Wright writes.....

[Tony Wright]

20 minutes ago, Clearwater said:

Thanks to all for the earlier advice and help..  I’ve used different solder, 145C, and even when I crank the temperature on the iron up to 450C, it barely melts the solder on the tip per my camera phone picture below. This feels to me to be an iron problem?
 

David

450 degrees is much too hot, and it will just blacken the end of the bit. 

 

When you wipe the bit, before applying solder, it should always be shiny. If the bit has eroded (and there are dark patches), a new one is required.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Clearwater]

Thanks all - much appreciated.  Will persevere!

 

David

[Atso]

4 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Thanks Steve,

 

'I should have also mentioned that I should have removed the access doors/covers from the smokebox end to correctly represent the loco(s) in initial service condition.'

 

I resisted the temptation to point that fact out. And, also the fact that SILVER LINK originally had a recessed front draw-hook and short buffers. 

 

Don't you just hate a smart@rse!?

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

 

I only hate a smart@rse when they're right! 

 

I think I should clarify my imprecise statement. I was considering 'initial service condition' as being Silver Grey livery and assumed that, given the other inaccuracies, that it would be a given that I wasn't going to hack the front of the body to represent the recess and short buffers. This Silver A4 will share the UP Silver Jubilee turns with C1 4452 so will represent the second half of 1936 so I think I can get away with the later front end mods. The returning DOWN service (representing the period just before the eighth coach was added)will be handled by Silver Fox, which is a Dapol product that I restored from a wreck given to me with the instructions 'have this and see what you can do with it'.

[MarkC]

3 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Anyone building an Ivatt 2-6-2T in any scale?

 

 

If so, you'll need this.............................

 

 

Ooh, nice

 

I have a K's kit in the roundtuit pile... an eBay bargain from a few years ago. The seller made a point of emphasising that the K's wheels had been removed (and were missing) from the kit, in his listing. No great loss, I thought

 

Mark

[dibateg]

 David - Antex - yes 450 is a bit hot! One of the reasons I moved away from Antex was poor heat transfer, when they changed the style of bit a few years ago. I do use a tip tinner/cleaner occasionally - it comes in a little tin pot, can't remember where from though, Squires? You could try using some fine emery on the tip to revive it, but once you break through the outer layer it will erode as a fast as an Austin 1100... That looks like a 2.5mm tip, which is probably best for electrical, there is one at 3.2 I think which will hold a bit more heat.. I always used the larger tip as any large area of material will quickly cool it. 

 

Old style tips with collar: 2.5, 3.2 and Massive...

 

Sorry about he picture size for some reason my iPhone has decided all photos must be huge..

 

 

Regards

Tony

 

 

 

[Tony Wright]

4 minutes ago, MarkC said:

Ooh, nice

 

I have a K's kit in the roundtuit pile... an eBay bargain from a few years ago. The seller made a point of emphasising that the K's wheels had been removed (and were missing) from the kit, in his listing. No great loss, I thought

 

Mark

It is nice Mark,

 

Very nice.

 

I can say that without any risk of favour because I had nothing to do with it.

 

It really is comprehensive and, to me, very personal. 

 

How many folk knew that there was a regular, named BR express which was only two coaches long? Yes, 'The Welsh Dragon', which ran from Rhyl to Llandudno, back and forth, every day in the summer. My family used to have caravan holidays (fixed caravan) in North Wales, and I used to see this Ivatt 2-6-2T-hauled little train from the footbridge at Abergele. 

 

The class also used to pass by my bedroom window in Chester, on its way out to Wrexham or the Wirral on the old GC line out of Northgate. 

 

It's a good thing that the K's drivers are missing. One might be tempted to use them! 

 

Is yours in a box as tatty as this one?

 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

[Tony Wright]

Mention of Wales in my last post leads me on to this.......................

 

 

I've just received it for review in BRM. 

 

I wonder how many sons of the Principality will take umbrage at the English spelling of place names being used throughout! 

 

 

[Barry Ten]

25 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

 

 

I wonder how many sons of the Principality will take umbrage at the English spelling of place names being used throughout! 

 

 

 

Not this one ...

 

Presumably  (without pre-empting the review) it's as good as John Hodge's other volumes. His sequences on the South Wales Main Line, and the North & West Route,

are absolute classics, in my view. I can pore over them endlessly.

Edited June 11, 2020 by Barry Ten
grammar

[MarkC]

22 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

It is nice Mark,

 

Very nice.

 

I can say that without any risk of favour because I had nothing to do with it.

 

It really is comprehensive and, to me, very personal. 

 

How many folk knew that there was a regular, named BR express which was only two coaches long? Yes, 'The Welsh Dragon', which ran from Rhyl to Llandudno, back and forth, every day in the summer. My family used to have caravan holidays (fixed caravan) in North Wales, and I used to see this Ivatt 2-6-2T-hauled little train from the footbridge at Abergele. 

 

The class also used to pass by my bedroom window in Chester, on its way out to Wrexham or the Wirral on the old GC line out of Northgate. 

 

It's a good thing that the K's drivers are missing. One might be tempted to use them! 

 

Is yours in a box as tatty as this one?

 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

Hello Tony

 

Yes indeed - the K's wheels might well have been a temptation, albeit one that I hope that I would have resisted - paternal Yorkshire influence notwithstanding

 

It does look like one of K's better offerings; the castings look very good. The chassis, however - from memory (the kit is at home, and I'm still not...), is the 'orrible brass strip assembly, so I'll be looking for a better alternative.

 

That's a pretty tatty box - but mine came in the later packaging, with the parts mounted on card and secured with vacuum sealed plastic. I do have some old MR 0-6-0 kits in tatty boxes though, a 2F and a Kirtley await their turn.

 

My regards to Mo, and hope to see you both sometime soon.

 

Regards,

Mark

[polybear]

Were K's wheels the ones with D-shaped quartering?  If so, I have some somewhere; I take it they were none too successful....

[Atso]

I've decided on the A4's identity. Partly to wind up Tony, but mainly because it is a loco I always wanted (and my effort isn't strictly accurate for any member of the class, so I can live with the discrepancies), I chose to stay with Silver Link.

 

Here are the body bits with Dapol's interpretation of Silver Fox for comparison. Silver Fox didn't come with a detailing pack but I will eventually knock up replacements.

 

 

Note that Dapol decided to use a 1928 tender with Silver Fox.

Edited June 11, 2020 by Atso

[Daniel W]

This isn't anything particularly grandiose like a lot of the work on here, but i recently soldered up these ladders as part of a 51L kit for an Iron Ore Hopper. Being somewhat new to soldering I tend to cock-up a lot of small stuff like this, but i'm quite proud of these little works of art.

 

I will post the kit when it's finished. At the moment i am waiting on some milled brass U section to scratch build some new headstocks, since i gave up on the whitemetal ones. Fortunately, the kit comes with etched solebars now, likely based on the feedback from Geoff Kent's build in MRJ that i have been using for reference.

 

Regards

Daniel

[Clearwater]

2 hours ago, dibateg said:

 David - Antex - yes 450 is a bit hot! One of the reasons I moved away from Antex was poor heat transfer, when they changed the style of bit a few years ago. I do use a tip tinner/cleaner occasionally - it comes in a little tin pot, can't remember where from though, Squires? You could try using some fine emery on the tip to revive it, but once you break through the outer layer it will erode as a fast as an Austin 1100... That looks like a 2.5mm tip, which is probably best for electrical, there is one at 3.2 I think which will hold a bit more heat.. I always used the larger tip as any large area of material will quickly cool it. 

 

Old style tips with collar: 2.5, 3.2 and Massive...

 

Sorry about he picture size for some reason my iPhone has decided all photos must be huge..

 

 

Regards

Tony

 

 

 

 Thanks Tony.  In my naivety, I’d tried to counter the lack of heat transfer by increasing the temperature.  I’ve tried retinning the tip and am now fairly certain, per Tony’s comment, that the tip has eroded so I’ll be getting some replacements and will order a couple of larger ones as well.

 

David

[Wingman Mothergoose]

Evening all,

I thought I would share these two images with you, two photographs of Richmond Station, and my attempts at recreating them on my layout

As yet there's a distinct lack of any detailing on the platform inside the train shed, the gentleman who built it left it pretty much blank as he couldn't see it, the same applies for the inside of the train shed roof, something I may have to rectify soon. The head code on my DMU is incorrect, as is the destination blind, and there's no yellow panel or electrification flashes, and the secondman's side doesn't have a wiper, but its not a bad recreation!

 

I didn't quite get the angle right on this one, and my Standard 3 tank, while weathered, is nowhere near as filthy as the one in the original photo! Some details are missing from my train shed roof, the metal plates hiding the rotten timber on the original, some of the support detail and most importantly, ballast, but these are all things soon to be put right. Apologies for the ladders and garage door in the background, I really need to get my hands on some photo editing software and have a play with the settings. First coach in both shots is a Thompson non gangway brake, second vehicle in the original is a lavatory composite(I think), which I currently don't own. 

 

Anyway, I hope you like these...

 

Chris

 

Edited June 12, 2020 by Wingman Mothergoose
Typo

[MarkC]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

Were K's wheels the ones with D-shaped quartering?  If so, I have some somewhere; I take it they were none too successful....

They were indeed. With care, you can get them to run, but the tyres are/were mild steel, and will/would become rusty at the slightest opportunity... (Mind you, some AG wheelsets do that trick too )

 

Mark

[Headstock]

1 hour ago, Wingman Mothergoose said:

Evening all,

I thought I would share these two images with you, two photographs of Richmond Station, and my attempts at recreating them on my layout

 

As yet there's a distinct lack of any detailing on the platform inside the train shed, the gentleman who built it left it pretty much blank as he couldn't see it, the same applies for the inside of the train shed roof, something I may have to rectify soon. The head code on my DMU is incorrect, as is the destination blind, and there's no yellow panel or electrification flashes, and the secondman's side doesn't have a wiper, but its not a bad recreation!

 

 

I didn't quite get the angle right on this one, and my Standard 3 tank, while weathered, is nowhere near as filthy as the one in the original photo! Some details are missing from my train shed roof, the metal plates hiding the rotten timber on the original, some of the support detail and most importantly, ballast, but these are all things soon to be put right. Apologies for the ladders and garage door in the background, I really need to get my hands on some photo editing software and have a play with the settings. First coach in both shots is a Thompson suburban brake, second vehicle in the original is a lavatory composite(I think), which I currently don't own. 

 

Anyway, I hope you like these...

 

Chris

 

 

Good evening Chris,

 

'Suburban', was a type of service not a type of carriage. The non gangway carriages associated with Thompson, were general service stock, they worked on a variety of services across the country. No carriages, that the LNER built specifically for suburban services, has ever been released RTR.

Edited June 11, 2020 by Headstock
they

[Wingman Mothergoose]

8 hours ago, Headstock said:

 

Good evening Chris,

 

'Suburban', was a type of service not a type of carriage. The non gangway carriages associated with Thompson, were general service stock, they worked on a variety of services across the country. No carriages, that the LNER built specifically for suburban services, has ever been released RTR.

Thanks for the correction. Will edit my post accordingly. 

[Headstock]

52 minutes ago, Wingman Mothergoose said:

Thanks for the correction. Will edit my post accordingly. 

 

Good morning Chris,

 

you have gone to a lot of effort to recreate the scene in your image, this has great deal of merit in my opinion and deserves a better caption. It will be interesting to watch the scene develop as you hopefully update the work in future posts. Don't forget to add locomotive lamp to your list of things to do.

Edited June 12, 2020 by Headstock

[Wingman Mothergoose]

3 minutes ago, Headstock said:

 

Good morning Chris,

 

you have gone to a lot of effort to recreate the scene in your image, this has great deal of merit in my opinion and deserves a better caption. It will be interesting to watch the scene develop as you hopefully update the work in future posts. Don't forget to add locomotive lamp to your list of things to do.

Thank you. 
The lamps are on the list of things to do, I do have one coach with a tail lamp fitted if that helps?! I’m still very much at the track testing phase at the moment, so hopefully things will develop more toward the end of summer. It was fun recreating the scenes, and I’m looking forward to trying again once I’ve got ballast and scenery in place 

 

Chris

[Jesse Sim]

I’ve been awfully quiet on RMWEB but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been working away. 
 

Here are a couple of things I’ve been working on... 

 

I’ve built three Parkside GWR kits, two painted awaiting transfers and another waiting paint. I’ve just started a Wizards LMS tube wagon and half way through painting the DS perishables wagon. 

 

Also knocked up a NE match truck from a wizards kit and some plasticard, it’ll be in my department rake, the idea being it’s getting moved to another MPD. Another Wizards NE open wagon I’ve built and painted for a friend, it just needs transfers some cleaning up and some weathering to make it look appropriate for the late 50’s. Lastly, I’ve been giving teak another red hot go on the ECJS luggage brake, proving troublesome, but getting there. If it doesn’t work, I’ll strip it and start again. 

 

[Tony Wright]

7 minutes ago, Jesse Sim said:

I’ve been awfully quiet on RMWEB but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been working away. 
 

Here are a couple of things I’ve been working on... 

 

I’ve built three Parkside GWR kits, two painted awaiting transfers and another waiting paint. I’ve just started a Wizards LMS tube wagon and half way through painting the DS perishables wagon. 

 

Also knocked up a NE match truck from a wizards kit and some plasticard, it’ll be in my department rake, the idea being it’s getting moved to another MPD. Another Wizards NE open wagon I’ve built and painted for a friend, it just needs transfers some cleaning up and some weathering to make it look appropriate for the late 50’s. Lastly, I’ve been giving teak another red hot go on the ECJS luggage brake, proving troublesome, but getting there. If it doesn’t work, I’ll strip it and start again. 

 

Great stuff, Jesse!

 

Thanks for showing us.

 

You have, indeed, been prolific.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

[Tony Wright]

10 hours ago, MarkC said:

They were indeed. With care, you can get them to run, but the tyres are/were mild steel, and will/would become rusty at the slightest opportunity... (Mind you, some AG wheelsets do that trick too )

 

Mark

'With care, you can get them to run'

 

What's the saying? You're a better man than I..........................

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

12 hours ago, Atso said:

I've decided on the A4's identity. Partly to wind up Tony, but mainly because it is a loco I always wanted (and my effort isn't strictly accurate for any member of the class, so I can live with the discrepancies), I chose to stay with Silver Link.

 

Here are the body bits with Dapol's interpretation of Silver Fox for comparison. Silver Fox didn't come with a detailing pack but I will eventually knock up replacements.

 

 

Note that Dapol decided to use a 1928 tender with Silver Fox.

They're your models, Steve,

 

As you allude to, SILVER FOX never ran with a 1928 corridor tender. As did none of the other silver A4s - in silver.

 

All originally had streamlined corridor tenders. SILVER KING eventually lost hers for a streamlined non-corridor type (Gateshead's A4s having no need of a corridor tender, since the depot was not involved in the non-stop - though its locos did work 'The Flying Scotsman' in the winter on occasions). 

 

Both SILVER LINK and QUICKSILVER retained 1935-style streamlined corridor tenders for most of their lives apart from a brief period in 1955 (60014) and 1959 (60015 - not recorded in any of the established works). 

 

Are the letters in SILVER LINK's name a bit too high up the casing? 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Jesse Sim]

20 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Great stuff, Jesse!

 

Thanks for showing us.

 

You have, indeed, been prolific.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

I’ve been what sorry?

 

again with a new fancy word, are you doing this to me on purpose??

[Atso]

12 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

They're your models, Steve,

 

As you allude to, SILVER FOX never ran with a 1928 corridor tender. As did none of the other silver A4s - in silver.

 

All originally had streamlined corridor tenders. SILVER KING eventually lost hers for a streamlined non-corridor type (Gateshead's A4s having no need of a corridor tender, since the depot was not involved in the non-stop - though its locos did work 'The Flying Scotsman' in the winter on occasions). 

 

Both SILVER LINK and QUICKSILVER retained 1935-style streamlined corridor tenders for most of their lives apart from a brief period in 1955 (60014) and 1959 (60015 - not recorded in any of the established works). 

 

Are the letters in SILVER LINK's name a bit too high up the casing? 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

Thanks Tony,

 

Since getting my depression and anxiety issues more or less under control, I’ve found that I worry less about trying to get absolute perfection – especially when dealing with N gauge RTR models. My Dapol A1 and A3 conversions still have various inaccuracies (such as BR era sliding access covers to the linkage) and all sport high sided cabs, despite my modelled period being 1932-39. However, they will all be on express services and not stopping at Hadley Wood.

 

On the other hand, all the locos that will stop, or be on slower services, will be (or have been) designed and made by myself. On these I try to get things right as they will likely fall under far more scrutiny than those ‘fash in the pan’ big locos.

 

Annoyingly, I think you are right about the name being a bit too high. I plotted this from photographs which means either, the proportions of the model are off or, I made a mistake in my calculations (never!!!!). Regardless, I’ll have to live with that too now…