checkrail

What a crackin' shot! Very atmospheric! John C.

A few pics of 'Knight of the Grand Cross', now replete with crew, brass plates, real coal etc. I kept the KGC identity because the Hornby 'Star' thread showed me that the detail and modification history of the class was a minefield. (Perhaps 'Queen Charlotte' would've fitted the bill? Some good pics IIRC in the Lockwood and other albums.) However, I did repaint the front buffer beam and apply new transfers, as the Hornby colour had faded to a sort of salmon pink. I think this Knight had his home somewhere north of Bristol in the late 30s, hence my deployment of him on the Wolverhampton - Penzance express. A while ago a couple of people commented favourably on the way all the railway land was properly and neatly fenced off. Like thousands before me I used the excellent Ratio GWR post & wire fencing, which I think adds a lot to that generic GW flavour I was after. Well, I used the posts anyway! Reading through other layout threads recently I've come across a lot about nylon filament, cotton etc. It was another 'usual method' which proved impossible for me. So, not being an angler, I threw Ratio's curly fishing line stuff in the bin and used 5 amp fuse wire, bought on the roll, and melted into the slots on the Ratio posts with a touch of the soldering iron (redundant bit deployed). As long as the posts are superglued firmly into the landscape first it works a treat. Once you've got the wire onto the first post you can pull it to full tension and stick it to the next one, making long continuous runs. At the front of the layout, where more visible, I've put in the full 7 wires, but at the back there are often only 5 or 6, the lowest ones supposedly obscured by the depth of grass. I claim no originality for this. I found it on a narrow-gauge website, but no idea how I got there! Full marks to the guy who first thought of it. John C.

Bucket loads of patience. Ah, if only you could buy them down at B & Q. Lovely signal.

Utterly beautiful.

Coming together nicely. What's the origin of that rather nice brown & cream full brake? John.

More of Launceston Castle, heading towards the tunnel. Once again I found difficulty in adjusting the livery to my preferred late 1930s look. By the time I'd persuaded the 'Great [crest] Western' lettering to disappear from the tender of Hornby's 'Tintagel Castle' I was through to the black plastic in some places. Touching up didn't do it, so I ended up getting the airbrush out and repainting the area inside the lining with Precision GW green. Not a perfect match (I've since found by trial and error that a mixture of Railmatch and Precision can get you to the Hornby shade) and in the process I damaged some of the lining. One day I'll take the tender body back off, strip it completely, and start again - perhaps! But the worst bit was trying to persuade Humbrol spray varnish, in both satin and gloss versions, to behave. I found it very hard to get a smooth coat and might give up on aerosol varnish cans altogether. The sides of 5000's tender have an unfortunate mottled look at close quarters. Have a 'Drysllwyn Castle' in this livery on order, though it'll probably receive a new identity. John C. John C.

Hi Limpley Stoker See posts #137 and #148 on p.6 of this thread for details of the coupling arrangements and a couple of close-ups. It's all very crude at close quarters I'm afraid - some rough & ready bending up of 0.8mm brass wire, but it looks ok from a distance! John C.

Just been through all the pages of this thread - hence all the 'likes' etc. Will go back and read every word at leisure. A lot for us to learn here. Absolutely fantastic stuff. Especially love the trees, river and structures. And it's got small prairies too! Wonderful. John C.

A few more of Launceston Castle as it sweeps through Stoke Courtenay. . John C.

Is the Teign Valley Chocolate quarry anywhere near the old John Harrison Treacle Mine?

5000 Launceston Castle on a Plymouth - Paddington express. As it approaches Stoke Courtenay it passes 6801 Aylburton Grange, whose fireman appears to be taking a quick breather.. I'm quite pleased that I finally got round to detailing most of the current crop of locos - it does make a difference. Crews are once again from Modelu - lovely 3d prints. But I must confess my painting didn't match their finesse, especially on the last few which were destined for the more enveloping Collett-style cabs. By the time I'd painted a dozen and a half of the little b*ggers I was getting bored and wanted to move onto something else! John C.

Thanks 81C. Yes, those brown vehicles don't look too bad from a distance! I have a Teign Valley Granite wagon, but a whole bunch of them looks great. I'd love to see pics of them after weathering. I've also seen the Stoneycombe wagon and vaguely wondered whether to buy. Think I'll now will look out for it. But afraid Candy is a new one on me. As to the stone colour wouldn't the granite tors of Dartmoor suggest the right shade? (Though I suppose newly cut stone could look different.) John C.

Here's another view of 6801. The motley assortment of Siphons, Fruit Ds, Bloaters etc. are on the list for attention. They'll need close coupling, gangways where appropriate, weathering, and above all a brake van to add to the consist. I've got an ancient unmade K's 40 foot Dean brake van kit which should do the trick when I find the time. As expected, Phase 2, 'Tarting up the trains' is taking quite a while as I'm on a bit of a learning curve. Phase 3 will, I hope, involve the construction of kits, of which I already have a number in store including local PO wagons and a handful of toplight coaches. John C.

In the hope that Granges are almost as inoffensive as small prairies in these parts here are some pics of 6801 Aylburton Grange on a west bound parcels and perishables working. I rather like the plain livery as a contrast to my other fully lined out GW 4-6-0s. I also think the Granges looked good with the small tender. This was one of Hornby's better models of recent years, and didn't need much messing about with before re-commissioning it back into traffic. John C.

Nice loco Mike. And nice toplight too. (Have some kits in store for stage 3!) John C.

Nice Manor you've got there guv'nor.

Yes, I suppose it's an engineering marvel, and as such may well be worth the money to those with deep pockets. But isn't it funny that something in 5 inch gauge can look so much less realistic than a 4mm scale version! John C.

When I saw Wencombe in RM a couple of years or so ago I thought it was wonderful, and have been meaning to catch up with it on RMweb for some time. So over the weekend I've had a thoroughly enjoyable journey through the 78 pages of your thread, following the evolution of Wencombe into Kingsbridge Regis. Wencombe was excellent, but with KR you've stepped up to an altogether different level. It's richer, deeper, more complex in its atmosphere and detailing. I love the street scenes, the harbour, the station and train shed, the turntable, and the realistically weathered and detailed stock in all its variety. Fabulous stuff. It reflects that steam/diesel transition period on the old GW lines so well that it immediately took me back to a 1961 childhood holiday in Totnes, where this 13 year old Mancunian, hitherto a devotee of Stanier and Gresley, saw many of the trains featured on your layout, 'cabbed' a Hall at Kingswear, and experienced a damascene conversion to all things Great Western. Now a follower. Keep 'em coming! Best wishes, John C. (Edited to get my age in 1961 right!)

I agree with Scott. The wiring is greatly simplified. And add to that the facility to set up routes, so you can make half a dozen points changeover with one or two presses of the handheld keypad. But if going down this route (no pun intended!) it's best to have the power supply to the point motors coming from a separate accessory bus. At first I had mine wired directly to the layout bus, but found that on occasion when I activated a point in the yard a train running round one of the main circuits would stall or pause momentarily. (Why this is so when both buses - track & accessories - are powered from the same base unit is beyond me.) John C.

Today it's a tale of two panniers. 8709 is a recent incarnation of Bachmann's venerable 57xx pannier. I bought it merely because it had the livery I wanted, with a view to re-numbering. But having discovered that 8709 was at Newton in the late 1930s, then later at Laira, I decided to keep the number. In the event I had to re-build the front buffer beam with filler and apply new transfers anyway, as I'd made a right old mess removing the Bachmann coupling hook. (Subsequent ones have come out more easily thank goodness.) Brass number plates, crew, real coal (bit of drilling & carving in the bunker for that), and front lamp irons from 0.75mm ns strip completed the job. Just needs some fire-irons now. There's a good pic of 8709 shunting at Newton, c. 1936, in Beck & Copsey's 'The Great Western in South Devon' (one of my bibles!). It clearly shows a polished safety valve cover, so on this occasion I didn't follow my usual practice of painting it over in line with the old mantra, 'Model the typical, not the unusual'. 3603 started life as one of Bachmann's bloopers. Having damaged my first 57xx body shell back in 2012 I saw a Bachmann pannier body for sale on eBay, and after a cursory glance ordered it as a replacement. On opening it something looked a bit wrong. Then it registered that it was in fact a model of an 8750 series loco, but weirdly numbered 8715 and sporting the full pre-1934 'Great Western' lettering. Until then I hadn't realised that Bachmann had produced both variants. So this one got a new identity as 3603 (at one time resident at Exeter shed), a painted-over safety valve cover and a smart shirtbutton totem to add a bit of contrast to its elder cousin. Once again, getting rid of the original lettering proved difficult and required some repainting of the tank sides (and there's an ugly little T-cut scar on the side you can't see!) I did give some thought to carving off the top feeds of these locos, which I understand weren't added until the 1940s , but having looked at all the associated pipework that would need careful removing and making good (and the adjacent unrelated pipework that would need to remain in situ undamaged) I got cold feet. I'll live with it. John C.

That 43xx is certainly earning its keep! A true workhorse. Everyone wants one now. Hope Bachmann are listening!

Following Captain Kernow's tip I went back to the small prairies and improved or replaced the chunky Bachmann lamp irons. The front irons are actually a separately applied brass item, with spigots fixing them into the footplate. A tug with pliers will usually bring them out, leaving the spigot slot ready to accept new irons - or the old ones filed down, which is easy to do off the loco, by holding the spigot with pliers and using a needle file. Trouble is that on occasion the spigot snaps off and stays cemented into the footplate, so I used 0.75mm ns strip to form new irons as CK recommended. The improved lamp irons now work as intended, with lamps easily removed or positions changed, and I've been able to dispense with glue, tacky wax etc. The same story applies to the Bachmann Halls, though the Bachmann iron on the smokebox door is susceptible to very careful filing down, resulting in it also accommodating removable lamps. So thanks Cap'n! John C.

Wow! How have I managed to miss this thread until now? Just spent a very pleasant hour or two catching up on it all - hence the flurry of 'likes' etc. Where to start? The spacious looks? The natural colours? The clever adaptation of Peco track? The Devon atmosphere? The stunning viaduct and river scene? The beautifully realistic trains? The lovely buildings? Fantastic work. Will follow henceforth, so please keep 'em coming. Feel like I've been trying to re-invent the wheel (even down to that dilemma about if or where to place loco lamps!) Best wishes, John C.

Yes, they do add variety - and of course variety was the keynote of GWR stock formations. I sometimes wonder if there was an unwritten rule that no two similar vehicles should be marshalled together! I vaguely considered re-painting them in a slightly less antique livery but immediately realised that I'd lose the faux-panelling in the Hornby finish. And it's better than nothing - as one look at the slab-like sides of the Hornby version in post-1934 livery will attest!

A few more shots of 4908 'Broome Hall' as the down starting signal goes off and it pulls away towards Plymouth. Looks like the leading clerestory coach hasn't had a repaint since the early 1920s! John C.