Bilton Junction

[micklner]

Very nice, I however personally would change the Whistle. Very vulnerable in Whitemetal as well. Looking at the Model Rail photos the Chimney Cover looks exactly the same as you have made. I would leave it , as it is.

[Chas Levin]

3 hours ago, micklner said:

Very nice...

 

Yep, as Mick says!

[Jon4470]

I think that the construction of the Sentinel is now complete. I haven’t had much time for modelling in the last few weeks, so adding the details has dragged on a bit.

 

 

I’ve added the following to the basic kit:

• rear steps
• sandbox operating rods and lever 
• injectors
• brakes
• lamp irons
• coupling hooks
• guard irons

 

I’ve also:

• replaced cab steps with brass
• replaced the sanding pipes with brass rod
• replaced the whistle….with wire and brass tube

 

I haven’t fitted a works plate to the cab side. I may yet order one….not sure yet. I thought about making plates up, but I don’t think I’ll be able to create accurate ones…and they wouldn’t have any cast details anyway..so best left off unless I commission some.

 

Next stage is primer….and probably filler between the body and footplate!

 

Ultimately, this will be finished in ex-works condition with no lining as number 192.

 

[jessy1692]

17 minutes ago, Jon4470 said:

I think that the construction of the Sentinel is now complete. I haven’t had much time for modelling in the last few weeks, so adding the details has dragged on a bit.

 

 

I’ve added the following to the basic kit:

• rear steps
• sandbox operating rods and lever 
• injectors
• brakes
• lamp irons
• coupling hooks
• guard irons

 

I’ve also:

• replaced cab steps with brass
• replaced the sanding pipes with brass rod
• replaced the whistle….with wire and brass tube

 

I haven’t fitted a works plate to the cab side. I may yet order one….not sure yet. I thought about making plates up, but I don’t think I’ll be able to create accurate ones…and they wouldn’t have any cast details anyway..so best left off unless I commission some.

 

Next stage is primer….and probably filler between the body and footplate!

 

Ultimately, this will be finished in ex-works condition with no lining as number 192.

 

Looks excellent Jon and worth them added little bits to detail up. Just thinking about plates, I'm sure the chaps at Narrow Planet would do a great job on some, also wouldn't be surprised if they have drawings already.

 

Cheers

James

[Jon4470]

1 hour ago, jessy1692 said:

Looks excellent Jon and worth them added little bits to detail up. Just thinking about plates, I'm sure the chaps at Narrow Planet would do a great job on some, also wouldn't be surprised if they have drawings already.

 

Cheers

James

Thanks for the complement.

 

You’re quite correct about the plates of course!   I was just being lazy….your post prompted me to do the job properly😀…….so the plates are now ordered.

 

 

[Jon4470]

So it’s welcome to the new year!

 

I thought I’d share a small test of the Sentinel that I carried out today. It’s not totally scientific but maybe of interest to anyone who is using the Tenshodo Spud to provide power.

 

These drive units are convenient but I was worried about reports that they were underpowered. So, time for a few videos…..

 

First, though, I weighed the Shunter…

 

 

 

I then decided to tun three tests. The first would be the spud on its own. Second I would add just the (white metal) chassis bracket. Finally the whole model would be run. The idea was to see what sort of speed the unit could manage.

 

First issue was that the Spud didn’t feel like working😒

 

I took off the base plate, applied some oil (sparingly…just like we are told to🙂), reassembled to unit and….hey presto it worked! Here’s the video….

 

https://youtu.be/IP09nH7-FZ8
 

The throttle was at about 50% on the controller,

 

The addition of the white metal chassis adds weight and, hence, the traction is improved. This was filmed at about 40% throttle

 

https://youtu.be/w9A1YV5Yr0U

 

Finally, the body was added. Again at 40% throttle

 

https://youtu.be/zBtLLgYrbwg

 

This looks plenty fast enough for this locomotive. On my layout it will only run as a light engine, so no need to haul anything. The real thing only had a maximum speed of about 20mph…..again the test run looks plenty fast enough to me.

 

All in all (for the use that this locomotive will get) I’m happy enough with this small test.

 

Jon
 

 

[micklner]

All three videos are blocked the screen is saying "Private"  Presumably the settings need changing.

[Jon4470]

1 hour ago, micklner said:

All three videos are blocked the screen is saying "Private"  Presumably the settings need changing.

Thanks for pointing that out. I think I’ve now fixed that problem!

 

Jon

[Chas Levin]

22 hours ago, Jon4470 said:

So it’s welcome to the new year!

 

I thought I’d share a small test of the Sentinel that I carried out today...

 

... All in all (for the use that this locomotive will get) I’m happy enough with this small test.

 

Jon

 

Looks excellent Jon and certainly fast enough: that's surely quite a lot more than a scale 20mph so I'd agree you're fine there; very handsome little loco too!

Edited January 2 by Chas Levin

[Jon4470]

Just for completeness, I thought I’d weigh the Sentinel Railcar as well.

 

This is the NuCast model and is entirely white metal. The spud is one option for powering these models, although I chose a different power unit for my build.

 

 

 

It weighs in at three times the weight of the shunter. 
 

 

[Jon4470]

Not much actual model making going on at the moment. This is mainly because work gets intense for me during December and January…and tends to squeeze out the desire to make stuff.

 

Nevertheless, I have had a real good go at completing my planned sequence of trains.  This is something that I have been working on in fits and starts for a while. It has been about 80% complete for a year or two in fact. I’ve used the up and down timetables and merged them with information from a “census” in 1931 (aka a trainspotters log) plus the carriage rosters for the line. From all of these sources i was able to create a list of trains with approximate times, the number of wagons or carriages, which loco was in charge and also the carriage types.

The list was then condensed a little by removing some trains from the sequence.

 

In the end, though, the sequence still has 68 trains in it😱 

 

Undaunted I have carried on with the task! I next allocated the goods trains to sidings. I allocated each passenger train to a cassette number. As I progressed, I could see how several real trains could be represented by one model train. For instance if a up train passed through at 9:30…then it can be used to represent a similar down train passing through and hour or so later. This is made easier because many of the passenger trains used standard fixed sets in the North Eastern Area……and,so, look very similar. Thus the number of model trains required to represent the total sequence falls.

 

At the moment I have 17 cassettes….these include a cassette for the Sentinel shunter, right up to a cassette for a 9 carriage excursion. In other words, these should be considered as “virtual cassettes” and are being used to represent model trains. I also have 5 “sidings” required for the goods trains. So this makes a total of 22 model trains to represent 68 real trains. This is still a lot, but definitely more manageable. 

 

For the passenger trains I know the type of carriages required and hence can work out suitable diagram numbers. When compared to the carriages that I have in store (in the maturing pile) that then gives me my shopping list. I don’t want to waste my precious money on things that I don’t need.

 

For the locos, I have used the 1931 census as the basis and kept the same loco, unless it had been scrapped or allocated away. Any substitutions were from locos based in the same sheds….so should be plausible. Quite predictably I have more than enough locos already in the pile😃

 

For the wagons ……well there is plenty more research to do. I know the number of wagons required and the type of goods train involved. I’ll have to study photos carefully to figure out the exact types of wagons that I want. That should keep me busy for a while!

 

Next steps with the sequence will be to create flip charts for each movement……I’m hoping that this will help me visualise the movements that are required to run the sequence and thus to develop a plan for the fiddle yard/cassettes that I will need.

 

Apologies for a very wordy post……hopefully, though, of some interest.

 

Jon

[Jon4470]

One of the potential locos for my layout is a Gresley J39…. They got more or less everywhere!

 

Many years ago I bought one of these…..

 

 

Now, clearly this is a BR example……however I had also acquired this other body shell via eBay….

 

 

 

A quick swap and it now looks like this…

 

 

 

This batch of J39s was built by contractors in 1936. They were lined red because they were sent an out of date painting spec! (The LNER painted these locos plain black from 1928 onwards). I’ll have to change the number to 1854 which was shedded  in Newport and, therefore, could easily have appeared on the Leeds Northern.

 

 

The other thing that I’ll have to change is this…

 

 

This is a 4200 gallon tender. My loco needs a 3500g tender. No real problem because I have also acquired this kit from South Eastern Finecast.

 

 

 

In the next post I’ll start the modelling…..

 

Edited February 12 by Jon4470
Remove surplus photo

[Jon4470]

The modelling for this loco is based on a model that @jwealleans posted in 2017 on his workbench. (Which, in turn, he based on an article in BRM from 1995).

 

The list of modifications that he made was:

• New loco to tender coupling
• Boiler mould line removed
• New lamp irons
• Separate drop grate operating rod
• New cabside handrails
• Injector pipework
• Fallplate 
• Replacment cab rainstrips (the originals curved too high)
• Sandbox operating levers
• Smokebox rivets removed (they were flush in LNER days)
• Second Wakefield lubricator added    ( I don’t need this)
• Rear coal plate moved back.

To this I will be adding:

• a single cover plate for the front cylinders because the Bachmann model has the older separate covers.
• Worksplates on smokebox sides
• oil pipes both sides with loop, oil box on right hand front splasher
• Fit front brake hose and steam heat
• Buffer beam lined in white
• number change
• New tender🙂

 

No time like the present….out with the craft knife and off with the moulding lines.

 

 

Work in progress…….

 

 

 

Think it’s done….

 

 

 

Next step is to start pipes.

 

[Jon4470]

Progress on the J39 has been made….albeit slowly.

 

The loco detailing is complete now. I haven’t changed the handrails on the cab side yet. I plan to see how well (or badly) they match up with the tender handrails. If they don’t match (or, rather, if the difference annoys me) then I’ll change them.

 

 

 

 

Patch painting, lining the buffer beam and re-numbering are next steps.

 

In a previous post I said this would become number 1854……..that was completely incorrect…….. I have no idea where I got that number from🙄 

The correct number will be 1534.

 

 

The tender is also largely complete…. Bank Holiday today helped with that. Other details will be added after painting and lining in red.

 

 

That footplate edge will need some filling……not something I had noticed until I looked at the photo🙂