Leaderboard

After the full brake I showed in the last entry, I cracked on with a second vehicle from the same range of kits, while the build sequence was fresh in my mind. I think it's a composite! I haven't progressed this second one completely as I'm still puzzling over the roof details, and might want to revisit the first one in the light of better understanding. The kits come with four different types of castings representing the set-up for day and night running, but the instructions are frustratingly terse, just telling you that the drawing on the front of the kit is running in day-mode, and leaving the modeller to figure out which castings are which and how night-running would work! A little drawing would have cost nothing and saved hours of doubt, but hey-ho, such is the way of the great British model railway kit and I suppose it's what we call character-building. Now if I was being clever I'd crack on build the other two, but I felt that I needed a bit of motivation before soldiering on, and anyway I'd run out of wheels for the time being. I'd had the airbrush out in the conservatory for the first time this year, so it seemed like a good ideal to paint and line these two to give me a bit of confidence moving forward - keeping in mind there are also four bogie vehicles to be done at some point. I don't have any etching primer at the moment, so the models were treated to Halford's white primer, but being careful to let it bake on for at least 24 hours before applying a colour coat. I don't want to put words into someone's mouth but I recall reading one of the professional painters saying that they got on fine with the Halfords stuff, but it was important to let it dry thoroughly. Once I was happy with the primed coaches, I mixed up some thinned Railmatch S&D prussian blue and applied several very dilute coats over about 24 hours. I was very happy with the way this went on and after five or six coats I felt I was getting the right depth of colour. The models were then left well alone with another 24 hours and then the lining commenced: I used neat Humbrol enamel gloss yellow from a fresh tinlet (it just so happened that I needed a new tin anyway, but all the books seem to recommend using a fresh tin and it seems sound advice considering the relative costs of paint and kit). I must admit, despite some attempts, I haven't really got to grips with my Bob Moore lining pen, so for these I went back to the bow-pen which has served well enough in the past. I did however, have a bit of breakthrough in terms of technique. In the past I've always loaded up the pen with a decent blob of paint, but then I've found that the flow quickly becomes erratic and the pen needs to be repeatedly opened and cleaned. In Geoff Hayes' book on painting, which I picked up a few weeks ago, he says that you only need to apply a single drop of paint from the end of a cocktail stick, and that even two such drops is too much. Hmm, interesting - and completely counter to what I've been doing, which probably equals about 20 such droplets. I was a tiny bit skeptical about this but I have to say it works splendidly, and was able to line most of the horizontal bits of these coaches with just a single application - maybe three or four in total for the vertical bits, corners and so on. Better still, because there's such a small amount of paint, most of it gets used and there's very little build-up of dried gunk between the jaws of the pen. Rather than cleaning it properly between each drop, using thinners, I just wiped it clean on tissue and applied another drop. For these coaches, too, I also tried to slow down my drawing of the line, giving the paint time to flow out and not stutter. Although the drawing is slower, the process as a whole goes so much more smoothly that the job is much less time-consuming. taking about 30 minutes per side. I'd purposely not lined the ventilators as I wasn't decided how to tackle them. Over on Wright's Writes, Ian Rathone helpfully suggested leaving them off on future builds, only adding them after the lining is done - which helps get everything square, too. For these, though, I returned to them tonight and added the lining onto the ventilator itself, which is probably a no-no but looks fine in context and much better than leaving them unlined. Based on my 7mm S&D stock (see earlier), the droplights should be a reddish-brown colour which I think will add a little something. Then it's on to transfers and door handles etc. Fun!

This Post is a continuation of my recent foray into Hornby Super Detail Britannias https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blogs/entry/25039-a-tale-of-two-Hornby-super-detail-‘britannias’-plus-a-clan-part-1/. Back in 2014 Hornby sold off a lot of Diamond Jubilee boxed sets. These included 70000 Britannia in ‘Special Duties’ livery. This was Britannia’s preserved livery as featured in 2012 when Prince Charles was a passenger and included an Early Emblem and the original ‘dangerous’ pattern smoke deflectors. The model also featured a speedometer drive which Britannia itself gained around 1956. My Hornby model also had fluted coupling rods which on the prototype had been changed to solid rods in the early 1950s. Hornby R3094 Diamond Jubilee Train Pack In a past Blog Post in 2014 I described overpainting the cab roof of the Special Duties model and backdating the overhead warning plates.https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blogs/entry/13640-shades-of-green-–-Hornby-britannia-r3094/ My Britannia ‘Special Duties’ with repainted cab roof back in 2014 I had tried to convince myself that the combination of overhead warning plates, speedometer drive, ‘dangerous’ deflectors and Early Emblem might have coexisted in the 1950s. David Hey https://davidheyscollection.myshopblocks.com/ did not agree and the model really needed BR (LMR) pattern deflectors and a tender with a Late Crest. Britannia in 1961 with London Midland Region pattern smoke deflectors (Courtesy Keith Long) After my big bid for Morning Star mentioned in the previous Post I had another bid on some bits from Hornby ‘Clive of India’. I was attracted by the prospect of some BR (LMR) pattern deflectors but as a bonus I was able to salvage a front step, large dome, some sand boxes and rear cab supports all for Morning Star. Replacing Britannia’s ‘dangerous’ smoke deflectors with the BR (LMR) pattern from the donor was slow and fiddly. Flexing the deflectors broke the glued joints between the deflectors and the dummy metal supports at the front of the smoke box. Gently pulling the deflectors away from the smoke box eventually parted the top ‘pin’ fastening which pokes into the side of the smoke box. In two cases this had not been glued, in two cases it had been well glued and I snapped the pin. I finished up removing an intact fixing pin from a redundant deflector and gluing it back onto a deflector that I was keeping. The bottom fixings into the footplate were the most difficult to separate and much time was spent with a small screw driver and craft knife poking around beneath the footplate. Refitting is straightforward, the front metal fixings were loose fitted into their respective openings in the smoke box and only glued to the inside of the deflectors after the deflectors had been firmly fixed top and bottom. Whilst modifying Morning Star and against my better judgement I acquired a ‘cheap’ model of Clan McLeod. It was not quite as described! Coincidently I had some etched plates for Clan Stewart. A quick trawl of Flickr showed that 72009 Clan Stewart kept a tender with Early Emblem (with overhead warning plates) into the 1960s. Also like most of its sister engines, it retained fluted coupling rods for its whole life. 72009 Clan Stewart in July 1961 (Courtesy of Brian Townsley) I had a plan, I would rebadge 72008 as 72009. I could then swap tenders and rods between ‘Britannia’ and ‘Clan McLeod’ (that was) and I would have reasonable 1960s representations of two more engines. Hornby Super Detail Clan McLeod alias Clan Stewart The more astute readers will know that on Hornby Clan McLeod’s model, the top smoke box lamp iron has been lowered. However from studying pictures of the prototype, Clan Stewart’s top lamp iron was only lowered when it gained its Late Crest, around 1963. A modification that I have parked for a future occasion. Hornby Britannia ex R3094 Train Pack with BR(LMR) smoke deflectors Returning to ‘Britannia’ there was one final job to carry out. I would over paint the yellow axle boxes in black. I think another good outcome. Mind you I do wonder about the sand box covers.

I have a fascination for Hornby’s super detail Britannia and Clan models. This Post looks at some variations that Hornby have not produced. Firstly I am also rather partial to things ‘Great Western’. When I spotted Hornby super detail Morning Star rebadged by The Model Centre (TMC) I would make a bid for it. It was a big bid and Morning Star duly arrived. Morning Star I am generally not bothered about details such as counting the number of rivets but on this occasion the position of the Morning Star name plates did not seem right. TMC Morning Star with high level plates There is a useful image on Flickr of Morning Star in 1958 shortly after it had moved from the Western Region to the London Midland Region. It is still without its speedometer but clearly shows a single front step, raised sand boxes and the correct position of the name plates. https://flic.kr/p/NkD7We I repositioned the plates and repainted the deflectors – a better result I think. TMC Morning Star with repositioned plates A bonus for me was that the TMC Morning Star came with a tender with a Late Crest which would fit nicely with my 1960s layout. However removing the TMC applied etched plates revealed the name ‘Britannia’. TMC had evidently rebranded Hornby R2562 which was a model of ‘Britannia’ shortly after it had entered service in the early 1950s. I would consult my encyclopaedia – the David Hey Collection. http:// https://davidheyscollection.myshopblocks.com/ Hornby R2562 appears to be a reasonable representation of ‘Britannia’ as running in the early 1950s. However for the late 1950s the dome is too small, the front step is missing, the coupling rods are fluted, there is no rear cab support and the sand boxes have not been raised. One good point was that Morning Star kept the same ‘dangerous’ smoke deflectors for all its life and did not receive a speedometer until the early 1960s. There would have to be quite a few changes to the R2562 bodyshell to make a convincing 1960s Morning Star. After my big bid for Morning Star I had another bid on some bits from Hornby ‘Clive of India’. I was attracted by the prospect of some BR (LMR) pattern deflectors (more of that later) but as a bonus I was able to salvage a front step, large dome, some sand boxes and rear cab supports all for Morning Star. Hats Off, Hornby Britannia Domes, Large Late (L) Small Early (R) The domes on both Morning Star and the donor easily pushed out as if they had not been glued. Swapping the existing two front steps for the larger single step is in theory straightforward. My original single steps appeared to have very little glue and pulled out. In contrast the donor single step which uses the same fixings required a lot of persuasion with a craft knife from the inside of the bodyshell. The rear cab support is a separate moulding glued to the cab floor and is used to attach the two cab doors. With more care it might have been possible to remove the item (and its handrail) in one piece for reuse. In the event I folded the moulding backwards to snap it from the footplate. Once released from the donor it was a careful cutting and gluing operation to form the required new tops to the supports. The new cab supports The sand boxes were more difficult and were eventually forced from the donor by a mixture of cutting and pushing from beneath the footplate. I had all manner of plans for marking out holes for the ‘new’ boxes. I need not have bothered because it would appear that all Super Detail body shells come with indents / knockouts on the underside of the footplate for up to six boxes. Underside of footplate showing indents for sandbox fixings. I used a combination of 0.5mm, 1mm and 1.5mm drill bits to make a hole through the footplate. Forcing the donor sand boxes out from the footplate had damaged their fixing pins and it was relatively easy to shape the remains of the pin to fit the newly drilled 1.5mm hole. Newly drilled holes for sandboxes. I fitted a new set of solid rods purchased from one of the usual suspects and I think I have a more presentable 1960s version of Morning Star. Hornby Super Detail Morning Star aka R2562 with modifications One issue that I will have to live with is that there should be an opening on the side of the footplate around the lubricator linkage. Cutting the opening is not the issue. Sourcing or fabricating the tiny handles for the lubricators is more of a challenge. You might say that if you wanted a model of Morning Star with a Late Crest there are more appropriate models to start with rather than Hornby R2562.

Evening all, Just an update on the project as much thinking has been done of late - purchasing too…more on that later. A couple of firm decisions have been made with regard to track plan and boards. Firstly I have decided to model the other side of the station to my 2mmFS version as per the photo on the previous entry. A few reasons really, in that it will make a change to have a different viewpoint, there’s a slightly different track layout plus it’s not the side that people are most familiar with. Secondly I have decided to move away from using Lack shelves (as on Wenford) as the width is not sufficient and the water and platform would need to be added on. I did consider making them myself using the laser cutter in the studio however it’s a lot of ply and a bit different to making my own 2mm boards! So I have decided to use the excellent Tim Horn baseboards and have been having to and fro conversations with Tim of recent. Am hoping they will be lighter than using the Lack shelves too as am not getting any younger Much mapping out of boards using stock has now confirmed that I will have two scenic boards at 1220mm in length and two fiddle yard boards at 950mm in length. The latter will accompany a 37 and three Mk I coaches, the parcels rakes and vans will be arranged accordingly within these limits. The 26 and 27 being shorter than the 37 means no issues here too…maybe allows a CCT tacked on the end of a rake The extra length in the scenic boards will allow me to return and run the water at the end of the scene allowing an interesting end on view. I note that my hero Ian Futers did this with his Loch Lochy 7mm layout and again a slight departure from what I did on the 2FS version. Lessons learnt from 2FS Kyle on the runaround will also be addressed by the longer scenic boards as it will allow 3 coaches to be set back and a split traverser arrangement along the board joints. This will allow me to avoid lifting and turning the locos as I have to do on 2FS Kyle (that is partly due to couplings one end but I will use the 3 links for this) as they are heavy beasts. Finally re the purchases I have started to accumulate the stock required as Heljan have a habit of doing a run and then stopping it - noting that most of their excellent modern image wagons are currently no longer available. I have acquired the three Heljan Mk I’s and a GUV already from Tower Models as well as pre ordered 2 CCT’s and a Mk II coach awaiting release 2022. For the vans I used the great deal Tower Models had and bought 6 x Planked and 6 x Plywood Dapol vans all individually numbered. That will just leave one off wagons in kit or RTR format to be added later if required. The detail on the Heljan MK I’s is superb and the Dapol vans pretty much take up the length of Wenford As I mentioned, this stock is being stored for now using some nifty foam lined plastic container boxes by these guys https://trainsporters.com A few pics below… Board layout and end on view… Mapped out using actual stock… Stretching their legs on Wenford… The typical Kyle rake with BG located in the centre for the ramp… The complete rake of vans!… Heljan 37 on the previous mock up… And again with stock in platform…. That’s all for now and as usual, comments welcomed! Pete

Being somewhat of a back-water in railway history, the Witney branch via North Leigh became home to many unusual vehicles, rarely seen elsewhere. I have already shown the standard-gauge Tilt Wagon ('Hat Box') but a particular claim to fame for this line was that it became the 'stamping ground' for William Dean's experimental 4-2-4 express tank engine, shown below entering North Leigh station. William Dean's experimental 4-2-4T No.9 at North Leigh My first encounter with this locomotive was many years ago, through the pages of John Gibson's “GW Locomotive Design - A Critical Appreciation”, which portrayed it as such an embarrassing failure that all traces of it had to be expunged from the record, with an order going out that 'this thing never existed'. If that were true, Dean would hardly have provided an article for 'The Engineer, Sept.24th 1886', with a detailed drawing of the unusual outside Stephenson valve gear. Dean explained that this arrangement was intended to get rid of the excessive cramping up of the valve gear, necessary when large cylinders have the valve chests placed between them. Outside Valve Gear on Re-built GWR No.9 (from 'The Engineer') In fact, Dean had arrived in office knowing that the Broad Gauge was nearing its end and a new type of locomotive would soon be needed, to replace the Gooch singles. Amongst the ideas to be tested was the possibility of using express tank engines, as designed successfully by Pearson, for the Bristol & Exeter railway. E L Ahrons, who arrived at Swindon in 1885, described the original configuration of the engine as having a 30' overall wheelbase, including two carrying bogies of wheelbases 7' 3" and 5' 6" respectively. He also stated that the length of the platform was 36' 5-5/8". Very much later (around 1940), E W Twining produced an outline drawing, purporting to show the layout of the tank engine. A comparison of his sketch with the detailed drawing of the valve gear in 'The Engineer' reveals that it is simply not possible to fit this gear between the front bogie and the driving wheel, if the longer bogie is placed at the front! In my opinion, Twining's chassis seems to bear a very considerable resemblance to the Lehigh Valley inspection saloon, still in existence at that time, even down to the bicycle-style 'mudguards' over the front bogie wheels. My own solution places the shorter bogie at the front and, with this configuration, a well-balanced design results. The front bogie fits neatly under the smokebox, leaving room for the outside valve gear, while the rear 7' 3" bogie fits immediately behind the firebox, within the overall 30' wheelbase. Apart from the reversed bogies, the dimensions conform to Ahrons' description. The construction of my model followed similar lines to those I have described previously, when I built my 'Queen'-class engine. I built the engine in two parts: a rectangular chassis, carrying the driving wheels plus two bogies, and a box structure for the upper body. The boiler is represented by a half round section soldered into position between the two side tanks. The steps in my construction are shown below: I have fitted an extended cab roof, similar to those used on other GWR tank engines in the same period, and a rear spectacle plate, appropriate for high-speed reverse running. Other features include cutaways in the tanks, to allow access to the motion, and tanks that extend a short distance in front of the smokebox, both as mentioned by Ahrons. The long (11' 6") boiler, in two rings, was designed to provide similar steaming capacity to the large-diameter boilers of the Gooch singles. My model wears the new livery, introduced in 1881, with Indian red frames and vermilion lining (though at that time the wheels were still green). With this presentation, I believe that the engine is worthy of the description given by David Joy, when he visited Swindon around 1882 "I saw all about a mighty 'single' tank engine ... I saw drawings and all, and she looked a beauty". My Interpretation of GWR 4-2-4T No.9 The real significance of this engine was that, while it showed that the 4-2-4 express tank engine concept was not appropriate for the standard gauge, it addressed an urgent need to re-visit valve-gear design for more powerful engines. The eventual outcome was, of course, the famous Dean Singles, with the same length of boiler and direct-driven valves, mounted below the cylinders. The family relationship can be seen in the following extremely rare photo of these two engines, side-by-side at North Leigh: Dean 'Single' alongside its 4-2-4T pre-decessor at North Leigh My model currently only has 'cosmetic' outside valve gear, cut from plasticard with my Silhouette cutter. It is powered by a Tenshodo WB28.7 SPUD, contained within the rear bogie, in the same way that my 4-2-2 uses a similar one in its front bogie. The model negotiates my small-radius curves with ease and does not share a tendency for de-railing, which apparently afflicted the prototype! Update: I have created a 3D computer model of this engine - see https://www.rmweb.co.uk/blogs/entry/26347-william-dean’s-express-tank-revisited/ Mike references: Great Western Locomotive Design, John C Gibson 1984 The British Steam Railway Locomotive 1825 - 1925, E L Ahrons, 1927 Swindon Steam, L A Summers, 2013