92220

Many thanks Richard, greatly appreciated. Every photo is a help, whether offering slightly more detail of a specific aspect, or confirming what I'd thought from looking at another photo. Although my portrayal is 1960-62, I'm going to be inflating the proportion of steam power still operational, so I won't be able to create many views that depress you as much as the second one! Iain

Richard, Welcome to RMweb and this thread. Thanks very much for the link to some really excellent photos, which are quite the opposite of a waste of time! Is it your own album? Please feel free to chime in at any point. Iain

Hi Stanley, Thank you. Patience is certainly a virtue when it comes to this project! I've also been slowed down by a return to competitive golf. The front coupling on 46248 is an Exactoscale item: http://www.finescale.org.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=541_542_543&product_id=3951 They're really good if not cheap, although I confess I did pick this one up in a box of bits. I've also got a couple of these: http://www.finescale.org.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=541_542_543&product_id=3955 for 9Fs, as they look better than the one I've fitted to 92220. The insulation really helped with the hot weather. The shed gets a lot of afternoon and evening sun so it could have got unbearably hot, but fitting internal wooden shutters to the windows (partly for security, partly to stop sun damage to the paintwork on stock in the fiddle yard) also reduced the heat gain. Well, I call them shutters. 2 sheets of mdf.... Iain

Hi Scott, If you click the first of the two blog links in the post above, there are a few photos and an account of what I did. The photos are on another computer so I can't repost them at the moment. I did get the method from someone else on here - it might have been Gordon - but I'm not completely sure. Do ask if that doesn't give you enough info. Iain

I originally started a blog but found threads a lot easier. In these two entries: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/653/entry-5222-Bachmann-9f-evening-star-upgrading/ http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/653/entry-5234-Bachmann-9f-evening-star-upgrading-stage-2/ I detailed how I upgraded the Bachmann 9F. The plan was to include the following changes: Extra weight for improved adhesion Loco-tender coupling distance Loco lifting rings on front frames Correct pattern front coupling and vacuum pipe Remove steamheating pipe base from buffer beam GWR pattern lamp irons Buffer shank steps on loco and tender Remove NEM pocket from front bogie and fabricate spring and damper Gibson front bogie wheels Gibson smokebox door dart New handrails with correct pillars Comet front steps Cab doors (they're actually tender doors in real life....) Tender buffer beam details Tender coupling "goalpost" Nameplate and commemorative plate New injector pipework under fireman's side of cab Driver's side under cab pipework Water pipes from tender to injectors Remove steam heating fitment from side of firebox (only fitted in preservation) Detail copper pipes and chimney cap as copper not black or brass Here is the finished article, save for weathering, a crew, lamps and coal: Completely new set of injector pipework courtesy of Comet. Bachmann firebox pipework turned to copper (all this will be toned down when weathered) Rarely modelled cover for the reverser so that it could be more safely used as a step. Only some 9Fs had these fitted at Swindon. Of course, there is no earthly reason why 92220 should be at Camden, but it's going to be, and that's that! Iain

Thanks! Here is a glimpse of one: More on my Motive Power for Camden Shed thread - link below. Iain

I've also done a load to 46248 City of Leeds. I was thinking of renumbering and renaming this to 46245 City of London, but Leeds was a regular at Camden as well so I've got an excuse to do another. And another..... First thing was to get the chassis to run properly since the b2b was about 14.0. I used the Comet detailing kit and a few added bits and pieces as follows: New sandboxes and fillers, new handrails (Gibson, much finer than Hornby items), cab doors. Rear frame extensions ready for new trailing truck. n I removed the Hornby loco-tender connection, and replaced it with a Comet electrical one plus a Tony Wright "hook and goalpost" made from nickel silver wire. This makes a much more realistic gap. Front bogie trimmed to remove the obese lump, added Gibson front bogie wheels, Comet AWS bashplate, Exactoscale screw link coupling and Comet deflectors. Comet vacuum valves and some 0.7mm wire for the pipe. Brassmasters draincocks. Still needs a bit more touching up and then weathering, coaling and a crew adding. Also waiting for some replacement front steps. Iain

You start with this: Do a load of filing and end up with this: Which goes here: Then you do it again.... Apologies for subjecting you all to blurred photos. Iain

A bit more progress on the Caprotti Black 5: I've added the steam pipes, cam boxes (reattached this time to the cylinders and chassis not the footplate), and the reverser (0.7mm brass rod). The steam pipes have a small piece of wire drilled and glued, which then locates into a similar sized hole on the smokebox, to aid alignment and strength. The water feed pipe under the running plate will join to the injectors when I've finished. And yes, the front buffer beam is still not square! Iain

Alan, the painter, has finally been able to make some progress with the backscenes while we have been away visiting family and friends: There are bits to refine here, but I think he has captured a very good likeness of what is evident from photos, and it will work very well as a backscene to the model as well I think. I hope! Iain

Good call on the pony truck Jamie. The BM item looks brilliant, and still somewhat scary! You could also alter the Bachmann one as I did on this blog entry http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/653/entry-5222-Bachmann-9f-evening-star-upgrading/ a while ago. I can't remember where I got the idea but I have a feeling it was George Dent as well... Iain

I'll be able to, and need to, camouflage all sorts of ills by the time it's finished though! Who knows, maybe one day I could backdate the layout temporarily to provide some background for some LMS or LNWR era shots. But a lot changed in the thirties and forties so it might not even be possible to find a vantage point that was uncompromised. Also, I fear my track might be errr....about 2.33mm too narrow for your wonderful locos and stock?!? I think I could plausibly do any time from about 1950 to 1963 with the addition of suitable locos and stock. There was no steam servicing beyond that so the ash pits etc would have looked very different. I'm sticking to 1960-62 for now. Iain

Thanks Steve, it needs a fair bit of refinement still, but I hope it might turn out ok. Jol - it was too neat in those days for my measly skills...! Iain

Here is an ongoing project. For a song, I got hold of a long wheelbase China Hornby Black 5 that had been almost destroyed. The motor was alive but there were no pickups or wiring. Valve gear, slidebars, crossheads and connecting rods were notable by their complete absence. The wheels were not on square and the tops of the cylinders were damaged. The body was battered and bruised, especially at the front, and had gouges along the footplate. The chimney was damaged too, and there was no tender. However, most of the body was intact, and I just had an idea that it could be made into a low running plate Caprotti Black 5. This will become 44741, a singe chimney non-roller bearing example with straight steampipes, and the subject of a few photos at Euston and Camden. Subsequent events have convinced me that it would have been much easier, quicker and less painful to just build the Comet kit and be done with it. But I might have built a chassis like a banana, and there is something bizarrely satisfying about building something out of a lost cause with relatively little outlay. Body stripped and placed on top of the chassis. I used Comet connecting rods, cross head and sidebars, plus some nickel silver fretted out to make a motion support bracket similar to what Brassmasters supply, but not as neat: Home made pickups: Circles cut from which to make the splashers: First effort at adding the footplate and splashers: Discarded.... I spent a lot of time with bits of plastic, cutting, fettling, filing, discarding, repeat ad nauseam. Progress through adding various bits and pieces is below: This bit is complex because the cam box and associated structures must be able to separate when the body is removed from the chassis. I think I managed a sensible solution here, but the steam pipes at the front will need a lot of care. Sandbox fillers leftover from the 46256 build; 0.7mm copper wire for the water feed pipe; Gibson bogie wheels on a modified Hornby bogie; Comet LMS strap steps, Caprotti gearboxes, Black 5 single chimney etc A leftover Brassmasters buffer beam and chequerplate steps, plus rescued buffer stocks (it's squarer than the perspective appears, although it isn't perfect and will need altering) A fair bit still to do but I'm glad I brought it with me to do while the rain descended on holiday today! Iain

Thanks Stanley, that's very kind. I feel that I am making at least some necessary compromise most of the time, sometimes a lot. I just hope that neither the scale of the project nor the detail I'm trying to include, will be the main reason I never finish it! Iain

A quick take on some tracklaying and ballasting: I pre-wire and drill wiring holes as necessary, then red primer: Within 90 seconds, remove the red primer from the rail tops: Spray with track dirt: Again, quickly wipe off the rail tops, attempting to leave the check rails and wing rails still dirty....these will be painted properly when final weathering is done anyway. While that is drying, paint PVA on the required area. Because of the way I have chosen to do this, I need to attempt to find a method that leaves fewest join marks when the next bit is done. I therefore ballast up the the outside rail on the final piece of track, leaving the sleeper ends needing to be painted around individually when the next bit is laid. It is crucial to the success of it to get a nice even depth of PVA accurately painted to match the neat way the track sits into the bed of PVA when it's laid. Then sprinkle on ballast - in this case it is about 5 parts Carr's Ash to 1 part fine (N I guess...), and remove excess immediately with the little Hoover. This is the entrance to the shed area, so is mainly ash with a few noticeable lumps, which could as easily be fallen coal as ballast. There will be slightly different ballast in other parts of the shed area, using photos as much as I can. One of the best £15 I've spent....it has just enough power to remove excess ballast, it's exactly the right height to run it along the rail heads, and you can remove and recycle the ballast really easily as its the only thing it's used for. Nothing nobody else has ever done I guess, but nothing I've done is! Iain

Just an airbrush Jeff. Various mixes of paints to give different shades, but basically matt black and matt leather as per Tim Shackleton. Iain

Hi Jamie, Thanks. Not a clue what that is to be honest. I've modelled it as accurately as I can given the photos I have available, but I can't see what it actually does. It might be something to do with the wall-mounted derricks that I've omitted out of necessity, since there isn't room for a siding between the goods depot wall and the up fast, in which case it might look a bit stupid...... At this point someone usually politely and gently tells me something very simple that I'd overlooked, and I feel ever so slightly thick. Only have the lamps to add (cabling is already there), finalise the sign (I think it's pretty close) and weather it now. Iain

It certainly was...... I had a tournament but had to drop out having done something to an intercostal muscle. Could hardly breathe let alone swing a club.... A bit of treatment this afternoon and it is fine now I did get a few photos but will only post them if Vincent is happy that I do so. A few more bits of detail and suddenly this thing springs to life: Starting to feel I'm getting somewhere! Iain

Had an interesting few days, albeit away from the layout. Trip to Scotland: Kingsbarns: Old Course: The Open Day 1: Then I had the privilege and pleasure of visiting Vincent Worthington and viewing his remarkable EM gauge portrayal of Camden Bank - a genuine masterpiece in progress. So it is back here and a few little jobs completed as I get closer to finishing the goods shed: Fabricating the handrails from 0.5 brass wire: State of play yesterday: The walkways and handrails on the roof are now complete, plus the first drybrushing on the brickwork. I need to be careful to get this effect right, and then to add various bits of detailing. There are various boxes and bits of ironwork, plus cabling etc. I'm chipping away at it. Iain

Thanks Ben, that would be great. I've got a whole load of pics but there is always the chance of more useful info. I'll send you a pm. Iain

Have to confess that, although I've had a bit of time this last week, the lure of the golf course in such nice weather has prevented me from doing much in the shed. But there is a bit of progress. Firstly on the goods shed: I've added all the brick inlays on the shed wall, cut and filed the decorative coping stones, painted the base coat on the walls, added the covered loading area at the rear, painted the roof a shade of dark grey, added the roof walkways and begun to make and add the handrails..... The backscene boards are off the walls at present so I've temporarily placed these buildings together to show how they look. Space is a bit tighter than the prototype but hopefully it bears some resemblance. Iain

Hi Ron, I've lurked, followed and "liked" your work for ages, and want to thank you for the help and inspiration to set to with piles of plastic and vats of solvent on my own workbench. Seeing how strong you could make the train shed, bridges and so on made me realise that this was the best way to go for some of my own structures. Thanks, and keep going! Iain

Ah, yes.....10 years.... You've worked out my rate of progress! Iain

Hi Jeff, Not quite - I paint the track first, then ballast, then weather on top of that. Iain