bgman Posted December 17, 2019 Share Posted December 17, 2019 And the very same to you John, thank you. Grahame 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold westerhamstation Posted December 18, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 18, 2019 Hi John, a nice card thank you, I will put it on the mantlepiece. All the best Adrian. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted December 18, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 18, 2019 Will you be adding one of these to the Worseter stud John? http://www.modelrailoffers.co.uk/p/65551/MR-308-Rapido-Class-16XX-Steam-Locomotive-number-1661 Can see a Shrub Hill Rd diorama becoming popular. Have a very Happy Christmas yourself and a successful 2020 - your modelling sets a standard that us mere mortals cannot dare aspire to! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted December 18, 2019 Author Share Posted December 18, 2019 Probably not, I think three panniers will be enough, I might even get around to building the fourth one that is sitting feeling neglected at the moment! Enjoy your festive break. best regards, John 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted January 7, 2020 Author Share Posted January 7, 2020 It's amazing what you can miss and how you never stop learning. I was on the computer looking for some old railway photographs which were filed under Railways/Prototypes/Old photographs. I found what I was looking for but then noticed that also under Prototypes there were two folders titled 36xx and 37xx. Opening them up I found loads of detail photographs that I must have taken years ago and forgotten all about! Needless to say, I perused them to make sure that all my deductions/assumptions, when detailing my two panniers, were correct. All OK except that I noticed reinforcing brackets to the brake hanger assemblies. I checked the GA drawing - not shown, publicity photo - not shown. I checked the photographs in my 'Pannier Papers' and there they were. There must have been a problem when the locos were first built and the additional bracing retro fitted. I have used brass channel filed to shape to represent them, not quite the correct profile but near enough. Another day and the chassis would have been in the paint shop! 11 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Killybegs Posted January 11, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 11, 2020 5771 has finally received a coat of primer! 25 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Killybegs Posted January 13, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 13, 2020 The plan was to get the spray booth out today and make a start on painting the two pannier tanks but a combination of storm force winds and thunderstorms threatening our power supply scuppered that idea. I think I need to get back to scenics, once the tanks are finished, so I did a bit of work on the computer playing around with ideas for the industrial buildings at the South end of the layout. There are some nice prototypes from Gloucester in the latest Neil Parkhouse book (Volume 4A). With the dust sheets up on the layout, I couldn't resist taking a couple of snaps. Here 70018 heads South on a Cardiff train while 92006 plods North along the embankment with a load of South Wales coal, catching a patch of sunshine on a rather overcast day. 33 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Holt Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 Wow! Cover of MRJ - some accolade. I thought there might be an article about your magnificent 9F but it turned out to be the shed building - still very impressive. Dave. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium figworthy Posted January 22, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 22, 2020 9 hours ago, Dave Holt said: Wow! Cover of MRJ - some accolade. I thought there might be an article about your magnificent 9F but it turned out to be the shed building - still very impressive. Dave. And a very good article it was too. Adrian 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Killybegs Posted April 1, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted April 1, 2020 I decided that I needed a break from working on locos but I will get around to painting the two pannier tanks in due course! I have several industrial buildings to make for the left hand end of the layout for which I made mock ups some time ago to see how they would work and look as part of the scenic break. I wasn't all together happy with them, so when I spotted the excellent series of photographs of Feilding & Platts works at Gloucester in Neil Parkhouse's 'Gloucester Midland Lines Part 2 South' I knew I had found the sort of thing I was looking for. These are large buildings clad in corrugated steel sheeting so I had to decide what I would use for all that cladding. I looked at several options but kept coming back to Wills plastic sheeting. Unfortunately this comes in pretty small sheets so, not only was I going to need a lot of packs of 4 sheets (18 for two buildings) but the sheets themselves represent rather poorly fixed corrugated cladding whereas on the prototype all the cladding is neatly aligned. Another problem is that you get two and a half rows of cladding on each sheet and a part at one end. I hope that makes sense. I decided I would have to first remove the part at the end, then butt sheets together to give the length of cladding I was looking for before cutting out two strips of cladding and discarding the half at the bottom. To make sure I cut everything cleanly and square, the individual sheets and a steel rule were clamped to the edge of my work bench before I attacked them with a Stanley knife (pic 1). Three sheets were then fixed together with solvent against a straight edge to keep them in line (pic 2). Once they had set hard, each block of three sheets was clamped in place and the two top rows of cladding cut out (pic 3). These panels then needed carefully deburring with scalpel and needle file. That's a really tedious job. The panels will be fixed individually to the foam board structures in due course but I did fix the two top rows together prior to cutting the raking top edges (pic 4). Once I have all the panels made up, I will know the exact dimensions to which I will need to build the structures. However, things have now ground to a halt, having used all the Wills sheeting I could get hold of at the moment. Covid-19 appears to have prompted panic buying and the wholesalers, Peco, are closed for the duration. 17 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted April 5, 2020 Author Share Posted April 5, 2020 (edited) Last summer when we were away down in Kerry, where Steph was helping with preparations for her niece's wedding, I had a few hours free one day when it was raining and I couldn't get out on the bike so I started work on a Parkside BR 13T Medfit. I never got further than putting the basic body together before I was summoned to do something or other. So yesterday, I dug it out and knocked up the chassis adding a bit of cosmetic brake rigging as it looked a bit bare. I was tidying up when I spotted 8 little bits of plastic left on the body sprue. After a lot of searching, I eventually found the instructions and discovered that they were end strengtheners. I hadn't spotted anything like them in the photo in the relevant Larkin 'Bible' so fired up the laptop and consulted Mr Bartlett. Sure enough, there they were but nothing like as bulky as the items on the sprue. I filled in the notch with slivers of 0.25mm styrene then capped them with more of the same, shaped to match the prototype. I think they will probably look OK once the wagon is painted as it's not intended to be a showcase model. Sprung buffers and couplings will be added once it is painted. Oh, and I suppose I ought to fit some vac pipes! Edited April 5, 2020 by Killybegs correction 19 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norton961 Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 John, I have really enjoyed the thread, some fabulous modelling. A question though, you mention your mix for your shed ground, what exactly is in the mix? The Layout I am building has lots of ash ballast but I am struggling to find anything suitable. I have thought of using some “real” ash ( from the Great Central Railway) but I have been told it’s very acidic. So if you could explain what your “ magic” mixture that would be very helpful. David 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted May 12, 2020 Author Share Posted May 12, 2020 It's a mix of ash from our open fire and soot scraped from the throat of the chimney. We burn wood and coal on the fire and I use small sieves to produce a selection of different grades and colours which I can then mix to get the effect I want. I do trial patches before using it on the layout. As the track plan is fairly simple in the shed area, I was able to apply PVA in sections, drop lengths of rail in place (the exact positioning marked on the cork underlay shows through the PVA), then spread the ash mix using a sieve. When dry the surplus can be recovered for future use. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norton961 Posted May 12, 2020 Share Posted May 12, 2020 John, thanks for the info on your ash ballast. Just one follow up, any problems with the acidity of the mix? I am not a chemist so I don’t know if the acidity has any real impacts when it’s on the layout and if it remains dormant once the PVA has dried. David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted May 12, 2020 Author Share Posted May 12, 2020 I have not experienced any problems to date. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Killybegs Posted May 17, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 17, 2020 The great thing about wagon building is that you can pop in and out of it whenever you have spare time between other things such as working in the garden or getting out on the bike. Over the past few weeks I have built these 10 coal wagons, I do need rather a lot for Worcester and these will bring me up to about sixty so far. Those at the Front are Parkside and go together pretty much as the instructions, although I do drill out the buffer housings for sprung buffers. I’ve also added door stops from n/s strip. Next we have Slaters RCH 7 Plank PO wagons, some of which lasted into BR days. These do need a bit of fettling to get the sides together cleanly. I drilled out the buffers and recessed the rear of the buffer beams for the collars of the Alan Gibson sprung buffers. It’s also important to get everything square both vertically and horizontally. I make up ends and sides as two pairs before fitting them together to make up the body, then place the body the correct way up on a flat surface with a weight on top. This will make sure everything stays square and level as the solvent goes off. I use Alan Gibson waisted pinpoint bearings with Exactoscale wheels sets. To accommodate these, the plastic W irons need modifying as shown below. In the first pic the central members of the W irons have been sanded down to the same thickness as the two outer legs of the W. The area between them is then further reduced in thickness o accommodate the shoulder of the bearing. Finally the bearing is slotted in place and retained with a little solvent. I find that the solebars ware often slightly over length so when reducing the length it is essential to make sure that they end up as exact mirror images of each other. The brake gear can be tidied up to make it look a bit better, the brake levers certainly need a lot of scraping to get them nearer to a prototypical shape. The brake assemblies are a little over long for the space between the cross members on the chassis. Rather than notch the flimsy assemblies, I cut notches in the cross members as shown in the pic. I made up door stops which are drilled and pinned to the solebars with 0.4mm n/s wire. Hiding away at the back are some wagons made up from the old Airfix kits (of which I have rather a lot). The biggest thing here is modifying those awful door hinges and the pics show how this has been done. The buffers (less their heads) were fixed to the buffer beams, prior to assembly, and drilled out for sprung buffers. The W irons were modified to take the bearings in much the same way as detailed above. Then brackets on the end doors were reshaped and drilled out for 0.5mm n/s pins. Other final detailing under the doors and for the body support brackets was done with styrene strips. All the wagons are weighted to approximately 25gm with the addition of lead to the underside of the body. Next up is a visit to the paint shop. 24 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Killybegs Posted May 23, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 23, 2020 I've just started another batch of Airfix 16T Minerals. In my last post I didn't include any pics of the work done to the buffers so I am putting that right now. In the following pic we have, starting from the left ... 1. Buffer beam as provided 2. Coupling hook plate removed 3. Mountings for tension lock coupling removed 4. Body supports removed. As part of the buffer beam they do not sit in the correct position. 5. Horizontal coupling hook hole filled with styrene 6. New hole drilled and cut vertically for coupling hook 7. Buffers fitted 8. Buffers drilled for buffer heads. Eight of those required for a batch of four wagons! 18 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan. Posted May 23, 2020 Share Posted May 23, 2020 Hi John, That's a lot of work. Just as well you've plenty to do otherwise you'd have to take several photos of the various stages. I follow your thread but I never get notifications... very annoying. Cheers Duncan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted May 23, 2020 Share Posted May 23, 2020 Duncan, go to the top of the page, click the “follow this thread” button and choose the notification you prefer. hth Simon 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Killybegs Posted May 27, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 27, 2020 Yesterday I stocked the fiddle yard as it would be at the start of the operating sequence. While I have a spreadsheet logging stock built so far, total stock required and an operating schedule it was useful to see how things are in the flesh, so to speak. I have also been reviewing proposed train lengths. Do I really need more than 30 wagons in a coal train or 25 vans in a fitted freight? Whatever I decide, it is clear that I need to built more vans and opens but not too many more coal wagons. Many of the BR Mk1 coaches in the photo still need upgrading and converting to P4. I also have a lot of Comet coach kits to built, not to mention locos. It's all going to keep me busy for a while yet! 24 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJCT Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 On 17/05/2020 at 17:42, Killybegs said: .... Hiding away at the back are some wagons made up from the old Airfix kits (of which I have rather a lot). The biggest thing here is modifying those awful door hinges and the pics show how this has been done. The buffers (less their heads) were fixed to the buffer beams, prior to assembly, and drilled out for sprung buffers. The W irons were modified to take the bearings in much the same way as detailed above. Then brackets on the end doors were reshaped and drilled out for 0.5mm n/s pins. Other final detailing under the doors and for the body support brackets was done with styrene strips. All the wagons are weighted to approximately 25gm with the addition of lead to the underside of the body. Next up is a visit to the paint shop. Following this with interest as I still have several Airfix ones to complete. When I started in P4 I conscientiously rebuilt all my 00 16-tonners to P4 with compensated W-irons, but your post suggests that's not really necessary. I do weight mine to 25gm per axle though, ie 50gm per wagon, and replace the wee handles on the end doors with wire. Alasdair 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 50gm is an awful lot of weight if you have a long train of them. Many years go I carried out a test between wagons with rocking W irons and the same wagons with a rigid chassis (like you, I conscientiously built all my16-tonners to P4 with compensated W-irons). The rigid chassis won out and I glued up all my rocking W irons with epoxy! What I was found was that the compensation allowed the wheel to ride up just when you didn't want it to, causing a derailment. I was called a heretic at the time but, if your track is laid well, you do not need to compensate short wheelbase wagons. Now if you are going to propel wagons, I would certainly recommend springing the buffers. I do this on the majority of my wagons as a matter of course. 1 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Killybegs Posted June 9, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 9, 2020 26 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Holt Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 A wonderful scene, John. Mind, I'm a great admirer of your 9F, so that might be a biased opinion. I imagine that your layout could be viewed to advantage sitting down, so that the embankment is above eye level, as it would be in real life. Dave. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted June 10, 2020 Author Share Posted June 10, 2020 11 hours ago, Dave Holt said: A wonderful scene, John. Mind, I'm a great admirer of your 9F, so that might be a biased opinion. I imagine that your layout could be viewed to advantage sitting down, so that the embankment is above eye level, as it would be in real life. Dave. Correct Dave, that pic was taken on my phone while sitting in my chair! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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