Wright writes.....

[Pebbles]

17 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

I've just been informed by Dave Ellis (SE Finecast) that Ron Goult has died.

 

Ron was the originator and first proprietor of the Little Engines range of loco kits. Dave did the castings for him.

 

The range was sold, the moulds returned and nothing more seems to have been heard of it.

 

17 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

I've just been informed by Dave Ellis (SE Finecast) that Ron Goult has died.

 

Ron was the originator and first proprietor of the Little Engines range of loco kits. Dave did the castings for him.

 

The range was sold, the moulds returned and nothing more seems to have been heard of it.

Not quite the case as Ron's Q1 lives on in the SE Finecast range.

[johndon]

1 hour ago, t-b-g said:

Anybody interested in Iron Ore hoppers should really have a look at the very in depth series of articles by Geoff Kent in MRJ.

 

 

A superb series as I recall.

 

The North Eastern region of BR went it's own way for iron ore hoppers for the Consett line...

 

 

 

John

 

[Headstock]

1 hour ago, Clem said:

That's spot on, Andrew. Up until about 1958 the iron ore trains on the Stanton run were all hoppers. Within about a year they had become all tipplers. I think the hoppers may have lasted longer in South Wales and on the ex-GW lines south of Birmingham. They are a bit of nightmare to scratch build. The first thing you've got to get right is the angles of the hopper. Ability in 3-D trigonometry is a must. :-)  ... then there's the rivets.  On the Bachmann cut'n'shuts it's the fiddly hopper bottom door opening gear that's the awkward part. For both these types the under frame is very open. It'd be lovely to have a kit for the LMS hoppers a few of which survive at the Rutland Railway museum. It would certainly save me a lot of time. I've got a few of them to build.

 

Good morning Clem,

 

model railways can be a lot of hard repetitive work sometimes to reap the rewards, the effort that you are putting in is readily apparent in the quality of your modelling. What I like about what you are doing is that you can tell at a glance  is so obviously based on the real railway in terms of location and stock.

 

Parkside are supposed to be releasing the early 14 ton BR hopper, that should help bulk out your iron ore train and save you some time. Perhaps it would be possible to make some sort of mould from your LMS hopper and replicate them? RM web still has people who can provide information or even help with such matters.

[Flying Pig]

38 minutes ago, Headstock said:

Parkside are supposed to be releasing the early 14 ton BR hopper,

 

Dave Bradwell already sells etchings for the BR diagram 1/142 and 1/144 hoppers which I think are the same vehicle.

 

The Anhydrite hopper by macgeordie may also be of general interest:

 

 

[Clem]

2 hours ago, Headstock said:

ood morning Clem,

 

model railways can be a lot of hard repetitive work sometimes to reap the rewards, the effort that you are putting in is readily apparent in the quality of your modelling. What I like about what you are doing is that you can tell at a glance  is so obviously based on the real railway in terms of location and stock.

 

Parkside are supposed to be releasing the early 14 ton BR hopper, that should help bulk out your iron ore train and save you some time. Perhaps it would be possible to make some sort of mould from your LMS hopper and replicate them? RM web still has people who can provide information or even help with such matters.

Very kind comments Andrew, especially coming from someone as highly skilled as yourself. It's a shame they've picked the 14T BR hopper as, I think,  that one is already covered by Dave Bradwell's kit. (See photo). In any case, it certainly looks like I'm in for the long haul where the LMS hoppers (both the 8'6" version and the 7'9" version) are concerned. However it would be worth looking into the possibility of working with someone who could cast it and possibly produce a kit.

Edited February 11, 2020 by Clem

[Tony Wright]

2 hours ago, Headstock said:

 

Geoff Kents Iron ore train is a superb piece of modelling.

It is indeed, Andrew,

 

It is indeed!

 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

Well, the Isinglass pigeon van is now complete.......

 

 

The glazing to the upper lights is Glue 'n' Glaze, because there's insufficient space above it to fit the roof rebate if Plastiglaze were to be employed. 

 

The 'York' stick-on sign is from Hollar. 

 

The gloss finish has revealed 'witness marks' in the surface, so weathering beckons. 

 

 

It does run exceptionally-well, and it's seen here in company with a Chivers equivalent, built by the late Dave Shakespeare. It's interesting to compare the different body heights and the shape of the tumbleholme...... 

 

In a 'layout setting', as a 'layout van', I think it'll do; at least for me, though the more-discerning might have issues. 

 

Speaking of a 'layout van' in a 'layout setting', how about this?

 

 

I built this 12T van at Doncaster last weekend, finishing it off yesterday. With its door open, I doubt if it'll ever move, but I like the simplicity of the scene......

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Clem]

16 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

It is indeed, Andrew,

 

It is indeed!

 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

With real ironstone as the loads! Geoff told me that he came across this great lump of the stuff in Northamptonshire ironstone territory and has used it for all his ironstone loads. That's the reason the loads look so authentic! I've yet to find any but I have looked and am still looking!  The second wagon is interesting. It's a wooden hopper and you can just see the sides slightly bowing in at the bottom. As you go backwards in time towards 1948 and before, these were far more common in the make up of the ore trains on the Derby Friargate line Stanton trains, so my brother used to tell me.

Edited February 11, 2020 by Clem

[cctransuk]

7 hours ago, Clem said:

With real ironstone as the loads! Geoff told me that he came across this great lump of the stuff in Northamptonshire ironstone territory and has used it for all his ironstone loads. That's the reason the loads look so authentic! I've yet to find any but I have looked and am still looking!  The second wagon is interesting. It's a wooden hopper and you can just see the sides slightly bowing in at the bottom. As you go backwards in time towards 1948 and before, these were far more common in the make up of the ore trains on the Derby Friargate line Stanton trains, so my brother used to tell me.

 

Source of ironstone - if you leave the A14 and head north on the A6 Rothwell bypass, towards the top of the RH cutting bank near the crest of the first gradient, there is an outcrop / hard landscaping feature of a lump of local ironstone. It was very evident when the Rothwell bypass opened; it may be more disguised by vegetation nowadays.

 

The wooden hopper is, I believe, of NER / LNER origin and the sides are not bulging as such; the sloping planks are a design feature and are part of the hopper shape.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

Edited February 11, 2020 by cctransuk

[grahame]

3 hours ago, johndon said:

 

A superb series as I recall.

 

The North Eastern region of BR went it's own way for iron ore hoppers for the Consett line...

 

 

 

Nice modelling.

 

And down in the South [BR(S)] they also had some similar distinctive and individual lower body-side double clam-shell door hopper wagons. They are something I've long been planning to make a rake of. It would mean quite a bit of scratch-building although fortunately the bogies are available. A project for the future:

 

 

[Headstock]

4 hours ago, Flying Pig said:

 

Dave Bradwell already sells etchings for the BR diagram 1/142 and 1/144 hoppers which I think are the same vehicle.

 

The Anhydrite hopper by macgeordie may also be of general interest:

 

 

 

Good afternoon Simon,

 

the Bradwell hopper is a great kit, I have built two, they are quite time-consuming. Clem deserves a bit of a break, take note RTR manufactures, how about producing something where there isn't already a kit! I suspect he could probably polish off a couple of Parkside 14 ton hopper kits in an evening and feel better about the extra time spent scratch building his LMS hoppers.

 

There are a couple of hopper types that are absolutely a must for these trains, S&C anhydrite hoppers, not so much, a stunning model though it is. LMS, Charles Roberts and other PO's, App Frod, the big MOT type and the 14 ton BR type were dead certs.

[gr.king]

3 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Well, the Isinglass pigeon van is now complete.......

 

The glazing to the upper lights is Glue 'n' Glaze, because there's insufficient space above it to fit the roof rebate if Plastiglaze were to be employed. 

 

The 'York' stick-on sign is from Hollar. 

 

The gloss finish has revealed 'witness marks' in the surface, so weathering beckons. 

 

 

It does run exceptionally-well, and it's seen here in company with a Chivers equivalent, built by the late Dave Shakespeare. It's interesting to compare the different body heights and the shape of the tumbleholme...... 

 

In a 'layout setting', as a 'layout van', I think it'll do; at least for me, though the more-discerning might have issues. 

 

 

 

 

 

I did a tedious analysis of LNER carriage side dimensions in various makers' ranges last year and concluded that the sides of the Chivers BY were not tall enough, possibly, I thought, in an attempt to match the old Kirk range which shared the same problem in many cases. So the Isinglass vehicle may be the better one in that respect.......

[Flying Pig]

53 minutes ago, Headstock said:

the Bradwell hopper is a great kit, I have built two, they are quite time-consuming.

 

Doesn't surprise me - I've seen the Consett hopper kit and my immediate reaction was "I say, what a lot of bits" (or words to that effect).  On the other hand, hoppers make very fiddly plastic kits, particularly when moulded in multiple flat parts with relatively weak joints, so perhaps fold-up etches have their advantages.

 

I'm aware of course that the anhydrite wagon isn't directly relevant to Clem's train, but it shows what's possible, though again it's a very detailed kit.

[Headstock]

44 minutes ago, Flying Pig said:

 

Doesn't surprise me - I've seen the Consett hopper kit and my immediate reaction was "I say, what a lot of bits" (or words to that effect).  On the other hand, hoppers make very fiddly plastic kits, particularly when moulded in multiple flat parts with relatively weak joints, so perhaps fold-up etches have their advantages.

 

I'm aware of course that the anhydrite wagon isn't directly relevant to Clem's train, but it shows what's possible, though again it's a very detailed kit.

 

You're quite right about plastic hopper kits. To this day, I have had two total kit fails, both plastic, one a hopper. Oddly, the first one I built was fine, the second............ not so fine. I did learn a lot from my own foolishness, that ensured that future builds where trouble free. The writing off of one plastic kit wasn't a major financial issue and many of the spare parts were recycled over the years.

 

The Bradwell kit, being all brass with no castings, required the complicated and clever folding of such items as soul bars and the hopper body. Then a couple of days of multiple laminating of parts such as the strengthening ribs.  Eventually, you have a nice selection of parts to assemble the kit. Despite this, I can honestly say that I have never written off a brass kit. I have even salvaged the mishaps of others in the medium.

[Hollar]

2 hours ago, Headstock said:

 

Good afternoon Simon,

 

the Bradwell hopper is a great kit, I have built two, they are quite time-consuming. Clem deserves a bit of a break, take note RTR manufactures, how about producing something where there isn't already a kit! I suspect he could probably polish off a couple of Parkside 14 ton hopper kits in an evening and feel better about the extra time spent scratch building his LMS hoppers.

 

There are a couple of hopper types that are absolutely a must for these trains, S&C anhydrite hoppers, not so much, a stunning model though it is. LMS, Charles Roberts and other PO's, App Frod, the big MOT type and the 14 ton BR type were dead certs.

The Bradwell 14T hopper really is a great kit to build, but don't do what I did and decide you can improve on the recommended building sequence.  I did just that on my first attempt, in several moments of madness.  By the time I saw sense it was too late and it ended up in the bin.  The second was went together fine, but of course it's not a quickie.

 

Tone

[St Enodoc]

5 hours ago, grahame said:

 

Nice modelling.

 

And down in the South [BR(S)] they also had some similar distinctive and individual lower body-side double clam-shell door hopper wagons. They are something I've long been planning to make a rake of. It would mean quite a bit of scratch-building although fortunately the bogies are available. A project for the future:

 

 

I thought I recognised those wagons, Grahame, but now I'm not so sure. Are they the gravel hoppers that ran from Lavant to Drayton?

[grahame]

1 hour ago, St Enodoc said:

I thought I recognised those wagons, Grahame, but now I'm not so sure. Are they the gravel hoppers that ran from Lavant to Drayton?

 

Yep.

 

They're 92t glw bogie aggregates hoppers (dia PH003A) built 1970/71 at Hartlepool by IMC Ltd and owned by Francis Parker Ltd. They are very unusual, for British outline, with lower side clam doors for unloading. Just eleven were made (Nos. 17001 - 17011) and only one route worked, usually hauled by a class 73 electro-diesel, with the occasional excursion to Eastleigh for wagon repairs. The train ran from the Lavant gravel quarry (North of Chichester) to the Drayton stone yard (East of Chichester) starting out along the old Lavant line (which had become freight only when the Midhurst Branch closed and was later cut back in 1972 to serve just the gravel workings).

 

Apparently, when the run finished the wagons were stored on the Lavant branch until it was lifted after closure in 1991. Then they were moved to the old Drayton sidings until they were also lifted. The wagons then disappeared, presumably towed away for scrap.

 

[Woodcock29]

Thought it was about time I showed what I've been up to for the last few weeks. Lincoln District Set 3. Built from three of Dan's D&S 6 wheelers. I still have to fit the vacuum pipes and build the interiors, paint, letter, glaze - so a couple of weeks work yet.

 

The duckets are from Frank Davies Miscellaneous Etches but I still had to raise the height of the windows in those by about 1.5mm, but they taper in at the bottom much better than the cast w/m ones supplied in the kits even after those have been reshaped with files. I'm not convinced the bogies are in the correct positions. There are two different arrangements of the centre springs. I've made them up and fitted them as suggested by Dan but I think looking at photos the two centre bogies should be on the outer ends. I could still change them but would need to modify the outer ends of the inners bogies to fit the Kadee couplings we'll be using and probably change the compensation arrangements a bit.

 

Andrew

 

 

Edited February 12, 2020 by Woodcock29
added a comment

[Tony Wright]

23 minutes ago, Woodcock29 said:

Thought it was about time I showed what I've been up to for the last few weeks. Lincoln District Set 3. Built from three of Dan's D&S 6 wheelers. I still have to fit the vacuum pipes and build the interiors, paint, letter, glaze - so a couple of weeks work yet.

 

The duckets are from Frank Davies Miscellaneous Etches but I still had to raise the height of the windows in those by about 1.5mm, but they taper in at the bottom much better than the cast w/m ones supplied in the kits even after those have been reshaped with files. I'm not convinced the bogies are in the correct positions. There are two different arrangements of the centre springs. I've made them up and fitted them as suggested by Dan but I think looking at photos the two centre bogies should be on the outer ends. I could still change them but would need to modify the outer ends of the inners bogies to fit the Kadee couplings we'll be using and probably change the compensation arrangements a bit.

 

Andrew

 

 

This is beautiful work, Andrew,

 

Thanks for showing us.

 

I assume the set is on your layout? If so, does it represent any particular location? It has a 'sort of' look of Doncaster from this viewpoint, with the A1 going over the bridge.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[t-b-g]

16 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

This is beautiful work, Andrew,

 

Thanks for showing us.

 

I assume the set is on your layout? If so, does it represent any particular location? It has a 'sort of' look of Doncaster from this viewpoint, with the A1 going over the bridge.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

I thought that too but then realised that if that was Doncaster goods shed, Hexthorpe Bridge and North Bridge had swapped places. It is certainly very reminiscent of Doncaster at the south end with the carriages standing on the Sheffield line.

 

Whatever it is based on or even if it is fictitious, those are lovely carriages and the layout looks very impressive.

[Headstock]

2 hours ago, Woodcock29 said:

Thought it was about time I showed what I've been up to for the last few weeks. Lincoln District Set 3. Built from three of Dan's D&S 6 wheelers. I still have to fit the vacuum pipes and build the interiors, paint, letter, glaze - so a couple of weeks work yet.

 

The duckets are from Frank Davies Miscellaneous Etches but I still had to raise the height of the windows in those by about 1.5mm, but they taper in at the bottom much better than the cast w/m ones supplied in the kits even after those have been reshaped with files. I'm not convinced the bogies are in the correct positions. There are two different arrangements of the centre springs. I've made them up and fitted them as suggested by Dan but I think looking at photos the two centre bogies should be on the outer ends. I could still change them but would need to modify the outer ends of the inners bogies to fit the Kadee couplings we'll be using and probably change the compensation arrangements a bit.

 

Andrew

 

 

 

Good morning Andrew,

 

Lincoln district set No 3 looks absolutely marvellous and the background is so evocative it has me pondering potential locations. My own predilections have me seeing GCR blue brick. Even if it is not an actual location, it is  a very convincing scene.

[Woodcock29]

5 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

I assume the set is on your layout? If so, does it represent any particular location? It has a 'sort of' look of Doncaster from this viewpoint, with the A1 going over the bridge.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Yes its on my layout.  Its fictional and the main station is meant to be on an alternate route north somewhere between Nottingham, Grantham and Peterborough.  If for any reason the ECML or the GC London Ext are closed then trains from those lines can be diverted through my station. The period is loosely 1935-1939. The layout currently lacks most of the scenery but hopefully some more will get done later this year (but building locos and rolling stock always seems to get in the way!). There is a secondary route used for local trains something like the Nottingham suburban railway which is accessed by a double junction behind where the coaches are standing in the photo. The other end of that secondary route joins back onto the mainline through a double junction in a tunnel at the other end of the main station.  The main station is located beyond the bridge in the photo. There is also a single line branch from the main station, which is where the photographer is standing!  To top this all off the LMS has a secondary route running close by but at a higher level so LMS locos and stock are also run.  This is on the flat piece of board between the goods shed and the end of the road bridge . There are 16 storage loops off scene for the LNER and 10 for the LMS.

 

The triplet in the photo will also run on the exhibition layout being built by Gavin Thrum based on Spilsby but with the assumption that Spilsby became more important so that the line required signalling so that it could operate more than one engine in steam. My next task after completion of the triplet will be to construct four GN somersault signals (including one bracket), which I've not built before and to build a scratchbuilt signal box for 'Spirsby' as we're calling it. Following that I have a D3 to build to join the D2, J3, J6, C12s and whatever else we may use on the layout, which could include C1, C2 and eventually a Sentinel Railcar.

 

Tony and Tony - Gavin was with me when I visited you both back in 2017.

 

Andrew 

[CXW1]

On 07/02/2020 at 23:13, t-b-g said:

It isn't only Little Bytham that pays host to visiting guest locos and this evening I have had the great pleasure of seeing a few of the locomotives that a visitor brought along. He doesn''t have a layout yet, so it was a good opportunity to give them a bit of a run. They all ran superbly although the 2-2-4T wasn't too keen on some of the sharper curves that Buckingham is blessed with.

 

Mostly scratchbuilt, with the exception of the J77 (Dave Alexander kit), it was lovely to see such well made models of really unusual prototypes. Not one but two H&BR types represented!

 

I dug my old J77 no 1433 out so we could photograph the pair together.

 

Hopefully the builder can be persuaded to tell us a bit more about them.

 

There is something rather satisfying about being able to share such nice models that have been constructed almost "under the radar" with a wider audience. I wonder how many others there are, sitting at their workbenches producing models like these that never get seen in public?

 

 

 

 

Following some gentle arm-twisting by Tony (t-b-g) I thought I would do what he has suggested and tell everyone a bit more about the pictures that he posted on here last week.

 

For those who aren’t too familiar with ex-Hull and Barnsley Railway locos, No. 2495 is a J75 and 2450 is a J80. Pictures of the prototypes were kindly posted by micknick2003. Both models are scratchbuilt in brass with castings from Dave Alexander, Arthur Kimber and my spares box. They both have High Level gearboxes and cheap Mitsumi motors and, as Tony has kindly mentioned, run pretty well. I have no connection with either Hull or Barnsley and built the models because l like the look of the prototypes.

 

The 2-2-4T is LNER class X2 (the only one in its class). The prototype was mostly used on inspection saloon duties, which is what the model can just about manage to pull. Again, scratchbuilt in brass. 

 

The locos are EM gauge – but you probably guessed this given that they had a run-out on Buckingham. 

 

Thanks to Tony for posting the pictures and finally persuading me to post something on here after many years of looking at RMWeb as a non-member.

 

Cheers

 

Chris

[St Enodoc]

6 hours ago, Woodcock29 said:

The layout currently lacks most of the scenery

!

[DougN]

St Enodoc, we have to encourage Woodcock29 to have some scenery completed by September! 

 

Andrew we know you have retired so you should have  heaps of time to get all of the rolling stock done and some scenery. 

 

I have a bit of an aim to have 2x V2's done by that time. Though I am a bit concerned with the idea of getting the lining done.