Castle Posted August 31, 2013 Author Share Posted August 31, 2013 (edited) Hi MIB, Good to hear from you again as always! The chains and securing bits come from Ambis Engineering. They have a website but I must confess to buying from them at a show: http://www.ambisengineering.co.uk/ I hope this helps! I look forward to seeing your POLLENs on RMWEB - any idea as to what era you are going to set yours in as of yet? All the best, Castle Edited August 31, 2013 by Castle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruffalo Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 I seem to be saying "thanks Castle" a lot recently. The tour and then these Pollens, wonderful! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted August 31, 2013 Author Share Posted August 31, 2013 Hi Gruffalo, The thanks for the POLLEN Es is due to others - I just helped out a bit with the design work and applied my own inimitable style to the build of my version. This 3D printing thing is really weird when you see something like this come almost complete out of the box with all the undercuts and difficult shapes that would defeat regular moulding techniques. Great stuff! You may also be interested to know that I have the Post 1930 rebuilds sat on the workbench next to me right now... All the best, Castle 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 57xx Posted August 31, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 31, 2013 Excellent work with the Pollens, Castle! There is a good picture in the Atkins et al book of the Pollen C and D sets carrying girders for Lillie Bridge in 1932. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted August 31, 2013 Author Share Posted August 31, 2013 Hi Ric, That is a great shot in Atkins et al isn't it? I do like the way it has the idiot proofing markings telling you which way round to put the girders! I guess it would be a bit embarrassing to get it wrong wouldn't it?! Thanks for the kind comments! All the best, Castle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium M.I.B Posted September 1, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 1, 2013 Hi MIB, Good to hear from you again as always! The chains and securing bits come from Ambis Engineering. They have a website but I must confess to buying from them at a show: http://www.ambisengineering.co.uk/ I hope this helps! I look forward to seeing your POLLENs on RMWEB - any idea as to what era you are going to set yours in as of yet? All the best, Castle Thanks once again. Everything I have centres around 1945-49, but there is a rake of early clerestories and a couple of engines that sit 20 years earlier than that because I couldn't resist (a County, a Saint and Lode Star when it arrives). 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted September 9, 2013 Author Share Posted September 9, 2013 (edited) Hi All, Wolsztyn Experiences Part 4 Narrow Gauge Safari The final driving turn we had in Poland was certainly the most esoteric and charming - a trip on the narrow gauge line at Gniezno. This is one of many 750mm gauge lines that once criss - crossed Poland serving both farms, passengers and industry for many years. The surviving lines have mainly turned to tourist traffic these days and at no longer part of the national network but a number have been kept going by either local authorities or private individuals. The line is about 20 miles long although we would only be doing about 15 of them. Before we went to the narrow gauge line however, we took a look at the old steam works beside the station. Imagine this: when Swindon, Doncaster or any of the other great railway workshops of is country closed, the doors were closed, the scrap locos were left where they were and they walked away. The whole of the steam infrastructure including massive roundhouses (with turntables intact)... ...a huge water tower, coal cranes, etc, etc, etc. its all still there! Can you imagine how excited we all would be by having something like this in the UK? How fast would the preservation order go on it? When you are lucky, a few of the narrow gauge lines still still have steam locos too... Like this little beauty! No. 1919 is a member of the Px 48 Class and is an 0-8-0 design first produced in 1948. They are 12.8 metres long, weigh about 21 tons, have 2 cylinders and have a superheated boiler pressed to about 190 psi. They are air braked as per the rest of the PKP network and have tons of character to boot! The cab is a bit cosy as can be seen here... Due to the very sandy nature of the soil in Poland and the fact that there is so much agriculture in the country, weedkiller is frowned upon so much of the rail network is kept clear via strimmers and other mechanical means. We're it isn't, then it becomes a bit grassy and the rural nature of the Gniezno line means that it is on the grassy end of the spectrum. I had the pleasure of taking No. 1919 up the biggest hill that there was on the line. Ok, we only had one coach but it was still great to hear her work a bit. She kept her feet very well too as it was quite steep and the only time she lost her feet was when we found a very damp spot under some trees which must have deposited a lot of sap on the rail head too. I caught it very quickly and she responded in kind, going up the bank as if it wasn't there and sounding like a little sewing machine. We had a photographer on board with us so we stopped a few times and did a couple of run pasts for him, each taking a turn at the helm! There are also sections that run alongside the streets and roads of Poland too where you weave in and out of traffic and hang on the whistle as there are no barriers or warning lights. Just when you thought it couldn't get any more rural, here is the run round loop (its in there somewhere)... ...and here is the water filling point (I thought it was the loo!). On the way back, we had the corridor door open so we got up close and personal with the engine at work. Then we stopped off at the bar for a beer before going home. I am not making this up and this shot is NOT staged. Needless to say those still driving got their beer bottled to have when we got back. And so ended my Polish steam odyssey. I had a brilliant time and the whole place is just a treasure house of railways. The crews throughout our holiday were superb, the host fantastic and the Polish countryside and people were wonderful. I knew it was going to be good when we were waiting for the train from Poznan to Wolsztyn and the wheel tapper worked his way down the coaches of the express that had just turned up... I hope you enjoyed that little lot - I did! All the best, Castle Edited September 11, 2013 by Castle 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaScala Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 Hi All, Wolsztyn Experiences Part 4 Narrow Gauge Safari The final driving turn we had in Poland was certainly the most esoteric and charming - a trip on the narrow gauge line at Gniezno. This is one of many 750mm gauge lines that once criss - crossed Poland serving both farms, passengers and industry for many years. The surviving lines have mainly turned to tourist traffic these days and at no longer part of the national network but a number have been kept going by either local authorities or private individuals. The line is about 20 miles long although we would only be doing about 15 of them. Before we went to the narrow gauge line however, we took a look at the old steam works beside the station. Imagine this: when Swindon, Doncaster or any of the other great railway workshops of is country closed, the doors were closed, the scrap locos were left where they were and they walked away. The whole of the steam infrastructure including massive roundhouses (with turntables intact)... image.jpg ...a huge water tower, coal cranes, etc, etc, etc. its all still there! Can you imagine how excited we all would be by having something like this in the UK? How fast would the preservation order go on it? image.jpg When you are lucky, a few of the narrow gauge lines still still have steam locos too... Like this little beauty! No. 1919 is a member of the Px 48 Class and is an 0-8-0 design first produced in 1948. They are 12.8 metres long, weigh about 21 tons, have 2 cylinders and have a superheated boiler pressed to about 190 psi. They are air braked as per the rest of the PKP network and have tons of character to boot! image.jpg The cab is a bit cosy as can be seen here... image.jpg image.jpg Due to the very sandy nature of the soil in Poland and the fact that there is so much agriculture in the country, weedkiller is frowned upon so much of the rail network is kept clear via strikers and other mechanical means. We're it isn't, then it becomes a bit grassy and the rural nature of the Gniezno line means that it is on the grassy end of the spectrum. I had the pleasure of taking No. 1919 up the biggest hill that there was on the line. Ok, we only had one coach but it was still great to hear her work a bit. She kept her feet very well too as it was quite steep and the only time she lost her feet was when we found a very damp spot under some trees which must have deposited a lot of sap on the rail head too. I caught it very quickly and she responded in kind, going up the bank as if it wasn't there and sounding like a little sewing machine. image.jpg image.jpg We had a photographer on board with us so we stopped a few times and did a couple of run pasts for him, each taking a turn at the helm! image.jpg There are also sections that run alongside the streets and roads of Poland too where you weave in and out of traffic and hang on the whistle as there are no barriers or warning lights. image.jpg Just when you thought it couldn't get any more rural, here is the run round loop (its in there somewhere)... image.jpg ...and here is the water filling point (I thought it was the loo!). image.jpg On the way back, we had the corridor door open so we got up close and personal with the engine at work. image.jpg Then we stopped off at the bar for a beer before going home. I am not making this up and this shot is NOT staged. Needless to say those still driving got their beer bottled to have when we got back. image.jpg And so ended my Polish steam odyssey. I had a brilliant time and the whole place is just a treasure house of railways. The crews throughout our holiday were superb, the host fantastic and the Polish countryside and people were wonderful. I knew it was going to be good when we were waiting for the train from Poznan to Wolsztyn and the wheel tapper worked his way down the coaches of the express that had just turned up... I hope you enjoyed that little lot - I did! All the best, Castle Great shots! Is the loco related to this by any chance? http://c2project.org/index.php?page=history Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted September 10, 2013 Author Share Posted September 10, 2013 Hi La Scala, Apparently not but they do look very similar - quote from the referenced page: "A common misconception is that the C2 is similar to the PX48 locomotives still to be found in Poland. The PX48 is a considerably larger locomotive. Some PX48s were exported to China and more were built there under the designation 'C4'. However, several locos of the PT-4/KP-4 classes still exist in Russia and Eastern Europe." They are definitely cut from the same cloth though it would seem! Not being too well read on the narrow gauge scene,I hadn't come across that very interesting project before - looks like I have some reading to do... Thanks! All the best, Castle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaScala Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Hi La Scala, Apparently not but they do look very similar - quote from the referenced page: "A common misconception is that the C2 is similar to the PX48 locomotives still to be found in Poland. The PX48 is a considerably larger locomotive. Some PX48s were exported to China and more were built there under the designation 'C4'. However, several locos of the PT-4/KP-4 classes still exist in Russia and Eastern Europe." They are definitely cut from the same cloth though it would seem! Not being too well read on the narrow gauge scene,I hadn't come across that very interesting project before - looks like I have some reading to do... Thanks! All the best, Castle It's a bit like kitbuilding or more accurately converting from Scale4/EM to OO. They have had to cut all the frame spacers and narrowed them to take up the 150mm slack. I like the pics of the frames on the bench at Boston Lodge. Just like anyone on here would do but they needed more than fingertips to lift into place. They also remove the wheels and change the axles for shorter ones. The team apparently wanted to "do" Mountaineer but were refused so they bought their own loco. Should easily handle a loaded train on the 1:40 to Aberglaslyn. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaScala Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 It's a bit like kitbuilding or more accurately converting from Scale4/EM to OO. They have had to cut all the frame spacers and narrowed them to take up the 150mm slack. I like the pics of the frames on the bench at Boston Lodge. Just like anyone on here would do but they needed more than fingertips to lift into place. They also remove the wheels and change the axles for shorter ones. The team apparently wanted to "do" Mountaineer but were refused so they bought their own loco. Should easily handle a loaded train on the 1:40 to Aberglaslyn. Here are the narrowed frames on the 12" to foot workbench 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted September 10, 2013 Author Share Posted September 10, 2013 (edited) Hi La Scala, That is an ace project - a really interesting locomotive and a fascinating thing to see trundle over the Welsh narrow gauge lines. I will make a point of going to see her when she is finished. Thanks for showing us! All the best, Castle Edited September 11, 2013 by Castle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted September 11, 2013 Author Share Posted September 11, 2013 (edited) Hi All, Prairie Procrastination (part 1 of 3) Chapter 2: Blowing off the cobwebs... Back in May last year my two friends and I did our versions of Didcot resident No. 4144. The two lads did theirs and were happy and I decided that I really needed to do a bit of work on the chassis of the machine and I left it by saying that I said that I was going to very soon "turn my attentions to the chassis and ponder what to do about things such as the sanding gear and the cylinder drain cocks"... And then life got in the way and stuff happened and other models turned up and so on and little No. 4144 languished at the back of the display cupboard unfinished. Wanting a little something to chew on today which needed little thinking about, I liberated said unfortunate from its limbo and dragged it back to the workbench having realised that it was in serious danger of being beaten to completion by the real locomotive project... There were a number of issues I had with the frames a they sat - firstly was the chunky cylinder drain cocks which were very over scale. I broke out the brass wire and the styrene strip and got busy replacing. Its not as finessed as an etched replacement but it is a bit better than when I started! The other big omission for me was the water balance pipes and the injectors. These are situated under the cab floor and I can see that when Airfix originally designed the model, there was no way that these were commensurate with train set curves. There still has to be a bit of give and take fitting these so I came up with what I figured was a reasonable compromise. I cut the profile of the balance pipes out using the drawings in Russell in thin styrene sheet. These I stuck to the frames with some cyanoacrylate. I also had some Alan Gibson Workshop GWR injectors in stock for this job too. They are actually Pannier ones but as they are mostly hidden behind the cab steps, wasn't a problem. These were stuck behind the balance pipes and this resulting arrangement is shown below. Admittedly, the balance pipe should be much thicker but the way I have done it leaves a good deal of 'swing' for the rear truck but still looks far better than the vast open space left there before... A final application of some scrap etch to make some guard irons - the pony trucks are not the prettiest with their coupling socket and I think these lift them a little bit. A dismantle and a bit of work with some brass wire got me here with some new sanding pipes. Time to break out the weathering me thinks but that is for another day... I then had a balance of all the bits together to get a feel for where I was going and it came out like this. Notice that her various innards are still piled up to one side! As it is now dismantled, I figure that I HAVE to paint and weather it before it all goes back together and as I hate having lots of little bits of expensive engine hanging around then there is a little self motivation there... All the best, Castle Edited September 11, 2013 by Castle 14 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 (edited) Hi 81C, I have a 61XX to do first... A bit of a pain that really, I have done all this knowing that I have to do it all over again! At least I know where the pitfalls are now I suppose! All the best, Castle Edited September 12, 2013 by Castle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaz Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 I really enjoyed the trip pictures. Thanks for sharing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl Bathurst Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 Hi I really like the Pollen Wagon The company you mention do they still produce them to buy? Scott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Prism Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 http://www.shapeways.com/shops/hazelwoodmodelshop Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozzer models Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 Hi I really like the Pollen Wagon The company you mention do they still produce them to buy? Scott they sell there model kit on Ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/seasaltchap/m.html?item=300962290820&pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item4612c01c84&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl Bathurst Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 Thanks for that, when I went to Didcot last year and I seen them always fancied finding a set for my fleet. Look very nice models Scott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzler Fan Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 they sell there model kit on Ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/seasaltchap/m.html?item=300962290820&pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item4612c01c84&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562 10% discount for Direct Sales from - hazelwoodmodels@hotmail.com Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted September 16, 2013 Author Share Posted September 16, 2013 (edited) Thanks for that, when I went to Didcot last year and I seen them always fancied finding a set for my fleet. Look very nice models Scott Hi Scott, If you like these ones, you will also love the rebuilt centre wagons that I have as test prints at the moment. The rebuilt buffer beam conversion sections are REALLY nice! As you need to have at least two massive girders per bridge then you have to have both sets... That was my excuse anyhow! Sorry I missed this chatter over the weekend but I was made most welcome as the guest of the support crew of this fine machine over the last couple of days for which I am very grateful. We has an absolutely cracking run on Sunday and the loco performed beautifully in the capable hands of Mr Churchill and company at the helm. All the best, Castle Edited September 16, 2013 by Castle 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl Bathurst Posted September 16, 2013 Share Posted September 16, 2013 Hi Castle The pollen wagons what were they like to work with? Scott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted September 17, 2013 Author Share Posted September 17, 2013 Hi Scott, It is a slightly different way of working as you have the majority of the work done for you. The trick is to make sure that the finish is up to par as with the WSF, there is a very slight 'grainy' sort of texture to the surface. I had a bit of an experiment with the stuff and it seems that the best thing to do was to give it all a light sand with some fine wet and dry (used wet to prevent clogging) prior to painting and then a couple of coats of Halfords grey primer, another light sand with the wet fine wet and dry and then a final light coat of primer to finish. Job done! The FUD has far less of this but would make the product prohibitively expensive. It is the quality of Shapeways machines and the way that Hazelwood Models orients the prints I am told prevents the vast majority of the stepping effect that can be associated with this technique. You are basically doing a finishing job. The only other issue is that WSF and FUD are very strong but incredibly light and the nature of the shape of the prototype is that it is a case of stuff the weight in where you can! They are great little kits that are very easy to get good results with and as I have shown, you could load it up with any sort of outsize load and gets very interesting train in your collection. Get a set and if you have any questions then post here and Dazzler Fan and I will talk you through it! I hope this helps! Hi 81C, As long as its GWR green... All the best, Castle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl Bathurst Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 Thanks I will look into getting a set as the website shows a discount compared to ebay. I do like wagons which add something different to a layout Scott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted September 17, 2013 Author Share Posted September 17, 2013 (edited) Hi Scott, As I said, its all very easy to do and just requires a slightly different approach. Follow my build and I won't lead you too far astray! Post up the results for us all to enjoy! All the best, Castle Edited September 17, 2013 by Castle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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