Much Murkle - back on the road

[nickwood]

Just a quick update on the 14xx to 48xx conversion which was completed recently.

 

The Martin Finney plates arrived and I set too making up 4863.

 

 

 

Lamps, fire irons, DG couplings and real coal in the bunker added.

 

 

 

I'm not happy with the DG couplings on this loco. I had difficulty getting a suitable fixing and consequently the couplings project well beyond the buffers. The gap between loco and Autocoach is almost as much as with large tension locks. I'm going to have to have a rethink but it will have to do for now.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 22, 2022 by nickwood

[nickwood]

A small scenic change has taken place at Much Murkle

The West of England Sack store and timber platform has been demolished and replaced by a new loading dock and small yard crane. The reason foir this is twofold. The sack store was only ever intended to be temporary and it's removal opens up the view of the station building and water tower for photographic purposes.

This is how the area looked before on one of the photos taken for Hornby magazine by Trevor Jones.

 

This is how it looks now

 

You can see the difference between a professional lighting rig and just using the layout lighting !!!!

 

Edited December 22, 2022 by nickwood

[john dew]

A small but very significant improvement......definitely worth the effort

 

Not sure I agree with you about the lighting.....to my mind the first shot is rather harsh and a bit flat.......the second shot seems warmer and softer

 

Kind Regards

[Chubber]

A small but very significant improvement......definitely worth the effort

 

Not sure I agree with you about the lighting.....to my mind the first shot is rather harsh and a bit flat.......the second shot seems warmer and softer

 

Kind Regards

 

You beat me to it by a nano-second, John. Woody's lighting makes it seem more 'branch-liney'.......[No, I haven't been overdoing the RLW...]

 

Doug

[nickwood]

You are not the first to say that the professional lighting is lacking in atmosphere, I think I would put it. There is no doubt it brings out the detail better but it is a bit clinical I agree. I'm not sure that makes mine any better though.

[nickwood]

I got the stock out for a little play, first time in a while.

4863 and autocoach arriving at Much Murkle with the mid morning service from Newent

 

Not many passengers about though.

 

Coalmen, Alf West and John Gummery load the cart ready for the next delivery run, knowing that very soon they are going to have to unload another wagon of coal when the next goods arrives.

 

Whilst the autotrain waits at the station, a goods arrives brought in by Collett 3217. The vicar in his Austin 7 is heading back to the church after visiting one of his sick parishioners

 

Looks like someone is going to be in trouble for the missing lamps

 

and signalman Percy Fleetwood has surely noticed those missing lamps.

 

Meanwhile the Autotrain waits paitently at the platform. Head Porter, Jack collins has a chat with Marjorie Edwards whos has been to Newent to buy some flowers for her friend's birthday.

 

The goods pulls into the loop, ready to shunt and form the outgoing train.

 

With the goods safely in the loop, the Autotrain is given the road to depart back to Newent

 

3217 uncouples and pulls forward to take on water before shunting the yard.

 

The first wagon to be placed is the loco coal for the coal stage which needs replenishing.

 

After much toing and froing the outgoing goods is ready and waiting for the signal to be pulled for departure.

 

The goods train has departed and after 45 minutes of intense activity, Much Murkle returns to its normal sleepy state.

Jack and Marjorie are still in deep converstaion though. I wonder what interesting gossip is being shared?

 

 

Edited December 22, 2022 by nickwood

[Neal Ball]

Lovely rural scene

[gwrrob]

Very nice Nick.Can you tell me the origins of the LMS and NE vans please.Its something I need to address on my GW layout too.

[nickwood]

Very nice Nick.Can you tell me the origins of the LMS and NE vans please.Its something I need to address on my GW layout too.

 

Hi Rob

 

It is quite a while since I built these kits. I've checked but neither have the makers name on the mouldings. I'm sure that the NE van is a Three Aitch kit, long out of production but may turn up on Ebay. I think I'm correct in saying the LMS van is a Ratio kit and should be still available.

 

 

Thanks to everyone else for all the likes.

Edited June 1, 2013 by nickwood

[Mikkel]

What a delight, Nick!

 

The cameo with Jack Collins and Marjorie Edwards works extremely well. Partly because they are good figures, but especially because you have positioned them just right, I think. I wonder if there is something going on between the two? Or maybe they are just discussing penguins.

 

Very nice to see some goods stock too. I like weathering on the Loco Coal, very effective.

Edited June 1, 2013 by Mikkel

[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]

I love this Nick, I lived just outside Newent until 1970, I can vaguely remember seeing a 48xx pulling a train whilst I was in an ambulance travelling from Ledbury to hereford after my tonil operation went badly wrong.

As Army cadets in the late 60's we used to patrol the station area in Newent and also the disused railway track. I was part of a Bren Gun Team, others would be armed with 303 and SMG. I cannot imagine 12 - 13 year old boys being allowed on the streets now with proper rifles (albeit no ammo) training to to defend a disused railway station

[artizen]

I remember being an army cadet at school. The lasting memory was how heavy those ancient old 303s were! Perhaps a couple of Boy Scouts on a reconnaissance mission around Much Murkle station then? No, I can't imagine that scenario being allowed nowadays - far too much paranoia in your breakfast cereal unfortunately.

[Jules]

 

Very nice Nick.Can you tell me the origins of the LMS and NE vans please

 

 

I don't know if it is the same diagram, but Parkside do several LNER box vans that look similar

[john flann]

Nick, very happy to see what's been going on (and I like the changes.)  As ever MM is delightful. And I knew you would make a good job of the coal wagon.

 

Regarding the couplings I would suggest that as loco and coach are going to spend most of their working life together they don't need D&G's. Scale could go on front with a drawbar between loco and coach, perhaps?

 

Best wishes,

Edited June 2, 2013 by john flann

[Chubber]

Hi, Woody,

 

Having recently re-read my Wallingford Branch [Paul Karau] book, MM would equally well re-enact a W'ford cameo, where the locomotive [in the W' case a 14XX or 517] would be spotted immediately next to the cross-over/run round turnout so that coal could be shovelled directly from the loco coal wagon into the loco bunker.....

 

Doug

Edited June 2, 2013 by Chubber

[David C]

The Wallingford book also has photos of a 22xx hauling the branch's solitary autocoach, albeit in BR days!

 

David C

[57xx]

Very nice Nick.Can you tell me the origins of the LMS and NE vans please.Its something I need to address on my GW layout too.

 

Rob, take a look at the offerings from Parkside and Cambrian. Between them you can get a good selection of LNER and LMS vans and opens.

[nickwood]

Thank you all for the contributions.

 

John, good to hear from you and you are quite right, if the 48xx was going to spend all of its time coupled to the autocoach then it would not need to have the DG's fitted. I would like to be able to use it for other duties ocassionally if possible but if I can't find a better solution to the fixings for the couplings then I may well go with your suggestion and possibly introduce another 14/48xx into the roster.

 

Doug, good to hear from you too. It would make a nice scene for a photo or two. I'll have to have a look and see if I have some suitable figures to make it work.

[Chubber]

Poop-poop!

[nickwood]

I can't believe it is so long since I last posted

 

On 02/06/2013 at 13:43, john flann said:

Nick, very happy to see what's been going on (and I like the changes.)  As ever MM is delightful. And I knew you would make a good job of the coal wagon.

 

Regarding the couplings I would suggest that as loco and coach are going to spend most of their working life together they don't need D&G's. Scale could go on front with a drawbar between loco and coach, perhaps?

 

Best wishes,

 

John, I decided to take your advice and remove the DG couplings on the loco and coach. I fashioned a piece of bent wire for a new coupling and the results can be seen below. A big improvement in looks even though it now means that they must be used as a running pair. 

 

 

 

 

The photos do show up that I haven't refixed the roof on the Autocoach properly 🤫

Edited December 22, 2022 by nickwood

[nickwood]

I'm going to be away for a few weeks and won't be able to look in much so I thought I'd leave you with a little story.....

It's the middle of a beautiful Tuesday morning at Much Murkle. Local farmer, Clarence Fencott's is returning a prize Herefordshire bull that he's borrrowed from another herd in Ledbury. Henry (that's the bull's name) is taking a drink while he waits in the cattle dock for his transport.

 

Meanwhile, his lady friends are wondering if he'll be like many males and disappear for good having had his wicked way with them all.

 

Their thoughts are disturbed as the 10.51 from Hereford coasts along the branch into Much Murkle station confines

 

Could that be Henry's transport coupled behind?

 

The train draws to a halt at Much Murkle station where Jack and Marjorie are once again found chatting away. The village gossips tongues will be wagging if they continue to be seen together so often.  

 

The Prairie shunts the horse box to the cattle dock where Henry looks at with distain.

 

Hmmm, thinks Henry, they could at least have brought a Luxury Beetle Cattle Wagon to take me home, are they seriously expecting me to get into that cramped, smelly horse box.

Will Henry be sensi-bull and get aboard?
or will he be horri-bull and refuse?
could there be terri-bull consequences?
or is it just a laugha-bull situation?

To be continued........... when I get back

 

 

 

Edited December 22, 2022 by nickwood

[nickwood]

Thank you for all the likes and it obviously made a few of you smile Since the last post I have had a 3 week holiday in the States and a busy time with work since getting back a couple of weeks ago. It's been so long now that I've forgotten how Henry's dilema ended, so lets just say it was inevita-bull that he got aboard and returned home.

I have my first exhibition looming at Cradley Heath on the 19th October, hopefully there are going to be a few RMwebbers come along, please say hello.  There are a few minor bits and pieces that need attention on the layout beforehand but the major task I have set myself for the next three weeks though is to get all of the locos weathered, fitted with crew, lamps, fire irons as well as renumbered. I went to Pendon on a weathering masterclass last saturday led by Tim Shackleton who does the weathering DVD's for the Right Track series. I learnt a lot and have made a start. I can't really take photos during the course of doing it but I will show you the results as they get finished.

The first is a very familiar loco on MM my favourite early Bachmann Pannier. Here it is un-weathered on the layout

 

 

A lot of people seem to think that all GWR engines were kept clean by their crews. Whilst this may be so, steam engines operated in filthy environments and would never have been the sparkling examples that we see now on preserved lines. Crews might have run an oily rag over the tank and cab sides but would have been unlikely to do the same on the tank and boiler tops or underframe. Enevitably the dirt would become engrained even in those areas wiped down. I wanted the look of a hard working but reasonably well looked after engine engaged on goods duties.

Here's the result so far. The numbers and the lamp have been added since weathering and need to be toned down a bit still.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In my view it still needs a touch more light brown (brake dust) around the brake hangers and some oily black depsoits around the coupling rod connectors.

Oh and ...Oops I've just noticed that I have forgotten to change the number on the buffer beams
 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 22, 2022 by nickwood

[nickwood]

Thank you very much everyone for the likes. As this is my first foray into weathering locos I am hoping for a bit of feedback to see if I have overdone things, not done enough or got it about right. Would I be better off using a seperate thread to do this?

[john flann]

Nick, I hadn't seen this when I responded to your post on "Hintock', as ever you have that masterly yet light touch.

 

I like it, my only comment would be to go easy on the brown. It maybe me, but I think it gets overdone.

 

And as regards on an another thread, I never get around to looking at those. But again that's just me.

 

And as I said elsewhere enjoy the show.  

[Chubber]

Nick, I hadn't seen this when I responded to your post on "Hintock', as ever you have that masterly yet light touch.

 

I like it, my only comment would be to go easy on the brown. It maybe me, but I think it gets overdone.

 

And as regards on an another thread, I never get around to looking at those. But again that's just me.

 

And as I said elsewhere enjoy the show.  

 

I think there is just about enough 'brown', but perhaps a smidgin' more 'oily looking' low down. Hi, John, nice spread in September's RM, by the way.

 

Doug