Chamby

I have been advised that cows made the most noise during loading and unloading. On the moove they were relatively quiet, so yes a bit of modellers license is required. This project was for a bit of less serious modelling though, and it has been worth it already seeing people’s faces light up when they hear it...

Moo! Following a discussion at the Bodmin Club a couple off weeks ago, a fellow member who does a bit of 3D printing offered to produce some cows for my cattle train. After providing him with the dimensions of the inside of my cattle wagons, they duly arrived the following week - in a lurid pearlescent blue colour! A bit of research then, into cow breeds that were common in the 1950's, and I settled on Hereford's as they have white heads and I thought these would be more visible when placed inside the wagons. This is what a herd of Hereford cattle look like, when lined up to go in the wagons: This is how they look when the wagons are populated: Inevitably, being a DCC man the discussion on club night moved to adding sound. It just had to be done, This is the wagon converted to sound: a re-purposed Loksound v4 chip was wired up to a twin sugar lump speaker, loaded with a sound file of cattle mooing sourced from a free download site on the internet. The resulting train can be observed here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/501719290936160/permalink/645069013267853/ I thought the sound effect might send people mad after a while, but they just don't stop smiling!

That's the fourth monkey...

You missed my point, PMP. I have no problem with what you describe above. The point I was making is that, if you had opportunistically acquired that image from someone else, perhaps after their death, you weren’t the one who had travelled 120 miles to take it etc, etc, and the ethics become different. I wonder then, what those who have built up a significant photographic record might want to happen to their work after their death... would they prefer it to become a part of a free, publicly available archive, or are they happy if someone they have never known acquires the images, claims copyright and starts charging others for accessing them?

With regard to ‘monetising’ photographs, I understand and fully support the argument regarding photographs that someone has taken, that are then acquired and re-purposed without the originator’s permission. It feels wrong when the person claiming ownership has simply acquired the images from somewhere else, for the purpose of making money. They have had no contribution whatsoever into the image’s creation, it is seen by them as an investment and the use of copyright is purely for financial gain from someone else’s work. This essentially removes these images from the public domain for educational and reference purposes. They’re mine now... pay me or hands off! Unfortunately I think this practice will become more common, with the advent of Non-Fungible Tokens that make it easier to create financial value and transferable ownership from digital imagery. It is a shame when our society places personal financial value creation above the more altruistic values of wider education and historical reference. Note: I refer specifically to items of purely photographic record here, as distinct from images that were originally created to be a work of art.

Hi DCB, Leicester Central Shed was unusual on the GC in that the loco's assigned to it were primarily rostered on passenger services, it being approximately half-way between Marylebone and Manchester. The other main depots on the London Extension were Annesley, Colwick and Woodford Halse, mostly handling the freight traffic for which the line was renowned. In simple terms, the loco's were diagrammed as far as Leicester, but their trains would normally continue on to their destinations farther North or South. On arrival at Leicester, the relieving locomotive would already be simmering alongside, usually in the bay platform or sometimes in the adjacent goods loop. The arriving loco would uncouple, and as a light engine it would then run either to the loco facilities at the south end of the station (turntable and water tower) or farther south to the main shed if it needed coaling as well. The relieving loco would simply move forward out of the bay, back up to the waiting train and couple up. The Leicester operation was slick, with as little as 4 minutes being taken for the loco-swop. In the case of the GW 'Halls', the return diagram was usually an afternoon local service originating at Leicester and running back as far as Woodford Halse, and thence back to the Western Region via Banbury. A highly recommended read is The Great Central From The Footplate by Rowbotham and Stratford (1988), Ian Allen Ltd, ISBN: 978-1-906974-05-3. It is a fascinating account, well written by former Leicester shed men. The operation at Leicester itself is easily replicated. A turntable will be installed at the south end of the station, in the top right hand corner of the diagram below, that will double-up as both the south end of the station and service the existing 4-road loco shed, which in reality had its own turntable. (My model omits the extensive Goods depot, as modelled by Shipley MRS, so in my miniature world the shed is now much closer to the station). The bigger challenge at the moment is once the train has departed - I'm going to have to re-model the kickback 'carriage' sidings into a proper storage loop at some stage. Another consequence of the station re-modelling is that I will also have to re-work some of the track layout at the station approaches. These are compromised by the necessary curvature on my layout owing to space restrictions, and my dependence upon proprietary track work. Scratch-building the track will be required... another new skill to master, but all in good time. As I have said before, this is an evolving layout and savouring the modelling journey is far more important to me than rushing to achieve the finished article! I must have a go at improving the track diagram later! Phil

Thanks, @Mark90. It is taking a lot longer than I anticipated, probably because it is my first attempt at scratch building and the learning curve is significant, but yes, it is very rewarding seeing it come together. It also is changing my perception about what I might be able to achieve with this layout. For example, I had originally intended kit-bashing the two required signal boxes, but now I can see how scratch building is both personally do-able, and will achieve a much closer representation of the originals. There will always be compromises of course, space constraints being the main one in terms of deviation from the prototype, and time in terms of my modelling priorities. But hopefully I will ultimately capture the look and feel of Leicester Central, albeit in a much compressed form, such that it becomes instantly recognisable and modelled to a decent standard.

In 1:76 scale, yes.

I find that nothing in this hobby is an absolute. I like to run my layout in a given time/place to the best of my ability... but then at times rule 1 is invoked, usually when I am alone and giving other stuff a run round, or when a friend is visiting and has something different to show. And occasionally, dare I say it, at an exhibition when things are quiet and a youngster is the primary audience, then the wee blue fella might pop out for a run-past. One of the most entertaining things I have seen was a stuffed mouse on a motorised ‘spud’ bogie, that darted the length of an otherwise very serious layout from one tunnel mouth to the other . A mouse? Where? Rule 1 is fine, in the right place at the right time. Those times are many... but I suggest that there are also other times when it just isn’t right!

Well, that was fun (not). Storm Eunice for gave us almost three days without power, thankfully it's back up now. No central heating, cooking facilities or internet... Today we're appreciating so much, everything from a warm house to a simple slice of toast and catching up with RMWeb! A little extra modelling was achieved, despite the lack of heating at my workbench, allowing me to further progress the station building. The station building walls are almost complete now: A couple of photographs where I trial-fitted some of the platform canopy perched on some lolly sticks, to see how it would look: And finally after adding glazing, the four walls were assembled and trial-fitted on the layout; it's beginning to feel like it is all coming together now. Just the brick-work to be completed and the roof surface... and some door-knobs! There still remains much work to do on the canopies, valencing and support frame, so it will keep me busy for a while yet.

Folks have commented on the ‘crabbing’ tender with the new Bachmann V2, caused by the spring loaded arrangement between the tender and Loco. I too purchased one in BR black, overall the loco is a big improvement on Bachmann’s previous model, apart from the over-complicated drawbar. This is arranged so that the gap between loco and tender opens up on a curve, but closes up again on the straight. The only problem is, the spring isn’t strong enough... the arrangement works fine with up to four of Bachmann’s Thompson coaches, add a fifth and the spring can’t cope and the tender starts to crab like this: As as well as looking odd, it means that the tender wheels then don’t run ‘true’ which can be problematic on turnouts. Definitely a design flaw, yes it can be overcome if modified by a competent modeller, but that’s not what you'd expect on a new tooling, premium priced model that should take pride of place in a RTR fleet.

Further progress today with the station building. I'm still working on the sides but can now see how it is coming together. Before permanentlyfixing the windows and doors, I have decided to complete the rest of the building sides. Redutex rubberised sheets are being used for the brickwork, I have never used this before but decided to commit to the expense, given the complexity of the wall structure. First impressions were mixed, the texture was good, but the cement courses looked rather wide compared to the bricks, but it shows up the Flemish bond well. The Redutex sheets have proved to be a delight to work with. They are thin, with a very sticky adhesive on the back so the stuff folds well round outside corners... the brickwork columns on my station are only about 1.5mm deep, but the Redutex will bend round the 90o angle and stick firmly to these narrow sides: The only problem I now have to resolve is that the brickwork stands slightly proud of the painted stonework... I might have to build that up a bit to get the right effect. Phil.

Some V2’s had their draincocks fitted with shorter pipes, including BR Black/early logo 60845, so the long pipes as supplied by Bachmann are incorrect for this version of their model. (An internet search for V2 60845 will take you to a photo of the original loco). I have modified my Bachmann model accordingly and it copes fine with R3 curves.

Fox Transfers do nameplates for D49 Bedfordshire.

Some progress on the station building in the last 24 hours: cutting out the sides from 60 thou plasticard and starting to build up some of the relief with styrene strip, The real building had some fancy brickwork and stone carvings where the canopy was supported, I have simplified the design somewhat but aim to retain the feel of the original. Most of the detail is hidden under the canopy, and will only be visible from low-level photography. Progress to date: Spot the Costa Coffee stirrers! The holes for the windows were cut using the templates from York Modelmaking. Having played around with the doors, and establishing that the laser-cut components would simply attach to the back of the opening with a nice overlap for gluing, I went ahead and cut out all the holes. BUT when it came to trial-fit the windows, for some reason that particular template is the full size of the laser-cut component, with no overlap: Time for some head scratching... I didn't want to have to completely re-do the building sides and hand-cut the openings, so eventually came up with a means of recessing the windows a bit using 2mm square styrene strip, and at the same time creating an overlap that will allow the window assembly to be fixed to the back of the walls like so: On the left below, the original window that fitted flush with the walls, on the right with additional styrene strip recessing. This makes the frame look a little heavy but once installed and painted, and a sill added, I think it should look okay: Next, I will need to decide whether to recess the doors in a similar way, or just fit them as is. I have also ordered some more components from York Modelmaking, specifically some dogs-tooth brickwork embellishments to go under the horizontal strip, and also some of their coach corridor connections to trial. With family commitments taking priority over the next few days, hopefully these parts will arrive when work on the building can recommence early next week.

Station Building After much dithering, having never scratch built buildings before, I finally started work on the station building this week. This is the current configuration of the station, with four through running tracks: The platform canopies are styled on Leicester Central's bay platforms, with the characteristic girders spanning the tracks. The real station had three substantial station buildings in the middle of the station between the bays, and the plan is to represent this but with just one of the buildings modelled owing to space constraints. This will create the correct 'H' shaped station plan of the original, and allow more prototypical movements within the station area. There will therefore be a reduced capacity on through lines for longer trains, but the four bays will correctly allow for local services, parcels traffic and locomotive exchanges to be undertaken. Some offcuts of foam board were used to create a mock-up of the new station building, to check that the size would look OK. Additionally, further sections of platform canopy have been 3D printed (by my son) to allow the additional length of canopy to be inserted: this required some remodelling to change the shape of the canopy to represent the full-width span. Additionally, a new section of platform surface was constructed to sit between the existing ones, it sits on top of the centre two tracks. This is the mock-up of the new station structure: Parts were ordered from York Model Makers for windows and doors, from their existing catalogue: These are not an exact match for the ones installed at Leicester Central but are near enough to create the right look and feel for the place. I have also been gaining experience with my new airbrush: the photo below shows my latest efforts on a short rake of Bachmann grain wagons that previously had an unpainted, plain grey plasticky looking finish. They don't bear close scrutiny with photographs of the real wagons, but to my eye they are a big improvement on the RTR originals. Trackwork is Peco Code 75 Bullhead; ballast is Woodland Scenics Medium Grey Blend; the cess is washed sand from the local beach; lineside fencing from Scale Model Scenery and static grass is from War World Scenics. Phil.

I’m liking what 31A has done with the brass drawbar... looks like a good fix. Like Dominion, I have achieved a simple fix to the crabbing, but a different way, by flattening the leading edge of the heart shaped hole in the tender. The plastic is soft and easily trimmed back with a sharp blade. This does mean that the gap between tender and cab is about one mm larger when running on straight track, but this is much less noticeable than the crabbing.

So will we see locomotives 102-104 heading up your Cornish Riviera Express?

I always look people in the eye when the subject of my hobby comes up. Many find it impossible to hide that faint ‘knowing smirk’ that is always a give-away, that they will never understand. Those who do get it, usually have a hobby of their own that would be considered a bit niche. We are not alone!

Same here with Safari on a Mac and iPad. Has been worse since the ad issues arrived late last year. AY deserves our support right now, he has a thankless task keeping on top of it all.

The Duke of Cornwall will not be amused. One does not approve of such a monstrous carbuncle towering over this AONB! But then again, Cornwall Council is renowned for its insensitive planning decisions. Perhaps the panel could be disguised as the refuse incinerator that now stands at St Dennis?

I have fitted the V2's flanged wheels and they handle a 24" radius with ease. Take care when swopping them over though, the brass boxes supporting the axle are lightly sprung and the springs are tiny!

New motive power... This time of year, with Christmas closely followed by my Birthday, always sees a little more expenditure on modelling than usual. This year, Bachmann's new release of the V2 arrived just in time for the festivities. V2's were regular visitors to the GC, with York-based engines taking goods services through to Woodford Halse. V2's started to be stabled at Woodford Halse in late 1948 and by mid-1950 there were 10 allocated there. 60845, the subject of Bachmann's model in lined black (early crest) livery was one of them, though her stay was shorter than most, from April 1950 to September 1951: she was wearing this livery at that time. So, a simple detailing job was required: detailing parts added, real coal in the tender, driver and fireman in the cab, and lamped up for a Class H freight working. A second model has since been acquired, renumbered to 60831: this locomotive was shedded at Woodford from June '49, and remained on the former GC until September '59, apart from a six week sojourn at Kings Cross in '53. 60831 has been lamped up as a Class C freight, for livestock, perishable or parcels traffic. Both are now in regular traffic on my layout. Another acquisition in recent months has been an airbrush. A fellow club member had bought an airbrush with all the accessory stuff a while back, but never got around to using it, so was offering it for sale at half-price. After a few months vacillating about using it, I took the plunge recently. A couple of old Dapol/Airfix/Kitmaster loco kits were dug out of a storage box and built, then painted up using the airbrush. I thought it better to try things out with something that didn't matter first, to get the hang of things: I've since graduated to lightly weathering my wagons and coaches, early days yet but I'm starting to get the feel for it now. My current airbrush is an Iwata Neo CR with a 0.5mm needle, it is nice to use - fine for general weathering but I will need something finer for detail work... all in good time. Currently I'm lightly weathering a rake of BR Mk1's... here simply using a mix of 'matt earth' and a light grey enamel paint: An additional purchase has been a cake-maker's turntable, seen above, which makes painting the models all the easier. The spray cabinet was constructed using foam board. Another acquisition has been a further supply of locomotive crew, as part of the ongoing detailing of my locomotive fleet. I have started to use the 3D printed figures supplied by YouChoos, these have much better poses than the Bachmann figures that I originally used: I then graduated to ModelU 3D printed figures. These are superb figures, in a wide range of realistic poses, but at £4.50 each I found the costs quickly mounted up and their exceptional detail was rather lost in the cab. The YouChoos figures are an excellent compromise: at £1.50 each they are more affordable than ModelU, their poses are very good, and although the detail is less crisp you can't tell this when the figures are placed in the cab. Over time I have started to use more of the figures that are simply standing around, rather than those posed operating stuff: they are generally easier to place realistically in the cab! So of late, much of my modelling focus has been on detailing stock and fiddling around... I really must get myself into the right mindset and start tackling one of the bigger layout projects before this winter season is over!

Re: the W1’s flangeless wheels, there is an interesting comparison in the new Bachmann V2. Bachmann have also gone the fitted flangeless trailing wheels route, and have also supplied flanged replacement ones. However Bachmann have given these much more side-play than usual, allowing the loco to negotiate third radius curves when the flanged wheels are fitted. Admittedly, the greater length of the W1 will mean that any side play will likely not be sufficient for to allow negotiation of R3 curves but it would undoubtedly improve things. I do wonder why Bachmann bothered with the flangeless V2 wheels? There can’t be many folk who will be forking out £200 for a V2, but are restricted to using R2 trainset curves. Another difference is that the Bachmann flangeless wheels actually sit and roll on the rail head, rather than just hang limply in the air. Whilst this looks much better, it can cause shorting issues when the trailing wheels swing out of gauge when running over some RTR turnouts. Which is probably why Hornby do it the way they do...

Yes, but they’re protected by resistance!