Castle

Hi Kev, I just thought it would be nice to share these pictures with my fellow RMWEB types. It is a scene that was once common but is all but vanished from everywhere but Didcot now. I have been looking into the OTMR / TPWS set up for No. 4079 and I was given a tour of the electronics that were on board by the person that fitted it all and believe me, it's more than DCC ready. It's sound fitted too! All the best, Castle

The bogie wasn't riding quite right so they decided to call in and use the facillities! All better now though... All the best, Castle Edit: The lion and wheel on the Mogul's tender are from Fox if that helps!

Hi Coldgunner, Well, it is entirely authentic and 100% prototypical for a 2012 model of 70000... And before you ask it's in 12" : 1' scale! All the best, Castle

Hi All, A few loco maintenance tips. As a 'special edition' of Little Didcot, here is a how to do it for those of you out there with the Hornby or Dapol Britannia Class engine. You could find you have trouble with the front bogie so the removal of this item is an important thing to know about. Here is one we borrowed to show you how. Firstly, get your locomotive onto your work bench. Ensure that your model is placed in the right place under your OO or N Gauge hoist. Take time to remove all of the fixings that keep the bogie in place. You may have to do this from under your workbench if you don't have access to a pit like the one at 81E. Once you have done this, use your hoist to lift your engine high enough to roll your bogie out from under your engine. You will have to lift quite high to get the bogie out. Here you can see that all 6 driving wheels have left the ground. Once the loco is high enough, simply roll the bogie out of the way and carry out the required work. Once you have reassembled your engine, it is always a good idea to test it. It is a great idea to compare its performance against one of you other locos. Here, a Churchward Mogul is being used but anything similar will do. Be sure to run your engine over all sorts of track work on your layout. Here we can see the loco going over a set of points. Also a go on the turntable won't hurt. Once you are happy you can then release your engine back to traffic! I hope this is useful to all you BR standard modellers out there. All the best, Castle

Hi Taz, This is really ace - well done! I chickened out when doing my first brass coach and did a Hawksworth (no tumble home to speak of in 4mm scale!) although it was an auto trailer so I did up the complexity a bit... I agree with Mallard 60022 as there are some lovely bits in the Dart et al range. I bought all the castings from the auto trailer detail kt to fit to my model of No. 231, which they are very happy to do if you give them a ring. The other place that does nice sprung GWR coach buffers (pre assembled appart from the buffer heads) is Model Railway Developments. I have some on my Siphon and Monster and they are very nice. I agree with Michael and others above, Comet are very helpful if you ask! All the best, Castle

Hi All, I was thinking about a jig to do those pesky little GWR Mica type blighters but that looks like a very useful bit of kit indeed - thanks for showing it to us Paul! All the best, Castle

Hi All, It looks like there is an opportunity for a really clever jig type thing that will sell rather well. RMWEB innovation challenge prize anyone? All the best, Castle

Those are the tricky little devils that I meant - you know my pain then! To be fair to the David Geen kits I built, there is an excellent drawing in the instructions that shows you how to do them with radii and curves and constructional tips. They are just a bit of a convoluted shape in 1:1 scale. Good job on those wagons by the way, very nice indeed Kev. All the best, Castle

Evening Kev, There are all new repeats on Dave at the moments so I can catch up on all the ones that my faltering Sky box failed to record... I suppose that if you know all the answers now you must rank as a pub quiz master! I look forward to your Toad write up - good stuff! I don't know if you have done a Mica in 7mm yet but the handrails in 4mm scale were 'quite interesting' and not in the Steven Fry sort of a way... I am not sorry that the Tevan only has one per end either! I have a few handrails to do on the AA21 too but I am hoping that only having bends in one plane might be a bit easier than the Mica. All the the best, Castle

Hi Ric, They are doing a Mica in 4mm scale soon and what with that and the lovely new Mink A kits, we GWR / BR (W) types shouldn't be too upset about it all I suppose. It is always the way though isn't it? The one you want is always available conveniently in not your scale! All the best, Castle

Hi Kev, I have built the etched AA3 kit from Frogmore to build No. 56400 (I must post that up here at some point...) but the current one is to Diagram AA21 which is the fitted Toad A. To build No. 17447 I am going to start with the good old and most ubiquitous Ratio kit and go from there. It is vaguely to one of the AA20 something diagrams (!) so a Dart Vacuum cylinder and a few Frogmore detail bits should see us to something that looks about right. I have started the thrilling task of removing the moulded handrails - I suggest QI as good 'watching' here as you don't have to look at the screen to get the enjoyment out of having it on the goggle box. I tend to keep more operable fingers this way! All the best, Castle

Hi Kev, I guess it took about 5 - 6 hours to do but that time included snacking, TV watching and probably the odd snooze too! Not all at once either... I like to have a few different things on the go for several reasons. Firstly to keep my interest going and secondly to allow for things to dry, parts to come in, etc... Your O gauge version is excellent - well done! Parkside do some great vehicles in 7mm. Many of which I could have used in 4mm scale for stocking Little Didcot. Tevan, Mogo and the Plywood van included. The trouble is that the only vehicles left to do in the fitted freight train apart from the Toad now are the two LMS ventilated vans that live out the back of the locomotive works. They are vans Jim, but not as we know them... We are going off region! All the best, Castle

Hi All, Thanks for all the kind words - it is nice to know that this thread is being enjoyed. By way of my next instalment title, let me pose a question: What would happen if you combined the GWR C&W Works and Ikea? The V36 was not anything to do with an early attempt at outdoing the Swedish furniture industry. It was actually a wartime economy measure to speed up production. Think of it as the De Havilland Mosquito of goods wagons... The plywood replaced all of the outside planking including that on the doors but using the standard wagon upper and lower frames. There was also extra longitudinal bits added to the underframe too. After the war, this gave rise to another two batches of plywood bodied wagons in both fitted and unfitted flavours. The lucky survivor at Didcot is a fitted V38 with screw link couplings. The V37 & V38s were begun by the GWR but by the time No. W146366 was completed in 1948; the new order in the shape of BR had begun. No. W146366 is in full working order and stretches its legs occasionally in the demonstration goods trains at the railway centre. So, where to start with little No.146366? Thankfully Ratio gives us a great leg up in the form of their GWR goods van kit No. 565. As I said in my write up of my V34 build - the vast majority of the vans from the kits intended diagram of V24 (except V36,7 & 8 with the ply sides of course!) are pretty similar so: Ratio Kit - Check! Various sections of styrene strip - Check! Replacement buffers - Check! Coffee machine on - Check! Let battle commence... The body sides and ends have to be made new as filling in the planking is really a non starter and the doors on the ply versions have an outer frame that would be difficult to do on the existing mouldings. To that end, a scrap of thick styrene sheet provided enough to make the blanks for the new ends and sides. I also fitted the buffers, made the hole for the couplings and scribed out the top line of the buffer beam. The sides and ends were then assembled and reinforced with the use of 'L' section styrene. I then trialled the roof and floor while the liquid adhesive was still ever so slightly soft so that I could check that the roof fitted and it all looked square and correct. The detailing of the new body was next on the agenda. I started with the uprights on the ends and sides in Plastruct 'T' section strips. Then the corners were also done with the 'L' section strips. The ends were next to do and I started by doing the end roof hoops. To do these, I took a piece of straight micro strip of the correct size and slowly curved it between my fingers by pulling it through again and again. As long as you don't expect too much of a curve too quickly it saves cutting a curved bit out of a sheet. Careful cajoling and use of the original as a pattern... ...resulted in this as an attempted replica! Diagonals were next. Then it was running chassis time! Two rectangular sections of styrene were used as stops to set the chassis unit at the correct height. Two vent shapes were fashioned and fitted. I did these by just cutting the shape of the vent out and then putting a piece of thin styrene strip under one end to stand it off and create the angle. Various micro strips were used to detail the door areas and build up the door lintel, hinges and locking gear. Etched brass coupling eyes and lamp irons were fitted to the ends. The detail was fitted to the under frame including a dart castings vacuum cylinder. The ratio one is built up from about 4 separate bits which seem to me at least, a bit like just trying to up the kits parts count! Dart castings one = two bits, a huge leap in detail and extra weight for the van built in. No contest for a lazy so and so such as myself! The usual liquid gravity was poured in here closely followed by some thin superglue and accelerator. Then it was time for a final trial fitting of all the bits before we trundle off to the paint shop for a dose of primer and then, unusually, a light coat of gloss varnish. This is so I can have a go a riveting. Despite my obvious original intention to use Minly Trains etched wagon detail, this became my first try with Archer Rivet Transfers and I have to say that I was impressed. They were easy to use, stuck well on the whole and looked great even without the top coat on. I managed to get most of the prototype rivets on but the T sections defeated me as the styrene 'I' sections were a little thicker in the centre than scale so I decide that discretion was the better part of valour and chickened out! I will definitely be using these again... I then had a go with paints, transfers and weathering materials as per the V34 diagram so I won't bore my readers to death by repeating myself. This is one of the few liveries that I can produce straight from preservation as the real No. 146366 is in its earliest possible livery of the immediately post nationalisation version of the GWR freight grey with the W regional prefix. Well there we are - I threw away the 4 major and complex components of a kit that I paid good money for and then spent hours making new ones! This is a bizarre hobby we have here at times isn't it? At least I have a van that is a little different from the normal Ratio kit built one. A grounded van body as the next project I suppose. I have to take a trip to the dark side now to finish off the bulk of my fitted van train before I go into the Toad A zone - I'm going out, I may be some time... All the best, Castle

Hi All, As long as we are all wrong with our van under dangly bits together! I won't tell if you guys don't - nobody reads my thread much anyway... All the best, Castle

Hi All, Regarding the V hangers - what Rich said... I know some of them were offset but I checked against the real thing and they were in the centre so I went with that. If you have a look here it gives you a better side on picture that shows them to be central: http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/wagons/101836/101836.html In some photos it is REALLY difficult to tell either way - especially when you know that some are supposed to be off centre! True enough what you say about the handles Ric, they don't go into the right place do they? I felt that an attempt at consistency in Little Didcot world would be in order so all mine are as per the final picture. All the best, Castle PS: I ordered the right buffers today Miss P - cheers again!

I think you have hit the nail on the head here. I too model what I see and experience on a regular basis. As I have said before on this forum, it just so happens that where we hang out, the places have had time stand still a little bit! I will of course be doing a blue No. 6023 at some point and that is one of the great strengths of modelling the preservation era in that the unusual and interesting stuff such as these short lived paint schemes are used by places like the Bluebell and Didcot (look at the interest shown in a khaki GWR mogul) to tell all sorts of different stories and inform visitors of the beautiful and fascinating range of history that railways have to offer. Preservation I guess is an exercise in concentrating that history into, what is sometimes a small space. Not only that - it is far more accessible in many ways than if it were a running railway so research is a darned sight easier. Especially when you have a volunteer workforce who are keen to share what they do with other enthusiasts. In theory therefore, it should be the perfect modelling subject! I think you are right in saying that it will become more popular with some in the future. We have cross over territory of course - what with a certain Dukedog and the fact that the NRMs Sir Winston Churchill was a resident at 81E at one point... All the best, Castle

Hi Matt, Well done on the coach - an epic kit bash if ever I saw one... I have to agree with S A C Martin and I too applaud the innovation and cunning shown here to get the vehicles that you want and at a very reasonable cost too. I am just ruthlessly hacking a Ratio kit into a V38 GWR plywood body van at the moment! I hope that people aren't shunning this thread as you are modelling the preserved scene (I am taking a sort of similar tack on Little Didcot although I am collecting the 81E vehicles and putting them into an historical context rather that presenting them as preserved - I like weathered stock too much for that!) but if they are, it's their loss! Keep up the good work. All the best, Castle

Hi Miss P. You are good to spot the buffers - Well done! I missed that one. Never mind, I will get to that some other time, they are only pressed in after all. I must of ordered the 16" rather than the 13” GWR S/C ones that LMS do... I know what you mean about the boxes - the shape is pretty much there but they are a little on the chunky side but given that it is a fairly integral part of the moulding of the sole bars / W irons / etc, so that was one I was prepared to forgive and forget for ease of construction and the integral strength that a single piece moulding offers. Cheers for the help! Castle

Hi All, A Mink A (x2) The Mink series of vehicles is a telegraphic code that covers a huge range of different vehicles in the V diagram. Even within just the short wheelbase 4 wheel Minks, there is huge variation. Different heights and brake set ups were experimented with early on so this whole area is a potential minefield for modellers and historians alike! The design gave rise to several vehicles in other diagrams and conversions to workshop (CC diagram) vehicles were done too. The pair at 81E were built within the years of 1924 & 1925 to Dia. V14. The V14s were built over a long period between 1912 to 1927. Those built before 1923 were, as built, rated for a 10 ton load and those after went up to 12 tons. A total of 3,841 vehicles inhabited this diagram in the end so they must have had something going for them! No. 101836 has lead a fairly anonymous life but No. 101720 has carried the distinctive livery of a vehicle caught up in the trade of flour delivery. This van is currently undergoing a very thorough restoration by 81E's wagon team and should be done towards the end of this or the beginning of next year. The new Parkside Dundas kit can be employed here and what a great little kit it is too! There is a massive range of different options that are open to the builder in terms of brakes ends, etc that gives a the opportunity to build in Diagrams V12 (I have an extra one of these kits to bash into 81Es Pooley van), V14 and V16. The additional ends with the closeable vents look like very useful castings. Safely into the box of 'extra, unused but I will definitely use at some point in the future modelling bits' with these I think! I built up the body first... ...and then fettled and trial fitted the roof. With judicious use of a grind stone on my Dremmel, I nibbled out the original under floor location tab made by Parkside and created my own with some Evergreen strip styrene section. Then it was under frame time and the usual careful reaming with a 2mm drill so the bearings sit snugly into their seats is the opening salvo. The under frame is then assembled on the glass sheet and tested for the all important free running and straightness. Then, after a trial fit with the body and roof, we have a delve into the sprues to get all the detail parts out for the brake gear, etc. Then the styrene rod is cut to size and fitted in place and the tie bars are removed and replaced in brass wire. I know they should be flat section but I want something fairly durable here. We then go for one, final trial assembly where I failed to notice the obvious mistake with the position of the brake handle or the fact that I haven't put the lamp irons on - d'oh! I also applied some liquid gravity, scale couplings and a nice set of white metal buffers at this stage. Then I did it all over again, this time still forgetting the lamp irons but at least getting the brake handle in the right place. The guy who built these was obviously an idiot! It was at this stage that I decided to do one in late GWR livery and one in BR fitted wagon bauxite. Which means I didn't have to separate one of them into 3 parts for painting. Oh well... To this end, I fixed the vacuum pipes to the GWR example as I wouldn't have to paint the buffer beams black and I find that these vertical stand type ones can get in the way a bit if you fix them on before hand. I am now thinking of marketing my latest sensation - Mink A on a stick! Available in a range of yummy flavours! Such as: Primer Grey! Matt Black! Bauxite AND GWR Grey! Hmmmm, anyway... A coat of gloss varnish and then a mix of Modelmaster, CCT and Fox transfers produced the correct decals. Then it is time for matt varnish and assembly.Once weathered we ended up with No. 101836 in GWR grey (with fixed brake handles)... ...and No. 101720 in early BR bauxite and ready for the road. The intention is to work toward a completed fitted van train of 12 vehicles behind little No.3822. The vans in question (although not necessarily in this order) at the moment are as follows: Mogo, Asmo, Bloater, LMS Ventilated Vans (x2), Tevan, Mink A Vans (x2), Mink G, V34 Van, V36 Plywood Body Van and a Toad A. As I write this, the loco has been renumbered and had scale couplings fitted but needs weathering and crew and the V36, LMS Vents and the Toad A need building. I am also considering the early and less than successful weathering job on my Bachmann Mogo too. I could repaint it. I suppose I could cut my losses and build the Ratio kit instead - has anyone out there any thoughts on this? What are the various merits and drawbacks of each? The Bachmann offering seems pretty good to my eye. Anyhoo - there we are, another grand and fanciful scheme from the addled mind that I inhabit! All the best, Castle

Hi Coldgunner, That sounds like a challenge - in fact, it would be a bit of a laugh if all of us on RMWEB built representations of ourselves in our chosen scales! Hmmmmm, let me think about this one... All the best, Castle

Hi Kev, Thanks for the kind words (and to everyone who pushes the little like this button too!) - this is one of my blow the cobwebs out type quick builds so I can regain the vital element - mojoium! The little Didcot fleet runs (in terms of things sat on axles not in packets and boxes!) to all the coaches that are available ready to run (none are weathered and 190 needs paint) and 290 & 231, all the ready to run locos (except the King, 72XX and 4079 and again, not all in a finished state) plus 18000 and about a dozen or so wagons and brown (or maroon) vehicles. So we are getting along. Although, even if not all of them are relevant for my time period, there are over 40 coaches, more than 50 wagons and about 30 locos and other forms of motive power in the 12" : 1' 81E collection. I won't run out of hobby any time soon... All the best, Castle

Hi All, The white (well, bauxite) van man... The V34 Goods van was built between 1941 and 1945 and there were around 1200 of them in the end. They, like many of the GWR van fleet, were based on a RCH design and in their various forms were built in huge numbers. These 12 ton vehicles had a 9' wheelbase, were 17' 6" over headstocks. They were the basis for a wide range of other vehicles including the MOGOs and several of the smaller FRUIT and banana designs too. The example at Didcot is owned by our friends in the 813 fund and has recently been repainted into a new livery. As a result it is in excellent condition and is well worth a look if you visit. The model vehicle is based on the Ratio kit that is basically to the V23 diagram. The whole range of vans between V21 and V38 are pretty similar and most can be modelled straight from the kit as is or with modifications to the brake gear. The only exception to this is the V36 that has plywood sides (coming soon!). The mouldings from Ratio are very nice and crisp so it promised to be a pleasurable build. I keep track of the collection of the Didcot vehicles in model form by writing out copious notes and that way purchases can be mapped out and when ordering from a supplier, I can keep postage costs down by ordering in bulk rather than a bit here and a bit there. These LMS buffers are a case in point and I recently ordered a large batch from Parkside along with a few kits. I like the detail and strength offered by the whitemetal castings and these ones proved to be no exception. I like to build my vans so that the three main areas of colour can be seperated until painted (basically, I'm too lazy to mask it all up!) and I find it very easy to work this way even if some kits, notably Parkside Dundas ones, need modification to achieve this. The first of these to be done is the roof and once I have cleaned it up with a first pass of the file, I put it to one side so I can check the fit with the body when I have done that. I then move onto the body. Once the body is done, I check the fit of both the floor and the roof and fettle as required. I use the floor to help hold the body square as the solvent dries but I am careful not to fasten it in place! Then the buffers are fitted in a press fit hole - if you get this tight enough, there is no need for glue and stems help hold the floor in. The sole bar and W iron / axle box mouldings are then fitted after the bearings hole have been gently reamed out with a drill to press fit. The whole van is then assembled to check fit and how it runs before the under frame is detailed. A few extra details alongside the standard bits and pieces available in the box. The tie bars are replaced with brass wire as I don't like the moulded plastic ones. These always seem to bend, break and generally look untidy to my eye. A whitemetal vacuum cylinder of unknown origin was pressed into service along with a few pieces of thin plastic rod for brake gear gubbins. I also use Liquid Gravity and thin superglue to provide a bit of weight and a few extra strips of styrene to provide pockets for the weights. I also cut out slots to accommodate the instanter couplings as it would be tricky to pop the body off again with these in place. One last trial fit and the addition of some lamp irons, vacuum pipes and the couplings and we are ready for the paint shop! A first coat of Halford's grey primer is followed by a coat of matt black paint to provide a background for the colours. I find that as long as you don't apply it too heavily, Phoenix paints tend to shy away from panel lines after a coat of acrylic matt black. This give a beautiful shaded effect for zero effort. It's a secret of mine so don't tell anyone, ok? Then the correct Phoenix shades are lightly sprayed on followed by a dash of acrylic gloss varnish on the sides where the transfers have to go. The fully painted components look like this when done: This includes the hand painting of the black for the buffer beams and vacuum pipes on the ends. The transfers are a combination of Modelmaster and CCT products and after they are dry, a coat of matt acrylic varnish is shot over them and then the van is assembled minus wheels and couplings. A dose of weathering powders, acrylic washes and a final coat of varnish later and another one joins the little Didcot fleet! I have a stack of unpainted vans to do so I shall stop chatting and get on! All the best, Castle

Hi Dave, Looks like a grand project you all have there, I shall follow this with interest. On the subject of sticking foam to foam or indeed other stuff, I have travelled this road too and found that there is a water based (ie: no solvents to melt foam) contact adhesive that seems to be freely available in most big DIY emporiums. Sorry if this is something you already know! All the best, Castle

Hi Polly, You have a few options as far as the 'original four' go. They were still at school (just) but it is a bit of a misnomer to think of them as boys when they sent the letter to The Railway Magazine to ask for money. The latter end of the teens is more right and there is a great photo of them on Southall footbridge (albeit black and white) as well as a few years later on in the cab of a loco here: http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/visitor_information/gws.html So that is your first choice and they should be fairly easy to get figures for. There is some wonderful footage of the first steaming of 1466 in their ownership and the look can only be described as a mix of steam loco enthusiasts and the cast of A Clockwork Orange. The bowler hats and overalls are much in evidence. Quite where you buy figures for this second option I don't know... Edit: I have just noticed a picture of this event at the top of the same page! Another book that I was trying to recall and then remembered when I spotted that it was on my bookshelf (d'oh!) was A. E. Abear's 'Through the Links at Southall and Old Oak Common' (ISBN 1 - 901056 - 22 - 8 ). Which has its obvious attractions for you and is a darn good read too. I hope this helps! All the best, Castle

Hi Polly, Make sure that you put the four young lads on the footbridge discussing how they are going to raise money to purchase that 14XX and Autocoach... We won't have a GWS in the future if you don't! One thought about your track layout, why not set the loco shed into the back scene on the right and only have a short bit of the front of it showing. This will mean that there is less of it to build, you could make a model of a GWR lifting shop to go in the space now vacated by the shed to add operational interest and the storage roads in the shed can be part of a fold out or detachable fiddle yard. It will also provide a very plausable scenic break for your factory or branch to hide behind. You could also then have more space to display that growing loco fleet of yours. Just a suggestion! I haven't looked at the book you have mentioned above but a great GWR loco shed book that I have that has scale drawings of the 'standard' GWR buildings in the front of it based on the ones at 81E is 'An Historical Survey of Great Western Engine Sheds 1947' by E. Lyons. Probably well out of print by now but by no means rare and you should be able to pick one up easily. The inside cover of mine says it was published in 1972 and cost the (then) princely sum of £3.30! I bought it about 10 years ago for £8... The SBN number is 902888 16 1. The best of luck with the layout and I look forward to reading your thread. All the best, Castle