Wright writes.....

[thegreenhowards]

1 hour ago, ScRSG said:

 

Originally, if memory serves, the SP coaches were the best ones if you wanted a flush glazed coach, as the only rtr ones at the time were old Hornby or Mainline, so the SP ones were a Godsend. As stated above they are no longer available and the current rtr ones are much superior, although I still find it difficult to accept £40+ for a coach!

The BSO kit was £19.85 before it was discontinued. I think that’s pretty good VFM. I think the pre printed sides are still available at £8.50 per pair. As I’ve said these clip into a Triang Hornby Mk1 bodyshell which can be picked up for £3-£4 at a swap meet (if they every happen again). That makes a very good value coach, although certainly not up to modern standards.

[Steamport Southport]

1 hour ago, thegreenhowards said:

The BSO kit was £19.85 before it was discontinued. I think that’s pretty good VFM. I think the pre printed sides are still available at £8.50 per pair. As I’ve said these clip into a Triang Hornby Mk1 bodyshell which can be picked up for £3-£4 at a swap meet (if they every happen again). That makes a very good value coach, although certainly not up to modern standards.

 

It's the brass ones that are still available. I know the website isn't particularly clear.

 

It's a difficult site to navigate and link to. I hope the owner doesn't mind me posting the relevant page.

 

 

 

 

Jason

[Tony Wright]

18 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

It's the brass ones that are still available. I know the website isn't particularly clear.

 

It's a difficult site to navigate and link to. I hope the owner doesn't mind me posting the relevant page.

 

 

 

 

Jason

Good evening Jason,

 

I'm sure Dave Lewis won't mind. 

 

I've mentioned this before, but it was very handy having a 'pet' manufacturer as part of the Stoke Summit team. We all identified what was necessary with regard to carriages, and among us we did the research, made masters/mock-ups and built the prototypes. Then, Dave sold them through his business, and we all got what we wanted.

 

All of the following were generated in this manner.........................

 

 

My last statement isn't entirely true because the Met-Camm Pullmans were already in Dave's range, though he designed 'The Hadrian Bar' for Stoke's 'Tees-Tyne Pullman'. Elder son, Tom, then made it to go with the rest of Dave's work. I did the brakes.  

 

 

The first train generated was 'The Elizabethan'. I conducted the research and built the prototype train using the etched sides on top of Bachmann donors. They subsequently sold like hot cakes, including a rake for Retford. 

 

The Aberdeen pair was built by Dave from his own complete Mk.1 kits. 

 

 

 

Such was the 'Lizzie's' success that further sides for Thompson PV stock were produced. I made these three in exactly the same way as I made the 'Lizzie'; SP sides, Bachmann donors and white metal heavy-duty bogies.

 

 

And the range expanded further, to include the steel-sided Gresley artics (Tony Geary's work).

 

 

 

And more steel stock (again, Tony Geary's work).

 

Dave then expanded the etched sides to produce complete Mk.1 kits................. (mentioned earlier). 

 

 

 

Using them, he produced the complete 'Heart of Midlothian' for Stoke Summit.

 

 

The final train produced for Stoke Summit was 'The Anglo-Scottish Car Carrier', again built by Dave from his own kits. The same cars ran on Retford (and still will in time). 

 

By essentially producing what 'we' wanted/needed, we like to think they've helped modellers everywhere............... The hobby has a debt of gratitude to Dave Lewis in my view. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[robertcwp]

I built lots of SPM printed side Mark 1s in the 1990s. By the time my layout was up and running, the Bachmann ones had appeared and they supplanted the SPM ones, some of which were sold. Others were rebuilt with etched sides by Brian Kirby in the mid-2000s and these are still in service today. 

[john new]

11 hours ago, Northmoor said:

West Yorkshire?  That's unmistakably the approach to Ais Gill Summit.

I really like these shots as promotion for the models, the sort manufacturers like to use, well done.

 

Rob

Only just outside the traditional West Riding.

[robmcg]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

Good evening Jason,

 

I'm sure Dave Lewis won't mind. 

 

I've mentioned this before, but it was very handy having a 'pet' manufacturer as part of the Stoke Summit team. We all identified what was necessary with regard to carriages, and among us we did the research, made masters/mock-ups and built the prototypes. Then, Dave sold them through his business, and we all got what we wanted.

 

All of the following were generated in this manner.........................

 

 

My last statement isn't entirely true because the Met-Camm Pullmans were already in Dave's range, though he designed 'The Hadrian Bar' for Stoke's 'Tees-Tyne Pullman'. Elder son, Tom, then made it to go with the rest of Dave's work. I did the brakes.  

 

 

The first train generated was 'The Elizabethan'. I conducted the research and built the prototype train using the etched sides on top of Bachmann donors. They subsequently sold like hot cakes, including a rake for Retford. 

 

The Aberdeen pair was built by Dave from his own complete Mk.1 kits. 

 

 

 

Such was the 'Lizzie's' success that further sides for Thompson PV stock were produced. I made these three in exactly the same way as I made the 'Lizzie'; SP sides, Bachmann donors and white metal heavy-duty bogies.

 

 

And the range expanded further, to include the steel-sided Gresley artics (Tony Geary's work).

 

 

 

And more steel stock (again, Tony Geary's work).

 

Dave then expanded the etched sides to produce complete Mk.1 kits................. (mentioned earlier). 

 

 

 

Using them, he produced the complete 'Heart of Midlothian' for Stoke Summit.

 

 

The final train produced for Stoke Summit was 'The Anglo-Scottish Car Carrier', again built by Dave from his own kits. The same cars ran on Retford (and still will in time). 

 

By essentially producing what 'we' wanted/needed, we like to think they've helped modellers everywhere............... The hobby has a debt of gratitude to Dave Lewis in my view. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That second shot Tony, of theElixabethan on LB, demonstrates astonishing depth of field. Amazing full a full-frame camera.  Presumably a fair amount of light and a very good lens at F40-plus?

 

But I won't go on about cameras, nor 'reality', nor models...   Thanks for steering the page back to modelling.  

 

 

[Tony Wright]

10 minutes ago, robmcg said:

 

That second shot Tony, of theElixabethan on LB, demonstrates astonishing depth of field. Amazing full a full-frame camera.  Presumably a fair amount of light and a very good lens at F40-plus?

 

But I won't go on about cameras, nor 'reality', nor models...   Thanks for steering the page back to modelling.  

 

 

A bit more (or less?) than F.32, Rob.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[robmcg]

11 hours ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

I love your work, Rob. And I can't see anything "wrong" with it. You are not trying to pass it off as something that it is not.

 

If that first picture is indeed on the S&C, I would interested to know the date of the background picture. As per my post just now on Wayne Kinney's thread, I am trying to find out when the S&C running lines would have been changed from bullhead to flatbottom.

 

The background was from memory created from fragments of public domain images after a google search for West Yorkshire, West Riding or Westmoreland, I cannot remember which, it was created six years ago.  It in no way purports to be an accurate historical image, just a picture.

 

I too take an interest in changes from bullhead to flat bottom rail and generally just peruse books to get the feel, or indeed sometimes the exact year of change, I suspect mid-50s on the S&C but later in one or two spots perhaps. On the WCML and ECML there wasn't much bullhead left on the 4-track sections by 1955-8 , at least that's the impression I have, which is quite possibly entirely wrong. After all Peterborough North is mostly? bullhead.

 

edit; a quick search of 'BR Ais Gill' google images shows both FB and bullhead in 1958, so possibly later than on the main lines.

 

 

Edited December 28, 2020 by robmcg
addition

[St Enodoc]

13 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Some excellent comments on photography; many thanks. 

 

I love the last one, though I don't understand it at all!

I understood the final sentence.

[Tony Wright]

10 hours ago, robmcg said:

 

The background was from memory created from fragments of public domain images after a google search for West Yorkshire, West Riding or Westmoreland, I cannot remember which, it was created six years ago.  It in no way purports to be an accurate historical image, just a picture.

 

I too take an interest in changes from bullhead to flat bottom rail and generally just peruse books to get the feel, or indeed sometimes the exact year of change, I suspect mid-50s on the S&C but later in one or two spots perhaps. On the WCML and ECML there wasn't much bullhead left on the 4-track sections by 1955-8 , at least that's the impression I have, which is quite possibly entirely wrong. After all Peterborough North is mostly? bullhead.

 

edit; a quick search of 'BR Ais Gill' google images shows both FB and bullhead in 1958, so possibly later than on the main lines.

 

 

Good morning Rob,

 

With regard to flat-bottom and/or bullhead rail at Little Bytham in 1958, my model is really anomalous. Most of the fast lines' track was FB (though not the pointwork), and both respective slows were bullhead (and remained so for a few more years). 

 

On Stoke Summit, the fast lines were FB (made from EMGS components, but gauged to 16.5mm), but to have Norman Solomon make all the fast, plain trackwork on LB would have been prohibitive in terms of cost. A pragmatic compromise? After all, it's still only 'narrow gauge'.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

Progress has been painfully slow on the Southern Pride Mk.1 BSO. Why?

 

Several reasons: I'm convinced now that if I can't solder models together, I'm a bit of a non-starter. I'm just not a fan of plastic; the static is irritating, and the risk of surface damage from adhesives is ever-present. I just dislike the stuff. 

 

 

The door furniture is now mainly on (I'm still contemplating representing hinges!). I fixed it with superglue and/or Evo-Stik. Great care was needed with the former to prevent fogging on the inside of the glazing, even though no adhesive actually touched a bit of a window. I think has something to do with moisture from fingers, and I made sure I rubbed all the internal glazing with a cotton bud beforehand. I've been caught out like this before; has anyone else? 

 

Normally, were this a metal loco (even a big one), I'd have built it by now. I'm just too impatient; having to wait for glues to set, I turn my attention to other things and get distracted. That said, it would be nice to complete it before the end of the year, making it part of 2020's constructions. 

 

Underframe next............................

 

 

[Tomsontour]

First Post in this thread but thought I'd just show a pic of my Graham Farish Standard 5MT 73082 Camelot, went for a work stained look and fairly happy with it, discs and crew to be added after I've added the sound chip and speaker into the tender

 

Thank you Tony for the inspirational posts and everyone else who contributes it really does show what an amazing field of talent we have here on rmweb

 

All the best Matt

[Northmoor]

Anyone else notice the numbers of the posts on Wright Writes as it surges along?  We're currently counting through the S&DJR 2-8-0s (BR numbers).  Just under 6200 to go before we get to Tony's favourites; at the present speed, it might be in late February....

 

[grahame]

32 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

... fixed it with superglue and/or Evo-Stik. Great care was needed with the former to prevent fogging on the inside of the glazing, even though no adhesive actually touched a bit of a window. I think has something to do with moisture from fingers, and I made sure I rubbed all the internal glazing with a cotton bud beforehand. I've been caught out like this before; has anyone else? 

 

 

Nope. This year alone I have CA super glued many hundreds of plastic glazed windows in place without any fogging. I've several friends who have not had such problems and are convinced it's bit of a myth. And even getting a little super glue on the plastic glazing doesn't fog it but is a devil to remove and can leave an unsightly mark. However, I'd suggest letting any vapour given off to disperse before sealing the glazing in to a confined space. 

 

One of the benefits of using CA glue is that it sets incredibly quickly so there's no impatience waiting for it to set.

 

 

 

 

[Tony Wright]

1 minute ago, grahame said:

 

Nope. This year alone I have CA super glued many hundreds of plastic glazed windows in place without any fogging. I've several friends who have not had such problems and are convinced it's bit of a myth. And even getting a little super glue on the plastic glazing doesn't fog it but is a devil to remove and can leave an unsightly mark. However, I'd suggest letting any vapour given off to disperse before sealing the glazing in to a confined space. 

 

One of the benefits of using CA glue is that it sets incredibly quickly so there's no impatience waiting for it to set.

 

 

 

 

I'd like to know your secret, Grahame.

 

Fogging is something I've found all too common with transparent material and superglue. 

 

And, no glue sets as fast as solder..........................

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

42 minutes ago, Tomsontour said:

First Post in this thread but thought I'd just show a pic of my Graham Farish Standard 5MT 73082 Camelot, went for a work stained look and fairly happy with it, discs and crew to be added after I've added the sound chip and speaker into the tender

 

Thank you Tony for the inspirational posts and everyone else who contributes it really does show what an amazing field of talent we have here on rmweb

 

All the best Matt

Thanks Matt,

 

'Light' and 'bushel' spring to mind........

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[grahame]

As I mentioned make sure any vapour can dissipate and the glue isn't quickly sealed in a confined space. Work in a well ventilated space and don't breath in any fumes/vapour given off. They include cyanoacrylate which can react with the moisture in mucus membranes in the throat, nose and eyes causing irritation and a burning sensation.

 

I have found that there are superglues that set as quickly as the heat dissipates from metals heated by an iron even if the solder has set quicker.

 

 

[robertcwp]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

Progress has been painfully slow on the Southern Pride Mk.1 BSO. Why?

 

Several reasons: I'm convinced now that if I can't solder models together, I'm a bit of a non-starter. I'm just not a fan of plastic; the static is irritating, and the risk of surface damage from adhesives is ever-present. I just dislike the stuff. 

 

 

The door furniture is now mainly on (I'm still contemplating representing hinges!). I fixed it with superglue and/or Evo-Stik. Great care was needed with the former to prevent fogging on the inside of the glazing, even though no adhesive actually touched a bit of a window. I think has something to do with moisture from fingers, and I made sure I rubbed all the internal glazing with a cotton bud beforehand. I've been caught out like this before; has anyone else? 

 

Normally, were this a metal loco (even a big one), I'd have built it by now. I'm just too impatient; having to wait for glues to set, I turn my attention to other things and get distracted. That said, it would be nice to complete it before the end of the year, making it part of 2020's constructions. 

 

Underframe next............................

 

 

When I built some of these back in the 1990s, I used Araldite Rapid to fix the handles on. I think if I were doing something similar today, I would try Micro Krystal Klear or something similar for small details. It takes a while to dry but seems to hold small things on. I use it for pipes etc on the ends of diesels. It dries clear and won't fog.

[Manxcat]

Here is what I am finishing 2020 with on my workbench. It is the main control panel for my latest layout. 

 

All the circles you can see on the running lines are 3mm LEDs in holders. For lines which are in the engine shed or goods yard area, and essentially not signalled, the LEDs are green and always lit. They change to show the route set according to the position of the points.

 

Where a line is signalled I am using tri-colour LEDs which can show red, green or amber. Amber is achieved when red and green are lit at the same time. The aim is that when all the signals are at danger the routes set will be displayed in red. The red route indication will change according to the position of the points. When a signal is cleared then provided the route has been set correctly the red route will change to green until the signal is returned to danger. When a shunting signal is cleared the red route will change to amber. The green or amber route concerned will only extend as far as the cleared signal permits. 

 

Working through the logistics of it all is progressing well but taking some time. 

 

The green LEDs are 12v and do not require a resistor but both aspects of the tri-colour LEDs did require a 1k resistor. So not only did this involve wiring the common return to well over 100 LEDs but a separate resistor to the feed on each side. 

 

Regards,

Archie

 

[Tony Teague]

2 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

I'd like to know your secret, Grahame.

 

Fogging is something I've found all too common with transparent material and superglue. 

 

And, no glue sets as fast as solder..........................

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Tony

I use 'Formula 560 Canopy adhesive' on clear plastic, such as windows - it has the advantage of drying clear, but it is certainly slower to go off than superglue.

I imagine it is PVA based.

Tony

[robmcg]

12 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Good morning Rob,

 

With regard to flat-bottom and/or bullhead rail at Little Bytham in 1958, my model is really anomalous. Most of the fast lines' track was FB (though not the pointwork), and both respective slows were bullhead (and remained so for a few more years). 

 

On Stoke Summit, the fast lines were FB (made from EMGS components, but gauged to 16.5mm), but to have Norman Solomon make all the fast, plain trackwork on LB would have been prohibitive in terms of cost. A pragmatic compromise? After all, it's still only 'narrow gauge'.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

Indeed Tony, I took a quick at Stoke Summit and LB and saw the differences. 1958 photos from many locations show both types.

 

In some ways the compromises of 16.5mm and code 75 or 100 allow the 'fudge' of neither FB nor bullhead, as in Peco, to work quite well, at least until you see intelligently-made scale track, and even with prototypical sleeper spacing and check rails, curves can still look quite 'wrong',. Ah the pitfalls and art of track-laying!  Don't mention superelevation, nor transition!

 

Norman Solomon was indeed an artist of the highest calibre.

[Shaw_Thing_M8]

Good evening Tony et al,

 

First time posting here so apologies if any threads are derailed, but I was watching a video on Little Bytham for some inspiration on freight consists and this wagon caught my eye (sorry for the blurriness), just wondered what you can tell me about it and who does a kit of it unless it was scratch built?

Also if you have any leads on other long wheelbase vans with 2 or 3 axles, especially of the LNER kind, that would be greatly appreciated.

 

Regards,

Tilman

 

[Tony Wright]

14 minutes ago, Shaw_Thing_M8 said:

Good evening Tony et al,

 

First time posting here so apologies if any threads are derailed, but I was watching a video on Little Bytham for some inspiration on freight consists and this wagon caught my eye (sorry for the blurriness), just wondered what you can tell me about it and who does a kit of it unless it was scratch built?

Also if you have any leads on other long wheelbase vans with 2 or 3 axles, especially of the LNER kind, that would be greatly appreciated.

 

Regards,

Tilman

 

Good evening Tilman (I've never come across that name before). 

 

I think the van in question is GWR in origin. I'll look closely tomorrow. 

 

I didn't build it, so I have no idea of its provenance.

 

I'll take a close-up still tomorrow.............

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Paddy]

I can recommend Deluxe Materials Glue ‘n’ Glaze although in no way can it be called a Superglue.  However, it does avoid fogging.  Does anyone have a recommended brand of CA?
 

Kind regards 

 

Paddy

 

[Tony Wright]

Thanks for the tips on gluing adjacent to glazing...............

 

So much for the 'myth' that superglue doesn't fog!

 

 

In fairness, this is a cruel close-up, but the (viscous) superglue has certainly 'bloomed' in some parts, followed minor abrasions in the glazing and around the apertures to take handles and rails. I noticed this effect this evening, hours after I'd applied the glue (it was not in a confined space). 

 

Fortunately, at 'normal' viewing distances, it's not noticeable. 

 

 

My 'sketch-book' approach to making the underframe on the SP BSO is now complete. 

 

No more gluing together carriages for me.............................

 

 

Edited December 29, 2020 by Tony Wright