CKPR

Yes, that is the 0-4-2 reduced to its constituent parts,  or at least the footplate and tender. The discrepancy in width was bothering me and whilst it doesn't really show on the 0-4-2T and the 0-6-0, which are quite chunky engines, comparision with the Cauliflower made the 0-4-2 look out of proportion. I thought I'd try cutting it down to the correct width before marking out a new footplate and it seems to have worked. Even reducing the width of the buffer beam was straightforward, albeit the rear plate fell off in the process. Just need to solder it all back together and then on with the splashers, etc.

On 17/06/2023 at 12:10, Welchester said:

 

Is the Alex Crowley in this clip a descendant of Aleister, the 'Great Beast'?

He's not the Anti Christ, he's just a very naughty boy !

When I was a post-grad in London many years ago, calling in on the Protestant Truth Society was part of our Sunday afternoon promenade along with the Scientologists to whom my American friends delighted in posting notes such as "Ron is dead - get over it!". I recall them also obtaining PTS booklets to send back to their Catholic friends in the mid-west.

14 hours ago, apl31 said:

The weight diagrams can sometimes state the footplate width in the information below drawing.  Its a little more information to help work out other dimensions

Which is why a couple of my M&CR engines are 6" / 2mm too wide as I didn't read the weight diagrams properly and perpetuated an error from the old W.Hardin Osborne "drawings".

Alas, no front elevation but it seems to indicate that there might be more information in The Mitchell Library in Glasgow. There's also the LMS weight diagrams for the M&CR engines that remained after 1923 but these don't show the front elevation as I've found to my cost. These used to be available from the Cumbrian Railways Association.

The M&C 0-4-0Ts were a Neilson design and had a local cousin in the form of 'Dandie Dimont'  of the Brampton Rly. There's a drawing of the latter in the book 'Lord Carlisles Railways' and I'll have a look to see if it's any use.

What Flying Pig says. Moreover, the GWR didn't go in for subsidiary companies but rather assimilated other railway companies before, during and after the 1923 grouping. As a result, the GWR had quite a few non-GWR engines, some of which were standard industrial designs (e.g. the engines from thr Alexandra Dock Co.), that were usually 'Swindonized' through rebuilding with GW fittings.

Here's a long shot for an industrial branch on the GWR - Stirchley sidings that served a chemical works in what is now Telford and which remained open until the 1950s. Obviously, it wouldn't fit in your available space but might provide some inspiration for a GWR served industrial site other than the  quarries, mines or docks usually associated with the GWR.

On 05/06/2023 at 14:21, Schooner said:

I've always felt evocations were necessary only for minor lines, glorified colliery networks, potato railways and c. A mark of the truly premier line is that its name alone stands strong through the centuries...

Of course, The Premier Line never sullied it's locomotives with anything as vulgar as the company initials [well, almost never] as it was obvious that you were lucky enough to be travelling on the LNWR.

It's at times like this that I get an AFV kit, preferably  an old Tamiya one from the 1970s, and just build it out of the box. No correcting major faults, no aftermarket etch and certainly no resin additions, but I might add a few details using plastic card, wire and scrap brass. 

Now this new project I am liking very much ! Of course, you know that you really should be using clockwork...

Shameful confession time - I was aware of the issues with the end door hinges but had got a bit fed up of tinkering with wagons as I was also refurbishing a batch of S/H O gauge  7 & 8 plank wagons for 'Seahouses'. If I recall correctly, the MWCo kits have a more correct representation of the end door hinges.

9 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

Lowering the tone, can I ask: can anyone explain to me the difference between National Conservatism and National Socialism?

The former can't make the trains run on time ?

When I said no more scratchbuilding of 4mm pre-grouping mineral wagons, I was of course thinking of only building kits in the future. A recent trip back to Cumbria found me in the ever excellent C&M Models in Carlisle where I spotted a reasonably priced Oxford Models NBR 8T mineral wagon -  a cheap'n'cheerful way of building up the through mineral trains from Scotland that ran over the M&CR ? Conversion to EM involved fitting MJT W-irons and Wizard axleboxes & springs, Wizard brake levers and plenty of etched brass bling from the Mainly Trains [now Wizard] etch. The frankly poor weathered paint finish was very stubborn and survived two baths in Mr Muscle but it should be covered up by a coat of Halfords primer. All in all, a nice wagon and easier than wrestling with the old MWCo kit (of which I've several in the cupboard).

On 29/04/2023 at 20:12, figworthy said:

... three straight running tracks (the back one was mixed gauge), and they periodically ran backwards and forwards.

 

 

Sounds quite prototypical to me !

On 25/04/2023 at 15:32, Edwardian said:

Such exquisite views, with the long shadows of an English summer's evening, Ah, bliss. 

 

Really great world-building, apart from anything else. 

 

 

And they remind me of the best Railway Series illustrations, which for me formed the indelible notion that steam-age railways were Romantic and Glorious.

 

 

I agree - you're becoming the Brian Cooke of digital model railways.

On 19/04/2023 at 12:10, DonB said:

 

Of course I had to surrender the title on retirement and stopping the annual fee charge to retain it.

Having the distinction never affected my salary level !! 

I resigned from my 'learned society' and non-regulatory professional organisation a few years ago along with many other colleagues in protest at endemic mismanagement, apparent corruption and toxic internal politics. In so doing, I lost a couple of titles and a lot of the letters after my name but it hasn't made an iota of difference to my work or professional standing.

Thinking ahead to the next one as there are two more in the stash, as well as making a former for bending the sides and back, I might tin the underside of the tank top and cut some access holes in the tank floor to enable me to tack solder it from underneath and then seam it from above. Then again like travelling to Camelot, I'm concerned that this might be a silly idea...

Thanks for the heads up on this, Jol. I'm going by the instructions that suggest that it should be OK for EM but I haven't tried a full set of wheels as yet as I've been using a spare pair of wheels as a jig / template and a new full set is the next purchase . It's such a straightforward kit that it should be easy enough the remove the supports if necessary. 

Some more progress on the tender for the Cauliflower - I've added LRM hornblocks and bearings to provide some compensation for the tender as per all my other tender locomotives but otherwise, it's exactly as per the kit. And a very good kit it is too. That said, I made a bit of mess of soldering  on the tank top and had a lot of cleaning up to do. I'm rather pleased with it and looking forward to tackling the locomotive proper. 

On 15/04/2023 at 00:39, Schooner said:

History - docudrama of the past.

 

Archaeology - reality tv of the past.

 

Which is more informative?

 

*exit hurriedly Stage Left, persued by Mob*

When I was at the LSE studying social psychology, our prof used to say that we were basically making things very easy for historians in the future.

On 11/04/2023 at 22:57, Compound2632 said:

 

.and if you can have Hull Paragon...

Or indeed Carlisle Citadel (at least there was another terminus station in Kingston-upon-Hull).

I told you that I am very easily distracted. At least this counts as pre-grouping, unlike the bren gun carrier, and there is a connection, albeit very tangential, to my 'proper' modelling. Back in the 1960s, the toy shop in Cockermouth carried the full range of Airfix kits but my interests, abilities and pocket money only ran to Series 1 or Series 2 military aircraft or AFVs. The wider range of ships, airliners and vintage cars seemed both very sophisticated and also a bit boring to 6-7 year old me but the B Type bus kit seemed to be the very epitome of 'grown up' modelling. I think I was also picking up on the Victorian & Edwardian nostalgia boom at the end of the 1960s, including of course "The Railway Children", beloved of those resident in the parish of  Castle Aching.  There you go, a very tenuous link to fine scale model making, Cockermouth and the pre-grouping era.

I had several litters of kittens when I first attempted High Level gearboxes and having  messed one up and wrecked a Mashima motor, I confessed all to Chris at his stand at a show. He had the patience of a saint, talked me through building them and since then, they've been my first choice. Interestingly, I made an exception for my M&CR 0-4-4T for which I used a NWSL gearbox as per Skinnylinny's suggestion as I wanted an enclosed remote gearbox for the front axle, the motor being in the well tank. The High Level boxes are actually really easy to build as long as you have a set of broaches and follow the instructions to the letter. What you do need to avoid are the apparently simpler fold up single-stage  gear mountings for Romford gears that are still around - you'll spend fruitless hours trying to get the wretched things to run smoothly.

I think as a hobby, we would all have been happier if we had stuck with clockwork ! Seriously, reading through old magazines from the 1950s to the early-1970s, the modellers still using precision controlled clockwork tend to  come across as very contented and enjoying running model trains in a very prototypical manner rather than worrying about every last detail.