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Mister Spoons

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Everything posted by Mister Spoons

  1. 7093 is my scratchbuild; fitted with motors and lighting. I just don't have a layout to run it!
  2. I spent a huge amount of time in Brussels in the past; My dad was Belgian and I lived there for a few years in the late '80's/early 90's; I remember the older standard cars with trailers, and the early days of the Pre-Metro; for a number of years the trams used in the metro changed from trolley poles to pantograph on the access ramps, and back to pole on exit. There was a wonderful tram terminus at the Marche au Poisson (fish market) square near the Sainte Catherine church that was abandoned in the first stage of heavy metro operation in 1976 when the Trams 39/44 were curtailed to Montgomery. I have two 1/43 scale 7000 series PCC models built to represent the period of dual-mode current collection, one was scratchbuilt by me, in about 1996, and one purchased from St. Petersburg Model Co. I'll post some pictures. I had also built a standard trailer set and a 5000 series car which were sold on about 1992. I also built a number of the Bec-Kits cars too; the 7000 series in various permutations, as well as the two 5000 variants. Scratchbuilt in 4mm was a 7500 car (rebuilt to 7700 in the early 1980's) and a Vicinal car of the type introduced in 1981 on the coastal tramway, which was visually impressive, but very simple to build - no curves on it at all!
  3. Not as yet Kevin, I do have everything needed to build the L3 model but have not started yet....... HOWEVER, I have provided some diagrams for a fellow user of Train Simulator 2016 to produce a London trolleybus, and I've customised the decal set to represent a route 607 vehicle for the project. I never did get the hang of working with 3D modelling programmes myself so I'm happy someone else has grasped the nettle and look forward to this coming to fruition. I hope to make a start in the new year on the L-Class, before I forget all the useful stuff I learned on the K Class....... I will be sticking to static modelling but with a view of motorisation at some point; space is a real issue for me as my wife is very protective of her 'office room' haha Regards David
  4. Glad you enjoyed the build Kevin; I'm still working on the chassis side of things - I built 1058 with the ultimate aim of having working trolleybuses in my front room! Real life has impinged on modelling as we have totally redecorated the flat, laid laminate flooring and generally jollied the place up, so sadly limited time has been available for the good stuff - I have decided I hate decorating and my knees bear the scars of lamination hell..... I've experimented with building a simple standardised chassis that will fit this model, and the next one, an L3 class - I've done a good few drawings for steering gear and once the Christmas period is over (got the in-laws coming over from Poland so will have zero opportunity to work on the model) I'll be getting stuck in with a vengeance..... I'll be starting a thread on the chassis saga in parallel with the 1497 build, hopefully the lessons I've learned from 1058's construction will lead to a model without the flaws of 1058 (Yes, there are things I look at and think 'tut - must try harder', as my school reports regularly stated......) but 1497 will probably have errors and glitches of its own! Game plan is butchered Faller system mechanics on brass ladder type chassis, the motors are miraculously small and powerful enough, and power from rechargeables means I don't have to construct live overhead although 1058 COULD be powered through the trolleypoles, and 1497 will be similarly capable - I just don't have space in our flat for a permanent layout - perhaps when we move..... in an ideal world a full-size table layout; a little 1/43 slice of West London in April 1962 would be rather splendid but I don't think Mrs. Spoons would go for balancing her dinner on her knees Ad Infinitum, while a faithful replica of Gunnersbury Roundabout takes shape on her Ikea tabletop...... Hope everyone has a good break next week, Regards David
  5. You hit the nail on the head Jon, When you get the idea in your head to build something, whatever it is, if your heart is really in it you want to make it as close to reality as humanly possible, so that when you see a photo from a 'real' angle it has you believing it could be the real thing, whether it is using the correct font for blinds and lettering or producing an authentic tax disc, it matters, and if you take time and trouble to achieve as much authenticity as you can with the small things as well as the bigger things it makes a huge difference! I know with my model there were things I considered making compromises with and I am glad I persevered; in so doing I learned a few things that can be applied to future models - decal upholstery being one thing for me and using 'hollow components' like the roof domes to save weight (hopefully preventing waistline and window pillar sag, fingers crossed there!) I know I have built models in the past and made a horrible job because the spark of emotion for the subject wasn't there, so only build things now that I have a feeling for. Cheers David
  6. For the benefit of younger viewers.... Those were the days..... Butler's passed on to the depot in the sky, Blakey's retired to Yorkshire, and the clippie was made redundant and now works at Poundstretchers....
  7. Hi Jon, Back from our hols, and real life has gotten in the way of my modelling; a new car bought, and planning decorating too.... Looks like my L3 trolley project will not be happening immediately, but I'm glad I dropped by today and caught up on your progress! Your bus is coming on very nicely and likewise the Class 24 weathering; You have certainly captured the shape and 'Leylandness' of the bus and I think I might get myself the Cornell London HR/2 1/43 brass tram kit, now the burns have healed from my Terry Russell E/1 build, and the emotional scars I inflicted on Mrs. Spoons during my trolleybus build are mending nicely - unlike the red paint spots on the kitchen surfaces...... Looking forward to seeing the bus completed and 'fully dressed' Regards David
  8. Definitely in the final furlong now; lifeguards fitted, there's a couple of roof components to do, which will minimise the joints, and I'll be concentrating on the motorised chassis for a while and looking forward to going on holiday at the beginning of August; be very sure that it will involve a little play with various trams and trolleybuses in Germany and Poland, as well as a trip across the the Nyborg Bridge between Denmark and Sweden (Yes, that bridge where the bodies were found in the TV series!) and a day in Ystad where Wallander is set; Now you know how we spend our time when I'm not at the workbench......
  9. That's the lifeguards made; the bottom one is ready for test fitting to ensure it sits at the right height; the fixing has not been glued to the actual lifeguard yet - the construction method should ensure durability, rather than just glueing the wire ends to the inner body.....
  10. After a few days inertia the last of the seats are assembled, upholstered and fitted with handrails, apart from the rear one, which readers 'of a certain age' may remember as the seat to aim for if travelling with female company, that cozy space by the rear nearside window! The seats are on two separate strips to aid insertion. Also in the pic is the upper deck stairwell screen, handrail to be added once the paint is dry. Once the upper deck items are fixed in I'll be fixing the roof in place and adding some final detail, pictures to follow later.... I'll add the lifeguards to the sides, and when it arrives int' post, a brass 'makers plate' that I've ordered from the bay of E
  11. Hi Rob Feel free to post a pic of a Wellington trolley here; preferably an old one! I was quite young when London trolleys were withdrawn but luckily have access both to preserved vehicles and a chap who has an immense knowledge of the vehicles and operating procedures etc. What I've tried to do is capture the character of the real thing, almost the 'smell' of it, and although I look at some things that are not 100% and utter a silent 'tut', I think the model looks right, and the next one will hopefully avoid a repeat of the same mistakes. I have to admit to grinning stupidly when I look at the model as I am pleased with the result. Seat production has ground to a halt today but I think all will be done and dusted at the weekend!
  12. Well spotted there OzzyO, I also have a picture in one of my books which looks to be taken on the same day, of 1497 in the exact same position without 1381 passing by - the cream van with the maroon stripe is in the same location as is the vehicle parked to the right which is a Morris Minor - I've reproduced it below- this photo has the driver, white summer cap cover worn as per Rule 7 'Drivers and Conductors must wear their white cap covers from 1st May to 30th September inclusive.' At a guess it looks like a crew change has occurred...... I recently bought a copy of the LT Rule book for Tram & Trolleybus staff, and it's very interesting in terms of what crew were expected to do! The black and white photo was taken the day before abandonment - 7th May 1962, and I think it's a sure bet the colour one was too.
  13. With the 1058 project drawing to a close, wipers and mirrors are built and fitted, and the depot code IH applied and running number 3 added; the construction of the last few seats for upstairs is proceeding and the upper deck stairwell panel with its handrail should be finished later today or Tuesday... Once the upper deck internals are complete, a quick blow out with an airduster to ensure nothing is trapped within, and the roof will then be permanently fitted, allowing a few more roof detail parts to be added. I'll be having a play around with motorised chassis ideas for a while as I have been expressly forbidden by Mrs. Spoons from commencing with my next project before our holidays, which is to be L3 1497; allocated to Fulwell and operating to the bitter end..... And here she is, leaving FW on a 605 journey in the very last days of operation - the yellow strip poster in the next-to-last window is the giveaway there. I've already got much of the material to construct the L, and should only need to buy wheels, tyres and maybe trolleypoles, if I don't build those from scratch, I even have the Co-Op 99 Tea ads from the 1058 project to use! I think that 1058 will be completed this week as a static model - animation to be added once it all works, and 1497 will be built to accommodate the same type of working chassis.
  14. You are right about trams sharing trolley overhead Phil, and I'm sure I read that when the trams went that the voltage was then on this +300/-300 - I have just found a reference to floating/grounding and +/- voltage on David Bradleys excellent site here: http://www.trolleybus.net/subhtml/picture152.htm by Irvine Bell., I had a good chuckle over the Hastings scenario and will be keeping my eyes open for a Hastings Corporation Tramways rubber hammer on Ebay....... Cheers David
  15. Here's the offside upper deck seats, handrails to be added and fitted to a ladder, same method as downstairs - I've also made the horizontal handrail that goes on the window at the head of the stairs; in some pictures it looks almost like a halfdrop, see the offside view of 1058 (the full-size one!!) on the last page and you'll see what I mean. While the seats are drying I'll build the ladder and cut seat back handrails......
  16. @ Catweasel; my memory may be a touch faulty but I think the terminal turning circle was still there up until about 1990. Could be wishful thinking though! If you take a look at the video in Post 162 right at the end it shows Isleworth Depot as it was in 2008, a self-storage depot..... I'll pop down there over the next few days and take a photo as it is now; Fingers crossed it doesn't get demolished to make way for more soulless people-hutches! The architecture of that period still looks good, a plain unadorned building that doesn't look 80 years old - similarly the Isleworth Fire Station on the corner of Spring Grove Road, it has that 'Underground' station look that was so common in the 1930's, they really did have a flair for design in that decade, both for utility buildings and for public transport in particular - the trolleys, the RT bus, tube stations & stock; all with clean lines and 'style'...
  17. Good point there David, I would think that weight saving is a major consideration with the overhead for trolleys as there's two of everything up there compared to tramway overhead; LT's overhead developed over the years - the earlier wooden insulation being superceded by lighter, more durable 'dumbbell' system items, although wooden items were in use to the end. Regarding the stud contact system, there was also a magnetic stud method in which the stud was lifted by magnetic force, energising at the top of travel... urban myth being a 'stuck' stud remaining powered, to the discomfort of peeing dogs..... I'm sure it would only be a myth as dogs (as we know :-D ) preferred to raise a hind leg against traction poles, causing corrosion to the bases of the poles. I understand that is why LT and others encased some pole bases in concrete! I also remember the trolleys in Reading and Bournemouth, and Bradford, Bournemouth being regularly visited, Reading less so and Bradford only once. As regards the LT Q! trolleys sold to Spain, I bludgeoned my parents into submission, instead of the Costa Brava we went to the Atlantic coast of Spain a couple of times, sampling the delights there; I particularly enjoyed Santander as the livery was almost London, with brown rear roofs and domes, and La Coruna which were better kept and two-tone blue and cream. Take a peek at David Bradley Online (if you haven't already!) to see some wonderful photos of the Q!s in Spain, as well as a plethora of London trolley pics and info....
  18. Hi PhilJ W, nice comparison with Insulfrog there! Don't know if you have seen the picture of a trolley turning into (I think) Colindale Depot whilst taking juice, a wonderful bit of arcing! Only a black and white image sadly; I've never seen a colour pic of a LT trolley arcing - have you?
  19. Hi OzzyO, In the early days of trolleybuses in London the grooved tramway-type wheel was used, but because the trolleybus doesn't stick to a fixed path along the road the number of dewirements was unacceptably high and an alternative sought, after a few experiments with wheels of curious dimensions it was found that a skate (with a grooved carbon insert) instead of the wheel was far more stable; here's a picture of a short type head which was the standard until around 1946: The skate is located in a very similar fashion to a wheel, it can rotate about the pivot point in much the same way as most wheel type heads, and because the groove is elongated by comparison with the wheel it was far less prone to misbehaving. From around 1946 a modified type was used which had an even longer carbon insert which was self-lubricating with a graphite content eliminating the need to use addition lubrication. This meant that the converted buses that roamed the network greasing the overhead were retired.... LT trolleybuses ran at 600v, which was supplied at -300v neg and +300 pos, and I have no idea why this was chosen as the old trams were -0 and +600, perhaps to do with minimising corrosion? The busiest junction on the London system was the Nags Head on Holloway Road, a real spiders web of wiring here: and life must have been even more complex when the trams ran alongside, up to 1952, although the trams collected their current via the conduit here straightforward 90 degree crossovers were probably one of the simpler pieces of special work as they have no moving parts, on the LT system most of the turnouts (aka frogs) were manual with a handle which was mounted to a traction pole ahead of the junction with a visual indicator ahead, and a reset trip after the special work, there were some push-button semi-automatic frogs and a very small minority of automatics which worked on a 'power or coast' basis which was probably quite tricky in London rush-hour traffic!
  20. You are right there Pete, but a bevy of Joe Public was a very rare exception on LT premises! I know that the film was within the last couple of weeks of operations at IH, as the vehicle on the TT was a Fulwell-based L3 which would seldom have entered Isleworth Depot. I reckon this film was taken on a farewell tour which took place on 15th April 1962; The trolley was 1528 - one of the two L3's with sliding top vents left in service, the other tour vehicle being 1425 which had half-drops. LT were strict on non-employees being in depots so these folk must have been on that tour and it appears that some leeway was shown to the participants! PS: I found a couple of pictures online showing TTs in use at Carshalton and at Bow as well...... PPS: I've found a still photo of 1528 on the TT at Isleworth, on an enthusiasts tour which was taken on 29/4/62 so I was partly right; you can recognise some of the people in the film! I don't know if 1528 was involved in the 15th April tour but 1425 certainly was! It seems there were a good few private tours in the final days. Detail Detail.......
  21. Glad you enjoyed it John, I never get bored with watching film of London trolleys (and later 60's and early 70's stuff too) especially when it's places I knew then and now. We lived at Kew Bridge with the 657, 667 and 655 at the end of the street, and so much of the film I posted on about page two is good memories of growing up in that part of west London! The Turntable Traverser was quite impressive, and clever use of space in what I believe was the smallest depot in London; I think (having had a quick squint in one of my 'library' of LT trolley books) that quite a few depots had them, what wasn't supposed to happen was traversing and turntabling at the same time! As a later generation of LT staff what was in the rule book and reality were often a distance apart haha..
  22. Thanks for the positive feedback and compliments guys; I have enjoyed every moment of this build and once we return from our holidays I will be building an L3 to keep the K company! I have not exhibited John, but if I can get the models motorised I do have an idea for a small portable sectional layout involving a truncated version of Isleworth depot with a working turntable traverser - see the video below starting at about 0.59 - a very unusual piece of equipment in London.... and enjoy a bit of Del Shannon while wallowing in nostalgia! This is a long-term dream-type project but to have something to run the trolleys on would be excellent, and built in sections should be achievable....one day! I know that Isleworth Depot is available from Kingsway John in 4mm so I may contact him and see if the artwork could be upscaled to 7mm....... As a first step I will put a diorama together and see what develops. As Mrs Spoons is working late today I'm carrying on with all those seats - less work to do on them tomorrow.... Cheers again for the encouragement and great feedback folks David
  23. Well I grasped the nettle and began the process of building the upper deck seating, same strategy as with the lower deck, just more of the little blighters! These are the offside ones. I've also added the decals; the London Transport and numbers are from Terry Russell, and all others are homebrew and the real thing..... Front view And the rear..... I'll be continuing with the seats on Tuesday, along with the small detail items; mirrors, wipers, sideguards and mudflaps, and a few more handrails & suchlike...... we're entering the end phase and I shall hopefully have 1058 close to completion when I visit Hugh next Saturday!
  24. I'd guess that the driver on hearing the scraping of a trolley head with a worn insert on the overhead would alert the next inspector on the road, and a vehicle would be despatched to a predefined point. The rear roof domes were painted glossy brown in an attempt to disguise the droppings from the trolleyheads, I should think that the mixture of carbon and grease would have been pretty unsightly and difficult to shift; the brown dome also adds quite nicely to the aesthetic of the vehicles too!
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