Taunton Canal Road

[Kend]

Hi Everyone, As some of you know I am terminally ill and at 71 that makes long term planning a bit of a struggle. I am in the middle of building a 0-16.5 Blast Furnace model layout. However a few months ago I started thinking about 00 again. As I have a passion from years ago for super detailing propriety models I though I may start again. Scurrying in the storage are revealed an 1957 Hornby Castle that had been repainted several times and now looked very worn out as IKB. She has been serviced, Repainted and mostly relined as Bristol castle again, another castle emerged as Denbigh and will be renamed Taunton Castle. Gadzooks a Hornby Castle was won on that well known auction site and will become 5055 Earl of Eldon and I have planned to get another as Llanstephen Castle to make a Landore castle (remember those silver buffers?

Now you will have begun to see the plan of getting back to my formative years spent at Taunton. Now Taunton shed was a round house and that was not too good for seeing a layout staged. By chance I have a Backman Coal Tower so now I need to build a shed until I saw Not Jeremy's advert for a partially built model loco shed based on Ryde St John. Money changed hand and the shed made its way to the west country. Now how to change history and create a need for a new shed. In 1948 all trains from Bristol and beyond to Taunton were handed over to the newly created Midland region. All Taunton to and from London and all stations on that route were in the hands of the new Western Region. Highbridge Docks changed to the Midland region and Bridgwater docks and Dunball Docks stayed with the Western. Taunton maintained its 4 branch lines.

The Midland needed a new serving point so plans were drawn up for a 3 straight road shed capable of handing 6 large 4-6-0 or 2-8-0 classes and the new 2-10-0s. The new shed was to be named as Taunton Canal Road and would have an allocation of 4 castles and several other western 4-6-0s (Halls and Granges) and a couple of 2-8-0 freight locos. A mechanical coal handling plant (Tower), ash disposal system and a 70' turntable. The old Taunton shed would accommodate western 2-6-0s and a large collection of panniers and prairies.

Now to reality the layout will be of the order of 1.9 m by 1 m.

The well known auction house has yielded a Hornby Dublo 8F (ringfield motor) and a Duke of Sutherland destined to be modified to a lined black Baby Scot, Lady Godiva. A few Black 5s will be necessary and possibly another 2 or 3 8Fs. I have also discovered a Lima Crab, and 4 (6 locos) varieties of standards. To ring the changes I have 5 Hymeks, 2 Warships, 2 Westerns and a 63xx B-B. This should allow me to cover 1950 to  1962/3.

The shed is being covered in scale scenes papers with relief brick panels on heavy stone foundation similar to the old shed. My Grandfather was the master mason who with his team build it and the blue lias support walls so this is a bit of a challenge.

Edited November 14, 2020 by Kend
spelling mistakes

[Kend]

Progress is slow but happening. To be honest I have built a few card model buildings over the years but thoroughly disliked them. I went to Scalescenes and bought some sheets and fiddled with my Epson printer and got some good images. I have chosen local colours the bottom of the building representing the Quantocks Red Sandstone laid coursed. The bright red brick typical of Pool Brick near Wellington. I had a good read of all Scalescenes tips and particularly liked the wrapping method to add relief. So here is a photo of progress on one side.

 

[Not Jeremy]

Ken, it is really nice to see this now taking such good shape in your hands, having created the basic shape more years ago than I like to think.

 

I really like your back story too - great stuff!

 

Best Wishes

 

Simon

 

Edited November 20, 2020 by Not Jeremy
spelling

[Kend]

So time rolls on and I sat down, with a large malt, to think about what I was doing. I worked out the cost of just the locos for this new layout and was astounded as at least £2000 would be needed to buy modern locomotives. Now that isn't really an option so something else was needed. When I was promoted to Bristol back in the 70s there came a shock because as a new manager I was earning less that a field engineer (good old Post office/BT). So I started super detailing Triang/Hornby locos. The pannier sold well and I even sold a few through Kings Cross Models in London. 

I had always buy all my bits from Max Williams in Bristol. From about age 10 I would go by bus, with my Dad, to Bristol. He was a bus inspector so we rode on service buses for free. I got off at the top of Old Market Street and Dad went on to watch Rovers play at home. Max and his good wife could lay their hands on most bits and I spent many hours browsing. This was always interspersed with visits to Lawrence Hill Station where the western region to the midlands ran through, the midland region down into Temple Meads and the local oil depot kept my interest. A 10 minute walk would get me to Barrow Road shed

So the die was cast and I plunged into the great auction site and bought a Triang 3F tender loco, a mickey mouse and 2 x B12s. These 4 cost me, in total £60 odd. These will have their handrails and other molded detaail removed and replaced with brass and white metal fittings. The photos show the 3F complete with half built Deely tender. The Ivatt 2 (Mickey Mouse) has been shorn of moldings resprayed in primer and the handrail knob holes drilled. All th parts needed are now on order. I now have 4 castles, all to be renumbered. A Dutchess has joined the fleet and will be City of Stoke On Trent (seen on Shrewsbury shed one evening in 1961. A damaged Hornby black 5 is awaiting a works visit. 45519 Lady Godiva has been renamed and resprayed green. An Airfix Royal Scot waits to be renamed British Legion, last seen in 1959 heading a fast up express near Tring, This machine was rebuilt from Fury an experimental high pressure loco that suffered a boiler explosion killing both crew members.

So I have spent some £160 on locos and that is a good saving. I also picked up a 70 foot turntable that needed some TLC. The pit is fitted to one of the baseboards.

Hoping that I will feel stronger in a couple of days and I can fit the baseboards together. More soon, Ken

[37Oban]

Hi Ken,

 

there's nothing wrong with upgrading an older model!  I like new locomotives as much as the next man but I'm not keen on the prices.  My layout is EM,  based in Glasgow in the early to mid  60's.  I've just converted a venerable Lima cl20 to dcc sound, and have a very ancient Triang cl31 to do next.  With a bit of fettling they look the part.  Virtually all the stock is 2nd-hand, kit or scratch-built and none the worse for that!  It may take a bit of time doing this but that's part of the fun and satisfaction for me.

 

Roja

[Kend]

I like modifying older locos as the old X04 motor is relatively bomb proof. I have just spent an hour or 2 adding the handrails to the 3F. I am using the Alan Gibson 0.043 handrail knobs and my eyesight is a bit dodgy so it is a struggle. Also the tender wheels and axle boxes for the Deeley tender have arrived so the loco will be finished as soon as the chimney and dome arrive. Will add some photos when she is ready for respray. Ken

 

[Kend]

Hi There, my first modified Triang loco is almost ready to join the Canal Road roster. Little bit of work on the underframe of the Deeley tender and lamp irons and tender plates. She has some frame and sleeper grime added and will next have some weathering powders and a final coat of protection varnish. Who would think a Bovril top was exactly the correct height to stage the tender!! As I haven't done one of these since the early 80s I am really pleased. She runs a dream (good old XO4 motors). She is buffered up to my latest HD 8F. She had not ran in years and everything was gummed up. All good now. 

[phil_sutters]

It is great to see someone enjoying these old-timers. They weren't old timers when I did a similar conversion about 50 years ago. Are the sandboxes yours or did Triang add them after I got my 3F. Although Ryde shed hadn't shrunk and moved when Dad and his friend Alan Newman took these photos, I thought that they might be of interest.

[Kend]

Hi Phil, thanks for your info, the sandboxes are simply a couple of layers of 2mm plasticard filed to shape with a bit of soft copper wire for the delivery pipes. The fillers are a sliver of plastic pipe with a piece of micro rod glued in. It is more about looking right than scale although it is pretty much there. The Ivatt 2 is next to be followed by a pair of B12/3. My association with Taunton goes back years and very occasionally we had a visit from an eastern region loco, usually a B1 sent on from Weston Super Mare to rectify a small problem. So the B12/3s were a natural choice. 1 is already stripped of moldings and the other is waiting. I found the perfect tool for removing the molding marks in a 1/4" x 1/4" x 3" new lathe tool blank. Used on its side as a scraper it will remove much less than a thou of material and leaves the body ready for paint. It can be sharpened as you would a cabinet scraper. Works brilliant especially if you put stop cuts down beside the boiler bands etc. Ken

[phil_sutters]

8 hours ago, Kend said:

 My association with Taunton goes back years and very occasionally we had a visit from an eastern region loco, usually a B1 sent on from Weston Super Mare to rectify a small problem. 

It looks as if this one could have done with  a bit of tlc, although it looks to be coping well with the load. This is one of my favorites among those that Dad took. 

He lived in Somerset - Wells, Coleford and then Highbridge - from 1952 until 1973. I left in 1965.

[ikcdab]

Excellent work Ken, I have just found this thread. I really like what you are doing, it is first rate!

Ian

[Kend]

Besides modifying old Triang locos the practice is also applied occasionally to wagons. here are some photos of a couple of Lima Horseboxes. These were made in the 70s and now released by Hornby with a significant body and roof upgrade as a main item it is also released as a Railroad model at half the price. You can find unboxed Lima ones for as little as £1. The 2 I have are boxed but I was happy to make a few changes mainly with the roof. First remove the roof and carve off the proliferation of pimples that represent roof ventilators. Drill a mounting hole for you favourite ventilator. I was setting mine up as a couple of horseboxes rtransferred to the western region from the midland and numbered with their old LMS number proceeded by a 'W' and suffixed with a 'M'. The window glass was removed along with the rear handrails and the entire body sprayed with ArtFX paint. A quick word about ArtFX. It is sold in Halfords and is basically an acrylic outside paint for stone work etc. (Used by graffiti artists I believe). It is easy to use as long as you keep it warmish. Shake it well and then shake it again and spray some away in the dustbin as I have found these nozzles sometimes dribble. When clear spray with the can upside down to clear the nozzle. Now spray the wagon body with the underframe masked. You wont need long as this paint covers very well. The paint dries to a flat matte finish. I allow 24-48 hours for the paint to fully dry then apply gloss varnish to the area where the decals will go (they will not adhere to the matte finish).

         Now with decals give a quick coat of protecting varnish, I use Games Workshop what was called Purity Spray. This dries fast and you can start weathering. I use 3 different mediums for this, viz., powders, washes and weathering sprays. The 2 horseboxes are simply weathered using Sleeper Grime and Frame Grime. I see lots of information on weathering but very little on spray techniques. When using 'rattle cans' it is as important to have the nozzle the right distance from the work. This can very from about 100mm to 300 mm. When you are close to the work remember much more paint is laid on than when farter away and you need to adjust. The closer the faster is the guide and you will have a good gloss finish. As you move away towards the 300mm several things happen. You get less paint in the given time and the paint droplets will begin to dry so you will end up with more matte finish. The only way to get this right is to practice. Budget shops sell cheap rattle cans and also cheap odd rols of wallpaper. Use the back of the wallpaper and spray away you will be amazed how quickly you get the hang of it.

             Here are a few photographs of the horseboxes. As they were added and taken off from expresses it alows for some interesting movements. Good Luck

[Kend]

      So it is back to the shed for a while. I have managed 2/3s of the other side and added brick paper to the end wall. So now the roofs have been cut, 4 plain slate, 4 with North light windows and are now glued in place. Some photos have been added. One shows the new shed with a Hornby Dublo engine shed beside it to give some idea of the size. I have also put in a couple of tracks and the almost finished Triang Ivatt 2 to add a bit of scaling. I now have to make the slates. I use thin white card which I paint with various shades for grey and grey/blue. This is smeared around to make a complete mess and left for 2 days to dry. They are then cut and the edges darkened (dark grey to black). The tiles are then glued in place so that they overlap by 50% and this creates a good roof with plenty of depth.

[Kend]

I've not written anything for a few months. I have found that I can no longer manage to lift my layouts onto a table so have taken some drastic action. I have bought a small incomplete 009 layout that I can manage. So have purchased a Bachmann Baldwin and a couple of wagons. Have started scratch building and have a 4w coach and bogie timber wagon. The mechanisms in the 009 is now simply superb compared with 40 years ago. I have 2 resin printed bodies on Kato chassis, how do they get a flywheel inside? So the next thing is to sell off £4K worth of 00 and all my built 0-16.5. Think I will auction the lot but if you would like anything let me know. I will now be writing on the 009 Forum I guess. Thanks for all your kind words in the past. Ken D

Edited April 2, 2021 by Kend
spelling mistakes

[380John]

1 hour ago, Kend said:

I've not written anything for a few months. I have found that I can no longer manage to lift my layouts onto a table so have taken some drastic action. I have bought a small incomplete 009 layout that I can manage. So have purchased a Bachmann Baldwin and a couple of wagons. Have started scratch building and have a 4w coach and bogie timber wagon. The mechanisms in the 009 is now simply superb compared with 40 years ago. I have 2 resin printed bodies on Kato chassis, how do they get a flywheel inside? So the next thing is to sell off £4K worth of 00 and all my built 0-16.5. Think I will auction the lot but if you would like anything let me know. I will now be writing on the 009 Forum I guess. Thanks for all your kind words in the past. Ken D

Good luck with it Ken, sounds an exciting new project. 

 

Cheers, 

John