M Wright

Hi, you might be interested in this. Some years ago I got interested in making a coal mine and found like you not much arround to help apart from memories. So I set to, did some research and as a break from the retirement day job (making 16mm live steam engines) Produced an etched kit in 4mm for a 1900 headframe. The prototype(s) of which are preserved at Blaenant in S Wales. Here are a few pics of the kit built. Headframes varied over time, early - wood, then lattice, structural steel and concrete latterly, Also by region, the Welsh used lots of these lovely lattice types. The "Modelling Aspects of the Coal industry" books were published about the same time and the RTR locos, Bachmann in particular produced many of the required locomotives O4s J39s and WDs. In spite of this it is a rarely modelled subject and needs support. To get good layout inspiration there is a lot on the web. If you search coal mines by region you will find a lot. The best pics I ever found were by a German called Fentser ( I think), he went round N europe including the UK producing an archive of the mining industry in photos, all B/W and all stunning. I will try and find some working links for you if you are interested. ( The model I make is somewhat shorter than the real thing being 65' not 80' of the prototype. From the cost point of view I had to get it onto 3 sheets of A4 etch.) Regards, MW.

Hi, a couple more wagons almost finished from the "to do Shelf" The SER kits 8 ton wagon went together well, it is a resin body with whitemetal underframe and details. The only problem was my bad eyesight when it came to picking out the dead scale detailing. The only improvement I could have made was to lop off the cast lamp irons and replace them with metal. The excuse for having a SECR van on the HR- Kent hops for the brewery in Inverness. The other van was puchased because again it looked early Victorian. I believe these CR fish vans were re-built on the underframes of 1850 coaches. It was a Port Wyn...? kit resin body and underframe. It is not very detailed by today's standards and still needs its through pipes for the brake system but it will look OK in a train I hope.

Hi, I decided to clear the to do shelf before starting a batch of 16mm Quarry Hunslets. The first product of the clear up was a SER kits Horse box. This was a nice but tricky kit. The body was resin, details in whitemetal and etched brass, roof - plasticard. The kit had an excellent drawing and several pages of download instructions. The designer of this kit had obviously built this kit, his instructions had hints and tips about sequences and methods. Plus, although delicate, the fine detail of the brake gear is a joy. His supplied transfers also applied with none of the usual problems. So although for a wagon it took a long time to make it gave a lot of pleasure. SER kits has an interesting range of mid Victorian wagons, the majority of which arrarently survived to the early 1920s.(no endorsement other than a satisfied customer) My interest in building this van was a start towards building a HR 11th of August special, bringing all those landowners from the South up to their grouse moors. I thought a train of family saloons, horse boxes and carriage trucks would be a colourful sight. So I think the next should be a S and D or Furness contingent. regards, Malcolm.

Hi, the Skye bogie is coming along very nicely. It looks very crisp. How are you going to make the fill in infront of the cylinders? Are you going to shape a triangle of annealed metal round a sphere of the correct size or take the lazy way out and buy a large Lindt chocolate rabbit and get the large brass bell round his neck , cut the sectors you need from it? I just can't give up on the cats bell! What ever the solution I am really looking forward to seeing you loco finished. Are you going to the HR soc AGM? I live near so I think I will. I was going to take a bit of stock All the best, Malcolm.

Hi, Sandy thanks for the comments. There are two more in the pipeline, a six wheel all third that is coming along and at some future time, a Jones "bogie" coach. I was going to build a few more at some point but I will have to put all the hobby builds to bed and get on with padding out the meagre pension by building a batch of Quarry Hunslets. (see blog "In the Works") Hope your Skye Bogie is pushing on, they are such attractive engines. Do you think you will finish it in an early or late livery? All the best, Malcolm.

Hi, well that has been a long time. I have finally finished a couple of Highland Coaches. Painting was going well until I applied a coat of semi- matt varnish (Purity Seal) after applying the transfers. Disaster, I returned to the workshop after a coffee to find the coach frosted. Lesson never be tempted to spray satin varnish just after a summer thunder storm. It took a lot of warm dry air and varnish to recover it. I have had a battle with this coach which I have realised as posting is still not ended (the centre pair of windows should be frosted) I really think there are more difficulties in making and finishing a coach than a loco! Regards, Malcolm

Hi Sandy, thanks for the info. I stand corrected, I should have known the HR would swap stuff round. regards, Malcolm.

Hi Sandy, what a good job you are making of your Skye Bogie, it has really got the look. I see that you are building one from the later Drummond batch without the compensation beam between the driving wheels. I in no way want to annoy but I think from the excellent quality of your work you would not wish to build a might have been. Have you got any evidence that a Drummolnd loco was fitted with the Jones chimney? I stand by to be corrected and eat very humble pie. You hinted at the difficulties of filling the space in front of the cylinders, can I suggest a solution from my wife that got me out of the problem. Cut a sector from a tin cat's collar bell. I apologise for my nit picking. Malcolm

Hi, every time I see one of your Radial builds I wonder if one could be justified as a war loan to the HR.(I know they had a few) The latest one in its LSWR livery is so handsome what a nice criesp build and finish. I wonder how well the HR kept the war loan locos, there does not seem to be many photos of these engines in the far North. Regards, Malc.

Hi, back after a lot of work in the garden. I hav'nt had time to clear up the workshop. I had just started on this when along came a job that needed the miller. Pushed the start, horrible clatter and nastry hot smell from the motor- after 35 years of use the start winding blew. So it was into Aberdeen and find a company to rewind it, but no, a new motor was sourced that cost half the cost of a rewind but took 10 days to get here. So time was spent doing a little bit more to the HR chariot ended coach. First I drew up an etch to give me 6 springs with the correct shaped leaves. This etch took a couple of hours to draw and the first spring took 30 mins to make but after making the odd tool,(spade ended self -closing tweezers with slot cut in spades to hold assembled spring leaf stack on a lace pin) the other 5 springs took about 5mins each. ( the cost of this, including the etch tool and two test etches was £4 more than obtaining 6 lost wax brass springs from a supplier) I was able to correctly detail the centre spring mount with an included etch part. I think having the leaf ends the corrrect shape really helps the illusion. The axleboxes are rather nice casting from Border Minatures. The coach is now getting near the end of the build. I doubled up the thickness of the rather thin footboards and sorted out the various problems. 1)The compensation takes a lot of setting up since the rocking axle is pivoted too low. Even with the scale springs and drilling the cast axleboxes below their centres a large notch has to be filed from the axlebox tops to get enough movement.2)The sole bars were too deep as etched and had to be taken off, modified and relaced. 3) The bufferbeams even with the thickness increased by an etched part were still 1.5mm too thin. They were made up with more metal being soldered on. 4) The etched solebar overlays are nearly 2mm too short at one end relative to the centre, so some thin metal had to be added and blended in. But I feel it is worth it. It is starting to look a most interesting coach.

Hi, once again thanks for the kind comments. If any are interested have a look at the business website- www.wrightscale.co.uk on it is our blog. I write about the workshop and things 16mm and my wife (much more interesting) writes about her research. She is shortly publishing an account about the development of narrow gauge military transport. DLT, the job you have made of the BGM from the Sayer kit is wonderful. Now it is painted and weathered it looks the bees knees. A problem you won't have is a crew. There are so few figures in 16mm scale that come close to the quality of the many "hi fi" models in the scale. I always hope that someone will produce some really nice WW1 figures. I have only seen a few. Henry Holdesworth had some made, but who cast them seems to have died with him alas. Recently at a 16mm AGM a member had made some fantastic figures and re-created a forward dressing station with 60cm WD ambulance van, medical staff and orderlies. Unfortunately I did'nt track down his details. One of my live steam Baldwins. Just need a crew! So my 16mm models are for the most part operated without crew through de-populated landscapes rather destroying the level of realism that is possible in this large scale. regards, Malcolm.

Hi, what firmed up Rathven is finding some drawings of it. Plus when the LMS re-laid it (and drew it all up) in the early 20s They altered the trackplan to incorporate a loop in the goods yard whereas the HR must have rope shunted it. In the 1900s it was fully signalled and on looking at the 40feet to inch plan it turns out there was the road bridge at the south end and an attractive s shaped bridge ate the north end where the yard switch was. So you have all that in 300 yards. Four switches and a catch point, four signal posts, and a cabin that looks the same as Kinloss and this beautiful station building with board and battern construction. Rathven it has to be! http://www.ambaile.org.uk/en/item/item_photograph.jsp?item_id=49528 I was going to put up a photograph I took of the plans in the Scottish Record office but then I thought that although they have no attributed copyright owner of the plan It is still possibly less than 70 years from their death. Or is there some law about nothing is enforcable from the UK prior to 1945?

Hi, thanks for the info and kind comments Castle and Portchullin. I got Russel's book down. How interesting the Hlighland thought the design "look"of the public's coaches should mirror what God's Wonderful Railway thought was fit for a Queen! Before the big Jones bogie chariot ended (or is it coupé ) coach is purchased I must shake the dust off and build two simpler coaches that are sitting on the shelf. All this HR stock is being built for a model of a little station on the Buckie branch- Rathven. As it might have been if it had stayed open and prospered though the First War. Regards, Malc.

Hi, a bit more progress on the Highland 6 wheel coach. I would have got further if the floor etch had been the right size when formed. The bit I was dreading, the chariot end panels, were ok. Do not believe the instructions, they cannot in my opinion be formed without annealing and being skrawed in from the bottom edge to give a tiny sharp bend where they solder behind the bottom panel bead. The length and width problem was just annoying. The upstands on the floor had to taken off and soldered on having filed off the foldline plus about 0.4mm. Then it was possible to hold a side on to check the fit of the end. Only then (fortunately) to discover the floor was too long, but that was a lot quicker to sort out with a file. The coach looks OK, it is so fussy design wise that you don't see many of the faults in my workmanship. I still need to make the chassis. Does anyone know a source of 6 foot long cast whitemetal coach springs? Ideally just the springs without any mount brackets. I know where I can get lost wax brass ones but they are bit expensive and need altering to fit. Did any other railway have coaches with these chariot ends? Thanks. Malc.

Hi, well I have taken some timeaway from the 16mm bench and got back to the Highland. For a bit of light relief I decided to build a Jones designed Highland Railway 6 wheel coupé coach. This is available in 7mm as a Lochgorm kit. I learnt a bit building the luggage van (above). One lesson was that the sides bow when soldering on the door hinge strips,and it is simpler to get the hinges the right length before soldering them on! Two simple jigs were knocked up this time. The first is a trimming jig to get them all the same length. After cutting I file them flat to the jig and profile the side to look like a hinge. The other is a simple help a bit of MDF with a saw cut to take the hinges while the strip is pressed down and soldered. The side is held down too with a flat weight near to the joint. Starting soldering from one end of the hinge strip this time the side stayed flat. Because the hinge slots are badly over etched, flux , a big hot iron and a lot of solder is needed. The last photo shows the side from the front. The overspill of solder can be quickly scraped flat to leave the sides looking OK. Next is to fold up the ventiators and mount them to the sides and make the coupé ends. There are rather a lot of instructions and hints how to do the ends in the instructions so I am hoping it is not going to be impossible. I will report on progress next week.

Hi, as promised yesterday here is the latest off the bench, a tin turtle.(Armoured 40HP simplex) This has taken two days from a very nice kit made by Swift Sixteen. It is 32mm gauge 16mm scale and a pretty accurate model. Well designed with a RTR chassis, a nice introduction to garden railway modelling and very appropriate in the centenary year of the Great War. The prototype is at Apedale who are having quite a gathering of WD stock in September,a good chance to see a lot. Another of my interests as you will know if you follow this forum is the Highland Railway in O scale. The latest item to reach the finish line is a Lochgorm kits HR Jones 4 wheel luggage van /brake. Not too challenging to build but as the sharp eyed will see I had problems with the transfers. Inspite of gloss varnishing the panels before application and using Humbrol decal set the wretched things have a slight crinkle to their edges. These were very expensive waterslide transfers that I have used before with no problems. I am annoyed they are not 100% reliable since their application is the penultimate stage of a long road. If I can face it one day I will dump the van into gun cleaner and start again. In the short term, fix the glazing and not look at it too closely!

Hi, just back from a show, the 16mm AGM in Peterborough and a holiday, 14 days at our house in France. So now it is back to the grindstone starting to draw up the platework of the Hunslet so that it can be etched. I purchased a kit from a company called Swift Sixteen at the AGM an armoured Simplex. Nice kit in resin , ethched brass and lost wax brass. It is complete with a well made chassis. It took two days to build. A very nice model. A photo follows.

Hi, just before coming South to do a show a Peterborough I thought some of you might like a peek at my bread and butter. I build commercially in 16mm scale, so although not Highland its the next best, Welsh slate quarries. Here is a pic of the first production prototype of my Hunslet Alice class live steam. Regards, Malc.

Hi, what a super job you have made of the BGM. As to lightness, all the photos I have of the prototype in France have triangular blocks fitted between the jackshaft cover and the rear of the front buffer beam to provide a large flat step. Being silly I thought they were knocked up from a bit of wood (sleeper perhaps) in the field, but having looked closely at a couple of photos I now think, since they are so similar that possibly they are cast iron? The only thing missing from your model is the front handrail attached to the front bonnet sides beside the radiator. I have attached a photo to show this . Also most carried a Shrapnel guard to protect the radiator. These were a sloping slab of plate about 1/2" thick, more weight. This shows a BGM made from a Wrightscale 16mm to foot kit by a master- the late Henry Holdesworth. It shows the front step infill, the bonnet handrail and a very posh shapnel guard. Most guards were a slab of armour plate.

Hi, well after a bit more work I thought I would share with you what is happening in my workshop. At last a small batch of Baldwin 50HP gas mechanical locos are finished. Four finished locos sitting on the guillotine, no other space to put anything down! Below is a close up photo of one of them. They are 16mm scale, powered by a gear head motor driving a bevel gear box on the rear axle. They are battery powered, and like the prototype have only two speeds in forwards and reverse. The frames are laser cut steel, bonnet, radiator and cosmetic jackshaft gearbox are white metal castings. The plate work is etched brass and the majority of the details are lost wax castings. A close up shot of one of them. I have been following a thead on this forum where a Neil Sayer kit of the same engine in 7mm scale is being built. There has been an interesting discussion on it about the use of resin for some of the parts and the fact that there use prevents a fully soldered construction of a kit. I see no draw backs to resin, most good quality kits today are mixed media. Provided the designer uses materials suited to the job, who cares, as long as the end result is durable and looks like the prototype. Next time back to the Highland with some bits and pieces finished off. Regards, Malc.

Hi, I do not think I agree with Kentons opinion about the use of resin. For the majority of modellers it is much easier to utilise a finely cast resin part than assemble either a set of castings or etch. In my larger model of the same prototype I rejected etch for the bonnet since without a louvre press tool they are hard to form from any etched slot design. In making the masters for my whitemetal bonnet my first job was to make all the press tooling to pierce and form the louvers. I think in the smaller scale of O asking the average modeller to form the bonnet from etch is a bit of an ask. Neil Sayer has to design a kit that sells and is capable of being built. I do not think many kits would be as well built as DLT's and clearly the materials the designer used are fit for purpose in that it goes together and looks like the prototype. Indeed I admire the light touch of the rivet detail on the resin casting, it captures the prototype well, The resin front gear box is again an easy, accurate solution to what is a complex object to represent with castings. regards, Malc.

Hi, thanks for the compliment YDdewin gwyn. It was sheep wagons that got me into Highland. From a bit of looking around on the web I should have moved to Australia since sheep wagons seemed to have been common and varied and so many pretty, charming rural branch lines to model. As for the curves, the loco was built long ago (see above) pre- computer. So all the cuvers were worked out the metal bashers way, find out how much metal is needed by laying a paper strip or thead along the curve. Then mark where flat changes to curve and start the first bend and so on. The hard part, the smokebox /cylinders was done this way and finished by filing and cutting the extra metal back to the smokebox front and rear plates when the curve was right and soldered to them. Regards, Malc.

Hi, very interesting following the lovely job you are making of Neil Sayer's Baldwin gas mechanical (BGM) I swapped one of mine for one of his so it is invaluable to watch your loco building. I too found his perforated half-etch bend lines odd. I have only seen them before on good quality old O gauge kits. If you try to bend them as etched you can always see the perforations. Your solution to file them through, judging from the photos is an excellent solution. For interest I have put on a photo of one of my BGMs. It is in 16mm to the foot scale. The prototype is in a museum near Peronne in France ( Foissy) I measured it up in 1991 and developed this from those drawings. Construction is laser cut steel frames and rods, lost wax brass castings, etched brass and white metal castings, Lke the prototype it has two speeds.