coline33

Well, I have decided to cease scratch and kit building of tram and rail items. I have taken the decision as if I do get back to full health. my concentration and interest will not return. Thus, RTR will continue to see me with rail aspects only. In 00, "Welney Depot" layout based on an extension of the Wisbech & Upwell as operated in the BR era. In 009, "East Quay" based on a completely rebuilt Rye & Camber primarily as an industrial line serving a new ship terminal at the mouth of the River Rother with passenger services on sunny days! I wish very one success in developing tram models and regret having to cease my thread without completion which was not far off.

With the announcement of the first Archewell Productions series on the 2022 Invicta Games, could this be the second??? A couple of further mug shots could add a touch of royalty!!!

In its final BR condition, a photo shows it was LNER Brown but the old number with just the E transfer added was in fact tidied up by covering with a complete set of BR standard numerals and an E. I am all for a model in this condition plus a set of the smaller diameter wheels for W&U use.

I add my voice to those already made for a prototypical bogie carriage. My preference would be one in LNER Brown and in its final BR numbered condition. However, I would not object if it came out in BR Crimson, just to have one in the BR era is important to me!!! Fortunately, in building "Welney Depot" I have the track with a concrete paved side so I have the passenger setting down point ready to accept 'mixed trams'.

Loved your construction of these shops to fit the curve. My three of these are on the straight with trams passing. Great job.

Now to the second area. The replacement mechs for the two cars using KW Trams current LCC m/t units. Herewith the truck sides painted and fixing points cleaned out. Note the current mechs (silver top) are slightly higher than the previous version (black top) but do allow more room under the platforms for the life guards and trays. If you have the black ones then these do fit the 4mm, shorter lower saloon overall length better. Note not for 2054-2061!

Progress with improving my leg is slow but I have been able to progress a couple of areas to move on with EH 92 and CCT 384. I attach a view of the destination boxes available going from left to right. 1. Basic KW Trams E and E1 2-line box with the 3-codes lamps in original position. 2. Same part with the lamps filed down to discs. 3. Same part with the lamps completely removed and the finest of Slater's Assorted Strip affixed. Painted and with destination in place. 4. Basic KW Trams metal K-ray 2-line box unmodified, painted and with destination in place. 5. BEC-Models (Frank Vescoe) 3-line box.

Well some progress is being made whilst I await the medical assessment of my hip and swollen leg. Although I have failed to be stable enough with a soldering iron to marry the pairs of mechs, I am completing the truck side assemblies. With EH 92 I have been able to prepare the replacement plain panelled wooden boxes for the incorrect K-ray version that it had. Now gone to the paint stage it will be some days before fitment. In the attached photo the top line from left to right shows the three stages. Left hand. Single width three code lamp part. Note the K-ray version has a curved back to fit the end curves. Decide on whether required unaltered or file the lamps to form discs or file the lamps off completely. Middle. Filed smooth to take rain strip. Found the perfect strip in Slaters assorted strips. Glued in place right across leaving ends clear. When dry the ends were cut off flush. Right hand. For the box to fit properly to the curved end. The upright strips seen at each side are 1mm. square. Again affix so the leaving the ends clear. When dry the ends were cut off flush, The next move is to remove 1mm, from each strip at the bottom of the box to allow the box to fit over the bottom beading of the curved end. I will continue after the paint dries, on dressing the box and its placement. E 467's inset destination boxes have had to be replaced as spoilt! The drawing beneath shows the placing of the rain strip over the aperture.

Thanks, Lloyd, for the update and reference to the exhibitions. Alas age does creep up on us and I know the feeling well! All the best, Colin.

That was a superb little very effective exhibition layout to generate young interest. Loved the last photo showing the height difference between OO on the left and S on the right! Now where is the layout today, please?

One month later and little more done I am afraid whilst I am sorting out my strained replacement hip. I find it hard to settle down comfortably at the workbench to get on with progressing. Colin.

Osborn Models did do a flexible inset strip in grey with a cobbled effect for 16.5mm gauge. My initial trials found it easily manageable and the width could be reduced by cutting to allow for the deeper flange on some of my locos to maintain electrical contact.

I have all three BR J70s, I do have a preference for the two skirted ones for prototypical W&U operation. Fortunately, there are those few occasions when a non-skirted J70 ran over the W&U so it makes for a nice change to see the motion. So really I am undecided!!!

Thanks, Paul. I discovered this before reading your post and placed an order. I note that the Parracombe Church Lane Bridge is also now available to order. Colin.

Yes Paul, then one of the motor cars can be named UMBER after the Devon river You can then seek meaningfull Devon names for the other end.

Well done, that looks absolutely great. Now to set up mass-producing these! You should have a market and I be first to order and supply the mech!!! Nothing like a second string to your bow! Superb job.

The end is in sight now its got all its tackle on show! Pull its pants up (or its kilt or skirt)!!!

Paul, I trust you already have the CWRailways L&B lamp hut complete with the interior items? Your mentioning elsewhere of other uses for Paul's 'Parracombe halt' hut, my 'Snapper halt' which came from him, forms the only shelter for intending passengers at 'Camber Sands West halt' on my "East Quay" layout. It blends well into a sand dune!

Lovely job, Just the right place in which to isolate especially if it has a secret passage into the pub!

Very pleased you have been able to help Paul. I have built his earlier kits with ease so I am looking forward to the release of Parracombe.

Mechs. If I repeat anything I have already written here, please forgive me! I have experienced a number of RTR bogie tram mechs since 1958. For London bogie cars, KW Trams have reached the best two 4'6" w/b (although one is no longer in production) and one 4' w/b. So I will start with the top two rows of the attached. The lower saloon is a Type T and that 'plugs' on to the unit shown with its Brill 22E bogies. The central dog guard will be affixed to the body not the unit. For a 'plug' unit with LCC Class 4 bogies there is a picture earlier on in this site. The rebates in the centre are for clearing the body mounted plough carriers and are of a length that it does not matter if the carrier is off-centre or centred. The body of EH 92 is shown mid-way to expose the bolsters in the former BEC Nos.11 & 12 kits. Below this is a pair of the 4'6" w/b mechs currently available which I call the 'silver' version. Then finally the previous version, no longer available, which I call the 'black' one. Both pairs are electrically connected to each other so double check that the wires are not crossed over. One should find that by keeping to the pair as purchased there should be no problem. The 'silver' mechs are heavier and slightly higher than the 'black' ones. The height difference can be controlled in the dimensions of a 'plug' unit otherwise one has to accept the slightly higher situation. The advantage of the higher one is that it gives more space under the platforms for the white metal life guards and trays! If you have grounding problems when using the 'black' then resort to the etched life guards and trays available. With "West Croydon" a possible for the 2022 season, my Class E have the 'black' version which suits the 4mm. shorter lower saloon and for which I schedule 3 cars in operation and one spare. My various styles of Class E/1 have the 'silver' mech as 6 cars are scheduled with 2 cars spare. With at least two Class E/1s going to be switched to non-Croydon services on my "High Road" layout then I have more mechs still to purchase! Trust the above is a help.

The big problem with history writing is using published information in the first place. Ashfield and Pick were great PR men from the private sector. Even in Combine days they were under attack from shareholders and in LPTB days from stockholders! The idea of LPTB was based on the unification of Berlin's transport which went the municipal way not that of the private companies. Despite the post-war division and reunification of Germany just look at today's BVB and how it is tackling climate change to 2040 in a controlled financial way. The municipal way is far more transparent as the ratepayers are directly involved and their voting power politically more important than share/stockholders. Our politicians went the wrong way in 1933 as probably due to the investment in the Underground being so great and its further expansion necessary coupled with the London Pooling with the still private railway companies. To get some measure of what exactly went on in the 1930's one needs to have seen the LPTB internal memoranda of how departments had to meet the Board's dictates which quite frankly were just rubber stamped by the county representatives. (Before LPTB these counties held greater power over the Combine activities which Pick resented.) There was quite a lot of frustration in the ranks and with the unions but Mr. Thomas controlled T&T in a firm but fair way and why his management succeeded in not having the industrial unrest that the Central Bus dept. had. Fortunately, in the work with which I was involved with the London Tramway History Group, there were a lot of memos and reports that 'came out of the woodwork', were read and noted, and then put back! Hence there is a lot of detail on the trams that has never been published either because authors were not aware or conveyed their personal views both pro and con. I just use my notes as background to why I go about showing detail for modellers to use to suit the era they want to portray. I concentrate on LPTB/LTE because that is the era of my upbringing. To go back beyond 1933 would bring me into coupled cars, single deck E/1s and front exit E/2s and I don't really want to go there although so very interesting.

Rob, used ticket boxes were introduced in the LCC's final years to reduce the rubbish left in the cars. They were rolled out as a trial on the cars at Hammersmith depot (26/28/30/89) and painted grey. This continued as a low priority with LPTB extending it to other depots, such as Wandsworth, until the used paper saving drive of the WW2 dictated otherwise. By 1945 the serviceable fleet had them but not the stored fleet which came in and out of service as circumstances of war had dictated. As to plough carriers, the LCC had started the changeover to body mounted in the late 1920's but even many of London's post-1925 new 'Class E/1 or similar' bogie cars were delivered with bogie mounted ones. Once CRD took control of the ex-municipal cars then LCC ways saw slow progress in this change as cars went to Charlton for overhaul. Following the threat of LPTB 'going into administration', CRD had to make cut-backs from 1936 even the windscreening of cars was scaled back and ridding of non-standard equipment reduced the spares costs. Remember the abrupt cessation of the Ashfield Rehab scheme, the offering 'for sale' of trams - experimental Felthams, HR/2s and Ilfords. With the recovery of body mounted carriers from scrapped cars pre-1939, CRD had a good float but shortage there of WW2 labour kept such work to the dire minimum. That is why one sees photos of East and West Ham cars still with bogie mounted carriers on wartime south London services. It is safe to say that once CRD got over its wartime backlog of overhauls, by using New Cross and Purley depots as Annexes, then the last bogie mounted carriers disappeared. The last cars to change in peace-time were the stored Type HF of which three were renovated as CRD staff cars. I do treat reference to the three styles of ex-West Ham bogie cars, differently to Ian Allan's generic WH coined in 1942, in the same way that LPTB did from 1933!!! I wonder how many London Transport tram modellers in 4mm. scale make cars with bogie mounted carriers? At least the parts are available!!!

Where does all the time go? It is worse in lockdown. From coffee to lunch the whole time was taken up with the weekly supermarket delivery order. Then lunch to afternoon tea with some incoming emails plus a need to get certain items painted so they dry today! Now to continue. In taking over all the ex-municipal bogie cars, LPTB adopted LCC protocol aimed at having identical End As and End Bs throughout its increased fleet. So as a yard stick for the Class E, CCT/EH/LCC/Walthamstow Class E/1 cars I use the following to determine which platform has what items. You will find that there have been the odd reversals!!! Going from left to right of the side view of a car - End A platform has a controller, hand brake handle, under the stairs a conductor's box (on most EH cars this was on top of a rheostat cabinet - all other E/1s had grids under the platform) and on the bulkhead the overhead/conduit switch box. Next comes the bogie upon which the plough carrier had been bolted (but not Walthamstow 2054-2061), followed by the off-centre body mounted plough carrier (2054-2061 had these centrally body mounted) and then the 'plain' bogie. Finally End B platform with controller, hand brake handle, under the stairs the spare plough on top of the tool box and under the used ticket box the MSC plate/disc. The stairs on both platforms being the 90 degree direct version. Note that I have omitted the fuse boxes hidden under the canopies over the platform entrances - one end, that I suspect was A, had two, one red (positive) the other black (negative), and the other end had one black one (negative). I hopes this helps to give and maintain the correct uniformity between models from these two classes.

I have now started feeling the delays in getting parts because the lockdowns have created backlogs of outstanding orders placed last year. The work on EH 92 will be delayed. It was fitted with white metal life guards, front and side, and trays. The trays are in good order but not the guards. The EHs lost their side guards on coming south side so these have had to be cut free. The front guards were damaged so as they so firmly fixed they were broken off and the area filed flat to take etched three bar guards. I have been alerted to a lengthy wait for delivery of my order for these. I continue to otherwise detail, repaint and overhaul the trucks. In the meantime, I have added CCT E1 384 to the workshop. This car was built by someone unknown as 384 and purchased by the late Gerald Warner to get his layout going. Feeling it was not to his standard so did not want to detail it further, I bought it to fill a service 42 schedule slot for a then impending exhibition. Having dressed for the 42s it did its job for the first day until a junior who we had welcomed to help us decided to ignore the instruction that any car to be removed MUST be held by the trucks NOT the body. In wanting to help pack away 384 was picked up by body. The trucks fell to the floor and our junior being startled then dropped the body!!! I had no time to do a major repair overnight so we were one 42 missing in the sequence in which trams passed through "West Croydon" on the second day. For the next exhibition its place was taken by a further new model 375. 384 was examined but nothing further was done until now. It will get new mechs now that I have standardised for Class E/1 and once the Kingsway Models tram advert set arrives - yes it is on its way - the final correction will be made, some tidying up to be done and it will be available for service. More will follow as I have to break for coffee!!!