jwealleans

Hi Bob, Nice to hear from you. I wish you'd happened by when I asked that question a few months ago.... I looked at as many photos as I could and didn't find conclusive evidence either way. In the end I decided that making two wasn't twice as hard as making one and that way no fool could put it onto the layout the wrong way round and hide my hard work. Did you ever finish that luggage Compo you were building?

We were at Warley that year. What a fantastic layout that was.

Have you got a J73? There's a man on here who's just finishing a P4 one and I suspect isn't far from you.

Mike; it's the brown bits - the body. I've edited my post to make it clearer. It wouldn't have occurred to me either. WoM - yes, you're right, they are raised.. I have no idea whether that's prototypical or just the way they've tooled it. The other one i built earlier in the year was the same.

Coaches, coaches... I've got the brake 3rd painted and it will now dry for a few days while I catch the other one up to it. The body colour I use (Precision Track Dirt, after a recommendation by Larry Goddard) is a pleasing shade of brown, but I have had reactions between it and the Games Workshop varnish I use. This time I intend to let it cure a while before bringing them together to see if that helps. As you can see I haven't managed to pull the handrails off those steps as yet... The Composite which makes up the other of the pair has had the interior partitions attached to the floor and suitably reprofiled so the body can be taken off and on. One or two parcels arrived this week so I have been able to finish off some stalled projects. GN gunpowder van is now about ready for painting (when the buffers have been straightened). MJT rocking W iron and some home made brake gear from the bits box have sorted it out. In the same packet some LMS coach buffers also from Mr. T were all that was needed for this Lima GUV. The idea came from Larry's thread and he can explain what was done much better than me. There are a few of these to be seen in the Ian C Allen photos of the former GE. This one will run on Thurston initially but ultimately will end up in the milk train planned for Wickham Market. It's a very easy job and the basic bodies can be picked up at shows for not very much. Finally these came from Scotland yesterday: There's not too much you can do to improve the Hornby B1 but Dave Bradwell's dome and chimney do make a difference; I refer you again to Larry's thread here. I've had mine to bits to strip out all the DCC gubbins: call me old fashioned but I like my locos to run without having to find and plug in the tender when I'm fiddling with them. It seems to have survived that OK. The future 61059 which has arrived from its owner can be seen trembling in the background. Finally while I was travelling last week I put together this MAJ kit for an L & Y van. Not something I know anything about or have any reference material on, so built very much to the instructions. I do like outside framed vans, though and this is something just a little different. They're very easy to put together, these kits and it's a shame they aren't more readily available.

Nice job. The roofs on those are.... character building, aren't they?

My guess was that they painted rather than grained and/or varnished it.

If similar to 3rd class stock, grained timber walls and red/black moquette seats. I think I took a guess and painted the compartment walls on mine cream. In 4mm I just use a dark red for the seats; there may be a better way to do it in 7mm.

Dragging it back, but some in service pictures from (I think) 1979 here. Some nice rolling stock shots generally in this collection.

I was working away this week so didn't get any time on the coach until last night. Steps were the main aim and they are now fitted. They could be a bit finer, but they're a bit vulnerable and so I went for robustness over finesse. Ultimately these are club models and so may not always get the care in handling and operating that my own do. Thanks to 'Owd Sweedy' for the drawing on the LNER forum which was my blueprint. Dimensions were worked out by eye from that and photos. The edges of the thicker strips used for the sides are chamfered down to lose some of the thickness. The handrail runs up through a slot in the footboard and is just plugged into the hole beside the door. This has to be removed before the body comes off - I wonder how long before I forget and irretrievably bend or snap one of them?

You're not wrong about that kit and the older ones are better to build as the nasty bendy plastic Dapol use these days isn't as easy to work with. If you fancy a bit of variety they're also dead easy to backdate to an LNER version. I've done one and Mikemeg has (I think) four completed ones on his workbench thread.

You'll be wanting these, then, Larry.

Not many updates this week as I left the camera at the club on Monday and i always think they're a bit pointless without pictures. However there has been some progress and it can now be brought to you. Firstly, the sleeper wagon has entered service at Ormesby: This was finished off this week; LMS 1 plank (a fairly recent Cambrian kit). These were used for containers by the LMS and in earlier BR days. The roping was taken from a photo - I think in one of Bob Essery's books, but of course when I went to find it I couldn't. I hope my memory has not led me too far astray. The wagon takes all of 10 minutes to build, it's a really simple piece of work. Finally the coach, which is almost there. I had hoped to get it to primer tonight, but there wasn't enough time. I messed up a roof vent hole, so that's to do, there are corridor connectors to make - curiously, they're not in the kit - and on this vehicle I need to make the pneumatic steps which allowed passengers to alight at the ground level halts the parsimonious GER provided.

Don't mistake lack of comment for lack of interest. This one is way outside my modelling zone but I'm watching anyway. This looks an interesting idea.

Wagons just about done and ready for the weathering queue; They can await the next outbreak of weathering on the bench. The slightly blotchy paintwork on the CCT was accidental, on the gunpowder van less so. Once weathered over it adds a bit of extra variety to the finished vehicle so I'm happy to let it go at this stage. The sleeper wagon will be delivered to the club this evening. It was nice to get the soldering iron out again last night; this was last on the bench last October having in the interim been down to Ely to have the Sprat and Winkle couplings fitted. Not altogether successful as the fitting then interfered with the body/solebar separation and so the coupling had to come off again last night. However we know they work and I have a model to copy to reinstate it so all is not lost. I started by fitting the internal partitions just to get back into the swing of it. I've been quite busy for a few days, but I have managed to move the coach on a bit. I found a bit of a problem with this in that my mate who fitted the S & W couplings had used plastic packing, which was never going to survive the rest of the soldering and had also positioned the paddle over the top of the body fixing screws so I couldn't get it apart. So off they had to come. While I contemplated that little problem, I cracked on with the bogies and underframe, which is about where we are now. Then I had a good look at the coupling and worked out how to do it. The goalpost is easy and just solders through the buffer beam. For the paddle, I made a shallow U shaped bracket which locates under the body fixing screws. The paddle swings on two brass lace pins which are soldered into the bracket. It all has to be close enough to the floor to clear the bogie - there isn't a lot of room there. However it does seem to work, thankfully.

There are plenty of more knowledgeable people on here who can advise on kit building, so browse the forum and see what they say as well. If I were starting afresh, I think the best advice I could give myself would be to get hold of one of the Mainly Trains chassis kits which go under an RTR body. They do one for the J52 (which I haven't built) as well as for J71 and J72, which I have. The hardest part of building a loco (IMO) is the chassis and drivetrain. If you can get those right then you won't have a problem. These kits are well designed and straightforward and also mean you don't have to get bogged down in building a body at the same time. You'll also find plenty of advice on tools and equipment on the forum. Since I started building two different chassis jigs have become available. I have one (the HH one) and wouldn't be without it, but they aren't essential. Comet and others do frame alignment jigs which will do the job. A chassis jig will make it quicker, that's all. Finally, when you do take the plunge, put up a thread and ask for advice. You won't be short of it. See 'Grasshopper John's thread for proof of that. Edit - Just noticed there's a J72 bodyshell on Ebay for £2.00. There's a starting point for you.

...or a nervous one?

I seem to have been quite busy what with one thing and another and of course the weekend at Telford having my eyes opened to what O gauge modellers get up to. However I brought one or two things back which will appear on here in due course and I have made some progress with what I have on the bench at the moment. Quad is lettered (they don't seem to have had 'quad' on them unless anyone's seen a photo I haven't) and had the brake wheels added. A bit of tweaking of the chains and load and it'll go back in the box. I knew the load on this would take longer to do that the wagon itself, but two piles of sleepers have been created and will be roped on once I've weathered the rest of the inside of the wagon. I had to repaint the NB gunpowder van as I managed to spray some of the sides as well as the roof after I riveted it. The sides and doors on the GN one are done but I have run out of MJT W irons so it's probably stuck until I find some more. Buffers are a North Eastern pattern - perhaps a bit long but they look like the originals. Axleboxes will also be North Eastern - I have a pack from 51L which if turned upside down look just like the ones on my photo. CCT glazed and roofed. The roof was a pretty poor fit - I'm afraid they often are on these kits - so what I've tried this time is soldering a longitudinal brass strip from end to end and loading that with Araldite as well as the edges, to see whether that holds it down against the body properly..cc

Yes, that makes sense as well and is consistent with the photo in the blue book. I've found one in the background of a picture of an A5 on page 95 of Great Central Album (George Dow) and it does appear to have the roof vents mounted on blocks.

Roof vents are different to the drawing and picture in the blue carriage drawings book. The door beading doesn't quite line up properly - has it been replaced with a second hand carriage door? That lettering is also odd. I note, though, that at least some of these were built by outside contractors: is it possible they were also built for other companies? GSWR was the first thing which came to mind when I looked at that lettering.

Bit of painting and decorating tonight. CCT now lettered - according to Nick Campling's book this one didn't have the dimensions panel on the right hand end corner, or any running restrictions. The nature of these Chivers kits means I'll have to varnish and glaze before I can fix the roof on, which isn't my preferred approach. LSWR open also lettered - much to my surprise I managed to use the Roxey dry transfers without screwing them up hopelessly which is the usual result. There is a bit of blobbing round the number where I had a battle with an HMRS transfer; that came off with a spot of white spirit. A couple of other refurbishment jobs: Parkside NE Bogie Bolster getting a repaint and lettering backdated to the early style. The handbrake wheels have come adrift at some point as well. ABS NB Gunpowder van; the roof was in a right state so it was scrapped and a new one made up. Evergreen strip for the ribs and when it's gone off it will get a few rivet transfers as well. The photo makes the bend in the roof look far worse than it is. While we're on Gunpowder vans, I picked this up for a quid from a bargain bin at a show. There are a lot of GPVs which follow the lines and dimensions of the iron Mink. I was going to make this up as a GE one, but theirs had angled corners instead of curved, so this one will be a GN example. Doors need to be flush and the vents have been removed from the ends. We'll address axleboxes and buffers in due course. Finally, in a corner of the yard something else is preparing.... This was one of the cheap B1s which popped up a few months ago. Of course, after we bought a couple for Thurston thinking the price would never be repeated, everyone did them at that price, including an early crest BR one which would have been ideal... but there you go. I shall be collecting another at Telford this weekend and they will then become 61058 and 61059 of Ipswich shed. I've seen a picture of one or other of the pair with the full 'BRITISH RAILWAYS' on the tender and possibly the curly numerals as well which will make a bit of variety if I can track it down. Watch this space.

Someone (I thought on the LNER forum but I can't now find it) worked out the exact date of that photo based on it being a Saturday in August 1937 and reading the weather records.

I should point out that the meat van kit (ex-D & S) has been acquired by and will be available from the GCRS in due course.

Loco and coach looking very good, Mr. Magnificent. There used to be some pictures of the interior of the Howlden coach which runs on the SVR on the web, but they seem to have vanished. Perhaps someone else on here can point them out - I'd like to know where they are for building mine.

The other fairly straightforward project I've finally got round to is this Roger Chivers low roof CCT. This came to me in a job lot of parcels stock some years ago and after dealing with the high roof version a few pages back this one is finally getting the treatment. The prototype is the LNER version of an NER design, drawings on about page 114 of Nck Campling's Historical Carriage Drawings Vol 1 (the yellow one). The kit is still available from Matt Chivers, Roger's son, although I see he's moving house at the moment and so not taking new orders. It dates from the late 1970s or early 1980s. The alterations required are detailed in MRJ No. 102 by Peter Tatlow. Essentially the brake gear has been mirror imaged from one side to the other, which is incorrect. A brake lever needs moving, one or two bits need making and adding and other components are shuffled about. I did the same thing to a pair of the high roof NER versions last year and Mick also did one way back in his thread. Here the altered vehicle with roof vents and lamp tops added and the extra body brackets also visible along the solebar. Here the alterations needed to the brake gear shown. Matt will supply the castings as a a separate pack and I see my replacement bolster has slipped while the glue dried.