MikeOxon

Thank you Mikkel. While that chassis might possibly be classed as 'clever', it could never rate as 'craftsmanship' . It does have the merit that it works, however, and even runs happily around my 15" radius curves! I shall be interested to see how you tackle the firebox on your Dean Goods as it is something I would like to do myself but fear I would probably destroy the moulded detail. i certainly intend to scratch-build the 6-wheelers - I have to keep the Silhouette cutter occupied. It's most recent task was cutting a new washer for my bathroom cistern! Mike

Better to find as many weak spots as you can now, rather than at an exhibition!

My first post in the Forums was in July 2013 while I started this blog a little later, in August. I've not been doing much modelling recently, since other activities take up most of my time during the Summer months, but I do spend time thinking "where next?" and also taking stock of the past year. A year ago, i had just started trying to re-create some late-19th century "atmosphere", while knowing rather little about how things were actually done. Thanks to the patience and help of many members of the forums, I have learned quite a lot - or, at least, enough to realise how much I do not know! When I started this blog, I had just completed a simple conversion of a Mainline 'Dean Goods' into a fair representation of a 'Stella'-class 2-4-0. I was delighted to find that it really was possible for me to have something 'different', without needing great engineering skills! This tender-driven locomotive made me think what else could be pushed around my layout by suitable tenders. The Mainline Dean Goods has a simple chassis for the engine that consists, essentially, of a square-section plastic bar, with slots to take the axles of the driving wheels. This 'inspired' me (if that's the right word) to make a similar chassis from a length of square-section styrene tube, with slots cut for the axles. It proved an extremely simple way of making a 2-2-2 chassis, where there are no coupling rods to add complications! Once I had this 'rolling plinth', I could put anything I wanted on top - and so, my 'Queen' (or 'Sir Alexander') scratch-built locomotive was born! The next hurdle to be overcome was in realising the complex liveries used in the 19th century. Here, the availability of ink-jet printable transfer film came to my rescue and I was able to make my own lettering and lining, as I have described previously in this blog. There was still the problem of rolling stock,with complex outside frames and often on 6-wheel chassis that seemed to have no chance of negotiating the small-radius curves on my layout. Help from other forum members solved the chassis problem and the splendid thread about the Silhouette cutter solved the bodywork problem. The possibilities suddenly seemed endless!. So, I quickly 'threw together' a couple of 6-wheel coaches and created a 'special train' without too much difficulty. Technology has come to my rescue in a number of ways and I have enjoyed discovering novel ways of achieving the results I wanted. Some of these methods may not stand the test of time and I'm going to have to re-visit them. In my impatience to see quick results, I neglected some important steps, such as varnishing over some of my printed sides, so that they have acquired some quite heavy unintentional weathering as a result. Also, the fit of some of the parts that I cut out for my initial experiments is not as good as it should be. I have since read several forum posts about how styrene distorts when glued and stretches when cut, so I'll have to have another go, taking such matters into account. I feel that having explored all sorts of 'odds and ends', I'd like to 'settle down' and try to build a typical short train from the late 19th-century. Photographs have undone many of my pre-conceptions. It would appear that clerestory roofs were not as ubiquitous on the GWR as I had thought, since most of the photos I have seen of secondary services have plain arc roofs. The sort of train I have in mind can be seen here: So,some plans for the future but I'll probably get distracted by all sorts of other things , such as the Tilt Wagons, currently being discussed in a thread at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/86563-gwr-standard-gauge-tilt-wagons/ Mike

It all looks very smooth! Do you have a method for aligning the traverser with each of the tracks or is it done just by eye? Mike

My own measurement seems pretty close to 3' 6" for the wheels. (14mm in 4mm/ft) Mike EDIT sorry, Nick, I'd misread your measurement as 4' 1", not 41"

The Alan Prior drawing is described as c.1848, in the contents list. His drawing doesn't show any wrapper around the ends. Mike

I've also measured the Alan Prior (4mm/ft scale) drawing of a BG wagon. The height from bottom of buffer beam to top of round end is also 34.5mm. The width of the body is about 34mm (8' 6"). As with the other examples, the end appears to be roughly circular. Mike

I made a sketch from the photo in #10 and scaled it to an assumed 9' 9" wheelbase (39mm in 4mm/ft scale). When compared with the BGS model, the height of the bonnets is lower. This suggests a smaller narrower vehicle. Mike

I notice his guess is for 4-digit numbers, whereas the wagon in #10 has a 5-digit number. Anyone know if this is indicative of it being NG?

You've been busy! I'm still thinking about it. From my examination of the photo (post#10), I think the hoops should go inside the wagon sides. The ends also seem to be inset by the depth of the vertical stanchions. I've made some preliminary sketches and have also assumed a width of 7' 6". Because the prototype seems to be of metal construction, I'm planning to do the same for my model.

Does the wagon number (29382) indicate in any way whether this is BG or NG?

I've been looking closely at the initial photo of 29382, with a view to building a model. It's hard to extract much detail, using Photoshop, but there do appear to be only two vertical stanchions at the end. These look like angle iron or tee-section, unlike the Reading photo. It's hard to see what happens at the corners but it looks as if the end is inset slightly, relative to the sides. The sides have angle irons turned outwards, riveted along the top. There is a hint of a horizontal member (perhaps wood) across the end, just below the top of the sides, but it's not clear, or it may be that an angle iron is riveted across the end, as on the sides. There seem to be horizontal lines along the side panels - these may be an artefact of the photo but are not present in other areas - as though they are ribbed in some way. There seems to be an extra riveted plate at the lower side of the body on the LHS that is not on the RHS. It's good to see how the canvas is draped over loosely in the Reading photo, unlike the BG wagon,drawn by Alan Prior, which has quite a complex folding mechanism at the ends, with longitudinal stiffening. Mike

I feel that the gaslamps were about 100 feet apart along the pavement on my childhood (Northern) street - so about 20cm, in 2mm scale. They often alternated on opposite sides of the road. Mike

Billy will enjoy running down the street kicking the lamp posts at dusk, to make them come on! For those unfamiliar with such pleasures, I can remember that, if you timed it right, a kick would jog the time switch (clockwork) enough to open the gas valve. Your street seems very well lit - I'm sure it was a longer run between the lamp posts, to get there before the next one came on anyway Mike

This wagon really appeals to my interest in the unusual. In the photo, it looks as though the end sheet is missing, at least on the RHS,since the windows of the coach behind seem to be showing The bent rails look like most of my attempts at handrails, so I have a good chance of achieving a realistic model Mike

It works for me (on an HP 6980). I lay the transfers out at the top of a sheet, using Print Preview in Photoshop Elements, and then guillotine off the rest of the sheet for future use. Mike

Of course it is - don't spoil the ship ....... I use ink-jet printable transfer film so that I can make any transfers I want. Mike

I do like your 'extreme weathering' technique! It's good to see the model on the workbench, since it reminds one of the scale - so often it's hard to remember whether photos are 2mm, 4mm, 7mm, or whatever. Are you going to tell us the embarrassing details of where you found your camera Mike

In these Tri-ang coaches, the glazing is simply an inverted U-shaped transparent plastic sheet inside the body. One screw in the centre holds the roof in place and the tabs can then be popped out of the ends to ease off the roof. The 'glazing' then simply lifts out. I find it much easier to paint the window surrounds and drop-light frames after removing the windows. Mike

I warned before of the dangers of corruption. Now that you have strayed, strange beasts from the pit itself are rising up! I predict that, ere long, Farthing itself will disappear into a lake of sulphur and be expunged from the map of England. Just don't tell Blanche about the spider or she'll want it, to put in her elder sister's room. Mike

I like the light and shade effects produced by taking the model outdoors in sunshine - another advantage of 'micro layouts'! It's nice to get a glimpse of sunny Denmark in the background, as well Mike

I'm glad I'm not the only one who can't fathom how 'pictures' work on blogs and the forums When I started, I wrote a couple of posts on a forum thread and then decided to change to a blog. I cut and pasted material across but, whatever I did, the pics remained in the original forum thread - and are still there! I even asked the question at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/75509-moving-photos-from-forums-to-new-blog/ but no-one replied Think on the bright side - it's always good to move on. Mike

My modelling slows down a lot in summer, too, simply because there are so many alternative outdoor activities for me. I also spend some time planning for when the longer evenings return. Delightful movie and great to see the passengers smiling as well. Mike

I can't help noticing how clean they keep the trains in your part of the world - especially the roofs in #1468 and now #1473 and #1467 has definitely got two fans

Thank you for the link - I can see that your researches have been far more thorough than mine. I can now see that the idea of an SF&SR was far too 'parochial' for true Victorian entrepreneurs and, of course, more grandiose titles were adopted Mike