TerryD1471

Thanks Dick, I'm glad your technical expertise is better than mine! T

Thanks Bob, I must admit I'd never heard of it, despite being just down the road in Wolverhampton at the time. I wonder if anyone else knows of it?

I can't help wondering which layout it is that you are thinking about. It seems very odd that there should be another large LNW layout built by another society in Crewe at about the same time?

Yur tiz Rugeley TV article.pdf It seems to have loaded in its entirety, but will it open? Apologies that some of the pages are upside down, but that's the only way i could scan them. In terms of its length, the article quotes 36 ft, which made a very impressive model and, by my calculation, more than scale mile for a circuit. Terry D

I've just found my copy of the MRC for Jan 77 (how sad is that!?) and, yes, it is Crewe Grammar School Railway Society's model of Rugeley featured on the cover. There's a 7 page article inside, profusely illustrated with photos by Brian Monaghan. I can only assume this must be one and the same layout you are referring to. I will endeavout to scan the pages of the article and reproduce them here as long as copyright is not a problem. Terry D

Hello Bob I have seen this layout a few times back in the day. It was based on Rugeley Trent Valley and it has appeared in the model press back in the 70s, the MRC if I remember correctly. I was very impressed by it and the last time I saw it, it had been moved to Crewe, where I believe it was on permanent show at the Heritage Centre(?) Terry D

Nice work, Richard. There's something very satisfying about soldering together etched brass kits; best of luck with the research on the vehicles in question. Terry

Yes, you're right Colin, it was sunny here in mid-Wales when the pic was taken. I have to tell our visitors that the weather here is pretty good; it doesn't rain any more here in Wales than it does in the rest of the UK. On the other hand it doesn't rain any less! Perhaps we should look to the "dry side" as folks in the east call themselves.

Thanks Colin A kind friend has sent me a copy so I've had an opportunity to look at it. One or two pics I haven't seen before which either confirm some necessary guess-work or (!) show I've got it wrong!

I am rendered speechless; the quality is breathtaking. Can't wait to see where you go from here.

I understand that Coca Cola contains a useful amount of ortho phosphoric acid. I also believe that the product Jenolite consists largely of this H3PO4 and I am about to start using a 33% mix of this acid on my ancient (surface) rusty Triumph sports car, so am optimistic about the results.

Actually I was referring to modifying the later plastic bodied tenders. At the risk of sounding facetious, I can't solder plastic, but having said that, I have taken one older tinplate bodied H/D tender and done exactly what you suggest viz. soldered a brass or tinplate strip on top of the tinplate sides. The results were not perfect, but acceptable(ish). I haven't tried grinding off the steps from an older tender chassis, but have used dental burrs in a mini-electric drill to remove the steps from the later type of tender chassis; this was not that arduous. It's very good to hear of the experiences of someone who has tried similar mods to mine.

Interesting you should say that, David, as I did just that on 3 H/D tenders (and probably gave H/D collectors apoplexy!). The mods were:- 1 Grind away the rear frame steps so the rear frames were flush(ish) 2 Extend the sides at the rear with styrene strip 3 Extend the tender sides upwards ditto 4 Remove the breather pipes at the back of the tender and install two tank fillers 5 Fit a ladder over the rear of the tender. 6 Make the coal pusher gubbins on the back of the coal space using scrap styrene The end result was tolerable until the Comet tender kits became available. Terry PS 7013 Bristol Castle was indeed an unfortunate choice of prototype as the inside cylinder covers were a different shape from those of 4082 as well.

My theory, for what it's worth, is that the designers in Hornby Dublo were preparing a model which was to represent "London" in 2 rail form and "Liverpool" in 3 rail form; they assumed that both locos towed the same type of tender and used the front of "London's" tender and the back of "Liverpool's" tender as the basis for the model. They did not realise that "London" towed an ex-streamline tender (Type 1) and "Liverpool" a type 2 tender originally built for the 5 non-streamliners. Hence they finished up with a tender which was a hybrid type 1/2, and accurate for neither and not even as accurate as the original tender behind Atholl/Montrose.

This is an interesting question as there is nowhere behind the box (east side) to put one and definitely not one at the other (south) end. As you suggest it might be downstairs in the locking room, but a rapid trot to the station buildings doesn't sound feasible to me. The fact remains that my model is wrong and somehow I'm going to have to rectify it, but not yet!

Following on from pics of the signal cabin under construction and awaiting painting, I now attach a pic of the brickwork in a "toned down" condition. Still a few things to do, but at least the plasticard brickwork isn't shouting at us any more and the grass bank behind is beginning to look a bit more natural. However, as Alan (Buhar's) lovely Coronation Scot pics show, there is an outside privy at the top of the steps which shouldn't be there. Also the two halves of the cabin front which came from different Prototype Models kits are differing shades although this is less obvious in reality than the photo suggests. As is also the fact that there is not much interior detail in the cabin.

Thanks so much, Buhar Those are the best pics I have seen of the box's northern elevation. Here comes the bummer!! I have put the outside WC on the left hand side at the top of the stairs, just like I have seen on so many other LNWR boxes. And IT ISN'T THERE!! Heigh-ho, should I worry, because there are so many other faults with the layout which were discovered after I had built them and which turned up following receipt of better information later on. Perhaps it's one of those things which we just have to accept, or alter later on. The pics themselves of Coronation Scot are absolutely superb. Have they ever been published? If not, I feel very privileged to have seen them and thanks once again.

Hi Richard Good to hear from you. I suspect that the real thing was so grimy it would be hard to tell what colour (should that be color where you are?) it was. The only photos I have are b & w, because it was demolished in 1958, so I rather think that by the time I have given the plastic bricks a good sluicing with muck, no-one will be able to tell where the join is. Besides, it took me so long to get to this stage, I couldn't face cutting out the insert. ATB Terry

It's amazing what a vast fund of photographic information is out there. An old friend (thanks Ron) sent me a picture of Hest signal box (pre '58) from an angle I'd never seen before. Although I have accumulated many pics of the area, information on the signal cabin was a bit thin. I am grateful to beast 66606 for his information sent to me a long time ago, but in the interim I had been making do with a Scenecraft "Hampton" signal box masquerading as Hest box. The snag was it was a bit fat, slightly too long with an extra set of window panes and definitely not tall enough. Armed with this new info and finding a couple of old Prototype Models card kits of Draughton Crossing box, I decided to carve these up and make a brick plinth (no jokes about plinth of Wales, please!) to make a reasonable fist of Hest box. The result you see above & below. There still remains some work to do in terms of painting, toning down the garish plasticard brick, an external shelf just below the windows and removal of some of the extraneous staircase uprights (and the scenery & point rodding), but overall I find the new box rather more convincing. Just for the record, the old box is depicted below. I make no criticism of the Scenecraft box as these resin models are a good short cut for many modellers. Indeed it is due to appear on a certain online auction site shortly, so we shall see how much demand there is for it!

Quick update, following some alterations/improvements to the signalling. Let's face it, the presence of something is a great improvement on nothing, so I have finally got around to making the up splitting signal gantry into something that looks more like a signal and also added a starter from the bay platform and a bracket from the sidings. This latter was an ex-LNWR bracket modified by the substitution of LMS upper quadrant arms. None of these work (yet) but you never know; some day. Meanwhile, a Black 5 passes northward with a down semi-fast. Viewed from a more southerly viewpoint, it looks like this:- Meanwhile, some time later, City of Salford rushes through past the up home signal protecting the level crossing with the afternoon Caledonian. That home signal is also an addition, being an LNW post with the later addition of an LMS UQ signal complete with sighting board.

Many thanks, Taz, that's very encouraging news! The WCJS coach is a set of sides from 247 Developments, Diagram D312. The packaging has a handwritten note on it saying that it was extinct by 1958, but that's quite late enough for me since my layout is based in the few years leading up to Dec 1958 when the track layout was altered. It would be great if Longworth could corroborate that. Thanks once again. Terry

I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not quite so sure! Having decided to switch to the Black 5 (2 of them) build before I'd finished the BFK, I switched back for a while to the BFK and then was seduced by a Chowbent kit sitting on the shelf for a D131 LNWR corridor compo. They lasted until the early 50s (albeit downrated in most cases to all 3rd), but it was such a lovely toplight vehicle that I could resist no longer. That's where the problem began; glazing a toplight vehicle suddenly became a daunting prospect, so I elected not to build the kit as intended, but to use the lovely half-etched sides (which didn't seem all that robust) to stick onto an MAJ clear sided moulded plastic hull. This solved two problems at a stroke, in that the glazing issue was solved along with the vehicle body becoming much more robust. The photo above shows the etched sides spray painted in primer followed by Ford Aporto Red, ready to stick onto the MAJ clear plastic coach body. I also substituted the MAJ ends with a thinner piece of styrene onto which the Chowbent etched ends have been stuck. Fortunately the basic shape of the MAJ hull is almost exactly the same as the LNW coach, so the sides and ends can be "Evostuck" on with little alteration. The roof will also require little change, requiring only rainstrips to be cemented on and vents to be glued in place. In the background we see the BFK which has had a little more "treatment", now only needing the toilet window to be obscured and the black portion of the lining to be "bowpenned" in place, before numbering. Steady hands and nerves required! Incidentally, the livery of the LNW coach will be ex LMS, as I think it unlikely that a vehicle slated for withdrawal soon will have received a repaint into blood & custard livery. If anyone has any evidence that these elderly (1919?) vehicles did actually receive BR livery, I would be very glad to hear of it, not least because I also have a WCJS corridor brake 3rd of similar vintage to build which would look well in carmine & cream.

I can only respond based on my own experience, having decided many years ago to build a model of Hest Bank in 4mm. The plan required some selective compression at the south end, the run of the main line to be bent the wrong way and (most importantly) that I would not try and build exact replicas of the buildings that formed the backdrop. Not enough lifetimes! This latter aspect was sorted by ensuring that the buildings were all the right general type in the right order i.e. where there was a bungalow or a semi-detached house on the prototype, there would be one on the model. Much use made of Airfix/Dapol kits and resin cast. Also the terrain was the right general configuration. Those who have seen the layout and know the area say that it reminds them very much of the location and that's good enough for me. Add in the right locos and stock and you have achieved a result.

I'm attracted to this layout for a number of reasons. 1 Superb workmanship. 2 My wife comes from Presteigne. 3 As a regular traveller along the A44 east of Rhayader, I have long felt that there ought to have been a railway through that terrain, so your "might have been " scheme really chimes with me. Keep up the good work! Terry

The Black 5 saga continues apace; admittedly I only move at a modest pace, but it is a pace. More lockdown time in the workshop has produced this:- The one in the background is the loco with the D13 motor, while in the foreground, we have the second one with the Mashima can and Comet gearbox. I love DJH kits because their design philosophy is great, but just occasionally I like to do things differently. The Black 5 kit as designed has the cylinders soldered directly to the frames. However, I prefer to be able to remove the entire cylinder/motion assembly unit for maintenance. Therefore the chassis has been slotted so that the cylinders, soldered via the brass strip to the motion plate and the slidebar bracket, lift out as a complete unit, just in case anything goes wrong. I hope the attached picture gives an idea of how this works. Also we have a picture of further progress on the two 5s. The second loco now has a tender under way, while the first loco has a pic of the surgery required to the front face of the cab to clear the end of the D13 motor.