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In other news, these 3 HDA’s arrived today. I’m not sure what the difference is between a HAA and a HDA, other than the latter can run faster empty (60mph versus 45mph I think). Looking at them they have disc brakes, I’m not sure if they all did, but I suspect the HAA were tread brakes. It’s a small detail though and one easily overcome, more important is the propensity of Accurascale models to sell out, so a few more will be joining them soon.

The cabs have had the cant rail added which makes a big improvement to their appearance. Then some further filling and sanding before giving the body shells a light coat of primer. This really helps highlight the imperfections. More filling and sanding to follow! I also got to attend the DEMU showcase today, a great little show. I was hoping for some blue and grey spray paint, but came away with a whole host of other goodies instead. It was great to see some other contemporary layouts in the flesh.

If you’re looking for proper distractions I have an NX panel that needs designing!

I’m really pleased to hear that - I definitely drew inspiration from Piccadilly to Deansgate. I remember seeing 304’s and riding them along that section having been loco hauled across the pennines in my mid teens. The sound file is a Legomanbiffo, so I have high hopes! I’m awaiting an 8 pin to 21 pin converter before I can fit it. I’ll also need to choose a good speaker and location. A ticking air compressor and a roar on departure are hopefully not far away.

It’s been a very long time since I shared a video (2 years), but the inaugural run of the class 304 seems worth fighting with password resetting for. It’s on DC power for initial testing and running in. The bogies have NEM sockets, so have temporary hook and loop couplings for now. This is also a chance for a really quick look at the layout end to end.

The body profile mismatch is both profile and overall width. The printed cabs are nearly 2mm narrower than the coach bodies. In 1:1 scale I suspect you’d notice 3” of filler, but I think it should be possible to hide the transition. The model looks a lot better in real life than in photos, as the camera always accentuates any imperfections. I’m going to get it running before I do anything else, and then focus on the bodywork.

A million things still to do, but very satisfying to get to this stage. Getting the bodies on to the chassis took a lot of fettling, with a bit more required to get to a smooth on and off arrangement. Next job is to fit some couplings so that I can do some trial running. There’s then a lot of sanding and filling to do to get a decent finish. It’s actually credible that I might make something of this. Pretty happy with my first foray into kit bashing.

Some internet searching has found a number of interesting pictures. Firstly the interior: Then an interior of a 307. The refurbished motor cars were apparently done like this when converted from compartments to opens (but probably different moquette). This means different interior wall colours and seat colours. Not sure I’ll do different lighting! Then a picture of the power bogie. Certainly not a conventional Gresley! It may be possible to convert the existing 419’s bogies to this profile. Good view of the underfloor equipment too - there are very few pictures of the middle cars.

By late 86 they were mainly all 3 car (possibly all completed by the end of 86). I would probably have had to go 3 anyway due to fiddle yard space and to keep things proportional. TP and IC services are only 6 coaches, so 4 car EMUs would just emphasise their shortness. There is a plan to extend to 7 coach IC, but that needs me to reverse the door into the room, which in turn needs major modification in the room that it leads from. My house is over 400 years old and mid restoration, the adjoining room is scheduled for attention in 2025 (although I’m currently running about 9 months ahead of my original schedule).

Time consuming, fiddly, but very enjoyable. And so far, I haven’t flamingoed it up*. With the new compartment sections spliced in, the next job was to file out the 5 extra droplights in various doors. These are done and all have a snug fit when the glazing is offered up to them. They may still need some shaping and filing. I’ve also filled in the windows for the lavatory section, and filed out the window. The glazing has been made by cutting down a mk1 toilet window. The filled in windows have some plasticard behind them to hold in the miliput. Unfortunately this prevents the new window from fitting in the opening, so needs a little adjustment. I have stripped down the 419. It looks relatively straightforward to get the motor car body on to the chassis, although the buffer beams will need removing first. I plan to get the chassis sound fitted and dcc tested with the chassis for the two driving cars before attempting to fit the bodies. The motor block will protrude slightly into compartment 7, as well as into the out of use compartment 8. For the two driving trailers, I’ve commenced assembly of the Gresley bogies from Precision Paints kits. Quite fiddly to build, but nice models. They are almost ready for fitting. I have another set which I plan to use the frames to fit onto the existing Bachmann bogies. I could do with finding a photo of a Gresley power bogie to see how much they differ. I suspect they’re a good deal chunkier. The driving car body doesn’t fit directly on the coach chassis, the front buffer beam will need removing, but I couldn’t resist a quick mock up. *like a cock up, only bigger.

The 308’s in West Yorkshire were my first real introduction to EMUs - after the 309’s (?) that briefly preceded them. If the rest of WY wasn’t all units at the time I could have easily modelled somewhere on the aire valley lines out of Leeds. I understand that first gen SR EMU’s were regulars for compression testing of the buffers at Waterloo and Victoria, although I think that was very long brake applications with single valves running out of reservoir.

A couple of photos from yesterday’s operating session. Before we got tucked into 07.21 at Christleton, I switched the legside circle* over to DC. Firstly to test the NSE 121 before it goes for auction (together with a 3 car Lima DMU, let me know if you’d like them, before they go on). I also got to trial the almost certainly probably 304 centre car, donor vehicle MPV419. What a stunning model, possibly Bachmann’s finest that I own. Cutting it up will be heartbreaking! Brief moments of 3rd rail DC flirtation done with, back to running the timetable. I missed the photo opportunity of 5 units, a liner and an IC all in the station (next time), but I did get a shot of a 105 still in all blue on a Man Vic to Bangor service. The previous service on this route was a 45 on 6 mk2s, what a step down - although worse is just around the corner. In 304 news, as well as the power unit, the glazing has also arrived from Replica Railways. They also sent a few spare mk1 toilet windows to try cutting down. Great service, really friendly and helpful, definitely worth a call or email if you need anything. *it’s the cricket season. The inside circle to everyone else.

So a couple of headaches to solve. The first one, as I’m sure some readers had worked out, is that the class 121 has 3’0” wheels, rather than the correct 3’6”. In 00 gauge this means 12mm vice 14mm wheels. I think the solution here is to use a different chassis, possibly the 419, as it’s the right length and right wheel size. Not sure what I’ll do with a spare 121 in NSE, but I probably don’t want one. I’ve had a trial run on a spare blank door at cutting out the window. This went ok, but could be better. I drilled a hole then filed out. It’s trickier than I thought to get it straight. I think I’ll make a template from thin plasticard and temporarily tack that to the coach side, then I can drill a hole and file out to the template. The other problem is the toilet window. I have a mk1 window to fit, but it looks like the suburban toilet windows are noticeably shorter than the standard mk1. Other than the new Accurascale, I don’t think there’s a suburban toilet window I can use from anything else. That probably means splicing the mk1 version, which should be fun. At least frosted glass will be easier to hide the join.

Not bothering to remove the seats implies that they are there to begin with! I’m thinking I just won’t fit them in that bay, which may be a place for the speaker.

Some very satisfying modelling so far. All three coaches have had their splicing done and the end cars have the cabs fitted. The profile of the cab doesn’t quite align with the coaches (they may align better with the Lima class 117, which is the wrong profile…). I think they’ll sand and fill sufficiently so that it’s not noticeable. Next job is to cut windows in the blank doors, I think there are 5 to do. Then one of the window and door bays needs filling and a toilet window cutting out. It’s a standard mk1 toilet window as far as I can make out. If that goes as well as the first stages then I’m going to have to go all out and get some more parts!

Liverpool St was the very similar 305’s. A transformer issue would make sense, both end cars had double doors from the outset and one end was always big enough to be the van. If that’s the case the seats should be removed and the partition moved to the 7th compartment. The drawings I have are circa 1982, so the modification happening after that time is plausible.

So here’s an interesting thing. It looks like the 8th compartment that I have painstakingly added to the motor coach was taken out of use in the mid 80’s. Pictures of the centre car are like rocking horse dung, but those I can find seem to show only 7 compartments. From what I can see the doors and windows are just painted out. It makes little sense when you look at the interior layout. If anyone has any further information it would be appreciated.

Bachmann class 121 for power. It’s a really neat unit with the motor below the floor. It does have a lot of complex electronics on it which aren’t needed for the 304, so it needs striping back to just motor and pick ups. It also has a built in speaker which doesn’t have great reviews, so that needs changing. Sound will be Legomanbiffo. Like the 85, the sounds will have to be put together based on videos, as there’s zero hope of a class 304 ever running again! This is definitely getting carried away on the back of having spliced an extra seating bay into a coach.

Well this is a much more positive update than I expected to be giving, having never really tried anything like this before. Class 304/1 Motor Brake Second, the middle car of 3 is taking shape. I successfully cut the sides off the 4th donor coach and then cut out two door and window bay sections. I drew round them (to get the size right) and cut out the former guard’s door and window from the standard brake second. The roof has been removed, almost but not quite down to the cill line. A new flat roof section and sloping element has been added. I’ve added some filler, which still needs some sanding and shaping. The photo above shows the revised window profile compared to the original coach, as well as the BR drawing that I’m working from. Next we have a close up on the new roof section. I haven’t yet found an above photo to see what should be on there (I know about a pantograph at least). I’ll need some support-work below this 0.5mm plasticard roof, but figured I’ll be best doing that when I have the pantograph. I didn’t really expect to get this far, so I haven’t ordered much beyond the coach bodies. Next job is one of the end cars (one is much simpler than the other), and then we’ll think about getting some wheels on.

I’ve roughly marked out the cut lines on each of the three bodysides. These are Replica Railways 63’ suburban brakes (so longer than the more common 57’). Remarkably little alteration is needed for all 3 cars, I had visions of endless cuts. Each coach just needs one section replacing, usually just an extra seating bay. The end cars obviously need a slice taking off for the cabs. My original thinking was to cut whole sections out including the roof, but I think I’m going to attempt leaving the roof intact, which will help me keep everything in a straight line. The cut along the roofline will be trickier, but probably worth the effort. Luckily I have no end of bank holiday jobs to get on with and help putting off the first cut!

You have a confidence I don’t share. We will however be certain of lessons to be learnt! If it’s a disaster, I’ll at least know where to focus next time!

Well this looks pretty daunting!

*it’s not a Legomanbiffo chip. One day they all will be. With speakers that have proper bass.

Quite enjoying no mow May! A class 25, very much on borrowed time*, brings in a speedlink from Arpley. You can just see the first of the four vans which will be shunted into the brewery siding for loading. A little fire round the curve. The back cab is just about where the station entrance signal will be. A pair of 20’s take a steel train towards Mossend. This would usually be electric hauled north of Christleton, but owing to the absence of wires… The rectified kink is parallel to the coupling of wagons 1 and 2. The cable route is becoming less accessible all the time. Luckily the S&T gang have a trainee with them…

Slowly but sure the grass is growing in a North West direction. These pictures are with the PVA still wet and pre-vacuuming, in part so that I can compare later to see if they need thickening up. The morning sun shines directly in the room at this time of year and gives a pleasing effect. A little grass is needed at the edge of the viaduct I think. The greenery only extends on the Down side so far. A couple of equipment cases begin to look the part. Meanwhile trains continue to run as normal. A blue 47 lifts the first trans-pennine service out towards the coast, although it only started at Man Vic.