jwealleans

I had quite bit of time at the bench this weekend and got on with a few jobs. I've been repairing one or two wagons from the Thurston shunting stock which had been damaged either at shows or (more likely) in transport. These grain vans had the Geoff Kent treatment some few years ago including the riveted strip at each end of the roof. This was done using an etched strip from (I think) Alan Gibson and it had lifted and caught on something. Now I'd use Evergreen strip and Archer transfers. With care building and the extra detail Geoff recommends these make a nice model. They are both compensated as the short wheelbase makes them very prone to derailing when shunted if they're rigid. The detailing is mainly handrails, bits around the roof doors, better buffers and hopper operating gear. I see we have a handwheel missing on the left hand wagon as well. I'm looking forward to seeing the Bachmann BR hoppers after years of resisting invitations to lengthen a Dapol one or two. The Howlden has had undergear and trussing and is now awaiting roof adornment. I don't have enough vents or lamps and so I've ordered some from the ever-helpful Dave at Roxey Mouldings. These need to be the high, pregrouping torpedo vents rather than the lower profile ones the LNER used. Both this and the 6 wheeler have also had buffers fitted. I use the Wizard Models L & Y sprung buffers (LYRC025) - the stock is too long for GNR, but the shape is similar and they come with the oval buffer head which is required. This Kirk conversion to ECJS has been seen before on here, but that nice Mr King provided me with some clerestory castings instead of the rather unsatisfactory arrangement which I had before. Here I've grafted two together to make a long enough roof (see where the vent spacings become irregular) and stuck one side section back on. It's curing before the second one is applied. The side sections look to me to be cut from Triang Thompson roofs. Who said they're useless? Finally, I'm seeing the owner of this next weekend and thought it might be nice to have something to bring with me. This is from one of the most recent batches of D & S kits, a D 87 Milk Van. Went together very nicely, doors are a bit fiddly, roof fit is awful. That's this week's job. It's now drying off before the last bits are glued on.

It must exist, Roy Jackson has (or had, at least) one on Retford.

Oh, dear. I hope I wasn't rude? Sunday somehow never quite got going the way Saturday had.

I rolled it to get the main arc and then formed the eaves by holding it along a piece of bullnose skirting in a vice and rolling it with a piece of 15mm copper pipe. To get the very last part of the bend I used a bit of 1/4" brass rod and fingers. It's not easy, but then I haven't done many of these. Worst part was filing back the excess I had left at the cornice line, missing with the file and slicing my finger end open. It makes typing more uncomfortable than it ought to be.

Oh, you're no slouch yourself, Pete. I keep an eye on your thread. The 6 wheeler came with a roof and yes, it was half etched. That's why it's bent a lot more tidily than my homemade one, which bears the marks of some persuasion with a length of copper pipe.

I hope Colin (or Barry should he ever read this) won't mind me saying that the Cambrian kits have improved in terms of ease of build markedly in the last few years. The older ones (lower numbers) take more care and are more fiddly. The newest ones are on a par with Parkside (some of whose older kits are also a challenge). I wouldn't worry if you're struggling with a Hurst Nelson PO (if it's a Cambrian) - I've been there myself. The gold standard are Roger Chivers - they all but assemble themselves.

Well, I was so pleased with that Howlden 6 wheeler that I picked up the next vehicle on the pile and thought I'd have a go at that as well. This is also a Howlden and also by Bill, a D 129 Composite. I've just about applied all the bits you get in the kit here and spent a couple of evenings making the roof. There's a cornice on these so I shall apply a piece of Evergreen strip which will hide the small gaps and inaccuracies. After that it's detailing bits and an interior. I put some of the underframe equipment onto the PBV and here it is posed with the slightly larger diagram which D & S did.

Hi Dave, The one of these we run at Ormesby has the pickups on the tender. Probably for the same reason.

I don't mind being called a non-scented modeller, Gilbert, but I do object to 'cheap'.......

So many punchlines, so little time......

Now then, Gilbert, that's a good question. I use one of these, but my learned colleague Mr Foster has found something much more exotic and exciting. Put the powder where you want it with the small brush and spread with the largest one. I don't use a fixer, the stuff really does stick to more or less anything. Don't varnish over it either unless you want it to all but disappear.

Agreed. Every layout I operate at a show, we spend all weekend being clicked and flashed at but very seldom see the results. I had one child asking quite intelligent questions, but he was gobsmacked when he asked if I would run the Scotch Goods and I told him it wasn't due for about 2 hours (it had just been round).

I still buy and built the 3H kits when they come up - Cambrian have since covered the opens, but the older kits lose nothing by comparison.

Well, here we go. Nothing else to do this week except pack the thermals and thermos. This has gone about as far as it will until I receive buffers and axleboxes although I may have found someone with a drawing in case I've missed anything major. It's a nice little kit to build, but knowing at least one reader has one for future work, here are my thoughts on it after building. The one piece hinges Bill puts in (which also give you a tumblehome profile) are a great idea, but in this kit they were too long. I don't think they'd allowed for the overlap of the two part sides. No great issue, just cut them in two. Put the buffer beam overlay onto the end before you build up the body or the little folded tab on the end of the sides will interfere with getting it seated properly. Possibly as a result of that, I had to file back the ends of the chassis so it would fit behind the buffer beams and allow the body to sit down. The sides and solebars are all etched together and slide down over the chassis which is another very good idea. I was looking at putting some sort of securing bolts in there, but the screw couplings I will fit will hold the two parts together. There's a roof, which I wasn't expecting but which is very useful as it has etched holes for positioning the roof fittings. The torpedo vents, incidentally are from Exactoscale. I ended up with a hole at the bottom of the ducket when I fixed it. I'm going to try one of Graeme's resin ones on the other side. There are a few extra handrails and lamp irons to fit and it will be done. Left on the etch are two discs with the central holes which I think are gas tank ends. There's also an etched oval plate with an 'A' which I guess should go on the solebar somewhere but I can't see on drawings of this or any similar vehicles. Does anyone know where that should go?

Definitely 2015.

Think you may find that's 2015, Tom. (and no, it's Corfe).

Because it's you, David, here's a train. It's not actually at Grantham, but it is on the way.

Some progress on the PBV but no photos - I'll do one tonight after I've fitted the roof. I've been busy with last minute preparations for BH - including this (poor photo on a phone). Running trials for the C1 which, it transpired, had had a gearbox problem. One of the intermediate shafts in the HighFlyer box had moved out of its locating hole at one side and was running at an angle. It has to be said that it didn't affect running forwards at all and we only found it when running backwards through pointwork. I thought I must have forgotten to Loctite it, but the spacing washer was very thoroughly attached to the shaft, so it had either failed or not run into the right places. It needed a thorough test in reverse, therefore, once sorted, but having removed the rear coupling in order to fit a Kadee, reverse running was the only available option. Here it's also testing some parcels vans with recently sprung buffers round 3' curves.

That WD looks much better in the last picture. Just as an aside, the tool holder in the prototype picture is available from 247 Developments and makes a surprising difference to the loco when fitted.

In the version I've heard, Churchill had planned what was quite a circuitous route from Waterloo (Paddington having been the official choice), but told the military officer sent to seek his approval for the plans that in the event de Gaulle predeceased him, they could depart from wherever they liked. Edit - sadly perhaps not true. Brief research on the Internet produced this: At first sight, railway geography would seem to support the myth. To get from London to Bladon, Waterloo would not be your first choice of station. The obvious departure station would be Paddington, from which a train can get to central Oxfordshire very directly. However, if the organisers definitely wanted to include a journey down the Thames, the problem is that Paddington is a long way from the river: it would be a case of a road procession from St Pauls to Tower Hill, a barge from there to the West End followed by a second road procession through Mayfair and Bayswater. Waterloo is not only almost on the riverbank, but there is a fairly direct rail route from there to Reading, where the train can join the main line from Paddington and on to Oxfordshire. Moreover, for obvious reasons the train was hauled by the locomotive “Winston Churchill”. Although the railways were nationalised in 1947, in England and Wales the former railway companies had survived as largely-autonomous “Regions” within British Railways. “Winston Churchill” was built by the Southern Railway, and in 1965 (although only a few months from withdrawal) was based at Salisbury, on the Southern Region’s lines out of Waterloo. It is probably safe to say that at that time there were no loco crew at all on British Rail who were qualified both to drive “Winston Churchill” and to drive trains from Paddington to Reading; on the other hand almost all Waterloo-Reading line steam crews would have been able to handle the engine. It is also likely that special work would have been needed to make sure that a Southern Region engine would even have been able to run on the Paddington-Reading line safely. In other words, using Waterloo solved two issues: how to get the procession from boat to train easily, and also how to ensure the right engine could be used on the train with minimal special effort. I hope the above is helpful to you. On balance, I think it is highly unlikely that the use of Waterloo was purely to annoy De Gaulle – although I can imagine that when it became apparent that Waterloo would be the most straightforward terminus to use, it would have raised a few wry smiles on the planning committee!’ (From 'Beachcombing's Bizarre History' here).

That doesn't surprise me in the slightest. They crop up very frequently in Dr Ian C Allen's photographs of the GE area and seem to have been very popular. The Hornby model is very nice and we replaced a kit built one on Thurston with one last year. They did seem to attract the dirt, though - perhaps none of the numbers were legible so no-one could tell that they were the vehicles Control kept asking about?

I did. My dad owned both your examples and I could have sworn they were both badged 'Trader'. Either way, that is what it is and fairly new as well looking at the state of it.

Nice Thames Trader flatbed under Crescent Bridge as well.

Found this one in the middle of Thirsk some time ago and Adrian Walby has kindly photographed it. It looks to me like a 6 wheeler and is still lettered 'York District' from what must have been departmental service.

No pressure, then.....