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Getting closer...... Lining is coming on bit by bit. Modelmaster - the yellow lines inside the black are a little wide if I’m honest, but clean enough and after the edges are touched in with some satin black, I’m hoping it will be ok. Also that it won’t need excessive weathering to disguise it. It runs well and pulls tree stumps out so I’d like to make a decent job of it. I may make a late change to it though. Any guesses? Iain

Thank you John. That’s an enormous compliment. You are very kind. Iain

I’ve just posted some photos and descriptions of more carriage bodging in my other thread Coaching Stock for Camden - link in the signature below. Decided I had better shift some unfinished projects before I started any new ones. Iain

Thank you John, and likewise, that Kirk BG looks excellent. More to come: A P III non-corridor 3rd, made by using Comet sides on a Dapol donor. The Dapol bogies weren’t right for this one so I substituted Bachmann LMS ones. I finished this in unlined maroon and overall I think it’s ok - should it be lined? I’ve seen a few photos of both but perhaps more lined ones. I picked a representative number rather than a specific one. I didn’t quite get the roof to seat properly on the sides unfortunately, and it’s not easy to alter. That’s the big issue with mixed media, I think. If you solder the whole coach then anything, within reason, can be adjusted. Still, making these sides with all of the hinges, handles and drop lights, and then glazing each pane individually, is a bit of a mission. If I make more non-corridors - well, when I do - I might have to make some decisions about not going the whole way on every one, but to make them look part of an overall piece. These next two were bought part completed and now ready for weathering. Basically, I have a non-corridor third and a brake third, and I guessed a little at their being P II diagrams. The T had lost half its above door ventilators so I removed the rest, given some previous information that sometimes this happened to the ex-LMS carriages in BR ownership. That may be a mistake. Finished in unlined crimson - and now I might have made another mistake. I read somewhere that this was appropriate for some less than frontline suburban stock in 58-62 but now I’m having doubts. Any guidance helpful. To be honest, even if it’s not appropriate, I might need to stick with these because to repaint now they are fully glazed would be a mission. Stanier shallow window 60’ BCK - Comet sides on a Dapol donor. This, along with the others, was started earlier in the thread. I’m happy enough with this although the paint wasn’t quite as well applied. Weathered, it will be disguised enough. Should it have a grey chalkboard panel? If so where? And “Load x tons distributed” on the bottom of the guard’s section panelling? I ought to ask the same about the BT above. Finally for the moment, an example of (one of?) the most common ex-LMS diagrams, a P III TK. Comet sides on a Hornby donor. Apart from a little bit of overspray onto the roof, which I will carefully repaint before weathering, it’s ok as a layout coach. Any advice welcome. Iain

Hi John, Good to hear from you. I knew you’d moved on to 7mm. I hope it is going well. these gangways are folded paper, yes, and a copy of Tony’s method of couplings. When I bought this a few years ago, it was certainly well constructed as far as it was, so perhaps could have been professionally done. I got a bargain I think. Especially as it came with a D1981 (?) RTO Which now looks like this: The Comet LMS gangways protrude a long way, and with the additional paper gangway, adjusting the TW hook and goalpost system requires a bit more attention. Iain

Diag 1715 PI BG in crimson, which will be fairly well weathered. I have a nice pic of one of these as the first vehicle in a down express. Comet kit on Bachmann LMS bogies. Cannibalised Hornby roof filed and pruned before adding the necessary bits. These were quite distinctive vehicles with what looked like half an underframe. Iain

Closer to 4 years than 3 since I updated this. Oh dear. I resolved to complete a few unfinished projects during this period before starting more, and while that was a good intention, some of these weren’t necessarily the ideal start point. Converting an unpromising beginning or a damaged donor, or completing something started by someone else, is often harder than starting a full kit and doing it properly. So if I am to fill the somewhat extensive storage yard for Camden Shed mk2 with suitable rakes to represent trains of the period, I might have to refine my techniques a bit. Anyway, here we go. I might need some guidance to get the final touches to some of these. First up, a D1912 PIII Kitchen Car. Full Comet kit bought part completed.on eBay. I think this needs just to be weathered. Iain

Thank you, too kind. I’ve almost finished 9 other carriages that were part-completed projects before we packed everything for the move 2+ years ago. I’ll post some photos when I’m done. I have usually used Pressfix - this one definitely was. I prefer these because you can pull the transfer slightly taut to apply it, which straightens it out a bit. I tried a Modelmaster sheet for one of the ones I’ve just done and my first thought is never again. I would like to learn to use a bowpen effectively for carriage lining, although I’m not sure I could ever be good enough with it for a loco. Halfords Rover Damask Red for the paint, by the way. I remembered that the underframe for that Hornby BTK was a Dapol one. It’s on Shap at the moment! Enjoying your work very much as always. best wishes, Iain

Hi Graham, I don’t know the location well enough to comment fully, so perhaps I shouldn’t. But anyway. How crucial is the road bridge to the overall scene? Strikes me that you have a lot to fit in, and from the end of the viaduct to the road bridge and then the tunnel, the topography might need to look a bit odd to accommodate all three. So if you just had the viaduct, the rise of the land relative to the railway could just make the transition from viaduct to tunnel more real, as well as allowing you to have a more representative viaduct and include what’s at the Garsdale end more effectively. I stress this is just an alternative viewpoint and I doubt it’s useful! Hope all well with you. Ply for the scenic side at Camden has arrived! Best wishes, Iain

Hi Terry, great to see your work. I jibbed out of the difficult work with that Hornby brake 3rd and put Comet sides on it instead! I can’t remember what I did with the underframe at the moment. Best wishes, Iain

Thanks Gibbo. Interesting. I think for the moment I can get enough lead sheet glued into a Hornby body and Comet frames. 46244 on test will easily pull away with 16 on in the fiddle yard with no slip so with any luck we will be ok. But a very useful suggestion, thank you. Iain

Perhaps like many, the lockdown has provided an opportunity to get a few things done. I’ve posted an update on the main layout thread showing the completed fiddle yard, 3 benches and under layout storage completed. I’ve also begun to complete a few carriages - which I’ll post as well - and to progress 3 locos. Another Black 5. Why not? I’ll be honest - I got really quite frustrated with this one. The last DJH one I built went together much more easily than this one. Every single part needed fettling, or more than fettling. In some cases, considerable adjustment. I used a Mitsumi motor which didn’t mesh with the Comet gearbox properly, despite adjustment. So I had to build another box and use another motor. The pickups were a pain in the wotsit. At one point, I decided that I wasn’t going to waste a decent set of bespoke Markits wheels on it and I would use some Romfords instead. This one will be 45299. Unless someone tells me otherwise, it seems to fit the photo below, from Rod Steele’s book. If it is not appropriate to post this, I’ll remove it. Completed except for cab interior and couplings (which will go in/on after painting). Before cleaning, in case someone looks at it in abject horror. 46244 finally went to the paint shop. It’s in process. In the background of one of the photos you can also see the Comet Scot 46145 which is coming along too. A bumper order from Fox has arrived so I will proceed with care. wishing everyone well. Iain

I need to work out a plan for baseboard construction first. I think what I need to do is to print the templot plan accurately, and stick it to some really good quality ply. Then cut the board joins and mark where both longitudinal and cross bracing should go. The scenic side will have to be underpinned by some decent carpentry but also it’s big enough and complex enough that I don’t really fancy wiring it from underneath. So ideally I build it in sections and turn these on their side to wire them. The plan is to complete the 4 main lines and connect an entire circuit before building the rest of the shed area bit by bit. At least that’s what Graham and I agreed Hope you’re well mate, Iain

Progressing here. I’ve had quite a bit to do with work, but not being able to go to any schools either in the UK or abroad, nor to play golf, has meant that I have had the opportunity to get stuck in. Graham’s help in getting this part of the project kickstarted has been instrumental and I’ve developed a bit of momentum. The short story is that the storage yard and associated approaches at both north and south ends is almost completely finished. It’s all wired to the edges of the boards, and tested. It all works. South end: Main run just behind the civil engineering workbench (I decided to separate things out a bit so that I could keep solvents and plastic scrapings away from loco chassis and painting. Storage organised underneath These two show how much space I have managed to acquire. In the first one, 6 Mk1s (2 at 57’ and one at 64’6” if were splitting hairs) are swallowed up by road 11 which is the shortest of the roads. Then there is a rake of 12 underframes in road 13 (the longest road) which I’ve used for testing because they are light and not all that surefooted. These are a mix of ex LMS 50’ parcels and Mk 1 GUVs bought from ebay for not much at all 5 years ago. In the second, I joined both rakes and put them all in road 11. The far (south) end is clear of the pointwork and there is still room for a loco and at least one more , which will never need to happen. All the wiring is done to the board edges and is labelled. It all works and, the logic of wiring in sections is that when I link it all together, a short can be traced by sequentially removing a section. I will route the main cabling along the outside and cover it with ducting when complete. But I really need to work out what sort of control panel, and its location, next. Finally, a look at where the scenic area fits in. Wishing everyone all the best. Iain

Hi Mark, you’re a star, thank you very much. I will send you a message in a moment. I was just about to post something along the lines of “only take out the springs from Peco points and forget where you put them if you’re really really really sure you’ll never need them again”. Despite Scott’s very kind help, my own shortcomings won the day. I found the NS wire wasn’t stiff enough, and the only steel I had was too thick and therefore too stiff. As for attempting to refit them? Ugh. But I think that may be easier with the right springs. Hope all well with you. Iain

Thanks, Scott. Much appreciated. Iain

I may need some guest appearances on the passenger stock front to be honest. The southern approaches: No tidying done - warts and all. Now a lot of this: Anyone help with the Peco point spring? Iain

Thank you and apologies for not replying. Most of the Comet chassis I’ve done have been nickel silver. Only the older ones are brass. Not sure what thickness but they are not very thick, certainly a lot lighter than the DJH ones. When I next do one, I will put the digital micrometer across the frames. Just to whet the appetite, a few locos out of their boxes but not yet running. The storage sidings taking shape. Quite something to fill! Iain

Some step by step progress in the storage sidings for Camden Shed - photos tell most of the story better than words. I have included isolation sections in the centre of each road. Some of these roads are almost 29 feet long. I will have a job to fill them all, but I guess it is future proofed. The up fast roads (left hand 3 as seen above) are not completed yet because I am recycling Peco points from the old layout. These were switched by Tortoises but the yard this time is on Peco solenoids. (I am saving all the Tortoises for the scenic side). So I had removed (and discarded) the springs. I now need to replace those springs before laying them. This applies to the two crossovers that allow an up loco to be released, and also for a train in the rear half of each road to be recycled without waiting for the one in front. Also the points for the kickback siding and the loco lines to and from the shed (not pictured, but done). I think I ought to be able to manufacture a replacement spring from hard NS wire but I need a template to work from. I have laid all of the new points so I can’t lift and remove a spring to check. Does anyone have measurements or could remove one to check for me? Thanks very much in advance. Iain

I posted photos of this a bit earlier in the thread but I can’t find the post immediately, so here they are again. This is Tony Wright’s photo of it on Little Bytham. Iain

Thanks Graham. That was my thinking, to make the geometry as smooth and as wide a radius as possible. I think we still have plenty of room! The 3 fast roads on each side can all accommodate 2 long (loco and 12+) trains end to end I think. I was thinking (always dangerous I know) that I ought to wire the bidirectional roads all to have 2 sections as well, so that we could put 2 shorter trains eg suburban workings end to end in any of them. I can add in some kickback sidings on both sides too at this end easily enough. If we want. Or at least leave the possibility. The ones on the inside off the up fast roads could be full length around the curve, like on Little Bytham. Iain

Still pondering switching and control panels, but meanwhile, laying out the south end, or, in the mind’s eye, the Euston approaches. The logic here is to leave the widest radius available to do the full 200 degree curve around this end of the room, to give as smooth a transition as possible into the scenic track, and to have the simplest arrangement under the standing workbench. It would be interesting and a good challenge to get most of the pointwork on the curved end under the bench as the main boards aren’t tapered at the south end and could accommodate 15 roads all the way along. So we could lengthen the fiddle yard roads by 2-3 feet perhaps. Maybe more. However, I don’t really need the extra length and I think the geometry will be more gentle this way. Tell me I’m wrong. Iain

Mmmm, would have been easier to buy these in the beginning! I will definitely do so for any future Comet Scot builds. thanks, Iain

Yes, I have some overlays to apply for the Scot buffer heads. I have to save up for Geoff to paint this. He did make a beautiful job of Sir William, seen here before adding all of the lubricators etc, which I left off for ease of painting and lining: Iain

No apology needed, Tony, but thank you for repairing it as best you could. Thank you too for your kind praise of my work. I will replace the chassis at some point, endeavouring to get enough weight over the rear drivers when I do. The Hornby Scot and Patriot bodies are a workable basis for a decent model, I think, with some willingness to do some modelling. If I could paint like Geoff Haynes or Ian Rathbone, I would build more of these: Iain