Tony Teague

Jack If I may say, you are already very malachite! When I get a moment I'll get a pic together with a T9, K10, L11, L12 and maybe the D15, which should illustrate the progression of Drummond's 4-4-0 designs - as well as highlighting variations in the standard and quality of the models! I don't think the L12 is bent, but I'll take a good look and apply the "correction mallet" as required. Tony

Yes I didn't say but it is a Northstar coach by Adrian Rowlands - sadly no longer in production. Tony

Returning to my priorities for 2019, I did not previously cover what I want to do in the areas of rolling stock & locos. "Missing Locos" In the short term, and having just completed the L12, I aim to also finish the long, drawn-out build of a Kirtley ex-SECR R class tank, before moving on to the Billinton ex-LB&SCR E5-X for which I have the 3D printed body plus a chassis kit in hand. These were the top two shown on my "missing locos" list, but after that I will be very much dependent upon deliveries from various suppliers as to what comes next; although I now have 'solutions' for every item on the list, some will take a lot more effort to deliver than others. Here is the current position on the remaining 13: Missing locos with the potential solution identified (13): SECR Wainwright B1 (16) - a Jidenco kit exists but I can't find one (and it may not be that great!) LB&SCR Billinton B4X (12) - potential solution through a 3D printed body under exploration LB&SCR Marsh C3 (8) - design & drawings now in hand for delivery of a 'kit of parts' LSWR Drummond C14 (3) - although a CSP / Agenoria kit was announced years ago, delivery seems unlikely and so I have now identified an alternate supplier LB&SCR Marsh D3X (1) - potential solution through an intended 3D printed body, chassis still to be sourced LB&SCR Billinton E4X (4) - design & drawings now in hand for a 3D printed body to fit an RTR Bachmann E4 chassis SECR Wainwright F1 (9) - solution = Jidenco kit held but builder not yet confirmed - way beyond me! - (likely to be difficult / lacking accuracy) SR Maunsell I1X (18) - potential solution through a 3D printed body under exploration + Alan Gibson milled chassis frames in hand KESR 0-8-0T Hecate (1) - supplier identified who will take this forward LSWR Drummond S11 (10) - further set of L12 body parts in hand; sourcing correct wheels for adapted SE Finecast T9 chassis (think T9 with large boiler & smaller wheels) Soton Dock Co. 0458 (1) - possible solution to modify CSP Agenoria kit CSP 04 identified & kit now obtained DS75 (1) - solution identified involving newly designed & drawn etches / castings Fowler diesel shunter (2)- supplier identified who will take this forward With the best will in the world, it is unlikely that more than 2 or 3 of these will come to completion during 2019 - plus of course the two mentioned at the top - nevertheless, I shall maintain my efforts to complete the collection! Beyond this, weathering continues to be a priority - so far I have just touched the tip of the iceberg! Coaches & NPCS I mentioned in a recent post that a number of rakes of coaches & NPCS stock are 'out of service' due to continual problems with Kadee couplings, so an early priority is to work through all of these & replace them with simple wire loops as per the Tony Wright methodology. I have already completed a further 3-coach Bulleid Set and intend to concentrate on this job over the next few weeks - next up is and exqusite 'Ironclad' rake (see above) and a Maunsell Ocean Liner train (below): After that, as with locos, weathering will be the priority, and I must also get around to disposing of some RTR 2nd generation EMU's that I bought just because I used to travel in them! The driving trailer from Set No.733 beautifully weathered by Mick Bonwick. Wagon Fleet There are a few kits in hand to build whenever the whim takes me - but otherwise, its weathering again - plus a bit more weeding out of older, poorly chosen RTR models which no longer fit. All in all - and when combined with the scenic, control and electrical priorities - there's plenty to keep me busy! Tony

I knew what you meant!

Not having read EVERY page of this thread, I apologise if these have been seen before but the pics are my own: Tony

Whilst the most recent Hornby WC / BoB tooling was pretty impressive at the time that it emerged, I think that they have actually only issued 2 in SR livery - Blackmore Vale and Fighter Pilot, so far as I know every other model is based upon these two tools (but I could be wrong!) - and in the same way, my renumbered WC's and BoB's are based on these two models alone. You are right about that sound - here are a couple of my pics of City of Wells, now so fitted: Tony

Well you are absolutely right - I quite liked the black MN, and I wondered why there were no black BoB/ WC's - so far as I could see. However, I had this hideous photographic gray & white spam can (it was a "limited / special edition" that I fell for some time ago - OK for collectors but not much good if you want to run it), see: https://hattonsimages.blob.core.windows.net/products/R2286-LN03_3367994_Qty1_1.jpg so I thought, rather than flog it, why not see what they would have looked like in black! So here is 21C164 'Fighter Command' - I quite like it but what do others think? It is easy to imagine that one or two might have had this livery for a while - after all they were 'mixed traffic' engines, and there was a war on! I plead Rule 1 and temporary insanity! Tony

Its a fair cop guv! I suppose I always say " '38 - '48 " which is fairly loose, but ultimately it may have to be a case for Rule 1.

I think you know that I am a little impatient!

You need to add a lot more isolating rail joiners - specifically at every point where one controller's domain connects to another. Using the points to do the job only isolates one side of the track and so the opportunity for short circuits will be very high, especially if one transformer is powering controllers on more than one of the lines.Your green circuit bridges the other two (red & black) so the odds on everything working without better isolation look very low to me. Tony

An optimist eh?

Since nobody is the slightest bit curious or phased by the 'mystery loco' that I introduced a few days ago, I'll provide a further large clue: Amongst my rolling stock priorities for 2019 is the need to get a number of coaching rakes back into service; most of these have been 'stopped' for some time, because they have Kadee couplings which I have found to be unreliable, especially at changes of gradient: So here is the first of these, hauled by BoB No.21C156 'Croydon' Bulleid Set No.74 whose couplings were replaced today with wire loops: This is a West of England / Bournemouth / Weymouth set, built 1948 - so right at the limit of my modelling timeframe, and comprising Brake Composite No.6711 to d.2405 (above) and Brake 3rd No.4382 to d.2123 (below): I acquired this set, along with a similar 3 car set, some time ago and I think they are from Comet sides on Hornby underframes - but I am uncertain. The loco was new in 1947 and renumbered in its BR guise in May 1948 - so this must obviously be very early in 1948! Tony

Excellent news! (See you at CMRA).

I finally managed to get ex-LSWR L12 No.427 finished today: Andy Sparkes completed most of the body build, which is sitting on a Hornby T9 chassis: What took me so long was to work out how to fit in a credible cab floor & interior - the loco has a wide body but because I model in OO, the gap between the driving wheels is really narrow; in the end I did the obvious thing and completed the destruction of the T9 donor by extracting the insides of the cab and fitting them to the L12 - with the aid of some filler! I have made a mark in Andy's paintwork when fitting the external pipework but I expect to be able to deal with this when I weather the loco very shortly. The prototype was not especially rare - there were 20 in the class, of what is really just a large-boilered T9 - but it seems pretty unlikely that a RTR model or even a kit will ever be forthcoming, so I am especially grateful to Arun Sharma who designed & 3D printed the body, before casting the boiler parts and etching the frames and cab. The tender is the standard Hornby product. Tony

I felt that the RM article was balanced and probably thought-provoking for anyone who does not follow this thread - where your views Tony, are well known! I can't see it threatening anyone but the most sensitive of souls, but if it did not provoke any discussion, then it would not have been worth the writing - so it sounds like it has done its job. Tony

Looks good Andy! Certainly better than anything I could have come up with! Best wishes Tony

I really liked this clip, notwithstanding it is not about railway modelling; thanks for posting it. For me it encapsulates the reasons behind the anti-social, device-centric behaviours that have been discussed here several times in he past. Solving the problem and reducing the younger generations addiction to these devices will not be easy! Tony

A dark wash to bring out thebolt-heads etc, wiped off with a damp flat brush. Underframe airbrushed, bodywork airbrushed a bit darker, perhaps more than once with streaking drawn down the sides with a damp flat brush. Some powders - light brownish on the footplate & toolbox cover. Looks great! Tony

And I thought I was introducing a bit of drama and tension! Tony

Hi Kevin There is a repeating theme as one reads through your thread in which people say - I have only just found this thread, but OMG (or similar) its amazing! I just wanted to say that I have only reached p.7 so far and I shall certainly read it all - but it certainly is amazing, and your eye for detail and skill in reproducing it is truly exceptional - a great layout by any standard! I look forward to thumbing through the rest of the thread. Best wishes Tony

Looks very modern and a bit sophisticated for me! (But rather better finished than mine at present!) Tony

Strange loco spotted on Churminster Shed! There have been reports of an unusual looking loco visiting Churminster Shed over the Christmas period but it seems that nobody has managed to get a good picture of it; just a blurred shot of the front here: A second shot seems to show just part the back of the tender: The local rumour mill is now running riot with suggestions as to what it might be! Obviously we will report more just as soon as we can! Tony

Well it makes perfect sense to me - but I may be alone! The large banks of red & black buttons simply control entry & exit to the (large number of) fiddle yard roads - so you just press one red button to select which train you want out, another to select where it is going when it gets back to the fiddle yard and then the related black button to despatch it. Simple really! (Courses are available for visiting operators!) Tony

Thanks - I think I have the central station block the wrong way round, but I don't intend to change it! I weathered one side of the building badly but doing it all uniformly (& better) is on the roundtuit list. Although I agree that this station is a reasonable model of the prototype, I'd have to say that Churminster (based on Honiton / Axminster) is a lot better! Best wishes Tony

So, having completed the Review of 2018, I thought that I might set out the priorities for 2019 - as much to clarify my own thinking as anything. For 2018 the main effort was around getting the Churminster area scenically 'finished' or at least, largely completed, and I think it has now reached that stage. In the last few days I have been weathering the Barkers Engineering building that stands in a rather prominent position on the hill overlooking Wadleys Brewery; until now it rather stood out as it was the only unweathered building in that area: I built it some years ago from a Walthers kit, and it now blends in a bit better with its surroundings, although I might need to attend to the boundary wall in front of it: Overall I am now pretty happy with the industrial scene around Churminster: So returning to 2019, scenic attention is going to have to switch back to Stowe Magna and the area around it: The half relief buildings at the rear were completed more than 10 years ago and honestly aren't up to the standard that I am now trying to achieve: nevertheless replacing them is not my priority, however, neither the station nor the loco shed were ever finished; in particular the station canopy needs attention: whilst the loco shed lacks a roof which was never re-attached following "bum damage" (see much earlier!): If all of that gets done then we might possibly move to the far end of the layout, where the cross-country branch from Stowe Magna crosses a deep valley on a viaduct; some work has already been completed here, but there is a lot more to be done for it to be scenically complete: Operationally, the colour light signals that cover the main running lines are all installed and work well for trains running through on the up and down main lines, however, there is some work to be done on interlocking, especially around the points at either end of Stowe Magna station: At the same time, I have completed a specification for semaphore signals to the two non-3rd rail branches that run from Churminster Junction and Stowe Magna Junctions respectively and I am hopeful that construction & installation of these might commence during 2019. Whilst on the subject of equipment & controls, the main control console has developed over the last three years with considerable help from Elite Baseboards and the intention was always for this to have an aluminium top, however the guys from Elite advised me not to go for this immediately but to use a paper template, since their experience showed that I "might change my mind". Of course I denied this, but as we are now on version 22 of the panel design, perhaps they had a point! Nevertheless, things are now stabilizing, and so I hopeful that we might get around to commissioning the new panel top in 2019! Installing it will be a big job!! There are of course loco and stock priorities for 2019, but perhaps I will cover these in a future update! Happy New year! Tony