jwealleans Posted September 28, 2021 Author Share Posted September 28, 2021 227 took a turn on the Scotch goods as promised and all looked well. The train itself has evolved since the Southampton show and will look different. I've built some container flats which will appear, but I've also, after a recommendation by Andy Sparkes on RMWeb, read a book called Mixed Traffic by R Barnard Way. I may have mentioned this before. Published in 1937, the author was a journalist who clearly had a strong interest in railways and persuaded them to allow him to ride on particular workings and then write up his experiences. It's an interesting book and includes a trip with the 15:40 Scotch Goods. The little nugget I gathered from it was that it was booked to stop at Sandy and collect fruit and vegetable traffic which was added to the head of the train. All the pictures I've been working from were taken further south and have containers leading. Henceforth there will be fruit traffic. I also built a couple more 'foreign' vans, just to mix it up. There's a MOGO somewhere as well, but it must have been put into a different box last time we packed up. I reckoned these could plausibly have come north from Feltham for forwarding. Some LMS ones would be an idea when I spot a likely kit. 11 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post jwealleans Posted October 5, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 5, 2021 (edited) We had some visitors to the test track at the weekend. Mr King brought some of his newest work along as part of the collective journey to the Grantham running weekend. I'll let him give full details - the J21 has been pretty thoroughly covered already on the LNER forum - but this is what we were treated to: Stirling GNR 174 class Worsdell NER C class (LNER J21) Parker/Kitson GCR Class 2 (LNER D7) Edited October 6, 2021 by jwealleans 23 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr.king Posted October 6, 2021 Share Posted October 6, 2021 (edited) The clearly unfinished Stirling 174 and the 4-4-0 are more purist-upsetting pieces of plastic loco construction stuffed with lead. The 174 has a healthy dose of modified Kitmaster parts thrown in too, and will certainly be a one-off. The 4-4-0, still currently held together by double-sided tape and gravity is in separable chunks to ultimately permit copying as resin castings, not including the idiosyncratic four-coupled driving portion of the chassis which I'm sure won't suit everybody. The other quirk with these locos is that they are supposed to finish up so that either one is able to take an additional home-brewed tender drive mechanism currently under the 4-4-0's tender, the gear ratios and electrical connections being suitably matched all round. Daft enough so far? The C, or J21 body and tender tank / bunker are modified / detailed / smoothed 3D prints which were produced (in limited numbers I believe) by a fellow LNER enthusiast, fitted as per the designer's intention to modified chassis units from Bachmann SECR C class. Also sneaking in to the views are a GNR ballast brake built last winter from a vintage D&S kit, and some of Bill Bedford's "Mousa Models" 3D printed GNR six wheeled carriages. The latter came with one of the better 3D printed surface finishes that I've seen, but still benefitted in my view from some careful fine scraping to remove subtle ridges before "teaking". Edited October 6, 2021 by gr.king Clarification 6 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post jwealleans Posted October 8, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 8, 2021 Well after the excitement of all those glamorous visitors, back to the drudgery of preparing exhibition stock, something I haven't had to do for over 18 months. I always leave this until just before a show, so if I have rectified any faults and they reappear, they're fresh in my mind. I have a notebook where required work is recorded, so there are the notes from Southampton in January 2020 and the running weekend last weekend to work through. No matter how carefully you examine the stock, there's always one which turns up at a show with no couplings. Here there were two; on the van I'd clearly forgotten to fit them while the mineral had lost one end due to there being an open slot in the buffer beam. I use the spring and split pin to secure Smiths couplings - not because I have any hope that they spring, but it's easy and non-destructive if I want to change them - and it had pinged out of the bottom of the buffer beam. I've now glued a hook in place. We're not taking all the usual stock to Leeds and so an extra BV is needed for the perishables train. I don't have an LNER liveried Toad D spare, so the guard will have to slum it in a Toad E and be glad of it. This one was in the box with a missing axlebox, so a replacement has been added and painted. The fitted high is from the Scotch Goods, having had some brake rigging added at some time which hadn't been painted. Also standing in at Leeds, this NRM C1. I acquired this cheaply as the packaging was damaged and there was no accessory pack. I've added front coupling, vac upstand and tender mushroom vents. It's since had the handrails painted green as well. The XBV ran fine at the weekend, but it became apparent that it might be most useful as a Kadee to TL converter. That means some extra floor needs adding to support the TL holder, which is what's happening here. Most of the time has been spent checking stock for free running and oiling the more statically inclined. The perishables train especially was draggy at the weekend and all the stock has lain largely idle for a year and a half. I think this has been seen before - it's a metre of track raised 1 inch at one end. Vehicles should run down it with the minimum of encouragement, or ideally none at all. It's a good opportunity to check for other defects - missing buffers, loose roofs - and also showed up the need to have a serious wheel cleaning session. Clean wheels make a surprising difference to free rolling. 22 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwealleans Posted October 27, 2021 Author Share Posted October 27, 2021 Leeds has been and gone and you can read all about it on the Grantham thread. I was back at the bench today and fancied a wagon. It's been a while. The latest recruit to the Grantham operating team, Steve Pearce, kindly gave me a bag of wagon kits at the running weekend and one of them was the McGowan GN brake van kit. It shows its age a bit but with a few replacement parts and a bit of detail it passes muster at normal viewing distance. If I remember, I'll have this in the stock for Doncaster and Steve can see it in action. The main build at the moment is still the J5 and now equipped with mandrels again I was able to remove excess material such that the chassis rolled without fouling anywhere. I then made up the rods and for the first time I can ever remember I had a free rolling chassis with nothing more than cleaning up the holes. Testament to the accuracy of the design and etching. The rods are nice and chunky too - the ones on the J6 felt terribly delicate when I was putting it together. 17 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Sim Posted October 28, 2021 Share Posted October 28, 2021 16 hours ago, jwealleans said: Leeds has been and gone and you can read all about it on the Grantham thread. I was back at the bench today and fancied a wagon. It's been a while. The latest recruit to the Grantham operating team, Steve Pearce, kindly gave me a bag of wagon kits at the running weekend and one of them was the McGowan GN brake van kit. It shows its age a bit but with a few replacement parts and a bit of detail it passes muster at normal viewing distance. If I remember, I'll have this in the stock for Doncaster and Steve can see it in action. The main build at the moment is still the J5 and now equipped with mandrels again I was able to remove excess material such that the chassis rolled without fouling anywhere. I then made up the rods and for the first time I can ever remember I had a free rolling chassis with nothing more than cleaning up the holes. Testament to the accuracy of the design and etching. The rods are nice and chunky too - the ones on the J6 felt terribly delicate when I was putting it together. Anything else in that bag of goodies? It is Christmas soon … 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwealleans Posted October 28, 2021 Author Share Posted October 28, 2021 I've just brought you a box of goodies into the house, control yourself. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr.king Posted October 28, 2021 Share Posted October 28, 2021 There's even something in that box that he doesn't yet know about. I bet he wishes he hadn't spent all that money on his motorbike now... 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwealleans Posted October 28, 2021 Author Share Posted October 28, 2021 (edited) For the benefit of anyone else building this kit, this is the drivetrain I've chosen. It's a High Level Road Runner Plus with the smaller of the two coreless motors Chris offers attached. Despite apparent appearance in the above picture it goes into the firebox vertically. Here it is with its clothes back on. Edited October 30, 2021 by jwealleans 14 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Sim Posted October 28, 2021 Share Posted October 28, 2021 6 hours ago, jwealleans said: I've just brought you a box of goodies into the house, control yourself. 3 hours ago, gr.king said: There's even something in that box that he doesn't yet know about. I bet he wishes he hadn't spent all that money on his motorbike now... I’m not sure if I’m excited or scared…. Well it was only a small job, but seeing as it has a Harley Davidson badge on it, it cost an arm and a leg. It was only a battery terminal had melted “that’ll be $350 thanks”…. But I have a ride planned this weekend for two days. Both of your wallets will be considerably heavier next week. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr.king Posted October 29, 2021 Share Posted October 29, 2021 10 hours ago, jwealleans said: For the benefit of anyone else building this kit, this is the drivetrain I've chosen. It's a High Level Road Runner Plus with the larger of the two coreless motors Chris offers attached. Despite apparent appearance in the above picture it goes into the firebox vertically. Here it is with its clothes back on. Rearward facing front guard irons? Have I missed something in earlier notes? 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Compound2632 Posted October 29, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 29, 2021 1 hour ago, gr.king said: Rearward facing front guard irons? Looks like it's dragging its knuckles. Primitive beasts, these Great Northern engines... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post jwealleans Posted November 3, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 3, 2021 (edited) Construction all but over on the J5. I found I was missing the piano front, so awaiting that before fitting the front vac upstand. Boiler to fill with lead, boiler bands and handrails then tidying up. The tender corners need filling. Tender top is as speculative as all the others, though most of the pictures of these seem to show a huge pile of rubbish coal in the tender, so what detail I've added may be lost anyway. Frames have been washed and will now go in the airing cupboard to dry and warm before painting. This has been a nice kit to put together. You have to be on your toes - the instructions didn't mention everything, I had to use photographs as well - but all in all I've enjoyed making it up to this point. Thanks to Paul for his advice behind the scenes. Edited November 3, 2021 by jwealleans 20 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Sim Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 1 hour ago, jwealleans said: Construction all but over on the J5. I found I was missing the piano front, so awaiting that before fitting the front vac upstand. Boiler to fill with lead, boiler bands and handrails then tidying up. The tender corners need filling. Tender top is as speculative as all the others, though most of the pictures of these seem to show a huge pile of rubbish coal in the tender, so what detail I've added may be lost anyway. Frames have been washed and will now go in the airing cupboard to dry and warm before painting. This has been a nice kit to put together. You have to be on your toes - the instructions didn't mention everything, I had to use photographs as well - but all in all I've enjoyed making it up to this point. Thanks to Paul for his advice behind the scenes. I’m no expert, but I don’t think you can run wagons like that!!! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Compound2632 Posted November 3, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 3, 2021 1 minute ago, Jesse Sim said: I’m no expert, but I don’t think you can run wagons like that!!! Sunbathing? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Sim Posted November 4, 2021 Share Posted November 4, 2021 7 hours ago, Compound2632 said: Sunbathing? Must be a Scottish wagon, likes a breeze. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwealleans Posted November 4, 2021 Author Share Posted November 4, 2021 Quote ...I don’t think you can run wagons like that!!! Where you are, all your wagons run like that. 1 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Sim Posted November 4, 2021 Share Posted November 4, 2021 44 minutes ago, jwealleans said: Where you are, all your wagons run like that. Did you tap into my security cameras? 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post jwealleans Posted November 7, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 7, 2021 Awaiting the last bits and bobs on the J5, I've moved on to other things just to keep the fingers busy. GN brake van has started through the paint shop. I've started on a project I think I've mentioned before - the East Suffolk line's only named train (post war), The Easterling. This ran from Liverpool Street to Yarmouth South Town and Lowestoft. I was sent a consist from the very early 1950s - apologies to whomever sent it, I can't now remember who it was. It may have been Andy Rush. At this time the train left Liverpool Street at 11:03 (10:33 SO) and consisted of: BTK(3) - D41 2 TK - D23 CK (2 1/2-5) - D7 CK (3 1/2-4) - D130 RF TO This was the Yarmouth portion and the RF/TO are noted as being GE diagrams. CK (2 1/1-5) - D7 BTK(5) - D37/A TK (8) - D23 (SO) These last 3 vehicles ran to Lowestoft Central. I already have a GE RF from D & S and had started to gather up the other diagrams. A couple of year ago Dave Scott was disposing of some Gresleys and I managed to obtain 2 D23 and a D7 from him all but complete. I also had the RTO, a GE D431, from Bill Bedford. That was what I put together over the last couple of days. I've used almost all of what Bill supplied here; I now need some brass angle for the cornice and tube to make queenposts so there are some underframe bits, including battery boxes, still to add. It's also worth noting that this vehicle, 6114, was rebuilt by the LNER in 1937 with plain panelling, so it's not accurate for the postwar period. It'll fill the gap until I can source a closer match and will be finished in teak so I can reuse elsewhere if it is replaced. It went together nicely, I have to say. I do not believe this kit is still available, though. This is the current state of play with the whole intended set: The leading BTK is available from RDEB and that'll be the next to build. After that if I work sequentially, it'll be the D130 CK, which can be had from MJT. The last two vehicles, the other D7 and D37A, I already have sides for from Bill, so they'll be to assemble onto an MJT base. This was a B1 or B17 working, so there will be some trial and test required to produce something which one of my locos can move, but there is the scope to drop one or two TKs if it starts to get too weighty. I'm not sure when Wickham Market is next due out either, so I don't have a firm deadline for this, but it gives me something to work to in among building whatever else I fancy. 22 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwealleans Posted November 8, 2021 Author Share Posted November 8, 2021 Waiting for bits for the RTO, I made a start on one of the acquired carriages this evening. Although assembled, they need a bit of work doing - and undoing - before they can be finished. This is the starting point (they're all built to pretty much the same point): First - and absolutely no disrespect intended to Dave, who has built these well and entirely as they were intended to be built - why do people insist on producing carriages which have removable roofs instead of splitting at the solebar? I'm sorry if you've read this before, but it baffles me. It baffles me even more that the professionals do it when it makes it so much harder to finish them. You'll see in the images below, the minimal space available to paint and finish the interiors or make the changes I want to make here as well as the roof join being much harder to conceal. I was looking at an ECJS vehicle at ground level last week and it's quite apparent that they come apart at the solebar - you can see daylight clear across the thing under the body - so why not have the join where it is on the prototype instead of where it's more obvious and harder to conceal? Dave, bless him, had at least made the roof bolt on rather than gluing it as a lot of builders do. Look at the last picture in this post and imagine what an ordeal it's going to be getting the handrail along the corridor windows. It's all so unnecessarily hard. Don't even get me onto having to prise off a glued roof to replace some glazing which has fallen out, instead of unscrewing the body. Right, rant over. What do we need to do? The corridor connectors need to come off. They'd have had to be removed for painting anyway, but I've tried to use them before and when placed against another similarly fitted vehicle they're simply too bulky and stop them coupling easily and moving against each other. All the door and commode handles also need to come back off. I know Dave intended these to be finished in teak, but for me they'll make it impossible to mask for blood and custard. I'm not sure how he'd have lined behind the commode handles anyway. The roof needs vent and tank filler holes drilling and destination board holders as well as alarm gear and the rain deflectors. Then there's the bogies and coupling provision. I'll go into those in more detail. These were built to EM and fitted with what I think Dave said are Mitchell-Pendleton bogies. I've had a few carriages with these on from him and had just discarded them (after robbing the MJT sides off a few). However I had been messing about with one one day and was struck by how freely it ran. Given what I said yesterday about this being a heavy train for a (likely Hornby) 4-6-0, I decided to see whether they would regauge to OO. As you can see above, the bogie has two pairs of wires above and below the frames. These need to go between the wheelsets. The top ones were not a problem, but viewed from underneath it was obvious that OO wheels would foul the retaining wires. These bogies have two sets of springing: the carriage rests and swivels on the top pair of wires, while each wheel has a sprung bearing which slides up and down in slots in the bogie frame. The bottom wires simply retain the wheelsets, so repositioning them wouldn't have any unforeseen effects on the mechanics of the bogie. I removed the wires from the holes in the bolster and added two short pieces of tube inboard where the shape of the etch nicely located them. Pleasingly, this assembly works and they're beautifully free running. You can see the amended bogie below. Bogies dealt with, it was time to consider couplings. There was a slot in the buffer beam of each vehicle, presumably for whatever system Dave intended to employ. I use Bill Bedford's etched couplings for carriages (formerly available from Eileen's, but no longer supplied) which requires an 8BA nut soldered to the floor just behind the end of the carriage. Two issues with that: From underneath, a second thickness of brass has been added to the floor where I want to drill through for the nut (the brass hex is the mount for the bogie). From above you can see how awkward it is to get the iron in and the complete impossibility of going right round the nut with it. In the end I drilled then enlarged the hole and tinned round it first, then positioned the nut and melted it into place. I managed not to melt the end casting or hit any of the whitemetal vent hoods with the iron, but I have two more to do so there's still time. Incidentally, I now gather that these bogies are still available from Dave Bradwell. I'm tempted to use them again, but we'll see how this set runs once complete. 15 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portchullin Tatty Posted November 9, 2021 Share Posted November 9, 2021 Hi Jonathan, With regard to the mounting point for the Bill Bedford couplings, why not simply sweat a further layer of metal from below and then drill/tap the hole? I nearly always split the roof from the body and the body from the underframe, it makes the painting of each so much easier. The exception is for Gresleys as I find that you really need the roof attached to the body at the ends otherwise you get yawning gaps where the profile sweeps down. I do, however, find it essential to secure all of the elements together firmly with bolts that keep them in tension/contact with each other. Nothing looks less real than big cracks between components. This is how I do it when I design from scratch: https://highlandmiscellany.com/2018/10/27/midland-six-wheeled-full-brakes-part-1/ 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portchullin Tatty Posted November 9, 2021 Share Posted November 9, 2021 As a PS, do the RETB kits have the correct three layer panelling arrangement or are they simplified as two layers, I can't quite see in the photographs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Bucoops Posted November 9, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 9, 2021 What is the best method of attaching a MJT aluminium roof (with whitemetal ends for vestibuled coaches) to brass bodies? I've tried a couple of times to get things like gorilla glue to adhere to the aluminium but failed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwealleans Posted November 9, 2021 Author Share Posted November 9, 2021 (edited) Hi Mark, Using captive nuts is a habit, I suppose - it's just what I've always done. I agree about Gresley roofs and as I usually use MJT ones (these are Kirk, I think) which are in three parts, you can't really get away without attaching the whole thing to the body. These are a decent fit, no complaints about the workmanship there. Mine are never this good, which is probably why I abandoned the idea very quickly. These are MJT kits, which are in 3 half-etched layers for the lower panelling (I assume that's what you meant). RDEB kits follow the same approach. Richard, I use epoxy and stick the roof section and ends on all at the same time after some preparatory filing. Like Dave here, I put some scrap etch or strip along the top of each side to give the glue some 'land' to adhere to. Up to now it's always been secure enough to stand up to the filling and filing which then followd to try to hide the joins. Edited November 9, 2021 by jwealleans 1 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwealleans Posted November 13, 2021 Author Share Posted November 13, 2021 Multiple packages arrived this week so we were able to progress on multiple fronts. ] J5 now all but done and ready for final filling and fettling before paint. The balance weights are to add and I need to make a handbrake upstand for the tender. Tonight I reassembled the frames ready for pickups to be fitted and there'll be a few days of test running now i have the facility. The mech has had a few hours on the rolling road this evening. I fitted the corridor connectors to the RTO and added the little gallows brackets which are visible in the photo I have. Incidentally, does anyone know why this still had gas cylinders even after conversion to electric light? There was no pantry, so was it a supplementary supply to the kitchen car? The first D23 also detailed and primed. I've added roof vents and fillers, rain deflectors, buffers, the vac pipe along the solebar, jumper cables and bogie steps. This will be ready for paint soon, so I'll have to see what spray cans I have which still work. What are people using for BR cream these days? I gather Vauxhall Gazelle Beige is not easily available. 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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