Gallows Close Multiple Unit Workshop - Three's a crowd? The Class 144 Project

[Gallows Close]

Hello All,

It has been some time since I made a workbench entry, and for that I apologise. It is my intention to pick up my thread from the old RM Web and continue to chronicle the building of bits and pieces for my Diggle Junction layout.

Currently on the go is the Class 210 DEMU prototype - Whoaaa! I hear you cry. Class 210 in the Pennines? Well, yes. I kind of liked the unit, and in my what if world I thought that once it's useful life on the Western Region was over it was transferred north to Neville Hill, or Newton Heath and trialled on the Pennines.

http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s119/gallowsclose/PowerCarGeneralArrangement.jpg
The drawing (based on Jim S-W's class 150 drawing and used with permission) shows what I'm trying to achieve with the Bratchell Class 317 and Jim's class 317/1 parts as a basis.

The unit is not far away from the paint shops, and now I'm pottering along with little details. I have butchered a Bachmann class 150/2 body shell, which has yielded among other things, roof vents and gangway connectors - it will also give up some of it's underframe equipment. (The rest of the class 150/2 will go to make up a triple with a class 150/1 later). I've made up the J S-W gangways, and although they are very nice, I felt they were not deep enough - so below is a comparison with the car on the left having the Bachy gangways and the car on the right having the J S-W gangways.

http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s119/gallowsclose/GangwayComparison.jpg

Thanks for looking in, and I'm looking forward to your comments.

Cheers,
Chris.

Edited October 9, 2023 by Gallows Close

[Gallows Close]

Hello All,

 

The class 210 is now ready for painting, and I though I'd share a few images prior to painting. First up is the DMS. I have built up the underframes from various sources of boxes and tanks.

 

 

Next up the TS car.

 

 

And finally the DTS.

 

 

In parallel to the class 210 build I have also been progressing with a model of class 321902 in WYPTE METRO livery. I will also be painting that model at the same time as the class 210.

 

Thanks for looking in, and as always comments welcome,

Cheers,

Chris.

[59004 ( was Shedcombe....)]

Looking very good Chris. Can't wait for it to be ready painted. And see it in the flesh ................

 

I'm still intending to PM/email you, about this and other things.

A reply has been in the making for some time now.

Lots of distractions and other excuses ...........

Apols for the slowness.

 

Regards, Michel

[Gallows Close]

Lots of distractions and other excuses ...........

 

Hi Michel,

 

No problems. I have plenty of those too...

 

Evening All,

 

I have been doing a bit of painting over the last few days, and I'd like to share with you a slight faux pas. I had masked off the cab windows and light clusters on my class 321 and sparyed the warning yellow. I had also by this time sprayed four coats of WYPTE cream - very nice. But this is how it looked when I took off the mask. Horror!

 

 

I should have masked off the inside as well. DOH.

 

Anyway, it should come off easily enough with some paint stripper. I also got the first coat of warning yellow on to the class 210. It is starting to look like a train now.

 

 

Hope you like the progress so far,

 

Cheers,

Chris

[Pete Harvey]

Doh!!!

 

Easily done I'm sure that it wont happen again.

 

Model strip paste on the inside should get that off as long as it is not aerosol primer?

 

Pete

[Gallows Close]

Easily done I'm sure that it wont happen again.

 

 

Thanks Pete,

 

All cured now. I feel really stupid. However I'm sure I'm not the first, and definately will not be the last.

 

I've put the 321 aside for a couple of days for the paint to harden up before I mask off the cream band and the yellow front tp allow me to paint the red. I'm hoping to have the red on by the end of the week - and once that is in place the livery should start to look the part.

 

I'll be continuing with the class 210's face, building up the yellow and leaving that to harden before starting the main colours. In the mean time I plan to get the chassis rolling on DCC, and I'll be thinking about lights for the front ends.

 

Thanks for looking in,

 

Cheers,

Chris.

[Gallows Close]

Hello All,

 

And, a Happy New Year.

 

I have some more progress to share of the class 321. The WYPTE red is now painted, and looks well. There is a little touching in to do, but for today I shall be painting the 'bib' around the cab windows and the roofs. After that there is a little bit of detail to be picked out and the transfers to add.

 

 

You will note that I have masked off the inside of the cabs this time. Not so stupid as to do it again!

 

Thanks for looking in,

Cheers,

Chris.

[the penguin of doom]

Hi Chris.

 

I've been periodically looking in on this thread and am finding it very interesting.

 

The 321 is looking the part now that the Red coat has been added. I always feel that a model never really looks right till the transfers are added though and its always at this stage that I am spurred on down the final straight. That masking on the front end must have taken ages, but, as the result shows, is worth it.

 

With regard to the DEMU, its an interesting thought and I'm sure it would have been just the job to climb the Pennines. Seems a shame the Sprinters came along! Just an aside for the "what might have been" thoughts, I did a Peak many years ago in the Trans - Pennine livery, as applied to the one 47, (number escapes me at the moment), but it looked quite good, (in my eyes), similar to the inter city 37's

 

Well, enough musings for now.

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Sean.

[Gallows Close]

Hello All,

 

I'm pleased to share some real results today for a change. I've been busy painting the class 321 as the weather has allowed, and today I can show the results. Close-ups are cruel aren't they?

 

 

I will try to take some more shots of it under the wires at Diggle Junction later (too cold at the moment to go down to the garage).

 

In the mean time I will be turning back to the class 210. My idea to paint the two models in parallel has gone out of the window because by 9pm when I can usually get started with the painting I'm too tired to contemplate doing a second colour with the air brush. Anyway, I start next week with the rail grey.

 

Thanks for looking in, and comments welcome,

 

Cheers,

Chris.

[the penguin of doom]

Hello All,

 

I'm pleased to share some real results today for a change. I've been busy painting the class 321 as the weather has allowed, and today I can show the results. Close-ups are cruel aren't they?

 

Well, I think it looks awesome!!!

 

Are you doing the 210 Blue and Grey? I think it would look good in the Red and Cream? If you're any good at photo shop, you could do a trial run.......

[Gallows Close]

Hello Sean,

 

Thanks for the kind words and support. I'm pretty pleased with the result so far. I have some head and tail lights culled from a Bachmann 150 to add, and the pantograph to fit and she's about ready. I'm waiting for the varnish to harden and I'll also mask and paint in the rest of the cantrail orange stripe. The stripe over the cab fronts is a transfer - but I hate tring to get a transfer straight over a coach length.

 

Regarding the 210, it will be in BR blue and grey. I have toyed with the idea of adding the Network SouthEast logos to depict it as it was in it's last few days, but I can only find evidence of it working with the composite trailer from 210001 in this condition. I have built the all standard trailer from 210002, and I'm worried it will be wrong to run in this livery.....

 

I do like the idea of a Peak in TP livery - to me sectorisation was BR's last fling and definately a high point. That particular livery did not suit the class 47 as well as it might, as the executive light grey band was too shallow, but I think a Peak with deeper bodysides would look much better. As for the 210, how about Sprinter livery? Now there is a might have been.....

 

Updates on the 321 ans 210 coming up over the weekend hopefully...

 

Cheers,

Chris.

[the penguin of doom]

Hi Chris.

 

Hmmmn, I guess Blue and Grey is probably best, even if just to remain faithful to the prototype. I reckon the sprinter livery would look good too, but I guess it would not be dissimilar to the 150's? There is a site somewhere on the net dedicated to what might have been liveries, (DP2 in large logo, deltics in virgin livery etc), so I'm sure someone out there could photo shop the WYPTE livery onto your model, or indeed, a picture of the prototype. Just for fun, obviously....

 

Regards the peak in trans-pennine, it did look nice, very much like the 37's in Regional Railways, (but longer and obviously before their time in this livery), but I don't know where it is now. I never scrapped it, but I think its lurking in my mates loft, having never turned a wheel since about 1990! Talking trans-pennine, I have a six car class 124 that I kit bashed years ago. Wonder what THAT would look like in sprinter livery?.........

 

Cheers.

 

Sean.

[Flying Pig]

There is a site somewhere on the net dedicated to what might have been liveries,

That would be Fictitious Liveries - there's a Peak in Provincial sector livery here. I also came across a picture of the real Provincial-liveried 47 on the Derby Sulzers site - here.

 

Chris, I love your models and the Class 210 is a cracker. Are you planning to run 150s with it, or is it going to be a one-off amongst the EMUs? As far as livery goes, tired blue and grey seems appropriate and since your layout is a might-have-been I don't see why you can't reform the unit and put NSE stickers on the driving vehicles if you want.

[the penguin of doom]

Thats the one. I think my Peak was a little more like the regional railways one next door though, with the striping nearer the ends and Black cab window surrounds. Its not that bad looking though in my opinion. The inter city livery seems to suit too....

[Gallows Close]

Thanks for the posts of support chaps.

 

 

Chris, I love your models and the Class 210 is a cracker. Are you planning to run 150s with it, or is it going to be a one-off amongst the EMUs? As far as livery goes, tired blue and grey seems appropriate and since your layout is a might-have-been I don't see why you can't reform the unit and put NSE stickers on the driving vehicles if you want.

 

Hello F-P,

 

Thanks for your comments, they are much appreciated.

 

The layout is intended to represent the North Transpennine line through Standedge Tunnel, but electrified and with a reopened station at Diggle. This is a long term aim of NR and GMPTE anyway I believe, so I hoped to beat them to it!

 

Naturally, with this being and electrified railway in the UK the majority of trains will be diesel. The idea is that you will see the usual Transpennine traffic of 142's, 150's, 156's and 158's plus the binliner and a couple of other freights. The EMU's come in for the extended Huddersfield to Marsden turnaround service. This will run through to Diggle and reverse there instead of Marsden. Some services will then go back to Leeds. GMPTE will also operate services to Diggle from Man Vic. After the 210 I am creating a class 150/1 triple in GMPTE for which I have all the stock and materials to make.

 

Thanks for your input on the 210 livery - I think I will keep the NSE branding after all. Well, it is a what if..... And for that reason it is supposed that the class 210 unit is on trial on the Huddersfield to Man Vic trains fighting it's corner against the unlovely and unloved second generation DMU's.

 

Cheers,

Chris.

 

 

 

[Gallows Close]

Hello All,

 

I managed a quick play with the Class 321/9 today. As you can see I have fitted the lights from the Bachmann class 150 and I think they look rather good.

 

 

I have the pantograph to fit and pantograph bay to detail and then I'll call this one finished. I'm now waiting on better weather (snow again today in Holland) to get a good start on the class 210 paint job.

 

Comments please,

 

Chris.

[Gallows Close]

Hello All,

 

It has been a while since I did anything on the modelling front - I seem to have lost interest a bit. But now I have some progress to show, and I'd like to share it. Firstly the class 210 project has moved on quite well. I have the train painted in blue and grey, and I've made a start on lining and lettering the DTS car.

 

 

There is still a lot to do to this coach, it still needs handrails, glazing, door push buttons and the ventilators to fit.

 

 

I have also completed the underframes for the power car. These are scratch made in part and cobbled together from bits from beneath a Bachmann class 150 - a very useful source of parts. The '150 has also donated it's gangways to this project.

 

 

Also, during the dark months when painting is not so practical I have been fiddling around with creating my own transfers. I decided to post-date and renumber a Bachmann class 150 to one of the batch operated by Arriva Trains Northern. This represents 150275.

 

 

Thanks for dropping in,

 

Chris

[Guest jim s-w]

Hi Chris

 

The 210 looks superb! My cab fronts come up nice in paint dont they? (not an ego thing - yours are the first I have seen painted!)

 

Cheers

 

Jim

[Gallows Close]

The 210 looks superb! My cab fronts come up nice in paint dont they? (

 

Thanks for the comment Jim - They solder up nicely too! I'll add the pirspex screen over the front of the corridor door and some destination and headcode blinds, and I think the overall effect will be very convincing. I wonder if the DTS cars 60300 & 60301 were the last BR vehicles to have a working four character headcode box when they were formed in 457001, the three phase drive prototype EMU?

 

There's a few evenings of lining out to go, and then the finishing touches. Why does blue / grey livery (on the face of it so simple) have to be one of the most difficult to apply neatly?

 

Anyway, did I hear correctly that a flush glaze pack exists for your window etches Jim?

 

Cheers,

Chris.

[Guest jim s-w]

Hi Chris

 

Yep - shawplan do them

 

HTH

 

Jim

[the penguin of doom]

Nice work Chris.

 

The paintwork looks well. Always nice to get to this stage of a kit.

 

Keep the posts coming.

 

Sean.

[mikes]

Wow Chris - they both look awesome although my favourite is definately the 210 - very nice work!! And dont feel to bad about the paint on the inside of the windows (thankfully it cleaner up!) we have all done daft things like that!!

 

cheers

 

Mike

[modfather]

I'm really liking the 210, I remember the start of the project on rmweb the last.

 

Coincidentaly I was thinking or the RR arriva livery, I had assumed it was atw tho

[Gallows Close]

Thanks for the comments chaps. I'm hoping to be able to show some more progress over the weekend.

 

I was thinking or the RR arriva livery, I had assumed it was atw tho

 

The battered ATN / RR livery was a regular sight in and around Yorkshire for a time. Most of the units were shabby inside and patch painted outside. I've actually done two units with the Arriva logo, and I'm thinking how I might get them to look patch painted..... Any thoughts?

 

 

This is a rather tidier looking 150 289 at Bolton Percy heading towards Leeds on 8th June 2004 (photo Chris Shutt)

 

Cheers,

Chris.

[Pugsley]

I'm thinking how I might get them to look patch painted..... Any thoughts?

Mask off the areas that you want to appear patched before weathering the rest of the unit, is how I'd do it.

 

HTH

 

Edit - Forgot to say that the 210 is looking superb!