St. Mungo's mk 3

[37Oban]

St. Mungo lies at the end of a short branch of the Cathcart Circle.  Construction of the line began in January 1883, the same time as the first section of the Circle.  It leaves the Circle at a junction just south of Queens Park station and heads in a roughly northerly direction ending near the south bank of the Clyde, opposite Glasgow Green.  Although on the Clyde, the river is really too shallow for serious shipbuilding but there are factories and housing developments which the line was designed to serve.  There was also a short spur to the Southern Necropilis for the transport of finished stone for tombs and monuments.  Just to the south of St Mungo a second junction heads to form a junction with the line from Dunbrek to Bellgrove, leading to Queen Street station.  A useful link, but it was rarely used until the late 1950's.

 

The station was originally going to be named Adelphi Street but an influential member of the Board of Directors of the Caledonian Railway, who were to run the line, suggested St. Mungo, the patron saint of Glasgow, who, until now had been overlooked, and this was unanimously agreed.  A prestigous name for a small station.

 

Housing developments at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, along with the various industries, ensured healthy receipts despite competition from the tram network.  However, the line was singled at the beginning of the 1950's as an economy measure.  Despite this, the line was electrified, along with the rest of the Cathcart Circle.  This was authorised on 27th April 1956 but work didn't commence until 8th November 1960, electric operation starting on 27th May 1962.  However, the line to the Queen Street route was not electrified at this time.

 

Initially Drummond class '171' 0-4-4T were used on the passenger services, soon to be followed by the delightful class '104' 0-4-4T and then the CR standard '439' 0-4-0T, the latter two handling the bulk of passenger services until after Nationalisation.  Freight traffic was in the hands of various 0-6-0 locomotives, both tender and tank.  Occasionally elderly G&SWR locomotives could be seen on some services, but they didn't last long.

 

After Nationalisation newer LMS and BR Standard 2-6-6T began to appear, soon ousting the CR locos on passenger turns, whilst Black 5's and Standard 5's took over freight duties, of which there still was a considerable amount at this time.  DMU's were introduced, on a gradual basis, in the late 1950's,  and these were concentrated  on the Queen Street service.  So successful they were on this that the service rose to 10 trains a day each way from the previous 4.  Classes seen were 100, 105, 107 and 108, with 3-car 120 and 126 sets appearing at the weekends on the popular "Six Lochs" tours.  By 1962 steam had been eradicated from the line, the freight traffic now been dealt with by classes 17, 20, 21, the occasional 24 and 25, 26, 27 and latterly 29.  Sometimes an 06, as well as the shunting products of NBL and Andrew Barclay  would appear on short trip workings.

 

For it's size the station was extremely busy at times.  Due to it's small size, and short run-round loop, and also that several of the factory sidings could only be shunted by trains in the down direction, upto 4 freight services a day could be seen in the station waiting for a path.  Several nearby businesses sent parcels by rail, and this justified the use of upto 3 vehicles at peak times, such as Christmas.  Also, on a Friday night, a sleeping car service was provided.  This usually took the form of a composite sleeper, bsk and parcels van for the London traffic.  This train was taken to Central station were it was attached to the main service for it's journey south.

 

Don't go looking for St. Mungo, it's not on any map of Glasgow, although Adelphi Street is were I said it is.  I've been fascinated by railways in Glasgow, and the Cathcart Circle, for years.  I've also thought that St. Mungo would be a good name for a station, so after dabbling in N gauge for a long while I decided to take the plunge with EM.  Why EM?  Why not?  I like the appearance of the track, and re-wheeling diesel loco's, dmu's etc isn't really difficult, and I enjoy track building.

 

So this is going to be an exercise in going EM as cheaply as  possible, as I have limited income.  This isn't as difficult as it may seem, especially if you chose items carefully and are prepared to do a bit a work.  You may have seen my thread in scratch and kit building, Roja's EM bits & bobs.  It isn't too difficult to modify and change models to make something a bit different from straight out of the box.

 

That's it for now.  Cardboard baseboards and track next!

 

Roja  

 

 

Edited August 21, 2020 by 37Oban
add link to thread

[37Oban]

Hi,

as alluded too in my first post, cardboard baseboards.  Why cardboard?  Several reasons really.  Firstly, I needed something strong and light.  Due to my disability even lightweight plywood baseboards are awkward to move and manouvere; even boards as small as 2' x 1' are difficult, and as I wanted something bigger than that an alternative had to be found  I considered rigid foam but discounted it, not necessarily on cost grounds but that I don't have the equipment, or ability, to cut the necessary plywood protective base and edging.  Cardboard is cheap, lightweight and, if treated correctly, rigid.

 

Ten sheets of 841mm x 594mm x 3mm corrugated sheets were duly purched off Ebay, along with a pack of 10 50mm x 889mm cardboard postal tubes.  These are easily trimmed to length using a razor saw.  Three lengths of 25mm x 25mm x 2000mm 'L' shaped wood moulding was also bought.

 

To make the boards, a sheet of card was laid flat and a second sheet glued to it at a 90 degree angle, the overhang trimmed off and used to make up the length then the whole lot weighted and left to dry.  I did this to all the sheets.  I only have space to do 1 set at a time so this took a week to do, leaving each one overnight to dry.

 

Once all were dry two were selected for the baseboard top and two for cutting into 50mm strips, with the other spare in cae it was needed.  It was, as I'm not very good at cutting long, straight edges.  The  wood moulding was also cut to fit along the sides and ends of the boards.

 

Construction was simple and fairly quick.  Wood mouldings were glued along the sides and ends of the boards to provide support for the side pieces and also protection for the cardboard edges.  The side strips were glued in place, then three of the postal tubes to provide support for the tops, checked for squareness then left to dry, when the tubes were trimmed to length.  The position of the tubes is not critical as I use wire-in-tube for point operation and all wiring is on the surface.

 

Once dry the tops and sides were given two coats of button polish.  This important.  One, it helps stiffen the surface and, two, provides a waterproof surface.  This is necessary if you use pva or any water-based glue at a later date.  Any slots cut into the cardboard for point operation etc were also give 2 or 3 coats of button polish.  When the track is laid any pin holes or alterations to the slots will be treated with button polish before ballasting etc takes place.

 

The wooden blocks on the top of the boardfs are for hinges so the two boards can be folded together.  The plates on the sides are mdf plates bought from ebay to provide anchor points for suitcase catches used to hold the boards together when opened and hooks and eyes when closed.  I really must crack on and fit these.  The photos should make everything clear.

 

One thing I shall do in the next week or so is get my daughter to go with me to buy some more wood moulding to fit to the base of the sides to protect the cardboard edges there.  

 

Roja

[37Oban]

Well, doesn't time fly!  Especially if you throw clock!  Didn't realise quite how long it's been since my last post!  It's not as if nothing has been done, but life, and possibly a wee bit of procrastination, have a habit of getting in the way of modelling!

 

That's not to say nothing has been done.  I'll try and post some photos next week (a good incentive to get things done) but the track has been laid, and, after some trials and tribulations, wiring is about to be undertaken so hopefully a train or two will be running after this weekend.  Some more rolling stock has been acquired and a couple of locomotives converted to EM along with a TTS sound chip installed into a Lima 20!  That was fun but worth the effort!

 

Once I'm happy with the track and operation then the fun of scenery and buildings can begin.  And, yes, I will find space for a wee bramble patch!

 

Roja

Edited October 29, 2020 by 37Oban
spelling

[cornish trains jez]

Hi,

 

There’s an article on the Cathcart Circle  in the December 2011 Railway Modeller with some

scale drawings of the station buildings at Maxwell Park. Might be worth checking out.

 

Good luck with the project!

 

Best regards and stay safe,

 

Jeremy

 

[37Oban]

Hi Jeremy,

 

I've got that article filed away somewhere!  I've also the book on the history of the Cathcart Circle by Jack Kernahan.  Fascinating read, especially the exploits of Snooker Tam!

 

A few years ago I was modelling in N and based a roundy layout on a branch off the Circle, also called St Mungo's, with the station in a cutting based on Queens Park.  It looked good but didn't run as well as it looked, and I also found it awkward to set up alone even though it was only two, smallish plywood boards.

 

I have long admired EM, and after a chance encounter at the Hull Model Railway show several years I returned home with 6 scratchbuilt turnouts.  Now all I needed was an excuse to use them.  After a lot of deliberation I decided on a possible "what might have been" branch leading off the circle, and, after researching several maps, the current incarnation of st Mungos' was born.

 

Roja

[chuffinghell]

19 hours ago, 37Oban said:

........but life, and possibly a wee bit of procrastination, have a habit of getting in the way of modelling!

 

 

It certainly does! I have days/weeks of zero progress followed by an explosion of activity then back to days/weeks of little or no progress......"that's life"

 

19 hours ago, 37Oban said:

..............And, yes, I will find space for a wee bramble patch!

 

I get the impression you kinda like brambles  admittedly I have no clue how to go about modelling brambles......but I'll have to learn because someone (remains nameless ) has suggested I add some to Warren Branch

 

Chris

 

Edited October 30, 2020 by chuffinghell

[37Oban]

34 minutes ago, chuffinghell said:

.but I'll have to learn because someone (remains nameless ) has suggested I add some to Warren 

Hi Warren,

 

I wonder who that could be? 

 

When I was growing up my grandparents had a cultivated, and I use that term loosely, bramble patch, plus some growing the hedge that surrounded the orchard.  Any derelict bit of land or building in the village would be covered and one green lane, known locally as Green Ramper, was a hot spot for bramble picking! My grandmother would make several bottles of bramble vinegar each year for  serving on Yorkshire puddings (served straight out of the oven, spread with a little butter, a sprinkle of sugar and a splash of vinegar.  Delicious!) a couple of bottles of bramble port and a few jars of bramble jam.  A favourite dessert was, and still is, apple and bramble pie or crumble!

 

Never mind the gooseberry bush, I think I was born in a bramble patch!

 

Roja

[chuffinghell]

Apple crumble is one of my favorites but I've never actually tried apple and bramble (a sheltered life obviously)

 

As for my other favorite desert, I'm yet to find somewhere to put hot chocolate fudge cake on my layout

 

Chris

[37Oban]

I'm one of those rare people who is not a great fan of chocolate!  If I ever get any it has to be 70% or over dark chocolate, and a bar has been known to last me nearly a year!  I'd probably use hot chocolate fudge cake as ballast or to form hills!

 

Roja

[37Oban]

Hi,

 

after a wee hiatus I'm back!

 

All ther track, apart from one exit to the fiddleyard is laid and wired.  The wiring was, how shall I say it, quite trying, but first, the track!

 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I acquired 6 EM turnouts at the Hull Model Railway show some years ago, of which 5 have been used on St Mungo's.  I've also built a double slip, using pcb timbers and all the plain track is pcb sleepers at the end of each panel with a mix of pcb sleepers, used to keep the gauge, and lime wood sleepers.  Old school but it works.

 

The double slip was my first piece of EM track that I've built.  The one used is actually the second one.  I had an issue with moving the tie bar on the first which was quite stiff, and one of the blades was not seating properly, so after a bit of fiddling and not improving things I scrapped it and built another, this time paying attention to the blades and using small pieces of wire to attach the blades to the tie bar letting them pivot freely, which cured everything.  

 

Track laying was pretty painless, the hardest part installing the wire - in- tube I use for point control.  I could have used the switches I use to move the points to switch the point crossing polarity but opted for a frog (I hate that word!)  that I had used on previous layouts.  Droppers, or should that be siders as all the wiring is is on the base board surface, were soldered to the track and busbars. All the wires are colour coded and across board connections are by small plugs.

 

Everything was wired up and tested, which was when the fun started:  there were a short cicuit or two!  One was easily found, a whisker of solder where it shouldn't have been.  Why is it that if you tried to make a solder whisker that thin deliberately it would blow like a fuse the first time you put a current through it it would  blow like a fuse but when you don't want it..?  Anyway, it soon became apparent that the fault lay with the double slip so it was carefully removed to investigate.

 

Looking at the underside of the tie bars it was obvious that on of the pins holding the blades in place had moved and was crossing a gap in the pcb.  This was quickly remedied, the double slip replaced and tested and... still a short circuit.  I looked and looked but couldn't see anything.  By now I was getting just a bit frustrated, and if my daughter hadn't been here to help with cleaning I might have ripped it up and thrown it in the bin!  As it was I left  it, went and made us a cuppa then we sat and talked about art, music, film and anime befoe she had to leave.

 

The next day I removed all the wiring and bus bars then had a think.  I decided to redo the wiring, simplifying some things and making it easier to trace any faults, even if it meant running longer wiring sections to the control area, so this it what I did, soldering all the siders in place to the rails only, then left it again.

 

That was on the Tuesday.  Last Sunday I decided to get it sorted once and for all!  Each section of rail was connected one at a time and tested.  Everything worked until the final section, which, you've guessed it, was the double slip, and yes, it shorted.  Before using some, er, words of encouragement, I looked at it and immediately saw the problem.  How had I missed it before?  It was as plain as day!  Sometimes I  think you can look at something too hard and you miss the obvious!  Anyway, a few wipes with a file and everything worked fine.  A quick test with a loco, then it was put away as I want to get on with some other projects.

 

Anyway, trio of photos to show the layout in its entirty, all 5'6" x 1'11"!

 

 

 

Roja

[37Oban]

Well, it's been a few weeks since I last posted, not that I've been idle, but a couple of projects and Christmas have been a priority.  So

 

Merry Christmas

Nollaig Shona

Qlmas Datlvjaj 'ej DIS chu

and Felicitations of the Season

 

Roja

[37Oban]

Well, it's been a wee while since I updated this thread, so here goes.

 

Life has a habit of getting in the way of modelling, and before you know it, months have passed.  A loss of modelling mojo earlier in the year didn't help, but there have been compensations.  The first is that just before Christmas I took a parcel in for a neighbour whom I had seen around but hadn't talked to.  Long story short, we hit it off as if we had known each other for years, and we are getting married at Christmas!

 

Another thing I have found is a re-found love of doing drawings.  I work in ordinary pencil, coloured pencil and, a personal favourite, pointillism, using 0.05mm - 0.4mm fine pens.  I have also recently started experimenting in using acrylics, which is great fun!

 

Before the mojo went for a holiday I'd started building a Judith Edge cl06.  It just needs a motor and gearbox then it's ready for painting.  A few items of rolling stock were finished then the mojo left and never even sent me a postcard!

 

So what has this got to do with St Mungo?  Well, I have being very lucky with my intended as she is keen on railways, both prototypical and model.  We got to talking about models, so I decided to show her St Mungo.  Out it came, opened the boards and placed a few items of stock on it and she was impressed, asking all sorts of questions about it.  After she had left I ran the stock around, and I wasn't happy with the way the track performed.  I could have spent hours trying to sort it, but, taking my own advice, and not for the first time, or last, I bit the bullet and dismantled the track, saving as much as I could.

 

In a way, this wasn't as drastic as it sounds, as when we are married I'm moving into her cottage, and space is at a premium, so any way of shortening the length would be advantageous.  Out came the squared paper and pencil and planning began in earnest!  The end result being a layout that only measured 4' x 2' but still kept all the  main features of the original St. Mungo, minus the double slip and station throat.  This was achieved by using the turntable fiddle yard as the station throat!  Genius!  One lucky outcome of this as that I was able to lengthen the loco release head shunt just enough to take a 37 comfortably!

 

Now, with the mojo back in full flood building began again, using the same cardboard and strip wood technique, but using paste table hinges attached to plywood plaques instead of 1" x 1" strip wood with flat hinges, which saved a bit of width.  I also used 1" L-shaped wood strip to deepen the sides and to support the card surface instead of card tubes.

 

So far so good.  This is when I bit the bullet for the second time!  I looked at the salvaged track, decided that only the turnouts were worth saving for the scenic section, the hand-made track only suitable for the fiddleyard so I purchased 10yds of SMP track.  Whilst waiting for this to arrive I took another look at the fiddleyard, realised it wasn't fit for purpose, so I'm currently rebuilding that.  When the track arrived I laid it, then left it for a few days before wiring.

 

Which didn't happen!  Somehow, no matter how careful I'd been, one of the tracks didn't quite line up after being folded then opened. After only a few minutes of trying to sort it I realised that it was a fool's errand, resulting in more hours of fiddling, so I bit the bullet for a third time.  Yes, it's got bite marks!

 

Up came the track, with hardly any damage, the wood salvaged, the card sent to recycling and I'm now waiting for delivery of some 50mm extruded foam.  Yes, I'm sticking to my lightweight theme!  All good fun!

 

In the past month I've also bought some new, well, second-hand stock:  a cl 31, a Lima 121, a couple of coaches and some detailing parts.  I'm beginning to hate the taste of the bullet, but I've bitten it for a fourth time!  After struggling with scratch-building a cl100 dmu I've noted that Shapeways do a resin print so I'm going to treat myself.  I know that Worley Works do etch sides in brass, but I'm loath to spend money on something that I know I will struggle with forming the tumblehome. Likewise, Silver Fox do a cl 120 so I shall get one of those too. I've also, in my doodling moments, designed a branchline terminus to fit in a space of 2'6" x 18", using the rotating fiddleyard, although an extra 6" makes a big difference.  Maybe I should be getting some more foam?  

 

So, that's the state of play for now.  Hopefully, by this time next week I shall have a photo or two to show the state of play with St Mungo mk3!

 

Roja

 

 

[37Oban]

Hi,

 

well, there's been a bit of progress here.  The insulation foam arrived, and proved to be a revelation!  Should have used it from the get go!  With aid of a sharp knife, razor saw, salvaged timber and pva even I managed to build two decent baseboards.  A few days later I had the two boards hinged together, using some plywood plaques, screwed and glued to the timber frame, and paste table hinges.  Suitcase catches were added inside the hinge supports, on top of the frames, to keep the boards tight when the layout is opened.

 

A rough track bed was added from 2mm foam.  The track plan can be seen in the photos.  A wee bit of track has been installed, using a thin film of pva, weighted and left to dry, with the w-i-t for the point operation installed at the same time.  Much easier than trying to do it later.  Guess how I worked that one out!

 

As these bits of track were drying thoughts turned to wiring.  Some people hate ballasting, some scenic work.  Wiring is the thing I hate most!  I'd sooner  ballast a station throat with a mix of slips, three-ways and ordinary turnouts than wire track!  Anyway,  I gave it a lot of thought, and decided to do it the simple way, bearing in mind all the wiring is on top of the baseboards.  I routed feeds to the track already laid, then all all the track feeds and common crossing feeds, were installed on the first board.  Grooves have also been cut ready for the w-i-t.  As you can see in the photos, this board looks a bit of a mess, but this will change when the track is laid and and the wires connected.  The bus wires will run along the operating section behind the backscene.  As each track feed is connected it will be labelled and drawn on a wiring diagram.  It may use more wire, but it will make fault finding a lot easier.  I speak from experience!   Board 2 will have to wait to the beginning of the week as I had to order more wire today!

 

 

 

Although the layout is set between the years 1964-70, I have recently become fascinated with the Caledonian Rail, and have done some research and bought a couple of books and magazines with CR articles.  The outcome of this is I am getting some CR locomotives and stock!  It wouldn't take much to change the layout between the two periods: remove the ohle and change the signals and people. All the years of disparaging steam locos (kettles!), and now , here I am, looking at CR loco classes 104, 439, 812, the various Dunalastairs , Pickersgill  "Oban Bogie" and even the wee pugs!  I'm even considering joining the Caledonian Railway Association!  I need a good dram!

 

Roja

 

 

Edited August 4, 2021 by 37Oban
spelling

[37Oban]

Hi,

 

well I've managed to get the hateful task of wiring done!  I've said it before, I hate wiring!  Anyway, it's done!  All rails wired to the buses, turnout crossings wired to a frog juicer which I had in stock.  All that needs doing now is to wire a socket to the buses to allow a controller to be plugged in and the wire in tube connected to operating switches.  Wires are carried across the baseboard joint by cctv power jack plugs.  Rails are soldered to screws at the baseboard joint.  Should have done it this way before, so simple and effective!

 

 

 

Apologies for the last two pics being upside down.  They're the right way on my computer but this insists on rotating them, but you get the idea of the trackplan and wiring.

 

After a dram I went and joined the Caledonian Railway Association!  Should have done it ages back!  It's a great resource, and the magazine is a great read.  I found one article in it particularly interesting:  a composite West Coast Joint Stock sleeping coach on the Oban route!  Looks like a challenge, but, hey ho!  One day!  It's also helped set the second date for St. Mungo's:  1919-1923.

 

I've also bought a used Hornby M7 with a view to converting it to a Cl 439.  I've already made a note of the main changes to be made, and it doesn't look like it should be too difficult.  Famous last words!

 

Next thing for St Mungo's: testing, testing and more testing!  Once that's done the enjoyable part can start!

 

Roja

[Graham T]

Nice to see you making good progress.  Looking forward to seeing the results of the testing!

[David Bell]

I have just found this thread. Don't know why I had not noticed it before. I have a bit of a soft spot for the Cathcart Circle. I lived in Torrisdale Street for a few months in 1985, overlooking Queens Park Station. I hate wiring too and I have rather a lot of it to do under GQS. I have been puting it off for a year!  There is no wiring under Embo.

 

I have some scans of drawings for the 439 if  they are of use.

 

I share your love of drawing too. See attached example.

Have not done any for more than 10 years though.

 

Good luck with the build. Will be following with interest.

 

Cheers

David

 

Edited August 21, 2021 by David Bell

[37Oban]

Hi David,

 

I've been a fan of railways around Glasgow, especially the Cathcart Circle, for many years, although, thanks to holidays in the 60's and 70's I became interested in all Scottish railways, and, due to living there for a while, Oban in particular.  A model of Oban, set between 1960-64 is a dream of mine, money and space allowing!  Ever the modellers cry!

 

Thanks for the offer of the drawings of 439.  I've just ordered the cd of locomotive drawings from the Caledonian Railway Association, so I'll see what's on there first before taking you up on it.

 

I love your model of Embo.  I've never thought of doing a diorama but this has got me thinking!  I don't think, if I make one, it will be 3" gauge, but "O" would be a possibility.  Somewhere, in the depths of my modelling pile, I have a partially completed kit of a V4 locomotive, so a diorama could be the incentive to complete it!

 

My fiancee and I are having a few days in Oban in October.  We shall be travelling up by train from Hull.  Much as I like Waverley, the trip really starts at Queen Street.  I have many fond memories of the station, and I'm looking forwards to seeing it after the recent works.

 

I like your drawing.  I shall have to root out a couple of those I've done in the past and put them on here.

 

Regards,

 

Roja

 

 

[David Bell]

Oban in 1960 would be a grand model!

 

Enjoy your trip there when it comes.

 

I am fairly familiar with the 439 class. When I was 15 and a volunteer with the SRPS I cleaned 419 on a regular basis.

Cheers

David 

[37Oban]

Well,

 

I'm back!  My, hasn't time flown!  Especially if you throw a clock!  

 

Enough frivolity, time for a long, very long, overdue update on St Mungo's!

 

The layout is still stored.  The impending house move didn't happen, but we're still looking!  Finding something in our budget, and requirements, is proving a wee bit tricky, but something will turn up, hopefully sooner rather than later!  

 

However, despite the layout being stored, I've still been busy, even if it's been in fits and starts!  One of the major decisions I, and my significant other, decided upon, was to operate St Mungo's in 2 different time periods, and a 3rd in a different location.  Currently the main period is Caledonian c.1918-1921, followed by BR c.1962-1970.  The third is a complete change of place!  My SO is from Hull, and has memories of travelling from Hull to Withernsea and Hornsea by train when she was a little girl before the lines were closed in October1964.  I bought the book Hull to Hornsea and Withernsea plus the Spurn Head Railway, and we both enjoyed looking through it, bringing back many memories for her!  However, the section on the Spurn Head railway was a revelation, and very nearly resulted in a complete change of direction!  

 

One item of rolling stock on the railway grabbed both of us is a 20-seater Hudswell Clarke railcar.  It was one of those things that may well have remained a pipe dream, unless resulting in scratchbuilding, which is not exactly my strongest suit, but a chance browse on Shapeways, and there it was!  I resisted, I really did, but eventually gave him, and bought it!  I think it was put there by the Borg just to snag me!  It is now waiting being motorised, of which I have an idea or two and will reveal at a later date.

 

Buying that resulted in needing somewhere to run it.  We thought about it, maybe using Rule 1 to run it on St Mungo's, but that's not ideal, then thought about a small layout based on Spurn Head, but a lack of space killed that idea.  After a bit more thought we realised the track plan for St Mungo's could also be used as a small East coast terminus.  All it would need is a change of buildings, figures and a few other details, and the dmu stock, plus a couple of loco's could be used, so that was decided.  Then we spent some time trying to figure whereabouts it could be situated, somewhere between Withernsea and Bridlington.  However, nothing really clicked, for various reasons, then I had a brainwave:  Kilnsea!  The Spurn Head railway was never connected to the rail network, but ran 4 miles from Kilnsea to Spurn Point.  It was a military railway, with gun emplacements designed to protect the mouth of the Humber, Hull and, to a lesser extent, Grimsby, from aerial threats during both WW1 and WW2.  It boasted some unusual motive power and rolling stock, including the 'bitsa', a home-made contraption cobbled from various bits, including an Itala racing car, and small boat fixed to a 4-wheel chassis and powered by a sail!  The book is worth it's cost just to see these!

 

Because it wasn't part of the rail network, for maintenance purposes, rolling stock was transported to and from Hull by road.  This didn't make sense to me, although I guess the cost of construction of a line from the Withernsea branch to Kilnsea, and the time needed, was prohibitive, but in my world this line was built at the same time as the Withernsea branch and Kilnsea became a small holiday resort in it's own right.  Not a particularly grand place, and very quiet, but popular with the locals and those from Hull.  Kilnsea it is!

 

My stash of kits and other bits has being growing steadily, as has my scratch-built stock.  I am more of an artistic modeller, and by that I mean I only model what can be reasonably seen and if you can't see it when you're stood on a platform or as a train passes you, no matter how slow, I don't model it!  I have nothing against those that add all the details, especially regarding underframe details, in fact, I am in awe of their skills, but it's not for me.  Our hobby is a broad church!

 

One more thing I will say is nothing looks as good as wood.  I shall reveal more about this in the, hopefully, not too distant future, along with some photographs of rolling stock.  Must pull my finger out and get photographing!

 

Oh, I've also made one of the Scalescenes boxfile kits.  It was great fun, and easy to modify.  Poppy Hill distillery is to EM gauge and smewhere to try my stock out, especially my Caley wagons and a couple of loco's.  All it needs is a fiddlestick.  Must get that built too!  The list is growing ever longer!

 

That's it for now!  Hopefully the next update will only be a few days away, unless the calendar speeds up!

 

Roja

 

 

[37Oban]

Hi,

 

well, here I am, back a wee bit later than expected, thanks due to life and bits and bobs getting in the way!  And now Christmas is coming, so the modelling room has had to be, er, tidied, ready for the festivities!  So, before, packing items in boxes, here's a few photo's of a what I am up to.  

 

These are, from r-l, Dia 52 and Dia 46 mineral wagons.

 

 

 

 

 

Dia 46 and Dia 22 mineral wagons.  These wagons are scratch built using limewood strip for the planking with plastic strip for the iron work running on modified Parkside chassis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dia 114 tube wagon.  Plastic card body on extended Parkside chassis.

 

 

 

Dia 105 6-wheel 15t van.  All plastic body on Brassmasters chassis.  

 

 

Dia 54 30t open bogie goods.  Modified Parkside kit.

 

Buffers for all the models are cast white metal from Wizard.  Further weathering work needs doing then couplings, S&W, will be fitted.

 

Sorry for the quality of the pics, hopefully get it sorted before posting more photos!

 

Roja

 

 

[37Oban]

Hi,

 

a few more bits and pieces as the tidy up continues!

 

 

CR refrigerator van.  An Ebay find.  Needs a repaint into chocolate livery, wheels replaced, MacIntosh brakes and tie bars.

 

Hornby teak clerestory's masquerading as CR 1st/3rd brakes (2) and all 3rds (4).  Repainted, compartment partitions and passengers added.  Need transfers, roofs, weathering and couplings.  Will do until I can get around to making more accurate models, sometime in the next 5 years!

 

 

Hudswell Clarke railcar as used on the Spurn Head Railway.  A Shapeways purchase, bought because swmbo liked the looks of it, and needed quite a bit of prep work.  Colour scheme is totally imaginary!  Must figure out a way of making a suitable chassis and power train, but that's a job for the New Year.  Will be run  on the Kilnsea iteration of my layout despite being out of it's time frame.  Rule 1!

 

Quite a few models currently packed away, in various states of completion, nearly all of which are kits.

 

CR.  Cl 55 Oban Bogie,  Cl 34 2-6-0,  Cl114 0-4-4 passenger tank, Cl 721 Dunalastair, Cl 782 shunting tank loco.

        Several Ratio coach kits being converted to 4 and 6 suburban stock, a C&O 6-wheel road van and 6-wheel                  brake van.

 

BR:  Cl 100, 105 and 120 dmu's

 

Kilnsea.  K3, J39, D11/1 and a Bachmann j72 needing a new chassis.

 

I also have classes 06, 17, 20, 27, 29 and 31 to convert, or already converted, to EM, plus 4 Pullman coaches, to be used as excursion traffic to St Mungos and Kilnsea, and various coaches, such as a Gresley twin-set and some teak stock, to build/complete.

 

Looks like New Year will be busy!  In the meantime, I have enough chassis kits I can build in the odd hour that won't take up much room in my work.., I mean front room!   I also need to research various bogie vehicles for St Mungos and design the station buildings.  All in all, I won't get bored!

 

Roja

[37Oban]

Hi,

 

another post!  Getting a bit quick but Christmas will put a stop to that!

 

Here's one I forgot yesterday!

 

It's the Scalescenes industrial box file acting as part of a distillery goods in/goods out area.  I find card models easy to to modify using a bit of imagination and different wall finishes.  The track is EM as I intend to use it as a wee shunting plank once I get my cl782 running.

 

There are still a few things that need doing.  I only noticed a down pipe needs replacing as I set it up, some more clutter as needed and a sector fiddlestick needs completing.    The blue sign says Poppy Hill Distillery, but I'm a bit undecided whether to change it to a shade of red.

 

Another thing I forgot to mention is I've started to make a cl303 EMU by the cut-and-shut method.  Although I'd made a couple from card before I wasn't entirely happy with them so I thought I'd have a go at this method.  I blame Clive for for this!

 

Also, I have been doing some thinking!  I know it can be a very dangerous thing to do, but sometimes you just have to do it!  I was looking at rowanj's latest posts and saw the Heljan model of ES1.  Now, I've always had a soft spot for these locos, and some other electrics since I first saw a picture of one when I was a nipper, possibly in an Observer book, remember those?

 

Well, I got to wondering if I could justify one on St Mungos', but even Rule 1 wasn't coming to my aid, then, a flash of inspiration:  since one iteration of St Mungos' is masquerading as the fictional East Riding station of Kilnsea perhaps it could also become a Tyneside station too!  

 

I think my New Year is going to be very busy with modelling!

 

Roja

[BoD]

I’ve just found your thread R.  
Some lovely wagons there.

[37Oban]

Hi BoD,

 

thank you for your kind words.  I love kit and scratch building, gives me a great feeling of satisfaction, even though it's not up to the level of some here.  I see my disability as a bit of a challenge, but, so far, I've always found a way around things, often by means of experimentation.  A case in point are the mineral wagons.  Finding scribed plastic planking of the correct width proved a bit difficult, and trying to scribe my own gave mixed results, and that was before trying to cut out the sides out nice and square.  I've used various sizes of timber strip, available from model boat suppliers, in the past when building track and buildings.  I find it easy to work and, as the saying goes, nothing looks as good as wood except wood!  So i bought several metres of lime wood strip in various sizes to experiment with, and the mineral wagons are the first results.  They need some additional weight as they are lighter than ones made of plastic, to aid running, but that's not a problem!

 

I have now made the decision to build all future wood bodied wagons using wood strip, and will eventually rebuild the dia 105 van.  In the New Year i shall have a crack at building coaches the same way, especially some Gresley teak-bodied stock.  I've already got several sheets of different woods to experiment with.  It will be interesting to see which, and with which method, results in the best finish.  At a later date I may even rebuild the CR coaches, even though it may not be strictly necessary because of their paint finish, but as I said earlier, I like buiding things!

 

By the by, I've just a quick look at your Inspired by Crianlarich thread.  I shall go back and read it later.  Crianlarich is one of my favourite wee stations.  I have fond memories of time spent there, sampling the delights of the tearoom, back in the 80's when I lived in Oban.  Happy days!

 

Roja

[BoD]

4 minutes ago, 37Oban said:

By the by, I've just a quick look at your Inspired by Crianlarich thread.  I shall go back and read it later. 

Sadly most of the photographs were lost in the latest server ‘crash’.  The thread doesn’t really make good reading without them and I haven’t updated it for a good while.  I should really get round to reviving it and replacing sone of the photographs so that it makes sense again.