Wright writes.....

[Tony Wright]

The Parkside O Gauge van is all but finished. 

 

It's very unlikely that I'll be building anything else in 7mm. Not because I don't like the scale, but it's not for me, and I have far too many 4mm projects to start/complete, including some locos in EM. 

 

 

If the number refers to a rebuilt/altered version, then it's staying! 

 

It awaits its screw couplings (thanks in anticipation, Jamie, for sending those).

 

An article on this van's construction will be appearing soon in BRM. 

 

Geoff Haynes weathered it for me. If you want to know all about how to paint, line, letter, number or weather model railway items, his book on the mysteries will be available soon from Crowood Press.

 

One question. Should the ends of the brake levers be white? 

Edited August 2, 2019 by Tony Wright
to clarify a point

[Tony Wright]

1 hour ago, Ray Flintoft said:

Great days indeed Tony , although I usually saw the pacific's ( all classes ) & the V.2's slipping wildly as they left York for the North or storming past Landing Lane bridge as they got into their stride , again northbound .

   I'm sure you won't be surprised to know that I too am building another DJH A.1 ; this will be no. 60147 NORTH EASTERN . You can't have too many LNER Pacific's !

      Cheers ,

                Ray .

I suppose one could have 209 LNER Pacifics, Ray? That would be one too many (not counting TORNADO).

 

I remember GREAT NORTHERN slipping violently, trying to get its train going again after stopping at Retford in the Up direction. There was a sharp reverse curve to negotiate in getting back to the Up fast. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony.  

Edited August 2, 2019 by Tony Wright
typo error

[Tony Wright]

Just a quick note (for those who may be interested), based (at least in part) on my fitting of the new DJH motor/gearboxes into two new locos, DJH will be ordering supplies of the replacement motor for the Mashimas, fitting them and putting the units on sale. 

 

I will make enquiries as to what the new motors cost and who makes them. Or, whether they're available separately. 

 

Stating yet again, that I have no 'commercial' relationship with the firm (other than test-building, supplying photographs and writing instructions for DJH), I have no hesitation in recommending these new products for those building 4mm locos.

 

Changing the subject, and again of possible interest, the Parkside O Gauge van I've built recently will be going to John Houlden, the builder of the now-cremated Gamston Bank. John has now 'graduated' to O Gauge (he's building an ex-GE branch line terminus in the senior scale), and, by way of barter (in part) for my acquiring some locos and stock ex-Gamston from him for LB, I built him the O Gauge van. 

 

I have three locos built by John now running on LB. 

 

 

This DJH A1.

 

 

A Nu-Cast K1.

 

 

And a Crownline V2 (of which PMP's delightful little shunters are taking no notice!).

 

All three of the above locos can be seen in action on LB in the next digital edition of BRM. 

 

I also sold several of John's other OO Gauge locos and items of stock ex-Gamston for him...............

 

 

Including another Crownline V2. All of John's locos are beautifully-natural - grubby, work-a-day and definitely made for work. 

 

He completed one more V2 for Gamston, not long before the whole layout went up in smoke.

 

 

This one was made from a mixture of Comet components, DJH parts, DMR parts and scratch. As with all John's locos, he did everything on them - building, painting, lining, lettering and weathering (far more noble than I am). 

 

It's seen running on Gamston, and my retrospective piece on the layout can be seen in the next issue of BRM. 

 

With Gamston's demise, this loco was converted to EM by Roy Jackson to run on Retford. In time, it'll be coming to me to be reconverted back to OO (is that heresy?), and will definitely find a future home on LB. 

 

In fact, I'll be reconverting back to OO many of John Houlden's carriages and vans which were altered to EM to run on Retford, being on long-term loan so to speak. I'll then be offering them for sale (with percentages donated to CRUK).

 

'Purists' might find this sort of situation bizarre. Why take something which is fundamentally more accurate and then 'spoil' it by altering it to 'narrow gauge'? The question is quite simply answered by another question. Have you (the generic 'you') ever tried selling EM Gauge items on the general market - for a decent price? I suppose it's largely because EM (and certainly P4) are builders' scales in general - for those who actually make things themselves. One cannot get RTR EM locos/stock out of a red box, or a blue box, or a red and blue box, or any coloured-box...................................

 

I'll keep folk posted as to what becomes available made by John in due course.

 

 

[Anthony]

On 30/07/2019 at 14:36, jamie92208 said:

We had two teachers at school who were referred to by rank.  Major Wardle taught PE but also was in charge of the CCF.  Captain Lincoln taught English but had certainly had an i teresting time as a Chindit.  I was told that only officers of the rankk of Major or above ( or the equivalents) could use their ranks after leavi g the services.  Funnily enough our headmaster never even referred to his militsry service but his obituary revealed that he had been a major, had been wounded, I think in Italy, and then had played an important role to do with D Day. A very good bloke, as was our art teacher who was one of the top forgers in Stalag Luft 3 and had been standing in the hut when the tunnel was discovered. If he'd escaped he would probably have been shot like so many others.  

 

Jamie

 

Jamie

 

Am I right in guessing that your art teacher was Ley Kenyon?

 

I have several of his water-colours, which are marvellous, and of which I purchased my first two at a charity fair in Chelsea in the 1970s.  But, of course,  the story behind him is every bit as interesting.

 

Anthony

[Tony Wright]

Considered by many to be Gresley's finest locomotive, I've had a bit of a trawl through my photo archives to find some model shots of V2s............................

 

 

 

Farish produce an N Gauge V2 (does it still have solid wheels?), which probably isn't that bad, though the valve gear looks a bit 'armoured' to me. 

 

 

Bachmann has had a V2 in OO its catalogue for many years. This one has the old split-chassis (which splits) and it's the old-style (and rather inaccurate) body. The complex livery is well-applied, though. I can't decide which of the industry-standard couplings is worse - the N Gauge or the OO Gauge respectively! 

 

 

Friend, David West, must have thought the original Bachmann V2 worthy of doing some work on. This one still has the original chassis, and he's made a nice job of detailing it and weathering it. 

 

 

I did a similar job of detailing/weathering the body on a Bachmann V2, but couldn't 'live' with the poor chassis, so built a Comet substitute. 

 

 

Eventually, I couldn't live with the body-limitations either, and thus put a Graeme King V2 body on top of the ready-made chassis.

 

 

Which Geoff Haynes then painted (as the same loco) perfectly. I then sold the original body for a fiver!

 

 

Now with a much better RTR chassis, the Bachmann V2 is improved beyond comparison with the original. However, despite Tom Foster's brilliant weathering, I still couldn't live with the body limitations (despite fitting a new dome), so I gave this one away to a friend. 

 

Obviously, the original Bachmann V2 was considered good enough to see service on The Gresley Beat...............

 

 

 

And very natural they look, too. This one has been repainted.

 

 

I was so impressed with the Graeme King resin V2, that I made another; again making a Comet chassis for it. 

 

However, my preference is still for making metal kits.

 

 

Here's an old Nu-Cast one I made earlier this year (currently being painted by Geoff Haynes). I made a Comet chassis for this as well (did anyone ever get the original white metal lump of a chassis to work?). 

 

 

It goes with my 40 year old original Nu-Cast V2; I scratch-built a chassis for this one. 

 

 

Bern Mundy of the East Beds Club also built a Nu-Cast V2, putting it on to a brass chassis. I bought it off him, fitted a replacement DJH motor/gearbox combo for the old Romford Bulldog, and cheerfully sold it for a profit to The Green Howards. I hope it's still working well, Andy. 

 

 

Crownline (now PDK) produced a pretty good V2, which I built some time ago.

 

However, I'm not a particular fan of resin boilers...................

 

 

So, for this one, I substituted a metal boiler - spare from a part-wrecked ancient Nu-Cast one, which I bought for a song. Ian Rathbone painted both these Crownline V2s for me. 

 

The old Jamieson V2 still makes into a reasonable representation of the class.

 

 

Especially when painted by Geoff Haynes. I made this for service on Grantham, and it saw use during the LB LNER weekend last year. However, I've now sold it on. 

 

In O Gauge, nobody scratch-builds locos for everyday use as well as Barrie Walls.

 

 

Doesn't this look good? 

 

 

Finally, is this the most 'notorious V2 kit? Alan Hammet built this Pro-Scale example, and it saw service on Stoke Summit and Charwelton, before being sold to Gilbert Barnatt for use on Peterborough North. Except, it was no use, because it had a D13 motor, which is incompatible with DCC. I part-dismantled the chassis and fitted a DCC-friendly unit, installing the chip at the same time. 

 

What do others think of V2s? 

 

I wonder how many models are out there of them? May we see some, please? 

 

 

 

[Bucoops]

I love the V2 - I'm sad I never to see Green Arrow before it had its cylinder issues. 

[CUTLER2579]

The engines that won the war I have been told. a lovely engine though Tony and what a great modeller is Barrie Walls. So sad to hear of his health issues that layout of his is one I have always wanted to view.

Regards,Derek.

[micklner]

Reworked Bachmann body on the new chassis and repainted.

 

 

Grames Resin V2  body on this one which created a A2/1 

 

 

 

Another one of Graeme's Bachmann chassis.

 

Last up I believed this is a Bristol Models version I built 30 years ago is still works.

Edited August 3, 2019 by micklner

[Tony Wright]

6 minutes ago, micklner said:

Reworked Bachmann body on the new chassis and repainted.

 

 

Grames Resin V2  body on this one which created a A2/1 

 

 

 

Another one of Graeme's Bachmann chassis.

 

Last up I believed this is a Bristol Models version I built 30 years ago is still works.

Some nice work, Mick,

 

Thanks for showing us. 

 

You've made a nice job of repainting that Bachmann V2, but I still couldn't live with the straight-top firebox and over-sized boiler diameter. Have you changed the dome?

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[grahame]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

Considered by many to be Gresley's finest locomotive, I've had a bit of a trawl through my photo archives to find some model shots of V2s............................

 

 

 

Farish produce an N Gauge V2 (does it still have solid wheels?), which probably isn't that bad, though the valve gear looks a bit 'armoured' to me. 

 

Bachmann has had a V2 in OO its catalogue for many years. This one has the old split-chassis (which splits) and it's the old-style (and rather inaccurate) body. The complex livery is well-applied, though. I can't decide which of the industry-standard couplings is worse - the N Gauge or the OO Gauge respectively

 

What do others think of V2s? 

 

I wonder how many models are out there of them? May we see some, please? 

 

 

The Farish V2 is a pretty old and pretty poor model. Not only does it have the drawbacks you mention, it was not liked by N gauge enthusiasts for the un-prototypical skirt and it's very poor haulage performance.

 

 

 

 

Anyway those aside, I've been trying to make a start on finishing off some scratch-build building models. On the right (below) is Dominion House (demolished mid 1980ish and replaced with the plastic looking Cottons Centre) and on the left is 29-33 Tooley Street which being grade II listed is still extant although now part of the London Bridge Hospital with a new recent green painted wooded ground floor frontage as their Women's Centre:

 

 

 Today I've added chimney pots, flaunching, ridge tiles, side plaque (Chapman Shipping Limited) and the basic structures for the outer ground floor properties which, in a 1982 photo I have, are not retail/shop outlets and look more commercial like workshops, warehousing or offices. The windows are high and masked off to prevent looking in. Both these models are low relief and will be at the back of the layout behind the viaduct/station so I'm hoping to get away with some details.

 

G 

[Clive Mortimore]

I am surprised that no one as yet has shown a photo of a converted Tri-ang/Hornby Flying Scotsman into a V2. I remember seeing such a conversion in the Constructor thinking "One day I will do that".....that day has never arrived.

[micklner]

30 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Some nice work, Mick,

 

Thanks for showing us. 

 

You've made a nice job of repainting that Bachmann V2, but I still couldn't live with the straight-top firebox and over-sized boiler diameter. Have you changed the dome?

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

Yes and not a lot else left either !!! simply horrid body as are the Bachmann V1/V3 efforts which they were daft enough to put a new chassis underneath as well , hopefully if and when the promised new release version does appear it will be much better than this original body, the GS Tender needs a much finer version upgrade as well.

 

Vacumn return pipe is straight, blame the camera.

 

 

Edited August 3, 2019 by micklner

[Killybegs]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

 

 

 

Which Geoff Haynes then painted (as the same loco) perfectly. I then sold the original body for a fiver!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Someone got a very good deal. Am I allowed to say 'got'?

[davidw]

4 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Considered by many to be Gresley's finest locomotive, I've had a bit of a trawl through my photo archives to find some model shots of V2s............................

 

 

 

Farish produce an N Gauge V2 (does it still have solid wheels?), which probably isn't that bad, though the valve gear looks a bit 'armoured' to me. 

 

 

Bachmann has had a V2 in OO its catalogue for many years. This one has the old split-chassis (which splits) and it's the old-style (and rather inaccurate) body. The complex livery is well-applied, though. I can't decide which of the industry-standard couplings is worse - the N Gauge or the OO Gauge respectively! 

 

 

Friend, David West, must have thought the original Bachmann V2 worthy of doing some work on. This one still has the original chassis, and he's made a nice job of detailing it and weathering it. 

 

 

I did a similar job of detailing/weathering the body on a Bachmann V2, but couldn't 'live' with the poor chassis, so built a Comet substitute. 

 

 

Eventually, I couldn't live with the body-limitations either, and thus put a Graeme King V2 body on top of the ready-made chassis.

 

 

Which Geoff Haynes then painted (as the same loco) perfectly. I then sold the original body for a fiver!

 

 

Now with a much better RTR chassis, the Bachmann V2 is improved beyond comparison with the original. However, despite Tom Foster's brilliant weathering, I still couldn't live with the body limitations (despite fitting a new dome), so I gave this one away to a friend. 

 

Obviously, the original Bachmann V2 was considered good enough to see service on The Gresley Beat...............

 

 

 

And very natural they look, too. This one has been repainted.

 

 

I was so impressed with the Graeme King resin V2, that I made another; again making a Comet chassis for it. 

 

However, my preference is still for making metal kits.

 

 

Here's an old Nu-Cast one I made earlier this year (currently being painted by Geoff Haynes). I made a Comet chassis for this as well (did anyone ever get the original white metal lump of a chassis to work?). 

 

 

It goes with my 40 year old original Nu-Cast V2; I scratch-built a chassis for this one. 

 

 

Bern Mundy of the East Beds Club also built a Nu-Cast V2, putting it on to a brass chassis. I bought it off him, fitted a replacement DJH motor/gearbox combo for the old Romford Bulldog, and cheerfully sold it for a profit to The Green Howards. I hope it's still working well, Andy. 

 

 

Crownline (now PDK) produced a pretty good V2, which I built some time ago.

 

However, I'm not a particular fan of resin boilers...................

 

 

So, for this one, I substituted a metal boiler - spare from a part-wrecked ancient Nu-Cast one, which I bought for a song. Ian Rathbone painted both these Crownline V2s for me. 

 

The old Jamieson V2 still makes into a reasonable representation of the class.

 

 

Especially when painted by Geoff Haynes. I made this for service on Grantham, and it saw use during the LB LNER weekend last year. However, I've now sold it on. 

 

In O Gauge, nobody scratch-builds locos for everyday use as well as Barrie Walls.

 

 

Doesn't this look good? 

 

 

Finally, is this the most 'notorious V2 kit? Alan Hammet built this Pro-Scale example, and it saw service on Stoke Summit and Charwelton, before being sold to Gilbert Barnatt for use on Peterborough North. Except, it was no use, because it had a D13 motor, which is incompatible with DCC. I part-dismantled the chassis and fitted a DCC-friendly unit, installing the chip at the same time. 

 

What do others think of V2s? 

 

I wonder how many models are out there of them? May we see some, please? 

 

 

 

My v2 you refer to actually has one of Graeme King's resin bodies. I reworked the chassis a little, then replaced it with  a more recent chassis. It's one of three resin bodies I bought. Wish I'd bought loads more!

Edited August 3, 2019 by davidw

[gr.king]

In view of the mention on the previous page of John Houlden's OO V2, later gauge-widened to EM and now set to be gauge-narrowed again, I wonder if there are model locos that can make a good claim to be the most repeatedly gauge-altered? I once had dealings with a very tidy fully-built but un-painted DJH A3 whose new owner (a friend of mine at the time) had bought the item at auction, either unaware of, or in spite of the fact that it was an EM gauge model. He was a OO modeller and indicated that he wanted to keep the model, so asked if I could convert it to OO. Even though the main frames were spaced much further apart than usual for OO I managed to do the conversion, with satisfactory results for running around 3 foot radius curves as featured on the owner's layout. The bogie was so wide (having been carefully widened by the original builder) that I had to saw it in half and re-build it narrower. Job then done, for no actual payment as it formed one element in a bigger "deal" between us, the owner soon "changed his mind" and almost immediately put the loco on eBay where it readily fetched good money - from a much larger competing group of OO bidders than would have been likely had it still been a "minority taste" EM model. I wondered how much of a fool I had been when I agreed to do the conversion without charge.

The next I heard was that after the sale, the seller had received an enquiry from the buyer, seeking the name of somebody who might covert the loco to EM gauge for him! I did not offer.....

[Dave John]

Heh, folk wanting to change the gauge of their models all the time?  Perhaps someone should try making a working model of a Talgo. 

 

Go on tell me, somebody, somewhere already has. 

[jamie92208]

14 minutes ago, Dave John said:

Heh, folk wanting to change the gauge of their models all the time?  Perhaps someone should try making a working model of a Talgo. 

 

Go on tell me, somebody, somewhere already has. 

Or even model one of the gauge changing trams that ran between Leeds and Bradford around the time of WW1.

 

Jamie

[Tony Wright]

2 hours ago, davidw said:

My v2 you refer to actually has one of Graeme King's resin bodies. I reworked the chassis a little, then replaced it with  a more recent chassis. It's one of three resin bodies I bought. Wish I'd bought loads more!

I do apologise, David,

 

I should have consulted my notes when you brought it. I also should have looked more-closely at it. It is far superior to the Bachmann body.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

2 hours ago, Killybegs said:

 

 

 

3 hours ago, micklner said:

 

Yes and not a lot else left either !!! simply horrid body as are the Bachmann V1/V3 efforts which they were daft enough to put a new chassis underneath as well , hopefully if and when the promised new release version does appear it will be much better than this original body, the GS Tender needs a much finer version upgrade as well.

 

Vacumn return pipe is straight, blame the camera.

 

 

Your work and ingenuity never ceases to amaze me, Mick,

 

Yet, with that amount of ability, I'm surprised you employ it on such poor starting points (though the transformations are outstanding). Would it not be better to simply build a metal kit? 

 

As I've done with these.................................... Some more LB V2s.

 

 

This is my 40+ year old Jamieson V2 (towing a Nu-Cast flared GS tender). This is all my own work, and it pre-dates the Bachmann V2 by many a year. 

 

 

I still think Jamieson V2s are worth building, and this one dates from a mere three years ago. This time, I got Ian Rathbone to do the painting. Steve (31A) gave me another (part-built) Jamieson V2 at the York Show at Easter, which I'll complete in time. Thanks again, Steve. 

 

 

After Geoff Brewin died, I bought this part-built Nu-Cast V2 off the estate. I completed it, and Geoff Haynes painted it. 

 

I know painting done by the builder himself/herself is much more noble (I know my limitations), but I just find hacking (if that's not too pejorative a word?) about and improving basically poor models rather strange. Still, the proof of the pudding..........................

 

Anyway, I much prefer working in metal.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

[Tony Wright]

3 hours ago, Killybegs said:

 

Someone got a very good deal. Am I allowed to say 'got'?

'Am I allowed to say 'got'?'

 

Why not? It's a jolly good word.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Dave John]

I didn't know about the Leeds Bradford ones Jamie, so I looked them up and had a read. 

 

Interesting, thanks for the tip. 

[Theakerr]

One of my two Bachmann V2s. Both split chassis, both running after at least 15 years, both will pull like the real thing after a bit of weight added, lightly weathered, coaled, crew added and that horrible bogie cartazi truck unit with the daylight gap replaced.   

[davidw]

53 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

I do apologise, David,

 

I should have consulted my notes when you brought it. I also should have looked more-closely at it. It is far superior to the Bachmann body.

 

Regards,

 

Tony.

No problem at all.

[jamie92208]

1 hour ago, Dave John said:

I didn't know about the Leeds Bradford ones Jamie, so I looked them up and had a read. 

 

Interesting, thanks for the tip. 

The full story is in Vol 2 of Leeds Transport by Jim Soper. It's well worth reading.

 

Jamie

[john new]

On 01/08/2019 at 22:35, Anglian said:

 

Humidity. I know you're brush painting but it can still be sensitive to temperature and humidity. When using rattle cans or an airbrush I have a 60:60 rule. That is: temp above 60F but not more than a totally pedantic 77F but less than 60% relative humidity. Outside those parameters I've found that my paint sometimes never dries and remains tacky and thus has to be removed. 

 

I never varnish in the summer months as this is most prone to not drying hard.

 

A trick I've found is to put a couple of Stainless 6mm ball bearings in the paint and shake. It disperses the 'good stuff' throughout the paint better than just stirring alone.

How I find the avoid overly hot weather for varnishing tip!

 

It has dried on the new wooden box, eventually. I knew about the humidity issue but not the excessive heat! The box took about a fortnight to dry properly. It could really do with sanding and a third coat, but probably won't get it. Thanks for the tips.