MDP78

Cheers!

As a first step towards attempting building before fully taking the plunge I thought I'd try unpainted RTR stock first. I have acquired an unpainted Dapol milk tanker and am planning to finish it in Unigate silver (or aluminium?), although soot would seem to be the 'normal' colour, with the silver/aluminium being the theoretical colour. Struggled to find the appropriate transfers (Unigate Creameries, plus running number) though. Anyone know if these are available?

I managed to get hold of a Bachmann Stanier 60ft composite online last week. When it arrived it had a price tag on the box. My wife spotted the tag and commented that £48 seemed a lot for one coach. At least it distracted her attention from the Hornby 4mt that got delivered on the same day......!!!

Not sure I'm ready to give kit building a go yet - especially the painting. Think I'll stick with Hornby Hawksworths and Colletts for the time being.

Hi Chris, You holding out for a retool/refresh version from Bachmann (or another manufacturer) or are you just using Hawksworths and Hornby bow ended Colletts instead? I am surprised Bachmann didnt spot the opportunity to update/improve their Colletts. Hornby issuing their Hawksworths would have seemed to have been an obvious cue to me. I am sure there'd be a market. I can't be the only modeller wanting to run trains comprised of a mix of Hawksworth and Collett stock!!

Ok first of all, confession time, this is probably the 2nd or 3rd coach related posts in as many weeks. In my defence, I have been using lockdown to good effect to do some much needed work on my layout and to stock take my...erm stock! I have a few Bachmann Colletts and I have done some work to upgrade them - I took the plunge and butchered the floor of 3 to fit the Keen coupling system. That has turned out ok, however I the coaches do seem a little tired looking alongside my Hornby Hawksworths, Colletts and Staniers and a Bachmann 'porthole' composite I managed to get hold of last week. I have been considering attempting re-glazing the Bachmann Colletts but I am not sure I really want to spend a lot more time (any money) on these coaches. In an ideal world, Bachmann would release there is a market for these coaches and do a re-tooled/updated version. I havent spotted that they are intending to, or that one of the other manufacturers is thinking about it, although I guess there is an outside chance Dapol might consider it to run with their Manor and 43xx Mogul, particularly as they already do N versions. Have I missed any announcements that anyone is intending to model these coaches at any time? It would certainly make up my mind as to doing any more work on the Bachmann Colletts I do have.

Having been able to start making up some coach sets prototypical for the Central Wales Division of BR(WR) I have noticed that a few 3 coach sets in the division in the 1950s were composed of a Composite, Van Third, Third. I had previously assumed (perhaps naively) that the Third and Composite would have been together with the Van Third at one or other end. What was the logic of making the Van Third the centre coach? Was it for the convenience of the guard to be in the centre? Was it to make it easier to split and reform the sets if one coach needed maintenance? Or was it because the order was useful if the set were to be added or removed from other sets to make up longer trains for through workings - which did seem to happen with some sets in the Central Wales division.

Thanks for confirming

Apologies if this sounds like a daft question. I am looking to buy a couple of Full Brake coaches in BR maroon. I have managed to track down a Hornby Hawksworth one online but I would also like a Stanier one. I see that Hornby R4844 is currently available but it is described on their website and some other online retailers as a parcels van. I am aware Hornby did sell R4237 a while back which was described as a Full Brake. The pictures of R4237 and R4844 suggest they are the same the vehicles but with different running numbers, but before I hit 'Confirm Order' is this in fact the case?

The Johnster, thanks for the reply. Yes, I know the CCE ran view Shrewsbury, Welshpool and Machynlleth and split with a portion going on to Pwllheli. However Pwllheli also had a through working from Paddington that ran via the Ruabon to Barmouth line and reversed at Ruabon. It is shown in the 15th June - 13th September timetable and ran on summer Saturdays only. Left Paddington at 9am, Ruabon at 13,13. There was also a Birmingham-Pwllehli via Ruabon as well, leaving Ruabon at 13.00, also summer Saturday only. Both are Class A in the timetable. As these weren't names trains, I am guessing they wouldn't necessarily have all been choc and cream or maroon Mk1s, at least not in the late 50s - pictures of Ruabon to Barmouth seem to suggest Mk1s werent much more common right up until closure than on it that Whitchurch to Welshpool. As has been pointed out, lots of mixed stock ran over Ruabon to Barmouth, but Im unsure if the trains would have ever included a First - regardless of the region of origin! If I can't find a fictitious yet plausible use for them I'll just need to part-ex for some more Thirds and Composites.

I apologise in advance for a coach formation post, however I would do with some advice about finding a possible use for a pair of First Class coaches I have. To put this into context, my layout is loosely based on Ellesmere around 1958-1962. I have been kindly provided with a copy of the Central Wales District, Working of Coaches, Rail Motors and Auto Cars from the summer of 1954. Using this and my June 1959 Working Timetable I will be able to use the crimson and cream and maroon Collect and Hawkworth Composite and Thirds and the maroon Stanier Thirds I have to make up some reasonably accurate sets for local workings and Whitchurch to Aberystwyth workings. However I am a little unsure about what to do with the Hawksworth First and a Stanier First (both maroon, or should that be marooned?!) that I have. I know that on summer Saturdays, the Whitchurch - Welshpool route was used by a Manchester to Aberystwyth service. From the various pictures in books I have seen, this would appear to be made up of predominately if not exclusively LMR stock - so the Stanier 3rd would certainly be at home on that in addition to on local workings. However I don't know if recreating a set to represent this service would be a plausible home for the Stanier First. Because my layout is only loosely based on Whitchurch - Welshpool I am open to the idea of running other through workings, or even a portion of a through working on its way to/from a larger station where a through working joins or is split, particularly if I could base them on working found on parts of the Central Wales district/Cambrian network. One obvious example is the Cambrian Coast Express and I am aware that both portions included First Class coaches. One other possible example is a Paddington to Pwllheli working that used to reverse at Ruabon and traverse the Ruabon-Barmouth line, although I have no idea if that would have included one (or more) First Class coaches. In the era I am modelling most of the Cambrian Coast Express services seem to be almost exclusively BR Mk1s (I actually had a set of 5 Bachmann Mk1s in chocolate and cream that I sold a few years back...!!) and I assume the Paddington-Pwllheli may well have also been mostly Mk1s by then. However is it plausible that a First Class Hawksworth or Stanier (or both!) could find themselves onto such workings?

I have been considering how to upgrade the Bachmann Collect coaches I have, in particular couplings to bring them closer (literally) and to a standard closer to more recent RTR coaching stock. I purchases some Keen couplings but it became apparent that to make these fit I would need to butcher the floor of the coaches. Something I didn't feel confident doing. So have looked for alternatives. I initially looked to see if I could get hold of some spare drawbar/cam assemblies for the Hornby Hawksworths to see if I could adapt them for use with the Colletts. However after a couple of enquires it appears spares are not available. Plan C involved purchasing the cam assemblies for the Hornby Pullman coaches - the bogies being a similar length to the Collects - give or take a mm. They arrived today and I have temporarily fitted one pending doing some work to make the fitting permanent - see the photos. The underside of the coach behind the buffer beam will need some minor modifications to allow the drawbar to slide outwards when cornering as the mechanism does on coaches that come fitted with it as standard. I have some Roco 40343 and 40344 NEM coupling retrofit mechanisms which I plan to butcher for the purpose. However based on the first test, the plan seems to work, with the coaches being as close as other stock I have using the Hornby supplier close couplers or Kadees - the example shows the latter.

The question about a replacement drawbar/cam was perhaps misleading. I have some Bachmann Collets that I'd like to update. I have considered using the Keen coupling system and have some that I plan to try, but I have read mixed reviews about them, even with the more modern style Bachmann Collet bogies (i.e. the screw in rather than pop in type). So I half had the idea of trying to get hold of the drawbar/cam for the Hornby Hawkworths and experimenting with trying to fit them to the Collets. I figured that the bogies on both types are pretty much the same size and are set a similar distance in from the ends of the respective coaches so in theory at least, it should work. My motivation actually is as much to be able to fit NEM sockets to the Collets so I can use a mix of coupling types easily as to achieve closer coupling. I'd seen the Keen replacement drawbar for the Bachmann Mk1s but wasn't sure how the Mk1 bogies and position under the coach matched the Collets. So I haven't bought any!

Has anyone ever needed to replace the drawbar for a Hornby Hawksworth coach? I have a looking in their spares website but couldn't find them listed.

The bridge at the opposite end of the layout is entirely scratchbuilt, although I did use leftover spare brick pillars from a Wills SS64 for the wall enclosing the road. Dimensions of the abutments are similar to the first bridge otherwise.

The abutments used parts from a Wills SS64 kit, however the retaining wall sections parallel to the overbridge/road were a bit too short for what I had in mind, so I made my own. As it turns out they were still probably 1cm short either side but I think I can hide that with some vegetation. Also yes, the overbridge is a Wills SS57. I think I used Humbrol Gun Metal Grey for the finish, which looks about right for some of the bridges near me.

By way of an excuse or justification, this is my first attempt at modelling since I had a relatively simply double track oval layout set up in my dad's garage when I was a teenager (I am now just over a month away from 40!). I have wanted to build a permanent layout for a long time and am now close to having one that can be declared operational. In hindsight I wish Id used Code 75 rather than Code 100, but the decision seemed sensible at the time and when I review the photos I have, what I have done doesn't look too bad for a first attempt. The aim with this project is to get someone that is passable and recognisable as a late 50's early 60's former Cambrian/GWR rural route that I can then enjoy operating. Along the way, via research conducted online, books and from tips and pointers posters on here have provided me and much trial and error, it has been a learning experience of various. In fact if I was to reflect on what I have done, having a go, even if it doesn't work out quite as planned, seems to be key to railway modelling. Particularly as there is usually a way to rescue a mistake or to adapt what you had planned initially to work around it. That said, a phrase book of swear words is also useful.

Thanks for the replies. Also sorry for the embankment cutting faux pas!! I was posting after a long day. I do know the difference....honest. The toe of the left hand slope is probably a bit closer to the edge of the ballast, it was the first section of scenery I'd constructed, ever. However there is a reasonable gap, it just isn't quite apparent from the picture and can be made good when I get on to adding some grass/vegetation. I would also add that the left hand embankment is adjacent to a spur/headshunt which simply allows a locomotive to move forward from a passing loop on an otherwise single track running line in order to set back into a pair of parallel exchange sidings when picking up/dropping off wagons. My station is also a junction station (although the junction itself isn't actually modelled, it will be more implied by the actual operation of the layout) on a rural route someone in Shropshire/the Welsh borders, with on branch route being of slightly more importance than the other. The station doesn't have any bay or island platform for the lesser branch passenger train (typically an auto train) to terminate at or leave from. Instead it will use the up platform to arrive before drawing forward and setting back into the down platform. If one or both of those platforms is timetabled to receive a train on the 'main' line it would draw into the spur until the down platform became available or utilise a refuge siding located in the goods yard which lies to the right and behind the photographs shown. I had worked on the assumption (using photographs from various local routes, now long closed) that the super would be maintained to a similar standard to the sidings, hence the use of a cinder coloured ballast mixed with some fresher coloured ballast for the spur - which actually only runs for a short distance (probably no more than a the length of a pair of wagons) beyond the over bridge. The layout is set in the late 1950's early 1960's and I have seen enough photographs of lines in my local area that my layout is loosely based on, maintenance standards were already being relaxed here and there even before Beeching - so I am also not overly worried about the toe of the left hand slope and its proximity to the edge of the ballast because I think I can just about get away with it being authentic once some vegetation is in place.

First attempt at making some embankments. Whilst I have got a reasonably regular profile for the slope, there is a degree of lateral undulation - not sure how apparent that is from the pictures. The embankments are built using Woodland scenic foam sheets, with a larger of papier mache then plaster cloth over. With hindsight the gaps between the foam may have been a little too big or my packing efforts not good enough as the undulation is a result of a degree of sag from the papier mache and plaster cloth layers. Not sure if I should rip it out and start again, or whether a degree of undulation isn't something I should worry overly about and just get on with getting some grass down. Grateful for any suggestions?

I am basing my layout loosley on the Cambrian but as this is very much a first attempt into a proper layout as opposed to a train set, then it is not intended to be anywhere specific. In terms of where I go from here - back into the shed to get my embankments and other bits of scenery finished with a bit of luck!

Just throught I'd share a couple of photos of my very almost complete scratchbuilt railway station building - my second attempt at a start to finish scratch build project. This started life was a plan to build a Craftsman CK16 kit and kind of evolved into something else instead. The general form of the station building is very loosely based on Llynclys station on the on Whitchurch to Welshpool railway (albeit handed).

Thanks for the positive feedback! I did think carefully about whether the doors should be open or closed. Im sticking with closed for now. Mainly because it disguises the fact I havent build a loading platform inside the shed. It is something I will do in time and then perhaps revisit whether the doors stay open or closed. However I want to move onto a couple of other challenges first. I have a ballasted layout with one platform virtually complete (subject to touching up some paint where there was some warping damage in the summer - Ill be putting something heavy on of the platform this year to prevent that) and another platform that is about 80% complete. So my work programme is finally finish those and build a station building, as well as get some other scenery finished.

This is my first successful complete scratch build project - a goods shed for my layout. Made from Wills plasticard parts, shed doors came from a Craftsman CK19 kit, the door to the single storey section and the windows are Ratio as are the rainwater goods. The staircase is a cut down one I had spare from a Ratio 500 signal box kit. The design is loosely based on the ex-Cambrian goods shed still extant (although now converted to residential use) at Bettisfield on the Oswestry, Ellesmere and Whitchurch route.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I have had a go at a mk2 window. I have cut the glazing bars out. Butchered two windows from a Wills ss42 and inserted them into the remaining frames of the Ratio window.

I have attempted my first scratch build. I have constructed a base for a Ratio 500 signal box kit. This was more out of necessity because the original got damaged and I thought Id give building a replacement a go rather than buy spares. I think it looks ok. The arched headers are Wills SS55. I did worry that a single brick course header wasn't particularly accurate but Bewdley South has a one, so that was one issue One think I am unsure about is the windows. I have used Ratio 521 industrial windows with the arched top cut off. In terms of the glazing bar divisions I dont think it is too bad. However I am a little worried the glazing bars are a little too thick and deep. Id appreciate some comments and/or pointers in terms of some possible alternatives?