Churminster & Stowe Magna, Southern Railway

[Tony Teague]

Apologies to followers of this thread for my failure to post anything for over 4 months, but I'm afraid that my railway modelling mojo seems to have gone into long term hiding! 😭

 

Two things happened this week which might possibly help to change this - first, a parcel arrived from Hattons containing a small fleet of the new Rapido SECR wagons which I ordered a little whle ago:

 

 

It's not that I need any more wagons, you understand - it's just that they looked so good that I couldn't resist, plus manufacturers who take these initiatives deserve support!

 

(At least that's what I'll tell the therapist....🤣)

 

Actually my plan is to dispose of quite a large number of older Private Owner wagons that I used to be fond of, but really are too plentiful for the era that I model.

 

Problem is, of course, that these will just lengthen the weathering queue.....

 

The second thing that happened was that whilst I was away at a competely different, and non-railway event, I was talking over lunch to a couple who were accompanied by their grandson, and whilst we were all chatting he just happened to mention his enthusiasm for model railways. 

 

So, wishing to encourage the younger generation I showed them some pictures of my train set, at which point the lad asked whether it could be seen on the web; I was at the point of directing him to this thread when I realised that, following the great 'image theft', this would be futile!

 

Not having posted much recently means that the vast majority of images are missing from my thread, and so it really doesn't represent what has been achieved or how I got it to where it now is.

 

I have not felt bothered to do much about this until now, but just looked upon it as an irritation, however, triggered by that conversation I have resolved to fix this, and so far I have restored about 150 images, starting at the beginning; problem is, there are over 1,000 more to be processed! 😧

 

Will my enthusiasm hold? We shall see.

 

Tony

Edited November 4, 2022 by Tony Teague

[Dragonboy]

19 hours ago, Tony Teague said:

Apologies to followers of this thread for my failure to post anything for over 4 months, but I'm afraid that my railway modelling mojo seems to have gone into long term hiding! 😭

 

Two things happened this week which might possibly help to change this - first, a parcel arrived from Hattons containing a small fleet of the new Rapido SECR wagons which I ordered a little whle ago:

 

 

It's not that I need any more wagons, you understand - it's just that they looked so good that I couldn't resist, plus manufacturers who take these initiatives deserve support!

 

(At least that's what I'll tell the therapist....🤣)

 

Actually my plan is to dispose of quite a large number of older Private Owner wagons that I used to be fond of, but really are too plentiful for the era that I model.

 

Problem is, of course, that these will just lengthen the weathering queue.....

 

The second thing that happened was that whilst I was away at a competely different, and non-railway event, I was talking over lunch to a couple who were accompanied by their grandson, and whilst we were all chatting he just happened to mention his enthusiasm for model railways. 

 

So, wishing to encourage the younger generation I showed them some pictures of my train set, at which point the lad asked whether it could be seen on the web; I was at the point of directing him to this thread when I realised that, following the great 'image theft', this would be futile!

 

Not having posted much recently means that the vast majority of images are missing from my thread, and so it really doesn't represent what has been achieved or how I got it to where it now is.

 

I have not felt bothered to do much about this until now, but just looked upon it as an irritation, however, triggered by that conversation I have resolved to fix this, and so far I have restored about 150 images, starting at the beginning; problem is, there are over 1,000 more to be processed! 😧

 

Will my enthusiasm hold? We shall see.

 

Tony

Loss of mojo is something I’ve suffered with in the past and to a certain extent am at the moment regarding my garden where my mojo disappeared when I realised how many plants I’d lost in the drought, but as regards modelling mojo I have successfully kick started it by picking something I enjoy doing. This is usually making or weathering wagon kits, or taking some I made earlier muttering “oh dear” a couple of times and giving them a dowsing in paint stripper and doing them again. Usually gets the gears turning. 
 

Brian

Edited November 5, 2022 by Dragonboy

[Tony Teague]

5 minutes ago, Dragonboy said:

Loss of mojo is something I’ve suffered with in the past and to a certain extent am at the moment regarding my garden where my mojo disappeared when I realised how many plants I’d lost in the drought, but as regards modelling mojo I have successfully kick started it by picking something I enjoy doing. This is usually making or weathering wagon kits, or taking some I made earlier muttering “oh dear” a couple of times and giving them a dowsing in paint stripper and doing them again. Usually gets the gears turning. 
 

Brian

Thanks Brian

I tend to agree - doing something you enjoy always helps. In my case, like yours, it is often making a wagon kit because you can usually manage to get a fairly quick result - which is always satisfying.

Tony

[Tony Teague]

Made a bit more progress with replacing the "stolen images" - now reached 300 and covered the first 10 pages of this thread; it seems I posted a lot of images back in 2017 / 2018 as I was covering the "A-Z of Southern Locomotives" - heady days!

I am hoping that at some point I might come across some pages where the images were not lost, or were automatically recovered - but none so far.

More motivation to re-start my modelling comes in the good news that Bachmann / EFE-Rail are producing an SR / ex-LSWR three car cross country set, although some of the subsequent observations would seem to indicate that it has significant flaws even before it has been delivered.

Tony

[westerhamstation]

Hi Tony, I seem to be sharing the same problem regarding the loss of 10 years of worth images affecting my enthusiasm for posting further images of progress on the new bit of railway that I am modelling at the moment, this in turn results in the old Mojo keep going off to hide in places that I can't seem to coax him out of, even with the promise of a can of beer if he comes out. I am glad that you have found some motivation and have made progress in restoring some images. All the best Adrian. 

[Tony Teague]

3 hours ago, westerhamstation said:

Hi Tony, I seem to be sharing the same problem regarding the loss of 10 years of worth images affecting my enthusiasm for posting further images of progress on the new bit of railway that I am modelling at the moment, this in turn results in the old Mojo keep going off to hide in places that I can't seem to coax him out of, even with the promise of a can of beer if he comes out. I am glad that you have found some motivation and have made progress in restoring some images. All the best Adrian. 

Thanks Adrian

 

I have found that a glass of wine and some cheese can help with the coaxing - but you are right, the long term effect of the loss of early images is greater than can have been imagined. I hope that @AY Mod was able to extract some compensation from the mess - but it is unlikely to match the cost in terms of time, of re-instating those images.

 

I have spent my afternoon in the railway room because I realise that just re-posting old images will not be enough to get the mojo back on track.

 

Tony

[mullie]

The loss of photos is very sad as it is no longer possible to browse layouts that come up in searches or even signatures where the owner hasn't posted recently. For me it has changed the nature of RM Web as a source of inspiration. Some topics on particular pieces of rolling stock and modelling techniques are not really any use now which I find very sad.

 

I didn't even try and reinstate my photos as I simply didn't have the older ones. I created a montage of the older photos I still had and posted that. I still have the one of my layout after substantial rebuilding to post.

 

Martyn

[AY Mod]

53 minutes ago, Tony Teague said:

I hope that @AY Mod was able to extract some compensation from the mess

 

If you can class not continuing to bill me for services I'd already cancelled 'compensation'? 😉

 

I'm still fuming about the whole saga and its impact on so many people with a portion of that reserved for 'the enemy within' that is our own barrier to progress  IT dept.

[Tony Teague]

I can relate to that - in one organistaion that I worked for we called them the business prevention unit.🤓

[AdeMoore]

As an avid if silent follower of this lovely thread or is it topic! I get mixed up.

I’m glad your not only finding the photos but taking the time to put them back. 
As Martyn says it’s/was a great resource and research tool. One that Goofle does throw up, but with photos gone on those threads it lends little to what your looking for in most cases.

I was lucky in that I duplicated my threads on Western Thunder so it’s all there.

I have few looking in as it’s early days in modelling for me. But still if your a member (you only see thumbnails if not) it’s good for a back up. Even if mine was more luck than judgment! 

[Tony Teague]

4 minutes ago, AdeMoore said:

As an avid if silent follower of this lovely thread or is it topic! I get mixed up.

I’m glad your not only finding the photos but taking the time to put them back. 
As Martyn says it’s/was a great resource and research tool. One that Goofle does throw up, but with photos gone on those threads it lends little to what your looking for in most cases.

I was lucky in that I duplicated my threads on Western Thunder so it’s all there.

I have few looking in as it’s early days in modelling for me. But still if your a member (you only see thumbnails if not) it’s good for a back up. Even if mine was more luck than judgment! 

 

Morning Ade

Thanks!

My pictures are all backed up here but they have reference numbers generated by a combination of the camera that I used and Lightroom, which I use to process and catalogue images (photography is my other hobby, although you wouldn't know it from some of the pictures that I post!).

So the main issue for me is the sheer volume of images and the time it takes to match them to each post; so far, probably about 6 hours for 300 pictures.

Nevertheless I agree that if the thread is to be a record of the layot for me, and perhaps an occasional reference for others, then it just doesn't work without the pictures.

Tony

[AdeMoore]

8 minutes ago, Tony Teague said:

 

Morning Ade

Thanks!

My pictures are all backed up here but they have reference numbers generated by a combination of the camera that I used and Lightroom, which I use to process and catalogue images (photography is my other hobby, although you wouldn't know it from some of the pictures that I post!).

So the main issue for me is the sheer volume of images and the time it takes to match them to each post; so far, probably about 6 hours for 300 pictures.

Nevertheless I agree that if the thread is to be a record of the layot for me, and perhaps an occasional reference for others, then it just doesn't work without the pictures.

Tony

So far as all my threads are complete over there on WT I haven’t felt compelled to update any of my on here with photos 

6 hours cricky that’s some undertaking with twice that to go! Did you mention 1000 photos here?.  
I’d say your doing yourself a miss service your photos are extremely good.

[Tony Teague]

Decided to give the images a rest yesterday afternoon and get out into the railway room. Given that nothing has been switched on or moved for around 4 months, it was reassuring that most of it still worked, although some of the locos on heavier trains did seem to struggle and look a bit arthritic!

 

I would have liked to do a bit of actual modelling but I had to start by clearing up, plus I wanted to run some trains. In the process of tidying I came across this new addition to stock that arrived some time in July but was never reported here:

 

 

No.629 is an Adams, ex-LSWR A12 'Jubilee' 0-4-2 from OO Works which currently looks a bit shiny and lacks a crew, headcode discs and real coal, but is otherwise to their recent standard, however, I always hae a problem with locos from this source as they are wired to the 'US standard' which means the loco is live on one side and the tender on the other.

 

There is nothing wrong with this in principal, but the way my fiddle yards work is that they are powered by a separate controller and semi-automated via IRDOT's; the OO Works locos always stall at the interface between the two until I add pickups to the opposite (currently unconnected) side of the loco. I will get around to this but it is sort of irritating in what is not a cheap loco to acquire.

 

So on moving the loco from ist box directly to the 'cripple drawer' I also came across it's twin which arrived back in February, but again, was not reported here:

 

 

No.598 is another A12 from the same source and therefore awaiting the same treatment, plus that handrail needs dulling down a bit!. I can't decide whether this loco is best suited by the wartime black or the pre-war lined olive livery but they are quite a handsome pair despite the relatively uncommon wheel configuration:

 

 

As you can see, I added crew (plus removed the surplus front coupling) but everything else must wait.

 

I have two other A12's, both built for me by Chris Phillips from Nu-Cast kits, No.597 in wartime black:

 

 

...and No.614 in lined olive:

 

 

The Nu-Cast kit has got to be all of 50 years old, but I am not sure that the OO Works model has moved things forward very significantly - other than it is ready to run.

 

Tony

 

 

[Tony Teague]

9 minutes ago, AdeMoore said:

So far as all my threads are complete over there on WT I haven’t felt compelled to update any of my on here with photos 

6 hours cricky that’s some undertaking with twice that to go! Did you mention 1000 photos here?.  
I’d say your doing yourself a miss service your photos are extremely good.

 

Yes but some images may not have been lost, or were automatically recovered - but I haven't looked or counted.

Thanks - but some are less sharp than I'd like!

Tony

[PeterA]

Wartime black is a god send for kit building locos, at least for me...

 

Just tried to register on Western Thunder to have a look, but they appear to have a Invalid Domain For Site Key issue with regard to reCaptcha...

 

Tried Contacting them, to let them know... but... you need reCaptcha working to be able send the completed contact form!?! 🤔

Edited November 6, 2022 by PeterA

[Michael Edge]

I'll be starting on your C14 today, will that help to get your mojo back?

[Tony Teague]

It would be a terrific incentive!

Many thanks

Tony

[Tony Teague]

A very quick update to say that I have not lost the mojo once again - I have just been away for a few days.

 

Now that I am back I have got the re-instatement of missing images up as far as p.34 of this thread - and the gap remaining is now from p.35 - p.50; after that they are more recent than the "image theft incident".

 

I must say that restoring these has taken far more effort than I imagined and if I ever get to meet the man responsible I shall find it hard to resist giving him a sharp knee in the soft parts. 🤣

 

Tomorrow is set aside for actual modelling, which may come as a shock to the system!

 

Tony

[westerhamstation]

Hi Tony, please feel free to add my contribution to his pain. All the best Adrian.

Edited November 19, 2022 by westerhamstation

[AY Mod]

2 hours ago, Tony Teague said:

I shall find it hard to resist giving him a sharp knee in the soft parts. 🤣

 

I have only been able to administer the verbal and written equivalent to the incompetent fatherless individual. Permanent physical reminders would be satisfying but of no merit to our cause. If such injuries were likely to elicit a successful outcome I'd have probably done the deed.

[Tony Teague]

2 minutes ago, AY Mod said:

 

I have only been able to administer the verbal and written equivalent to the incompetent fatherless individual. Permanent physical reminders would be satisfying but of no merit to our cause. If such injuries were likely to elicit a successful outcome I'd have probably done the deed.

 

....but 'satisfying' could bring some comfort..............😏

 

I'm sure, Andy, that you have long since done everything that was legally possible; you have all of our sympathies.

 

Tony

[AY Mod]

20 minutes ago, Tony Teague said:

you have all of our sympathies.

 

Life goes on in all its trivial forms, if there were any justice today Elon Musk would concede that he's nothing more than a spiteful child and our local Amazon driver would be suspended by his plums from the lamppost across the road; purely for my visual entertainment.

[Tony Teague]

Some time ago & with the help of a follower of this thread, I acquired this model by ACT Models, of Hawthorn Leslie / SR No.3458 'Ironside' - the only one of this loco that I have ever been aware of:

 

 

I have fitted buffers, nameplates, and tidied it up a bit, but I am stuck on lettering & numbering and would appreciate any thoughts or help. There are not many images of the original loco available but those that exist for the SR period show the word 'SOUTHERN' and the number it carried at that time, No.3458, however, neither of these appear to be in a standard font:

 

[This from Charlie Verrall on Flickr]

 

To add to the problem, the side tanks are only 22mm long and so even if I wanted to use the decals that are available from HMRS etc, they are too long / large to fit into the available space.

 

Does anyone have any ideas as to how I might overcome this issue and get the model into 'operating stock'?

 

Tony

 

 

[Nick C]

Looking at that photo, I reckon the 'Southern' is probably hand painted, most likely because any transfers they had wouldn't have fitted! Might be worth getting in touch with Railtec and seeing if he can help?

 

Another option might be to see if anyone does 3mm scale transfers, which would obviously be that bit smaller...

[simonmcp]

Looking at the photo I would think the typeface is Gill Sans, definitely for the numbers and possibly for the letters as well. If it was sign written, then the sign writer may have altered the letter forms to fit the available space (condensed in modern speak). I often reduced the width of letters in some words to get a whole word to fit into a column width when I was producing magazines or books, not normally noticed by the readers. I also hate hyphenated words, I was taught to never hyphenate a name or proper noun!