Aston On Clun. A forgotten Great Western outpost.

[MrWolf]

I'm also on with the lead off board, it's a case of getting the FPL complete opposite the signal box in order to position it accurately. I can then use that as my datum for everything else. 

[wiggoforgold]

9 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

Both of the FPLs are now in. Various theories have been put forward as to what the F in FPL stands for.

 

None of which were "Facing". 

 

 

 

What make is the FPL then? 

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, wiggoforgold said:

What make is the FPL then? 

 

It's a part of the Wills' point rodding kit.

[Graham T]

14 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Fiddly Point Locks. I have since cut off the bits of sleeper intended for a clip on point motor. 

 

Good idea Mr W.  Something to add to my list of things to do...

[MrWolf]

Lots of rodding runs to build.

 

 

I've borrowed @chuffinghell's method of crossing baseboard joints.

 

 

image lost.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 23, 2022 by MrWolf
Unknown fairycake genocide error.

[chuffinghell]

I found building them off the layout on a strip of styrene is much easier to do and also a good method of getting them in straight line

 

I'm honoured you have adopted the chuffinghell baseboard joint crossing method 

 

Edited November 7, 2021 by chuffinghell

[MrWolf]

Considering that I am only operating and locking two crossovers, it's taken a surprising amount of rodding.

I started off with one rodding kit, @Tortugakindly donated a spare and I'm now starting on one of the extension kits containing a further two metres of rodding.

 

Is it worth it? Definitely, because I know that it should be there and its absence is obvious.

 

[KNP]

For ages I had lived without point rodding on LM, but once I added I realised that quite an important part of the railway scene was missing.

I to was amazed at how much it took to do both my stations.

 

It will be worth the effort at the end of the day though so keep going.....

 

Is this a diversion from removing the top feed on your Pannier by any chance???

Edited November 7, 2021 by KNP

[Graham T]

Putting a small piece of thin microstrip across the underneath of the butt joints of the rods helps to align and strengthen them too.

 

Not my idea I hasten to add!

[MrWolf]

On 07/11/2021 at 14:19, KNP said:

 

Is this a diversion from removing the top feed on your Pannier by any chance???

 

Damn. You got me.

 

 

Edited August 23, 2022 by MrWolf
Picture no attach!

[MrWolf]

Another thirty two lengths of point rodding cut from their sprues.....

[Bluemonkey presents....]

Just another 100m left keeping pushing  

[Graham T]

I feel your pain!  At least the plastic they used is quite good to work with.

[MrWolf]

It's something that does make Wills' products quite pleasurable to use, even those that have been sat around for twenty years, is that the plastic is of as good a quality as the large scale military vehicle kits. It makes building and modifying them very easy. Perhaps they should have got into building rolling stock kits too.

Usual disclaimer!

[Graham T]

It does make quite a big difference I find.  I've got two of their pagoda huts waiting to be transformed into a "Frankenhut", as I'm not happy with the one I built straight out of the box.

[MrWolf]

There used to be some very nice pagoda kits in both plastic and white metal, there was a complete halt kit which was really good, I had one and did plan a tiny layout with a single siding around it but it's long gone and they rarely turn up. I think that the rise of RTP models have killed off a lot of such things.

The Wills'kit is a bit generic, but it can be hacked about into something that is a little more convincing. I have modified one, but I think that if I did it again, I would use two kits to get the proportions right. It doesn't look long enough to me in the straight out of the box condition and the doors shouldn't be recessed.

 

 

 

Edited August 23, 2022 by MrWolf
Replaced picture

[Stubby47]

If someone offered to 3D print pagoda hut rooves, to a length specified, there would be a ready market.

 

The rest of the hut is fairly straight forward to make, but the roof is a real challenge. 

[MrWolf]

The roof moulding of the Wills'kit isn't great, (the shape is fine, but it's not a very crisp moulding) but it's about all there is.

[MrWolf]

By way of a break from point rodding, I made a start on the oldest of the Midland Railway 8 ton van kits. (Priced £1.24!) At least it's never been opened. 

Again the mouldings for the sides and ends are works of art, but the chassis is in a lighter grey plastic which reminds me of the porcelain used to make spark plugs....

 

There's a typewritten slip giving additional instructions on bevelling all four sides of the floor to achieve the correct fit. That knowledge would have been useful for the first one I built! 

 

 

 

Edited November 7, 2021 by MrWolf
Typing with hind paws again...

[Compound2632]

3 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

Again the mouldings for the sides and ends are works of art, but the chassis is in a lighter grey plastic which reminds me of the porcelain used to make spark plugs....

 

Interesting; I've come across that in one or two of their recently-produced kits but not vintage ones.

 

4 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

There's a typewritten slip giving additional instructions on bevelling all four sides of the floor to achieve the correct fit. That knowledge would have been useful for the first one I built! 

 

Curiouser and curiouser. Somewhere along the way that knowledge got forgotten - certainly before c. 1981.

 

[MrWolf]

Yes I recall someone posting about some almost translucent mouldings being almost impossible to cut off the sprue without breaking them. I've had to repair the bottom of one W iron and a v hanger on the brake lever that was already damaged.

 

I don't know if it's legible in the photo:

 

But it reads:. 

 

Additional instructions for the 8 ton M.R. Coke Wagon and M.R. 8 ton Box Van.

 

Bevel the top of all 4 sides of the floor sufficient for the floor to fit into the slot on the ends of the body and the cut away section of the sides. Next assemble two sides onto one end with Mek Pak and when set slide the floor into the assembly finally fitting the last end. Follow the assembly diagram for the rest of the kit.

 

 

 

 

[MrWolf]

The newest of the three 8 ton vans looks like a better plastic, the header card says Slater's on the front and on the back it says: Cooper Craft Taunton. 

I'm wondering if the plastic is of the same type that Cooper Craft used for their own range of Great Western wagons? It certainly looks like it.

[Regularity]

17 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

Damn. You got me.

 

How do you make a German jump?

 

Shout “Hans up!”

[MrWolf]

 

 

 

Having followed to the letter that scrap of the Dead Sea Scrolls that was in the packet, the 8 tonner went together very well.

As is oft repeated by NCOs, "RTFM lad..."

It doesn't entirely address the issue of the solebars sitting slightly below the headstocks though. For that to happen, you would need to deepen the rebate in the sides and ends in order to drop the entire upper body over the floor and frames.

You will then have the much bigger problem of the buffer centres being around 0.35 mm lower than they should be.

This to  me is a much bigger visual issue than a little step in the ends of the solebars. It would be a particular problem for me with three link couplings. It would only be a more glaring visual issue with the Tri-ang coupling as originally provided for.

 

image lost.

 

 

Edited August 23, 2022 by MrWolf

[MrWolf]

It's not entirely been a walk in the park of course. When it came to removing the buffer collars from the sprues, they simply shattered. A dig in the box of bits turned up a surplus set from a Cambrian kit. These fitted straight over the turned metal buffers supplied by Slater's.

It would be very useful if Slater's could supply those buffers as a separate item. I'd probably buy a couple of hundred!