Dock Green

[HeatherKay]

Not wishing to hijack the thread (again!) but progress on a certain J6 has been fairly quick this week.

 

 

Essentially, the main structure is now complete in the loco and tender. The chassis fits, but need wiring up for power. The next phase is the fiddly detailing, like lubrication pipes and fittings, and the cab detailing, before the whitemetal castings are fitted.

[chaz]

Not wishing to hijack the thread (again!) but progress on a certain J6 has been fairly quick this week.

 

Image 4.jpg

 

Essentially, the main structure is now complete in the loco and tender. The chassis fits, but need wiring up for power. The next phase is the fiddly detailing, like lubrication pipes and fittings, and the cab detailing, before the whitemetal castings are fitted.

 

 

Hijack the thread as much as you like if it is to post such photos and details. Excellent stuff! It's nice to see how well the smokebox and saddle  have come together - I know how much of a challenge this area can be.

 

It's starting to look the part and I can visualise this pottering into Dock Green yard, in fairly clean black livery, at the head of a trip freight from Ferme Park.

Now I have to think about how I can give it a run - Dock Green doesn't go out again until early next year.

 

The sound is going to have to be generic - no ex-GNR 0-6-0 survives (apart from the saddle tank 1247, which is a quite different machine).

 

Chaz

Edited July 28, 2017 by chaz

[chaz]

Another general scenes interlude before the next loco portrait.

 

 

This one is a chance for you to imagine that J6 sitting under the bridge - nice isn't it?

 

 

...and about to run out tender-first with a trip freight in the background? That's "Christine" the Hudswell Clarke on the shunting loop.

 

 

Another one for the monochrome fans!

 

 

A load of old cobbles.

 

Chaz

Edited July 28, 2017 by chaz

[Simond]

Hijack the thread as much as you like if it is to post such photos and details. Excellent stuff! It's nice to see how well the smokebox and saddle  have come together - I know how much of a challenge this area can be.

 

It's starting to look the part and I can visualise this pottering into Dock Green yard, in fairly clean black livery, at the head of a trip freight from Ferme Park.

Now I have to think about how I can give it a run - Dock Green doesn't go out again until early next year.

 

The sound is going to have to be generic - no ex-GNR 0-6-0 survives (apart from the saddle tank 1247, which is a quite different machine).

 

Chaz

I guess the particular sound of the "chuff" will be a function of the smokebox geometry, cylinder volume and pressure during the time the exhaust valve is open, which will in turn depend on type of valve (slide or piston, or even poppet), valve gear, reverser position (probably full gear on DG) and boiler pressure, which will vary from day to day.

 

The tube length, firebox shape, grate area, and depth of fire will also have some effect.

 

Presumably something exists with similar cylinders, valves, valve gear and smokebox?

 

Whistles, pumps etc should not pose any insurmountable hurdles.

 

So perhaps not "generic", but "a reasonable representation of what it would have been like", or, since no one can argue, whatever you can find!

 

Best

Simon

[HeatherKay]

Well, I think the loco's nearly there.

 

 

While the boiler-top fittings still have to attached rather than posed, and the cab details need to be done, most of the bodywork and chassis details are done. Today was about ejector pipework, handrails and sundry other odds and ends. Obviously, the tender needs some work, and I've still got to wire it all up, but that will have to wait for a while as I have another commission due to start next week.

[chaz]

Well, I think the loco's nearly there.

 

Image 4.jpg

 

While the boiler-top fittings still have to attached rather than posed, and the cab details need to be done, most of the bodywork and chassis details are done. Today was about ejector pipework, handrails and sundry other odds and ends. Obviously, the tender needs some work, and I've still got to wire it all up, but that will have to wait for a while as I have another commission due to start next week.

 

 

Very, very nice. I can't wait to see it painted. 

 

Chaz

[chaz]

I guess the particular sound of the "chuff" will be a function of the smokebox geometry, cylinder volume and pressure during the time the exhaust valve is open, which will in turn depend on type of valve (slide or piston, or even poppet), valve gear, reverser position (probably full gear on DG) and boiler pressure, which will vary from day to day.

 

The tube length, firebox shape, grate area, and depth of fire will also have some effect.

 

Presumably something exists with similar cylinders, valves, valve gear and smokebox?

 

Whistles, pumps etc should not pose any insurmountable hurdles.

 

So perhaps not "generic", but "a reasonable representation of what it would have been like", or, since no one can argue, whatever you can find!

 

Best

Simon

 

 

The only clue I have as to what a J6 sounded like (and I certainly can't remember) is that they made an odd noise when coasting leading to their nickname with the crews of "nick-nacks". This was due to the unusual arrangement of the valve-gear.

 

I will be happy if it sounds like a 2 cylinder steam engine and chuffs four times for each revolution of the wheels.

 

Chaz

[81A Oldoak]

The Locos of Dock Green 10 - "Christine"

 

When we took Dock Green to the NEC for the Warley show the Peckett failed during Saturday morning’s session. Much fiddling and swearing backstage failed to solve the problem so I was forced to let The Estate hire a loco from BR to work their lines (such things did happen from time to time). I resolved that in future every loco should have a replacement on the subs bench just in case. At the time Ixion had announced their Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T. As it was available in green with black and white lining (shades of the GNR!) I ordered one.

 

P1030836-1.jpg

 

Placing it on the track with the Peckett emphasises what a very small loco it is.

 

P1030541-2-1.jpg

 

I made a few changes. I didn’t like the green wheels, sandboxes etc etc so I painted everything below the footplate black. The photo above shows the model not yet weathered and with its original buffers.

 

P1030523-2-1.jpg

 

It was easy to dismantle the model to put a DCC sound decoder in and there is already a compartment for a speaker. I also removed the cab floor for painting (it’s at top right in the photo above) and I bought a white metal figure for the one-man crew. I fixed him to a piece of HIP with a self-tapping screw into a hole in one of his legs whilst I painted him. Natty red tie!

 

P1030842-2-1.jpg

 

I also decided to change the buffers for something bigger - large diameter buffers are not unusual on industrials where tracks may be sharply curved. The buffer housings are a force fit and can be pulled out from the buffer beams with a twisting motion. The back of the buffer rams has been crimped - if the splayed and flattened bit is file back to a round shape the rams can be released. I had some “brass” drawing pins but these proved to be merely plated; removing the brass with fine emery cloth revealed the steel underneath.

I drilled the fatter part of the rams on a lathe to suit the drawing pin shanks and then superglued the pins in place. I made four brass collars to refix the rams, having nothing that would crimp them. 

 

P1030885-2-1.jpg

 

Stretching an elastic band around all four buffer heads allowed me to superglue the collars to the shanks with no risk of the glue locking the collars against the buffer housings.

 

Three snaps of Christine on Dock Green.

 

P1030892-1.jpg

 

P1050549-1.jpg

 

P1050992-2-1-1.jpg

 

Chaz

I approve of this post.

[chaz]

I approve of this post.

 

 

Gosh, I wonder why....  

[chaz]

The Locos of Dock Green 11 - D5052

 

In 1961 a batch of  BR/Sulzer type 2 locos, D5052 among them, were allocated to Finsbury Park from Stratford in exchange for some Brush type 2s. The latter were too heavy for cross-London freight workings but the Sulzers would be suitable. The locos (which later became TOPS class 24) stayed at 34G until 1965.

 

 

My model, seen above on Dock Green before I weathered it, is a JLTRT resin kit. I don’t like working with resin so I had someone else build it for me. I bought an ABC compensated motor bogie with a Maxon motor for it. I was told that I should fit two but the loadings on Dock Green don’t justify the expense and indeed once I had added some lead into the body shell it ran well.

 

 

Originally I fixed the speaker into the body shell but this meant that whenever I took the body shell off I had to take care with the connecting wires. I decided to mount the speaker with the decoder on the frames. The photo above is of a copper bracket which I made on which to mount both the speaker and the decoder.

 

 

The frames showing, from the left, the Maxon motor projecting through the floor, the ESU XL decoder and the speaker. I didn’t connect the locos lights to the decoder. BR did not trust the electric lights on the early diesels and continued to use the paraffin lamps used on steam locos instead. 

 

 

I weathered the diesel in much same fashion as my other diesels but left it fairly clean.

 

 

I added dirt colours, just enough to tone down the white lining and those cabside handrails and to bring out the detail on the bogies.

 

 

The sound project (by South West Digital) in the model is excellent and the model sounds really good, particularly when stationary and ticking over. Hearing that takes me straight back to my spotting days at WGC and St Albans.

 

Chaz

[chaz]

There will be a few more loco portraits but I thought I would also do a series on small details around Dock Green so here we go....

 

Details around Dock Green 1

 

 

I had a problem hiding a couple of T-nuts which I put into the back wall as an afterthought to support the indicator panel that helps the operators by showing the point settings. Two of these cabinets made a nice extra feature (as well as hiding the T-nuts!). The hand-throw point lever is by Ambis.

 

Chaz

Edited August 1, 2017 by chaz

[Western Star]

... I thought I would also do a series on small details around Dock Green...

Good idea, request time.

 

The grounded, outside framed, covered wagon which appears in some of the photos for this post please.

[chaz]

Good idea, request time.

 

The grounded, outside framed, covered wagon which appears in some of the photos for this post please.

 

 

OK.....

 

Details around Dock Green 2

 

 

From the left...

 

The Karzi - a scratch-built architectural masterpiece - made from various scraps of plastic. 

 

The hut in the centre is from a resin cast kit.

 

The grounded van is a GER 10T vehicle made from a resin kit (De Camin - I think). it ran for a while on my home layout but when I discovered that none of these made it into LNER service let alone BR it became a candidate for grounding. I cut away the underframe parts and made up a plinth from stripwood on which it sits. Painting over the grey livery with matte black and then distressing this with a fibreglass pencil gave it a suitable weathered look. 

 

Chaz

Edited August 1, 2017 by chaz

[chaz]

The Locos of Dock Green 12 - 61027 Madoqua

 

The B1s were a common sight at WGC when I was a short-trousered trainspotter. The first forty of the class (with the exception of 61036) were named after antelopes but the only one of those that was a regular in my notebooks was 61027.

I approached Mark(or is it Mike?) of DMR models at a show. He was sitting behind a table on which was an excellent 7mm B1 (I wanted one as soon as I saw it). His opening gambit was that he wouldn’t sell me the kit as there were too many problems with it. I said that I appreciated his candour but that wouldn’t be a problem as I wanted him to build it for me. 

 

 

The photograph above was taken on my home layout shortly after the model arrived. I was very pleased with it and I really like the BR MT black livery but two aspects cried out for a bit of weathering; bright motion never looks right and black paint hides all that detail.

 

 

Some light weathering makes the model look far more convincing without hiding the lining. It looks much more like a locomotive in service rather than a museum piece (or indeed a model).

 

Some photos of the B1 on Dock Green.

 

 

 

 

 

That high viewpoint illustrates just how tight the clearances are on the layout. That retaining wall is perilously close to the track. It's a compromise I accepted as inevitable if I was to fit in the track layout I wanted into a two foot wide baseboard.

 

The last picture is one for the Monochrome fans and includes some Photoshopped steam - fun to do, but you are free to disapprove if you wish….   

 

 

Chaz

 

[chaz]

Details around Dock Green 2a

 

Two more photos of the hut and the grounded van.

 

 

The hut is probably a bolt hole for the shunters, but evidently has no heating so not much good in winter.

 

 

They add to the scene but fit in with my general approach - every detail should be ordinary, not exceptional or unusual but the overall effect should not be cluttered.

 

Chaz

Edited August 2, 2017 by chaz

[HeatherKay]

The hut is probably a bolt hole for the shunters, but evidently has no heating so not much good in winter.

 

 

They could have a cheeky paraffin stove in there. It would make the windows steam up, but it would get quite comfy - plus the ability to boil a kettle for the all important tea!

[chaz]

They could have a cheeky paraffin stove in there. It would make the windows steam up, but it would get quite comfy - plus the ability to boil a kettle for the all important tea!

 

 

Indeed they could. I don't know about comfy though, in that small hut it would get quite muggy, especially if they are smokers!

 

Chaz

[chaz]

Details around Dock Green 3

 

The foreman's office

 

 

It's a concoction of card and 0.6mm ply' (cut into strips) with etched brass window frames.

 

 

Above is the back wall of the office which includes a pinboard with various paperwork pinned to it and a couple of jackets hanging on hooks.

 

 

Above are the various details I put inside the office. A desk with various notebooks etc, behind it two swivel chairs (one occupied by a "bloke"). At the back a sink, a couple of cupboards and a filing cabinet. Most of this stuff can only be glimpsed through the windows but it was fun to make.

 

Chaz

Edited August 3, 2017 by chaz

[chaz]

Locos of Dock Green 13 (the last for now) - a quartet waiting in the wings

 

 

This is an Ixion Fowler diesel weathered and installed with sound by Paul Martin of EDM Models. It awaits the re-fitting of a coupling and nameplates - “Toby”. All the steam industrials have female names so a male diesel seems a good idea.

 

 

This is a Manning Wardle - Ixion’s only brass model. I had sold this on to one of my operating team but when he decided to “go German” I bought it back off him. The paint needs finishing and it needs a pair of Dingham couplings before it can perform on Dock Green.

 

 

D5330 is a Heljan BRCW type 2 (later TOPS 26). It spent two months at Hornsey shed in the summer of 1959 to ease a locomotive shortage before moving north of the border. I broke my rule by running this model on Dock Green without any weathering. Before it works again I will add some dirt.

 

 

“Persephone” is a Minerva “Victory” class which needs the couplings sorted (they were fitted in a bit of a rush to get the loco into action at a show and need adjusting). I will also get nameplates made for it . I’m undecided as to what to do about the colour of this model but something must be done - I don’t care for this dark pink colour which looks most unlikely for such a powerful looking beast.

 

I hope to get all four of these locos onto Dock Green for our next show but the star will (I hope) be the J6 that Heather is building for me.

 

Chaz

Edited August 3, 2017 by chaz

[daifly]

Chaz

Your earlier post today contains placeholders only - no photos.

Dave

[81A Oldoak]

Locos of Dock Green 13 (the last for now) - a quartet waiting in the wings

 

P1030908-2-1.jpg

 

This is an Ixion Fowler diesel weathered and installed with sound by Paul Martin of EDM Models. It awaits the re-fitting of a coupling and nameplates - “Toby”. All the steam industrials have female names so a male diesel seems a good idea.

 

P1060149-2-1.jpg

 

This is a Manning Wardle - Ixion’s only brass model. I had sold this on to one of my operating team but when he decided to “go German” I bought it back off him. The paint needs finishing and it needs a pair of Dingham couplings before it can perform on Dock Green.

 

P1060217-2-1-1.jpg

 

D5330 is a Heljan BRCW type 2 (later TOPS 26). It spent two months at Hornsey shed in the summer of 1959 to ease a locomotive shortage before moving north of the border. I broke my rule by running this model on Dock Green without any weathering. Before it works again I will add some dirt.

 

P1070399-1.jpg

 

“Persephone” is a Minerva “Victory” class which needs the couplings sorted (they were fitted in a bit of a rush to get the loco into action at a show and need adjusting). I will also get nameplates made for it . I’m undecided as to what to do about the colour of this model but something must be done - I don’t care for this dark pink colour which looks most unlikely for such a powerful looking beast.

 

I hope to get all four of these locos onto Dock Green for our next show but the star will (I hope) be the J6 that Heather is building for me.

 

Chaz

I approve of most of these locos.

[chaz]

Chaz

Your earlier post today contains placeholders only - no photos.

Dave

 

 

Could you tell me which one please Dave? They all look OK on my computer.

 

Chaz

[chaz]

I approve of most of these locos.

 

 

Only most of them Chris? Can I have a prize if I guess which you don't approve of?

 

Chaz

[Adams442T]

Could you tell me which one please Dave? They all look OK on my computer.

 

Chaz

 

All three not opening for me!

[daifly]

Could you tell me which one please Dave? They all look OK on my computer.

 

Chaz

 

Chaz

You have made two posts today on this thread prior to this one - at 0821 and 0844. The earlier post referred to is the 0821 which contains no photos. Take a look via an iPhone  or iPad and you will see what we see! 

Dave