I have finally made some more progress. A while ago I came across this photo of the GWR facility at Poplar Dock and so I thought I would try and recreate it.
Let me say that I never tried to make an exact copy but to get something similar to the original.
I also tried using card kits and papers frpm Scalscenes - this was my first attmept at a major building wiht them. It still needs some work but here it is in situ. Please ignore the surroundings.....WIP.
Is it me or do things look a lot worse in a photo!!!
Well I just noticed its been 6 mnths since I last logged on and that everyone has been very busy. I alas have made no progress on the modelling front. However, the room in which the Sutton Dock resides has been completley redecorated so I can finally get back to work on the 517 running problems and finishing off the track layout.
I have been busy trying to solve the running problems on my 517. thanks to help on one of the forums I managed to get the thing rolling freely - so all seemed well. Until.....I realised I had manged to strip part of the idler gear in the gearbox which made it lurch as teeth engaged then didn't. Ah well - new gear on its way thanks to Chris at High-level kits.
To compensate for the slow progress I made a few more card buildings. The more I do of these the more I enjoy them but at the same time see the problem with the last one.....ah well they are cheap and quick to build. Anyway here is another photo - sorry for the poor angle and lighting, I haven't really got the hang of taking photos yet!
Dear friends - those of you who keep track of my blog may have noticed a few (un)subtle difference recently. The most obvious of these is a change of username and the second is the way I have started to sign my comments. The reason for this is a personal one but briefly I have suffered for most of my life with severe depression caused by gender dysphoria. After many years of suffering in silence I have (finally) decided to take action. As a small step I am changing all my online accounts to my new name. I would really appreciate it if you use it.
Hi all - well its been 6 months almost since the last update and as usual progress has been glacial. I did finish off the 517 - at least I thought I had - but running problems meant I had to disassemble it and do some mods on the chassis. Its still awaiting testing.
I did make some progress on the scenery
All the buldings are scalscenes or cut and paste version of their kits. The buildings are only places at the moment so are not all "level", in addition the mirrors at the rear are only temporary and have film over them to protect them.
So have a "gott nytt år" as they say in these parts and here is to a good modelling year in 2019.
OK so this list is as much a reminder to me as to anyone else of stupid things not to do when doing any work on the railway- if you ever see me doing any of these things please SHOUT at me before I damage something or someone:
1. Don't do anything when in a hurry or tired - if you do then one of the other things listed below will happen 2. Paint must dry before you touch it - unless you like fingerprints everywhere 3. Pressfix transfers are sticky and amazingly they stick to each other if you pull them off the backing sheet to "take a look" 4. Glue sticks things together even if you don't want them to so be careful where you put it 5. Conductive materials conduct electricity so don't use them as insulators 6. ....and of course insulators don't conduct electricity 7. Whitemetal bends and breaks easily and doesn't like a hot soldering iron 8. Metal gets hot when you put a soldering iron on it so be careful what is touching the other end 9. Sharp knives are sharp and cut through skin - the resulting blood spill rarely looks good on models and even less so on the kitchen floor
and finally 10. Always put your glasses on - your too old not to!
Sigh....
Oh..my wife has told me to add 11. Read the instructions BEFORE attempting anything
Everyone seems to build a 517 so here is my attempt. Firstly, let me say this is my first ever attempt at this kind of thing so its been a steep learning curve.
MikeOxon has already covered a great deal in the conversion of a 14xx to 517 in his blog - so I won't repeat much of what he has said.
http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1405/entry-13225-back-in-time-517-class/
However, I did choose a slightly different route. I wanted a model with the earlier bunker. When looking at this the small relative size of the 517 to the 14xx became apparent. So I choose to (a) use a shortened 14xx body and (a high-level chassis shortened to the correct length.
For the body this meant a lot of cutting including shortening of the smokebox and making a bunker. The chassis needed chopping as well. In the end its slightly too long but is much closer to the 517 than the 14xx.
So here it is in its present state. The body is of course not finished and some parts are simply placed. The chassis needs completion as well. Its just being fit tested to check there are no issues.
All comments welcome - as I said its my first effort. I didn't think it too bad until I saw the picture!!!
In my last post there was a comment on Private Owner wagons. So here is a picture of PO wagons at Brentford Dock. The caption says 1922 so a little late for me but I love the atmosphere.
I don't suppose anyone knows who Bradbury were? The wagons certainly seem only lightly weathered.
Also I think the bike up against the wagons is a great touch.
So over the past month I have been acquiring stock off of ebay - most has now arrived having taken weeks thanks to the postal systems of the UK and Sweden (pictures to follow).
I managed to get a selection of built and unbuilt Coopercraft open wagons (3, 5 and 7 plank) as well as a few Minks and a provendar wagon (Q1).
I have managed to fit a small selection with Alan Gibson wheels and everything seems to run smoothly although a few of the built ones will need some paint work and the decals could be improved. I have now, however, hit an impasse. The first is couplers - I have removed most except for a few which are fitted with Sprat and Winkle couplings. What to do? To be honest I have read lots but am none the wiser.......
I quite like the idea of 3-link as they look good but...are they practical?
The second is what state should these wagons be in? Should they be heavily weathered, lightly or what? Most of the books say that Edwardian locos were kept immaculately as were the passenger stock but I am sure that can't apply to the goods stock. Any advice?
Hi everyone, just wanted to introduce myself and the layout I am working on – I had planned to do this earlier in 2015 but you know how things are. So in an effort to speed things along I though putting my thoughts on here might help me achieve something in 2016. Kind of a new year's resolution!
Over the past years I have had a number of “models” from my first round-and-round OO GWR layout, a Swiss HO layout , through narrow gauge 009 and a large US N gauge layout. My most recent was a large HO layout based in Norway in winter time (think snow). The problem has been that it was too big and too time consuming and I ended up making lots of compromises in an attempt to achieve something. In the end it all become rather disappointing. The layout still exists and will be worked on when I have a place for it - maybe. A move to Arctic Sweden (yes you read that correctly – you think you have a long trip to the model shop!) has meant that I have less space for the next few years, so something new was needed that keeps me occupied on the cold dark nights (no daylight for a month and it was -37C today).
After much thought I came up with a brief for the new layout:
It has to have some new challenges – I didn't want to just “buy” things and run them around the track.
GWR – I was brought up in Plymouth and spent many hours watching the WR diesel hydraulics. If I was to return to modelling a UK-based railway it had to be the GWR.
EM scale – I wanted to build my own track and have something better looking than the standard track. I contemplated P4 but having read various blogs and other sources decided that EM will good for me and a sufficient challenge.
Small – I wanted something small enough to complete in a reasonable timescale yet provide challenging operation combined with realism.
Use as much as possible of the material I had to hand. I have built previous layouts using Aluminium framing and ply to produce a lightweight structure. So I would use the spares I had for the baseboard and reuse anything I had around.
I had recently seen the great modelling by Mikkel on his Farthing Layouts and MikeOxon’s work. These inspired me to try something different particularly as I didn’t want this to be “yet another between wars GWR branch line terminus”. I had always had an interest in the Broad Gauge but though this was perhaps a bit too ambitious at this stage. But I love the old gleaming liveries. I therefore took the decision to set it in the Edwardian period (nominally 1910-1913 but “flexible”).
I also much admired the way Mikkel has made his layouts “personal” – focusing on the people involved in running the railway. I doubt very much whether I could match Mikkel’s skills nor would I want to copy. I do, however, want to make the layout more about the people than just be an exercise in how good I could model the stock and buildings (which probably isn't that good!).
I had come across Brentford Dock in the literature – a site which seemed non-typical GWR. As a number of others on rmweb have pointed out this would make a good scene in a reduced format. I therefore decided on a Dock scene based on Brentford as a concept but to remind me of my hometown in would be called Sutton Dock.
So I finally built some track. I used the C&L plastic system with steel rail. For my first attempt I used a simple template and made no attempt to make it fit my period (i.e., sleeper spacing etc.) I built a small section of straight track on some thick card. Made a few errors but hey it worked!
Here it is. You will see that I have tried some attempts at ballasting. I want something that fits a yard and not the mainline type of ballasting often seen in yards. I read Chris Nevard's blog on using modelling clay pushed down between the rails and then painted. You can see my attempts on the right and in the close up below.
While this worked it took forever and this was only on straight track. I wouldn't contemplate trying to push the clay between point blades. I am sure Chris' modelling skills are better than mine but I wouldn't have the patience.
So I then looked at Mikel's Farthing layout and the way he ballasted the yard - i.e., use filler before laying the rail. I obviously couldn't try it before I laid the rail so I just tried a little around the edges.
However, unlike on Mikkel's layout I roughed up the filler with a paintbrush as Chris does on his yards with the modelling clay. I quite liked this so I decided to go ahead and try a section of "real" track and a point to see what happens......pictures soon I hope.
Here are some pictures I have culled from the internet that I am using as inspiration. They are from various locations on the GWR system and as you can see some are from the post-Edwardian period.
Well...at least the first train to run. Here is my 517 class now numbered 572 in the "as yet to be finished yard". 572 still needs a little work but is nearing completion....
Don't close ups show errors! Soft focus next time....lol
I have also started on a a Dean Goods. I got on ebay a partly build K's whitemetal kit. I had to dismantle it as nothing was straight. I soon learnt that whitemetal can be easily bent and broken......ah well. In addition, the motor was fried and I had to convert the chassis to EM. At the moment I am working out how to fit a Hilevel gearbox and motor in it. But at least the body is making progress. I have put on the first coat of green only.
OK so here is the latest of my 517. A reminder that the body is a shortened 14xx and fitted onto a hacked Hilevel 14xx chassis. This is the first time attempt at this kind of build and my first paint job. Clearly it needs the chimney etc...etc.. but I am pleased with it so far. I have learnt so much!
Well I note its 2 years since I posted anything. I do, sadly have an excuse of both my wife and I being seriously ill one after the other.
I guess life gets in the way. However, we are both on then mend and have finally got round to some modelling again. I will post some pictures in the next few days and will start catching up on a lot of reading!!
With the available space I have (roughly 150cm x 60cm) I have come up with the following trackplan. I have tried to keep the plan simple and not too cluttered with tracks. There will be some sort of fiddle yard off to the RHS. There is no run-round loop (only a half one) - any run round move will need the fiddle yard.
Its based on various parts of Brentford Dock and in particular 3 features. The first is the large covered transfer shed, the second the unusual shaped storage shed that protrudes over the water and finally a loading platform. The aim it to put the storage shed at the left hand end with the covered dock at the right hand end (a reverse of Brentford). The aim is to look into the covered dock as if you were on the other side of the waterway. So the building will be sectioned down the middle (ambitious I know!). Another problem is that the original Brunel wooden transfer shed burnt down in the 1920s and to date I have only one picture taken from a long distance!
The storage shed can be seen in the distance.
Loading dock - I like this picture although taken many years later than my period. I
