Jump to content
 

Focalplane

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    2,910

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Focalplane

  1. Focalplane
    Just acquired a mint Hornby R2205 advertised on RMWeb Classified. Not exactly fit for purpose in a BR era engine shed, but I couldn't resist the streamlined maroon/gold version of my favorite loco.
     

     
    The loco runs well and now has the optional extras added. A few things probably need to be done:
     
    1. That plastic coal! A thin veneer of my real French coal might just do the job - they were always fully coaled when leaving shed, particularly the 5A locos going to Perth.
     
    2. The rear coupling by Hornby has been removed and now needs a screw link coupler added.
     
    3. 6235 was the first Coronation Class to have an ex-works double chimney. These are shown in the photo above but the inside of the rear chimney is solid and painted maroon. The simple solution to this would be to paint the interior of the chimneys black, rather than drill out the casing.
     
    4. Should I add DCC? I more or less have to as my controllers are DCC (I tested the loco with a 9v Duracell battery!). Should I go the whole hog and add sound? The set up is pre-DCC and I have modified a parallel boiler Scot (would you like to see the photos?) by Bachmann. It really isn't that difficult.
     

     
    Now I realize I should get some gold/maroon coaches, not that they would ever enter an engine shed.
     
    It looks as though I am going to have to start advertising my Southern Pacific HO stuff (1950s era). PM me if you happen to come across this last comment and want some mint or nearly mint beauties!
  2. Focalplane
    I received a newsletter from Brassmasters the other day. They are about to market a rather exciting 4mm scale model of the Princess class pacifics.
     
    I never got into the Princess pacifics. Semis (or whatever you want to call them) were what LMS pacifics were all about in my trainspotting days. But the truth is, I don't remember seeing many Prinnys (or is it Prinnies?) either at New Street or at Tamworth and Crewe. I know the last two locations would be more likely as they were mainly used on the Liverpool runs.
     
    So Brassmasters is not going to get an order from me for Legge Lane - I already have a 4F kit anyway which I may start in 2017! I am sure the limited edition of 40 kits will sell out soon. You have to admire them, adding a very hard to see inside motion for, as they say, the sado-masochists among us.
  3. Focalplane

    Geoff Brewin

    By Focalplane,

    I am almost speechless at the recently announced loss to this world of the owner of Comet Models, Geoff Brewin.
     
    My condolences go to his family and close friends. I met him once, at Leamington this Spring, and am very glad I did. Comet's service was second to none, that was Geoff's way.
  4. Focalplane
    Having set the tender aside, and with Bank Holiday rain to prevent any outdoor activity, I started on the loco chassis.
     
    All in all, things have gone well, barring a couple of silly mistakes which were easily rectified. The chassis fits nicely into the Hornby shell with a few minor adjustments with the craft knife. The tiny Mashima motor and gearbox were not too difficult to assemble and the mechanism is ready for testing before being stripped down for painting. The coupling rods and crank pins still need to be fixed, then, when all is ready the brake rods can be fitted. The shoes, by the way, now need some adjusting following the struggle to get the gearbox to fit inside the frame.
     
    Some photos:
     
    Early on, frame soldered up, wheels fitted
     

     
    Current status with motor and gearbox
     

     
    Two side profiles
     

     

  5. Focalplane

    Dean Goods Tender - 2

    By Focalplane,

    The Dean Goods project has gone overseas, just like the prototype, to France. But unlike the prototype, its tender has had major surgery to remove that hideous lump of plastic coal.
     
    The first area was the main lump. I decided to work on this and leave the front of the tender until later as the structural integrity of the plastic "box" was none too secure. So here is the result of much drilling, snipping, cutting and then rebuilding:
     

     
    Then I tackled the front end. I am very happy to say that alanbuttler's photos from Swindon were indispensable. Thank you Alan!
     

     
    The photos look a bit crude. This is due to the fact that Hornby really did overload the coaling and thin walls are not an option. I see the reconstruction as a means to providing a container for some real coal as a base, with the option to add more real coal later. So no need for rivets, etc. within the coal tender.
     
    The plasticard has given back the structure its strength. You may also notice that one of the rear handrails has also been replaced. I also have some brass lamp brackets (back in England) to add to the rear of the tender.
     
    Next I need to buy some "alcool isopropylique" to remove the BR lining and logo.
  6. Focalplane
    As some of you may know, Geoff Brewin at Comet Models is recovering from an illness but continues to serve his customers on a more gentle regimen than usual. Having met Geoff at the Leamington Show earlier this year I have found his products and customer service to be right up there at the top. I have several kits waiting to be started on and the latest is the chassis kits for the Hornby Dean Goods 0-6-0:
     

     
    The photo shows the two body shells from the Hornby model - I was able to purchase the early BR version but will paint the body all "dirty engine black" with appropriate brass plates. This will be the maid of all work on the Shipston Branch, so no green livery. That will be reserved for the 14XX and the Dukedog.
     
    The various Comet kits include the loco chassis pack, Romford wheels, axles and crankpins, the Mashima motor and gearbox, and the tender chassis and tender frame kits with wheel set. I also have screw link couplers, so this is a project "ready to go". But when? It should be a relatively easy project so I may move it up the schedule.
     
    Question, should I start a new blog on this project? Or should I add updates to this blog as and when? The latter seems to be a better idea for now.
  7. Focalplane
    I have started on the Dean Goods 0-6-0 and the tender is basically built, minus the rear buffer beam, so here is an update. The Comet kit comes in two parts, tender chassis and tender frame. The Hornby shell sits on top of the frame after some whittling and still needs that hideous pile of coal to be excised.
     
    The chassis includes the brake gear and could have a water pickup but this has been excluded:
     

     
    The frame contains the rest of the undercarriage:
     

     
    The two bolt together but need to be primed, etc. before final painting. The plastic body is a push fit on the frame, using four lugs. It can be glued on later.
     

     
    I am always amazed how these kits look at this stage, rather crude and messy. Just like the real thing!
  8. Focalplane
    Here's an interesting piece of history in South Warwickshire. Who would have thought that two Stroudley A1X Terriers found their way to the region? They were purchased by the Edge Hill Light Railway from the LB&SCR to work on shuttling iron ore to the Stratford and Midland Joint Railway. Ironically the workings were uneconomic and the two tank engines languished until finally being scrapped in 1946.
     
    The tanks could have been perfect for working the theoretical Stratford-Shipston light railway as they had very light axle loading and would have been perfect for the light loads envisaged.
     
    The idea is very tempting!
  9. Focalplane
    Three more wagons/vans have been modified with three link couplings and as usual one was difficult, but the other two relatively easy.
     
    The first took over an hour with a lot of drilling and cutting to make space for the springing, but the result is pleasing, a fine model by Dapol of the Fruit D:
     

     
    After lunch and a nap, I tackled two Bachmanns. The first is an LMS cattle wagon and I found the installation quite straightforward:
     

     

     
    Pleased with progress, another Bachmann, this time a GWR ventilated van. An almost identical installation:
     

  10. Focalplane
    My first ever visit to Peco in Beer, East Devon. Why have I waited so long? Really comprehensive stock (including some non Peco brands and hard to find bits "kept under the counter"). The touchy feely aspect of a large model shop, coupled with helpful staff, makes one realize that the mail order business model does lack a certain "je ne sais quoi".
     
    I now know that Ratio sells some coach kits that will fit right in (4 wheel GWR, Suburban Midland, grounded coach) while it was really useful to see the Wills plasticard sheets up close.
     
    I bought the Wills "Staverton" ground level signal box for the fictitious upgrade of the line from Stratford. Much better than the Skaledale GWR box which is simply too big.
     
    I intend to back there on Friday with a shopping list!
  11. Focalplane
    I don't like any of the available easy couplers offered by the RTR manufacturers. One caveat, Kadees are perfect for North American models because they emulate the real thing. But for OO gauge the options vary from bent wire to the Nem style.
     
    I prefer screw and three link couplers, but modifying many models can be a real pain. There is no hard and fast rule but I have found that Bachmann are possibly the easiest to modify. Dapol glue some of their vans together which have to be prized apart with risk of breakage to the external details. The easiest to modify are often the oldest designs, such as the four wheel GWR composites. Bachmann super detailed trucks are a fiddle but not too difficult, just need time and patience. The end result is worth it.
     
    I rarely dispense with the springs, after all they have been paid for so should be used. Occasionally a design demands cutting the rear of the hook short. This is permissible for express tender locomotives, but the Shipston Branch would never see such a beast. Sprung buffers help here but few RTR wagons come with them.
     
    The most obvious reason for not using scale couplers is the difficulty of using them, particularly in shunting operations. But that is the price we pay for authenticity.
  13. Focalplane
    I've never used Sketchup before but yesterday decided to download the free version and learn how to use it. Once I got all my Illustrator bias out of the way I found it to be intuitive and really quite good! I am sure I have a long way to go and will come back to that last comment and regret it!
     
    Anyway, the coal hole design had started to come real in my mind, so why not use Sketchup to prove it?
     
    Here is the standard view with the coal truck platform under the tank and the coaling track to the left. The water pipe is not in place yet (how do you bend an extruded pipe?)
     

     
    This is the view along the coal truck track which is elevated by 3 feet (12mm). The door color is a distant approximation to LM® red.
     

     
    And lastly, a view from above:
     

     
    The tank dimension is 25 ft x 25ft in plan view.
  14. Focalplane
    My purist sentiment says that I should persevere with a 1935 era accurate rendering of a GWR branch. And there is no reason why this should not be the initial aim for the project.
     
    But what then, when the layout is finished. Well, there are two options. The first is to make a bold assumption that Dr. Beeching never existed, that old branch lines were encouraged to exist, that Ernest Marples was never Minister of Transport and road taxes on trucks became exorbitant. So not only did passenger traffic on the branch continue but the line was expanded with signaling, token running, etcetera. Two locomotives could coexist at Shipston. A signal box would be required and there is a post WWII example rotting on the side of the A435 near Alcester to act as a prototype. A side issue of this would be that the tramway to Stratford was also converted to standard operating practice, allowing LMS locos and stock to visit from the north.
     
    Taking things a step further, why not then turn the line into a preservation railway? Personally I don't much like this idea, but it would allow for strange visitors from other regions. If option 1 was to go ahead, the layout could be easily converted to a heritage line for occasional use.
     
    All this is, of course, a mere discussion point. The layout still doesn't physically exist in any form!
  15. Focalplane
    Went to Toddington, headquarters of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway and persuaded myself to buy a second Airfix 14XX tank engine. The first suffered major damage years ago when knocked off a window ledge in Houston. This one shakes as it runs down the test track, but between the two of them and possibly a Comet chassis I may get a reasonable facsimile of the Gobowen Rattler (the shuttle service between Oswestry and Gobowen I rode many times from 1955 to 1964).
     
    Here are two photos of the new acquisition. I already have an autocoach to match.


    I think this is called "retail therapy".
  16. Focalplane
    I put this together from screen captures on the Windows on Warwickshire website:
     

     
    What the map doesn't show is that west of the abandoned Longdon Station (Halt) the original tramway joined from the north.
     
    In the past we have noted several of the road crossings of the now abandoned line with the usual clues. Some of the crossing cottages will no doubt hold clues as to the local architecture, choice of brick, etc. employed by the owners of the line.
  17. Focalplane
    I have access to both Google and Apple mapping apps so it is always worth a look to see what remains of a branch line that ceased to exist a looooong time ago!
     
    Sometimes the line is easily recognized as two rows of overgrown hedges. Sometimes the line disappears across a ploughed field. The worst case is when a housing development completely eradicates history, as in Shipston-on-Stour.
     
    It is also interesting to see the old crossing cottages, sold off 40 years ago or more. In one case the owners have built an extension across the old right of way. The northern crossing over the A429 (Fosse Way) has a cottage whose presence today is difficult to explain until you realize there was once a railway there. There are also on the ground clues. A farm gate on the Campden Road says "Tramway" but the GWR bridge is completely hidden by summer foliage.
     
    Although little remains, it is clear that a detailed photo safari is necessary in the weeks ahead.
  18. Focalplane
    The fictional motive power depot had to have a name and I chose one that relates to my childhood, particularly those years when I was an avid trainspotter. Legge Lane does exist but is not close to any railway line, past or present. It is in Birmingham's Jewellry District, post code B1, not far from the city centre. But it is up on a hill so would never have been selected for a railway route. I spent a lot of my adolescence there (and in the nearby Museum of Science and Industry).
     
    The name refers to the owner of land in the area, a Mr. Legge. This dates back to the 18th Century. Subsequently the area became industrialized and a notable building was erected at the end of the lane, the Argent Centre, once a pen nib manufactury, but also where Washington Irving wrote Rip Van Winkle.
     
    Legge Lane is now largely derelict, waiting for the inevitable regeneration.
  19. Focalplane
    The branch line model is coming together, at least in my mind. As noted yesterday, warwickshirerailways.com is a really valuable resource and well deserving of financial support. While scanning through various photos I was reminded of the long gone branch line from Moreton-in-Marsh to Shipston-on-Stour. The history of this line actually goes back to the Stratford-Shipston horse tramway which still has some evidence of its existence in Stratford on Avon, the footbridge was built for the tramway to take goods from the canal basin to (eventually) Oxford and by the River Thames to London. The entire system never materialized but the horse drawn tramway was completed as far as Moreton-in-Marsh.
     
    Later the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (known to locals as the Old Worse and Worse) came through Moreton and actually severed the tramway from its terminus. When the GWR took over the OWWR the tramway line to Shipston was upgraded as a steam operated branch line. Unfortunately operations were never economically viable and passenger operations ended after WWI while goods operations lingered on for another 30 years.
     
    Shipston station is no longer there but there are good records available (including a book of the branch line which I have ordered).
     
    The Windows on Warwickshire site includes maps of the area dating back to the GWR days and I have put together a montage of the entire line which I will post later. Meantime, here is the station plan, lifted from an old Ordnance Survey map:
     

     
    Numerous photos are available on the warwickshirerailways.com site.
     
    The only problem I now have is that to be absolutely correct I would have to abandon more modern GWR locomotives (such as the 14XX and 57XX) and go back further in time. I don't want to do this*, so the alternative is to take some poetic license and pretend that the line survived as a passenger and goods branch line up until 1939. This way I can faithfully reproduce a theoretical layout set in 1935.
     
    *Not just because I have the wrong locomotives, but because I feel I can do justice to a later time period that would more closely approximate to the times when I was an avid trainspotter.
  20. Focalplane
    Yesterday I received the 14XX chassis kit from Comet. So now I have two Airfix 14XX locos and one chassis. The scope of the project is to make one locomotive bearing a pre-1946 GWR number in the 48XX series.Here are the two locos and the Comet kit:
     

     
    The recently purchased GWR 14XX is in reasonable condition but not complete:
     

     
    The original BR 14XX I purchased new many years ago with front buffer beam damage and many bits missing:
     

     
    The Comet kit includes motor, gearbox, wheels, crankpins as well as the etched fret:
     

     
    The rest of the photos shows a series of putting together the basic frame, using Comet's invaluable frame assembly jig. I usually spring my hornblocks but in this case I have decided not to.
     
    The first shows drilling out the brake hanger holes to 0.75mm:
     

     
    Next, the frames are in the jig and the spacers are being prepared:
     

     

     
    The last five show stages of soldering the frame spacers:
     

     

     

     

     

     
    As a test, the frames sit square on our glass dining table surface, so on to the next stage. . . .
  21. Focalplane
    As is so often the case, warwickshirerailways.com comes to the rescue. The nearest 14XX to where I grew up may well have been 1414, which was originally 4814 until 1946. Here is the photo:
     
    http://warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwr-mra468.htm
  22. Focalplane
    The engine shed has been my main project for a couple of weeks while I am away from the LMR project and is one of the reasons behind this new project, based in England. The other is the Airfix 14XX restoration.
     
    The shed is a standard build of Scalescene's small engine shed with water tank over the front doors. I have done no weathering to it as yet:
     

     
    The interior is up to the usual scalescene's standard and again, no weathering has been applied:
     

     
    The next card project will be the small station building and shelter; meantime it's full steam ahead on the 14XX project, with an order placed for the Comet chassis, wheels, motor and gearbox.
  23. Focalplane
    Earlier photos show a carefully constructed Ratio coal stage placed where coaling will be done (eventually). The prototype for this is, apparently, in Scotland, a long way from the English Midlands, so it really will look out of place. Volumes I and II of LMS Sheds have plenty of illustrations of LNWR style coal holes, basically consisting of two roads under a water tank, one road slightly elevated. The example at Birmingham Monument Lane was one such design but in fact there were quite a few variations.
     
    Today I downloaded the scalescenes.com print-your-own card kit. I did this more to get ideas rather than build the kit "as is" as it appears to closely follow the GWR design as at Didcot.
     
    The basic LMS coal holes include:
     
    1. Two roads under the tank, coal shoveled or thrown from slightly elevated wagon into tender or bunker, the tank providing some shelter during inclement weather.
     
    2. One road under the tank, possibly elevated, with coal transferred to 10 cwt tubs, elevated and tipped in tenders and bunkers in a track next to the structure through a chute. The tubs were elevated hydraulically in some sheds (including Crewe at one time). This design could be easily modeled within the existing layout. Parts of the scalescenes.com kit could be used for both tank and chute. The hydraulic lift could be scratch built into the design.
     
    3. Larger systems included two roads under the tank and one road each side of the tank structure. I don't have room for this.
     
    4. Water supply from the tank was, in some cases delivered to the tender while coaling. This particularly applied to the original LNWR 'standard' design.
     
    There is a relationship between size of coaling plant and the number of shed roads. Typical 4 road sheds (as in Legge Lane) had a coal hole and any upgrading would probably only include a powered conveyor belt. The big concrete coaling stages were reserved for sheds with at least 6 roads, usually 8 or more.
     
    Information sources other than the Wild Swan Publications also include warwickshirerailways.com, an excellent site with plenty of photos and descriptions through time. Even if you are not interested in Warwickshire, there is plenty to look at on this site.
  24. Focalplane
    Cold showery weather - what am I doing in England?! Well, Sunday is a good day to take a loco out of its box and do some detailing and I had forgotten about my Bachmann 75027 in "out of the box" weathered state. It is a very nice looking model and really does justice to the real thing.
     

     
    I am about half way through the list of work on this model and much remains to be done once I take it back to France where I will apply some really heavy weathering, etc.
     
    The most difficult part was fitting scale screw couplings, particularly to the front of the loco as it is solid metal behind the buffer beam. Fortunately my Dremel made the job relatively easy, particularly now that I have a Dremel Work Station. I used a Smiths set of couplers which are not as heavy as the ones made by Romford but do look good. I will eventually remove the Bachmann coupler pocket from the front bogie and then the front end will look as it should look. All the supplied add ons were applied to the front of the loco.
     

     
    Real coal will be added when I get back to France. The coal was collected from a disused open cast mine north of Béziers a couple of years ago. There is nothing that compares to the real thing! The tender will also be close coupled to suit 3 ft radii and a crew added to the cab.
     
    The lamps are from Springside Models and I am not entirely happy with them. The jewels fell out of both front and rear lamps as I was drilling out the base of the lamps. One I found, one is gone for ever.
     

  25. Focalplane
    This is my current project, set up on a cabinet top in my apartment in France which I use for R&R when not working in West Africa. Lack of space precludes any other type of layout except a small branch line and as I like large (and small) steam locos then a detailed fictional late 1950s LMR shed in the Birmingham area seemed a good idea.
     
    There is no prototype, rather a set of ideas translated from numerous sheds in the West Midlands. Monument Lane might have been a good prototype but its layout simply would not fit the space. So I adopted a nearby lane in the Jewellry Quarter for the fictional model. Legge Lane is mostly derelict these days but I remember growing up there when a lad.
     
    The track layout is unusual, relying on the turntable for almost all switching. There is only one other switch in the yard. This was forced by the lack of space. This is actually prototypical as most Midland sheds were constrained by their surroundings (Monument Lane, Coventry being but two examples).
     
    In designing the layout, thought was given to the LMS cafeteria method of servicing a steam locomotive, so the turntable is actually used in a specific progression from arrival to storage to departure of each locomotive.
     
    The shed roster is being accumulated and will number many more than the eight which will actually fit in the four road shed. So far all are LMR but a few foreigners may visit from time to time. The roster currently includes many Bachmann RTRs, an old Wills Finecast 4F, and several metal kits waiting completion. Some of the RTRs will be upgraded with Comet chassis.
     
    Some key design parameters:
     
    Size - 186cm x 40cm
    Track - Peco OO code 75 Finescale
    Wiring - DCC
    Turntable - Peco turntable kit, motorized with Meccano motor, etc.
    Structures - Scalescenes shed, various kits and scratch built items
    Backdrop - Scalescenes brick arches, tunnel to rest of the system fiddle yard
     
    The next post will add a few photos.
×
×
  • Create New...