Edwardian

Proper modelling, that!

Yes, I failed to get the GW TPO sides before it was too late! And, of course, I failed to buy enough bogies! Good old fashioned white-metal bogies are hard to come by. Westward is long gone and Dart/MJT have a very limited range as most of theirs are cosmetic sides for faffy brass etches. ABS has gone by the board due to ill health (though I confess I thought it had stopped producing years ago, as I never seemed to find it), and, so, I suggest there is a real gap in the market. It will be a while yet before a decent selection of bogies is available as 3D prints, and given Shapeways prices, I'd say that the traditional white-metal bogie is still a very viable option and useful thing to have available. The 8' Fox ones served a number of companies and I feel the lack of them exceedingly.

I would not have guessed - all in the finish!

Thanks. However, I have what I suspect is a rather naïve question: "SRMW"? Siebel Relationship Management Warehouse South River Model Works subsidieregeling Roetfilters Mobiele Werktuigen I note that Chris Ward's business, now under new ownership, will custom print if the files are provided. Is this a potentially more cost effective route than Shapeways, which appears to be a ruinously expensive monopoly, for small runs where, really, just a few blokes on RMWeb would like a so and so and one of them is a design whiz?

Lovely wagons! Splendid viaduct. As to the 'twee' cottage, I think it looks fine; much depends upon the finish, e.g. the example below on an 009 layout. Couldn't really accuse it of being twee! I don't think it need be dilapidated to look convincing, just painted with subtle colourings and weathered should do. On the subject of finish, my presumptuous suggestion is to hold a 'viaduct party' whereby you invite people round to dry brush the masonry! (otherwise it could drive you insane) By the way, the houses in the background are too modern for your layout and need to be replaced [cheeky wink].

They are superb signals. And they go down, as surely God intended signals to do. Made me quite emotional to see the nearer arm in the down position. Stirring sight, in fact. Also worthy of mention, I feel, is the fact that, even in the shot from above, which ought to emphasise the compromise, I can't get over how good you have made that track look. The platelayers' hut should be mentioned as demonstrating the art of subtlety, skilfully finished to blend into place, and so too the skilful painting of the 2 platelayers and their barrow. Very often such scenes are ruined by figures that are too bright, or painted without relief, or with pasty death-warmed-up faces. Yours are natural. All lovely stuff! Oh, and I like the train!

I have dug this out, preparatory to scanning. I think we are looking at a later style, and, so, may assist with the sides generally, but probably not with the issue of the window surrounds. I will scan for Mike anyway. It is possibly helpful to think of Mike's coach as a Metropolitan C&W design, rather than a LSW one. Weddell notes its similarity to coaches supplied to other companies and surmises that it is a Metropolitan design. To my eyes it is typical of mid-1860s-1870s coaches generally, and, for instance, is very similar to the GE coaches BG John and I have been considering. Common body features of the period appear to include raised beading on the waist and quarter lights in an inset frame, rather than behind protruding bolections. The large radius rounded corners to the tops and square to the bottom are also typical. Returning to the coaches in question, the example in question is from the 1871-74 period. It is the same style as the first block set coaches of 1872-76. Later batches of these block sets built at Nine Elms from 1873 had revised quarter lights of the small radius curves to all four corners style, which is more familiar to us. See text at p.67 and drawings at p.69. It may be a moot point whether these new style quarter lights used the protruding bolections that we are also familiar with. For this exercise, it does not matter, because the coaches concerned are the composite (p.62, and the Metropolitan built block sets, p.68). Turning to the cross-section on p.94, this is a later generation of coach, under Adams's stewardship. The details drawn are for circa 1884, and, to my eyes, seem quite typical of the panelling style generally adopted in the 1880s and 1890s by many companies. The quarter lights are of the same small radius curves to all four corners style introduced by the SW drawing office in 1873. It is clear that these have bolections. This style was close to universal. I know there were square window companies and that the GER adhered to the large radius top only curves throughout the ''80s and into the '90s, but many others, perhaps a majority, used this style. It is, however, a later style. The picture that I and Mike have posted (p.70), in detail and in larger view, is clearly of one of the block set coaches built by Metropolitan. It is said to be built c.1873, but has the Metropolitan style quarter lights. It is a later photograph as the coach is in standard LSW two-tone livery and now sports gas lamps. It looks to me as if this coach does not have, and presumably never had, bolections protruding proud of the surrounding mouldings. On the contrary, these appear, to me, to be recessed frames akin to those on droplights. I could, however, be misinterpreting the photograph.

Yes, I can!

Thanks, Dave. Yes, I had 'clocked' that one, but could not see how to fit it in to Castle Aching. It's arguably too grand for CA, but then it's too grand for Grimston! It is such a wonderful structure, that perhaps I should think again. I have a bit of a 'thing' for these Victorian Jubilee clock towers. The one at Warboys was planned for Fenmarch on the Cambridgeshire Fenland Isle of Eldernell & Mereport Railway. Back in Norfolk, for Achingham, I was considering the Downham Market one. These days in a fetching black and white, in the past it appears monochrome. How I would model it is anyone's guess! Here: https://www.duetimeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/1907-1-800.jpg

For me, a pretty important part of the range was the white-metal coach bogies, particularity the GW types and Fox bogies for LBSC, LSWR etc. Are these in the offing?

Crikey, they are cheap! Might be too modern and too long, but surely worth getting a 4 and 5 plank to see what surgery might make of them. Thanks for the tip. You have mentioned somewhere that some of the Dapol wagons have a pretty decent chassis, while others are some relatively crude Airfix retreads. Can you direct me towards one of the former? They seem to have a 9' w/b with a brake on one side only. Still not particularly economical compared with Cambrian Kit chassis plus Gibsons

Sorry, Mike, I was evidently replying at the same time!.

The picture below shows the feature we are talking about. I suppose they are really the frames of the quarter lights, akin to those on the drop lights. They are certainly not bolections like the type seen on some later coaches, e.g. GW Toplights, that stood proud of the coach side.

I had to look this up, just to ensure I wasn't passing on confused ramblings. No doubt there were variations over the years. My recollection is that these were 70' vehicles, a Brake Comp on a weekday and 2 (Comp and Brake Third) on a Saturday. I have yet to pin down the source of my belief that these were 70 footers. So far I have checked the 1932-3 Working timetable: Mondays - Saturdays: 10.30am Paddington to Penzance service, which, of course, is the Cornish Riviera Limited, detached a Brake Composite at Exeter. According to the 1935 timetable, the Limited was booked to arrive at Exeter at 1.21pm. The detached coach was then worked from Exeter on the 1.37pm. I believe that this was an Exeter to Plymouth stopper. The 1935 departure time is 1.32pm. This might enable you to work out the time it called at Brent (I'd be interested to know what you think, sometime around 3pm?) and, therefore, which of the Branch trains conveyed the vehicle on to Kingsbridge. The return working appears to be via the 11.15am ex Plymouth. I take this to be a Plymouth to Exeter service. The 1935 departure time is 11am. At Newton Abbot, the coach came off and was attached to the 11.25 am Kingswear to Paddington. Saturdays (from 3 June and presumably on into the Summer timetable): 10.55am Paddington to Penzance service: Compo and Brake Third for Kingsbridge. No information is given as to where they were detached, how conveyed onward, or how worked back, but I decided pretty early on that I was not going to attempt to depict Summer Saturday traffic, so have not taken this further.

In due course I expect that an order will have to be placed with the Metropolitan Pyramid Company. Thanks, Andy, but they look like my idea of self-torture, and they would add at least £7.80 to the cost of each wagon. I've been talked into a lot of things since starting this topic, but, for me, wagon kits are things that should cost a fiver, take an hour or 2 and a tube of plastic cement!

Still don't understand, so, presume still being stupid. If the door light glazing is set further back than the quarter light glazing, doesn't the drop light frame layer need to be set further back than the bolections? If, in the alternative, the bolections and droplight frames are the same layer, why are not their respective glazing also a single layer?

Kind of you. But who is embarrassed now? [groan]

I am stupid. I don't understand. If the droplights and bolections are formed from the same layer, there would be one glazing layer to sit behind it?

I can't believe I did that! Serves me jolly well right!

Welcome back as your True Self. Err, not 3", but 6" or 2mm, given that donor u/fs are either 9' or 10' and we want 9'6". That's 0.3mm more than the distance that troubles an E-Emmer and a length of discrepancy sure to melt the brains of a Proto-Fourer! Do you model Course Scale because you can't count?!? [insert smiley face]

JCL did a bogie tutorial. Query whether laminated plastic card is sufficiently robust? Thanks for the tip - I envisaged something similar with the Cambrian wooden frames. It was pointed out, I think by Simon, that early pattern square grease axle boxes should be fairly easy to fabricate from plastic card. This would leave plastic moulded kit axle boxes readily adaptable. Things like compensated chassis, to me, appear to be unnecessary extravagances. If the track is laid level and I can set metal wheels squarely in bearing cups and weight the stock, surely, that should suffice? Given that, I do not really want to go to the expense of brass W irons and separate axle-box/spring components. I just want to stick bearing cups into the back of injection moulded solebar/W iron/axle box assemblies and stick the thing together with plastic cement! Getting them square will not be as easy if I have to insert 2mm long fillets in each solebar, however! If I have a choice

Buildings! Beautiful, that Piper print, David. A thing to treasure and never tire of. It will be some time before I arrive at the church board. I have ample time to be lost in the Norfolk Church website. I have Photoshop (the Mem has it for work), just need the time and effort injection. Yes, as Paul says, the geography is slippery, but, gently rolling hills at Castle Aching. The flat lands leading to the coal staithes, moribund hotel, and forlorn grounded coach-body holiday chalets by the sea at Wolfingham, are another matter!. Coaches! Mike Trice has put a lot of effort into his Inkscape tutorial. Though I rather dread it, I will persevere, hopefully this weekend. I should probably try to master Silhouette next. Whilst I realise there are differences, my naive hope is that once confidence is gained using one such program .... I am starting to wonder whether I should just cut the bl**dy things out by hand! If I could print my 4mm scale plans onto 10 thou plasticard, I jolly well might, as that can't be any slower than converting the drawing to a cutting file! One problem is finding or making the right bits and bobs, particularly axle-box/spring assemblies. Mike Trice does them for GN in 3D (an expensive medium), but these days there is a dearth of such things generally, and nothing GE. Wagons! I have been thinking about these, and the gist I just posted on the Colourful Wagons topic: The most numerous GE wagon of the period by far is the Diagram 17. It is remarkably similar to GNR standard opens of the period, and, indeed, to its predecessors. However, these GE and GN types are of the typical 9'6" w/b ilk. I can scratch-build the sides. When I met Jonathan Wealleans recently, he made the suggestion that, for more than one wagon, resin casting from 1 end and 1 side was sensible. I am seriously considering that. But what about the underframes? The only source I know for user friendly and inexpensive wooden u/fs for the period is Cambrian. Plastic kits, perfect! But they are not 9'6" w/b. My best idea, so far, is to use Cambrian Kits C34 RCH u/f and extend them. I think I can find buffers. Mike Trice does the GN ones and I think I can find something close enough to GE, probably MJT.

It would be good to have the Dean 10' without footboards, as the cast 247 Developments version had footboards. For the inter war years, you need a mixture of the two. Really impressed with the Stafford Road products, not least the Airfix and Lima Siphon bogie replacement service. Shapeways is so expensive, I shall have to save hard!

There are 3 pages of the Slinn volume giving running numbers for O2s by Lot. I can scan these for you tomorrow if you like, but I expect you will want to make this very worthwhile purchase! Feel free to PM

Superb. I love the colour and the finish. Very realistic. As a model, I'd take it to be 7mm, it has presence. Now, where's that 'Envy' button?