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I have started to convert some of my Bachmann short firebox Jubilees to P4 in order to run them on my layout. This project had been stalled for a while as I pondered on the best way to do this, however a visit by Dave Holt, David Clarke and Steve Ridgeway in September gave me the necessary push to get on with it. My conversion replaces the wheels with an Alan Gibson 3mm axle set of drivers plus bogie and tender wheels. Replacement crankpins are Markits stainless steel products. The only other modification is to use a Dave Franks Stanier chassis kit on the tender. r. Here is a youtube link to a video showing Bengal moving in the shed yard. Sorry but the media link refuses to work. https://youtu.be/IzwQGyGImDw Seasons greetings to all readers of my blog. Robin

I've thought for a while that in order to add a bit of variety during operating sessions, Sherton Abbas could do with a few wagons from companies other than the GWR. The layout is set in Dorset, so likely candidates would be from the S&DJR, MSWJR, and Midland companies. During the weekend exhibiting the layout at the Telford O gauge show, I bought a couple of kits from Furness wagon works ttps://pregroupingrailways.com/wagons/ in order to build a couple of S&D examples. FRWC17 Midland/S&DJR/LSWR/LMS/Private Owner 5plk Wagon (With Raised Ends) FRWC21 S&DJR/MR/LNWR/LMS/SR/BRRoad Van The kits comprise of resin moulded bodies, accompanied by etched brass and white metal detail parts. Kit components. A bit of filler was needed to repair a few air bubbles in the resin castings, but that apart the kits are a really quick way of building wagons! I decided to change the buffers for sprung examples from Slater's, but that was just personal choice. The S&D appear to have painted the iron work on their wagons in black, so to avoid fiddly painting I chemically blackened the etched brass components before fitting them to the body work Blackened etched brass components. I found a couple of pictures on the internet of prototype wagons, which I used to base the models on. Hopefully as they appear to be in the public domain it's not a problem posting them here! I hope I've got the tare weight right, its a bit tricky to decipher and I'm also not that convinced by the models axle boxes Model open wagon. Prototype Road Van. Model road van. Pair of wagons together. Pictures of the wagons in service on the layout. I'll take the opportunity to wish everyone on RMweb a very Merry Christmas and an excellent 2020! Best wishes Dave

I wish everyone a good Christmas with a chance to drive a few trains and enjoy some modelling time. So here we are, a Christmas special. Many thanks for all the encouragement, discussion, hints and tips you have all contributed. I enjoy reading and learning from RMweb, keeps my enthusiasm going. All the best, Dave.

Just a quick post to show the result of a couple of days of painting. Hope I did them justice! Can't wait to get them 'planted' and actually have something scenic on the layout. The oast still needs its steps assembling and glazing fitting, but that may not happen before Christmas. All for now, Jonathan

The platforms use Peco platform edging with a cardboard top. The fact that this is a terminus means that the platforms meet at one end. To avoid joins in the surface, I cut all the platforms from a single sheet of cardboard using a template marked on tracing paper laid on the baseboard. The surface is airbrush painted with a Humbrol grey and then weathered using pastels.

These past weeks I have had some pleasant early morning modelling sessions, building a GWR covered float for my early 1900s setting. The model was built using two drawings in Great Western Horse Power by Janet Russel (figs 180 and 182) and a photo in Great Western Way p.163 (original edition). I was a bit slow to discover that there are variations between the drawings and the photo. The prototype is not in the GWR diagram book for horse-drawn carriages, but is arguably a variant of the E5 diagram (see GWR Goods Cartage Vol 1 by Tony Atkins). I say 'scratchbuilt', but the wheels are from an Arch Laser kit for another wagon (see discussion here). They conveniently represent the correct 4'6" diameter 14 spoke pattern used by the GWR in earlier days. Although just a lowly float, the prototype had a certain Victorian elegance in the design. Like all floats, they had cranked axels to allow for a low floor and thereby easier loading of goods. The hoop sticks for the tilt were formed over a jig, stuck on with duct tape and dunked in boiling water. The drawings show the tilt with vertical sides and a curved top. The wagon in the reference photo suggests a rounder shape. I initially concluded that this was an optical illusion. In retrospect I am not so sure. The shafts were also nicked from the Arch Laser kit. They are flat as they come, but on my prototype they have a curve so I rolled them with a round scalpel, and modifed them to allow proper fixing to the body. The shafts had extended mounting plates/irons along the side of the wagon. Mine are a bit over scale. The springs were cut on my Silhouette. A rough outline was enough as the wheels obscure the details. The brake design seems to have varied on these vehicles. The reference photo shows a somewhat crude external design, operated by a lever from the front, so I imitated this. For the painting, I followed Tony Atkins who in GWR Goods Cartage Vol 1 states: "According to the Railway Magazine, at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries GW horse lorries for delivering goods had red wheels, shafts and framing, while horse-drawn vans used for collecting and delivering passenger train parcels were painted chocolate all over [...] In 1909 horse vans were also given the same red shafts and wheels as lorries." Although floats sometimes doubled as parcels vans at rural stations, they were first and foremost intended for goods cartage, so I opted for red wheels, springs and shafts for my early 1900s period. As an aside, I'm never entirely confident about livery references in the Railway Magazine of the 1900s, but that is another story. Then along came Charlie, new to the GWR stables. Young and hopeful, he dreamt of a career in tap dancing and an endless supply of Cheese & Cucumber sandwiches. We quickly put an end to that! Here he is being modified with extra harness. I modelled the harness so that it loosely indicates the method used to pull fixed-shaft wagons, while also allowing the wagon to rest on the back of the now disillusioned Charlie. This solved the problem of balancing a one-axle vehicle. The tilt was made from plain paper, with the lettering copied from the reference photo. Period photos show that tilts of this type were very taut, with the impression of the hoop sticks sometimes showing through. To indicate this I wetted the paper and formed it around the hoop sticks. The tarp was then varnished several times, and holes punched in the sides to emulate how it was fixed in place. I wish I had used the number of a wagon that hadn't been photographed, as that would have solved the problem of inconsistencies between the drawings and the reference photo! The reference photo shows two thin and rather unsightly boards along the sides of the tilt, presumably to pin it down further and stabilise it. I made them from masking tape. The lettering in the reference photo shows a style used during the 1890s (sometimes with, sometimes without the "Co."). I pieced it together from a couple of photos using this style. The tilt had separate protective tarps fitted on the inside of the hoops at the front and rear. Again, these were simply made from paper. Photos suggest that in daily practice the rear "flap" on horsedrawn vehicles was often secured in half-open or fully open position. Lastly the wheels hubs were fitted, made from a styrene tube and filled with putty. So that's it. I won’t be fitting reins at this point, as I have to set up my layouts every time I want to run trains, so reins are just not practical. In this view you can see that the wheels are Lasercut, but it's OK from normal viewing distance. There are photos of fixed-shaft vehicles resting like this in GWR yards. Smaller carts without a tilt were sometimes, er, tilted the other way. By and large, Charlie appears to have accepted his fate. Though sometimes, out of the corner of my eye, I can see him doing a secret little tap dance. Lastly a view of the horsedrawn GWR fleet at Farthing as it currently appears. So much for corporate identity!

After talking about my class 37 plans for the past few days, its time to crack on with modelling them. First up is 37403, a respray from what was a Large Logo Blue 37412 (its Extreme Etchings nameplates will be finding their way onto the classifieds at the weekend) The project started with the preparation of the bodyshell, the Bachmann roof grill was removed (an Extreme Etchings replacement has been ordered). The Large Logo, number transfer and scotty dog were removed (using a combination of wet & dry and a fiberglass pencil), and the joint between yellow and blue was also sanded down to blend it together. My plan was to keep the grey roof (keeping the cantrail stripes) and use the existing yellow for the ends, so these were masked off before giving the whole thing a light dusting of primer. The weather today was just about warm enough for painting, so after heating up the garage it was out with the airbrush. (Although it took a while to get the bottle of Railmatch paint open, soaking in a bath of boiling water.) A couple of coats of green paint later, and its starting to look like 37403. It needs a couple of minor touch ups where the masking didn't quite work. I have emailed Railtec to see if its possible to get a set of faded BR crests (along with the other transfers). Lamp irons are also going to have to be added (the Bachmann ones were removed to assist with the warning panel masking.) I have a Brassmasters etch which should provide suitable replacements. Next up will be preparing 37245 for its conversion into 37230 (cleaning the body, priming & spraying the yellow and grey. The next weeks weather is looking too cold so I suspect it will not be until after Christmas now.

On to the second step of the conversion of 37403, as a result of a combination of the temperature, the lack or a paint handle to move the workpiece and very old paint, I did have a few issues with the painting. Notably it was very difficult to get paint to stay in corners / edges of detail. So minor repairs were completed with a brush, (while the wreathing will be focused around these areas so any remaining damaged paint will be obscured by the weathering.) Using some thinners on a fine brush the overspray of green onto the yellow warning panel was removed. With that done, the ETH sockets were glued back into position (while the lamp irons will follow this evening.) The emergency cut off switches on each end were picked out with red edges and a pale grey centre, before the model was given a coat of gloss varnish once it was fully dry. The large bodyside grills were given a coat of paint on the coloured areas (replacing anything that was blue with green), before refitting onto the model. I have learned from the mistakes with my DRS 37612 and left the doors in situ, there is no chance of loosing any doors this time! Speaking of which I really should draw up a class 37 door in CAD and run through the silhouette to replace the missing doors on 612..... Attention then turned to the chassis, the fuel tanks are probably the weakest part of the Bachmann Class 37 model, but for the time being will be left as the come. Its one of those jobs which really need to be done across a fleet rather than just on a single model.... Instead they were treated to a weathering mix of Vallejo paints (Grey Black, Black, Leather and German Cam Brown). The same mix was applied to the bogies and remaining plastic chassis parts, while the bufferbeams were given a coat of red paint. Air and vacuum pipes were added along with a slot for a Dingham and a Heljan Class 47 snowplough. More pipes are still needed however... next up was the ends, adding Vi Trains parts for the 4 lamp irons per end (painting two of them green) before reassembling the lighting units. I had a crack at scribing the panel lines around the windscreens, but it doesn’t look very noticeable. next up was the OHLE cantrail stripe, adding the bonnet sections and fixing a couple of areas on the roof. Once done I gave another coat of varnish, which is there the problems started. As it was raining I sprayed on the utility room, I think I ended up spraying one end a bit too close as the varnish reacted ( it did the same on rear of a tender i varnished afterwards). Thankfully it only impacted one bonnet top (and the are due fairly heavy weathering anyway). After gently sanding down it was repainted by hand before rejoining the ends. The final job of the evening was to fit the Extreme Etchings roof grill, using an old etch that had got crumpled up in storage. As a result I glued it in place with ‘gorilla’ superglue as I wanted a quicker bond to hold the shape. The etched part will follow before painting. So all that remains is to add the etched ring to the roof grill, then paint it grey. And see what Railtec come back with on the transfers. Lots of work so far, but its been an enjoyable project. Certainly a lot more rewarding than the alternative approach of selling 37412 and using the proceeds (and some more no doubt) to buy a Bachmann collectors club Caerphilly Castle as a base. Im sure its going to be just as rewarding on the next one. However first I need to do some selling to provide the funds for a transfer order... There is still a need for one final 37 to be added to the fleet, but its all dependent on finding a Bachmann 37114 in EWS at the right price. I want a model of 37054 Viking in EW&S (replacing one of my first diesel locos, a Hornby release). But finding a suitable base model (at the right price) is proving tricky. I suspect it will end up being a respray job on whatever cheap split box 37/0 I can find, maybe even a case of grafting a pair of Split Box ends onto my scrap 37/0 shell if I can get a pair.....

Yes it's another Timber Track's kit, but with a Severn Models Photo-etch interior, some bits from Scale Model Scenery and a Modelu Signalman. Considering it's size this was quite a lengthy build: First up building the basic structure, this follows the general layers approach of a Timber Tracks kit. There's also a nifty jig to help build the staircase. I also had the challenge of building a photo-etch interior from Severn Models, the basic construction was fiddly, but straight forward. The interior is what took the time, as it all had to painted, glazing installed, provision for lighting included and of course painting the photo-etch (which for the most part was done by hand) Once this was done, the roof, chimney and gable ends were added. The slate roofing was then added and the painting began.. The guttering and down-pipes were fitted and the painting completed. The Thornbury Nameplate was then added and the whole structure was weathered, before it big reveal.. And that is definitely all on the buildings front till next year.. Till next time TBG