Signaller69

Silver window frames done, numbers and arrows applied from the HMRS sheet. Not aware of any other blue 29 with this arrangement. Numbering at this end is very tight, no room for a "D" prefix, I suspect due to a dimensional discrepancy in the Hornby model, but the real loco ran without a "D" towards the end anyway.

Paintwork progressing on the Class 29, attention turned to couplings. A couple of "NEM-esque" pockets were knocked up from offcuts of Plastruct and super-glued to the remains of the original bogie coupling mount, before being coated with epoxy resin. Kadee no.20 Extra Long NEM couplers are just the right length. As these pockets were a tad long a sliver was cut from each, by coincidence these slivers will make great boot irons for outside a cottage door (I don't like waste!). Also almost finished is the Mk.1 RU repaint, just awaiting the roof painting, weathering and handrails now (thread on the prototype here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/120003-mk1-ru-restaurant-unclassified-c1970-help-needed/?fromsearch=1 ).

Incredible how you've achieved such a superb layout in so little time Ruston! Further to the pit props discussion, Unit Models do Resin pit prop wagon loads in various lengths for anyone not wanting to make their own, carefully painted they can be very effective. http://www.unitmodels.com/index.php?id_product=48&controller=product&id_lang=1

Superb, those footsteps are works of art!

Thanks, I've done blue & grey a few times but on etched sides where window bars didn't need doing; the white lining I found hard to keep straight during application. Thankfully don't plan on doing lots of repaints!

Thanks for posting, so it does have wire handrails. And even the guards safety bars which the Bachmann premium one doesn't. Impressive given the price. Just need some in North Wales/Chester now! :-)

First undercoat applied, as usual this has highlighted a couple of spots requiring remedial work. Posed next to D6129 it shows the increased nose depth and lower bufferbeams, which the latter will receive in due course. Also shown is the unpowered chassis which has been shortened a few mm at each end to fit. Bogies now sit slightly lower too and the sandboxes filled in; the coupler mounts have been trimmed back ready to have Kadees attached. The ancient Hornby road roller wheels will probably be replaced, iirc these locos had spoked wheels. Given how long the Hornby 29 has been around I'm surprised that afaik, no comprehensive detailing kit has ever been made, there again Dapol announced their model back in 2011. . . . However, it does make for a cheap and satisfying project; sure there are fiddly bits but how far you take it is up to the individual; its not perfect but I find this sort of project very satisfying and thats the goal for me.

Almost ready for a preliminary undercoat now. Lamp irons affixed and loose skirting added above bogies. D6107 is the likely identity as it retained "eyebrows", and numbering / double arrows positions are different to my D6129 which is also in blue. Bufferbeam detail, windscreen wipers etc will be added later.

"Wagon Repairs Ltd" (a BR offshoot possibly?) had depots throughout the country primarily concerned with repairs to wooden bodywork, the one at Melton Mowbray being not dissimilar in layout to your plan, with the advantage-thinking in backscene terms-that it was next to (and possibly accessed under) the main line on a brick viaduct. There appears to have been be no road access. A motley collection of sheds, a stack of timber and lots of weeds is about it, plus wheelsets lying around, although there is no crane/hoist in evidence. It has a lovely, run down atmosphere and was in use until at least 1971 as per the good photo on p.9 of "British Railways Goods Wagons in Colour" (R.Hendry, Midland Publishing Ltd) which shows the site well.

The brake van does look to be a simplified copy of Bachmann's MR brake van - photos suggest it has moulded handrails instead of Bachmann's wire ones, and a simplified chassis with fixed couplings (no NEM boxes), so it is clearly made "down to a price" whether by Bachmann or a third party. I'm sure they will start appearing on Swapmeet tables around now, in the same manner as the Mk.1 from the other publication which appear frequently for around a tenner a go.

Thanks for your kind words. That is quite an impressive loco you have come up with! What is the chassis taken from?

Lovely little prototype basis there, look forward to developments.

The bottom of the bodyside grilles which had been cut out have now been filled and a new lower grille edge (thin plasticard strip) fitted, followed by fine mesh fixed in place with a little epoxy resin. The Shawplan etched fan grille has also been fitted; the fan needs forming and fitting to a bracket before fitting inside the roof (after painting). Slowly coming together now!

Super photos as always Dave, must try your time machine sometime! ;-)

Few more jobs under way on the latest 29, namely new exhausts and roof vents, extra bodyside grilles fitted (don't show up well in photo) fettling the windscreens and fitting buffers. Next job is to fill in the lower edge of the side grille cut-outs with plasticard as they are too deep after cutting out the originals.

Thanks Simon, nothing currently booked this year as of now, next year have had verbal feelers for York, Newcastle and Wigan and a few other "possibles" but will update on here as and when, at least it gives me time to get some work done! As for the Bachmann 24/1 and Dapol 29, not sure. Depends on funds etc mainly. SLW may (or may not) be doing a 24/1, Bachmann don't appear to be doing a Highlands version (cabside token apperatus, headlights, 5 slot boiler grille covers etc), plus I already have one which I'm quite attached too. Similarly having given up waiting for Dapol, my two 29s (third in the "works", can be seen in my workshop thread) have received a lot of personalising work, rechassis etc with follow up work to be done following the latest ones "heavy overhaul" so its unlikely they will be replaced, without even thinking of the costs involved with buying multiple Dapol ones. However, never say never! Martyn.

Dropped in to Chester Toy & Train fair today and came away with more bargains! A Hornby HST dummy bogie (curiously missing 1 wheel!) - The block will replace the motor bogie in the unpowered Class 29 project, my main reason for going today! Also picked up another Lima Grain hopper, but the real bargains were the 2 Bachmann Mk1's for a mere £6 each due to some of the windows being loose inside. The Restaurant car will probably be repainted blue & grey at some point. Also found some useful Cooper Craft steel weights for wagon projects. Quite pleased with my £20 total spend!

Bit more done on the 29, after studying photos of the prototype I came to the conclusion that the incorrectly placed roof fan grille panel is also too small so one of the 2 small centreline grilles inboard of the fan grille was removed (again photos seem to hint at there only being one anyway), and with the panel line towards the centre of the loco filled and sanded a new panel line was formed with a hacksaw. To aid alignment a rectangle of 20 thou plasticard was gaffer taped to the roof profile about 3.5mm inboard of the original line; I had put this off on my original 2 conversions but this turned out to be fairly straightforward in the end so will probably be done on the others in time. Photos will explain better methinks! Lower one is the original Hornby position on my D6129 (albeit with etched class 33 grille), top pic shows the mod described: Also the 2 new small roof cutouts have had their filler hatch details added from bits in the scrapbox along with a small handrail. And the opened-out windscreens have had new frames added at the outside edges. Nothing more than brass handrail wire superglued in place and then filed slightly to a flatter profile. A little Milliput will be added to blend them in properly. The loco reunited with its chassis; it still looks like something from the Eastfield scrap line but that will change (hopefully. . . )! More soon. . .

Signals and building look great David, being "based on" rather than an exact copy of FW is handy for the latitude it allows when doing buildings, especially size, windows styles etc as you say. It is still instantly recognisable as FW however and most probably wouldn't realise the windows were different without looking at photos anyway. You are very lucky having a dedicated railway room, sorry, study! :-)

Several weeks ago I picked up a third unloved Hornby class 29 for £20, and having been inspired by Kylestrome's superb thread on modifying his http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/107181-Hornby-class-29-in-the-works/?fromsearch=1 as well as several people asking what mods I'd done to them whilst exhibiting "Crinan", I thought I would make a start on the latest addition. The previous pair as D6129 and 6131 (see earlier posts) have both had the same fairly extensive mods done but this one will be a test bed for a couple of further alterations, namely deepening the cab nose and re-centring the roof fan over the side grilles. If succesful these will be retrospectively applied to the other 2, a daunting prospect! This particular loco will again be in BR blue, number yet to be decided. It will also be unpowered, at least initially in order to double head with one of the others, hence the original chassis will be kept, although with wiring and gears stripped out. It may receive a Bachmann 25 chassis in time but we will see. Anyway, some photos: For its age (dates from late 70s iirc) the Hornby 29 has very nice rivet detail and even wire cab handrails, however in several other areas the model's designers had a very bad day. . . The sides should have a large grille in line with the roof grille; the model has upper and lower louvres instead, and the roof fan grille doesn't line up. . . . The cab fronts are too shallow as the bufferbeam is too high, in order to give lots of clearance for the tension lock couplings presumably. The cab front windows should extend further outwards too. The biggest faux-pas though is the inclusion of the centre headcode box AS WELL AS the connecting doors and backing lights for headcode discs (in the wrong places to boot)! So, to work. The buffer cowlings were carefully cut away using a razor saw for reuse later. A plasticard fillet approx 2mm deep was then cut to rough shape and fixed to the cab and any gaps filled. At the same time the raised door beading was cut away, and the light fittings filled with model filler. The original buffer cowlings were then cleaned up and the shanks removed (I will be using Lanarkshire Model Supplies buffers), before being fixed under the new nose extension. Small fillets were added to the side fairings where they meet the buffer cowling to get a better height match. Work has also started on opening out the cab front windows. Looks a bit of a dogs dinner so far, even if a little sanding has improved things a little! Next on the hit list were the roof grille and side louvres which are being replaced with mesh. These were removed by a combination of drilling, cutting and filing. It was only after doing this I decided to bite the bullet and move the roof grille to be centred over the side grilles. I had thought of cutting the offending roof section out, turning 180 degrees and re-affixing it but I don't think I could have done a neat enough job. In the end I filled one roof panel line as can be seen, as well as the outer part of the roof fan hole as the grille will now go slightly inboard of here. 2 further small cutouts were made at the roof fan (No.1?) end for filler hatches, by drilling holes and using a small square file to open them out, before using plasticard cut to shape to form the interiors. Needs a good clean now! Roof fan and grille (I chose a class 26/27/33 version as used previously) and NB worksplates on order from Shawplan, need to find my stash of mesh for the side grilles too. . . Revised front end showing the deepened fairings where they meet the buffer cowling, more cleaning up to do yet! The side fairings should really slope inwards slightly more but there is no easy way to do this if using the Hornby underframe moulding. However, along the bodyside between cab doors the real things hinged up to allow access to piping etc so this may be replicated, I have yet to decide. More to follow. Martyn.

26 looks super Simon, really admire your weathering skills as with your other locos. Can't beat the feeling of buying a "bargain" and making it look the part! Martyn.

Plus one on liking those connectors, have you a similarly cunning plan for sourcing pre wired ones to run to the control panel? If not at least its cut out a fair amount of soldering. . . ;-)

Thanks, yes the genuine "Inglenook plus run-round" concept was one of the appeals. There is a very good book which was published locally, "The Tramways & Railways to Holywell" which is a mine of information, according to which the capacity of the 2 sidings was 21 wagons total (iirc my model is 19). Trains were limited to 3 fulls or 5 empties plus brake vans; as I tried to model the track layout to scale, I can confirm 5 plus 2 short brake vans just fits, clear of the catch points at the bottom of the loop. As you may have noticed I use tension lock couplings with attendant home made clear acetate uncouplers. I have found the position of these ie clear of pointwork, along with using the longer Airfix/Dapol/Hornby LMS 20T brake vans rather than short brake vans which seem to have been used in reality, and having fixed uncouplers, 4 wagons plus brake vans is the practical limit. However now Bachmann do the short 20T Midland style Brake vans used on the prototype that may be able to be corrected (hence I'm after a couple of the new "Mill Town" partworks mentioned elsewhere as part 1 has just such a van, for just £2.99!). As an aside, Crescent sidings just below St. Winefrides halt (1/4 mile from Town station) had siding space for 35 wagons in the form of a long loop on the level, mainly coal for the adjacent factories down in the Greenfield Valley, where a long chute was used to drop the coal! (Traces of this still exist.) The layout is 8'4" long by 2' wide; the curved backscene at the goods yard end conceals the 2 track fiddle yard behind it; due to the scale gradient the hole in the backscene is quite well disguised. A more "minimum space" version of Holywell Town could of course be produced by modelling only the area from the road bridge to the headshunt; with the sidings largely hidden in a short fiddle yard loads could be removed ready for the empties to return "down the hill". Editted for extra info.

The only remains of the station are the trackbed and the overbridge which are shown here (the site, particularly the headshunt end/platform area having been considerably in-filled in the years since closure). The pic below is looking across the road bridge, which provided access from the goods yard up to the town. The station platform was to the left where the semi circular wall stands. Part of the original zig-zag access path can be seen through the trees.

Going back through my phone pics I found some pics of a layout I started building some 10 years or so back after having been interested in the prototype, indeed the trackbed is only just over a mile long, running from Holywell Junction on the North Wales Coast Main Line; today it is a pleasant walk. Largely built on the route of an earlier tramway, the LNWR navvies completed the top section into the Town Station in 1912. The line's claim to fame was the ruling grade of 1 in 27, hence ALL trains (freight included) were propelled up the line. The station site was crammed into a small depression, with the 2 track Goods Yard being a kickback from the very short headshunt, the run-round loop being provided to permit the loco to be at the correct end to permit this (all passenger trains being on a push & pull basis). The line closed in 1954 (Passengers) and 1957 (goods). Operation is thus prototypically challenging as only a tank loco and 3 wagons could fit in the headshunt and brake vans were mandatory at each end of Goods trains. Locos are the 3 types which operated over the line during its short life, namely the LNWR Webb 2-4-2T & 0-6-2T (Coal Tank), from GEM and Nucast kits respectively; and the Ivatt 2-6-2T (Bachmann, not pictured). Push/Pull coaches are modified from the erstwhile Grafar Suburban Brake 3rd; goods stock includes several Coal wagons re-liveried with local traders names (Bagillt Betisfield Colliery being prominent). The layout is basically finished and has been to a few shows in the local area over the years, and the scenery had not long been refreshed when the photos were taken. It is currently in storage, but there may be oportunity to display it semi-permanently shortly, of which more if it comes to fruition! These photos were taken in daylight with my phone in Sept 2015 originally, I have editted them to allow uploading. Martyn.