Henley-on-Thames - GWR in the 1930's

[MrWolf]

2 hours ago, KNP said:

 

I normally do......

 

Aaagh!! It's YOU I've been bidding against! 

 

I might have known it!

[Neal Ball]

I’ve managed to get a couple of hours in the railway room this morning and managed to solder up one of the bogies for the H57.

 

Fitting the compensated part after the wheel was in place was probably not the best move, so I’ve fabricated a small wire to hold it in place, but giving flexibility so it pivots.

 

 

 

Im pleased to say that it runs very well through the points and curves etc.

 

edit: April 2022, I think I've already posted the H57 photo, so I post the carriage plan instead

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by Neal Ball
photo changed

[MrWolf]

That's a really neat piece of work. Your careful work has obviously paid off. I'm looking to have a go at brass kits myself, but I need to finish the layout first...

[Neal Ball]

1 hour ago, MrWolf said:

That's a really neat piece of work. Your careful work has obviously paid off. I'm looking to have a go at brass kits myself, but I need to finish the layout first...

Finishing the layout hasn’t stopped me from starting the carriages!

 

I’ve loads still to do on Henley before it could be considered “finished”

[Neal Ball]

The first H57 bogie now has its whitemetal castings applied.

 

hopefully tomorrow I can do the next one.

 

Before putting the castings on, I change one of the pick up wheels as it looked too close to the centre fittings. I will therefore have a pick up on each bogie.

 

The idea is that my restaurant carriages will have lit lamps in 1st class.

Edited April 3, 2022 by Neal Ball
photo changed

[Graham T]

Like Mr W, I keep getting tempted by coach-building.  But I need to learn how to solder first

[Neal Ball]

3 hours ago, Graham T said:

Like Mr W, I keep getting tempted by coach-building.  But I need to learn how to solder first

Ive just changed my iron to a 25w one and hope that makes soldering carriages easier! If I can do it, anyone can.

[Siberian Snooper]

3 hours ago, Graham T said:

Like Mr W, I keep getting tempted by coach-building.  But I need to learn how to solder first

 

I would suggest you get a couple of bits of brass,  clean the mating surfaces, apply a little flux, tin the areas ( that's apply solder to the iron tip and apply to the prepared areas), add a little flux to one piece and position the two parts and apply the iron until the solder flows, remove the iron and allow to cool,  if the solder is shiny you should have a good joint, if the solder is dull you probably have a dry joint, repeat the last operation, with possibly a tad more solder.

 

Clean up the joint with warm water and an old toothbrush, when you have finished a session clean all properly with a drop of CIF or similar.

 

 

[Neal Ball]

1 hour ago, Siberian Snooper said:

 

I would suggest you get a couple of bits of brass,  clean the mating surfaces, apply a little flux, tin the areas ( that's apply solder to the iron tip and apply to the prepared areas), add a little flux to one piece and position the two parts and apply the iron until the solder flows, remove the iron and allow to cool,  if the solder is shiny you should have a good joint, if the solder is dull you probably have a dry joint, repeat the last operation, with possibly a tad more solder.

 

Clean up the joint with warm water and an old toothbrush, when you have finished a session clean all properly with a drop of CIF or similar.

 

 

Excellent advice.

 

I also think the iron is key…. For ages I tried using my normal iron from B and Q (12w) and couldn’t get the solder to flow onto the brass.

 

With the new 25w iron it was very easy.

[Graham T]

I bought a new iron recently that is allegedly 60w, but haven't tried it out yet.  Maybe it's a typo, and actually 6w!

[Neal Ball]

Another productive morning at Henley on Thames working on the H57 carriage:

 

Before fitting the sides to the donor carriage, I have fitted the droplights in position. It's a bit fiddly on the Kitchen doors as the two windows are side by side, which meant quite a bit of filing to get them to fit.

 

At the same time I have slit the carriage sides to get rid of a slight bow where the roofline appears to rise in the middle.

 

 

 

The second bogie has been put together:

 

I have also tested the original bogie and made a slight adjustment to it. Rather than have the centre wheels running in bearings, I have cut off the pinpoints and soldered a piece of wire across the etch to keep them in place.

 

This means that the centre wheel has a lot more movement in the bogie, the result is that the bogie is now very free-running.

 

 

Underneath the second bogie the flouting centre wheel can be seen.

 

In both shots, you can also see the one pick-up per bogie for the future lighting.

 

 

 

The left hand side was soldered after the photo was taken.

 

Work continues this afternoon.... Not sure of the music choice just yet. (Debate on @Graham T Chuffnell Regis thread).

 

 

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by Neal Ball
photos changed

[Neal Ball]

Rolling chassis:

 

I now have a complete underframe for the H57; it just needs the battery boxes etc. gluing on

 

Initially it was a little tight and caught on all the curves, by adding a washer between the floor and the supplied spacer, it then ran like a dream. However, its now riding too high! I will see what can be done to correct it probably next week.

 

 

I have tried another Bachmann donor body to check that it fits over the raised section on the comet underframe. It does, but it's going to be very tight.

 

I couldn't try the actual body as it was drying from being glued moments earlier! If its not going to work, the raised section will need to be Dremmel'd off! Hopefully it wont come to that.

 

In getting ready for glueing, I set about with the evostick and applied to both surfaces... waiting 10 minutes etc. Only to realise that I had put glue onto side A, and donor body side B. (I always letter each side as I work in order to avoid mistakes.... which clearly didn't work today!) I hastily applied more glue. Alls well that ends well, as I came upstairs it looks as if its glueing nicely.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by Neal Ball
photos changed

[Graham T]

If nothing else Neal, you should have enough clamps to assist the gluing process!

Edited January 15, 2022 by Graham T

[Neal Ball]

Comet order:

 

The H57 carriage was a Christmas present from my partner, who was given a comprehensive list (choice of two) to make up either the H57 or the H33 Restaurant carriages. Everything was discreetly collected when we were in the UK in November, in order to avoid Spanish customs etc.

 

Unfortunately when I gave the spec, I didn't add in the buffer beams for the carriage. :-(

 

So I now need to place an order for buffer beams and will take the opportunity of adding in the extra parts I need to make up a H33 as well.

 

If you are not familiar with the H33 Restaurant carriage, this is the Hornby Railroad restaurant carriage. At this stage my thoughts are to utilise the Railroad roof and bodyshell, replacing the latter with Comet sides, stripping the roof and making up a new Comet underframe.

 

Hopefully they don't get stuck in Spanish customs for too long! 

[The Fatadder]

22 minutes ago, Neal Ball said:

Comet order:

 

Unfortunately when I gave the spec, I didn't add in the buffer beams for the carriage. :-(

 

So I now need to place an order for buffer beams and will take the opportunity of adding in the extra parts I need to make up a H33 as well.

 

If you are not familiar with the H33 Restaurant carriage, this is the Hornby Railroad restaurant carriage. At this stage my thoughts are to utilise the Railroad roof and bodyshell, replacing the latter with Comet sides, stripping the roof and making up a new Comet underframe.

 

Hopefully they don't get stuck in Spanish customs for too long! 

The H57 is looking really nice, each time you post on it I edge close to ordering one…

 

I keep making that mistake with the Comet chassis, though I found it is possible to cobble one together it’s the scrap etch.  It is rather annoying that it is on the ends etch rather than the underframe.

 

will be good to see the Comet chassis under the H33, I hadn’t thought of using that route to improve it (but it’s a much better option than my current though of pinching a new Collett chassis to stick under mine.) 

one thing to keep in mind, the railroad model as it comes is too long due to the end moulding.  If you trim the end moulding by a mm or so from each side it will sit in the recess on the end and the sides will match the etch.  

[Neal Ball]

35 minutes ago, The Fatadder said:

The H57 is looking really nice, each time you post on it I edge close to ordering one…

…..the railroad model as it comes is too long due to the end moulding.  If you trim the end moulding by a mm or so from each side it will sit in the recess on the end and the sides will match the etch.  

Thanks Rich, That will be interesting to see you build the H57 as well.

 

Re: the H33; I’m going to upgrade the ends as well, so trimming part of the body will fit in with that.

 

Ironic that I started with the idea of only the H44 and this has escalated very quickly…. By the time Hornby announce new restaurant carriages, I won’t need them :-)

 

Thanks very much, Neal.

[St Enodoc]

3 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

At this stage my thoughts are to utilise the Railroad roof and bodyshell, replacing the latter with Comet sides.

Those were my thoughts when I started mine. In the end all that was left of the Hornby model was the roof and interior moulding.

 

1 hour ago, Neal Ball said:

By the time Hornby announce new restaurant carriages, I won’t need them :-)

I reckon none of us will. We'll all be "gorn before" by then.

[Neal Ball]

6 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Those were my thoughts when I started mine. In the end all that was left of the Hornby model was the roof and interior moulding.

 

I reckon none of us will. We'll all be "gorn before" by then.

Thanks for that… even saying I’m keeping the roof… that will all be stripped back and replacement parts added.

 

Hopefully not, but it’s looking that way!

[The Fatadder]

3 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

Thanks for that… even saying I’m keeping the roof… that will all be stripped back and replacement parts added.

I replaced the roof vents and handrails on mine (and added lots of dust from the looks of it).  I also opened up the holes in the end of the rectangular cowling, this was a bit of a pain but I think makes quite a difference to the roof.

[Neal Ball]

Just now, The Fatadder said:

I replaced the roof vents and handrails on mine (and added lots of dust from the looks of it).  I also opened up the holes in the end of the rectangular cowling, this was a bit of a pain but I think makes quite a difference to the roof.

Thanks Rich, interesting that you opened the cowl up. I will probably do the same then - with the H57 I was going to fabricate it out of plasticard.

 

Thanks again

[Coach bogie]

Close up of the cowl on a H38. Clearly sunk a bit, in the middle.

 

Mike Wiltshire

[Neal Ball]

22 minutes ago, Coach bogie said:

Close up of the cowl on a H38. Clearly sunk a bit, in the middle.

 

Mike Wiltshire

Thanks Mike, maybe that’s why they were replaced by rotary extracts…. Every time I see these cowls, they always have the same “depression”!

 

Interesting to see the normal round, flat top vent on the right, not sure how I’m going to model that…. Maybe just a small bit of rod and a slightly larger section on top!

[MrWolf]

Could I ask where you source your shell ventilators?

I have a project gathering dust for the lack of them!

[St Enodoc]

8 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

Interesting to see the normal round, flat top vent on the right, not sure how I’m going to model that…. Maybe just a small bit of rod and a slightly larger section on top!

A bit of rod with an old plastic wagon buffer head might work.

[The Fatadder]

Will have a look at mine once the hockey has finished and see if I can work out what I used