Castle Aching

[wagonman]

Talking about Brian O'Nolan, or at least one of his literary personae, Myles na gCopaleen reminds me that Irish spelling is a real pain in the Erse.

[Hroth]

Talking about Brian O'Nolan, or at least one of his literary personae, Myles na gCopaleen reminds me that Irish spelling is a real pain in the Erse.

WahhhWahhhWahhhhhhhh......   (In lieu of the missing Grone button)

 

The main thing is not to ride a ladies bicycle if a Gentleman, or even to use any sort of bicycle to excess.

[St Enodoc]

Doesn't wisdom start with the realisation that there is an infinity of things which one can never know, let alone understand.

The more I learn, the less I know.

[St Enodoc]

terrible poem spoiled by a English teacher who spend most of a term dissecting it  even though it was not part of the English Lit O level 

 

Nick

A combination of The Lady of Shalott and The Akond of Swat might be interesting.

[Donw]

WahhhWahhhWahhhhhhhh......   (In lieu of the missing Grone button)

 

The main thing is not to ride a ladies bicycle if a Gentleman, or even to use any sort of bicycle to excess.

A ladies bike does have advantages. If you break suddenly and slide forward off the seat it is a relief not to encounter the cross bar with delicate parts.

 

Don

[Edwardian]

A combination of The Lady of Shalott and The Akond of Swat might be interesting.

 

Who, or why, or which, or what?

[TheQ]

Here's something that might be of interest.

 

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/step-back-to-medieval-times-with-history-event-at-castle-acre-priory-1-5104683

Edited July 14, 2017 by TheQ

[Edwardian]

Here's something that might be of interest.

 

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/step-back-to-medieval-times-with-history-event-at-castle-acre-priory-1-5104683

 

Or, I've got a dulcimer and I'm not afraid to use it ....

 

Looks good.  I'd go if I still lived anywhere within day-tripping distance.

[Edwardian]

Pre-Raff of the Day:

 

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The Parliamentary Carriage

[Compound2632]

Pre-Raff of the Day:

 

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The Parliamentary Carriage

 

Not directly pre-Raphaelite but a favourite of mine from Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery - a bastion of pre-Raphaelitism - and a genuine railway subject, is Egg's The Travelling Companions. My excuse is that Egg was an admirer though not imitator of Holman Hunt.

[Hroth]

Pre-Raff of the Day:

 

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The Parliamentary Carriage

Yep, you always get the tinny backwash of someone elses "music".......

[Poggy1165]

I am sorry to hear this.  I know nothing of the gentleman and never met him, but I would have loved to see Castle Rackrent.

 

 

 

I saw Castle Rackrent (just the station, not the empire built onto it) at the MMRS show one year, a long time ago. It was beautifully done and needless to say more or less completely scratch-built. I think I spent more time looking at it than the rest of the exhibition but together, and in those days MMRS shows were good.

 

One of the engines had a decidedly GC look about it. It was much later I figured out that J G Robinson came from the Waterford, Limerick and Western Railway, and the engine in question actually had a Robinson look rather than a GC one. By the way, it was in W.L.&W red livery and looked jolly good in it. Some modeller, that Mr. Chown. A great loss to us.

[Nearholmer]

I can see a very great deal of trouble brewing in that parliamentary carriage. Its not going to end at all well!

[Hroth]

"Seen in the First Class Dining Room at Swindon"

Presumably they had not tried the coffee/chicory - or it was after the GWR had bought the contractor out.

Jonathan

Before.

 

I think the chap in the black hat is an undercover restaurant critic.....

[Nearholmer]

I thought that CAPC members might be interested in these examples from an earlier generation of printed paper modelling. A very talented TCS member has used entirely 1970 and earlier items to build his layout, scratchbuilding some items using genuine 1940s and 1950s printed papers. The station is to a plan in one of the Rev Beale's books, and some of the signs are from Merco papers, for which the Rev did the artwork. The very characterful London shops are from a 1950s W&H kit.

 

Fascinating that paper, card, and wood are now in vogue again.

Edited July 14, 2017 by Nearholmer

[DonB]

 

I have been tempted by the idea of that petrol railcar.  I thought it might be acquired in the hope of making a go of the Wolfringham branch.

 

 

 

"Gazelle" would be in period and is locally built for CA - Dodman, Kings Lynn, 1893. Not sure where one would put a motor?

 

Regards

Chris H 

 

 For miniature DC motors with integral (planetary) gearboxes have a look at Technobots web pages and for a really tiny 6mm dia one at https://www.technobotsonline.com/pololu-26-1-sub-micro-6mm-plastic-planetary-geared-motor.html

 

I'm not well versed in electronics so don't know if these small, low voltage motors could work with DCC electronics. 

(just a satisfied customer)

Edited July 14, 2017 by DonB

[wagonman]

I've put in a bid for this item so, if successful, we will see what light it sheds...

 

 

To go back several pages... My newly acquired copy of Archive 88 has duly arrived. From it I have learned that English Oilfields bought 10 wagons from Midland RC&W in 1919. They were given numbers 11-20 and, given the absence of any 'return' markings or even load, the author is of the opinion they were for internal use only. He was mystified as to why he could not find the order in the surviving Mid records though I suspect it may have been because the wagons were not new – I've not consulted the Mid RC&W records (yet) so don't know what they contain. There is a nice broadside view of one of the wagons which shows it to be a perfectly normal 3-plank dropside of the early C20. Thanks to the screen certain details cannot be read – an original copy photo would be useful – but it appears to have grease axleboxes, and the register plate is painted over, unlike the builder's plate. 

[Edwardian]

I thought that CAPC members might be interested in these examples from an earlier generation of printed paper modelling. A very talented TCS member has used entirely 1970 and earlier items to build his layout, scratchbuilding some items using genuine 1940s and 1950s printed papers. The station is to a plan in one of the Rev Beale's books, and some of the signs are from Merco papers, for which the Rev did the artwork. The very characterful London shops are from a 1950s W&H kit.

 

Fascinating that paper, card, and wood are now in vogue again.

 

This is superb.

 

What a nostalgia feast!  That unmistakably Bealesque station, and the Merco and Bilteezi, all of which I recall from my father's stack of 1950s RMs, over which I endlessly pored as a child.  Further, is that industrial building a blast from my 1970s past in the form of Builder Plus brick-paper?

 

What a wonderful thing to do.  I have often hankered to see a typical layout of this period in the flesh and in colour.

 

My 1970s and '80s RMs are all about doing everything in styrene.  Some wonderful modelling was, and is done, in this medium, and in plastic more generally (e.g. the Wills sheets). But, I do get a sense that it became adopted as a matter of course, without considering the alternative, as it was fashionable, whereas card (or wood) was not.  It was the modern material, after all.

 

Future layout projects of mine will probably employ styrene sheet. I would like to master the medium.  I have a longstanding plan for a Great Western Grouping-era layout where I expect to use styrene sheet.

 

But I do love card and paper. As a returnee to the hobby (what, a couple of years ago?) one of the pleasant surprises was my discovery of 'photo-realistic' downloadable textures.  For me, in terms of subtlety and adaptability, here was a modern equivalent to those wonderful Bilteezi sheets (which really ought to be appreciated in colour).

 

Thus, I decided that the first, trial (!), project, Castle Aching, would use printed sheets.  This worked out well as I soon realised that I could adapt photographs of buildings and textures (some of which CAPC members have kindly donated).

 

My intended second project is to be a cross-country GW route somewhere in the Welsh Marches - running off the GW-LNWR joint line and incorporating Midland and, hopefully, Cambrian, traffic too.  This will be based upon the surviving sections of a long-retired club exhibition layout.  As nearly all the surviving brick structures use brick-papers, for the sake of consistency of appearance, I am minded to stick to printed textures, at least for the brick-work.

 

So, "hurray!" for Trad-Modelling and thank you for posting these.

  

And, now, I'm afraid, our Pre-Raff of the day:

 

John Everett Millais's We apologise for the late running of the 11.05 to Achingham, 1864

[James Harrison]

Pre-Raff of the Day:

 

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The Parliamentary Carriage

 

"It was a hot afternoon, and the railway carriage was correspondingly sultry, and the next stop was at Templecombe, nearly an hour ahead. The occupants of the carriage were a small girl, and a smaller girl, and a small boy. An aunt belonging to the children occupied one corner seat, and the further corner seat on the opposite side was occupied by a bachelor who was a stranger to their party, but the small girls and the small boy emphatically occupied the compartment."- with apologies to H H Munro. 

 

http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/Stor820.shtml

[Poggy1165]

I have to say, I think quality of modelling has more to do with the ability of the modeller than the materials used.

 

Similarly, if you think of the most wonderful P4 layout you've seen, almost certainly it wasn't built by a person of average ability. If that person chose to work in 00, the outcome would be (almost) as splendid and certainly far above the average.

 

Post 4596 has given me food for thought. Soon (i.e. before Christmas) I need to start on my station building. Still haven't decided between good-quality brickpaper and embossed card. Got both in stock, keep wondering and changing my mind.

[wagonman]

I have found the wagons in the GER registers. They were recorded as belonging to Macdonald, Gibbs & Co of Kings Lynn, registered 1 Jan 1920, reg nos 5632-5641 and described as "10 ton ballast wagons for work in connection with English Oil Fields Ltd. Owing to moulders' strike we were in difficulties as to casting the plates and the builders did this for us". Wagon no.13 is additionally noted as "R Wilson, Carter & Pearson wgn 784, rebuilt 1938".

 

It seems the GER mistakenly allocated numbers for 1-10 as well but Macdonald Gibbs then realised these numbers had already been allocated so they were changed to 21-30 (GER 5622-5631 December 1919). Wagon no.25 later became Cossall Colliery 253.

 

So it seems that contrary to what was written in Archive 88 there were in fact 30 wagons on the books of 'English Oil Fields Ltd' and presumably they all worked at Setchey. That would explain why the photo taken from the top of the chimney shows more than 10 'ballast' wagons on site.

 

Wagons 11-30 all built by the Midland RC&W Co but I've not yet found the other 10 so can't say if they were from the same source.

 

 

The plot thickens...

Edited July 15, 2017 by wagonman

[Edwardian]

I have to say, I think quality of modelling has more to do with the ability of the modeller than the materials used.

 

Similarly, if you think of the most wonderful P4 layout you've seen, almost certainly it wasn't built by a person of average ability. If that person chose to work in 00, the outcome would be (almost) as splendid and certainly far above the average.

 

Post 4596 has given me food for thought. Soon (i.e. before Christmas) I need to start on my station building. Still haven't decided between good-quality brickpaper and embossed card. Got both in stock, keep wondering and changing my mind.

 

I agree.  I don't think either Madder Valley or Buckingham, for example, suffer for having used card and paper.  One recent, very persuasive, example, IMHO, is the EM King's Torre, where I believe the buildings are all card, which proved a good thing as the few plastic items melted when there was a fire in the railway room, IIRC.

 

I don't think styrene is an inherently better or more realistic choice.  It depends on the skill of the modeller and the purpose to which it is put.  I prefer a 'horses for courses' approach - what is the best medium for realising X, Y or Z? 

 

Allan Downes uses a lot of styrene for architectural mouldings, and brass windows, but he very often uses these (in 7mm) in combination with printed brick paper.  Results are, as one would expect, very persuasive.  I note that he has taken to incorporating Lego components, too!  See http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/70935-anything-you-can-do-i-can-do-better-robinson-and-downes/page-251&do=findComment&comment=2785685  

[Hroth]

What terrific card and paper buildings!

 

The one thing that concerns me with the station building is that the brick pillars are probably too small a diameter to be built with stock bricks in the real world.  I see those pillars as being precast fluted concrete, either left "raw" or painted a buff colour similar to the window cills.  It could also do with some lintels....

 

Being positive, I do like the drum rotunda design, it was used on so many modern suburban stations in the 1930s, here's one that the LMS constructed in the early-mid 30s when they electrified the Wirral Railway:

 

http://www.hoylakejunction.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/hoylake-station-retro.jpg

 

Note the smooth concrete pillars!

 

 

 

Pre-raff

 

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a2/cb/cf/a2cbcffbec21459f16c3fef52b416b23.jpg

 

 

"It won't take so long if I take a shortcut through the tunnel....."

[mullie]

I love working with card and Pott Row buildings were originally card before being replaced with scratchbuilt models in plastic. However, Rickett Street my currently packed away micro is mainly built in card. Card buildings have stood up surprisingly well to life in the garage and our salty atmosphere.

[Edwardian]

While the Memsahib is off playing with her horse, I have printed out the track plan and commandeered the dining table.

 

All Hail DonW for providing this!

 

Off to exercise the dogs.