Adam's EM Workbench: Farewell for now

[Adam]

And here, complete with lettering, courtesy of Cambridge Custom Transfers (BL135) and a data panel from Railtec, the latest vehicle off the bench and ready for traffic, weathering and a load. It's a real beast of a wagon this.

 

 

 

 

Adam

 

EDIT: after some delay, better pictures now added.

Edited October 26, 2015 by Adam

[Adam]

I had a nice email from Steve at Railtec last week saying that a commission I made (a little while ago) for lettering for my pair of Coil Rs had come to fruition. If you want some, you can buy some too: http://www.railtec-models.com/showitem.php?id=2028

 

The lettering is very closely based on Paul Bartlett's pictures and serves both for the TOPS coded vehicles illustrated and our best guess for what they originally looked like, with type brandings instead of TOPS codes and without the TOPS pool numbers. There are sufficient for three wagons, but no, I'm not building any more: I have 10% of all that were ever built as it is!

 

 

I'm very well pleased with these and can recommend them without reservation.

 

Adam

Edited October 31, 2015 by Adam

[Adam]

Just for a change, something not on wheels. Ok, so it arrived at the state in which you see it about a year ago, but there you are; a very, very small step towards an eventual layout (don't get too excited Andrew) in the form of a weighbridge hut based on an original that once existed in the landsale yard at Merthyr Vale colliery. It's an unassuming little structure of brick and corrugated asbestos and there are a couple of pictures of the original here:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/60790501@N04/5685120678/

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/52467480@N08/6454453527/

 

And here: http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/Images_I-M/MerthyrValeColliery_1-Cropped_K-Shabby.jpg

 

This also provides an excuse to pass on my absolute favourite south Wales colliery shot of Merthyr Vale no. 1 beautifully framed by concrete fences, lattice footbridge and some rather interesting road vehicles by George Woods. Nice Ford D tipper there.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/52467480@N08/6454462447/

 

The construction is quite straightforward with dimensions being guestimated by counting bricks, transferred to Slater's brick sheets - Flemish bond on a carcass of 60 thou'. The roof is Will's asbestos sheets and the guttering/downpipes are, extravagantly, knocked up from brass tube.

 

 

 

Yes, I know the concrete lintels need picking out again but I'm pleased with the brickwork. Inside, we have evidence of colliery modernisation in the form of a new weighing machine (I think it was Avery that supplied red ones and Pooley green, but I might have that the wrong way about. The screen is probably an unprototypical luxury!

 

 

Adam

Edited October 31, 2015 by Adam

[ullypug]

I knew you'd crack eventually!

Very nice little structure. I especially like the mortar colouring.

Nice photos. I can just envisage that in model form.

Go on, you know you want to!

[Adam]

Ha! When I have the space (some time next year, hopefully) there is the basis of something here I think:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/52467480@N08/6454453527/

 

The track layout offers something I think and there are some nice scenic features: the rather natty concrete lamp post and the Pelican loader in the background, for example. I have plans in the direction of the latter using a couple of sacrificial Oxford Diecast tractors... It's not hugely demanding in terms of stock though! Maybe to odd highfit with pit props or bogie bolster with steel beams?

 

Adam

[ullypug]

You're not going to model the pit head then?

 

I think you could be right. I can see potential for a small-ish layout with a couple of sidings

[Adam]

You're not going to model the pit head then?

 

I think you could be right. I can see potential for a small-ish layout with a couple of sidings

 

No, not the pit head, or the screens, since both are rather space-hungry and a bit of a pig to operate in the way that I'd want to do it. So yes, something smallish with a couple of sidings is the kind of thing I had in mind - the layout of Merthyr Vale colliery was such that I can see the landsale sidings being employed as a headshunt for the colliery stores yard which would add a bit of interest; there's the issue of a scenic break, but collieries can provide all sorts of things that would serve...

 

Adam

Edited October 31, 2015 by Adam

[Rivercider]

I have a handful of black and white photos taken at Merthyr Vale in 1983, one is already on Flickr

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rivercider/8394449811/in/photolist-i44F1v-dMMKsP-dMMKti-dMMKsc-dCiqav-dmVvo9-diLW7r-diLW64-diLW4Z-diLW4t-divADR-divACZ-divAEB-divABK-divACk-cFUN7u/

 

I can scan the others if you are interested, but the I see the brick weigh hut already had a brick extension by then,

 

cheers

Edited October 31, 2015 by Rivercider

[Adam]

I have a handful of black and white photos taken at Merthyr Vale in 1983, one is already on Flickr

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rivercider/8394449811/in/photolist-i44F1v-dMMKsP-dMMKti-dMMKsc-dCiqav-dmVvo9-diLW7r-diLW64-diLW4Z-diLW4t-divADR-divACZ-divAEB-divABK-divACk-cFUN7u/

 

I can scan the others if you are interested, but the I see the brick weigh hut already had a brick extension by then,

 

cheers

 

Thanks Kevin - this one is rather good: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rivercider/8394449811/ 

 

Any model will be of the 'inspired by' rather than a faithful replica of the site but all grist to the mill is welcome.

 

Adam

[Adam]

A bit more coaching stock action. This SK was picked up second hand the other week. It had been weathered, but in the 'overall filth' school of airbrushing so I cleaned most of it off using a cotton bud or three and T-Cut. This gives the happy benefit of muck where it is supposed to be, clinging around the hinges, commode handles and so on and a nice hard glossy sheen to the paintwork. The underframe weathering is quite nice, so I left that alone but the roof, being typically Bachmann, required its ribs removing and has been repainted (Humbrol matt 'Tank Grey' spray can). The SK has also been treated to a set of sprung corridor connections in the manner described here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/37002-adams-em-workbench-a-weighbridge-from-merthyr-vale/?p=2017705

 

 

The underframe has also been treated to a modicum of additional detailing. The linkage is from Masokits; the vac' cylinder (for some reason, none of the RTR manufacturers seem to get this right) is from ABS and the rest from scraps of plastic sheet and brass wire, 0.7mm for the cross shaft and 0.45 for the linkage.

 

 

Adam

[mark54]

Nice work, Adam. However Bachmann, besides making very thin vacuum cylinders and a short cross-shaft, also cocked up the positioning of the cylinder. The V-hanger should be nearly centred with the intermediate underframe strut and the cylinder should be much nearer the large cross strut.

 

This photo illustrates:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/95430950@N07/12979880373/in/album-72157641378993573/

 

I hope this is of use to you

[Adam]

Nice work, Adam. However Bachmann, besides making very thin vacuum cylinders and a short cross-shaft, also cocked up the positioning of the cylinder. The V-hanger should be nearly centred with the intermediate underframe strut and the cylinder should be much nearer the large cross strut.

 

This photo illustrates:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/95430950@N07/12979880373/in/album-72157641378993573/

 

I hope this is of use to you

 

Thank you Mark - I hadn't come across this particular error. Bother.

 

The additional information is, unfortunately, of no use at all for this model: the cylinder is very firmly secured and is going nowhere. Next time, however...

 

Adam

Edited November 1, 2015 by Adam

[Enterprisingwestern]

Thank you Mark - I hadn't come across this particular error. Bother.

 

The additional information is, unfortunately, of no use at all for this model: the cylinder is very firmly secured and is going nowhere. Next time, however...

 

Adam

 

That's what weathering is for!

 

Mike.

[Rivercider]

No, not the pit head, or the screens, since both are rather space-hungry and a bit of a pig to operate in the way that I'd want to do it. So yes, something smallish with a couple of sidings is the kind of thing I had in mind - the layout of Merthyr Vale colliery was such that I can see the landsale sidings being employed as a headshunt for the colliery stores yard which would add a bit of interest; there's the issue of a scenic break, but collieries can provide all sorts of things that would serve...

 

Adam

Here are two more of the pictures I took on my only visit there in 1983

firstly are these the landsale sidings to which you refer, and that must be a Pelican Loader?

DMU set C303 passes Merthyr Vale on the 10.52 Cardiff Central - Merthyr, 14/4/83

 

And another view of the weigh hut and extension

Former BR shunter, number not known (D3183 was the other one I saw that day) 14/4/83

 

cheers

[Fat Controller]

That front-loader shovel looks really Heath-Robinsonish; I suspect there's a back-to-front tractor chassis under there somewhere. An advance on the Chasesides that preceded it, though, which looked like HR channelling Gerry Anderson- everything worked by string (or at least steel cable).

[Porcy Mane]

That front-loader shovel looks really Heath-Robinsonish;

Not as  Heath-Robinsonish as that Morris Ital parked up on the platform. A pure lesson into how to take an ugly, outdated car and make it look even more ugly and outdated. Ital Design should have been ashamed.

 

P

[Adam]

Kevin/Kenny/Rivercider,

 

Thank you so much for those pictures, they're excellent and full of model-able detail, particularly the large range of different ground levels which are very appealing. The loaders all appear to be later hydraulic machines rather then the Pelican, which was far less sophisticated and based on the ubiquitous Fordson Major. This is not entirely surprising since your pictures are 14 years later than those I linked to. The bag loading hoppers are a detail I really wanted to be there too. I have quite a hankering for the hydraulic front loaders that Chaseside built (more Fordson tractor parts... https://www.flickr.com/photos/k_garrett/8726702930) but in the spirit of less is more, I reckon that I'll stick to the Pelican for the moment.

 

Thanks again,

Adam

Edited November 2, 2015 by Adam

[Horsetan]

.....Ital Design should have been ashamed....

 

They were. When they published their in-house book some years ago, every single design that they had produced, drawn, or had a hand in was duly mentioned. All, that is, except one.

[Enterprisingwestern]

They were. When they published their in-house book some years ago, every single design that they had produced, drawn, or had a hand in was duly mentioned. All, that is, except one.

 

More commonly known as the Morris italdo Marina.

 

Mike.

[Fat Controller]

Kevin/Kenny/Rivercider,

 

Thank you so much for those pictures, they're excellent and full of model-able detail, particularly the large range of different ground levels which are very appealing. The loaders all appear to be later hydraulic machines rather then the Pelican, which was far less sophisticated and based on the ubiquitous Fordson Major. This is not entirely surprising since your pictures are 14 years later than those I linked to. The bag loading hoppers are a detail I really wanted to be there too. I have quite a hankering for the hydraulic front loaders that Chaseside built (more Fordson tractor parts... https://www.flickr.com/photos/k_garrett/8726702930) but in the spirit of less is more, I reckon that I'll stick to the Pelican for the moment.

 

Thanks again,

Adam

The loading shovel appears to be a Weatherhill; here's a site with a few photos of different types:-

https://www.flickr.com/photos/seacoaler/sets/72157631680398858/

[Adam]

With coaches and collieries to one side for the moment, a couple of new projects (and a long-shelfbound one) have come to the fore. A rubber-tyred wagon (well, a pair) for a change. Like Paul Karau (see the latest MRJ) I have a thing about building lorries as well as wagons and have a selection of examples that I want to do and which are gradually progressing. So I'm producing a pair of military ambulances as Lowmac loads intended to compliment one of dad's vehicles, a modified Lowmac EU (the ferry version, from a Dave Larkin picture; it probably wants some replacement buffers actually) with a BW Models Bedford TK (yes, the army did have some 4x2 Bedfords) on it.

 

 

The examples chosen are from the Road Transport Images range and are some of the most distinctive post-war military lorries (and, by all accounts, some of the most ineffective), the Fordson Thames E3; there were also E2s for binned stores and E4s which were light artillery tractors. These were 4x4s with V8 petrol engines(!) and cabs more usually seen on Rootes group's Commers and Karriers and thus were usually referred to as 'Commer-cabbed Fords'. Slow and thirsty, these were exactly the kind of things I can envisage being transported by rail as required and besides, I like their peculiar nose-heavy looks.

 

 

 

The RTI bits - resin cabs and body with whitemetal wheels are not without the odd bubble but the ambulance bodies are really quite nice. The chassis, however, are taken from the newish Airfix Bedford QL twin-pack lengthened by a few mm to represent the 12' 6" wheelbase of the original. The basic assembly is above - you can just about see the rear prop shaft has been lengthened. These Airfix chassis are much cheaper and better-detailed than the RTI equivalents and go together beautifully. Below is the current state of play:

 

 

I'm doing a bit of work on the cabs at the mo', mostly to enlarge the windows which are a bit too small as supplied. You can see the change if you examine the picture of the parts, above, and the picture below. Rootling through the shelfqueen boxfile, I've discovered a suitably low lowmac (for some Lowmacs are lower than others!) for one of these Fords to ride on. The one is an SECR-designed, SR-built version that BR branded Lowmac SD. It's right up against the 12' 10" the average loading gauge allows, but one the right side of comfort. I built this a couple of years ago and it's still square; I might just get around to finishing it!

 

 

Adam

Edited November 7, 2015 by Adam

[Fat Controller]

Funnily enough, I was looking at a shot of one of these Commer-cabbed Fordsons taken at Brecon station, having just been unloaded from a Lowmac. Sennibridge/Brecon seemed to have quite a lot of these, some with tarpaulins being used for troop transport. Somewhere, there is a photo of a pile of squaddies in the back of one of these, saluting a very proud 8-year old. I believe there was a Normal-Control version, used by the RE as a dump-truck.

All the armed forces had a selection of 4x2 vehicles; not only Bedfords, but Austin Loadstars, Karrier Bantams and many others. There were quite a few Scarabs as well; one of RN Llangennech's ones was a frequent visitor to Llanelli station, collecting and delivering parcels for the base.

[Arthur]

Nice use of the Airfix chassis Adam. The RTI range is very useful but their modular chassis whilst useable are quite crude. I've been doing a fair bit of chopping and shutting together bits from Oxford, Basetoys, Airfix and RTI which is very creative and satisfying.

 

Petrol might seem an odd fuel choice but most British WW2 vehicles, including tanks, were petrol powered and post war the British Army was in slow transition from petrol to diesel as it's main fuel. There are obvious logistical advantages of having just one or the other. Originally petrol engines had the advantages of better power with lighter weight.

 

Plenty of 50's military vehicles were still petrol powered using variations on the Rolls Royce B series engine. Champ, Salaldin/Saracen, Stalwart and Leyland Martian being examples. The artillery tractor variant of the Martian somewhat perversely replaced the diesel AEC Militant.

 

My favourite 50's heavy military lorry, probably inspired by my Dinky model, the Leyland Martian Artillery tractor;

 

[Adam]

The Martian was an extraordinary thing wasn't it? Note how it dwarfs the 5.5" howitzer it's hauling... Logistically, the use of petrol does make sense, but the Martian must have been just about the largest post-war petrol-powered thing on the roads?

 

Brian - I think the normal control Commer was actually a Commer (if you see what I mean?), the Q4 Superpoise - wasn't this another of the Rolls Royce-engined machines Arthur? Here's just such a thing:

 

http://ccmv.aecsouthall.co.uk/p716470258/h1803558a#h1803558a

 

One of Dave Larkin's Bradford Barton books had a useful image of the back end of one on a Lowmac at (I think) Newcastle Emlyn - it's probably been reproduced elsewhere.

 

Adam

[Arthur]

 

Not sure either way about the engine in the Commer 4x4 Adam. Other big recipients of petrol power were very early Mighty Antars and all Scammell Explorers both of which had Meadows Meteor engines. Subsequently, and particularly in civilian ownership, many had diesel engine replacements as did many of the Martian recovery vehicles once much beloved of heavy recovery contractors.

 

I did seriously ponder buying a Martian Artillery Tractor a while back, they come up very occasionally on MilWeb, but sanity, probably fortunately, prevailed and I stuck with the forward control Land Rover, a tad more practical (3mpg vs 15mpg)....