Compound2632

Trouble is, once one starts worrying about the height of the floor, one inevitably moves on to worrying about the lack of interior ironwork... At which point the sanest move is to reach for a period-appropriate wagon sheet:

I'm on my second bout of Great Western 4-plank building at the moment. Without wishing to sound pushy, you might be interested in my thread, from round about here and sporadically over the following pages:

I've had a lot of help from some very knowledgeable folk, including @Mikkel, @Miss Prism, @Craigw, and @Chrisbr - the latter especially on finding appropriate numbers for wagons in particular condition. 

The Midland had half-a-dozen of the MW H Class, five bought new between 1867 and 1873 and one second-hand from a Settle & Carlisle contractor in 1873 - the first was bought for use during the construction of St Pancras and seems to have stayed on for a while as a pilot at Kentish Town shed; the subsequent pairs were for Gloucester and Swansea Docks. By the 1880s, they were spending long periods on loan to collieries, quarries, and breweries connected to the Midland. The last two survived until March 1898 - very tempting to stretch that just a little; one would look very fine in fully-lined out crimson lake! [Ref. S. Summerson, Midland Railway Locomotives Vol. 2 (Irwell Press, 2007).]

Woohoo!

Referring to Plates 147, 148, and 150 in Southern Wagons Vol. 3 for as-built condition (which is of course my interest) I note that the door panel is plain - planking appears only in SR days, plates 152/3, though it might have come in with addition of diagonal door bracing, as in the 1921 photo, plate 151. I hope you've made the torpedo vents different sizes, per the caption to plate 147?

There's some lovely handrail work needed to complete the model and as for the bevel gears for the handbrake linkage...

You say the CAD file is at the limit, so I won't mention chamfering...

Some neat work there. How was bending the footplate to the valence contour?

Keep it coming!

3 hours ago, One32 said:

Dave

Is there a specific reason for choosing 3ft? If it is not to be used in your workshop could you make it longer and would that allow you to incorporate an engine shed on a siding from the mainline towards the front of the board? This could be a stand alone scenic diorama and would add extra operating interest to the layout with engines staying overnight and loco coal in / out.

Ralph

I thought an engine shed board had been the plan anyway?

Very glad you've included the library. There was quite a splurge of up-to-date library building in the late 60s/early 70s - alas all now gone to wrack and ruin. How do I know this? My father again - he was with Birmingham Public Libraries for much of his professional career.

Ah, Bassets Pole - many minutes have I spent there trying to cross the A38 from the A446 to the A453.

Francis Brett Young attended a prep school in Sutton Coldfield, in the house that is now the presbytery of Holy Trinity RC church - then called by the classically corny name "Iona Cottage". There's a blue plaque. My father wrote a guide to Sutton Coldfield's blue plaques some years ago.

How have I been missing this paean to the hideousness of the West Midlands of my youth?

4 hours ago, Mikkel said:

That photo also shows the wall in the background along Pitford Street (mentioned in the caption).  Is that the same wall there now? Same stepped design but the stretcher bond and bricks seem too modern? This part of Hockley was extensively rebuilt in 1938. 

If you showed me that wall without any other context, I'd say 70s/80s - with those capping bricks, more likely 80s. And for once I'm talking 1980s, not 1880s.

Whoopee!

Interesting stuff. I knew about the Sena Sugar Co. Peckett locomotives - the very last built - now at Sandstone. Friends of mine lived in Marromeu from the early 90s until about 6 or 7 years ago when they moved to Britain for their children's education - he's Zimbabwean - Shona - and she's Mancunian. One of their daughters changed her name from Kudzai to Sinead, thinking it would be easier for her new friends to spell. (Well, they are living in Liverpool.)

Number of days I've forgotten to check @TurboSnail's blog: 3

2 minutes ago, Knuckles said:

These are not North Light sheds though.  The skylights are of equal angles throughout.

This is true, I wish you'd mentioned it sooner...

On 12/04/2020 at 14:37, DavidCBroad said:

I suspect Rev Awdrey's illustrator had as little appreciation of civil engineering requirements as he did mechanical ones.   His North light roof appeared to face south.

Northlight roofs have north facing glazing so  direct sunlight does not enter but good daylight does.  Bit like the reverse of solar panels.

The LNWR, for example, had a standard engine shed design with northlight roof, with the glazed part facing towards the shed entrance. Although some may see little difference between a Premier Line engine shed and a place of worship, while churches are often laid out with the "east" end facing east, I'm unconvinced that LNWR engine sheds were religiously laid out to face north!

"Webb can't dunk"? Libellous. He had strong US connections, especially with the Penny - his disciples the Worsdell brothers did time in Altoona. So I suspect he'd know a thing or two about the game. 

I was worried about the tiller, when first seeing it in the top photo.

Built in Glasgow?

Very neat.

11 hours ago, 5&9Models said:

Apparently you can pop magazines and newspapers in the microwave to ‘decontaminate’ them...!

Only if no staples. Surprisingly strong electric fields are produced, especially at sharp corners - enough to ionise the air, producing sparks - so there's then a danger of starting a fire. I did read (possibly in ERs) of someone who successfully microwaved The Times but incinerated Private Eye. Of course MRJ is on much higher-quality paper than Private Eye, but still I wouldn't want to risk it.

I believe there's a much higher risk of the packaging being contaminated with the virus, as it's been handled much more. So open the envelope with the gloves on, dispose of the envelope, wash hands, and enjoy.

Certainly raising the tone of the magazine! Glad to hear, too, that you have had your copy through the post - assuming, that is, that it's a subscription copy.

9 hours ago, Brassey said:

I am sure you know this but there would have been none of the plating and the handrails were not painted white pre WW1

I've got the "early" version which is timbered all round. Having just looked at it again, it has the early style of handrails already (so much Oxford got right, so much wrong!) but white as it's in post-1925 livery. For pre-1904 livery, my understanding is that brake vans were a very dark grey, darker than the post-1904 (or what date you favour) wagon grey.

48 minutes ago, The Fatadder said:

thanks for the Feedback, very useful to see what others have done before starting.    One thing that’s puzzling me, once the 2screws are removed how do you remove the body?

Gerry Beal says push the buffers out from behind the headstocks. I confess I've yet to try this myself.

@The Fatadder had bumped this blog post - I'm afraid I hadn't spotted that the original post was from a couple of years ago but then so is my purchase of the Oxford model! But while I'm here, may I just air my thoughts on the additional things I need to do / take into account for c. 1902 condition, having looked at gwr.org.uk, especially the photo of Crewe-allocated AA3 No. 17539?

• the windows at the non-verandah end should be the earlier type with a central horizontal transom
• the handrails should be the early type - pre-gas pipe - with the lower horizontal rails only at the ends
• the sandbox fillers should be out of sight underneath the transverse wooden bench? - i.e. no rectangular metal boxes? This is the bit I'm least clear on. The photo of No. 17539 doesn't show a transverse bench, just what I interpret as a seat in the corner.

There is an article by Gerry Beale in Model Railway Journal No. 268 (2019) detailing his corrections and improvements to the AA3. I think you've covered much the same ground. One thing he did that isn't on your list was to replace the handrails as, he says, the style with the L-shaped brackets came in in the 1940s on 20 ton vans. He also made replacement footboards with higher backboards, more correct, he says, for vans in later years. I'm no expert on Great Western brake vans but I do have an Oxford AA3 that I plan to put into c. 1902 condition, so I've found your post here and his article very helpful.

White spectacles were evidently more widespread than I had supposed - I'd thought it was only a Midland thing, not have looked further afield than the neighbours - LNW and GW.

Hum. That looks very like Southern Wagons Vol. 3 there, with markers in the brake van chapter. Promising!

No push-ups today? I'm missing the stats.