jwealleans

Not that I have any knowledge of its' current owner, but Biggleswade still exists, does it not?

Now, my little puzzler from last week, which Paul saw straight through despite my deliberately posting the image upside down. As I mentioned back upthread I had a few days in May where I kept being given part-finished items. At Middlesbrough show, Scottiedog of this parish handed me a plastic bag containing two etched coaches. These, I found, were Arthur's (ArthurK otp) prototypes for some North Eastern bow ended vestibuled stock. They do appear at the start of Arthur's workshop thread but the images appear to have gone for the moment. They were part built; one was on bogies and the other a basically complete bodyshell. D 152 all first in nickel-silver. D 156 all third in brass. I believe these were built from 1908 for services between Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds and Glasgow. They lasted until after the war, in the main. Some were fitted with Gresley bogies in later life. I contacted Arthur a few weeks ago and he was kind enough to send through the remaining parts from the etches and another pair of bogies. I've been working on them slowly for about a fortnight but I didn't want to post them until there was discernible progress. With the acquisition of springing wire at Wakefield I've got them both onto bogies and so here they are. Parts for roofs and interiors are on the way and I'm hoping to receive the castings in the near-ish future so as to be able to complete them. These are prototypes and as I'm sure Arthur will elaborate there will be changes to the final design. The principal one as I understand it will be a separation of coach body and floor so the interior can attach to the floorpan and the body lift off. That is my preferred means of assembling coaches. I can vouch for the presence of the compartment walls making it very fiddly to attach droplights and door hinges. The design of the inset end doors is neat, they being part of the end etch which is shaped and then attached to the sides at the inner end of the door. Bogies are sprung and very smooth and free running.

I'd like to see a picture of that - these are handsome coaches. Bill Bedford? Where did you source your castings and what did you do for a roof? I want to get mine a little more complete but I hope to have them up here this week.

Nine out of ten; nine and a half if you did that off the top of your head. It's a D 152. Now I have most of the remaining bits for it expect to see more shortly.

Managed to get the CCTs all but finished - the buffers need filing down (there is a cutoff at the top to allow the falling end door to open). This also shows that some of my Araldite didn't stick properly and the internal bars have slid down at one side on one van. Naturally this disguised itself until after I'd stuck the roof on so this side promises to be very dirty indeed. Now a little teaser. I've been working on these all week but need some bits from Wakefield to get them complete enough to be worth putting up. So while I'm enjoying myself shunting all weekend - come and say hello if you're there - can you guess what it is? Scottiedog need not answer - he ought to recognise it.

Those look very handy, Jon. Can you let me have the chap's details? I was going to reuse the springs from the Rivarossi chassis on the van I showed you but those look easier to work with. Given the European loading gauge you might be able to use sides from one of these with a new underframe - from memory the body should be ~102x33 mm for pretty much all the different types.

The LNER used to use them for a fitted head to mineral trains as far as I recall - there's a picture, I think, in Geoff Gosling's book. So you can legitimately use 2 or 3.

Is that a PECO loco lift in front of the hotel, Gilbert? That would rather give the game away...

More likely to keep the rain and muck out, Mick - when called out they'd stand it up and sit inside it, often with a small brazier I believe. Outside would have been creosoted or similar so would have been less likely to rot if rained on. Train crews would see over them easily even if upright.

Some progress on the vans through this week; rivets have been added with Archer transfers, the correct torpedo roof vents are now fitted and I've given them a blow over with primer to stop the rivets falling off. Buffers are on the way from ABS and brake gear for the unfitted one will have to be picked up from Andrew H at Wakefield. The GN one will have the Mainly Trains fitted brakegear which I always have in stock so I may get onto that this weekend. I have been busy this week but found some time to fiddle on with the CCTs as well. Following running trials at Ormesby I raised the body on the bogies very slightly to give just a bit more freedom for the bogies to rotate and pitch. There is very little space between bogie, solebar and floor. Initially this was done with washers, but the whole vehicle developed a wobble so plastic strip spacers have been stuck to the bolsters here. You'll also see black paper stuck to the underside - that's to prevent shorting if the bogie pitches enough to put both wheels in contact with the floor at once. More black paper is stuck inside to prevent light showing up through the holes in the floor. Peter Tatlow's article showed two different styles of window bars (no indication of why this might be) so I did one of each. The upper body here has 5 bars, the lower has 2. These are .45 wire soldered to scrap fret and Evostuck to the inside of the body. Lastly the roof. One of these two came with a roof, the other had lost it at some time. These roofs have 3 arcs, the curve over the peak sharpening as it nears the eaves at each side. I made a plastic ceiling for the van and stuck 40 thou formers to it, carved and filed to shape against the van end. This was stuck to the roof along the top of the curve and allowed to set. Then I squeezed it gently in a vice as shown here and flooded the edges with MekPak. This was left in the vice and allowed to set overnight. I had one small section which had to be restuck but most of it has taken and the whole thing now slots into place between the ends as intended.

You made Mick Bennett an offer he couldn't refuse?

Me too, but until it's available this thread is about as good as it gets.

Well, Gilbert, I've just caught up with this and would like to add my best wishes to everyone elses. Can I suggest a lengthy period of rest on the end of a platform with a notebook and camera to hand?

Go on, go on, go on, you know you want to.... The CCTs were painted and lettered up over the weekend. The first one was finished with Halfords Triumph Russett brown as per Peter Tatlow's recommendation in the article I cited earlier. I like this colour and have used it on a few vehicles. The second was done using Humbrol 186 with a spot of black, which ended up very close to Precision Paints' teak colour. The smaller lettering under the number is from a set Mick commissioned from John Peck some time ago which I'm still using. There should be some route restriction lettering to the left of it but I haven't anything which looks appropriate so I've left that alone for the moment. It was a bit cold up in the attic this weekend so I looked out a job I could do downstairs in the warm. Now, in May this year I went through about a couple of weeks where every time I saw someone I knew at a show they gave me a part-completed model suggesting I might like to have it to finish off. One of those will feature on here shortly, but on Saturday I dug out another; a pair of GN 19' vans started by Peter Simmerson "at least 25 years ago" in plastikard. They were rolling bodies, planks scribed but no detail. I reckoned there shouldn't be a huge amount of work in them, so here they are after a couple of evenings with the Evergreen strip and a magnifying glass. The roof vents need to be replaced with the correct torpedo type. White on white isn't great for seeing, I know; hopefully you get the gist. The ventilated one I will do as a fitted version; the other I thought I'd do as the unfitted CLC version, just for some variety. They came with a drawing by 2512Silverfox of this parish, dated 1968 (he won't thank me for that, I'm sure) showing several different variants. I don't know where that was published, unfortunately, but it was very useful. Top work by Peter all those years ago as well; the bodies were still square and solid and corresponded to all the dimensions I checked. I imagine ABS is the only source of GN buffers these days?

Hi Phil, Yes, the turnbuckle is a foldup from the original etch. PT made new queenposts and some very fiddly components to attach the trussing, but I drew the line short of those. These are still available from Matt at five79 and the last time I looked he had a special offer on - £28 odd instead of the usual £40. You know it makes sense....

That article by Peter Tatlow can lead you into some lengthy detailing....and I had two of these CCTs, the other bought some years ago as part of a job lot from Ebay and left in its incomplete state as received. In all, apart from the brake gear amendments, the right hand step is removed from both sides, body brackets added (10 each side), lamp irons, door handles and the stirrup step each side. I started making the body brackets from brass but quickly lost interest in that and made them from Evergreen strip instead. The beading on the one I'd stripped was also incomplete so that was reinstated using 10 x 30 thou strip. Here they are in primer - one is now in brown. The additional brake gear can be seen below: I'm just waiting for some replacement bogie castings to come though from Matt Chivers and then these can be finished off. I don't think I posted a picture of this after I lettered it: Not perfect, but not bad for a quid from Hattons.

That coach is rather tasty, Gilbert, as you'd expect from those hands. Funny how Thompson's pacifics are criticised but you don't often hear people say how good his coaches looked, especially in that livery. I rather like them.

I shall pack them all in the box for Tolworth. perhaps we can have a parade? Steve - there are none of the bits on the Lilliput wagon which I can use. The stakes were the most likely candidates but the older ones are just plain flat steel section so I can use Evergreen strip for them. I carried on putting this CCT back together last night... and you know how a job just grows...I remembered Mick's similar build from a while ago... and an article he used in MRJ... and that I had a copy of said MRJ for just this purpose... So here it is with revised (corrected) braking arrangements, brake lever moved to the correct end and spaced out from the solebar (otherwise the bogie won't pivot), extra bits of brake rigging added and the stirrup steps under one door only on each side. I've also added a bit of spare fret along the top of each end to give a better key for the roof to glue onto.

I did that for him. Mission accomplished with the coaches; rolling shells ready for the couplings to be fitted and trialled and then they'll come back for finishing off. BT on bogies, buffers fitted to the outer end (I only had one packet so I'll have to pick up another from Andrew at Wakefield). This is the set in the formation they appear in most of the Ian C Allen photos, so this is how they will run. They will have to be capable of being propelled as well as pulled - the complexity of the set arriving into Wickham Market is quite something - so the centre coupling is one of Bill's. I extend the pin and make it a fairly snug fit into a hole so it can't wander sideways when pushing. The corridor connectors will keep the coaches apart enough to stop the appearance of any coupling slack. I gave myself a night off from the soldering iron during the week and finished off the final details on the French vans I want to have ready for Tolworth. I then painted them; one SNCF brown, one PLM red (I have photos of vans in PLM colours in England up to 1954, so I can argue that particular toss. The paint came from a supplier in France: I'm not impressed, frankly: the coverage was poor and the paint very hard to work into corners. The brown is very close to SR freight brown so most of the van had a coat of that then the SNCF colour on top. The red is very garish (and there really are wagons that colour) but matt varnish and weathering will tone that down. I'll know for the next two to use colours closer to the final one as an intermediate coat. Finally, having half an hour before dinner and the iron hot I started on this: It says a lot for the accuracy and sound design of Roger's kit that it stayed together when essentially just folded up with a bit of superglue run along the seams. There's some nasty black goo inside it which didn't want to come off and it's taking some cleaning up to get the solder to stick, but we're on the way. Steve - thought you'd be watching. What struck me when I started cutting out was how big these were. I remember you saying the Lilliput wagon looked too small on your layout. Here it is with the larger of my two opens. I had another source for the dimensions - just as well as some of the Edwards ones were out - and they really were impressive things. I'm saving them for trips away, though, so progress may well be intermittent.

The dark green box has gone to a new home where I have no doubt it will be well looked after. You'll have to ask him what it is. I had a morning and part of the afternoon at the bench today and got well on with the coaches. The compo is now pretty much where it needs to be; it can come back for completion after the Sprat and Winkles are fitted in case any detail needs to be omitted. I've started preparing the sides for the brake. I've posted a query about the retractable steps for this coach if anyone has any information.

Shame that didn't come up yesterday - there's a drawing in Hooper's NB wagon book I could have lent you. Good idea to make it from the Parkside kit, though; I'll file that one away....

It is... do you want me to tease everyone? I expect you're right about those bogies although I don't recall having problems with the other ones I've got.

He might not be happy about having number ten either - didn't it have a pretty poor reputation for steaming? (That's probably another echo of Top Shed coming through).

A long wait between updates - a few shows, the odd busy weekend and some trips away for work can really mess up your modelling time. I have some things I need to get on with now, though, so hopefully there will be a bit more activity. In anticipation here's a summary of what's cooking on the bench at the moment. This is one of the locos from Ormesby, which usually hauls the 'Coronation'. In about June of this year, while I was operating Corfe one Sunday afternoon, a small boy there with his family asked me whether we had 'Mallard'? 'Yes', said I, 'you can see it on the other layout at the far end of the corridor'. As they turned to walk out of the room, Colin came in from the other end of the corridor with it in his hands, it having failed. It has been in and out of shops several time since then over the summer. The problems have been pickups and electrical each time. It's got round to me; I've picked up a spare chassis on Ebay, stripped it down, replaced the motor and removed the DCC gubbins. The loco to tender coupling seemed to be part of the problem so that's been replaced with two wires and terminal blocks each end. I'll take it back on Sunday for running trials. I'm still working on extensions to the Thurston fish train; this is a GWR H6 conflat (David Geen) with two of the adapted Bachmann containers I was working on back up thread. These LSWR vans, also David Geen, were built by Peter Simmerson for Corfe I'll paint and weather these over the winter so we can put them into traffic for the new season next year. There are three (I think) different types here, all based on the same basic design. This is also for Corfe. I was in London a few weeks ago and finished up early at the client. Being fairly central, I went down to Bond Street and dropped into 'Wheels of Steel'. He usually has a few interesting things in and I picked up two of these. It's a K's SECR van for those who don't know. This one had been glued together so I've disassembled it and soldered it together. This will be painted along with the LSWR ones and I'll put better brake gear on - Wizard Models do the necessary. The other was unbuilt and I'm keeping that one for myself. I have managed to get the V4 brake van painted and it's now awaiting lettering. The Toad E I've just acquired from another member at Ormesby. This was a buy at Peterborough last weekend. I could see it hadn't been very well build, but it was only when I got it open that I found it was the first brass kit I've ever seen which had been assembled with superglue and sellotape. The builder had also packed it up on the bogies which made it look very odd. It is complete, though and has stripped down pretty well. I've put roofs on the French vans and have almost got all the rivets stuck on. There's some more detailing to do and then they'll be ready for painting. I'd like to have these ready for Tolworth. Joining the French wagon forum turned out to have been a good idea as when JonHall posted some pictures of the one in the NRM the members over there pointed out that it's painted completely the wrong colour. I have found a French supplier for the correct colour. This is for Steve Pearce; I found a drawing in the Edwards Collection and used my two trips to London to make a start. They're on the back burner for the moment but I have finally started! Finally the focus of activity at the moment; I have agreed to build the Framlingham branch train for the next Ely layout and have had the kits from Dan Pinnock since before Easter. At the time we're modelling it comprised a CK and BTK from the former Norfolk Coast Express 50' stock. I want to get these to a running shell state by Tolworth so our Sprat and Winkle Engineer can take them away, mount and test his couplings over Christmas. I've started with the Composite as you can no doubt spot. I have a question about this set; there were folding steps, operated by compressed air, which were used at the branch halt. I have one photo showing them reasonably well, but I wondered if anyone could suggest any more. I've also assumed they were only on the corridor side of the BTK - is this correct?

Didn't it get Peter Townend into trouble when it failed at 34A just before working a special for which it had been specifically requested? He sent out a 'ringer' but was rumbled by a trainspotter?