Doncaster Green

The original experimental one. The 1965 Rover/BRM Le Mans car is in the Heritage Motor Museum at Gaydon. John

Hi Richard I have one of those. My current dilemma is how much of the tender undergubbins I will need to remove to enable it to fit. I have Nigel Hunt’s notes on finescaling a 2mt (possibly the first attempt at something with outside motion) plus the shop notes and the words of wisdom on one of Izzy’s threads and, hopefully, they wii guide me through. The other dilemma is that I have two 4F’s, one with a Fowler tender and one with a Johnson version, and I’m not sure which to mess up first! John

Maybe not at Queen Square, but certainly over on the Dark Side. I have a fond memory of watching the ‘Purple People Eater’, aka ‘Gordon Highlander’ in Porterbrook livery, crossing Pulteney Road bridge while I was waiting for North Parade lights to change. Don’t ask me when - sometime in the late nineties? John

I’m trying to imagine the damage the exhaust would do to Devonshire and Combe Down, if, indeed, they would go through! John

It is time, I think, for a bit of an update in the ongoing saga of the J94. In a previous post I outlined where I was with the chassis (in all sorts of deep doo-doo) and the start of the body modifications. The chassis is sorted (whisper it just in case), with smooth running in both directions. Quite what I had done wrong I have no idea, but a bit of TLC seems to have done the trick. The body has come a long way, those who have seen the Jerry Clifford's Bath Queens Square thread will have had a little preview, and is probably as far as I can sensibly take it. Starting with: we have progressed to: A bit of tidying up is required (those buffer mountings could do with some attention - oh, how cruel a picture can be) and a representation of the injectors fitted, but, overall, I'm reasonably pleased with the outcome so far. Once the titivating is done it will get a flash of primer as a final check of blemishes before a full, well worn, black paint job as 68012, the last BR J94 in service and one of the last two on the C&HP. At the flash primer stage I will be checking the chassis/body interface for all the shorts that will undoubtedly be there. The intention is to do a second one as 68006, the other of the final C&HP pair, when/if the conversion chassis etch comes back into stock in Shop3. There will be things I will do differently; as they say you learn by your mistakes. With the pair I will then have little excuse not to build the layout to go with them. That will mean I have got to build some wagons! This is the fourth steam loco conversion I have done and I have a total of 17 coaches and NPCS at varying stages of completion but the only wagon I have built to date is the one in the introductory pack! In other news, a Farish class 24 has been run in and rewheeled to go with its class 25 stablemate. It awaits buffer beam furniture, couplings and a chip and will probably be completed long before the J94! I also attempted to rewheel a Deltic (I don't need one but I grew up with them so nostalgia rules, ok!) but I have a problem. When fitting the 7mm/16 tooth axles as suggested in the Shop 3 note for pre 2019 production (and mine is definitely pre 2019, the price ticket on the box is from a model shop that disappeared years before that) the bogie locks up solid, suggesting that the number of teeth are not a match. I am tempted to get some 7.5mm/14 tooth axles and try them (I'm not overly worried about the extra 0.5mm - as I say its only nostalgia) but thought I would seek the advice of the knowledgeable first. A Farish 4F is currently adorning the workbench while I work out out to treat the tender - the loco will be a doddle. It looks to be an easier proposition than a Jinty as the whole footplate comes away as part of the body and you haven't got the footsteps to worry about. This will be the first tender engine I've tackled; next up one with waggly bits of outside motion???? John

As long as he is in the rear view mirror where I can see him and not leaping out in front of me! John

Eldest Grandchild is attending Uni Open Days and younger is doing GCSEs. Should I be feeling old? John

Thanks for the kind comments Jerry and John. There are a couple of things to do to finish it off ready for some paint (to cover the mistakes). When I get that far, about 2025 at current progress, I will write it up with some detail on my Green Papers topic. The unmolested Farish was due to be the next candidate, for the micro layout project I have in mind I need two, but the kind donation of a Farish body by Jerry has saved its bacon. All I need now is a chassis etch which is TOS in Shop 3 - if anyone has one lurking in their gloat box they wouldn't mind parting with I'd be happy to pay for it. John

We were being nice to Uncle, but, having been on the receiving end of their successors, the PSA, I totally understand where you coming from! John

At the time an Uncle was a senior engineer with that organisation it was known within the family as the Ministry of Plunder, Blunder and Wonder. John

Don’t know if it is just the angle of the sun, but Manston looks very authentically work weary and travel stained. Nice pictures Jerry, and taken from one of my favourite bridges! John

Thank you @bécasse for those and thank you @Ian Morgan for the enhancement. The more I look at Cromford Wharf the more I am convinced I want to model something inspired by it. John

I wouldn’t be holding my breath James. Progress is likely to be very slow; in fact, glacial is possibly to overstate the rate at which things will move! A J94 conversion is well on the way to becoming 68012, one of the last two on the line, and another Farish example is earmarked to become 68006. But I have yet to build any wagons or the baseboards or the track or the etc. etc! John

I too will continue! I’ ve gone too far in trying to turn the sow’s ear of the Farish casting into a silk (well, sow’s) purse to stop now. And anyway, it still looks as if a fair bit of butchery will still be needed to turn it into the last pair on the Cromford & High Peak! John

Thanks for that Chris. It confirms the dimensioned side view I have. I imported that to a design package, scaled it to 1:148 and compared it to the Farish casting; I was very surprised at how close they were. The smoke door to cab front length is maybe 0.5 mm short, but otherwise everything seemed very close. The cab side cut out is the wrong shape, particularly the corners, but I have “a plan” for that! Regards John

KOYLI in 60's two tone green! Needs wheels and a chip. Wheels a shop order away, chip can be found! John

Deltics working through on the York-Bournemouth? Just a thought. John

Hi John Like you I have been considering the 3D print, but, following your comments, I wondered how far out the Farish body actually is and whether it was worth carrying on with the conversion I'm currently doing. To that end I ran a digital spanner over the unconverted example I have stashed away; well, what else are you supposed to do on a wet Saturday, and don't say go to Tesco's - I tried that and it was heaving! All the sources I have agree that the full size measurements are: Length over buffers 30ft 4ins (which scales to 62.47mm at 1:148) Length over buffer beams 26ft 9ins (which scales to 55.09mm at 1:148) The results from my measurements: Length over buffers 62.45mm Length over buffer beams 54.67mm None of my sources quote a width figure of any sort but the calipers showed 17.7mm which scales up to approx. 8ft 7ins; possibly a touch over sized but not unreasonable. With measurements this close to scale I'm happy to carry on with them, particularly as the Association chassis is an almost perfect fit and they are a lot less fragile than a 3D print - a decided benefit from my, ham- fisted, point of view. Both the examples I have, the one that is currently being chopped about and the one awaiting, are, judging by the plastic box and card wrapper, post Bachmann takeover and probably Chinese production. Both of them have a separate, plastic moulding for the cab roof which displays the correct lip over the front and back. Also a separate plastic moulding to represent the coal in the bunker, although it looks more like dust than lumps! I am wondering if they represent revised tooling compared to the old Poole lump. Regards John

Things have moved on. The joining of the J94 body to the chassis has been sorted. It is a little Heath Robinson (or maybe Roland Emmett) but it works and will be reasonably unobtrusive. Plus, a possible identity for the J94 has been established. About 12 months ago I purchased James Hilton's book of small layout design. There are a number of very workable schemes for those with very little space for a layout. One in particular kept drawing me back - a very simple design inspired by Cromford Wharf on the Cromford and High Peak Railway. It was accompanied by a photo of a J94 quietly simmering outside, what I suppose is, some sort of enginemens' bothy. That photo, along with a long viewing the late Iain Rice's Hepton Wharf over the weekend, has convinced me that the idea is a starter given the space and resources I have. Now I didn't know a lot about the C&HP at this point, too much LNWR/LMS for an Eastern man, but reference to the RCTS Green book of LNER locomotives showed that a number of J94s were transferred to the C&HP in the 50's to replace the life expired North London tanks and other various bits of motive power, their short wheelbase and significant power increase being decided benefits. The modifications they received to work the line also served to make them just that little bit out of the normal compared to the rest of the class. They were fitted with oval headed buffers to minimise dangers of buffers locking on the tight curves and they all had the extended bunkers fitted in the late 40's cut back, but retained the revised cab backs with the smaller squarer spectacles set wide apart. Some had the bunker ladders and extra steps removed and some didn't. A bit of Interweb surfing came up with enough pictures of 3 of them to get enough of the details right; 68006 (which retained the ladder and extra steps) and 68012/3 (which didn't). On this basis I have decided that the first will be 68012. The second, utilising my other old Farish J94. will be 68006, but that will have to wait until the conversion etch is back in stock in the shop! To that end, a start has been made on removing the cast on handrails and preparing the body to receive new buffer beam etches, cab back, revised front windows, etc.: The pictures show progress so far. The eagle eyed will notice a couple of misplaced holes. These will be rectified, I promise! More to follow as, hopefully, things move forward. John

May I also thank Jerry, Simon, all the exhibitors and demonstrators and Kim and her team for putting on a, yet another, superb 'Larkrail'. I hesitate to call it an exhibition or a show as it isn't - it is a social gathering of friends and like-minded people who happen to bring along with them their latest projects to delight and inspire the rest of us. I have pictures, but I won't put them up here as others have done that to a far better standard than I can achieve. I will, however, applaud my favourite exhibits: Hepton Wharf - the granddaddy of the cameo presentation. The first time (and last before yesterday) I saw it in the flesh was as a part built challenge at the Horticultural Hall back in the early '90s. How nice, and fitting to the memory of Iain Rice, to see it so lovingly renovated and working. Copenhagen Fields - the chance to see even a small piece of this up close and personal, and to chat to Tim Watson, was not be missed. Arun Quay - one can almost feel the bone chilling drizzle being blown in from the sea. Sheep Dip - a beautiful rendition of run down desolation and isolation in a landscape that is probably dominated by, dare I say it, sheep. Again, my thanks to you all John

Boarding the tour bus during the skool trip to Lilliput. John

No standing on the top deck! John

Was that before or after the equally genius proposal to build an A36 bypass from near Claverton to the Batheaston Bypass across those same Meadows? John

In years to come, Larkrail will be spoken of with awe. “Granddad, what did you do when Larkrail was on?” John

Jim, I'm beginning to think buying the jig was unnecessary, although I do find the spacing shims extremely useful at keeping things centred, particularly if one wheel slips in more easily than the other! John