Wright writes.....

[grahame]

I've spent yesterday afternoon polyurethane resin casting more of the GRP panels for the narrower section of the station footbridge. They've been glued on the plasticard walkway box and given a quick wafting of Halfords grey primer. They need to be painted grot brown. Here's how the footbridge looks just roughly put together to give an idea. There is a section that joins to the SER offices building that I made but I can't seem to find it (might have to make another). The comparison picture below it is rather more recent than I'm hoping to emulate when the grey siding and brown ceramic tiles on the stair structures were painted white:

 

 

 

One thing about the footbridge was that, love it or loath it, it was unique, very distinctive and of its time. I don't know of any other station footbridges that are similar. And I can't think of any N/2mm kits or RTP models that look anything like it. Consequently I've had to scratch-build it. To a large extent it is a signature feature structure and helps set the scene and location. Without it the layout won't be London Bridge. 

 

 

[St Enodoc]

44 minutes ago, TrevorP1 said:

 

I can't disagree with you John but I like the idea and if you don't look too hard. Maybe with a bit more development?  

 

I think you and I both use the Bachmann 'pipes' where appropriate. They too are a compromise but they do a half reasonable job. However, if you are familiar with the real thing they are wrong on several counts so the compromise has to be accepted.  I do like the James bars for coaches though. A flexible system, easy to swop and not too visible on most coaching stock.

 

I expect Tony is reading this and thinking we should use the wire and loop method and I'd find it impossible to argue against that except that it would take me many days to change everything and even on 'lockdown' that is time that needs to be spent elsewhere.

 

Yes Trevor, I do use the Bachmann pipes but I'm not too happy with them as they sometimes have a tendency to flex a bit or even pull out. In due course I'll probably replace them, either with Roco-style couplers or with solid bars.

[t-b-g]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

At first glance, this shot could almost be taken for reality.

 

Straighten those lamp brackets (admitted) and add a screw shackle and you'll convince many that it is.

 

A brilliant shot. Many thanks for showing us.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

It is real.

 

Just small!

[60027Merlin]

Re the B1 fire irons storage tunnel, here is a photo at Haymarket in 1958 and if you can zoom in you will be able to see the part of the handle on the drivers side.

 

Please observe copyright restrictions as it is not my photo!

 

Eric

 

Just checked this on here and could not zoom in close enough however I have the photo on My Pictures in the Windows set up and it is better to zoom in there if anyone interested can copy it across.

My computer knowledge is pretty basic but hopefully this can be copied to Windows from here!

 

Edited April 22, 2020 by 60027Merlin

[Headstock]

1 hour ago, Leander said:

 

Tony was asking for more photos of B1s, presumably in model form. 61392 has arrived into Leeds City North platform six with a local from Sheffield to Bradford. Photo by John Elliott (TheLaird).

 

She is a Hornby model with added detail, including a replacement Bradwell chimney and dome, Comet AWS gear, plus various DCC sound gubbins hidden well away. Those plastic lamp brackets definitely require some straightening. Obviously the fireman hasn't got round to putting on the tail lamp before heading off to Holbeck for turning and servicing.

 

 

 

What a difference the Bradwell dome and chimney make, a B1 that looks like a B1! You could do with some of that chimney muck on the roofs of your carriages though.

 

On B1 fire iron tunnels. Hornby have it right, or should that be left. As far as the standard tenders designed and built for the B1's and K1's is concerned, the fire iron tunnel was on the left looking forwards. I've Seen the G A drawings, I've attempted to stick my arm in the real thing and have constructed my own, including the Dave Bradwell kit, probably the best LNER group standard tender available in 4 mm scale.

 

 

 

 

[St Enodoc]

1 minute ago, 60027Merlin said:

Re the B1 fire irons storage tunnel, here is a photo at Haymarket in 1958 and if you can zoom in you will be able to see the part of the handle on the drivers side.

 

Please observe copyright restrictions as it is not my photo!

 

Eric

 

Someone needs to weather that coal wagon Eric. You'd never see one that clean on the prototype.

[60027Merlin]

The Haymarket cleaners finished really early polishing the Pacifics that day and made use of their free time!

 

 

[Headstock]

2 hours ago, micklner said:

Latest builds

 

Blacksmith Thompson BG etches from 1984, the underframe and Bogies are MJT , the original castings were binned or not provided in the kit.

 

 

 

 

Good morning Mick,

 

I too used the old Blacksmith Thompson Deal van as a basis for a model some years ago. Like you I replaced the underframe with the MJT floorpan and also the other under gubbins. I  also used the MJT the roof, though I recall the latter was cut in half down the centreline and rejoined to get the correct width over the cornice, the deal vans were narrow beasties.

 

The change of underframe was rather appropriate on the model, as the real BG on which mine is based was original a Gresley teak BG. The body was destroyed by enemy action, at Marylebone during the war. The deal body was brand new, placed on the original underframe that was salvaged from the wreck.

 

Edited April 22, 2020 by Headstock
add info

[Michael Edge]

3 hours ago, 31A said:

B1 etc. tenders.

 

As the person who supplied the picture of the Hornby tenders in the Eastwood Town thread, I have an interest.  I don't believe Hornby would have got it wrong on a modern model.  The Bachmann B1 tender has a representation  of the entrance to the 'tunnel' on the front, again on the driver's side.  I have an Isinglass drawing of various LNER GS tenders, but can't find it at the moment.

 

Anyway, in the RCTS Green Book (Vol 2B) the tenders attached to B1s are described.  The first few (originally numbered 8301-10 and 1010/1) had 'a slot in the arch of the front plate at the fireman's side to take the fire irons', i.e. the fireirons went on top, similar to earlier LNER tenders.

 

Nos. 1012-37: "A large toolbox was provided above the coal gate, with a smaller one alongside it on the fireman's side.  On the opposite side was a tunnel for the fire irons .... ".

 

It then mentions that 1038/9 had second hand tenders.

 

Nos. 1040 onwards, i.e. the majority.  "The tenders were similar above the running plate to those attached to nos. 1012-1037 .... ".  It then goes on to describe various detail differences, none of which affect the fire irons.

 

It then describes that 61105/49/65 also had second hand tenders.

 

I'm sure I have read (but typically can't remember where) that the fire iron tunnel was deliberately put on the driver's side to make it easier for the fireman to get the tools in and out.  Never having been a fireman I can't really comment but would imagine if the tunnel / rack was on the fireman's side perhaps he would have to cross to the driver's side in order to swing them round onto a rack on his own side?  Also I think there might have been more risk of getting the fire irons outside the cab, 'out of gauge' and possibly with overhead electrification in mind, a tunnel would have meant less risk of catching the overhead wires?

 

 

 

It's not getting the fireirons out which is the problem - it's putting them away when the end is red hot.....

[dibateg]

Another B1, not made by me, but  Finescale Brass one, 61008 Kudu, ready to run. The tenders on these models limit them to the first twenty locos.  I have made a few changes, ( such as hiding any exposed screw heads ) and in unsoldering the front lamp irons to change them, pulled the whole front platform off! The cabside step is not quite right to my eye. Painted and lined by Paul Moore, weathered by me.

[micknich2003]

Just checked the B1 drawing, fireiron tunnel is on the Driver's side.

[micklner]

4 hours ago, Headstock said:

 

Good morning Mick,

 

I too used the old Blacksmith Thompson Deal van as a basis for a model some years ago. Like you I replaced the underframe with the MJT floorpan and also the other under gubbins. I  also used the MJT the roof, though I recall the latter was cut in half down the centreline and rejoined to get the correct width over the cornice, the deal vans were narrow beasties.

 

The change of underframe was rather appropriate on the model, as the real BG on which mine is based was original a Gresley teak BG. The body was destroyed by enemy action, at Marylebone during the war. The deal body was brand new, placed on the original underframe that was salvaged from the wreck.

 

Andrew,

 

My one, had a Vac formed Plastic roof in the box. It was the only roof I could find that actually fitted the ends, hence after a small  fight it surrendered and was fitted.

 

I would never have thought of cutting a MJT roof ( which I have in stock) in half etc , It does'nt sound a easy job to do, how do you fit the sides back together ?

 

thanks

 

Mick

[Headstock]

49 minutes ago, micklner said:

Andrew,

 

My one, had a Vac formed Plastic roof in the box. It was the only roof I could find that actually fitted the ends, hence after a small  fight it surrendered and was fitted.

 

I would never have thought of cutting a MJT roof ( which I have in stock) in half etc , It does'nt sound a easy job to do, how do you fit the sides back together ?

 

thanks

 

Mick

 

Afternoon Mick,

 

there is a rebate that runs the length of the underside of the MJT roof, this is to allow you to drill for the roof vents in a straight line. I just sawed the roof in two along the length of the rebate. I then filed back what was left of the rebate so that the two roof halves sat on each side of the body, with a gap between them. I joined the two sides together with 20 thou plasticard strips curved and superglued to the underside of the roof. The assemblage was fixed in place while the plasticard was fitted in place from below. Once I was happy, I glued some longitudinal strips into the gap from above and topped up with filler. Finally, when all was dry and cured, I filed and rubbed down the roof to a smooth finish and drilled out for the roof vents. Bobs your uncle, a perfect fit. The roof was finished flush with the ends and a separate end strip added and blended in with the roof.

 

My kit came with a bit of brass sheet, formed into a roof shape that didn't fit and certainly not of an LNER profile. I still have it, it may come in useful one day.

Edited April 22, 2020 by Headstock
clarification

[landscapes]

6 hours ago, 60027Merlin said:

Re the B1 fire irons storage tunnel, here is a photo at Haymarket in 1958 and if you can zoom in you will be able to see the part of the handle on the drivers side.

 

Please observe copyright restrictions as it is not my photo!

 

Eric

 

Just checked this on here and could not zoom in close enough however I have the photo on My Pictures in the Windows set up and it is better to zoom in there if anyone interested can copy it across.

My computer knowledge is pretty basic but hopefully this can be copied to Windows from here!

 

Hi Eric

 

Lovely photo of the B1 at Haymarket, and some good detail behind the locomotive of the side walls to the two roads for the coaling tower wagons.

 

Thank you for posting it.

 

Regards

 

David

[Evertonian]

Thought I would mention that  as the regular pilot loco operator on the 'B'mth West'  exhibition layout

the Preci Models DCC auto uncoupler has proved invaluable and very reliable in service -  it's usually

operator error when there is a cock up - Roger also has some passenger coach rakes fitted with the

James Trains straight bars. 

Would thoroughly recommend both, usual disclaimer applies.

Regards,keep safe everybody,

 

Chris Knight

[thegreenhowards]

13 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

They don't look right to me at all, Trevor and Andy. They are very "chunky" and the Instanter loop is way too big in comparison to the other links and the drawhooks. Sorry.

Thanks for your honest appraisal - that’s what I was looking for. I certainly agree that the coupling hooks are too small and, on reflection, I can see that the instanter is too big. However, I think the 3 links, at least, are a big improvement on tension locks, so I will go for another batch of them on the basis that I’m never going to fit proposer 3 links to all my mineral wagons.

 

Andy

[Tony Wright]

Well, the D16/3 is finished........................

 

 

I plotted the positions of the handrails and vacuum ejector pipe, taking measurements with spring dividers, from the Little Engines drawing and photographs. 

 

Usually, cast metal boilers have dimples for handrail pillars, though they're often in the wrong place. 

 

 

I always find making the continuous handrail in a rising arc over the smokebox front a real fiddle. This was no exception!

 

 

Just detailing to do now. The chimney and dome came from the Blacksmiths kit. I had three chimneys (two from the Blacksmith kit and one from the Little Engines one). None seemed dead right, and I've an idea that this one might be a trifle tall (though the other two looked too 'dumpy'). I'll live with it for a while before I paint it.

 

 

Complete and ready for the paintshop (in unlined BR black). 

 

Much cleaning up will happen, though I doubt if it'll prevent my soldering still looking like a relief map of the moon! 

 

Though 'old-fashioned', the decorative valances give this loco an elegance; an elegance from a bygone time. 

 

I still have all the bits left to make another hybrid D16/3, but one without the valancing. 

 

Al in all about 20 hours' work, spread over three non-consecutive days (though the frames were made last week). 

 

The pile of kits left to build is still substantial!

Edited April 22, 2020 by Tony Wright
to clarify a point

[mswjr]

The Handrail bend that is bent around the vertical pipe on the smokebox look's very neat ,And awkward. I would have had about 6 attempt's at that.

[jamie92208]

Evening all from over across La Manche.  We are now into week 5 of lockdown and work to reduce the kit pile has continued.  Sometime ago I bought a part built Alan Gibson 4F off Ebay.   My plan was to number it with my old Police collar number which happens to have been carried by a Toton 4F No 3877.   I decided that this should be my next project.  This is what I started with except that it had a Fowler tender and I've put a Johnson 3250 gallon one in its place.

A lot of research was done and I learned an awful lot about 4F's. I found out I needed a 3500 gallon tender with only 1 side panel and no rivets.  Again Google was my friend and I found out that Andy Beaton of Ragstone models does the correct style of tender.   Despite lockdown it arrived in 10 days and it has been a joy to put together with everything fitting neatly and clear instructions.  It even gives notes about what to do if you want to build it in 32mm FS rather than Scale Seven.  Not all kits do this. Anyway the chassis was made to run and then the tender was built.  This is what it looks like now.

Much better.

I then found in the spares boxes some parts for inside valve gear.  Thereby lies madness but I've nothing better to do to stave off insanity at the moment.   The problem is the big gaping void under the boiler.

 

Not the best of photos but the best I could do.  A lot of help from various friends on my layout thread has helped me to sort out the valve gear which will fit into the space.  These are all the parts laid out

To sort this out I did a bit of CAD work and managed to import a scan of a drawing into my CAD system then drew out the valve gear on top of the drawing.

The pdf was then hidden and I ended up with this.

It was initially only going to be the bits that I've drawn as the frames are too narrow to cope with the cranks and eccentrics but I've decided to take the frames apart and put some longer spacers in and fit the con rods as well.  Hopefully it all should look right when it's done.   It certainly keep boredom away.

 

Jamie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.  

[dibateg]

Its worth working from the GA  Jamie - that's what I did when I added Griffin motion to my JLTRT 4F. I recall it was a bloomin' fiddle though! As you can see, it's all a bit tight on the crank axle, so I thinned the webs down quite a lot.

 

Regards

Tony

[jamie92208]

48 minutes ago, dibateg said:

Its worth working from the GA  Jamie - that's what I did when I added Griffin motion to my JLTRT 4F. I recall it was a bloomin' fiddle though! As you can see, it's all a bit tight on the crank axle, so I thinned the webs down quite a lot.

 

Regards

Tony

Thanks very much for the photo Tony, that looks lovely.   I will also thin the webs down as it is tight in 32FS.  However that photo is very very helpful.   What size are those bolts that hold the straps onto the con rods please. Also did you actually set it in gear so that the valves move.

 

Jamie

[richard i]

Modeling, which is what this thread encourages. 
Here is the nearest thing I will probably make which fits with little bytham. 

 

Yes there is a rails model, there is also the d&s kit. However this is a 3d print of the body shell from recreation21 with a lot of added detail.  The bogies are 3d print from isinglass. It has a Mike Trice carpet.

The rest including the interior is scratch built from odds and ends. Including a purple pen. The recording table even has a genuine paper role on it. Why, because that evening I thought what the heck. 

I know the transfers have the wording too large, but it is that or hand painted, not my forte. It is not lined, and will when I can teach myself bowpen lining. So far all trials have been less than successful. It is not up to the standards of many, but it is modeling.

Richard

[Jesse Sim]

 

 

Morning all, I made a short video of some trains running on Brighton Junction yesterday, here’s the link to it on YouTube. 
Hope you guys enjoy it.

 

Jesse 

[Woodcock29]

15 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Well, the D16/3 is finished........................

 

 

I plotted the positions of the handrails and vacuum ejector pipe, taking measurements with spring dividers, from the Little Engines drawing and photographs. 

 

Usually, cast metal boilers have dimples for handrail pillars, though they're often in the wrong place. 

 

 

I always find making the continuous handrail in a rising arc over the smokebox front a real fiddle. This was no exception!

 

 

Just detailing to do now. The chimney and dome came from the Blacksmiths kit. I had three chimneys (two from the Blacksmith kit and one from the Little Engines one). None seemed dead right, and I've an idea that this one might be a trifle tall (though the other two looked too 'dumpy'). I'll live with it for a while before I paint it.

 

 

Complete and ready for the paintshop (in unlined BR black). 

 

Much cleaning up will happen, though I doubt if it'll prevent my soldering still looking like a relief map of the moon! 

 

Though 'old-fashioned', the decorative valances give this loco an elegance; an elegance from a bygone time. 

 

I still have all the bits left to make another hybrid D16/3, but one without the valancing. 

 

Al in all about 20 hours' work, spread over three non-consecutive days (though the frames were made last week). 

 

The pile of kits left to build is still substantial!

Tony - the D16/3 looks excellent. Did you use Romford 27mm driving wheels as they didn't make 7ft diameter wheels if my memory serves me right?

 

I have a Crownline D16/3 to make one day. It will be the green 8900 Claud Hamilton (and I managed to resist buying the Hornby version of that, although I did buy a black one as it was such a good model). I have a set of Maygib 7ft diameter wheels for it,  although they are 22 spoke, which i'm not particularly looking forward to using! 

 

It seems the old Romford 27mm 20 spoke are probably the best fit but where to get them? They are also almost the perfect wheel for GC locos: B2, B3, D10, D11, so I could do with at least 5 axles worth if only I could get them.

 

I think you are correct about the chimney it does look too tall. A B1 chimney is the right one to use. I often end up using chimneys on kits I've sourced elsewhere because they are so important to get right.

 

Andrew

Edited April 23, 2020 by Woodcock29
Add comment re chimney, correct no!

[t-b-g]

4 hours ago, Woodcock29 said:

Tony - the D16/3 looks excellent. Did you use Romford 27mm driving wheels as they didn't make 7ft diameter wheels if my memory serves me right?

 

I have a Crownline D16/3 to make one day. It will be the green 6900 Claud Hamilton (and I managed to resist buying the Hornby version of that, although I did buy a black one as it was such a good model). I have a set of Maygib 7ft diameter wheels for it,  although they are 22 spoke, which i'm not particularly looking forward to using! 

 

It seems the old Romford 27mm 20 spoke are probably the best fit but where to get them? They are also almost the perfect wheel for GC locos: B2, B3, D10, D11, so I could do with at least 5 axles worth if only I could get them.

 

I think you are correct about the chimney it does look too tall. A B1 chimney is the right one to use. I often end up using chimneys on kits I've sourced elsewhere because they are so important to get right.

 

Andrew

 

On my B3, I have used the wheels that Markits sell as LNER Pacific wheels. They are 20 spoke and about right size over the flange. Close enough not to worry me anyway! These were purchased direct from Markits a couple of months ago, new stock having arrived.

 

The D16 with the round top firebox and old footplate is an unusual beast! They remind me of some of the GWR 4-4-0 rebuilds, with features from different eras. I am not 100% sure about the cab roof on the model. It looks a little wide to me with too much overhang but it isn't a class I have studied in any depth and I may well be wrong.