CME and Bottlewasher

Ingenious - that's made my day!

Get well soon buddy, can you get physio help, if not, PM me there's several good videos on line. Gently does it.

Very nice work Brian.

That's an oddball! Good find. From what I can tell the Dapol/LH MK1's all have moulded on end steps, shame they weren't separate add on's as fairly early on end steps started to be removed to varying degrees. Unless of course someone knows otherwise in both prototype and model (Dapol) form?

I'll watch with interest. I've used upcycled posts from a garden trampoline - nearly indestructible. I've a couple of steel posts from our old H&BLR railway too (they'll rust in time). I pondered cable trays but couldn't reconcile the curves - my garden section of the layout is nearly all on a curve/reverse curves. Filcris posts etc are great, good company. I also experimented with uPVC materials for baseboards as some had made that work, but I had nothing but problems. I've settled on marine ply, well treated and/or Foamlux for baseboard tops.

Any more updates on this enthralling project?

Good points well made, I've noted similar, Darsteadt are a great company but made mistakes with wheel sizing and bogie ride heights. Richard is the saving grace at Dapol re MK1's. I do fear that the Dapol/LH MK1's may be fragile - time will tell. The BB range? Not bad, but pricey, unless a bargain can be had, Hurst overlays on battery boxes and EZB window frames and nice coaches can be had. John raises a good point - after a certain age, in my case and that of my partner, having had SARS2 for three months followed by 'Acute Long Covid Syndrome' for 16 months? Life takes on a different slant. My MK1's? A mix of RTR, kit bashed and kit built (I've nearly got all I need in NPCS). I like coaches, especially MK1's and MK3's but they're hard work to make. Nice to see home built models running though, very satisfying.

Very nice John, more strength to your elbow! I've two from Peter Cowling, cracking layout models, maybe they could do with a tad more brake rigging/rods when I getaroundtuit. Each to their own and horses for courses etc. Regards, in haste.

Hi John, Thanks for the reply. As I say the JLTRT kits are very good. RTR? Peter Cowling's MK1s are excellent too, I've seen some lovely EZB's running too and Westdale's. You pays yer money etc etc... Perhaps the MMP MK1 has gone up in price since I last looked?, but, iirc, one could buy modules/packs and add as much detail as required. I've seen the Darren Sherwood-Jones article, again, iirc, he spent 50 hours building the exquisite bogies (great value for money in terms of hobby time/value). A matter of instant gratification (if the RTR model arrives in one piece) vs the longer, slower, but perhaps more sustained gratification, of building your own and seeing it running? Each to their own. A self fulfilling prophecy is taking place though with kits and our wonderfully supportive cottage industry suppliers - that concerns me a little. Although things have picked up during the pandemic, so every cloud has a silver lining. Atvb, CME

The windows on MK1 coaches are like the wheels on a car imho, they make or break it. In reality the Dapol MK1's with earlier window recesses, to the old MK1 eyeballs, in the flesh, look fine from most angles and viewing distances. If I'd been D/LH? I would have produced them all with later windows - after 2-3 years of use the prototypes were falling apart anyway, thus soon modified. I've even seen MDL versions with reinforcement to the doors and new window frames etc. By the time the 1980s were here, any remaining MK1's had patches and reinforcement to doors/hinges, bottoms of sides, windows etc. Waiting for the later versions (external/repair window frames) from D/LH? You could have a long wait. Might be worth it though?

Slightly lost me there John, but I think that I catch your drift. The D/LH coaches appear to have strengths and weaknesses as do the Darsteadt's, you pays yer money and makes yer choice, I guess. MMP MK1's? Indeed the best, lots of work, to museum standards I'd say - but I'd argue that MMP kits are NOT expensive. The issue would be, these days, availability. Second best and easyish build? JLTRT, closely followed by Easy Builds. RTR is always going to be a compromise.

Good to know thanks

I hope that you fellows don't mind, I've placed the two most obvious photos next to one another for the purposes of comparison. Every day is a school day! Looks like Richard at Lionheart/Dapol has been very observant, plus has allowed for the repair frames? In reality to aging MK1 eyeballs beauty is in the eye of the beholder when viewing the model in close up etc. Sometimes some things are better left un-modelled, Eg ripples on a ship's hull, ripples on a diesel loco body? Each to their own though I guess. It's interesting to learn about these things.

Good find! That's pretty grubby for passenger coaching stock, but it highlights the window recess (when zoomed in) quite well (as does the muck and detritus). Although it looks as though the door shuts/hinge area has had reinforcement modifications to it (but not the windows). Out of interest any idea of the date of the photo? As that looks like one of the rarer, unmodified, windows on, obviously, blue/grey stock. ATB, CME

Lovely work, stunning in fact Steve as always - I'm just catching up with your amazing progress, I won't drive you mad with too many 'craftsmanship/clever' and 'Likes', suffice to say, breathtaking in all respects!

Watched it, quite by accident. Love the opening credits too - very patriotic. Lovely garden lines you have there.

It is a great shame - tooling for the later window frames (perhaps from an etch or thin plastic moulding?). The prototype has some slight recesses around the window on early variants - but nothing like that.

Sorry Keith, I'm ignorant as to their contents

Good call Keith. I shall read with interest.

Charming.

Nice subject matter Keith. The 'ghost/ley' story I recounted on the other thread, did actually pertain to this line, near to East Garston. Also I'm quite 'familiar' with Welford circa 1980s/1990s.

Weathering them too - it'll all look great and, just as importantly, work great as well.

The boards and timbers have to be treated thoroughly.

Hi Martin, Thanks - very true, however I'm not sure if my hands, eyesight etc is up to track building, since the gift of Long Covid. I'm 'working' hard to remedy such however it's rather like wading through treacle up hill. I am hopeful. With thanks, M.

Wheel drop through 7mm FS proprietary crossing nose V's is a pet hate of mine - thus far, for the small garden section of our/my line, I've rebuilt them. Some wag once suggested that I try S7 for my garage-garden/loop/U-garage line. With a small urban garden that has a fall in three directions and being able to barely achieve 6' radius? Hardly a chance. My best effort to date is 5' 6" - 6' radius. That layout too is a stalled project for a myriad of reasons. I stuck with 7FS standards as I thought it would make life easy - I was wrong. Poor running is a pet hate of mine, 'O gauge with it's weight and mass, runs well even with proprietary models' - err not always. I was hoodwinked - too late to turn back now though.