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YORK for York Show 2023 and beyond


kirmies
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Very nice to see another ECML Pullman. Having made a QoS set for CF I have become a bit of a Pullman nerd. If I might comment, one thing that is noticeably different from the BB was the entrance lobby rooves, which were cut back over the doors for the ECML stock - and indeed most other British Pullman cars. The bogies on the ECML cars were also quite a bit longer - the BB ran very rough, by all accounts. Finally, and disappointingly, Pullmans did not run with curtains pre-war, they had blinds. One thing I have just noticed, though, is that my Pullman set still doesn’t have any names and numbers...

I don’t have any close up pictures of our QoS set, but these pictures give an idea of the roof profile. 
C1FB0537-48F6-4B46-BFA2-9E1E95B4EF50.jpe

D804565F-E059-4F93-BE7C-131B2E0CC238.jpe(photos Barry Norman, courtesy MRJ).

One of my future tasks is to continue the upgrade of our old twelve wheeled Graham Farish Pullmans to better match Valour for a 1923 set. 
 

Tim

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Thanks Tim,

Very useful and welcome info - much appreciated!

I'd noticed the rather generously luxurious curtains on the Arnold models but hadn't realised that their apparent absence on pre-war ECML photos was because they weren't any!

Now that I have a spare body shell (with one end cruelly chopped off), I can do some tests to see if I can remove the 'curtains' without wrecking the glazing - worth a try but unlikely to be successful I suspect.

I had clocked the different roof ends on the ECML Pullmans compared to the Brighton Belle ones but decided to live with them as they are to avoid potential damage to the beautiful rendition of the livery as the sides, ends and roof are all one unit - another potential experiment with the spare body shell at some point.

The bogies should be relatively easy to correct as the Association does an etch for 10ft Pullman bogies which are, I guess, closer to the ones fitted on the ECML carriages. This will have to go on the 'to do' list as I suspect my time is better spent at the moment, for example, building bogies for coaches I have that currently have none!

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3 hours ago, kirmies said:

 

Now that I have a spare body shell (with one end cruelly chopped off), I can do some tests to see if I can remove the 'curtains' without wrecking the glazing - worth a try but unlikely to be successful I suspect.

 

Polishing them off with toothpaste might work. I have certainly removed unwanted marks from glazing that way in the past.

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  • 2 weeks later...

All these coaches are going to need some motive power to pull them. As before, the first targets have to be the easy route of RTR conversions.

Dapol produce really very good N-gauge versions of both the A3 and A4 but the valve gear is a slightly strange combination of over scale width and very flimsy (due to the thin, soft metal used).

After spending quite some time trying to convert one of the Dapol chassis to 2FS I came to the conclusion that this could be done BUT NOT EASILY. So a better route was replacement chassis.

Being aware that pulling power might be an issue with the relatively long trains I am planning, chassis milled from solid seemed a good way to go and I can now report progress so far:

Etched valve gear was going to be needed.

My Mk. 1 version looked OK but, as with most RTR interpretations of Walchaert's valve gear, it was firmly in neutral.

Cue comments of 'It would look much better if it was in gear'.

Mk. 2 was in gear and I was very chuffed with it until a friend quietly pointed out that it wasin reverse!

Mk. 3 has now been test built and is, I think, getting there:

 

This is the first of a batch of five A1/3s (lighter green livery yet to be applied to this one).

 

I also have four A4s in various stages of completion:

655896871_IMG_7711lores.jpg.1152e061268aaf3ecf490a5dc5e4043b.jpg

1236673516_IMG_7712lores.jpg.a1bdee1d2c7939b6d3da6d0fbd1cc5be.jpg

Etches are in the pipline to correct the tender tops, and, no, the valve gear on these ISN'T in gear - in fact, the radius rods and valve rods have been omitted from  these as they can't be seen behind the valence.

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What was the start point for what eventually becomes No 9?  I turned a Golden Eagle into No 12 with the idea of building the WW Coronation set for it (in N - and its been ordered, along with a SJ set to go with Silver Fox) but I haven't the stainless steel trim on my CofA.  I've wondered about a transfer or masking up and painting but that could be dangerous.

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HAPPY EASTER!

 

For many of us (exhibitors, trader, visitors) Easter weekend is synonymous with York Show so it is very sad that, for a second year running, there is no show to attend.

But............2022 will (hopefully) see the show's return and, with this in mind (and to give people something to look forward to) this morning I've launched........

 

www.this-is-york.com

 

IMG_1523.jpg.7188c4cd423cb8e6230987067d22eb7b.jpg

 

Not a huge amount of content there yet but more will be added over the coming weeks and months and there is very prominent box counting down the days to This is York's first public arrearance at the York Show on Easter Saturday one year from now.

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks for the positive comment drduncan.  As anyone who has ever built a structure this large and complex will know, they take AGES!

I keep a modelling diary so, amongst other things, I can keep track of how long things take.

The Porthminster Hotel had clocked up around 300 hours by the time it was finished. I guess I was putting in 4 or 5 hours on it most days through lockdown one last spring so it adds up!

In the end this is the main reason for the St Ives layout stalling (again) – there are quite a few more buildings that will take approaching this long to build and, at the moment, I just can’t face that.

So what am I doing instead? Why, building a layout with a massive building on it of course. One that will no doubt take far longer than the hotel……..but then there is only one of them: it’s the whole layout!

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I'm also hoping St Ives will get finished....one day!

I hadn't looked at the Porthmister Hotel model since I finished about this time last year so I was very pleasantly surprised to find what a good job I'd made of it. It did tempt me to take a break from 'This is York' and press on with the next building for St. Ives - Draycott Terrace. But, with the number of days to go until first show day for 'This is York' at York Show next Easter Saturday about to dip below the 300 mark, for once head prevailed over heart and instead I've been building most of the remaining beams for the roof:

856288545_RMweb2021-06-18-3.jpg.11f91f453f7e58af859973f6ad2ae47e.jpg

A bit of a marathon - the lengthways beams are each made up of eight parts but

all of them are now done along with about half the crossways beams. My good friend Andy Ross (Trams & Locos) is building the rest of those for me - I'm painting his Hunslet stuff in return at some point (after Easter next year!).

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  • 2 weeks later...

If you've been following this thread, you'll know that Peter Smith (aka Kirtley Models) built me models of the footbridge and signal box. He does a great job for a very reasonable price but, necessarily, his time on any model is limited so I knew I might well want to primp and add more detail. In the end, I've done quite a bit:

1845051129_RMweb2.jpg.43d622c5c5303584bcd00782070d4732.jpg

 

The handrails Peter fitted to the bridge were styrene strip representing wooden rails. Close examination of photos revealed there were actually metal so stanchions were etched and 0.3mm wire used to get a bit closer to the real thing.

712996273_RMweb7.jpg.152d869ea81469bb6d0706c0efd7070c.jpg

 

Peter did a great job of the signal box (including laser cut windows by York Modelmaking). I've improved on his paint job and replaced the 'false' skylights he fitted with 'real' transparent ones:

1100898937_RMweb6.jpg.c9916c508755484c308b83223e2c55b8.jpg

 

This transforms the light inside the 'box and makes it well worthwhile (at some point) adding an interior - it will now be visible.

In case you're wondering, the W.H.Smith's kiosk is currently being 'redecorated' and the clock has been sent away for overhaul.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Excellent question!

The simple answer is 'Because that's how it left the Dapol factory'!

I may be wrong but it looks like it had the painted name when grey and this was replaced by the brass plate when it was repainted blue in 1937: I don't think it ever had both at the same time so a bit of over enthusiasm by Dapol!

Thanks for pointing this out - I hadn't got as far as noticing. Now I'm hoping the plates can be removed without wrecking the paint finish.

The other good question would be 'Why has it got no handrails?'

This is because I've removed the rather blobby and overscale Dapol ones but not got as far yet as fitting something more to scale - it's is one of those very fiddly jobs I'm rather too good at putting off!

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  • 2 weeks later...

The etches for the ends of the overall roof arrived the other day and this morning, before the shed got too hot to tolerate, I cut the elements of the end screens off the sheet and was very pleased with the result:

266869812_IMG_1689cropped.jpg.5e348dd7f81d53b5ce2b813a33236019.jpg

As usual with the first iteration of an etch, there are a few mistakes but nothing found so far that will prevent assembly.

There are 3 layers - screen, inner frame and the top girders currently just lying on top of each other to make sure they will fit together (they will!):

1939975585_IMG_1690cropped.jpg.2eaabc9fbeddfee0cbd455f5c6a5d7ce.jpg

The screens will be spaced from the inner frame with a lattice framework and this assembly then becomes part of the end 'taper':

IMG_1539.jpg.dbd679a3dcbdcb476b862421fe246324.jpg

and all the metal above the top of the arches becomes part of the rigid structure of the model roof in line with the 'peeled open' part of the roof and won't be visible from a viewing angle (just as it isn't in the mock up above).

More pictures as construction progresses.......

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Hi Tim,

 

The viewing height is the same as Laramie (Engine Terminal) at around 54” (1400mm) as it’s very much designed as a scene to look into rather than down on. In a idea ‘borrowed’ from Mick Simpson, I carry a periscope and have notices that say ‘This layout is designed to be viewed at eye level and its owner is quite tall so it is set quite high off the ground. If makes viewing difficult for you please ask - I have a periscope!’  

 

The viewing window will be around 110mm high (4 1/2”). Although the pillars supporting the roof seem tall in real life they are actually only about 20ft - I like the idea of ‘pillar box’ presentation but a 40mm tall viewing window would be going too far!  Hence the whole ‘peeled open roof’ thing artificially creating a tall enough slot.

 

Peter

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