richard.h

The Loco has now been put together for running trials, here it is in what I would call paint shop finish. It is extremely shiny due to the layers of matt varnish that were sprayed on during construction to hold down the transfers and not really suitable for my layout in this state as all the other locos are weathered. I also added sprung buffers instead of the whitemetal one supplies as I think they look far better. So now here it is after going through the weathering works, I hope people don't think it's spoiled but I like my locos to look how I remember them 'scruffy'. The intention now is to give it a good running session, make sure there are no problems with short circuits or performance then once it is fettled I will add the remaining small fiddly parts.

I am always knocking over the lamps on my layout and a lot got broken, to help with this instead of drilling the small hole required for the wiring and peg I drill a 3mm hole. A length of 3mm dia plastic tubing is then used, the base and wiring of the lamp goes through this and together they are fitted in the baseboard. This gives the advantage that there is now some 'play' in the fitting so that if caught the lights can move slightly and don't immediately bend or break. Keep Safe Richard

Now it's back to the Sheds and calling in at The New Diesel Depot we see a couple of Deltics that have been prepared for work. Plus The Cheshire Regiment called in for refueling.

Hi John Thanks for your kind comments and help, after looking at the excellent work you did on the Beatties tank it's even more appreciated. The biggest thing that slowed me down with the valve gear assembly was that as supplied I couldn't get the correct range of movement on the slidebar, in the end I had to cut small pieces off the motion bracket so that the slidebar tucked in behind it. Once that was done it worked fine but of course you think that it won't work because you have assembled it wrongly and end up double checking everything before cutting. The gearbox is fine it runs smoothly and quietly but I can't take any credit for that as it was purchased fully assembled. Regards Richard

Thanks gents for taking the time to help, the return crank was out as I had disturbed it while getting the valve gear running but I wasn't sure of the exact setting anyway but had used my Isinglass drawing and some DJH photos as a guide. Looking into it I found this description and drawing for Valve Gear. Using this as a template I reset the return crank and link. This seems to be correct now as in any position it corresponds to my drawings and photos.

Well that's a relief. After about a week of slow careful work the valve gear is finally assembled and working. Luckily I had left the motor axle stub on where you would normally put the flywheel so using this I was able to turn the unit slowly by hand to check for clearances and binding and then make minor adjustments. I now have nothing but admiration for people who do this regularly you are highly skilled gents with lots of patience who don't swear. Hopefully it will get easier from now on as it mainly consists of putting the various completed sections together and tidying everything up.

Here we see A1Great Central waiting as A3 Neil Gow brings in the 2.15. Once the A3 is clear she backs down to take over for the rest of the journey.

I think that I must have broken every signal fitted over the years then I also discovered that my short sleeved shirts are exactly the right height on the new layout for the sleeves to catch the platform edge lamps and tear them out when walking past, Sod's Law? The plan now is to fit removable perspex strips to the baseboard edge to stop this and hopefully cure a second problem which is crushing delicate items near the base board edge when you lean across to work on something else, otherwise I will have to train as a snooker referee, they don't seem to have a problem.

Couldn't agree more, I put a post on last Saturday mentioning the lockdown, we were virtually the first area in Spain to receive one and the intention was to prevent people from the big cities moving out to their coastal holiday homes and bringing the virus with them, and now look how serious it has got within a week. Most of what I would term the Steam Generation are in the high risk category age wise so the important thing is to stay safe and of course keep on modelling and posting. Regards Richard

Here's a very grubby Great Central being prepared for duty. Before calling at the coaling stage ready for work.

Thanks for all the info, it all helps. On the loco body as the cab is brass but the body is whitemetal so I was going to err on the side of caution and use etching primer for all of it but when I couldn't find a suitable thinner I used a basic spray primer instead which so far seems to have taken well. I have tins of Brunswick Green in my paint store but when researching an order from Phoenix I noticed they sold BR standard Loco Green paint as applied from 1954 onwards so hopefully that's correct. Regards Richard

Things are getting quite serious out here with the virus precautions (Murcia, Spain) we are all confined to our houses for at least a fortnight, only allowed out for essentials such as food, you can be fined 600 euros if caught out without a good reason. Anyway to keep occupied I spent the last day putting together this video.

The chassis and brake gear for the tender was finished off last week. I had read that it is very easy to create short circuits with the gear touching the wheels so I used the PSX1s on the layout to constantly check for shorts as the brake gear was added. The next step was the lining on the loco body and now some spare handrail knobs had arrived I was able to finish the rails off as well. Everything is a little bit shiny at the moment as matt varnish was used to secure the lining transfers but it will be dulled down later when the loco is weathered.

Hi John Thanks for all the advice, for the moment I have had to use the local primer but ideally I would prefer the correct etch primer for future projects. The one I had brought out for me was Phoenix paints PQ1 single etch primer but as mentioned before I found it very thick and so it was difficult when applying by brush to get a smooth finish. The plan now is to get some of their recommended PQ2 primer thinners when I visit England in the summer but in the meantime I will take your advice and try a test spray of a mix thinned down with cellulose and see how that works. Richard

A couple of photos of the latest addition to the fleet, the Class 24 by Suttons. It's a really excellent model with great performance and sound although it is still running in ex-works at the moment. This version comes with a Condor headboard so I cobbled together the seven various conflats that I have (they are not in production at the moment) and fitted shackles to them to try and replicate the Condor Freight, you just have to ignore the fact that the rest of the train is made up of ventilated vans and pretend that they are all conflats.

A bit of a delay in progress on the Loco, firstly I was struggling to find a spray primer which I eventually got from AK, a Spanish company, so they were able to ship it to me, it's not an etch primer but it does seem to do the job. The second problem was lack of handrail knobs, the little sods fly everywhere when you are trying to fit them so I ended up with a shortage. I now have some but in meantime decided just to clean out the holes for them in the cab and smokebox door and carry on. I thought it would be best to paint and line the Loco body before fitting the sandboxes etc so that was the next job. I have now started lining the loco but am finding it quite tricky, the set of Fox Transfers don't seem to want to stick to gloss or matt paint so I am doing a section at a time and the misting over with a matt varnish to seal them in

Now we return to follow Sir William A Stanier as He/She? clears the station. And heads out into the country.

The southern end of the Station was treated in the same way so this:- With added signage and fittings becomes this:- An improvement I hope as it certainly looks more fitting to Station.

Originally Byford Station was bordered by basic midland fencing which was a quick easy way of providing a boundary. This never looked correct for a Town Station and now I have time to do a better version I started experimenting with Wills Stone Sheets, the important thing was to try and get the colouring correct so I started with a base coat of mid stone. On top of this there was dry-brushed a coat of light grey then dark grey and finally some tyre black. This is the closest I have got so far to the appearance of northern grime that I am trying to achieve so I must remember to write it down in a safe place where I can find it later

Excellent work with great attention to detail, my grandmothers house in Saltaire Village was just like that (complete with tin bath hung on the wall) looking forward to seeing the completed scenario.

Tonight we follow W A Stanier as it emerges from High Fell Tunnel. Then slows as it approaches Byford Station.

I had a selection of Precision Paints brought over recently but since transporting pressurized cans by air is strictly forbidden it all had to be in tins, the paints worked fine, as you say all top quality but the tin of etch primer was hopeless it was impossible to get a fine smooth finish. There are specialist thinners for it but as didn't know about them I'm stuck with it. I wouldn't even attempt to use the primer on the Loco Body as the results could be disastrous so the plan now is to try and find a local car dealer who can supply etch primer in a spray can, failing that I have found a UK paint specialist who will ship spray paints and primers by road. The same company has railway colours such as Brunswick Green but I'm a bit reluctant to use them on a model loco as I don't see how you can get the same fine control that is available from an airbrush, which seems to be your experience.

The next stage was to finish the tender by preparing and painting it as by now all the materials had arrived and I thought tender would be easier to work on than the Loco Body. The brass body was cleaned up using files, brushes and Cillit Bang. The next stage was the priming and this proved to be a big problem, the instructions say apply sparingly to create a thin coat but the stuff is like treacle and dries very quickly so no matter what brush or technique I used it was very difficult to achieve this. I think in future I will have to use the Paint Primer for things like the Loco Chassis and then scour the local garages for a tin of Etch Spray Primer. The Tender was the sprayed BR Loco Green and Satin Black. It was then given a coat of gloss varnish and then transfers applied. It's a bit to shiny for me at the moment but it can be toned down/weathered later once the Loco is complete

Excellent article with plenty of background info on train formations and how the banking sequence works plus the atmospheric cine film, really enjoyed it

A great set of photos but dark satanic mills and grimy canals, all very familiar to me, you are revealing your roots. I always thought GWR was rolling countryside,cream teas and pasties