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Black Country Blues


Indomitable026
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Some paint on the Presflos:

post-6677-0-91366000-1409600493_thumb.jpg

 

post-6677-0-96871900-1409600497_thumb.jpg

 

post-6677-0-39887500-1409600502_thumb.jpg

 

The wagons in the later livery have been more lightly treated, they would have been fairly recently repainted.  The photos show up a couple of areas on the ends where I've missed a bit. 

 

I mentioned another class 25, this was a two tone green example which I had started to paint the cab fronts yellow.  In fact I had only got as far as painting the ends grey.  Over the weekend this one and another were treated to a coat of white primer, followed by some Ford "Signal Yellow" from Halfords rattle cans.  Currently awaiting a bit of a clean up before reassembly and weathering.  They will become 25102 and 25043, both of which retained green livery until 1976 (the last two to do so).

post-6677-0-53347500-1409600505_thumb.jpg

 

These two should ensure we have enough motive power for the cement train and also free up 25038 for its special duties (once the saloon's new bogies arrive):

post-6677-0-24607800-1409601032_thumb.jpg

 

Hopefully it'll look something like this.

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I really like the faded and worn "Bulk Tunnel Cement" board on that Presflo, very effective.

Thanks.  It's just a combination of glass fibre scratch brush to fade the printed detail, then dry brushing to build up the layers of grime, but I'm pleased with how it turned out

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Cacking up the chassis frames tomorrow morning, almost there...

Andy

Today I cut off the brake shoes that Bachmann added 'in line' with the frames. I have a 4f comet tender chassis kit that I can rob new brake shoes from.

 

I need to add a DCC chip in the tender. Let me know what the team thinks about the best chip...

 

 

one point to consider is that in a steam period BCB we would like to try banking. The tunnel to the viaduct is a gradiant 1-100 so it would be nice assisting and then crossing over and dropping off by the box and running back.

 

thoughts from the team please... DCC options as well as operational thoughts

 

 

 

Andy

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If you do banking you will need to consider where the banker is supposed to come on. If the gradient is continually rising then the banker would normally be loose and will drop back as the rear of the train passes the crossover, but if there are mixed rising and falling gradients it would be coupled and the train will need to stop to uncouple it.

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Instructions for banking were covered by Rule 133 of the 1950 Rule Book (sorry, don't have a copy to hand) and Table J of the Sectional Appendix on the LMR. See page 167 onwards of this document http://files.limitofshunt.org.uk/sectional-appendices/br-lmr/western-lines-crewe-and-south-1960.pdf

 

There are a few other bits of operating technicalities in there which may be useful to apply to BCB, such as what you are allowed to do when detaching on the main line.

Edited by TheSignalEngineer
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I need to add a DCC chip in the tender. Let me know what the team thinks about the best chip...

 

 

21 pin?  Assuming we aren't going for sound, I think you can't go much wrong with a Lenz silver.  I guess the Bachmann 21 pin is perfectly adequate, although I've never used one myself

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21 pin?  Assuming we aren't going for sound, I think you can't go much wrong with a Lenz silver.  I guess the Bachmann 21 pin is perfectly adequate, although I've never used one myself

 

I've tried a few of the Hattons own brand decoder, as discussed elsewhere on the forum somewhere, both 8 and 21 pin performed perfectly adequately on the train sets last outing at Derby. Competitive price wise too.

 

Mike.

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Is it on its new wheels yet though?

It is now.... Those nuts and washers on the crank pins are so small. I did wonder if I lost a nut whether ultra scale would make me wait six months for a replacement. They are a great product. So far so good.

 

Andy

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Looking at these photos of 25043, clearly the rectangular plate over the boiler grille is blue, but do you think the triangular plate on the middle of the loco body and also the plated over steps up to the boiler filler next to it are also blue?  I think it looks like they are in the first photo and that the last (black and white) photo suggests the same tone as the boiler grille plate, but the middle photo (of the opposite side of the loco) looks more green?

Interested to get the view of others before I get the paint out; thanks in advance.

 

https://flic.kr/p/bSP4ji

 

https://flic.kr/p/9MTTtg

 

https://flic.kr/p/8ZUhYm

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The mainbodywork looks to me to be well weathered green with several patches which area  different shade.  I wonder if the latter might be something to do with what is on the other side of the outer skin as it definitely looks different in the top pic of the three (as does the eft end of the main bodywork if you look carefully at the top picture.

 

My own suspicion is that unless there is very clear evidence to the contrary the loco has had the paint touched up or even a depot applied coat of 'green' has been added over the previous paintwork.

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The mainbodywork looks to me to be well weathered green with several patches which area  different shade.  I wonder if the latter might be something to do with what is on the other side of the outer skin as it definitely looks different in the top pic of the three (as does the eft end of the main bodywork if you look carefully at the top picture.

 

My own suspicion is that unless there is very clear evidence to the contrary the loco has had the paint touched up or even a depot applied coat of 'green' has been added over the previous paintwork.

Thanks; think I'll stick with work stained green bodywork with blue plates over the boiler grille.

 

 

A few of the BCB team got together at Andy's (wagonbasher) house last night, where I was quietly working away on modifying a couple more class 25 underframes (much to the bemusement of the rest of the crew).  As I mentioned before in the rolling stock thread I have an ongoing plan to (eventually) rework all of the Class 24 and 25 underframes following the method described by Jim Smith-Wright in his DEMU Update article some years ago (a copy of which is downloadable from the articles page of P4 New Street).

 

Photos below (which I may I have have posted before in the rolling stock thread) shows a before and after on the previous one I did for 25187.

post-6677-0-42653900-1409780177_thumb.jpg

 

post-6677-0-56015300-1409780180_thumb.jpg

 

It's quite a time consuming process, but the end result is (I think) very noticeable and therefore worthwhile.  A comment from Andy yesterday, followed by a long car journey this morning prompted me to consider whether there might be a short cut to be had by resin casting some of the parts rather than carving away at the the Bachmann chassis.  At last count I think I have another 5 or 6 left to do - I'm hoping to have a look at some casting at the weekend, but unlikely to get this finished by Expo EM North, but will probably have the bits with me if anyone is interested in having a closer look.

 

Meanwhile, all the layout's baseboards are back in one place having returned from a trip to Geoff's for some additional electrickery to be added.  Conversation included plans for some alternative motive power for the Sunday afternoon at ExpoEM North too.

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An interesting comparison there, TheSignalEngineer,  between your post content and your signature content...

Don't worry Stu - I occasionally mention the odd thing about signal engineering matters so SE is more than entitled to comment about our job in return (especially as he does so accurately).

 

And don't overlook the fact that loose coupled or partially fitted trains coming down teh gradient will be doing so 'carefully' to avoid running away due to teh train pushing the engine.

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Don't worry Stu - I occasionally mention the odd thing about signal engineering matters so SE is more than entitled to comment about our job in return (especially as he does so accurately).

 

And don't overlook the fact that loose coupled or partially fitted trains coming down teh gradient will be doing so 'carefully' to avoid running away due to teh train pushing the engine.

We can't go slower...... One punter complained that he went for his lunch and came back before the train completely exited the layout.

 

 

Andy

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Thanks; think I'll stick with work stained green bodywork with blue plates over the boiler grille.

 

 

A few of the BCB team got together at Andy's (wagonbasher) house last night, where I was quietly working away on modifying a couple more class 25 underframes (much to the bemusement of the rest of the crew).  As I mentioned before in the rolling stock thread I have an ongoing plan to (eventually) rework all of the Class 24 and 25 underframes following the method described by Jim Smith-Wright in his DEMU Update article some years ago (a copy of which is downloadable from the articles page of P4 New Street).

 

Photos below (which I may I have have posted before in the rolling stock thread) shows a before and after on the previous one I did for 25187.

attachicon.gifWP_20140316_026.jpg

 

attachicon.gifWP_20140316_027.jpg

 

It's quite a time consuming process, but the end result is (I think) very noticeable and therefore worthwhile.  A comment from Andy yesterday, followed by a long car journey this morning prompted me to consider whether there might be a short cut to be had by resin casting some of the parts rather than carving away at the the Bachmann chassis.  At last count I think I have another 5 or 6 left to do - I'm hoping to have a look at some casting at the weekend, but unlikely to get this finished by Expo EM North, but will probably have the bits with me if anyone is interested in having a closer look.

 

Meanwhile, all the layout's baseboards are back in one place having returned from a trip to Geoff's for some additional electrickery to be added.  Conversation included plans for some alternative motive power for the Sunday afternoon at ExpoEM North too.

 

 

 

That is significantly different, I can understand why you are doing this although it did look like you were just randomly chopping up the chassis into little pieces. Since you explained the chassis is not ' structural' then casting does seam a logical approach.

 

Andy

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Well, there was maybe a little of that, but overall there is method in the madness

 

Having watched the carefull taking apart of the loco, it was the bit when the underframe was chopped into four pieces with sidecutters that got us wondering, "Whats he doing" !!!

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