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


Neal Ball
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1 hour ago, Neal Ball said:

using sides from Comet affixed onto an Airfix Centenary carriage

Looks great.

 

What bogies are you using, since I think those were one of the poorest aspects of the Airfix Centenary models?

I wish Hornby made their Collett bogies available as spares, since those look v good...

 

Yours,  Mike.

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4 minutes ago, KingEdwardII said:

Looks great.

 

What bogies are you using, since I think those were one of the poorest aspects of the Airfix Centenary models?

I wish Hornby made their Collett bogies available as spares, since those look v good...

 

Yours,  Mike.

 

Thanks Mike,

 

The bogies are the Comet ones that came with the kit. They are available as spares from Comet / Wizard models.

 

Yes, it's a shame that Hornby  don't sell their bogies as spares, whereas Bachmann has a history fo doing so, Hornby have never done so - as far as I recall at least.

 

Note: I've not fitted the Kadee yet :-)

 

edit: Looking at your question again, its in reference to the next batch of carriages, where I was going to use the original bogies.... TBC based on the Comet bogies under the H44.

Edited by Neal Ball
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1 minute ago, Neal Ball said:

I've not fitted the Kadee yet

Good luck with that! Definitely more of an art than you would expect...

 

Still got to add a shim to the one on the front of my King Edward II, since its drooping a bit too much. The Collett coaches were mostly an exercise in choosing the right length Kadee - #19 NEMs won in the end - the #18s made the buffers too close for some of my curves.

 

Yours,  Mike.

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1 hour ago, KingEdwardII said:

Good luck with that! Definitely more of an art than you would expect...

 

Still got to add a shim to the one on the front of my King Edward II, since its drooping a bit too much. The Collett coaches were mostly an exercise in choosing the right length Kadee - #19 NEMs won in the end - the #18s made the buffers too close for some of my curves.

 

Yours,  Mike.

 

Thanks Mike,

 

Fitting a Kadee might be easier than (say) fitting a hook and bar, similar to that used inside a rake by a good many people on here including Tony Wright. My only hesitation is that I haven't tried fitting something like that... But hey! until a few months ago, I hadn't fitted a Kadee.

 

I cant remember which Kadee I fitted on my Hornby Colletts, it would have been either 18 or 19.... I will let you know!

 

I certainly remember a #17 was too tight for goods wagons, where they are NEM fitted they are using #18.

 

Regards, Neal.

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3 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

 

Thanks Mike,

 

Fitting a Kadee might be easier than (say) fitting a hook and bar, similar to that used inside a rake by a good many people on here including Tony Wright. My only hesitation is that I haven't tried fitting something like that... But hey! until a few months ago, I hadn't fitted a Kadee.

 

I cant remember which Kadee I fitted on my Hornby Colletts, it would have been either 18 or 19.... I will let you know!

 

I certainly remember a #17 was too tight for goods wagons, where they are NEM fitted they are using #18.

 

Regards, Neal.

A good rule of thumb is to have the buffing face of the fixed part of the coupling (i.e. the jaw, not the knuckle) just in front of the plane of the buffer faces when the coupling is at its maximum sideways deflection.

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Yesterday afternoon soon more fettling of the Centenary 1st class Restaurant carriage.

 

In searching for various items "stored in a safe place", I managed to find the broken dynamo and refix with superglue, together with the missing roof ventilator. The water tanks were made up and the filler caps also fitted.

 

This meant I was able to spray the underframe and ends black.

 

As I left the railway room yesterday I was very pleased with the result. I will see how it has dried overnight.

 

The plan today is to spray the roof my usual Vallejo Black/Grey.

 

To be continued.....

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The 1st class  centenary restaurant carriage has now had its roof sprayed.

 

This was taken shortly before:

319591313_H4428-10-21.jpeg.f65b1075733538f6f62e0a8e877ca16c.jpeg

 

The body has been temporarily placed on the under frame and bogies, with the wheels removed. The inside of the bogies need painting black, which I will do next week.

 

I didn’t think I would be able to get the wheels out, but thankfully they were quite easy to remove. This means I can get the DCC concepts pickup springs added as this carriage will be lit inside.

 

Random photos from October, not included elsewhere:

IMG_8815.jpeg.1f073363a553e7171cee97e859230be7.jpeg

 

IMG_8816.jpeg.276474bea5b9e9d482b449f17552d0d4.jpeg

 

IMG_8830.jpeg.0e398c8a6ce672feab898d88d9c790f4.jpeg

 

 

1083817911_Holtonswagons.jpeg.40c43a97ef8ba9617bb83253ee6536bd.jpeg

 

IMG_8763.jpeg.6649a2f1587989d93b0290987dc5c313.jpeg

 

I even have a photo of the T*****ble from that fella who I would not recommend! It looks as if it lost its settings..... AGAIN

 

IMG_8787.jpeg.0e01ecb887d083b8d425dc181e592aa3.jpeg

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Carriage update:

The masking tape came off after the Black/Grey spray yesterday and looks very good on the roof.

 

Today has seen yet more masking tape put on the carriage and this time the chocolate areas have been sprayed.

 

Hopefully I can get the cream on tomorrow.....

 

Then its on to finish the interior; lining etc. and thats my latest carriage finished off - sounds easy eh!

 

Photos to follow in the morning.

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Re: 1st class Centenary Restaurant carriage.

 

The carriage had another spray of Chocolate this morning and now that the masking tape is off I’m very pleased with the result.

 

There are a couple of areas where the tape has taken off the top surface, so I need to do some touching up. 
 

I also need to more concise with the tape…. The majority of the door reveals have got a chocolate “bleed” where the tape wasn’t quite right.

 

Next stop Cream. It’s certainly looking the part at the moment….

 

With regards weathering…. I think I am going to lightly dust the underframe… I’m so pleased with the chocolate, I don’t want to weather it!

 

591671373_H43-Creamspray.jpg.dc8d601c4bdedb1d6f68bc72cfd6d56c.jpg

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Winter project!

We have just come back from the UK…. A long weekend to see my parents, catch a show (Tina the musical) and meet up with a group of friends. It’s the first time we have been in England since February 2020…. How things have changed!

 

Having spent the pandemic in Spain it’s amazing to see the differences… we went on several trains, a couple of which were crowded and no one was wearing a mask. 
The show was great and we took comfort that the theatre sent out SMS and emails in the run up to show time, saying that masks had to be worn in the theatre… we were in the minority of maybe 5%, the majority of people didn’t bother.

Im not sure how the infection rates are going to fare this winter, but it doesn’t look good based on our weekend….

 

Anyway… it’s winter leaf fall season on the old Southern region, so the Sandite trains are out in force. This pair of 73’s were seen at Gatwick airport station on Thursday 4th Nov:

 

IMG_8908.jpeg.1ee10201b89a10076d0bf22039e8615a.jpeg

Then on the Sunday we were off to Burgess Hill to catch up with friends. Apparently every weekend there is engineering works between Three Bridges and Gatwick, meaning 2 or possibly 3 lines out of the 4 are closed. 
 

This class 70 was at Three Bridges with a ballast train on Sunday 7th November. Is this the ugliest loco on the network?

IMG_8945.jpeg.abe11ab3ad64a32b4869b6ff07e6e533.jpeg


The winter project?

To avoid customs duties and postal delays, I had a large box waiting for me at Burgess Hill from Wizard / Comet models.

 

I now have the parts to replace the bogies on my Lima Siphons. Plus parts to change the Airfix Centenary carriages I acquired quite a while ago. The first carriage to be done will be the Restaurant 3rd diagram H44…. I’ve been inspired by the many carriages I have seen guys on here change… they make it look so easy….

 

To be continued….

 

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Today's on-going project! (H43)

 

Today I have masked up the 1st class Restaurant carriage and sprayed the first coat of GWR cream. In hindsight, it might have been easier to spray everything cream and doing it the other way round.

 

 

 

I then moved onto the next project - typical really, I haven't finished the last one yet!

 

Hopefully I wont get my diagram numbers mixed up this time... H43 1st class and H44 3rd class.

 

Having put the 1st class H43 into the cloche to let it dry overnight, I then picked up my Centenary carriages and set those aside that will be worked on. So much for a winter project!

 

It was quite easy to take it apart:

 

 

 

 

413063574_AirfixCentenarycarriagebreakdown9-11-21.jpg.3d9d10c9bbe4d4e6690b1a18b2dfc89a.jpgI was surprised how quick it was to do...

 

The roof has had its fittings removed, although they still need sanding down. I have also removed all the old Airfix windows to allow for the changes in the new H44 sides.

1427859120_H44-3rdclass9-11-21.jpg.a5d4acc8ad3f87d8e4759aeb413c8714.jpg

 

 

I now need to do the other side and then sand everything down.

 

Theres a lot more to do just yet, but it's a start.

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Hope the dining pair goes well Neal. There's something about giving these old Airfix carriages a new lease of life. I enjoyed doing mine but typically now that I've learned how to do it I don't need anymore! (Centenaries at least). Watching with interest.

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Just now, TrevorP1 said:

Hope the dining pair goes well Neal. There's something about giving these old Airfix carriages a new lease of life. I enjoyed doing mine but typically now that I've learned how to do it I don't need anymore! (Centenaries at least). Watching with interest.

 

Thanks Trevor. I'm looking forward to it.... 

 

Hopefully the H43 comes out ok and then the sides look good on the H44.

 

I've then got the 3rd and a Brake 3rd to complete after that.

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Turntable update:

 

A quick recap:

  • I paid a £50 deposit on 24th March 2021, having expressed an interest on 23rd November 2020 (Ready by Christmas, I was told.)
  • Final balance paid on 6th June 2021 after much chasing and the turntable was despatched within days.
  • Stuck in Spanish customs for @6 weeks and cost €160 in duty.
  • Broken transformer supplied. (Still not replaced)
  • Initial testing found that the cable supplied had faulty plugs.
  • A new cable was supplied

It then transpires that the control panel does not work, so had to be sent back to the UK.

 

Mike at Greenwood received the parcel on 20th October 2021 and quickly identified that the control panel was not working and a new one would need to be built. That was 3 1/2weeks ago.

 

I have chased a couple of times, but stated I wanted it back working, having been tested - which if that had happened in the first place, I wouldn't have to be putting up with all of this.

 

In between times, we have exchanged various emails, with me being very vocal about his failings. In one exchange, I pointed that that he doesn't reply to emails "Waste of time" was his reply! His policy is to reply to only those he considers important....

 

Yesterday I chased him again. His reply came in last night, stating he has a personal crises and it will be into next week before he can get back to it. I have expressed sympathies, but pointed out that he needs to balance his personal and business commitments, but sadly history is proving that this request will fall on deaf ears.

 

The whole saga beggars belief, people like him should not be in business.

 

Should anyone be considering buying products from Greenwood model railway in Swanage, based on my experience my advice would be to avoid them.

 

 

 

 

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Sympathies with that one Neal. It amazes me that some companies and individuals can get it so right and others get it so wrong that it's almost unbelievable.

 

I'm having similar pain with a large furniture retailer. Our 'sofa saga' has been going on since January 2020. It's far too complicated to relate here but my advice to anyone buying furniture is to ask where it is made. If it comes from the same far eastern country as a lot of our model railway gear,  just walk away. 

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4 hours ago, TrevorP1 said:

Sympathies with that one Neal. It amazes me that some companies and individuals can get it so right and others get it so wrong that it's almost unbelievable.

 

I'm having similar pain with a large furniture retailer. Our 'sofa saga' has been going on since January 2020. It's far too complicated to relate here but my advice to anyone buying furniture is to ask where it is made. If it comes from the same far eastern country as a lot of our model railway gear,  just walk away. 


You have my sympathies.

 

Companies that give bad customer service like that, just don’t deserve to be in business.

 

Of course as is the case with Greenwood and his selective email policy, I’ve not even had the courtesy of a reply. Even if it’s “get lost”, at least you would know he’s got it.

 

Good luck with the furniture.

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A very productive day today!

The H43 1st class centenary carriage has had another spray of GWR cream...

 

I have also mastered how to use the Vallejo filler. I didn't think I was very successful initially, but I have found a video on Youtube and everything has become clear. The H43 needed a bit of extra filler around the inset doors, it looks much better now.

 

Having sprayed cream, I then sprayed the underframe and bogies a "dirty black" (Railmaster acrylic) and then added a spray of frame dirt as well. The result is very good.

 

I have resisted removing the masking tape from the carriage today - I would never have left the railway room if I did! Hopefully any areas I have missed where the masking tape was slightly out, I can easily touch up.

 

The H44 3rd class centenary carriage has had all the surplus plastic removed and the roof sanded down. I have also added some filler into the inevitable holes / imperfections on the roof. I have also removed the window sliding ventilators on the side etches as I am modelling the carriages in "as built" condition.

 

With apologies to any of the designers from Airfix!

 

 

 

This photo is after I have done more work on getting the roof smooth. The plan is to spray these roofs a slighter lighter black/grey than I usually use.

 

 

 

917375732_H4411-11-21.jpg.fde493559f0b38391a2cba13177eb124.jpg

 

1603000991_H4411-11-21B.jpg.063e680258242392a3cfdadbf555db4d.jpg

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A tale of two GWR / AEC Railcars:

 

No 17 Parcels Railcar: Dapol railcar fitted with a Zimo decoder and YouChoos sounds. Seen here in Platform 3.

 

No 22 Railcar: Heljan railcar fitted with a Loksound v5 decoder and Legomanbif sounds. Seen here in Platform 2 at Henley on Thames.

 

It's taken quite a bit to get here, but now that Bif has fixed the sound, I reckon its pretty good. Although I am still grumpy at the fact that Heljan specified only a Loksound decoder, rather than allowing you to insert any decoder.

 

1658639635_Railcars11-11-21r.jpg.6affcae97805a7b5102981cc4e95e121.jpg

 

 

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3 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

A very productive day today!

The H43 1st class centenary carriage has had another spray of GWR cream...

 

I have also mastered how to use the Vallejo filler. I didn't think I was very successful initially, but I have found a video on Youtube and everything has become clear. The H43 needed a bit of extra filler around the inset doors, it looks much better now.

 

Having sprayed cream, I then sprayed the underframe and bogies a "dirty black" (Railmaster acrylic) and then added a spray of frame dirt as well. The result is very good.

 

I have resisted removing the masking tape from the carriage today - I would never have left the railway room if I did! Hopefully any areas I have missed where the masking tape was slightly out, I can easily touch up.

 

Photos to follow tomorrow.

 

The H44 3rd class centenary carriage has had all the surplus plastic removed and the roof sanded down. I have also added some filler into the inevitable holes / imperfections on the roof. I have also removed the window sliding ventilators on the side etches as I am modelling the carriages in "as built" condition.

 

With apologies to any of the designers from Airfix!

 

459153093_H4411-11-21.jpg.7001e0a540a7d58caf65b5cb8fbbb6e7.jpg

 

This photo is after I have done more work on getting the roof smooth. The plan is to spray these roofs a slighter lighter black/grey than I usually use.

 

369926394_H4411-11-21B.jpg.15446951943b560f60c36c953c5a8a5b.jpg

 

More progress updates soon....

Coming together nicely

 

Do you have a link to the video? Sounds worth a watch seeing as I use the same filler.

 

one trick I found on mine is to beef up the edge of the gutter with a length of Evergreen plastic strip so that you have the step between the edge of the roof and the side.

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1 minute ago, The Fatadder said:

Coming together nicely

 

Do you have a link to the video? Sounds worth a watch seeing as I use the same filler.

 

one trick I found on mine is to beef up the edge of the gutter with a length of Evergreen plastic strip so that you have the step between the edge of the roof and the side.

 

It's here Rich: 

 

 

Good idea about the gutter, thank you.

 

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The latest Restaurant carriage at RMWeb is arriving…..

 

It might have taken many years to get to this stage, but now I have removed the masking tape I am very pleased with it.

 

There are a few bits where the tape was obviously a bit loose and/or didn’t cover the painted section properly, but overall I am very pleased with the H43 First class restaurant carriage.

 

The bogies have only been placed under the carriage, as I see in one of the photos that one end looks a bit out! The bolts are not there yet.

 

I think weathering the in frame only is probably the right move, although maybe I need to do just a little bit on the body….

 

On this side, I just need to touch up the body and paint the drop lights:

 

IMG_9053.jpeg.3a5f3fff905e51c2aeccfdde9f2b8371.jpeg

This side needs more work on the roof/chocolate area:
IMG_9055.jpeg.f0a8db235f67d775a42692764cf5e021.jpeg

 

 

Side by side with the next carriage. This is the H44 3rd class restaurant carriage. The side is held on with double sided tape at the moment.

 

 

 

Until this week, I had never sprayed a carriage before, until then, my spraying was confined to weathering and painting the platform canopy.

 

The H43 is seen alongside my previous Comet kit, the E153 Brake Composite. Although the H43 body was soldered up for my by Mallard many years ago, I have done all the rest of the work on it.

 

 

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