Stoke Courtenay

[Limpley Stoker]

Those braziers look so unstable - I wonder  how many fell over in real life.

[Neal Ball]

9 minutes ago, checkrail said:

While I was at it I did the other one, on the up platform.  Those Ratio kits make up into quite a nice model, though the three legged arrangement on the brazier is a bit tricky to get right. I've seen prototype photos where there are four legs, which would have been a bit easier to get stable.

 

 

If I take any more pics with the iPhone they'd probably benefit from a  smidgen of auxiliary lighting. It's a great camera for landscapes, not so good for this kind of work.

 

John C.

 

Dont worry John, Ive seen plenty of photos of wonky braziers on the real railway - if you hadn't told us, we would not have known :-)

[AlfaZagato]

I mean, those braziers were probably wrought iron?  Even if they were forged, they'd be liable to bend if you brushed it wrong.

[checkrail]

Last month my wife and I spent five glorious spring days walking across Dartmoor from south to north, staying at some nice pubs on the way. On day 1, high up on Harford Moor above Ivybridge we stopped for elevenses and I stumbled across this:

 

 

So - did the GWR have its own brickworks?

 

John C.

[AlfaZagato]

I'd wager all the Big 4 had their own brickworks.   Railways always have a need for brick, and the Big 4 were probably wise to keep things as self-contained as possible.   

 

If GWR didn't directly own the brickworks, I'd imagine they'd pull for 'own-brand' from whomever they contracted with.

[St Enodoc]

9 hours ago, checkrail said:

Rather than add that broken water crane strut to the ever-growing 'round tuit' list I sized the moment and replaced the struts with handrail wire, cut to exact length and offered up with tweezers after both ends had been dipped in cyano.

i did the same many years ago with my old Mike's Models versions (GWR, not Tibetan Railways).

[St Enodoc]

2 hours ago, checkrail said:

Last month my wife and I spent five glorious spring days walking across Dartmoor from south to north

Ah, I wondered where you'd been. Good to see you back.

 

Did you meet the Hound of the Baskervilles?

[Nick C]

On 08/06/2023 at 19:48, KNP said:

What is need is to take this video (I use this term for clarity) and turn it into individual frames (stills) ....

I expect there are automated ones out there but I have never found one.

If anyone knows one let us know as at times for close pictures I have grabbed 100+ frames for 

 

On 08/06/2023 at 20:18, checkrail said:

Thanks all for replies and suggestions re Mac. I've been very happily using Affinity for a few years - the problem's not there, it's splitting the MP4 video file into its component still frames in the first place (before loading them onto Affinity one at a time and then focus merging them).  I could do this easily in Windows Media Player but haven't yet learned to do it with Mac, even though I've spent days trying to do it with QuickTime.

My day job is writing video processing software...

 

Generally to split a file into individual frames, turn frames into a video, or turn a video into a different format (all things we do quite often to create test data) I'll use a program called FFMpeg - https://ffmpeg.org/download.html#build-mac - it's a free (open source) command line application, incredibly powerful but can also do fairly simple stuff too.

 

The comman you'll need for this is:

 

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 '%04d.png'

 

Which tells it to take the file "input.mp4" and extract all the frames to png image files with names 0000.png, 0001.png, etc.

[kitpw]

16 hours ago, AlfaZagato said:

If GWR didn't directly own the brickworks, I'd imagine they'd pull for 'own-brand' from whomever they contracted with

"Finding information on the web where GWR made their bricks has been very sketchy, but from several sources I have established that the company had it's own brickworks located within it's rail works at Swindon & it was located on Kiln Lane. Also found that the brickworks used the local Kimmeridge clay which is found in abundance around Swindon, producing their distinct red coloured bricks. The brickworks is also recorded on an Ordnance Survey map dated 1900 & then there is a Britain From Above photograph* dated 1946 showing the rail works complex with the brickworks on Kiln Lane marked in the distance on the photo, which can be seen at this link."  quoted from https://uknamedbricks.blogspot.com/2015/04/ .  

 

*http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/eaw003329

 

 

 

[checkrail]

2 hours ago, kitpw said:

"Finding information on the web where GWR made their bricks has been very sketchy, but from several sources I have established that the company had it's own brickworks located within it's rail works at Swindon & it was located on Kiln Lane.

Good bit of research on your part @kitpw.  'Kiln Lane' eh?  Fascinating stuff.  Thank you for digging it out. 

[checkrail]

9 hours ago, Nick C said:

Generally to split a file into individual frames, turn frames into a video, or turn a video into a different format (all things we do quite often to create test data) I'll use a program called FFMpeg - https://ffmpeg.org/download.html#build-mac - it's a free (open source) command line application, incredibly powerful but can also do fairly simple stuff too.

 

Thanks for this Nick - sounds promising.  Will be away for a few days but will investigate on my return mid-week.

[checkrail]

A welcome arrival two days ago has now been unpacked. 

 

First thoughts were that this is a very nice model indeed.  I think the axle box covers are a bit too 'sky blue' but they'll get covered in a layer of dirt anyway (if I keep it).

 

Second thoughts: I've already got one, and comparison makes me realise just how good the age-old Lima offering actually was.  Once the BR Mk 1 bogies and their preposterous 'pizza cutter' wheels had been exchanged for Bachmann GWR 9 foot bogies with Gibson wheels, and the buffers changed for sprung GWR ones from MRD, the major issues had been resolved.  Yes, the Accurascale one has a bit more under frame detail, and the little handrails on the ends are separate items. But with my eyesight I can't tell the difference even from less than NVD. 

 

So it's either bite the bullet, paint the roof dirty grey, add flexible corridor connections, change (or shorten) the couplings, and give it a good weathering, or sell it on. I'm certainly not ditching my Lima one and I have rather too many brown vehicles as it is. 

 

But it is rather nice. Think I'll put it away for a week or two and see how I feel. 

 

John C.

[gwrrob]

Interesting thoughts John.

[Siberian Snooper]

On 09/06/2023 at 22:17, AlfaZagato said:

I'd wager all the Big 4 had their own brickworks.   Railways always have a need for brick, and the Big 4 were probably wise to keep things as self-contained as possible.   

 

If GWR didn't directly own the brickworks, I'd imagine they'd pull for 'own-brand' from whomever they contracted with.

 

The GW brickworks at Steer Point is somewhat nearer, being on the Yealmpton Branch.

 

https://maps.nls.uk/view/106007372

 

 

[Graham T]

John, I was looking at the track in this photo ...

 

 

... and was impressed by the daylight visible between the rail and the ballast.  I guess you had to cut away all the webs between the sleepers?

 

I'm also a big fan of those old Lima Siphons 🙂

 

[Brassey]

On 11/06/2023 at 09:16, Graham T said:

John, I was looking at the track in this photo ...

 

 

... and was impressed by the daylight visible between the rail and the ballast.  I guess you had to cut away all the webs between the sleepers?

I think you’ll find that the track is hand-built. One of the benefits of building your own. 

[Graham T]

According to the BRM article John used C&L track, which I understand has webbing between the sleepers.  If he did cut the webs away I'm interested to hear if he had a clever trick for maintaining the sleeper spacing when he laid the track, as it's something I might try to do on Chuffnell Regis Mk II.

 

[Limpley Stoker]

Perhaps we could persuade John to do a Webinar on the subject !!

[Graham T]

Perhaps he'd like to visit Vienna to do some track laying...

 

[Siberian Snooper]

4 hours ago, Graham T said:

According to the BRM article John used C&L track, which I understand has webbing between the sleepers.  If he did cut the webs away I'm interested to hear if he had a clever trick for maintaining the sleeper spacing when he laid the track, as it's something I might try to do on Chuffnell Regis Mk II.

 

 

I made a jig, using a Templot template, to get the sleeper spacing, but I only do one rail, the other is laid when the track is installed. I use ply sleepers and timbering.

 

 

 

 

[Graham T]

Thanks, a jig is a good idea.  Not sure that I'm ready to take on the Templot learning curve though...

 

[BWsTrains]

3 hours ago, Graham T said:

Not sure that I'm ready to take on the Templot learning curve though...

 

 

Talk to me sometime, I'll try to convince you.

[Coach bogie]

On 11/06/2023 at 05:25, checkrail said:

I'm certainly not ditching my Lima one and I have rather too many brown vehicles as it is. 

 

Totally agree. I have several Lima's all with revised underframe detail and bogies. It even lends itself to convert to a Siphon J. I made my J over 40 years ago when the Lima G first came out in the late 1970's. I have a couple of Accurascale on the way, at the moment somewhere across the Pacific.

 

I have been upgrading the ex Airfix outside frame, G. There have been several low price one around recently. All these siphons were purchased for £12 or less. One had a smashed underframe - no problem as I was going to make a new one anyway. There are so many variants of the early ones. Each of these has a different truss rods, (twin rod/flat bar, and angle bar) add on electric or gas lights with roof piping, several alternative bogies used etc;  there is a lot you can do. One of these has a David Geen underfarme, the others use the Airfix with replacement fittings. I will not rushing to replace these when a modern manufacture version eventually appears.

 

Mike Wiltshire

Edited June 13, 2023 by Coach bogie

[St Enodoc]

12 hours ago, Graham T said:

According to the BRM article John used C&L track, which I understand has webbing between the sleepers.  If he did cut the webs away I'm interested to hear if he had a clever trick for maintaining the sleeper spacing when he laid the track, as it's something I might try to do on Chuffnell Regis Mk II.

 

I use SMP track rather than C&L but there's no need to worry about the web as it's very thin and disappears under the ballast.

[St Enodoc]

1 hour ago, Coach bogie said:

Totally agree. I have several Lima's all with revised underframe detail and bogies. It even lends itself to convert to a Siphon J. I made my J over 40 years ago when the Lima G first came out in the late 1970's. I have a couple of Accurascale on the way, at the moment somewhere across the Pacific.

 

I have been upgrading the ex Airfix outside frame, G. There have been several low price one around recently. All these siphons were purchased for £12 or less. One had a smashed underframe - no problem as I was going to make a new one anyway. There are so many variants of the early ones. Each of these has a different truss rods, (twin rod/flat bar, and angle bar) add on electric or gas lights with roof piping, several alternative bogies used etc;  there is a lot you can do. One of these has a David Geen underfarme, the others use the Airfix with replacement fittings. I will not rushing to replace these when a modern manufacture version eventually appears.

 

Mike Wiltshire

K's F?