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JDaniels

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  1. JDaniels
    Firstly apologies as I haven't looked at the blogs for a while. After the late snow the weather here has been great and the modelling has taken a back seat. My son and I walked the Limestone Way in May and I've been organising our next walk, the Cleveland Way in September.
     
    I went to Expo EM mainly to hand over the SEF 517 to Geoff James for painting. There were a number of layouts there but one that did impress was Tim Venton's Clutton. There is a trend today for layouts the area of a Corn Flakes box but here was one, 24ft x7ft, built to the same high standards as these much smaller ones; clearly requiring a great deal more time to construct. I particularly liked the fact that it was based on a prototype location so there is little opportunity to use commercially available items. What was also good to see was that features in the landscape (I recall a particular farm) were identified by notices around the baseboard edge. I can only marvel at the dedication required, the trackwork, for example, comprised individual chairs glued to plywood sleepers. I think that would have driven me insane!
     
    I also wanted to see David Geen's stand as I was hoping to purchases a couple of his wagon kits but regrettably he wasn't able to attend. It is interesting to see the trade stands though and see what is available. It's also useful to check up on the trader's websites. I hesitate to mention this as I was taken to task the last time I strayed into this field but I notice that Wizard Models, one of the traders at Expo EM, have a selection of Mainly Trains parts available. I don't know whether they have taken over and are now manufacturing them or whether this is old stock but bearing in mind that MT sold a wonderful selection of parts that no one else does I thought others might be interested. I see for example that the Cambrian 2-4-0T chassis is available, I have a vague thought about getting another to compensate it as the fixed chassis doesn't perform spectacularly well.
     
    One of the effects of visiting a show with high quality layouts and rolling stock on display is that it prompts you to have another look at your own stock to se if that passes muster. Mostly I thought it did (I was able to correct some glossy weathering on some of my 1902 wagons - solution - stir the paint THOROUGHLY!).
     
    One obvious candidate for refurbishment was a GWR T49 brake third. Last year I had a spare Ratio chassis and wanting something different purchased the sides from Shire Scenes last year. Unfortunately my painting looked as though it had been applied with a tar brush and, having Araldited the body to the chassis, one of the brake door windows fell off and rattled about inside. I manged to prise the body off the chassis, applied paint stripper to the sides and had another go at glazing, this time using Araldite rather than Superglue. This time I opted for chocolate and cream rather than all over chocolate and although still not perfect, the finish was better. The metal sides mean the surface needs priming which, for me, makes it harder to obtain a decnt finish. Glazing Shire Scenes sides is an absolute pig as the door droplights and hinges are seperate etchings that fit on the inside which therefore means that each pair of windows and every droplight has to be glazed separately. I still managed to get some Araldite on the glazing but as it is dark inside this shows up only as a dirty window (surely that happened even on the GWR!). Using chocolate and cream meant I had to apply the lining between the two which, I read, is not gold and black (that was only used on prestige stock) but a single yellow line. Fox transfers supply a suitable decal.
     
    Lettering is a bone of contention. I have tried using Pressfix but just cannot get on with the smaller transfers. Every time I tried to apply the class designation to the doors, the individual letters floated away when I wet the tissue paper. They work for the larger items such as the coat of arms but for class designations and numbers; hopeless. I've varnished the sides and will apply the class designation and numbers once I can find transfers that do work, unfortunately Fox Transfers only do the later post war style.
     
    I detailed the chassis with brake gear (Mainly Trains did a very useful etch) and the photo shows the result.
     

     
    Not brilliant but it's an interesting change from the usual GWR 4 wheeled brake.
     
    To show what a difference a decent paint job (by Geoff James) can make, attached is a photo of Ratio composite sides on a Mainly Trains chassis. I have to say I like the lake livery which to my mind looks very dignified.
     

     
    Finally, those who read my blog may recall how taken I was with the Dapol 'O' gauge range, in particular the Stroudley Terrier. As a GWR fan though it wasn't too difficult to put this aside, the only GWR loco they did was a quite expensve 64xx 0-6-0PT. However the range is being extended with that old favourite, the GWR 48xx/14xx/58xx 0-4-2T at the same price as the Terrier. No photos at the moment but it's bound to be excellent and also tempt a lot of people, including myself to the senior scale.
     
    i hope all RM Web users have a great summer, I'm putting the modelling away for now. See you all in the Autumn.
  2. JDaniels
    I have been modelling on a semi-serious basis now since the early 1970's and in my collection of rolling stock are items that I have no recollection of buying or detailing. Some of these have absolutely no place at Blagdon so occupy a separate box to the other stock which is relevant to the Wrington Vale. That box currently hold two Airfix auto coaches, both in as built condition (with windows both ends) and detailed with the Dart Castings kit, a Stephen Poole 64xx 0-6-0PT that recently acquired a Cotswold etched chassis and the Gem Cambrian 2-4-0T, this though may find a place on a future Cambrian micro layout (Fronfraith). In addition to these is the subject of this brief article, the Siphon H, not sure whether it was Airfix or Mainline that did this but I'm quite sure that the prototype would never have found its' way to Blagdon, or any other branch line for that matter.
     
    On a related matter, I do sometimes think that as modellers we overdo the incidence of Siphons attached to branch passenger trains. My understanding is that from the 1920's on, road haulage really ate into the railways share of goods traffic using army surplus lorries and being able to collect milk direct from a farm gave road hauliers an unbeatable advantage. Blagdon was supposed to have a reasonable trade in milk but the photos I have seen show this being loaded into the guards compartment of passenger trains. The amount of milk from the whole of the Wrington Vale would hardly justify even a 6 wheel Siphon (although I do have two of those). Siphons were of course used on other traffic, the strawberry trains on the Cheddar line for example and prior to 1920 there are photographs of Siphons on passenger trains, an early photo of the Abbotsbury branch train shows a milk truck (not a Siphon) attached to the branch train. Siphons appear to have been more generally used on main line trains, either attached to an express passenger or as part of a dedicated milk train that would serve a milk processing centre (the milk having been taken from the farm to the centre by lorry)..
     
    I digress, back to the Siphon H. This was detailed all those years ago with new bogies, brake rodding, wire handrails and lamp irons, additional trussing, brake and steam pipes and screw couplings. Sorting out the models for the "non-Blagdon" box I had another look at this and thought it could be further improved with, naturally, gas pipes on the roof. I laid out the two pipes running along beside the lamps, one of smaller diameter than the other but as I don't have any information about how the feed came up from the gas cylinders I have done no more than this. If anyone can clarify how the gas reached the roof I'd love to know, the vehicle had end doors so I can't imagine they'd have reached the roof that way.. I have also noticed that those who have commented in the past on detailing this model query the bogies that were used. The Russell book has several photos of Siphon H's and all have the American 9ft variety as my model. Sadly though none of the photos show the arrangement of the plumbing on the roof.
     
    Only 20 of these vehicles were ever built so they were very rare birds indeed. The Siphon G was far more common although there were more variations over the various lots.
     
    If I was doing this again I'd certainly change the handbrake levers and maybe add a little more underframe detail. I also need to remove the inner bogie step. Ah well, the trouble with this hobby is that as you delve further the shortcomings of your work become apparent with the ncourse of time. Like many people though I like the brown vehicles and the body of the Airfix / Mainline model is excellent.
     

     
    The model was quite heavily weathered using Hubrol washes, in this case "dust" colour which, from years washing my various cars, appears to be the predominant shade of "dirt.". You can rest assured though I won't be doing this to the auto coaches.
  3. JDaniels

    Confessions

    By JDaniels,

    Firstly, I have to apologise for the absence of any blog entries. Life as they say overtakes you sometimes and I've had a number of issues to sort out, most notably an aging mother and, more recently, mother-in-law having to go into care homes. We now have yet another house to empty at a time when I should be at my modelling desk. Still had two good walks this year, another part of the SW Coast Path and almost all the Cotswold Way (weather interrupted).
     
    I did notice in my prolonged absence a number of interesting blogs, I would love to have contributed my two pennyworth but it's a bit late now.
     
    Now to my main confession, readers of my blog may have noticed a photo of a GWR U4 compo in lake livery painted by Geoff Haynes. This though was actually only one coach of the three coach set that worked the Blagdon branch. I have sets in both the elaborate and simplified chocolate and cream liveries but as my preferred modelling period is the early 1920's it was essential that I had a set in the lake colour in use at that time. I wanted this set to be more realistic than the others so used the highly detailed Mainly Trains chassis and for the brakes the Shire Scenes sides. The Ratio sides are fine for a T47 brake third but it was the T36 example that was used on the Blagdon branch (and many others). This has three rather than two compartments. If you think about it a train with four third class, two first and two second compartments is hardly representative.
     
    Geoff understandably painted the sides prior to fitting the glazing and the grab and door handles. All I had to do was fit these when they came back in their immaculate lake livery. I did have misgivings on this score, justified as it turned out.
     
    The composite was fairly straightforward which is why it appears in a past blog. The plastic sides, flush on the inside, meant I only had to cut one length of glazing for each side and this could be secured with liquid poly. The holes for the door and grab rails had already been drilled and these were easily fitted. I used etched handles, the grab rails are not really that realistic as the etching process results in a flat section rather than circular but the prospect of bending brass wire into the correct shape and uniform for every handle was to my mind impossible.
     
    On to the brake thirds which of course had Shire Scenes etched brass sides. As I think I mentioned earlier, the droplights are a separate etching fixed to the inside of the coach so the glazing has to be sectioned, one piece for each pair of adjoining windows, another for each droplight. Stupidly, I thought I'd use cyano to fix the glazing and guess what, I got it on the paintwork. Even more stupidly, if that's possible, I used cyano to fix the door handles and grab rails. Yet more adhesive on the paintwork. If someone was cruel they might think it funny looking at me running around like a headless chicken trying to wash the cyano off. Of course it damaged the expensive paintwork so feeling rather chastened I quietly packed the two bodies and the separate chassis in an ice cream tub thinking maybe one day I'd have another look at them. I did seriously think why am I pursuing this hobby.
     
    They languished in that ice cream tub for some time until recently when I decided to have another look at them. At Expo EM I bought a tin of Precision Paints GWR lake which, as luck would have it, was the paint that Geoff used as it was an exact match. I had another look at the glazing, some of which had come adrift whilst some others were cloudy where the cyano had got on them. I replaced the missing and the worst of the cloudy glazing with new but this time using Araldite which doesn't go everywhere. Turning attention to the handles, I used the Comet etch which is a little wider than some of the other handles on the coach (I was reluctant to take them all off and start again) but has the advantage that it keeps the correct shape. I'm not sure where some of the etched grab handles came from so  they are a bit of mix and match but you'd have to look very closely to notice this. Maybe one day I'll replace the ones that don't match.
     
    Mating the bodies to the chassis for the first time I was encouraged that the sides didn't look as bad as I first thought. The grab rails effectively hid the cyano on the paintwork and applying thinnned down paint to the damaged areas did quite an effective job. At last I'm now able to show the three coach set for the first time, the photo shows it standing at Blagdon's platform
     

     
    The two brake thirds are numbered 951 and 952, the ones used at Blagdon from 1902 to cessation of the passenger service in 1931. Whilst close examination will reveal the flaws, at normal viewing distance these aren't visible (neither is the detailed chassis!).
     
    This wasn't the only disappointment I had. I've been experimenting with track construction using ply sleepers and rivets to represent flat bottom rail spiked directly to the sleepers. This has not worked as for some reason the spacing of the rivet holes in the ply is not that for EM gauge. Also it's difficult to get the holes in the correct position on pointwork, the exact position of the rails using the various gauges does not conform with the position of the holes drilled using the template. If I was using chaired track I'd certainly use the EMGS points and trackwork (incidentally the reason EMGS membership has increased dramatically) but for flat bottom spiked track it's back to copper clad again. This is much easier to use and by scraping an old piece of hacksaw blade over the copper sleepers I've been able tomake a representation of the grain. So far this has gone reasonably well but until the EMGS stock again the wider point sleepers work has come to a halt. One encouraging point (no pun intended) is that by taking great care over the crossing V's stock runs very smoothly through the pointwork. I replaced the wooden sleepers one by one, unsoldering and then offering up the copper one so I didn't have to dismantle the point. The intention is that the track will be the basis of a new Blagdon over two boards to accomodate any downsizing.
     
    Like the Siphon C, it's been good to finish the unfinished. The last unfinished kit I have is the GWR 2021 0-6-0ST, now reintroduced by SE Finecast. At Expo EM I brought the chassis so that might be the next thing on the agenda.
     
     
     
     
     
  4. JDaniels

    Current collectors

    By JDaniels,

    When it comes to the running qualities of our locomotives, I've long thought that the weak point are the current collectors, the way in which the current is picked up from the tyres. We have very good motors and gearboxes and with compensated, and now CSB suspension systems there is no longer any problem in ensuring all wheels are in contact with the track. However when it comes to collecting the current from the wheel tyres we end up fiddling about with pieces of phosphor bronze wire or strip.Not very high tech!
     
    I've been on the lookout for something better and think I found it in Hobbycraft (this was whilst Mrs. D was wandering around the sewing section). I was looking at the jewellery section and discovered that you could buy small metal beads that are used for making jewellery. Unfortunately I threw the packaging away but I think this is what I used.
     
    http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/beads-unlimited-midi-metal-rounds-3-mm-gold-plated/561573-1001
     
    Put simply, the bead is threaded through and then soldered to phospor bronze wire and it is the bead, not the wire, that bears against the back of tyre. Being round there is no scratching and as it is gold plated this should mean better electricial conductivity. The hole in the bead is larger that most phosphor bronze wire but as it is soldered this is not a major issue although a closer fit would have been better. For 1384 I had to use one piece of wire for the two driving wheels each side and I found one advantage was that once the wire had been soldered to the baseplate it was possible to move the bead on the wire using a soldering iron to ensure it was exactly in line with the tyre. Another advantage over using phosphor bronze strip was appearance, the wire is far less noticeable.
     
    Clearly the wire needs to be cut off where it comes out of the other side of the bead.
     
    I've adapted three of my locomotives so far and found that current collection is much improved whilst friction is reduced.
     
    I'd recommend giving this a try, at £ 2.70 for 100 it's hardly going to break the bank.
  5. JDaniels

    GWR 0-4-2T's

    By JDaniels,

    As I write this it's pouring with rain outside so a return to modelling or rather the blog. I tend to vacate the modelling bench in the summer for other pleasures, this year a cruise round the Baltic and more recently walking the Cleveland Way. You just know it's time to get away from the television when Channel 5 do a programme "The Great Model Railway Challenge" and no I didn't watch it. As a result of these other activities I haven't even looked at RM Web for several months.
     
    Those who have read my blog will know that I was constructing the Wills 517 0-4-2T. I was able to hand this over to Geoff Haynes at Expo EM for painting and it was returned a few weeks ago. Rather than just focus on this one model I thought it might be more interesting to have a look at the five 0-4-2T locos I have which emanate from four different manufacturers and were built over a period of 40 years.
     
    Let's take the latest, the Wills 517 kit first:
     

     
    I'm pleased with the result but I always think a professional paint job makes a difference. This was the first loco I constructed with CSB suspension and I think in a previous blog I mentioned that I did not notice much difference in the running over a compensated chassis. Having run it in I now think that it is better than most compensated chassis and is worth the extra effort. In one respect it is far superior and that is noise level. My other locos, when running on Blagdon, are quite noisy but are quiet in the fiddle yard. This one is very quiet even on the ballasted track. The reason for this is obvious, when ballasting Blagdon I used diluted PVA which sets like cement. Under that ballast is foam underlay but it may as well not be there for all the good it does. In future I will use Copydex as suggested elsewhere in other blogs.
     
    I think the running must be quieter as all axles are separately sprung and therefore insulated, if that is the right word, from the chassis. I also used Alan Gibson sprung plunger pick-ups and they seem to have curbed any tendency to hesitate when running. The model has Ultrascale wheels, a Mashima motor and High Level 60-1 gears, the whole assembly contained within the side tanks so nothing intrudes into the cab or under the boiler. It certainly runs as well as any Portecap fitted loco.
     
    The Wills kit represents a 517 in later life, fortunately I had good photos of both sides of 848 which was auto fitted. This meant a fair amount of additional detailing was necessary in particular the cylinder in front of the right side cab sheets which may be something to do with the auto gear. This is no criticism of the kit, every 517 seemed to be different so this is not a kit that can just be assembled without reference to any photos.
     
    The other 517 is quite different as it represents a survivor that was little changed in its' later years. Number 559 always had the straight backed bunker, open cab, most unusually a round top boiler, inside frames to the trailing wheels but, conversely, acquired the modern innovation of top feed.
     

     
    This loco's stumpy and severe appearance makes it a particular favourite of mine although, looking at its' condition in the two photos I have found of the original, clearly not with the crews as it looks quite unkempt. This was, I think, an M&L kit which I thought was well detailed, went together perfectly and had a number of useful alternative parts. It is fitted with a Portescap RG1219 motor and runs superbly. Looking at photos of 559 and 848 you would think they were from a different class.
     
    Leaving now the 517's, we turn to their replacement the 48xx/58xx 0-4-2T. I have three of these but without doubt the best one is 5807 in as built condition:
     

     
    This is an etched kit from Rod Neep marketed by a model shop in York (long since closed). To my mind this demonstrates the superior appearance of sheet metal over cast white metal (or plastic for that matter); after all it's what the protoypes were made from. I've studied many photos of the prototypes and to my mind this captures the appearance of this very popular class well.This one is another favourite.The model has a Portecap RG1624 and runs superbly. I possibly could have shoehorned the larger Portescap into 559. In those days too Portescap motors were just a bit expensive, not stupidly so.
     
    Whilst I was able to construct this etched kit, I did have a lot of problems with the Mallard 517 to the extent that I gave up. This had overlays which I could not get on with so whilst I appreciate the improved appearance of an etched kit I am reluctant to go down that route again hence the pain free Wills version.
     
    The last two 48xx were both constructed from K's kits. Those younger than me (very much younger!) may not be aware that this was the first cast white metal kit introduced, I think in about 1957. You can certainly criticise the chassis and the motors of these kits but to my mind the body, with a little work, doesn't look too bad. After the flash and casting imperfections, the biggest issue is with the smokebox door which is easily replaced. Oddly the Airfix 48xx had exactly the same issue. In those days the chassis was two strips of 1/16th inch (?) brass strip with 1/8th inch holes for the axles. The K's motors were abominations, even the earlier metal ones were Araldited together and as for the plastic ones.....
     

     
    I guess I must have built this kit in the mid 1970's. It now has the identity 4836 and is in as built condition. It was painted by Larry Goddard (as was 559 and 5807) and has had quite a few chassis since then. It now has what I think may be a compensated Comet chassis with High Level Gears and a Mashima motor. Once I realised the issue with the smokebox I managed to replace it and match Larry Goddards' finish. Yes you can criticise it in several respects but it is a part of my modelling history. You cannot keep throwing the last kit you made away because the latest one is better. I've tried to look after it but after 40 years or so wear and tear is apparent on the paintwork. I view it not as an accurate model but as part of my past that, within the constraints of keeping the paintwork has evolved.
     
    The last of this collection is another K's kit representing the class in BR days when one worked the daily freight to Blagdon. This loco, 1463, was shedded at Bristol St. Phillips Marsh so probably did work to Blagdon.
     

     
    I was given the model by a friend so after applying paint stripper I did a little detailing once again replacing that awful smokebox door. As an auto fitted version the gubbins on the buffer beams and associated piping were added and this time I kept the steps on the fireman's side of the bunker. Unfortunately I did not do a good job of removing them on 4836 (on the prototype the steps were added later) and you can still see where they were. One other change that was made later was the addition of the whistle shield. Otherwise few changes were made to the class over their life, perhaps the other most noticeable feature was top feed which was added to some of them (but not 1463). This more uniform appearance makes them easier to model than the 517's.
     
    I painted 1463 using car matt black spray and of course got what I think is called an orange peel finish. Again it has an etched compensated chassis with Mashima motor and High Level gearbox.
     
    It's interesting to compare the different kits and see what progress has been made over the years. It's also interesting to reflect on my journey through this hobby over 40 plus years, I'm fairly sure the K's 48xx (4836) was the first kit I made so even if a little ropey, it still means something to me.
  6. JDaniels
    I haven't yet worked out how to attach a photo to a reply so in response to Mikkel's comment I attach a photo of the inside of the first almost completed coach.
     
    Unfortunately my camera and lens is better at landscapes than close ups but I hope this shows how I tackled the fitting of the body to the chassis. The folded tabs on the ends are no good as using these means that the ends, and consequently the sides, sit on top of the floor. I cut these off and made my own tabs out of brass sheet bent to an L shape. The shorter side is held against the ends with the longer side resting on the floor. When the position is correct, i.e. the ends and sides are just overlapping the floor, the shorter side of the L is soldered to the end. In retrospect the angle of the "L" could be a little more than 90 degrees to accomodate the slight tumblehome on the ends. The steps on one end don't help in getting a good fit between the new bracket and the end but I filled the gap with some scrap brass.
     
    Having accomplished this I then turned my attention to the holes for the screws located at each end. These had already been drilled through the floor so it was a simple matter to mark the position of the holes on the bracket, drill through the bracket, and firmly solder the 8BA nuts on the top of the bracket. A good tip in the instructions was to use cocktail sticks to locate the nuts through the holes which avoids soldering up the threads.
     
    I hope the photo and the explanation clarifies. I hope the finished coaches justify the huge amount of time and expense incurred in contrsucting them.
  7. JDaniels
    Having assembled the two brakes, I turned, with some trepidation, to the composite. This uses the Ratio sides and I was concerned that as these were thicker than the etched brass the problems with clearances might be more acute. Also as they were plastic I couldn't be so carefree with the soldering iron and I was concerned that gluing might not give as good a bond as solder.
     
    With the brake thirds I soldered the sides to the ends and then, allowing for the slight overlap of the sides over the solebars, located the L shaped bracket that would take the fixing screws securing the body to the chassis. As I was concerned that the plastic sides would not take kindly to the heat, I soldered the brackets to the ends first. By using the roof as a guide, I estimated the correct position of the sides against the ends and allowing for that slight overlap of the solebar soldered the brackets to the end without the sides in place. Locating the roof showed that the sides were at the very limit of the width allowable by the roof so I filed the end of the sides down to reduce the thickness where they located against the "wings" and therefore the overall width. This had the advantage that the ends would more closely match the brakes which used the thinner Shire Scene sides. The next step was to Araldite the sides to the ends, I was grateful that the Shire Scene ends had the wings that folded out to give a greater area for the adhesive. Once again I located the roof in position just to ensure the sides and ends were located in the correct position.
     
    Once the Araldite had completely set I then tried locating the body assembly to the floor. This was the point I had problems before, I can only think the width of the MT floor is greater than that in the Ratio kit as the body tends to sit on, rather than slightly overlapping the floor. Oddly the problem more or less resolved itself as the "wings" to which the sides are secured were at the top and halfway up the height of the body. The bottom of the ends, which weren't fixed, bowed out slightly to fit over the solebars. With the sides and ends in the correct position I filled the gaps at the bottom of the join between the ends and sides with Araldite whilst the body was located on the chassis. Having satisfied myself that the body was correctly located on the floor, I marked the holes for the 8BA screws, drilled the holes and soldered the 8BA nuts to the top of the bracket, ensuring the soldering iron did not linger longer than was necessary. Whilst I hadn't intended to fix the compartment partitions in place at this stage, I thought that as the assembly only relied on adhesive rather than solder, fixing the central partition would add strength. The photo shows the body at this stage, the internal soldering looking a little neater than on the brake thirds.
     

     
    Now the time came to fix the roof, as will be apparent it would be impossible to solder the nuts on the brackets with the roof in place. The one slight hiccup was the partition, this was slightly too wide causing the sides to bow out slightly in the centre. This was simply solved by cutting a section out of the partition and placing a new piece of Plasticard over the gap once the roof was in place. As it was the roof only just covered both sides but once fixed with plastic glue (sides) and Araldite (ends) the whole assembly was quite rigid. The photo shows the coach virtually complete. For once, this coach was more straightforward than I expected.
     

     
    Apologies for the focussing but a macro lens is out of my budget.
     
    I had wondered just how much the MT chassis kits adds to the appearance of the Ratio sides so for comparison I attach two photos, broadside views of the unpainted composite and another of an old Ratio kit (in the livery for 1902) assembled as per instructions.
     

     

     

    I think from most viewpoints there is little difference between the two. IMHO the Ratio kit can be improved by just two simple steps, adding the gas lighting pipes (as will be evident from the photo, something I am doing on all my old coaches) and paring off the end handrails and substituing them for brass wire looping round on to the carriage roof. I also have a set of the same three coaches in post 1927 simplified chocolate and cream and these do have basic brake rigging added. Again though from most angles this underframe detail just cannot be seen. To my mind the ends are the biggest drawback of the Ratio kit, not the underframe. There is no doubt that the etched ends, whether MT or Shirescenes, look better with the pipework etc. added separately rather than moulded on. The stepboards of the Ratio kit are also a drawback, not because they're not realistic, they are far too fragile.
     
    I don't know what other GWR modellers do but I'm never sure what colour to paint the roof. Yes there is the odd photo of a pristine white coach roof but more usually they seem to be shades of grey depending on how long the coach has been in service since its' last repaint. I've alternated between painting the roof white and then weathering it or just painting it a light shade of grey. Common sense dictates that the roof started white and would weather unevenly (i.e. with blotches and streaks) but photos show an even grey colour.
     
    Finally, recent blog entries by MikeOxon prompted me to search out a photo I took of the side of a BG coach at a Bristol Museum (I think it's called the "M Shed" now) which I had forgotten about. It's remarkable that this has survived for so long and gives us a real insight into the liveries and construction of coaches built over 150 years ago. The coach was probably withdrawn in 1870 and is in the same condition as it was then.
     

     

    Because this is not on a preserved railway it is probably not as well known as it should be.
     
    Hope this is of interest.
  8. JDaniels

    GWR 517 0-4-2T

    By JDaniels,

    I'm thinking of constructing another 517 0-4-2T to work alongside the M &L kit I already have. I was contemplating the Malcolm Mitchell kit but really wanted something that would not take as long to construct and I'm also a little put off by comments that on some of these kits the boiler has to be rolled. I've since read reports that SE Finecast are supposed to have produced a kit for this locomotive but although it appears in the price list, I've yet to find a photo of it.
     
    The M & L kit represents the short framed, inside rear bearing version of the 517 which, by the 1920's were quite rare, most having been converted with a longer frame and outside rear bearings. Does anyone know which version the SE Finecast kit represents?
     
    I have a SE Finecast kit of the GWR Metro tank and the quality and fit of the castings is outstanding. The kits also come with a detailed etched chassis.
     
    I'd be grateful if anyone has more information on this kit which I can imagine will be very popular.
  9. JDaniels

    GWR 517 0-4-2T

    By JDaniels,

    The Finecast kit arrived this morning, impressive when you consider I only phoned yesterday.
     
    The kit has the 15ft overall wheelbase (7ft 4in + 7ft 8in) with provision for both inside and outside bearing trailing wheels. One disdavantage is that the kit only comes with the later extended bunker although I may have one of the earlier bunkers that hopefully may fit. The full covered cab is supplied but the instructions do say that this could be modified to a half cab. The kit also includes three variants of the front steps.
     
    I don't think it's a particularly important issue but I think the outside bearing trailing wheel versions had a 15ft 6in wheelbase. The instructions refer to the final 6 locos as having the 15ft 6in wheelbase but RCTS part 6 refers to these having been built with this wheelbase from new, most of the locos originally with a 15ft wheelbase were converted to 15ft 6in so if one was pedantic none of these, either those built as new or those converted, could be built from this kit.
     
    The chassis has provision for CSB suspension and a quick look at the castings show them to be of the quality one expects from Finecast.
     
    Also included with the package I received was a note of the Nu Cast kits now also available under the joint venture between SE Finecast and Branchlines. The kits are:
     
    LNER J70 tram engine
     
    NER Class H, LNER Y7
     
    LNER Sentinel Railcar
     
    Sentinental shunter
     
    LMS Fowler 7F 0-8-0
     
    GWR Autocoach Dia A26.
     
    BR (WR) 16xx pannier.
     
    Coming soon is the GWR 2021 0-6-0 in saddle and pannier tank forms. I have one of these partly assembled.
     
    The autocoach looks interesting and despite being out of period, I have a soft spot for the 16xx pannier.
     
    I hope this is of interest.
  10. JDaniels

    GWR 517 0-4-2T

    By JDaniels,

    To add to my recent blogs on the subject, attached (I hope) are photos of my 517 0-4-2T, 559.
     
    This was built many years ago and has a Portescap motor with the MJT gearbox conversion.
     

     

  11. JDaniels
    Basking in the warm glow of satisfaction having completed the railmotor I thought I'd share some thoughts on prototype GWR stations that might be worth modelling. As anyone who has read my first entry on Blagdon will know, I like to model a prototype station. The research is often as interesting as the modelling and there's always a thrill when you find some obscure photograph that sheds light on a particular aspect of the station that had eluded you. It is also interesting to be able to operate the actual timetable which often throws up problems that the staff at the prototype must have faced.
     
    Blagdon is still in operation, indeed I want to rewire the underside of the baseboard and by-pass the built in switches on my old H. and M point motors which seem to be gradually giving up the ghost. I am interested though in looking at other prototype stations with a view to future modelling and I hope perhaps persuade others to consider actual locations as a basis of a model.
     
    As readers may know, the second part of R J Smith's record of Great Western Railway Stations was recently published and I obtained my copy a couple of weeks ago. I already have part one so the two together now give me the track plan and in most cases at least one photograph of every station on the GWR extant in 1947. Part two includes South Wales and it is this that has been something of an eye opener. It is often said that South Wales is a neglected area but I never realised just how many single track branches there were in the area. Further, whilst I'm not sure that the scale in the book is constant, many of the terminals seem quite compact as land was probably more expensive than in the country. Let me give a few examples of GWR branch terminii in South Wales that might be worth modelling:
     
    Cwmmawr
    Aberwynfi
    Blaengarw
    Nantymoel
    Gilfach Goch
    Maerdy
    Nantmelyn
    Blaenavon
     
    To this you could add Brynamman which seemed to have an end on connection with the LMS. How many modellers have wanted a location where they could run trains of different companies but have had to make do with a fictitious location? I've only focussed on the terminals as they are more interesting to operate but each branch has often several through stations. The other point is that the track plans show that the layout of these stations was often very different from the norm whilst the presence of industry, often "offstage," gives the excuse for running more goods trains. The notion that somehow these lines were in an industrial wasteland is completely wrong. Although it has no terminals, the Neath and Brecon is probably one of the most spectacular lines on the GWR.
     
    Whilst not necessarily in South Wales, I'm certainly leaning towards some sort of semi-industrial location for my next model, something that those who have seen my attempt at grass will understand! One station that does appeal is Rosebush on the North Pembroke and Fishguard Railway. This had a siding leading to slate quarries well offstage and although these had closed at an early date, modeller's licence could still allow traffic from the quarry. A rather more industrial environment is Porthywaen quarry near Oswestry which would allow the use of superannuated Cambrian locomotives. In the same area, Dinas Mawwdwy is a terminal that I think would make an attractive model. This had slate traffic and has the advantage that the station is still extant; I've been there although sadly the old loco shed burned down some years ago but after my first visit.
     
    I've put forward a few thoughts and would welcome your views. I know that when I go to a model railway exhibition the layouts that really catch my eye are those that are different. I particularly remember one featuring the Cromford and High Peak with working rope incline which attracted a lot of attention. A twee GWR terminus has become something of a cliche and no matter how well modelled it is just another twee GWR terminus. There are, or have been, prototype stations that will make an interesting layout, it's just a question of finding one that fits the bill.
  12. JDaniels
    Just returned to modelling after a pleasant trip to New York. Interesting times over there!
     
    In my last entry I mentioned how construction of the Mainly Trains 4 wheel GWR coach chassis was proceeding well. I spoke too soon.
     
    I had completed the chassis and coach ends but the problems started when I tried offering the Ratio coach sides to the chassis and ends. It was immediately obvious that the ends sat too high and as a result the sides were actually clear of the coach floor, the instructions do make a passing reference to possibly having to cut off and raise the bracket that sits on the coach floor. The problem I had though was that to ascertain the correct height of the ends meant the sides and roof had to be fitted and then there is no way to access the brackets. I eventually decided to cement the ends and roof together locating the ends as a guide to ensure the sides and roof set in the correct position.
     
    The bottom of each end bends up to form the bracket through which nuts are soldered. Screws can then be fitted through the coach floor into the nuts holding the whole assembly in place. I cut off the brackets and soldered some brass sprue higher up the end, the 8BA nuts being soldered over the convenient holes in the sprue. It could be that when finally located in place the new bracket may not rest on the floor but hopefully this won't be a problem, the screws are certainly long enough.
     
    The next problem was fixing the ends in place. On the Ratio kit the sides sit over the ends. The instructions aren't clear on this point but as the MT ends are wider than the Ratio ones the sides must fit inside them rather than over them. I was concerned that it would be difficult to align the ends and the coach sides so decided to solder some L shaped brass section on the inside of the ends in the correct position; the sides would then butt against them rather than be pulled in. The sprue I used for the bracket was also bent so that it would again hold the sides in the correct position lower down. These additional butt joints also give a better bond for the araldite.
     
    I hope the photograph of one of the ends illustrates this. It's not a neat job as I wanted to ensure there was no possibility of the bracket breaking away but it's all on the inside anyway. The photo also shows the sides and roof as cemented together
     
    This evening I araldited the ends in place using several elastic bands to hold the ends tight against the sides. It looks as though this has worked, the very thin brass used for the ends helps. The pieces of L shaped brass also ensured the ends were flush with the sides.
     
    One final note, I pared off all the handrails and door handles and will use some of the etched ones in the kit.
     
    The MT chassis kit is designed for many types of GWR 4 wheel coaches and as a result needed more modification than I expected. I'm also a little concerned that I may have problems with the join between the sides and solebar. The sides should overlap the solebar slightly but they seem a tighter fit. I've filed the inside of the sides down which I hope will do the trick.
     
    I will look next at the Shire Scenes sides which might be a little easier as I can solder these in place. One thing I can say though it is a lot more complex than I envisaged.
  13. JDaniels
    Just thought I'd share progress on the GWR 4 wheel coaches. These utilise the Mainly Trains chassis, Shire Scenes sides for the brake thirds and Ratio sides for the composite.
     
    I'll start off by saying this is probably the most difficult modelling exercise I've ever done. Nothing wrong with the chassis or the sides, it's when you mix the two together that problems occur. When you put them together it results in what my dear late Dad would call a "b*****s muddle." It seems I won't be doing much else this winter.
     
    I've temporarily abandoned the composite and will need another Ratio kit. I soldered, no welded, the sides to the roof with the sides tucked inside the ends. In that position though the sides sit on top of the solebars rather than just overlapping them, doesn't sound much but it looks totally wrong. I tried filing the inside of the sides down (to nothing) but still no joy, they can't be persuaded to fit over the solebars. The only way to solve this problem is to separate the roof from the sides and re-fit them outside the ends so the sides are spaced wider apart but because the roof is so firmly fixed to them that is impossible. I'm concerned too that when the three coaches are seen together the composite will look different from the other two because of the thicker plastic sides.
     
    Putting the composite to one side I had a look at the brake thirds which use the thinner Shire Scenes sides. Originally again I fixed the sides inside the ends but encountering the same problem I had to resolder them so they were outside the ends. It was very difficult to get a neat join between the two but once I did I soldered some small brass angle into the joint to strengthen it. The ends have a section at the bottom that folds over to create a bracket for fixing to the floor. However this then locates the ends far too high, solder the sides to the ends so they abut the roof and you have a clear gap between the base of the sides and the floor. I therefore had to cut these fixings off and made up some new L shaped brackets which I would fit once everything looked OK. Getting everything OK was again difficult. not only did the end / side join have to be neat but I also had to make sure the sides fitted snugly under the roof eaves. Once I had a box comprising ends and sides (the roof would be fixed later but I made sure it fitted correctly) it took a lot of fiddling to get the ends to just slide over the solebars, it also made a mockery of my careful attempts to roll the tumblehome before I started this work. Once the position looked right I soldered the L shaped brackets to the ends (and also the sides), the small arm against the end, the longer one resting on the floor covering the holes for the 8BA screws.This would locate the whole body assembly in the correct position on the floor. I then marked the position of the holes on the bracket (from underneath), drilled the holes through the bracket and fixed 8BA nuts on top of it. This meant I could separate the body from the chassis to glaze the windows and add partitions after painting and the carefully aligned screw holes should mean the sides go back in the correct position. As I am getting these coaches professionally painted, I made sure that the nuts and brackets were firmly soldered, it was easy to do this whilst the roof was off, it will be impossible once it is fixed with Araldite.
     
    Talking about the roof, my intention was to use two spares that I had. It appears though that the design had changed and one of the spares did not fit the sides as well as the current version. That means another kit required, just for the roof.
     
    I had to tidy up the ends again, soldering the sides to them had resulted in some of the steps and piping coming away. I also had to file cutouts for the two steps that are fixed to the buffer beam, the ends had to be lower but the steps would then have obstructed them.
     
    I attach a photo of one of the brake thirds, it would be easy to show the sides only but in fairness I thought I should also show the less than perfect end. The roof isn't fixed and I need to add the gas lamp piping (there is an excellent article on the GWR modelling website that details the arrangement of pipes) and couplings but otherwise it is complete. I've now sorted the sides on the second brake third so after a few evenings cleaning up that will be finished once I get some plastic rod and couplings.
     
    I'd reiterate again that this has been a painful and difficult exercise, far more difficult than any etched loco kit I've built. The ends need a lot of hacking to get a decent fit, possibly because the chassis kit is designed for many applications but is not quite right for any one. As so often the case though, if I was doing this again I know I'd make a better job of it, trust me though I won't be doing it again!.
  14. JDaniels
    I bought three of the Mainly Trains 4 wheel coach kits along with the Ratio composite kit and two sets of Shirescenes sides. The intention is to have a superdetailed three coach set.
     
    I've completed the three chassis and I have to say they went together reasonably well. If anyone does purchse them I'd make one recommendation. Do not glue the solebar overlays to the floor assembly. It was perhaps my fault in using Araldite past it's "best before" date but I found it best to solder them. It is somewhat annoying that once fitted the solebar has to be filed to size along it's length and this treatment will certainly show just how well it is fixed hence my soldering recommendation. It follows on from this that the white metal spring assembly should be left off till the solebars are soldered or one runs the risk of melting the white metal. A photo of one of the chassis is attached.
     
    The kit is very well detailed, in particular the solebar has all the necessary rivet detail and even the gas tank gauge, this was a white dial on the solebar and is prominent in many photos. The Ratio kit as it stands is certainly good above the solebar but underneath it is a little lacking.
     
    I haven't made any etched kits for a while but doing this has certainly rekindled my enthusiasm. There's something inherently satisfying in bonding metal securely together in seconds without resorting to smelly and unreliable adhesive. I might even get that kit of "Lady Margaret" some time.
     
    Or I might not. Mrs. D and I visited Gaugemaster at Ford last week to pick up the second lot of Code 75FB rail I ordered. It was a little frustrating as I ordered two packs, was told the rail was in several weeks ago, went down to find only one had been delivered. Two weeks ago I was told the second pack was in so we duly went back to Ford. I have to admit though any opportunity to visit Arundel and walk along the river to the "Black Rabbit" is one we are happy to take. We get to Ford and Mrs. D surprisingly says she'll come into the shop. I show her the display of Bachman locos pointing out they are better detailed than most kits you could buy and finished to a standard a professional painter would be proud of. Only problem is that the wheels are too close together. Mrs. D yawns. We wander around and my eyes are drawn to their O gauge exhibit, a Dapol LBSC Terrier in SR green. I have to say I was spellbound, the detailing was unbelievable and the finish superb. The staff kindly brought it out for inspection and even Mrs. D was very impressed, enthusiastic even. It was priced at £ 225 which considering Bachman OO gauge locos are well into three figures I thought was very good value. The wagons that go with it are similarly very well detailed but at £ 44 I thought they were a little expensive when compared with OO gauge offerings. When we got home I had a look at the Dapol website and their gallery shows the Terrier in a variety of liveries, I defy anyone not to look at the version in LBSC Improved Engine "Green" and not be impressed.
     
    Whenever I have been to a model railway exhibition I've always walked away thinking that O gauge looks far better than 4mm, the locos move in a manner more like the real thing, it must be the greater bulk. I also think that in 7mm every detail can be shown. To me it's a case of 4mm still being a toy, 7mm a model. I still don't think I'll move up yet, space is a problem, but if Dapol bring out a very small GWR loco (they do a 64xx / 74xx pannier) then I would be sorely tempted. Also, whilst I enjoy making kits it must be nice to be able to buy a superb ready to run model.
     
    I'd be interested to hear what others think but would recommend having a look at the Dapol gallery. I also believe Heljan are making some impressive O gauge models.
  16. JDaniels
    This entry will be of interest to those changing the chassis on the Nu cast steam railmotor. I guess that won't be hundreds of you!
     
    As I model in EM the chassis provided with the kit was not really suitable, it's a large lump of white metal with little detail and no provision for springing or compensation. The only chassis that I can find for the railmotor is the one produced by Alan Gibson in etched brass. Having aquired this I made it up in the usual way with EM frame spacers with one axle sprung. The first real hurdle to overcome is fitting this to the body. The Nu Cast kit has the powered bogie supporting the body by means of a pillar on the bogie rotating around a hole near the roof. To avoid the bogie dropping out two "ears" project at either end and these locate above the body floor which has an arc at both front and rear of the opening. To withdraw the bogie there is a gap in the arc in one corner of the front (the cab end) enabling the "ear" to be dropped in or out. I hope the photo of the body makes this clear.
     
    The first job was to replicate the pillar that located in the prominent hole near the roof. Some stout brass rod I found in my scrap metal ice cream tub did the trick and I made this up into a squarish frame. Unlike the NU Cast version the frame means a large motor can be accommodated as it can pass through. I then soldered a piece of brass with an 8BA nut soldered to it to the frame. An 8BA screw head fitted neatly into the pivot hole in the chassis and this was screwed into the nut on the frame. I did solder a washer underneath the screw head to avoid the head passing right the way through the pivot hole. I fitted some old wheels of the correct size and by adjusting the screw was able to get the body to sit at the correct height. My usual method is to put the body on level track and using a wagon check how the buffers line up at each end.
     
    The next step was to replicate the "ears" and the same piece of brass rod came in handy for this. I used a slitting disc to cut a slot down the piece of rod so the slot fitted over the frame spacers. Yes that called for a steady hand but it was then much simpler to fix it to the frame spacer.
     
    The front "ear" in particular called for some care as there was only a narrow ledge that held the bogie in place and I did have to scrap my first attempt as I overcorrected when I cut off too much of the rod. the next one fitted fine though and the power bogie fits without too much play but still pivots easily.
     
    The photos of the body, chassis and the completed ensmble are attached. One job I could do is to solder some double sided PCB sleepers to the frame for the pick ups. My preference is always to have the pick ups inside the body and out of site and there is plenty of room to do this.
     
    The next job is to replicate some of the detail on the chassis. There were various springs etc between the wheels and I'm thinking of soldering these to some thin brass sheet on which I can also emboss rivet detail and Aralditing this to the chassis. That's for another day though, Still I'm glad I got the first stage done, I did think it might be difficult but after giving it some thought it didn't turn out too bad.
  17. JDaniels
    I was going to write something this evening but the rain has driven me out of the garden. Hopefully I have more success with railway modelling than I do with growing clematis!
     
    The second brake coach is now almost finished and ready (just about) for painting. A photo is attached. As with the first coach, glazing and handrails will be fitted after painting.
     
    Unfortunately it's not quite the same as the first brake as I dispensed with the ends that came with the underframe kit. The ends are, for some reason, etched in very thin brass, you could cut paper with the edge. Shire Scenes do etched ends that have the advantage of "wings" that locate against the sides making it far easier to solder and they are also more substantial. With the MT ends I had to strengthen the join with fillets of brass angle and because of the thickness of the metal the ends flex and eventually the constant mauling to get a decent fit created so many creases and folds I realised that they were only fit for scrap after so many attempts.
     
    What I didn't appreciate until I received the Shire Scenes ends was just how different th detail is from those in the MT chassis kit. Taking the step end first, the steps are far larger than those in the MT kit. They do however have a better fixing with a tab that folds up enabling the step to be soldered against the back of the coach end. This also made it easier to solder the inside fixing bracket as it was against an almost flush surface.The Shire Scenes sides also had rivet detail and an etched lamp bracket, the latter I replaced with brass rod suitably flattened and filed to represent the flat surface as the etched ones wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes.
     
    At the other end, the communicating cord gear, the rod across the top of the end, was represented by etched brass in the Shire Scenes kit. I replaced this with brass rod and also used from the MT kit the small fold up box that is just to the right of the centre line and from which a vertical rod goes down to underneath the buffer beam. Another difference between the kits, this box on the Shire Scenes end is to the left of the centre line. The release lever for the alarm gear was again taken from the MT kit. Again the position on the end of the coach is slightly different between the two kits, MT show this as being along the line of the moulding, Shire Scenes as above the moulding. Again I used the MT part positioned along the moulding. The alarm gong is not represented in the Shire Scenes kit and MT do not have what I think is an accurate representation of the gong which from photographs was quite elegantly shaped. I used a small washer as the MT gong is quite fiddly to make. A white metal casting would have been better.
     
    So all in all the ends are something of a hybrid. Looked at separately no one would notice any difference between the ends of the two coaches (the steps are the most prominent difference) but if viewed end on together the size of the steps is quite noticeable. Once everything is completed I may look at replacing the smaller steps on the first coach I completed (the Shire Scenes sides do have a number of spares) but with the roof now fixed that may be impossible.
     
    It may be that the MT and Shire Scenes ends were produced from different drawings but the differences I encountered do show that we can't assume the kit we have lovingly built is an accurate model but given the number of different designs of 4 wheel coaches this is hardly surprising. I remembered only this morning that I do have a scanned copy of an old article in Backtrack with photos of some 4 wheel coaches as colliery trains and one photo confirmed that the steps were larger than MT show, although not perhaps quite as large as Shire Scenes. I wouldn't have fancied trying to climb up either of those steps! At the other end the box on the communicating cord gear was on the right, as MT show. However it is quite likely that other designs may have been different.
     
    Now that Mainly Trains have ceased trading I'm fortunate to have the kits at all but I really hope that someone, maybe Shire Scenes, can take over the artwork and produce a complete kit (chassis, sides and ends). The Ratio coaches came out, probably in the 1980's, when nothing similar was available and were enthusiatically received. However plastic might be fine for the sides but in common with the many wagon kits it cannot represent the fine detailing of the brake gear and other chassis features. To my mind though the most noticeable flaw is the omission of the gas piping on the roof. What part of a coach is the most viewed? There was an excellent article on the GWR modelling website by Steve Farrow that included much useful information on the layout of the piping which I used.
     
    What would be ideal is to have the MT chassis which looks to me very accurate, Shire Scenes sides are also very accurate (although some are not true to prototype to accomodate the Ratio chassis) but new ends would defintely be needed, slightly wider so the sides fit over, rather than on, the solebars. The roof would be simple, a sheet of plasticard maybe with information as to the positioning of rainstrips, gas lights and associated piping. It wouldn't be that difficult and making such a kit where all the components were designed to fit each other would be a pleasure, not the expensive chore that frankly this has become.
  18. JDaniels

    More wagon matters

    By JDaniels,

    I haven't spent much time modelling as I have set myself a number of jobs to do around the house, too many my wife says. I have though had another look at a David Geen kit I have that is rather wobbly on the track. The kit is for the outside framed van and whilst the detail is excellent I found having separate axleguards for each wheel did cause some problems. The problem arises as white metal has no "spring" and one of the wheel sets was very loose in the bearings. Try as I might I could not close up the axleguards. Most kits have the axleboxes on each side as one casting or moulding.
     
    Having another look at the instructions (I never throw these away) it was mentioned that both grease and oil axleboxes were provided and sure enough I found the unused grease ones in my wagon spares drawer. This meant I could sacrifice the oil axleboxes fitted, another bonus was that this was going to be a red wagon so the earlier grease axleboxes would now be correct. There are very few kits that could legitimately be painted GWR wagon red but this is one of them.
     
    I thought the best way to approach this would be to connect the axleboxes for each wheel set with a piece of scrap metal, I used a piece of etching waste turning up each end to locate against the axleguard. By holding the axleguard against a flat surface and using LMP solder I was able to fix them firmly to the etch scrap. I hope the photograph attached shows this. Although I used a wheel set to obtain the correct positioning, I had to take this out as I couldn't get the soldering iron in. However the etch scrap allows the axleguards to be sprung open slightly to pue the wheelset back in.
     
    My intention was to Araldite this assembly to the floor and solebars but another problem. For some reason the axleguard is fairly deep and intrudes beyond the floor. I didn't want to dismantle the whole assembly so hacked a hole in the floor to allow the springs to sit correctly on the solebar. Once I put the Araldite on I set the wagon on a piece of glass to ensure it sat level with all wheels in contact with the glass.
     
    I have to say this was quite simple and allowed me to use a wagon that might have been consigned to the bin. Shame about having to hack the floor though.
     
    The next job was painting. I only use paintstripper as a last resort but after about four coats I realised that GWR wagon grey was going to be difficult to hide. The Wiko paintstripper therefore came out and worked well although the roof also came off. A good clean up and a coat of primer followed by one coat of Humbrol 100 followed by a mix of Humbrol 60 and 100. I used my Iron Mink as a guide to getting the shade right although I may give it another coat. The roof was reattached although I have now noticed that it is slightly off centre, the overhang one side being slightly more than the other. As you can't see both sides at the same time I'm not concerned about this.
     
    The eagle eyed amongst you may have spotted in the attached photo that the solebars of both wagons and black notwithstanding my earlier thoughts. Trawling through Google I came across a number of illustrated articles by a gentleman in the USA who is clearly interested in railways. One extract included a colour postcard, probably from his collection, of Badminton station soon after opening with a line of wagons at one of the platforms. Most of the wagons are red (which does tend to confirm a late change in the colour as the photo must have been taken in 1905 at the earliest) and all the red wagons are black below the body (i.e. solebar, axleguards etc.). The few dark grey wagons do appear to be that colour below the solebar so whoever coloured the postcard was not necessarily following the general practice at the time.It would be difficult to draw any conclusions about the shade of red as the colours seem faded but the brick / red oxide which most people seem to have settled on seems a pretty good approximation.
     
    I haven't lettered it yet as I have run out of Pressfix transfers and they're not very generous with pre 1904 G.W.R (note only two full stops). Looking at the Iron Mink though and I think I need to dump the 15+ year old Pressfix transfers and try again. Using transfers is the bane of my life but struggling with very old Pressfix sheets which don't now stick is one reason why it must be difficult.
     
    I'm quite pleased with this wagon as considering the chopping it received it still looks good. Yet another pice of rolling stock for Blagdon 1902!
  19. JDaniels
    As readers may know from my earlier blogs, I treat modelling as very much a winter or at least dark evening hobby. As the days are getting shorter, (yes really) I am thinking less of gardening, holidays and walking and more about modelling.
     
    I have completed a couple of the POW sides private owner wagons. I was conscious that on a prototype based in Somerset the wagons should be from collieries in that county and POW sides do have a number of examples.These are based on the excellent Slater's kits, to date I haven't had any with transfers that seem to have caused some problems. I also managed to purchase a second-hand Coopercraft GWR open wagon with tarpaulin rail at a fair at Horsted Keynes station on the Bluebell line to replace the one I had damaged beyond repair. I think modellers of the more vintage railway scene underestimate just how common sheeted opens were.
     
    Over the summer I have accumulated the parts to build three super-detailed GWR four wheel coaches. These will be formed in the normal set (BrakeThird , Composite, Brake Third) but the brake thirds will use the Shire Scenes sides. Regrettably when Ratio produced their kit they elected to model the rare two compartment brake third rather than the three compartment that was far more common (and the ones used on the Wrington Vale). I have also purchased the Mikes Models kits which include everything but the sides. The composite will use the standard Ratio sides but I will need to replace grab rails and door handles to get a better match with the Shire Scenes article.
     
    I currently have two sets of the Ratio four wheeled coaches, one in fully lined chocolate and cream to represent the 1902 period, the other in the simple livery to represent the late 1920's. I do though find myself drawn to the immediate post WW1 era (say 1918 - 1922) and the coaches I will be building will represent that period. At that time the "official" livery would have been the magnificent lined lake but I'm afraid I balk at the idea of all that lining. On a chocolate and cream coach the lack of the gold lining is not so apparent, on a coach in crimson lake it would be more obvious. I think that if poorly applied lining spoils the appearance more than if not attempted at all. However, I have a get out clause. During the Great War the GWR painted many of their coaches unlined black or khaki. A khaki set, and four wheel coaches would certainly not rank important enough for special treatment, would make an interesting if uninspiring change. Similarly the less important locomotives were turned out in unlined green, my 517 0-4-2T being one example.
     
    With regard to the painting, I do have a number of the Ratio coach sides in a spares box and I might just experiment with lining to see if I can get to an acceptable standard. I have tried the Staedtler pens for other applications but for my purposes even the finest line is too thick. It does strike me though that this would be an easier solution than a bow pen where the consistency of the paint is critical. Have any other modellers any thoughts on this?
     
    Finally, I am very conscious that my trackwork is not of an acceptable standard. By this I mean the appearance, the stock runs reasonably well despite my cavalier interpretations of the various clearances and dimensions although the point tiebars keep coming loose and require continual re-soldering. Only this morning I was reading the EM Gauge Society's notes on the subject and found out for the first time that when using their three legged track gauge the single leg must always be on the inside of any curve! (To give an element of gauge widening). In future too I'll never use PVA glue to bind the ballast, you may as well cement it in and it completely negates any cushioning from foam underlay. I believe from an earleir blog that Copydex is better.
     
    Part of the problem is that when it comes to trackwork model manufacturers seem to assume that all track was to main line standards with chairs. Many light railways used flat bottom rail spiked directly to the sleepers, the sleepers themselves often split and worn. The copper clad sleepers used on Blagdon do not in any way convey the right appearance and the FB track is too heavy. The EM Gauge Society do market ply sleepers which with a lttle attention with a knife would convey a more careworn appearance and these also have holes for a rivet to which the rail is soldered. However the FB track they market is for main lines, I need to find something less heavy (Code 75?).
     
    This trackwork once under way will find it's way on to a diorama of Wrington station, a few stops down from Blagdon. I had thought of doing something completely different, a diorama based on the Porthywaen quarries or a station on the Hemyock branch for example, but having accumulated so much stock specific to the Wrington Vale Light Railway I can't face spending more years (and money) building up stock for a different location.
     
    I'll keep readers up to date on my efforts over the coming months.
  20. JDaniels
    I've just had an E-mail from Eileen's Emporium. They have now taken over the marketing of the Parkside Dundas kits from Peco.
     
    Whilst the kits are predominantly BR wagons, there are a number of GWR types there as well as the interesting SR CCT truck.
     
    I've never really thought about the Parkisde kits as they seem so hard to find but that should now change. Not sure I could justify any more wagon kits but the range on offer will appeal to many.
  21. JDaniels

    Photos

    By JDaniels,

    Rather than add them to the album I've done them as an attachment here. Slightly concerned that the rectangular photos appear square. My son is something of a whizz at computers but even he found this more complicated than he imagined.
     
    Looking at the 64xx shows how far handrail knobs have advanced!
  22. JDaniels
    Since my last entry I have made more progress but it's painfully slow. I did have a good photo of a railmotor chassis which looks to be taken outside Swindon works. I had been using this as a basis for the model but now I'm not so sure whether this is the right thing to do. The GWS railmotor was built from plans so must be correct and there are many photos on their website but there are subtle differences from the photo I was using. In particular on the photo the frames protrude beyond the cylinders but on the GWS example the stretcher is flush with the front of the cylinders. The Nu Cast kit also had this. I had thought that the steam railmotor chassis were much the same (apart from the first two built) but now I'm not so sure. Yes I know I should have read the book on the subject but there's little I can do to change the chassis and valve gear even if they are incorrect. I did also notice that the on the Nu Cast kit the valve spindle and the shape of the cylinders seemed quite different from the photos. The upshot is that the chassis is something of a hybrid. If anyone brings out a nicely etched chassis complete with all the valve gear then this one will be dumped.
     
    In my last entry I had just completed the frame that would locate into the body allowing free movement without the chassis dropping out. I turned my attention to the valve gear adding some sort of reversing lever that I had omitted originally. The slide bars fit into the cylinder and I had to drill the holes out a little to ensure they were firmly located. I made sure the slide bars were in line with the cylinder and temporarily held the assembly against the chassis to ensure everything was i line and the clearnces were OK. I was glad I had drilled the hole in the chassis for the screw on the cylinder as it meant that the position of each cylinder was consistent when checking clearances. I had to check carefully that the wheel behind the slidebars, when fitted with the coupling rod, did not foul the slidebars and crosshead. In fact a great deal of time was spent making sure clearances were adequate. Because of the small clearances I had to make sure there was no play in the axle behind the slidebars. Using the old wheels was useful here as I could take the wheels on and off to add spacing washers until I had the axle running freely without any play. I do find that if you take the wheels on and off their axles they lose their tightness and can in fact become quite loose. Once I had established the number and thickness of washers these were put in plastic bags, one for each side, to be used with the new wheels.
     
    The motion bracket fitted farther behind the front wheels than I would have liked and again this did not match the photo I had. I had prepared a piece of NS scrap (from the fret of an etched kit, I never throw them away) with rivet detail and the representation of the springs. Because the motion bracket fitted farther behind the wheels than on the photo I had to move the springs closer together and cut of some of the NS. Once satisfied that the size was correct I araldited the assembly to each side of the frame making sure there was room in front to attach the motion bracket. I did not use solder as I could see the white metal parts coagulating into a blob and I find Araldite better than cyano which seems to require perfect conditions to work. Araldite is more forgiving.
     
    Before painting I added double sided copper clad sleepers to each side of the frame; these will carry the current collectors. I soldered a piece of NS scrap (more fret from a kit) to the back of the sleeper and then soldered the NS to the frame. I thought that if I soldered directly to the copper it may delaminate as the soldered join is very small and the copper is not always securely fixed to the paxolin.
     
    On to painting, my preference is to use a spray primer and then Halfords matt black, again sprayed. i did the cylinders first using Maskol to ensure the back face which locates against the frame is left bare. Once I had dione this the slidebars were fixed into position permanently, well not so permanently as the lower slide bar on one cylinder needed fixing. Unfortunately on one cylinder the lower slidebar hole had come out of the bottom of the cylinder so it needed some Araldite to fix the slidebar in place. (You can see this on the photo). On the chassis I used Maskol to protect the bearings and those parts of the chassis that would be Araldited. You can see where the cylinders go but looking at the photos I realise that I need to take off the Maskol behind the leading wheels. This is where the motion bracket locates. Unfortunately in taking off the Maskol around the sprung bearings one of the springs came away and was stretched. Hunting around I found a spare spring which I had to fit which in turn meant unsoldering the keeper wire under the bearing. Must be more careful in future!
     
    The photo shows the chassis and cylinder / valve gear assembly ready to be put together. My first job though is to fit the front drivers complete with coupling rod attached and all the necessary spacing washers. These wheels are totally inaccessible once the valve gear is in place so everything has to be correct. In particular I need to ensure that the crankpin does not stand too proud as it could foul the crosshead. Fitting the motor is the easy part. Once the front drivers are fitted the cylinder and valve gear assembly wil be fitted to the chassis using the screw and Araldite. A stroke of luck was that the front of the cylinders lined up with the front of the frame so it does look like the GWS example. I added a stretcher of scrap NS with some rivet detail punched on as this is clearly on the GWS railmotor. I had also been thinking about brake gear but nothing is apparent on any of the photos I've seen. The brake blocks could be tucked away behind the valve gear but if I can't see anything on the photo you won't see anything on the model.
     
    Looking back on work to date I have to confess some disappointment that parts of the chassis in particular the valve gear don't seem to tie up with prototype photos. The photo attached is also a little cruel, the chassis doen't look that bad and once tucked away under the body a lot of it will be obscured by the valve gear. I felt I could have done a better job of the springs but if you aren't sure that the photo you are using as a guide is correct for your model enthusiasm does wane.
     
    Hopfully my next entry will have a photo of the completed chassis. I'm looking forward to seeing that valve gear in operation again.
  23. JDaniels

    Progress to date.

    By JDaniels,

    I wil get the hang of this eventually. I've tried taking a few photos and in the process broke my desk lamp so no modelling tonight. Instead I'll let you know what I've done so far this season (as those who read my earlier blog, modelling for me has a season, rather like grouse shooting).
     
    My first task was to finish off the outside frame brake van which needed painting. This was one of the ABS kits and I have to say they're rather good, excellent in fact. The white metal castings are crisp and free from flash and the kit goes together easily. I like also the comprehensive instructions and the additional parts included where there were variations. I also have an ABS GWR wooden mink and this too was very good. The brake van also had the parts for compensating although once gummed up with paint I'm not sure whether the compensation works. I particularly wanted the outside frame brake van as it is a better choice for my earlier period. I'd certainly recommend ABS kits and they cover some interesting early wagons.
     
    For some reason when I painted the brake van I painted everything below the solebar black. It was re-reading the HMRS livery guide that I realised this should have been dark grey. Quickly checking the other wagons I found that only the last wagon I had painted was incorrect, it's odd how somehow an idea takes root in your head. I also found myself agreeing with others who have criticised the quality of railway paints. The so called matt black I used had a high gloss finish but as this was subsequently painted over this was not a problem. Military modellers would never tolerate the paints we have to use. Hopefully a photo of the brake van in company with 1384 is in the album.
     
    The locos and rolling stock I have has been collected over a long period, probably since the late 1970's. Much of it is unsuitable for Blagdon but notwithstanding that I still feel it should be as accurate as possible. One of the most satisfying tasks i did recently was to look at every item of rolling stock and make a note of inaccuracies and breakages. All the rolling stock is in 6 stout cardboard boxes purloined from work (originally they held Lloyd's Register of Shipping). Just to give one example, from box 5 "LMS Open, tonnage not shown, transfer film needs hiding, needs load."
     
    One item of rolling stock that needed a fair bit of work was my old K's auto trailer. i think it's been generally established that it represents an A31 trailer and I've seen several articles correcting the inaccuracies in the model. One defect that doesn't seem to be mentioned is the roof which should be the 3 arc type rather than a single arc (as provided in the kit) but somehow I had a spare Airfix trailer roof. I added underframe detail using the one of my two converted Airfix trailers as a guide (don't ask where they came from, they have both been detailed with the dart castings kit and represent the trailers as built). The K's auto trailer is in BR newly applied crimson and cream but I think a lot of the panelling would have gone by then. Again a photo should be in the album.
     
    One loco that would never have appeared at Blagdon was the 64xx 0-6-0PT but somehow I have one made from a Stephen Poole kit. It's been a problem getting this running satisfactorily and last "season" I tried to improve matters using a Westward chassis fret. The first false start was using leftover wheels from the scrapbox and finding that it could never be made to run smoothly. Closer examination revealed that what appeared to be the same wheels were in fact a mixture of types (presumably Gibson and Ultrascale) with marginally different crankpin throws. Even after buying a complete set of Gibson wheels I still had problems making it run freely and it didn't like even the slightest bend in the track. Because the Westward chassis was not very deep around the central axle I couldn't compensate the chassis. Thinking about this I thought the answer might be to articulate the coupling rods as they seemed rather stiff. I had thought that this would entail buying another chassis just for the coupling rods but, joy of joy, when I looked at the coupling rods I realised they were two layers that I had soldered together. All I had to do was use a slitting disc and cut halfway through behind the central crankpin hole, turn it over and cut halfway through the other side in front of the central crankpin hole. The coupling rod is now in two halves pivoting around the central crankpin. I also replaced the motor. I had a 5 pole motor based on the old Rovex XO4, I think it may have been MRRC, but this drew too much current. I therefore replaced it with a discarded Anchoridge DS10 and Romford gears. It now runs well but I can't help thinking had I used a High Level gearbox with a Mashima motor it would be even better. The quandry I have is how much do you spend on a locomotive that is not going to see front line service and has inaccuracies that can't really be corrected. Again there should be a photo in the album for you to judge for yourself. Incidentally, to line up the bearings in a fixed chassis try using lengths of 1/8th inch outside diameter brass tube. If you use lengths of a foot or so you can thread these through the bearings and see how they line up. Because of the length of the tube any slight inaccuracy in the alignment will be magnified at the ends of the tube.
     
    The other locomotive I have worked on is the Dean Goods, a K's kit. This had an Anchoridge DS10 and Romford gears but my new controller doesn't seem too happy with this motor. I therefore substituted a Mashima motor with a High Level gearbox. This only took one evening (and that included making up the gearbox) and the loco now runs beautifully. I'm sure 6 wheel pick up is one reason for this. Others I know have commented on the High Level gearboxes and I would certainly recommend them. They are easy to assemble but you do need a 2mm reamer. I have an aversion to any gears that require the final gear to be force fitted preferring those that use a grub screw which does limit my choice of High Level gearbox. I generally use the Road Runner +, 54:1 ratio. the reason for my aversion, if the fit is too tight it is too easy to damage the chassis and it would be difficult to remove without further damage. If the fit isn't tight enough then the gear could slip. Also a grub screw means the chassis can be checked for free running by simply slacking off the grub screw. One advantage of the Road Runner + is that it allows more cab detail to be shown as the bulk of the motor and gearbox is in the firebox and bolier. The photo shows the Dean Goods numberless. It is 2322, one of St. Philips Marshs' finest used on the Sunday diversions over the Severn Bridge which may be the reason it was one of the few retaining the larger tender as supplied with the kit. Fox Transfers are kindly doing the numberplate with a red background which it had in BR days. The allocation of the loco meant it could well have seen service on the daily Blagdon goods when not hauling 5 or 6 coaches over the Severn Bridge.
     
    All in all the start of the season has been very promising with much achieved. I've now looking at my steam railmotor, a Nu cast kit. The chassis was a crude white metal casting which I had packed out so it didn't look too odd in EM. Last season I acquired a Gibson chassis and the appropriate wheels. One axle is fixed, the other sprung and I have a Mashima 1624 and High Level gearbox ready to provide the power. This is proving very difficult though, the photo in the album shows the body and chassis, the curious arrangement of rods replicates the white metal support, this engages in a hole in the body near the roof although I think this is to high and will need to be reduced. The cylinders overlap the wheels so I'm going to have to make these removable. I am thinking about fixing these to a brass plate with a screw thread. By drilling a hole in the chassis I can fix these whilst the glue is setting. Future blogs will probably focus on the railmotor, it appeared daily at Blagdon in the 1920's and unlike the 6400 is front line motive power.
     
    Dinner is now ready so must go. Will advise on progress with the railmotor in due course.
  24. JDaniels

    SE Finecast 517

    By JDaniels,

    I've come to a dead halt with the construction of this kit. The chassis commendably includes three different types of brake shoes, two types of brake pull rods and three types of guard irons. All you need to do is find a good photo of your chosen prototype and work from there. It wasn't until I looked more closely at the kit and prototype photos did I realise that my chosen prototype, 540, was quite different from the kit.
     
    Firstly, as the kit is based on the Collett cab version initially that restricts you to those 67 examples so fitted. However even that apparently large number has to be pared back as many of these had the upper cab side corner of the bunker formed as a convex curve rather than the concake curve in the kit. Also, a few of those examples still retained their round top boiler. The biggest issue to my mind though is the difference between those examples with frames modified at Swindon and those modified at Wolverhampton. The Swindon conversions had straight steps and a very deep footplate valance whilst those modified at Wolverhampton had the more elegant steps with curved plating that the kit portrays along with a much narrower footplate valance. The steps in the kit can be cut back to represent the Swindon pattern and the depth of the valance in the kit more closely represents the Swindon conversion. Of the Collett cab versions, only 4 were modified at Wolverhampton.The impression I have from studying photos though is that the depth of the Swindon conversion valance can vary although always clearly deeper than the Wolverhampton conversions. I've attached a photo of the sides along with the chassis, smokebox and smokebox door. The valance to my mind is not as deep as it appears on some Swindon examples.
     
    Talk of the smokebox and smokebox door demonstrates another difference. Most of the smokeboxes on the 517's were riveted although clearly other photos show plain versions which is what the kit has. The smokebox door in the kit is of a plain, slightly concave, pattern as used for example on the 48xx 0-4-2T but many of the 517's, like 540, had a dished smokebox door with rows of rivets above the door itself.
     
    Finally, 10 of the Collett cab version had inside trailing wheel bearings. I already have one of these, 559, so particularly wanted the outside frame version which I think is more typical of the class.
     
    Most of the above came from RCTS part 6 which is a mine of information. I did find a photo of one Collett cab example not mentioned in the book though, 558.
     
    It's a case of finding a prototype that matches the kit, I'm spending more time looking through my books than modelling! It also needs to be a photo that shows the front of the loco. What I may have to do is use a photo of a prototype that was fitted with a Collett cab before that fitment was made but otherwise matches the kit.
     
    The chassis is an intricate fret that builds up into a sturdy frame. I have cut out all the hornblocks as I'm going to use CSB suspension. One particularly clever touch was to have the two sides of the coupling rod etched one over the other so all that was needed was to fold them back to back using the half etched lines. The two sides came together perfectly aligned for soldering. The etch also includes some parts for the body such as fire irons hooks and lamp irons.
     
    No wonder the GWR championed standardisation!
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