Wharfeside, a lifetime's project

[davefrk]

Been to the club today and managed to finish one of the fiddleyard panels, just a few LEDs to wire up to the switches fitted to the point motors, all now working, hurrah for me.

 

 

Dave

[Barry O]

I hope to see this sometime Dave. Looks great. 

 

Baz

[Porcy Mane]

7 hours ago, davefrk said:

hurrah for me.

 Good'O. Just need to convert it to DCC now! 😊

 

Will you be popping across to Perth?

 

P

Edited June 13, 2022 by Porcy Mane

[davefrk]

On 14/06/2022 at 00:57, Porcy Mane said:

 Good'O. Just need to convert it to DCC now! 😊

 

Will you be popping across to Perth?

 

P

DCC, yeah right, I've enough problems programming my satnav.

 

Perth? yes but don't know what day yet, are you guys going to make it.

 

Dave.

[Porcy Mane]

9 hours ago, davefrk said:

Perth? yes but don't know what day yet, are you guys going to make it.

 

Saturday for us lot all being well. Hope to see you there.

[Barry O]

Hidden

 

Note that both Alloa and Chapel en le Frith are scheduled for Wignan show. Should be a great show.

 

Baz

[davefrk]

Hi Barry, yes looks to be shaping up to a good show, we had a running session on Alloa last Wednesday just to check things over, no serious problems reported, the odd sticky point blade etc.

We do feel though that Alloa is getting old now so this might be it's last 'away' show plus non of us are getting any younger.... We are booked for Model Rail Scotland next February with Alloa then maybe other layouts in the group would be ready the following year.

 

Dave.

[davefrk]

Once again it's been a while since I reported anything about Wharfeside.

Well, all the wiring is finished and working, a slight short does show up in the fiddleyard when certain points are set and a certain section switch is set one way but in normal operation it is't a problem but I'm getting closer to tracing it.

The viaduct is now fixed in position and the groundwork around the piers started.

More locos converted to EM and a WD I built for someone else years ago then bought back has been overhauled, renumbered, AWS and electrification flashes removed and the paintwork touched up, it has been renumbered as 90464 a Carlisle loco so it can be used on through freights to Leeds.

A Hornby Royal Scot has had cosmetic frames added and Sharman wheels fitted which only just fit between the splashers, a Mashima motor was fitted for better running,  the Scot looks the part on the Thames/Clyde express, just needs the valvegear adding and some weathering.

 

So there we are, I try to take some pictures next time I'm at the club.

Dave.

Edited December 8, 2022 by davefrk

[Porcy Mane]

3 hours ago, davefrk said:

So there we are,

 

Look after yourselves up there. You're both forever in the thoughts of the N.E. contingent.

[Tortuga]

Always good to hear of some progress on Wharfside!

[davefrk]

18 hours ago, Porcy Mane said:

 

Look after yourselves up there. You're both forever in the thoughts of the N.E. contingent.

Well thanks Porcy, We do miss our get togethers in sunny Lincs and it was good to catch up briefly at Perth a few months ago.

Say hello to all the guys down there for us. 🤣

 

Dave .

[Mad McCann]

On 09/12/2022 at 02:09, Porcy Mane said:

 

Look after yourselves up there. You're both forever in the thoughts of the N.E. contingent.

Seconded. From the other N.E. 

Davy.

 

 

 

[davefrk]

On 09/12/2022 at 02:09, Porcy Mane said:

 

Look after yourselves up there. You're both forever in the thoughts of the N.E. contingent.

 

On 25/12/2022 at 21:47, Mad McCann said:

Seconded. From the other N.E. 

Davy.

 

 

 

Well thanks guys, hope to see you all at Modelrail in Glasgow in February if not at the EMGS AGM in January.

All the best for the new year guys.

 

Dave F.

[davefrk]

Been busy some evenings building more of the stash of Parkside kits over the past year, some were started during lockdown but needed painting as lockdown went crazy for the business so no time....

 I'd used Humbrol number 133 bauxite in the distant past but the newer 133 was a bit different in hue and not what I wanted so some paint mixing was needed, as it turned out  the newer133 was more matt than satin of the older product so I found that by adding a good few drops of gloss yellow and thinners it a gave a good colour, (to my eyes), plus a slight sheen which took waterslide transfers okay.

I painted a few at a time with a good quatity 3/16'' flat sable brush which gave a nice smooth finish and the since the summer have been adding the transfers with the last ten or so done over the Christmas break. Still some painting of cast buffers to do and the three link instanter, screw and Jackson couplings to fit then a bit of weathering.

Here is a shot of all 28 vans done so far.

 

A mix of BR planked and plywood, LNER planked and plywood, LMS plywood, LMS fruit and BR Palvans. I've already got some Ratio LMS and SR planked vans and a few ex Airfix LMS planked vans re-chassied on Parkside frames so I think I may have enough for a good fitted freight plus more for mixed goods.

Thanks to Chas for supplying the last few Palvan transfers to finish the job, saved me having to buy another sheet just for two vans.

 

Cheers to all and have a guid new year.

 

Dave and Fiona Franks.

[davefrk]

Hi all, just asking around if anyone can confirm when vac pipes were painted red for fitted wagons and white for piped wagons, I can find plenty photos from the sixties showing the colours but most 50s photos are b/w so difficult to tell.

Cheers,

Dave F.

[31A]

26 minutes ago, davefrk said:

Hi all, just asking around if anyone can confirm when vac pipes were painted red for fitted wagons and white for piped wagons, I can find plenty photos from the sixties showing the colours but most 50s photos are b/w so difficult to tell.

Cheers,

Dave F.

 

I believe so, yes.  That's how I paint my wagons anyway!

[Sitham Yard]

12 minutes ago, davefrk said:

Hi all, just asking around if anyone can confirm when vac pipes were painted red for fitted wagons and white for piped wagons, I can find plenty photos from the sixties showing the colours but most 50s photos are b/w so difficult to tell.

Cheers,

Dave F.

I have raised this topic elsewhere and the conclusion was that in the 1950's the vac pipes on piped wagons were white but on fitted wagons there were a brown colour probably similar to bauxite. However beware if you are modelling early 1950's. The RCH standard at the time of grouping was  fitted vehicle - black pipes, piped vehicle- red pipes. @The Stationmasterstates that these colours were changed in April 1952 but obviously it would have taken time to effect the changes. 

 

These pipes would quickly have become weathered and I suspect that only the white pipes were kept in reasonable condition to distinguish piped vehicles from fitted vehicles. Apparently accidents were not unknown when piped wagons were mistaken for fitted wagons and the driver discovered too late that he did not have the braking power he expected.  

Andrew

[41516]

 

[davefrk]

Thanks all, on other forums people have come up with answers confirming that it was early 50s when the colour of the pipes was clarified, Bauxite red for the vac fitted and white for piped. This apparently followed on from the LMS. The LNE was different and had to comply to the new regs. My railway is 1958 so bauxite will be used for the fitted pipes.

So, out with the treble O brush....

 

Thanks again.

[davefrk]

Further to the above, it's now been said that the LMS originally used black for fitted and white for piped, photos in the LMS wagon book certainly look that way as even a new wagon reportedly painted in bauxite has a much darker vac pipe, black? And yet other pictures show a vac pipe matching the 'hue' of the bauxite.

Anyway, Someone on another forum has quoted from the official BritishTransport Commission booklet on wagons from December 1958 that vac pipes on fitted wagons should be Bauxite red and piped should be white so that will do for me.

 

Cheers Dave.

[davefrk]

Wow, has it really been that long since the last post!

 

I've not been very active modelwise recently, been working on the auld Landrover over the summer, it's now ready for the new old fashioned crossply Landy type tyres, the wheels were stripped, shot blasted and are now all painted at last.

When not doing that I converted a few RTR locos to EM which are still awaiting detailing but a couple of weeks ago I decided I should have a go at building a complete loco again. I had spent ten years building professionally until a few years ago and had reached a point of 'burnout'.... So, to prove a point to myself I thought I would pick a kit from the cupboard and make a start.
   An old Comet kit of the Caprotti Black Five. It's proved a bit of a challenge really, heavy castings, some mis-shapen, some just not right. The etches are okay and fit quite well but the boiler casting has a problem - the smokebox and boiler barrel are cast together but are rotated out of line by a few mm necessitating the two to be cut apart and rejoined with the rivet lines, washout plugs and fitting marks etc. realigned properly. I also took the opportunity to increase the boiler diameter to match the smokebox, the heavy boilerbands were the same diameter as the smokebox making the boiler noticeably too small in relation to the smokebox so the bands were removed too, I cut the boiler bottom and forced the cut open and soldered about 2mm of white metal in, as you may see, a much better alignment with the smokebox. As for the firebox.... well the big mistake here is the fact it has been made square and level whereas it should have the top sloping down to the cab, I tried to file the front and back to an angle as per the instructions (sic) but that made the fb bands slope away from the vertical, hmm. The cast on fb bands were also removed.
   The caprotti cylinders were okay and with some careful filing and fitting aligned quite well. The cylinders are on the chassis and the caprotti gearboxes are on the footplate. The chassis is good for OO gauge but I wanted to set the frames to EM and fit hornblocks with CSB suspension as per my preference so this was done by modifying the kit frames. Wheelsets are Ultrascale and can be dropped out complete with the Highlevel gearbox, Mashima motor and coupling rods as a unit, another of the CSB advantages, pull out the suspension wire springs and the wheels drop out.
The Caprotti has been tested on the layout and performed very well, after a bit of running in was set to haul the 60 wagon test train which it walked away with at a nice slow crawl.

 

 

Dave F.

Edited December 1, 2023 by davefrk

[Enterprisingwestern]

10 hours ago, davefrk said:

it's now ready for the new old fashioned crossply Landy type tyres,

 

Do you not have corners or bends in Scotland?!

I remember an old gas board colleague and his SWB Landy so shod, second gear and 15mph for anything other than a miniscule deviation!

 

Mike.

[davefrk]

Ah yes, the Landy had crossply tyres on when I got it over thirty years ago, they were okay but old and hard so after it was restored and a long trip 300 miles down to Billing, Northhants for the big landrover show I put radials on but they gripped like stink making the steering very heavy so this time with the radials being nearly twenty years old and cracking between the tread blocks I decided to go for a modern crossply with modern rubber, other owners find them okay but not as grippy as radials if that's what you're used to..

I don't drive it fast and to be honest it doesn't go fast.

 

Dave.

[Enterprisingwestern]

3 hours ago, davefrk said:

they gripped like stink making the steering very heavy

 

Presumably there is a power steering conversion/adaptation for those who wish to go down that route?

 

Mike.

[davefrk]

2 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Presumably there is a power steering conversion/adaptation for those who wish to go down that route?

 

Mike.

Yes there is that option but that would take the 1966 originality away from the motor.

 

Dave.