Wright writes.....

[jwealleans]

Tony, i think Mick means the buffer stop to the extreme left.   It's only braced from the front where you'd expect bracing at the rear as well.

[RonnieS]

20 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

I've spent part of this morning titivating the old Millholme 2P, donated by a chum to raise funds for CRUK.

 

 

 

I've no idea who built it/painted it, but it now runs quite smoothly (despite its K's HP2M motor!). It's got Romford drivers, which help.

 

Using a cliche, it is what it is.

 

I'm tempted to keep it myself, and donate to CRUK personally. 

 

 

I am amazed Tony. I never thought that would ever run again with out a cost ineffective rebuild! Well done.

Ron

[t-b-g]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

Good afternoon Tony,

 

I have no idea. 

 

The stack is in the right place (from the prototype) and I just put the stove on the rear wall, assuming a crank in the pipe internally. You can see the stove through the windows.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

It was seeing the stove that caused me to comment Tony.

 

I have been looking at quite a few MR signalboxes in the last few months. The stove position varies greatly but they all seem to have the chimney straight up from the stove and out through the roof. I had always thought that against the back wall was a pretty likely place for the stove but not on the Midland. They had them all over the place. Some had them at the front of the box and some even had two stoves. Those MR signalmen must have been right softies!

 

I am certain that the stove is located directly under the outside chimney on all the examples I have seen.

[Buhar]

I notice 583 has black lamp in accordance with LMS practice but other locos on the M&GN line have white.  I suppose it would have previously depended on the shed the loco originated from, but when did the LMR change to white, I've seen photos with black lamps taken elsewhere in the country up to 1962?  I know the M&GN section covers a longer timeframe so both colours can probably be justified.  Very strictly speaking, the bit you model was actually purely Midland Railway, the joint line proper starting somewhere in the fiddle yard for east-bound traffic.  So when you did 1936 all the LNE locos would have been paying for the privilege of doing a run.

[Clive Mortimore]

59 minutes ago, t-b-g said:

 

It was seeing the stove that caused me to comment Tony.

 

I have been looking at quite a few MR signalboxes in the last few months. The stove position varies greatly but they all seem to have the chimney straight up from the stove and out through the roof. I had always thought that against the back wall was a pretty likely place for the stove but not on the Midland. They had them all over the place. Some had them at the front of the box and some even had two stoves. Those MR signalmen must have been right softies!

 

I am certain that the stove is located directly under the outside chimney on all the examples I have seen.

Hi Tony

 

The boxes with their stoves in the front have their frames at the rear.

 

Could the stove in the Little Bytham  box be at the end of the box so that the tablet/token apparatus could be fitted in the box as well. The MR didn't have that many boxes with tablet/token gubbins in them. 

[t-b-g]

12 minutes ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Hi Tony

 

The boxes with their stoves in the front have their frames at the rear.

 

Could the stove in the Little Bytham  box be at the end of the box so that the tablet/token apparatus could be fitted in the box as well. The MR didn't have that many boxes with tablet/token gubbins in them. 

 

You mean like this one? One of the bunch that I have been making was like that. This is also a two stove version!

 

 

 

Edited May 16, 2020 by t-b-g

[micklner]

3 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Multicoloured? Beach tent?

 

It's a corrugated iron 'thunder box'! 

 

Based on a prototype picture, it had once been painted white, but was obviously fading. Perhaps I should paint the roof.

 

'Strange shaped back to the front buffers'? I assume on the Acro 4F. Have you ever built an Acro kit? 

I was refering to the Buffers in the siding Tony !! No I have never been a Acro kit or ever heard of one either !!!

[mullie]

The old Dapol LMS brake van can be made to look half decent in my view and the Hornby model isn't currently available in this livery, bet that changes now I've done this but who cares! . Converted to EM with Wizard Models wheels, new roof and rain strips,  new buffers, wire handrails, etched lamp irons. The Silver Tey lamp irons are lovely but incredibly delicate. Nice little project really, took me about two weeks off and on.

 

 

[jwealleans]

Quote

I have never been a Acro kit or ever heard of one either

 

Mick, you haven't lived.   These must be about as old as me but they're a decent basis for a nice wagon.   They have compensated bogies too.

 

 

I've almost finished a Crocodile H as well.  

[Tony Wright]

4 hours ago, RonnieS said:

I am amazed Tony. I never thought that would ever run again with out a cost ineffective rebuild! Well done.

Ron

Thanks to you Ron,

 

The K3 and the J39 have both sold.

 

I'll fix the gear on the Brit and then put that up for sale. 

 

Many thanks once again for your generosity, Ron.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

2 hours ago, micklner said:

I was refering to the Buffers in the siding Tony !! No I have never been a Acro kit or ever heard of one either !!!

My apologies Mick,

 

I misread your post.

 

'Back-to-front buffers'? 

 

The set in the pictures is based on a prototype picture (which I can't reproduce here).

 

A similar set was used on the main line as well.........

 

 

 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

 

 

[t-b-g]

2 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

My apologies Mick,

 

I misread your post.

 

'Back-to-front buffers'? 

 

The set in the pictures is based on a prototype picture (which I can't reproduce here).

 

A similar set was used on the main line as well.........

 

 

 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

 

 

 

What looks a bit odd about the buffers is that the rear supports are not there. They were a light duty variety, used in places like trap sidings where normally nothing would run and they were highly unlikely to be tested.  

[Tony Wright]

I've been cracking on with the Crownline J17 today...........

 

 

The fit of the etched parts is excellent. 

 

 

Sweating the four bits together which comprise the boiler and smokebox caused the usual expletives, and burnt fingers! 

 

Note the gap where the firebox should be. There was a similar gap in the fret. Now why should Roy Jackson have taken the etch for the firebox from the kit?

 

What to do? Scratch-build a 'box?

 

Then a gestalt moment, where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts..............

 

 

The most-helpful Dave Ellis of SEF gave me a boiler/firebox from his GWR 2251 kit.

 

Though the firebox is not exactly the same, near enough? I've already worked on it. 

 

 

By sawing, cutting, filing, filling (with solder) and swearing, I got it to fit. The three washout plugs aren't in exactly the right place, so I might plug these and refit some others. Or, I might not.

 

At least it puts weight exactly where it's needed.

 

More progress tomorrow, after writing BRM's latest book reviews. 

 

 

Edited May 16, 2020 by Tony Wright
to clarify a point

[St Enodoc]

12 hours ago, micklner said:

Not too sure about what the multicolor Beach tent is being used for by the box

It's a Punch and Judy booth. What you can't see is Mr Punch Wright telling everybody "That's the way to do it!".

[dibateg]

Ah - so there will be a little bit of Great Western on the ECML! I was good to see 61078 again, now I know it, that radius rod looks far too long! And now we know it - you'll have to put those washout plugs right Tony!

 

Regards

Tony

[drmditch]

14 hours ago, t-b-g said:

 

You mean like this one? One of the bunch that I have been making was like that. This is also a two stove version!

 

 

 

 

Thank you for the picture, and the craftsmanship.

Please may I ask how you have constructed the levers and lever-frame?

Also, I think that on the NER/LNER white indicated spare levers. You seem to have a lot of those, or was the Midland just different?

 

I'm in the middle of building an NER Central Division Type C2c cabin/box.

Will post pictures when I'm happier with it.

[rowanj]

My lockdown modelling has largely consisted of building a short rake of ex-NER coaches as they would have been in early 50's - so on their last legs. The Clerestory is still a "work in progress", built from Worsley Works "Scratch-aids" on Isinglass 3D printed Fox bogies. The rear pair are D&S,

The loco is currently bog-standard Bachmann, but, as a break from all those coaches, will be getting a tender left over from a DJH D20 and become a BR-era J39/3.

Edited May 17, 2020 by rowanj

[t-b-g]

59 minutes ago, drmditch said:

 

Thank you for the picture, and the craftsmanship.

Please may I ask how you have constructed the levers and lever-frame?

Also, I think that on the NER/LNER white indicated spare levers. You seem to have a lot of those, or was the Midland just different?

 

I'm in the middle of building an NER Central Division Type C2c cabin/box.

Will post pictures when I'm happier with it.

 

Thanks for the kind words. The levers are etched brass ones from Smiths. Each one has a lever plus two curved quadrant bits. It has 100 levers so there are 300 bits of brass in the lever frame. It wasn't quick to do but gives a very neat result. I soldered them to a metal base and glued the whole lot in after painting.

 

You are right about the white levers. They are "spares" and there are a lot of them. This was a box I have built for somebody else and is based on a real one. I was provided with an interior photo looking along the frame, so although some at the far end were tricky to pick out, I am pretty sure all the levers are the right colours. The period of the model is BR blue diesel so the track layout and signalling must have been changed and rationalised since the box was built. I can't imagine any box being built with that many spare levers and they were usually at the ends of the frame when a box was installed to keep the interlocked levers together.

 

It is one of the cases where if you were making it up, you wouldn't do it like that but if copying the real thing, you would.

 

I look forward to seeing your NER box. I have a great affection for signal boxes of all companies.

[t-b-g]

13 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

I've been cracking on with the Crownline J17 today...........

 

 

The fit of the etched parts is excellent. 

 

 

Sweating the four bits together which comprise the boiler and smokebox caused the usual expletives, and burnt fingers! 

 

Note the gap where the firebox should be. There was a similar gap in the fret. Now why should Roy Jackson have taken the etch for the firebox from the kit?

 

What to do? Scratch-build a 'box?

 

Then a gestalt moment, where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts..............

 

 

The most-helpful Dave Ellis of SEF gave me a boiler/firebox from his GWR 2251 kit.

 

Though the firebox is not exactly the same, near enough? I've already worked on it. 

 

 

By sawing, cutting, filing, filling (with solder) and swearing, I got it to fit. The three washout plugs aren't in exactly the right place, so I might plug these and refit some others. Or, I might not.

 

At least it puts weight exactly where it's needed.

 

More progress tomorrow, after writing BRM's latest book reviews. 

 

 

 

Sorry Tony! Have a look at the shape of the firebox again. The GER one has a tiny inset and the lower section and upper sections are vertical or as near vertical as my eye can tell.  So it is almost all straight lines down the side. The GWR one is all curves, sloping in at the top so the top corner is more than 90 degrees and the lower part is all wrong. If it was a Pacific you wouldn't accept such a discrepancy, so why on a humble 0-6-0?

 

I am picturing Roy spinning around wherever he is now and muttering all sorts!

 

 

Edited May 17, 2020 by t-b-g
Alter less than 90 to more than. Schoolboy maths error!

[Tony Wright]

1 hour ago, t-b-g said:

 

Sorry Tony! Have a look at the shape of the firebox again. The GER one has a tiny inset and the lower section and upper sections are vertical or as near vertical as my eye can tell.  So it is almost all straight lines down the side. The GWR one is all curves, sloping in at the top so the top corner is more than 90 degrees and the lower part is all wrong. If it was a Pacific you wouldn't accept such a discrepancy, so why on a humble 0-6-0?

 

I am picturing Roy spinning around wherever he is now and muttering all sorts!

 

 

I agree in many ways, Tony,

 

However, I have 'straightened' the 'box out a fair bit, and the addition of all the other extra bits will disguise the discrepancies further (I hope).

 

As for Roy 'spinning around' and 'muttering all sorts', if I employ the services of a medium, perhaps I'll find out what he did with the original firebox!

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[cctransuk]

1 hour ago, t-b-g said:

 

Sorry Tony! Have a look at the shape of the firebox again. The GER one has a tiny inset and the lower section and upper sections are vertical or as near vertical as my eye can tell.  So it is almost all straight lines down the side. The GWR one is all curves, sloping in at the top so the top corner is more than 90 degrees and the lower part is all wrong. If it was a Pacific you wouldn't accept such a discrepancy, so why on a humble 0-6-0?

 

I am picturing Roy spinning around wherever he is now and muttering all sorts!

 

 

 

I have to say that I am surprised that this cast firebox is being used; surely it would not be a huge task to fabricate one from brass?

 

I also have to agree that I don't think that this approach would be contemplated for one of Tony's beloved 4-6-2s.

 

Still - we all have our priorities and blind spots!

 

John Isherwood.

[t-b-g]

9 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

I agree in many ways, Tony,

 

However, I have 'straightened' the 'box out a fair bit, and the addition of all the other extra bits will disguise the discrepancies further (I hope).

 

As for Roy 'spinning around' and 'muttering all sorts', if I employ the services of a medium, perhaps I'll find out what he did with the original firebox!

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

I am not sure even that approach would help. I have a vague recollection of Roy getting hold of the kit with some missing bits!

 

The GER firebox was a very distinctive shape and I am a bit surprised that a modeller of your skill and ability would rather use a wrong firebox and try to disguise it than make a correct one! As John Isherwood has said, I bet you could easily make a new one of the right shape and size from brass and knowing how quickly you work, it wouldn't take you half an hour.

 

Still, if you are happy with it as it is, that is really all that matters. It really does spoil the look of the loco for me though. It looks like something freelance rather than a GER loco. When faced with such a situation, not knowing if something I had done was good enough, I would ask Roy "Should I change it or leave it?". His answer was always the same. "Do the right thing".

 

He isn't around to ask now but I always ask myself would it be good enough for Roy, (or indeed for Malcolm Crawley). They were always willing to put me straight if I strayed!

[lee74clarke]

15 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Thanks to you Ron,

 

The K3 and the J39 have both sold.

 

I'll fix the gear on the Brit and then put that up for sale. 

 

Many thanks once again for your generosity, Ron.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Good Afternoon Tony,

 

Which number Britannia is it please?

 

Best Regards

Lee

[stewartingram]

Would the Wills (now SEF) N7 firebox be better?

 

Stewart

[t-b-g]

8 minutes ago, stewartingram said:

Would the Wills (now SEF) N7 firebox be better?

 

Stewart

 

Does that have a full firebox in the kit or only the bits above the tank? I don't know, never having built one.