that weight, it would demolish anything in its path!

Edited June 4, 2021 by Ruston
To add note

[SteveyDee68]

Back in January, you posted the following photo..

 

 

Perusing the latest Hornby magazine, I wonder if the Hornby designers also saw this and thought it a good idea for a new livery?

 

 

The new Grant Rail livery makes it much easier to produce a 'generic yellow' industrial shunting loco - I do hope @Ruston has negotiated a small royalty on each sale for providing the original inspiration!

 

I now have a craving to acquire one ... but am also drawn to the Bristol Port Authority B2 loco, too. Argh! I need to win tonight's Euromillions!!

Edited June 4, 2021 by SteveyDee68
Added photos

[Ruston]

7 hours ago, SteveyDee68 said:

Back in January, you posted the following photo..

 

 

Perusing the latest Hornby magazine, I wonder if the Hornby designers also saw this and thought it a good idea for a new livery?

 

 

The new Grant Rail livery makes it much easier to produce a 'generic yellow' industrial shunting loco - I do hope @Ruston has negotiated a small royalty on each sale for providing the original inspiration!

 

I now have a craving to acquire one ... but am also drawn to the Bristol Port Authority B2 loco, too. Argh! I need to win tonight's Euromillions!!

I have mentioned this on the relevant Hornby thread, and told Hornby about it a long time ago that they have it completely wrong with the Grant Rail one. That livery was never carried by a 48DS and certainly not one that looks exactly like their model. The one they have done was a 44/48HP and it had been given a unique cab during its time with GLE. If they made it in the earlier Grant Lyon Eagre yellow livery then it would be correct as they also had a standard 48DS.

 

Nice that they've done Jim though. One of the first things I did when I volunteered at Starbeck was to help change a blown cylinder head gasket on Jim.

 

[F-UnitMad]

On 31/05/2021 at 20:28, Ruston said:

I had a visit to Charlie Strong's yard and found this huge whale of a thing, parked on the back siding, next to a tiny Ruston 48DS.

 

 

 

 

So apart from it's an 08 on steroids, and the hood had something of an American look to it, anything else you can tell us about this - prototype and model - for those of us unfamiliar with it?   

[Ruston]

1 minute ago, F-UnitMad said:

So apart from it's an 08 on steroids, and the hood had something of an American look to it, anything else you can tell us about this - prototype and model - for those of us unfamiliar with it?   

It's all on here. https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/162588-rustons-industrial-locomotive-and-wagon-workshop-thread/ I decided to start a thread for all of my builds etc. as not all are intended for this layout, or even all for myself.

 

[SteveyDee68]

5 hours ago, Ruston said:

I have mentioned this on the relevant Hornby thread, and told Hornby about it a long time ago that they have it completely wrong with the Grant Rail one. That livery was never carried by a 48DS and certainly not one that looks exactly like their model. The one they have done was a 44/48HP and it had been given a unique cab during its time with GLE. If they made it in the earlier Grant Lyon Eagre yellow livery then it would be correct as they also had a standard 48DS.

 

Oh, crikey! My post was meant to be congratulatory, as I had literally just finished reading the thread and was thinking how good the 48DS looked in yellow when viola! Hornby release a model to match (well, match-ish, it's yellow all over!) and I had no idea that (a) you already knew of it and (b) had already told Hornby it was wrong!

 

Apologies, Mr Ruston, sir - I feel like I have made an enormous faut pais!

 

At least it provides an easier base model to modify into a yellow liveried loco!

 

Steve S

 

PS

I am a little surprised Hornby didn't release it in Network Rail yellow livery and then charged a premium for it (like they seem to be doing with a lot of other items in their catalogue!)

[Ruston]

Charlie Strong's AEC Mammoth Major hooklift.

 

I've been working on this one, on and off, since February. I thought it was finished until I looked at these photos. I can see I'll have to paint or weather the cab step and those wheels are a bit of a let down. I might have to replace them with some whitemetal ones, from RTI at some point.

Edited May 12, 2022 by Ruston

[Sandhole]

17 hours ago, Ruston said:

Charlie Strong's AEC Mammoth Major hooklift.

 

I've been working on this one, on and off, since February. I thought it was finished until I looked at these photos. I can see I'll have to paint or weather the cab step and those wheels are a bit of a let down. I might have to replace them with some whitemetal ones, from RTI at some point.

Every time I see an 'Ergo' cab, it brings back happy memories of the Leyland Hippo the CWS Down Ampney estate had which I drove.
Very comfy beast. Didn't half 'GO'.
I agree with you, Dave, the rear wheels aren't that good. The fronts are fine, I think.
Once again, your wagons are works of art and a trip down memory lane for me.
All The Best,
Chris.

[Ruston]

An ancient Alley & McLellan steam waggon was unearthed during the demolition of a local works. Charlie Strong had the contract to remove all scrap metal on the site, so the waggon was brought to Garrison Lane. Perhaps an enthusiast will buy it for restoration?

 

Edited May 12, 2022 by Ruston

[Sandhole]

Just now, Ruston said:

An ancient Alley & McLellan steam waggon was unearthed during the demolition of a local works. Charlie Strong had the contract to remove all scrap metal on the site, so the waggon was brought to Garrison Lane. Perhaps an enthusiast will buy it for restoration?

 

Once again, a work of art.
Marvellous Dave.
Chris.