S.A.C Martin

I'm not sure that's fair, Brush Traction is still about and overhauling a lot of engines (including the Brush built Euro Shuttle machines) still... The class 70 us growing on me the more I see it. I might buy one of these to paint in a fictional (more functional) livery. EWS red/gold?

In my last update, I was test fitting the tender body. Thats now been stuck together, and once painted with a coat of black paint to show up where filling needs to be done with some milliput, hasn't scrubbed up too badly: On the locomotive side, I've removed the raised printing and am preparing to drill out the driving wheel splasher. This was done using a cotton bud, some nail varnish remover and some wet'n'dry paper to smooth it down afterwards. Getting there, bit by bit. I've also taken the liberty of ordering some lead wire for handrails, piping and so on from Ian Allen (having seen the advert in Model Rail for some stuff that looks perfect for my build). Until next time!

Watched Chelsea - Man Utd on Sky Plus last night - I was better off watching Charlton, we may have lost but it was definitely more entertaining! I used to do lots of refereeing, was close to being called up for league duty last year (now its mostly one off U21 games). Last night I did have to wonder what the linesman was playing at - the rule states that the player must be in an offside position when the ball is played forward by a member of the same team - there were two other offside decisions given against Man Utd that were passes back by Chelsea defenders towards their goalkeepers, strangely this has not come up at all in the press or in general conversation between football fans. Further, with regards the main offside by Rooney - the linesman is not looking at the position of the players at any point in the TV footage, simply the flight of the ball. This is bad linesmanship at its best! If you have a rule which depends upon the position of players on the pitch, I was told you have to condition yourself to look at the players and not the ball directly when dealing with offside rule. Partly due to the fact that the ball can be kicked from anywhere on the pitch in respect to where an offside can occur! It is a difficult rule to enforce by referees and linesman, its rules are not clear cut enough in the FA's own words (for example when a direct free kick is given, offside does not actually apply unless the goal is scored by another player of the same team through a rebound off the post, crossbar, etc - try explaining that and why that is to any normal football fan, and rightly the reaction is "why?"), and the way in which it changes games so much through bad decisions is a major factor in why I feel refereeing as a whole is getting more and difficult to do, and to work with if you're a player or manager. Overall, while I agree the decisions yesterday were wrong, the standard of refereeing was okay when it is considered that the rules of the game which the refs have to work with contain so many grey areas as opposed black and white, and especially with regards offside and free kick awards.

I'm just angry at the reactions of the Tottenham (the club, not fans) to Darren Bent, to be honest. 16 goals last season for them - kept them up and in a decent position, when both keane and defoe had been abysmal, and he's the one who gets the chop?! I have always felt that Tottenham Hotspur were also-rans, not because they aren't good, but because those in charge idolise the wrong players. It was the same with a few of their recently departed players, all hard workers who did the business but never got the attention from the managers they deserved. Bent was highly unlucky to not get a goal yesterday and it would have been a bit of justice insomuch of THFC's treatment of him over two years. I only wish Bent had left to go Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United or City when Charlton put him up for sale - I've no doubt he'll do well at Sunderland now, but he would have reached his potential as an international goalscorer by now if he had the benefits of those clubs - superior coaching facilities, staff and players around him. Just watching the highlights for Man Utd - Chelsea - don't know the result yet!

Editing the topic title might help Thats a nice link, thanks for posting it.

Afternoon chaps, Realised there's no football thread as yet - so I'm firmly hoisting my colours on the first post of the new forum.. ...but it'll embarass me. Charlton just dumped out of the cup by a non-league side for the first time in our history. Northwich Victoria played excellent football today, and Charlton should have played with ten men after a disgusting elbow by Izale Mcleod hit a Northwich player in the face from the restart. Overall a miserable match for me (one time we're on the telly, we lose) but hearty congrats to Northwich who deserved it thoroughly. Now the question is, who is going to win the biggest match of the day - Man Utd VS Chelsea?

Absolutely - talking to the chaps on the LNER forum, there's a few details technically wrong for a stirling single, the wheel diameter being a scale 8ft 3in apparentally (!!!), and similar, but in all honesty I think it really can look the part once finished. I'm debating whether or not to go the whole hog and replace both the chimney and safety valve bonnet with better representations...

For the past few months I've been having an argument with myself regarding what the Sidcup & Danson Lake Railway would use for motive power. I've been drawn to the idea of some resin kits from the Smallbrook range (and indeed, an order is on its way to them shortly for a body kit and brakevan kit), but my initial thoughts in my "Creative Writing" blog entry, gave Kerr Stuart and their Tattoo design as a strong contender. I've been thinking about that over and over, and I've realised that in essence, its too close to both Corris and Talyllyn territory for what I want to create - that is, a might-have-been steam railway set in a real location, but remaining a completely unique take on the "small narrow gauge railway near a lake" setting. Then I found this smart little engine named Le Meuse: Interesting Steam Locomotive It's gorgeous! And it is a body kit to fit a chassis that I know works extremely well (the Bachmann 00 gauge 08/09 diesel shunter) which would make my life much easier than having to chip the various Hornby 0-4-0STs I've been pulling out of the cabinet below Copley Hill. A pair of these, as opposed the Tattoo engines, anglicised carefully and named Sidcup and Danson respectively - yes, I'd have the motive power the layout needs and then some! Until next time - any thoughts on the possible choice would be appreciated. Suffice to say, it would be my first body kit in 0-16.5 and would be a lot of fun...

Hi Sean, Here's the link : L1: Kit of Parts Cheers, Simon

The above is reproduced for educational purposes only. It is a comparison chart of L1, V3 and N class. Photos come from the LNER Encyclopedia and SEMG, my thanks to them. After discussion on Sean's L1 blog, found here: Sean's L1 Blog , I've decided to throw my hat into the ring as I have always wanted one of these locomotives for my Eastern Region themed layout. The difference between my build and Sean's will be in all likelihood choice of chassis. Sean is advocating the 2MT, and I am leaning towards using a Bachmann N Class chassis. Hopefully our two trains of thought will produce two very similar locomotives, if not wholly identical due to preferences. I already have a spare (and defunct) V3 lying around, so it has been broken up at home, and is making its way via post to university. And plans are already afoot to break a Bachmann B1 up for spare parts (cylinders, cab and similar) towards another kitbash as well as this one. More as the parts come in - I've now got a Stirling Single and an L1 in the works...!

Hi Sean, It'll be going in my blog as a "new build" I am intending to use the N class chassis after a lot of thought. My donor V3 has been dismantled at home and its components are winging its way to uni! I will of course join in here too as it keeps the interest and will make for some interesting comparisons. Kind Regards, Simon

Or a B***... *gets shot* In all seriousness, well done MR - I'll certainly be buying one - lovely machines, and would make a lovely shunter for a small shunting plank of sorts...

I took a look at one this week in my local model shop - it looks a superb model. When I get some money towards one, I'll buy one. But I was not convinced by the shape of the chimney, when I was looking at it in the shop. Here's some pics. From Wiki: Hornby's Effort (linked from Hornby magazine's website and reproduced for comparative reasons only): Maybe I'm wrong! I'm suddenly not sure. The chimney does look a lot better there than what I thought I was seeing - is the comparison I am making perhaps more to do with my GA kit clan that may have a differently proportioned chimney to both the prototype and the real thing? Here's mine, from the old RMweb: No idea now!!! But I am still going to get one, its just too nice a model to pass up!

Thanks guys, really appreciate it I was working on this for six weeks, the hardest part of filming without a doubt is lighting it well, which I think I did well on this occasion. It seems to be doing well on youtube - 1400 views in its first 24 hours, not too shabby...!

Thats the next episode

Thanks Pinkmouse - and a big thank you for that fantastic edited pic you did, I've used it as my main publicity piece for the episode

Today I made a little breakthrough. I modified the cab of the Emily loco to better represent the shape of the preserved single. Note, in the above picture I've removed the horizontal handrails but not the vertical ones - I am using the moulded handrails to measure up my plasticard tender body (seen later in this post): Now I've been experimenting with plasticard this week. I wasn't happy with modifying the original bodyshell as its proportions are too large for the tender I am modelling (that no.1 currently pulls in preservation), so my other option was to use the damaged Kitmaster pieces as a template for a plasticard body of my own. The sides are shown here on the main frames. From this point on, assume all the tender body components are white tacked together!!! I tried a test fitting of the Kitmaster top - the one piece I intend to reuse, albeit after cutting away the moulded coal and building a proper inside to the tender: My greatest concern at this point is the size of the running plate either side of the tender bodyshell: Which, in contrast to the Emily tender bodyshell, is too narrow as opposed too wide in proportion to the frames. I may need to do some further scratchbuilding and ignore the Kitmaster pieces entirely. I haven't decided yet, but its been a good exercise to see how it all fits together and whether or not everything looks in proportion: Looking at this side on pic, I know the tender sides are too tall for the tender I'm modelling, just a tad - something to fix in the next update! Until next time, I'll leave you with this pic - I think it's coming along nicely, bit by bit...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkupqRpV51s Air Date: 30th October 2009 These are the stories they tell... It is all Hallows Eve, and Stephen is telling some ghost stories to the other engines. He tells the tale of a steam engine, scorned by its builder, left to rust, and plotting its revenge... One of the things I had wanted to do in the series was a proper ghost story. I remember always feeling disappointed at the age of eight, when I realised that the Thomas & Friends episode, Ghost Train, didn't actually feature a real ghost in it! The ghost was of course Percy in disguise... A chance glance at this website: Fowler's Ghost gave me the initial idea for a story based around the mysterious Metropolitan Railway prototype. I spent around six months scripting this episode, and it wasn't easy. The problem lies with how much or how little you want to "show, not tell" and how much you need to "tell, not show". Doing the story in flashback was, I decided, the best way of presenting the subject matter. In basic story blocks, the makeup of this episode and the one that precedes it, are identical. Both start out with a few stories and some banter between the characters. Both go into a flashback. Both then return to the present and resolve the situation that was created in block one. The truth of the "ghost" (which you can read on the above website) was that it was a little used prototype eventually broken up for spare parts after only a few test runs. John Fowler did try to cover the building of the locomotive up, but was forced to show some photographs to the ever curious public. The engine was never named - the name "Ghost" is a nickname that was fixed onto it beause of its obscurity and apparent first class coverup! Therein was my plot. The Metropolitan engine figuratively and literally takes on the definition of its own name - "ghost". The demise of the actual engine is unknown, so I wrote in that it had been "banished to a disused tunnel" - fairly feasible, there are lots of tunnels that remain unused to this day on the underground system. I spent a lot of time over the last year researching ways of filming in the dark and making "ghosts" look plausible. A big thank you at this point then to RMweb and its wonderful modellers there - there were two ideas given freely here: resin cast, and see through, and special paint, with careful lighting. In the event, both methods were used! More to follow as I write up my notes. Until next time!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3DsHUuKS8A Air Date: 25 September 2009 These are the stories they tell... Scott the A3 pacific is unhappy. He's fed up of being "just another engine", and wants to go back to the heyday of his career. Stephen tells the other engines a short story about Scott's true greatness... In the time between making "Day of the Deltic" and releasing this episode, I had gone back home and had a long think about my aspirations for the series. I wanted this to be an entertaining film for youtube, I wanted it to look as professional as possible, and I had also wanted it to be an interpretation of an historical event, something I had done before in "The Legacy of Gadwall" but not entirely successfully. Andrew Roden's book "The Flying Scotsman" was the first time I had read an account of the then 60103 and her near-fatal run from Leicester, in which her injectors had failed. I would like at this point to thank Mr Roden for a thoroughly detailed and entertaining account of the incident in question. It is little pieces of history such as this that make railways so fascinating to me. This episode would be an interpretation of the events recounted in that book, from the perspective of the locomotive, Scott. How should I film it? What should the set look like? How much steam...and so on. I made a list of requirements for this video, and at the top of my list was "more accurate set". I bought some books on Great Northern Engine sheds, made some enquiries, and started making the set in what little spare time I could find. You can find the accounts of my building the Copley Hill set here: Copley Hill Works I invested in a fog machine, and then a second to do different smoke effects on the layout - and this was one of the best parts of filming this episode. The fun I had with those fog machines: lining up shots with the camera and taking the HD Widescreen footage was great. In the end, my only hope is that I did the event itself justice. The episode starts out at the sheds, with the engines teasing Scott for his double chimney, and then moves to a flashback in which Stephen recounts the tale Scott told him a few years ago... In all, the look and feel of this episode is vastly different to all that went before. The set looked much more historically accurate, the steam effects were blinding at times (!) and the sound effects were recordedings I had made over the summer of real engines - in most cases, as close as I could get to the actual prototypes, or at least their cylinder arrangements. In setting myself some goals, I feel I really impoved my film making, and hopefully have set the standard by which newer episodes can be judged and, crucially - enjoyed. That's what its all about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7LOypF6CiY Air Date: 31st July 2009 These are the stories they tell... It is the parting of ways...Stephen saves Hawk from the scrapman, and helps Gronk in his rehabilitation at Leeds Central... I had shot a lot of unseen footage for "Day of the Deltic" and had cut the story back a lot to make it a full half hour special. In many respects, what you see here is very much the "real" ending of that episode, split into three chapters. Why were they split? In the "Making of" video, I used the three bits of extra footage as "shorts" to break up the monologue explaining how I made the scenery, faces, did shots and lighting and so on. This is a good technique for Youtube, it keeps the audience attention up and also makes for a more fulfilling and interesting video overall. The reason it wasn't numbered 16 in the series of episodes was my general feeling that this video was simply allowing the youtubers the opportunity to see each "short" one after the other, allowing the full story to be exposed. It was not an episodes as such in its own right, but it was an interesting diversion after "Day of the Deltic" that gave a little more insight into the long running plots in the series. Touching on the story briefly, we finally say goodbye - for the last time - to Hawk, whose identity as 9400 was confirmed by Stephen at the end of the episode. Gronk comes to terms with his leaving Copley Hill, and Stephen converses with a friend (the standard 4MT, Jerry, who is named after my father). The conversation at the end of the part, "Jerry's Ghost" is in many respects setting up the next batch of episodes. The ghost referred to by both Stephen and Jerry, is going to be the main focus of the forthcoming Episode 17...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLBDO-aZyHs Air Date: 24th April, 2009 These are the stories they tell... It is a few weeks after the silent night when Nigel disappeared, and all the engines are wondering about how and why it happened. Gronk, the diesel shunter, is feeling guilty for his part in the affair, when a magnificent blue diesel arrives and starts causing trouble. It is after a heated argument with the steam engines, that the Deltic reveals Gronk's infamy...and the engines are shocked to the core. Pulling an express, the Deltic fails, leaving Allen to take the train. Gronk removes the diesel and is interrogated by the engines. It is only with Stephen's timely intervention that Gronk is allowed to leave for the safety of Leeds Central... ...And Stephen issues a blunt warning to the other engines: "Our time has come" This half hour special had been in development for well over a year. It was always intended to introduce a truly villainous character at some point, and it came in the shape of English Electric's finest: the prototype DELTIC diesel. I had bought one as a birthday present for my father that year, and there were no objections to using it in the series as a villainous engine of sorts. Day of the Deltic was originally intended to be the seventeenth episode of the series, behind two titles named Fowler's Ghost and Great Scott!. It was only when the scripts were analysed that it was seen that the Deltic episode would fit better into the series line up as the next episode after the fourteenth episode, Silent Night. Development of the set continued from Episode 14 straight onto Episode 15. A new siding was added, the length of the yard enlarged (the carriage works being the main beneficiary), and lots of set work to make it look like a steam era yard were added: disused spoked wheels, two coal heaps, ash and clinker between the shed's running lines; even a scrappy traction engine were added to complete the effect of the yard. There have been questions as to the year of the episode: it is in fact 1959. The reason for this date is simple. Stephen the Holden B12 states that he is "the last of his kind" - number 61572 was indeed the last Holden B12 left by 1959. This means that there is roughly four years between Gronk's first appearance at Copley Hill in episode eleven, and this episode, number fifteen. Therefore it is say to assume that the liveries carried by Allen and Sir Ralph are both livery errors (that is to say, they should be painted in Brunswick green and not Express Passenger blue by the time of the episode). It was too costly at the time to buy and convert two new models for Allen and Sir Ralph, and it was also too time consuming to repaint the two (near-expired mechanically) current models. There was a suggestion made to replace their parts in the script with Arthur and Scott (by this time repainted into Brunswick, although the blue model was eventually used instead of the new green one), however neither of the arguments involving the A1 and A4 pacific would have had a much resonance had it come from Arthur and Scott instead. The one notable addition to the models was the use of a Seuthe smoke generator in the Stephen model, which led to some memorable night time shots. Further, a new smoke generating machine was used for the shed scenes, and finally, for the wind shots, a special aerosol was bought to mimic these effects. It was due to the small amount of smoke seen in the series so far, that prompted me to start buying up seuthe generators and fixing them into the engines. At this time, Stephen was the only one fitted. At the current time of writing, the only models which have not been fitted are those models with split chassis mechanisms (Herbert, Nigel and Tavish) as there is little space in the model to fit no.22s which I use as a standard. There is one final factor to consider, plotwise, in this episode. If the year is 1959, then this failure by DELTIC on the mainline is NOT the catastrophic engine event which ended the real engine's working life in 1961. This means that while the Day of the Deltic might be over, the presence of DELTIC himself is not fully realised. It shall return in a future episode...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F40C2mQcM8Q http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSsF0CvGu3E Air Date: 27th December, 2008 These are the stories they tell... Nigel is feeling ill when Hawk the Western Pannier Tank leaves the yard for the last time. Falling asleep, the sleeping Nigel is moved to the section of the yard where no engine dare venture! When Nigel disappears, Herbert fights back the tears as Christmas Eve approaches... ...but on Christmas morning, he gets a present...nay, a miracle, of biblical proportions!!! Episode 14 marked a real change in the direction of the series: darker, moodier and most definitely a forewarning of that to come. The lighting of the episode, the snow falling and the general layout of the set marked a real departure in the series' design, the sheds lit up at night, and properly, for the first time. The minor event of the episode comes with Hawk's departure. The plucky pannier tank engine has proved a most popular character, and was rewarded for his entertaining stay at Copley Hill with a dedication in the end credits - "Hawk lives on" refers to his real life counterpart: Hawksworth Pannier Tank number 9400, which is preserved at the STEAM museum in Swindon. Meanwhile, the main plot of the story concerns Nigel the V3 tank engine. Tired, grumpy, he is taken to the out of use siding by a naive and unsuspecting Gronk. This plot is not dissimilar in how it is played to Episode 6, but with a fundamental difference: Nigel gets a reprieve, only because there is a spare cylinder and boiler available. In future, none of the engines will be quite so lucky... Episode 14 was the last of the three Christmas 2008 episodes, which in essence, formed a quartet which started in Episode 11. Firstly, the yard gains its first real diesel character: "Gronk", which is the first indication of life on the railway starting to change. Secondly, it becomes clear that the characters are not going to be immune from the scrap man for much longer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBFithesiLg Air Date: 24th December, 2008 These are the stories they tell... Nigel the V3 Tank engine enjoys his suburban trains, puffing round Leeds is always fun! But when Nigel falls ill with a damaged cylinder, can Herbert the nervous V2 take the strain...and will the cricket loving tank engine be okay? Nigel the V3 tank engine was first introduced in the fourth episode, and had proved a mildly popular character. Therein lies the problem of a fairly substantial cast, to be able to fully appreciate all the cast members you have to have dedicated episodes to such characters. Episode 13 and 14 were all about the relationship between Nigel and Herbert: two engines linked, both by their names (Nigel and Herbert coming from Herbert Nigel Gresley, their designer) and by their at-odds personalities. Herbert sees Nigel as something of a hero, given the tank engine's exploits in his first episode (saving the hapless Herbert from a herd of cows!), and Episode 13 was a way of seeing Herbert trying to give something back to his friend and hero. Further, it would prove to be a neat way of re-introducing the aspect of Copley Hill being a self contained, but by no means perfect yard. Nigel being shunted back into the shed caused some headaches, the old Lima J50 tank engine being old, worn and definitely on its last legs at the time of filming. The shed scenes are something that haven't really been explored very much: seeing Nigel being repaired during the night gave some lovely, atmospheric shots that would continue with the filming of Episode 14. Compared to other episodes of similar length (Episodes 7, 11 and 12), this episode doesn't particularly stand out despite the use of the snow covered set. It was meant to build up to a dramatic (and heart-retching) conclusion in Episode 14. In that sense it did its job: Nigel was ill, repaired temporarily, and put back into service. For how long, is another story...

"Mesa blue tank engine"... *gets shot!

What I'd like to do more than anything is retell the story, using the original script as a base to flesh the whole story out, and allow for a more full explanation of the situation and the disaster that occurs. The "danny boy" scene is one I think could be recreated and in a better format, perhaps to make it all the more epic, and more emotive than before. Having said that, I could be accused of doing a Lucas, and therefore should leave it well alone!!!