Jump to content
 

James Makin's Workbench - 1990s dirty diesels & grotty wagons


James Makin
 Share

Recommended Posts

Your consistency of finish is sublime. I’d love to see a mega line up of some of your locos, you must have quite the fleet!

 

seconding the call for a bookazine here. There’s a huge amount to learn about detailing and weathering of the diesel era in this thread!

  • Like 1
  • Agree 1
  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi James,

 

Nice work on those two heavyweight machines. 'Cardiff Rod Mill' is on my hit list but when it was carried by 56060 in metals colours, I've already done it's partner 56073 Tremorfa Steelworks.

 

Talking of metals grids, that brings me nicely onto a shot I saw on a Locomaster dvd recently of your very own 56061. It was somewhere on the Southern region dragging a failed EWS 58 hauled stone train formed of a rake of EWS MEA wagons.

 

Nice view from the office by the way, I didn't know you'd changed jobs from BA what are you doing now? In 2018 I got out of the building trade and joined the big railway, although as it's in customer service I don't have a view of any trains like you do, unless I can pop up for a cheeky photo on a break.

 

Cheers,

Wayne

Edited by Wayne 37901
  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

More fantastic work there James, those 56's look superb and certainly have the atmosphere and look of the real things, that era is a tad late for me but it looks like a great time for different liveries and plenty of opportunities for weathering. 

  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

Thanks for all the likes and comments guys!

 

On 16/01/2022 at 08:53, jonas said:

Your consistency of finish is sublime. I’d love to see a mega line up of some of your locos, you must have quite the fleet!

 

seconding the call for a bookazine here. There’s a huge amount to learn about detailing and weathering of the diesel era in this thread!

 

Haha, thank you! It would be great fun actually to get all the locos out for a picture, I'd love to line them up like those snaps of Toton depot..!

 

On 16/01/2022 at 13:21, Wayne 37901 said:

Hi James,

 

Nice work on those two heavyweight machines. 'Cardiff Rod Mill' is on my hit list but when it was carried by 56060 in metals colours, I've already done it's partner 56073 Tremorfa Steelworks.

 

Talking of metals grids, that brings me nicely onto a shot I saw on a Locomaster dvd recently of your very own 56061. It was somewhere on the Southern region dragging a failed EWS 58 hauled stone train formed of a rake of EWS MEA wagons.

 

Nice view from the office by the way, I didn't know you'd changed jobs from BA what are you doing now? In 2018 I got out of the building trade and joined the big railway, although as it's in customer service I don't have a view of any trains like you do, unless I can pop up for a cheeky photo on a break.

 

Cheers,

Wayne

 

Cheers Wayne, your job in the railway world sounds good, anything that can combine hobbies and work can't be a bad thing!! Hopefully it's not too stressful when the services get disrupted and you don't get it right in the neck! It does look tempting to work in a railway-based role some day for sure, those Channel 5 shows following Paddington/GWR etc highlight some fun-looking railway jobs that you don't normally imagine would exist until you see behind the scenes!

 

Myself, I'm a marketing manager at a financial services company, based in the mysterious new world of mortgages! I get to help out lots of small mortgage adviser businesses around the country creating their own marketing to promote themselves, which is rather interesting, quite a change from my old stomping ground of airline frequent flyer programmes!

 

Those 56s sound good, and they look so nice in Metals colours too! Thanks for the tip-off on '061 working the EWS MEA train, I've seen that service you mentioned but fronted with working 58s, so to have a dead one with a bouncy bonus 56 on the front sounds rather tasty indeed!

 

On 19/01/2022 at 19:16, sb67 said:

More fantastic work there James, those 56's look superb and certainly have the atmosphere and look of the real things, that era is a tad late for me but it looks like a great time for different liveries and plenty of opportunities for weathering. 

 

Thanks ever so much Steve, it is quite a fun period in time to model, looking back there was almost endless variety with the old mingling alongside the new, almost the more modern equivalent of the steam/diesel transition perhaps! I do love the old ex-BR wrecks, they are a guilty pleasure it's got to be said! :lol:

 

Cheers,

James

  • Like 1
  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, James Makin said:

Cheers Wayne, your job in the railway world sounds good, anything that can combine hobbies and work can't be a bad thing!! Hopefully it's not too stressful when the services get disrupted and you don't get it right in the neck! It does look tempting to work in a railway-based role some day for sure, those Channel 5 shows following Paddington/GWR etc highlight some fun-looking railway jobs that you don't normally imagine would exist until you see behind the scenes!

 

Myself, I'm a marketing manager at a financial services company, based in the mysterious new world of mortgages! I get to help out lots of small mortgage adviser businesses around the country creating their own marketing to promote themselves, which is rather interesting, quite a change from my old stomping ground of airline frequent flyer programmes!

 

Those 56s sound good, and they look so nice in Metals colours too! Thanks for the tip-off on '061 working the EWS MEA train, I've seen that service you mentioned but fronted with working 58s, so to have a dead one with a bouncy bonus 56 on the front sounds rather tasty indeed!

The job can be interesting but also stressful at times, particularly with the dreaded Coronavirus situation and all the cancellations due to train crew having to isolate.

 

Your new job sounds interesting, I know someone who was a self employed advisor but I gather she's gone into partnership and formed a small business now.

 

I know what you mean about the metals livery, it's one of my favourite sectors.

 

No problem on the 'tip-off' as I thought it might be of interest. I've since watched it again and the train was the Purley - Acton stone empties, the clip was filmed at South Croydon and the defective train loco was 58048.... Grid 61 to the rescue! :locomotive:

  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

i'm running out of suitable superlatives , but you've come up trumps again !

 

Been eyeing up the ltd edition myself but i've got two EWS red 37s already ( i live a frugal life !) so i'll be aiming to make 37674 next i think .

 

Can't wait to see what comes next ! did 31407 in mainline blue get on the list ? like the look of that one but i don't think it lasted long 

  • Thanks 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Great work as always James. Particular like the attention to detail on ‘712 - those tail lights are a bit odd aren’t they! Nicely captured as well as the plated door and markers.

 

Keep up the excellent work - it is certainly inspirational!

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

  • Thanks 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Great job James, 37712 odd end was due to a cheapo repair job when it had a shunting accident pre refurbishment as 37102. I seem to recall the tailights were off a class 26. Usually at refurbishment Crewe sorted out any oddball nose mods (eg 37006) but for some reason didn't bother with this one.

  • Interesting/Thought-provoking 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

 

On 23/01/2022 at 22:24, rob D2 said:

i'm running out of suitable superlatives , but you've come up trumps again !

 

Been eyeing up the ltd edition myself but i've got two EWS red 37s already ( i live a frugal life !) so i'll be aiming to make 37674 next i think .

 

Can't wait to see what comes next ! did 31407 in mainline blue get on the list ? like the look of that one but i don't think it lasted long 

 

Haha, thanks very much Rob! I've got a few fun ones in the pipeline too that I can't wait to photograph and write up!

 

37674 is a good one, I will look forward to seeing you bring that to life! I did like it when that one gained the ploughs as well, though I think it may be more '99 onwards, it was a looker though! All those Cornish 37s were pretty good, and they did seem to roam a fair bit and turned up in quite a few places!

 

The Mainline blue 31 is a good shout, it's not on my current list though I have to say! It didn't last long into my time period but was nice for sure. I did love Transrail 31105 so that may one day feature it didn't last that long either though sadly.

 

I have a motley collection of dog-eared cast-off Hornby 31s I have amassed cheaply over the years, various BR Greens, BR Blues, Triple Grey and Dutch's, they have no working headlights and all of which seem like they would take quite a lot of conversion work to turn into one of the few 31s that actually made it into 1998, I am biding my time a little longer to see if Accurascale, Cavalex, Revolution or someone other than Hornby announce something 31-shaped before I take the plunge though!

 

On 24/01/2022 at 14:16, Southwich said:

Great work as always James. Particular like the attention to detail on ‘712 - those tail lights are a bit odd aren’t they! Nicely captured as well as the plated door and markers.

 

Keep up the excellent work - it is certainly inspirational!

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

 

Cheers Will! Thanks, I have to say it was a subtle mod that I didn't even notice until I got further into the project, I know when I saw the loco several times in real life it never occurred to me at the time that it looked any different from another refurb 37! The result does look rather odd!

 

I do love the 37s you are working on and can't wait to see them as they progress, some great examples there!

 

On 24/01/2022 at 18:45, 37114 said:

Great job James, 37712 odd end was due to a cheapo repair job when it had a shunting accident pre refurbishment as 37102. I seem to recall the tailights were off a class 26. Usually at refurbishment Crewe sorted out any oddball nose mods (eg 37006) but for some reason didn't bother with this one.

 

Thanks very much Rob, that is really interesting! I love learning about the past histories of the locos and these little anomalies are fascinating, especially when you get oddballs slipping through the net after refurbishment while most of the rest were fixed!

 

I'm a little too young to be around at the time but the large scale renumbering of the 37 and 47 fleets as they went through various refurbishments in the 80s and early 90s must've been very confusing as an enthusiast with all the changes and rebuilds and your spotting favourites coming back as another identity! It felt confusing enough when some of the '57's came in :lol:

 

Cheers,

James

 

  • Like 1
  • Agree 1
  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Are you thinking about one of the pairs of 31s that ended up on the front of a Virgin XC set?  If it wasn’t for the fact they all have the central headlight, my Fraggonset 31 would likely already be repainted into something suitable.  Though 31466 was still in Dutch when it appeared for Virgin I’d have to have it in ews as per my model…

 

for its partner I’m torn between Mainline, Intercity or Regional Railways (the photo of 31466 in Dutch was with 465 in regional)

Edited by The Fatadder
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
21 hours ago, The Fatadder said:

Are you thinking about one of the pairs of 31s that ended up on the front of a Virgin XC set?  If it wasn’t for the fact they all have the central headlight, my Fraggonset 31 would likely already be repainted into something suitable.  Though 31466 was still in Dutch when it appeared for Virgin I’d have to have it in ews as per my model…

 

for its partner I’m torn between Mainline, Intercity or Regional Railways (the photo of 31466 in Dutch was with 465 in regional)

 

That sounds a fun idea Rich! I hadn't considered any of the ones that were on a Virgin set but it's definitely an option, I think what was floating my boat originally was when you'd see the odd Dutch rust bucket on a short ballast train and they looked so vulnerable!

 

The Fragonset model is so nice it almost seems too good to repaint, even though a touch too late for the period! I mean it'd be rude not to go whole hog and do the early 2000s Wessex '601 with it and top n' tail it on the Mk2s :lol: I remember doing some window hanging on the Fridays service out of Brighton, soaking up the diesel fumes, great times!

 

There's an Intercity Mainline one that I was going to do as part of this batch, but in the end held off just in case of something new coming along, if maybe this time next year there's no further news then I may well have a stab at some 31 action and rebuild the lot in one go!

 

Cheers,

James

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

My EWS 31466 was originally going to be the one in Wessex pink back when I was planning to have a 2000s operating period.  It ended up spending something like 10 years in primer with a yellow end... 

 

Its a shame that the Penzance services never got the really good loco substitutions, just freight 47s and 37s.  The Deltics, 31s, 56s and 73s substituting in were far more interesting.  

 

Wish there had been a few more 31s on engineers in the south west, as like you say it does make for a great looking set.

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

It’s a shame you were slightly too young for the mid 90s James - I’m kinda lucky I rediscovered the railways in 96 so I got to see all these old rust buckets mainly  in the mags of the time  - strangely that was at the height of my clubbing/ partying period so I never actually went to didcot until it was wall to wall 66s !

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Love the gash in the side of 37225, the Mainline one looks rather nice as well.  I really need to get some Mainline logos on my Mainline 37065 and finish it off.  I think the livery really suited the 37

 

 

edit: as another unusual Virgin XC working which may have made it through Didcot, how about this?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/151904976@N08/43886304042/in/pool-14754576@N21/

 

Edited by The Fatadder
  • Informative/Useful 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Does anyone want to see more 37s? How many is too many?

 

As someone who grew up with 37s in South Wales, you can never have too many! I remember them being on almost every freight in the early 1990s, apart from the odd 47 and occasional 56 turn. Then the 60s arrived and the 37s relegated to less arduous freight workings.

 

Nice job on these un-refurbished type 3s James.

 

 

  • Agree 2
  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Great work James .

I have a Hornby class 60 in sector livery with a big Beastie branding. I want to remove it and add  Metals sector’s decals without  having to repaint , would be grateful for any advice.. cheers

Jez

  • Thanks 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

On 28/01/2022 at 22:26, James Makin said:

 

That sounds a fun idea Rich! I hadn't considered any of the ones that were on a Virgin set but it's definitely an option, I think what was floating my boat originally was when you'd see the odd Dutch rust bucket on a short ballast train and they looked so vulnerable!

 

The Fragonset model is so nice it almost seems too good to repaint, even though a touch too late for the period! I mean it'd be rude not to go whole hog and do the early 2000s Wessex '601 with it and top n' tail it on the Mk2s :lol: I remember doing some window hanging on the Fridays service out of Brighton, soaking up the diesel fumes, great times!

 

There's an Intercity Mainline one that I was going to do as part of this batch, but in the end held off just in case of something new coming along, if maybe this time next year there's no further news then I may well have a stab at some 31 action and rebuild the lot in one go!

 

Cheers,

James

 

Hurry up and put a lot if effort into your 31's so that the inevitable new model is released!!! :D

 

If you don't, I have five Lima bodies to adapt to Hornby chassis', all of which will require new glazing and many many tiny handrails etc., followed by a complete re-spray!!!

 

Go on, take one for the team!

 

P.S. Loving this thread by the way, as my earliest childhood memories are of the early privatisation era on the WR. Nice to see Merlin and Fag Packet HST's in model form, and looking forward to some tatty IC / Virgin combo's too! 

 

Cameron

  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

On a similar theme to what everyone else has said, these are fantastic models, great work and look forward to seeing what's next.

Not sure why, but I'm inclined to get out my P5 pocket book and start scoring these off hahahaha.

A line up of the 37s would make it easier :D

  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

James the correct number of class 37's is the number you first thought of, plus "some".

 

Lovely rusty locos.

 

I was posted to Benson '02 to '05 so managed to get to Didcot quite often when it was still reasonably busy, with plenty of freight. Nice.

  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...