Hawthorn Dene

[Les1952]

Lincoln setup.

 

Nice, low-stress afternoon.  Hawthorn Dene is stand 6, close to the entrance.  

 

Gremlins stayed away today.  Hopefully they will plague someone else (preferably at another show) this weekend.  A couple of wagons needed turning round, probably because they were put in the box the wrong way round after Doncaster.  Apart from that, and my forgetting the wheel cleaner, no issues.

 

Early night tonight.  Well knackered.

 

Les

[Les1952]

Lincoln day one.

 

Layout ran well all day, with an occasional wheelback short in the colliery.  One or two locos showing the fact I wasn't able to service them between shows.  

 

We got an honourable mention in the "most prototypical layout" award, but not the pot.  Most punters seemed to like the layout and we had a good crowd most of the day.  

 

Oddly enough I put a Farish pacific on the two-coach express instead of the usual Dapol one- but the Farish Mark 1 brake at the front wouldn't stay coupled to it.  Putting a Dapol pacific (not even the one I usually use) on instead had the effect of making the rake behave impeccably- and it continued to do so when I substituted a different Dapol pacific after discovering the first one was missing a lamp.....

 

Bed time again.

Les

[MrSimon]

The two coach express had a Farish A1/A2 on it at Doncaster (untill the chip blew) and there was no trouble with it...

Edited February 27, 2016 by MrSimon

[LNER4479]

Congrats on the BRM article Les

[lincoln40a]

Enjoyed our afternoon at the showground especially Hawthorn Dene. Well done.

 

regards

Graham

[Les1952]

The two coach express had a Farish A1/A2 on it at Doncaster (untill the chip blew) and there was no trouble with it...

I'd forgotten that, Doncaster was quite fraught. Must have been your driving. It was the same A1 as it is the only Farish pacific lamped for express.

 

Day two - 60124 failed, stuttering and not picking up from the engine, which BR Lines said they had cured. 60116 brought out to replace it and lasted one lap only before shorting out the whole layout derailing its bogie. A3 60078 substituted after I discovered A2 60532's front bogie had fallen apart in the box. That makes eight shows for the layout and STILL an A1 hasn't got to the end of a show. To be fair A4 60030's front bogie was also loose in the box, though it was at least all in one piece.

 

Against that A2 50539 ran faultlessly for the whole show (its third), so there is at least one reliable Farish pacific in the fleet. A2 60537 is also probably good but hasn't been used yet as it is still awaiting plates for a name transplant.

 

The V2 gave out mid-afternoon and was replaced by Britannia 70004. Other than the above very few problems.

 

The layout is now in store in the shed as the next one going out is Furtwangen to Trainwest. I'll not be able to work on the locos until either one of the Powercabs comes back from the States or I get back from Trainwest and set HD up again. I may split off the colliery into a separate power district with its own circuit protection while the layout is packed up, as the undersides of the boards are far easier to reach.

 

I did take some video but the small video camera wasn't in my bag when I got home. Hopefully it is in someone else's. Replacement cost for the camera is about a tenner on a good day, and in any case the camera-camera and my phone take better videos than this does, plus I have another video camera. It is just the footage I would be sorry to lose if it doesn't show up.....

Edited February 28, 2016 by Les1952

[Les1952]

Congrats on the BRM article Les

I've not seen it yet...

[Two_sugars]

"Easington diaspora"? . . . D'ya mean us?. . . . you bl00dy ex teachers and yer big words . . . .

 

Smashing spread, Les.

 

 

John

[Les1952]

"Easington diaspora"? . . . D'ya mean us?. . . . you bl00dy ex teachers and yer big words . . . .

 

Smashing spread, Les.

 

 

John

 

Yes guys, it is you lot.  Without your input the layout could never have been as good as it apparently is.     For anyone not taking the wee-wee diaspora is "people originally from an area now spread widely" or at least that is how I use the word.  You don't get spread to funnier places than Yorkshire......

 

Some video from Lincoln.  I don't remember it being taken but I think it is brilliant, vastly better than I can do, especially with the little camera I lost...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKGuz-CsmM8

 

All the very best

Les

Edited March 9, 2016 by Les1952

[Barry O]

ooh err a very thin young me spotted on the video!

 

Baz

[LNER4479]

Nice pic in the header / banner thingy on this site!

[Les1952]

OOOh- I'd not spotted that.   Many thanks to Andy for the publicity.  Hopefully I'll get a booking out of it - I've nothing confirmed yet after November at Newcastle other than Warley 2018 and a verbal for Ally Pally 2018.  2017 looks quite quiet.

 

60038 FIRDAUSSI heading South on a Newcastle to somewhere via Sunderland "fast" train.

 

Just one thing on the article.  Someone in Bingham MRC picked up a comment of mine about the baseboards as being a criticism of Trevor, who made them.  Having lifted them Trevor knows exactly what I meant- in hindsight I'd have designed them a lot lighter- the ground level board is solid except for the bridge cutout.  If I'd thought on I'd have gone with Trevor's suggestion that he cut a thumping great piece of timber out of that deck under the colliery level.  But hindsight is a wonderous thing.

 

Neil Stephenson (PLS Layouts) is going to do the baseboards for Croft Spa.  Trevor is too poorly to do them and the board I made for No Place, while perfectly good enough for a one-board layout isn't square enough for a two-board job.  They WILL be lighter, even though the layout is planned to be the same size.

 

All the very best

Les

[Les1952]

The good news is the small video camera has turned up- it had fallen into the mechanism of the tip up seat and only reappeared when putting the seat back up at Corsham on Friday.

 

Hopefully the video from Lincoln is retrievable and useable.

 

Layout now set up in the shed so I can prepare it for Manchester and Quorn shows.

 

Other good news is that I've finally got the A2 nameplates I ordered, so BRONZINO and SUGAR PALM can be created from the two "as new" A2s.

 

Les

[Les1952]

Layout is working (no major surgery needed before Manchester!)

 

Still not had time to look at the videos from Lincoln.  I'll do so as soon as possible and post anything worth looking at.

 

My first PowerCab has returned from NCE with no charge for the repair.  I now have a programming track again.  As a result I've changed the identities of the pair of "out of the box" A2s to complete the North Eastern Trio.  60532 is now 60526 SUGAR PALM and 60537 is now 60539 BRONZINO, using a BHE double chimney designed for a Duchess.  Both have now had the matt varnish applied to their cabs and are going to be weathered starting this weekend.

 

Another 3-axle coach has come back from Mr Simon (actually some time ago).  This is a whitemetal one and will join the Paddy Train.  Pics to follow (eventually).  Now I've finished the paperwork for South Notts Show I can get on with layouts.  Boards are ordered for Croft Spa.  No Place has a show booking.

 

Time to get modelling - in four weeks I've a show followed by the examining season......

 

Les

[MrSimon]

Now you've got a programming track again could you set the B1 that runs tender-first and the G5 to run backwards so we don't keep having to remember to change direction at shows?

 

See you in June

 

Simon

[Les1952]

Now you've got a programming track again could you set the B1 that runs tender-first and the G5 to run backwards so we don't keep having to remember to change direction at shows?

 

See you in June

 

Simon

 

and spoil the fun?

[Les1952]

Work started on the A2s

 

With three sets of plates to choose from I decided to use 60626 and 60539 to finish the North Eastern trio.  I already have 60538 running.

 

Today's progress.

 

 

SUGAR PALM as renumbered and named, with weathering about to start.

 

 

BRONZINO at the "check and correct" stage- some brown has found its way onto the underside of the boiler so that will have to be darkened.  The chimney needs the bottom edge filling- it might yet need to come off and be reseated, but I hope not.  Note tha lack of external regulator rodding- BRONZINO had the same draughting as the A1s, supposedly the prototype for this except that W.P.ALLEN might have left Doncaster first!

 

The main thing is the rust paint on the valve gear- apply sparingly and get the loco circulating on the track before it has time to dry just in case there is a tiny run into somewhere it isn't supposed to.

 

 

I've also done a little correcting on SPARROW HAWK, where there are some gloss patches in amongst the muck.  Still needs another couple of passes.

 

Work today on No Place as well, all in all productive.

Les

 

 

[Les1952]

The Sunday Supplement.

 

Kept getting dragged out to help with turning the hen run into a vegetable patch- sorting the fence where the panels are rattlung in the concrete posts, putting in screws to tie the collapsed hen run back to in oreder to stop it banging on the shed, getting an extension piece off the top of the gate (which will upset next door's cat who uses it as a walkway from one shed roof to the other) and a trip to the local garden centre for seeds and a new trowel after the handle on the old one gave way during the proceedings.  Mildly surprised to find that they had to get a visual ID confirmation for the checkout operator to ring a hand-held fork through.  Possibly thinking what it could also be used for....

 

Eventually some work done, but only on HD's loco fleet, No Place on the back burner again.  I've been looking at the upside-down locos in the box back from Lincoln.  J27 65860 had its loco to tender wire detached, easy fix though it will have to be soldered at some time in the future.  I've also matt varnished the side of its tender that had gone a bit glossy.  It is now in the queue for weathering.

 

At Trainwest I picked up some sheets of Modelmaster transfers.  I've put the train of coal fulls on the track and gone along adding number panels.  the fact they all say 16T on them instead of 21T won't be noticeable once they've been weathered over, it will be unreadable....   The sheet had matching sets of numbers in the same place so you could apply the same number to both sides of the same wagon.  I'm not that fussy, they are a running train rather than an exhibition modelling cup entry.  You can't apply this rule to steam locos as they have numbers on the end as well.....

 

 

The three-axle coach Mr Simon did.  It will be added to the paddy train.  On Croft Spa it might sit in the carriage dock if I'm too lazy to actually shunt it at a show.

 

 

 

BRONZINO now just about finished, and getting some laps in with the Southbound parcels.  It just took a little grey-black where the brown off the footplate had caught the boiler.  Neglected Tyneside engine, and not that far from an overhaul it will never receive, being withdrawn in the asset stripping at the end of 1962.  At this point some silly wassock (me) pressed "add reply" instead of centre so the rest of this is an edit.

 

 

 

SUGAR PALM getting dirtier, though I've not yet started on the tender.  Full York neglect is going to be hard to achieve as this loco carried uncared-for to new levels.  At least the Darlington pilots did get some cleaning while standing by the turntable.  Perhaps the York southbound pilot position was just too far for cleaners to walk.  Judging by yesterday's efforts the boiler will go completely matt when the varnish has finished drying.  Meanwhile putting in a few laps on the Northbound express to help with running in. Next to do the cab and smokebox.  I'm doing area-by-area so I can pick the loco up and put it back on the track out of the way while the coat of matt varnish dries.

 

Might spend the evening in front of the telly.  Antiques Roadshow suddenly appeals as exciting.

 

Les

Edited April 24, 2016 by Les1952

[Les1952]

Videos from Lincoln.

 

I've finally got the vids out of the camera lost at Lincoln and found in the innards of the car seat.  The videos are a bit dark as the light level in the hall wasn't that good.

 

https://youtu.be/QIWg1kr5SmY

 

 

First the D20 and second one is the J25 on coal.

 

https://youtu.be/cm8FVWSXC1Q

 

On the progress front not too much to report today- I've put a coat of grime onto the cab of SUGAR PALM and then moved on to V2s.  60880 isn't picking up from the loco so I've put it into long-term storage in the showcase.  On the other hand outside-steampipe 60884 is running well with a load equal to six bogies, about the same as the weakest A2.

 

Turning to A1s, KENILWORTH is running well, but its traction is poor.  However, when I tried out HAL O'THE WYND it ran about a lap and started clicking.  It is now on its way for repair to a split gear.

 

I've varnished over the transfers on the eight hoppers and these can be weathered next time I'm in the workshop, probably Thursday.

 

Les

 

Edited April 25, 2016 by Les1952

[Les1952]

Another shed day

 

I knew that Tuesday and Wednesday weren't going to be available so this is the first workshop day since Monday.  Big shopping tomorrow means a short day, and Saturday will be lawns (only chance of a fine spell seems to be to get up early) then hopefully off to Stamford to have a look round the show and scout for next year's South Notts Show- though the latter will depend on how long the lawns take....

 

 

SUGAR PALM is all-but done.  I'm still debating whether to add another coat of grime to the render, but there are more locos in the queue.  I gave 61321 a service and a light coat of grime followed by matt varnish.  This time I've used Tamiya stuff, which seems to have a better chance of actually drying matt than the Humbrol.  I still need lamps for SUGAR PALM.  There are three shows over the next three weekends so hopefully there will be lamps on 60526 by the time we get to Manchester.  This is the only one of the three A2s that will take eight coaches without slipping.  60539 is the weakest of the threee- the V2 with outside steampipes is stronger.

 

 

61321 on the coal train.  Having looked at its wheels I have a horrible feeling this loco might be starting to wear out.  Certainly it has worked the coal empties (a heavy train) throughout each exhibition, and before DCC conversion was used on Stamford East occasionally.  I reckon it has done about 16 or 17 miles.  I was hoping it might last until Dave Jones gets his Q6 in the shops- the Q6 is the long term loco for this train.

 

 

 

Lastly, I have put number panels on the empty hoppers in the train, which is temporarily set up with a brake in the middle as well as the back so I can see which wagons still need some work on them.  The 16T is not easy to read, but can be made out if you try hard enough.  I'll add some muck once I've varnished over the transfers, probably Sunday for the varnish and Monday or Wednesday for the grime.  

 

No Place got a little ground cover done but nothing much.  I'm still searching for inspiration here..

 

Les

 

[Les1952]

A short day but slightly productive

 

I did manage a couple of hours in the workshop today and did a bit more work on No Place, and chipped a temporary replacement for the A1 that is going to BR Lines.  The latter will go with my remaining Jubilee which has a valve gear problem.  Fortunately that one isn't needed on Rise Park until next Spring at the earliest.

 

 

Well, the B17 just had to be DARLINGTON, of course.  Looking at it, it still has the crest on the offside pointing to the back of the tender.  I'll have to find a replacement that faces left as no B17 ever had a heraldically correct late crest.  The late Willie Yeadon accounted for every one of the class at the scrapyard.

 

 

I've also started weathering a gree BG I picked up at Sileby show.  Usual method, chalks and seal with matt varnish - EXCEPT that when I came to clean the brush afterwards I discovered I had sealed the chalks with Tamiya thinners....  Still, it seems to have sealed it.  Other side to do either tomorrow or Sunday.

 

 

I don't think I've photographed the Gresley push-pull brake yet.  I got this as a kit a couple of years ago from Etched Pixels and got part way through building it before it went off to Mr Simon for finishing.  Normally it runs as the second coach in the push-pull train behind the M7.

 

Les

 

[R Marshall]

Another shed day

 

I knew that Tuesday and Wednesday weren't going to be available so this is the first workshop day since Monday.  Big shopping tomorrow means a short day, and Saturday will be lawns (only chance of a fine spell seems to be to get up early) then hopefully off to Stamford to have a look round the show and scout for next year's South Notts Show- though the latter will depend on how long the lawns take....

 

sugar palm done.jpg

 

SUGAR PALM is all-but done.  I'm still debating whether to add another coat of grime to the render, but there are more locos in the queue.  I gave 61321 a service and a light coat of grime followed by matt varnish.  This time I've used Tamiya stuff, which seems to have a better chance of actually drying matt than the Humbrol.  I still need lamps for SUGAR PALM.  There are three shows over the next three weekends so hopefully there will be lamps on 60526 by the time we get to Manchester.  This is the only one of the three A2s that will take eight coaches without slipping.  60539 is the weakest of the threee- the V2 with outside steampipes is stronger.

 

61321 coal.jpg

 

61321 on the coal train.  Having looked at its wheels I have a horrible feeling this loco might be starting to wear out.  Certainly it has worked the coal empties (a heavy train) throughout each exhibition, and before DCC conversion was used on Stamford East occasionally.  I reckon it has done about 16 or 17 miles.  I was hoping it might last until Dave Jones gets his Q6 in the shops- the Q6 is the long term loco for this train.

 

 

hopperers.jpg

 

Lastly, I have put number panels on the empty hoppers in the train, which is temporarily set up with a brake in the middle as well as the back so I can see which wagons still need some work on them.  The 16T is not easy to read, but can be made out if you try hard enough.  I'll add some muck once I've varnished over the transfers, probably Sunday for the varnish and Monday or Wednesday for the grime.  

 

No Place got a little ground cover done but nothing much.  I'm still searching for inspiration here..

 

Les

Les,

 

I've got the same plates for 60526 - I plan to repaint the red background to black, because all the colour pics I've got of A2s, including 60526 and except only 60505, seem to show up black - difficult to be sure because of the grime on some. Not a very representative sample of A2s, but the only other red background plate on any pacific is in 60007 dated 1956.

 

Regards,

 

Roy

[Les1952]

It was a choice of red background or no plates at all, sadly.

 

Although the supply of plates from the N-gauge Society SHOULD be improving now they are actually sorted out I had difficulty getting the A2 plates and had to reorder.  Plate supply under Ray Hansen was a bit chaotic, but if you sent him a list of the plates you wanted he would bring as many as he could find to the next event he was attending on behalf of the NGS.

 

One problem is that supply TO the NGS from Modelmaster still appears to be hit-and-miss.

 

I toyed with the idea of getting another B1 to replace 61321, but as both Dapol and Farish B1s are mostly full price I settled for a Standard 5MT from Rails fire sale- cheaper then the chespest secondhand B1 on eBay.  73168 amongst others had an overhaul at Darlington so the fiction if it is used on HD is that it is running in after overhaul. In any case it was allocated to Neville Hill at the time (before its transfer to the Southern in 1963) so could have worked a Liverpool to Newcastle express via the coast at some time or other.  More suitable for Croft Spa.

 

Time to get up and mow the lawns....

Les

[Les1952]

Video Link

 

I've found this while browsing Youtube.  Part 1 (of three) of videos from Lincoln show this February.  Video is by Christopher Hughes. For a 13- minute video I think Hawthorn Dene did well to get the first 5 minutes plus...  The only identifyable operator is Chris Burch.

 

 

Enjoy!

Les

[Les1952]

A long day in the workshop.

 

but not the best of days overall....

 

I did get some groundwork done on No Place, so there will be pictures on that thread shortly.

 

More work done on locos.  I've found a tin with some chips inside, and have been using some of these to move a couple of locos temporarily from the Rise Park fleet. One of these, the ex-LMS 0-6-0 diesel, can move to the Hawthorn Dene Colliery roster.

 

 

The loco in question.  It is a ?Parkwood? resin kit on a Fleischmann chassis.   I've looked at the speed curve for this and it now starts more cleanly than it did before.  However this idiot programmed in address 3011 instead of 2011.  I'll change it tomorrow.

 

 

The blue pannier tank- an eBay purchase.  I'm slowly getting a set of good reliable runners for the colliery, so I should be able to indulge in a spot more shunting when I've sorted out the odd intermittent short circuit. 

 

 

Back in the Hawthorn Dene fleet is 61005 Bongo.  I hadn't noticed the number on the side is crooked, despite it being about 4 years since I renumbered it.  I'm not going to correct it- life is too short.  As it is a Great Eastern Section loco I'm going to leave it clean- when used on HD or Croft Spa it can be "running in after overhaul at Darlington works".

 

 

The last of the additions, which at some time in the future will be renumbered as I think Geoff has one with the same number on Rise Park is the Black 5.  It didn't want to run at first and took a couple of laps to settle down.  Even now it is a little hesitant on dead frog points.  I'll find one that was photographed working North of York on the Red Bank newspapers and renumber it appropriately.  How dirty it becomes will depend on what is in the photograph.

 

 Mid-afternoon I noticed that one piece of track on the Northbound anticlockwise circuit had lost a couple of sleeper ends- this is the first sign that it is about to disintegrate.  How do I know?  the other three bends on the main line, and both ends of Furtwangen Ost including two Setrack points have already done so.  Reason- Track Magic.  I used it extensively at first, following the guidance to put some on a cloth and rubbing it on the rails in the fiddle yard and letting the trains carry it round the layout.  HOWEVER it reacts with the plastic of Setrack and rots it.  Streamline is unaffected by it, thankfully, being a different plastic.  Naturally as soon as I realised what was causing it I consigned the rest of the track cleaning solvents into the bottle of assorted paint stripper.

 

I have spare curves of all three Setrack radii, so I thought I'd lift the two affected lengths and put new ones in.  However the straights at either end of the curve disintegrated, as did the two curves.  Have I any spare Setrack straights in the box? Of course not.   The pics show the damage.

 

 

Of course it has to be Bank Holiday weekend, so there won't be anyone open until Tuesday.  I'll call in at Access Models on the way home from the club on Tuesday, and lay in a supply of Setrack short straights and extra curves of each radius.  I'll use any spares when I build Croft Spa later in the year.

 

Les