Jump to content
 

Dave John

RMweb Premium
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,773

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Dave John

  1. Dave John

    Some shots in the dark.

    By Dave John,


    General
    It was gloomy yesterday so I turned the layout lights on and tried running a few trains in the dark. Daft, but oddly fun.
     
    Anyway, a few random pics of variable quality. The station in general, I need to lightproof the roof more next time it is off.
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    This is a lucky pic. I cant really see the from of the station building so its just done by point the camera at the mirror on the end of the layout and hoping. The resultant image is then reversed in preview.
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
    Through a window. Atmospheric, a bit.... 
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     
     
  2. Dave John

    A simple scotch derrick.

    By Dave John,


    General
    Right, back to some modelling. I have said painting is not my forte, add full size painting to that too. Anyway, a scotch derrick. I made this a long time ago for the previous layout, but I haven’t got round to fitting it since its a bit vulnerable as it is towards the front of the layout.
     
    Scotch derricks are a simple crane, they were used in large numbers throughout the railways and industry in general. Drawings of the size preferred by the CR were published in “The true line “ and mine is scaled closely to those. It’s a basic model, the wood bits are mahogany, the iron bits are brass. The gears are from all sorts of stuff, anything with likely usable bits never gets thrown away without salvaging the gubbins.
     
     

     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
    Well that looks ok to me. But, why not make it all work. Er, a controller …..
     
     

     
     
     
    A bit of video of it in action.
     
     
     
     
     
     
    I have rebuilt the top end which had gummed up over the years, the drive system needed tidying up, but I’m fairly happy with that. Somewhere I have some lacing cord to replace that hairy cotton. The ball on the hook is a bit overscale too, but anything smaller lacks the mass to make the hook go down.
     
  3. Dave John
    There are times when I can see the appeal of BR unlined black. About half way through decorating the No. 252 was one such occasion. However bit by bit it all came together. The final result is a bit bright, but the brass does tend to develop a patina of its own over time. As ever close photos show errors the eye misses and it needs some builders plates as well.
     
    A few pics ;
     

     
     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     
     
     
    Originally built as goods engines in 1878 the class were rebuilt as mixed traffic in the early 1900s, westinghouse fitted and repainted in lined blue. Last members of the second lot were withdrawn in 1932.
     
    A bit of video of 252 in a variety of mixed traffic roles.
     
     
     
     
    I found that to be a challenging build, but the end result is a bit of a character and a rather nippy wee engine.
     
  4. Dave John
    There we are , a completed signal box. I am happy with the way it turned out, a fair amount of modelling involved.
     
    So some shots of the box in general.
     

     

     

     
     
     
    I have tried to make the inside reasonably detailed. All those windows make it very visible and I think it was worth the effort. I may have got some of the details wrong, but given the information I have it looks the part. I also found a photo of a locking frame and put it a yard or so in from the front in the locking room, probably not all that accurate but it gives the impression of something being there .
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
    The lighting module connects to contacts in the locking room.
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     
    Oh, and one at night.
     
     
     

     
     
    It is a bit of a reach to install it and I think I might want to have the board out a bit so I don't slip while drilling holes. 
  5. Dave John

    A CR D34 Trolley, part 1

    By Dave John,


    General
    I’m not a very christmassy person, so it gives me a bit of time to make things. I decided to have a shot at this odd looking thing.
     
    This photo has appeared on rmweb before, but if anyone has copyright issues I’ll remove it. Built 1868, scrapped 1917, lived in Glasgow. It is in the diagram book which gives basic dimensions but not much more. Only one built and had the number 1. Should save on transfers.
     

    The original method of construction seems to be flitched. Four heavy timber beams with iron plates each side. The axles with four bearings dropped in from above and then the springs fitted to hold it all up. Unusual, should be fun to model.
     
     
    Some parts cut out and stuck together.
     

     
     
    It is thought that this wagon had 4’ dia wheels, I have some nominally 3’11” tender wheels which will hopefully work out about right. They run in tubular axles with springs and can be slotted in from underneath.
     

     
     
    Progress so far.
     
     

     
     
    It is very light, some sort of load under a sheet will be needed.
     
     
  6. Dave John

    Yet more sheeted wagons

    By Dave John,


    General
    The bench has been occupied by some non-railway stuff, but back to wagons now. Sheeted wagons tend to be modelled in far fewer numbers than period photos indicate that they were used, so I’m slowly trying to nudge the proportions in the right general direction.
     
    I am still trying to get sheeted wagons to look reasonably right. Having proper tie down cleats and roping from the edge helps, but the sheets themselves really need to look like Caledonian sheets with individual numbers. I have been messing about trying to achieve that, improvement of earlier attempts.
     
    These were created in “Sketchbook” though many similar drawing packages are out there. The use of layers allows me to easily change the sheet number.  I spent quite a while messing about with colours and print densities when used with a variety of substrates. The issue is getting something which can be made to conform to the load and still allows a reasonably sharp print, In the end I found that a medium weight matte photo paper gives a reasonable result when treated with photo sealant. It is still fairly still in use, perhaps representing a sheet in new condition.
     
    To get it creased each sheet was scrunched up, then unfolded and folded back up in the correct manner for an unused sheet. Several foldings and unfoldings seem to be required. following that ezline sheet tie loops were added round the edges.
     
    Anyway, thats how they came out. Loads underneath are just softwood hewn to shape, the wagons are a D15 and a D24 made up in my usual way.
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
    Even caught a bit of evening sun in this one.
     
     
     

     
    Ok, next project.
  7. Dave John
    Well, it has taken a while but there it is. Number 729 is running and in service. As I have said I find painting and lining difficult but it does look reasonable from normal viewing distances. I am pleased with the way it runs, smooth and with quite sufficient tractive effort for my needs. Watching it in motion I think that the closed doors do make a difference, if I make another tender engine I will repeat that bit.
     
    Anyway a few pictures .
     

     
     
     
     
     

     
     
     

    A bit of video, rough but best I can manage.
     
     
     
     
    Hello to everyone I met at the SECC  on Friday, interesting exhibition.
     
     
     
  8. Dave John
    I have been making slow but steady progress. When I started I knew that it would take most of the summer, so I’m happy just pottering on with it all, learning as I go along.
     
    A few details. This is the luggage rack assembly, with the mirrored compartment wall. The brackets were a very fancy design, I have simplified them as they are less than 4 mm long. Not difficult in itself, but I have 64 of them to make.
     

     
     
     
     
    Seating is provided in the kit but it is basic and needs a bit of extra work. These are the first class seats. The silhouette cut the armrests and the wings, both trimmed in lace. How many antimacassers? Well, 78 of them.
     
     

     
     
    An internal view. The D96 is a nine compartment third. This photo was taken in dark conditions, I wanted to see how the level of lighting looked in practice.
     
     

     
     
     
    As I have mentioned in the past painting and lining is not my strong point. I gave a couple of sides a coat of rattle can, then left them for a few days to really dry. It is “Vauxhall Burgundy Red”. Now experts would tell me that I should be using an airbrush to spray a more accurate shade but there are limitations to what I can do in a flat.
     
    I really wasn’t happy about the idea of painting all those panels. Hmm, so I decided to have a go at making lined transfers on white transfer paper. Design was not difficult, but repetitive. I had some “Crafty” brand paper, first print, awful. Ink smeared all over. Second print, worse. So I learned that transfer paper degrades over time.
     
    New white transfer paper ordered, “Mister decal paper” brand. Printed well, transfers made and applied to a paint test card. Not bad but I still felt that the white part had too much of a pink tinge from the coach purple underneath. The answer would be to paint the panel white before applying the transfer, but that was what I was trying to avoid.
     
    I sat and had a think, what if I just put an identical transfer over the first? I tried it and it worked perfectly, nice white panel with the line round it showing up well. So here is a D 94 composite side as a first example.
     
     

     
     
     
     
    I am quite pleased with that. I wouldn’t claim that it is as fine as that produced by an expert painter with considerable skill with a lining pen. However I am not one and this method looks the part from normal viewing distances. It is also very fault tolerant. Make a mistake cutting round the transfer, bin it, next one. Realise that a panel is a bit squint, drop of water, adjust it.
     
    Having got the techniques sorted out I can push on and do the rest, still a fair amount to do though.
     
  9. Dave John

    Urban coal , part 1

    By Dave John,

    I have been thinking about urban coal. Victorian cities consumed huge amounts of coal and of course Glasgow was no exception. Statistics for the quantities mined and moved are available, but staggering though they are do not actually make me think about coal. So instead I started to look at chimneys. I live in a normal west end two bedroom tenement flat which as built had three fireplaces and a kitchen range for cooking and hot water. So thats 32 fires in this block of 8. 14 closes and 2 churches in this street . Up to 450 now. An interesting aside is this link which gives a feel for the the kind of architecture I am on about, I live at the west end of Woodlands. Also has a good map showing how kelvinbridge station and yard was sandwiched in there.

    https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=16798&p=0
     

    Have a look on google earth at the west end and try and guess how many in total. I gave up, the answer is a very big number.

    So how did the railways and in particular the Caledonian deal with the need to bring in and facilitate the distribution of all the coal needed? Firstly, they had a lot of coalyards, I reckon at least a dozen to the west of the city centre, including the NB ones. Thats just yards for wagon to bag to cart deliveries, big factories and institutions such as hospitals had private sidings for direct wagonloads and the tramways were connected to the railways at various places to allow wagonloads to be delivered at night.

    Hmm, so not a couple of small coal staithes then.

    Here is a picture of Kelvinbridge yard, note the piles of coal between the six sidings. Piles that are actually the height of wagons. Bagged coal was used to form “walls” to support it all and anecdotal evidence suggests that summer stockpiles were built up to cope with the winter months. Bear in mind that the photo is from the 1950s when gas and electricity were beginning to have an impact on coal usage. As a personal aside I remember talking to the elderly lady who lived in the flat below me many years ago who had been resident in the west end long enough to remember the yard being shunted at night in the 1920s and 30s. To quote her “ I have no idea how the people that lived next to the yard ever got a wink of sleep”



    Thats the background to my thinking, sorry to blether on a bit. Therefore I have started to make some piles. To the modellers eye these may at first look excessive. But given the evidence it seems to me to be along the lines of what must have gone on. Still a lot of detailing but it does begin to look very urban.
     






     

    Just a couple of snapshots to give you the idea. As ever, comments welcome.
  10. Dave John

    Wagons, real and imaginary.

    By Dave John,


    General
    An odd title you make think, but I shall explain.
     
    Firstly the real one. The CR had large numbers of pig iron wagons, in practice used whenever a low sided wagon was needed. Another of those general types you can never have enough of. This example is built from the 51L kit, though I have used my usual method of a copperclad sub chassis for the W irons and sprung buffers.
     
     

     
     
    Ok, the imaginary wagon. I mentioned that I cut some extra bits when I made the Lime wagon, and that it was basically a D22 with fixed ends. So I stuck them together and made a wagon in the style of a D22 with fixed ends.There were plenty made for private owners by the likes of Hurst-Nelson and Pickerings, details such as axleboxes varied but they were readily acceptable to the CR. Colliery owned ones tended to have end doors, but traders wouldn’t need them making the wagon more robust and a tad cheaper.
     
    I now had a reasonable traders wagon in the style of a D22, but which trader? I had a vague memory that I had seen a wagon owned by a Charles Brennan for the area, but I couldn’t find the reference. Anyway, a trawl through the Glasgow post office directories for the period gave me this snippet. ( All the po directories are online at the NLS website, very useful place that)
     
     

     
     
    Digging about I found a sheet of waterslide lettering, half used but I worked out that there were enough bits left to do this. It was a bit of a heavy typeface so I added drop shadows in ink with a rotring. Not brilliantly, but it looks ok from a distance.
     
     

     
     
    Imaginary it may be, but I think it’s plausible and adds a bit of local history. Of course now I have done it a photo of the real ones might come to light.
     
     
    The chap in the background looks a bit shady too. Dunno what he is doing up here………
  11. Dave John
    The latest kit from True Line Models represents a horse box built by Metropolitan in 1870 for the CR. This is a different method for TLM being a resin print. I have used 3d printed parts but this is my first go at a complete 3d printed wagon.
     
    Removing the body from the supports taught me just how brittle resin prints can be. Since I want a practical layout vehicle I decided to reinforce the steps and springs with 0.3 brass wire. Wheels are on MJT internal compensation irons soldered to a copperclad sub chassis.
     
    A view of the underside showing the brass wires. Simple brake from bits of scrap etch. I think that by 1900s it would be piped but possibly not fully braked.
     
     

     
     
    A general view. I’m a bit unsure about the top edge. A coat of primer may push me towards paring the top hinges off and replacing them with brass strip. I’m also a bit worried by the fragile resin buffers, time will tell.
     

     
    The three roof sections made from laminated styrene. The oil lamp is I think MJT.
     

     
    Primer next, might show up all sorts of faults.
     
  12. Dave John

    Thinking about scale, the 1/50 project

    By Dave John,


    The 1/50 scale project
    During the lockdown periods various things set me thinking about scale. Somewhere in my head is a desire to have a go at some modelling in a bigger scale. Something I can actually see as I age. Perhaps something  a bit out of the ordinary, perhaps something out of the UK spectrum.  Hmm, but what ?
     
    So the next logical scale up would be O.  Thing is, which flavour of O, and anyway it isn’t really unusual. Folk would just compare anything you do to that which is commercially available. Anyway, this is about making stuff not about buying stuff.
     
    I understand how many of the scales and gauges have come about and the reasons that some represent more compromise than others. Once that happens someone decides that they need standards which manufacturers bend to suit themselves.  The debate is endless, I’m not joining in.
     
    So, thinking continental and metric.
     
    Hmm.
     
    1/150 Far too small.
     
    1/100. Still too small.
     
    1/75.  Kinda far too close to what I already do.
     
    1/50.   Now that has a certain appeal. 20mm to the metre. 1mm to 50mm.  Yes, its odd numbers converted to imperial, but the entire point of the exercise is to think metric not imperial.
     
     
    So I did a bit of research. Despite being arithmetically convenient 1/50 is not a scale that has attracted railway modellers. A few Japanese static kits, but no rtr, track or buildings. There are plenty of road vehicles and a range of Corgi trams, but no railway stuff.
     
    A thought struck me. 20mm to the metre is really suggestive of metre gauge. I did a bit of research into that. Uk modellers, (apart from a few that follow Hom),  just tend to ignore it. But there were, and still are relatively speaking a lot of metre gauge railways globally. Miles of the stuff, or should I say kilometers of the stuff.
     
    Now although some might regard metre gauge as “narrow gauge” a lot of it isn’t. There are plenty of railways globally that run on metre track but have a loading gauge similar or greater than one one see on UK main lines. Serious sized trains, though fewer of them these days than were about in the 1950s and 60s.
     
    So should I choose a prototype, do a lot of research and build accurate models in the same way that I strive to do with Kelvinbank? Hmm. The issue with that is my lack of fluency in other languages. I have a little, but nowhere near enough to study the detail of a specific prototype.  It has been done, during my researches I came across this wonderful layout, albeit with a slightly underscale gauge.
     
    https://www.narrowgaugenorth.org.uk/index.php/exhibitors/previous-years/134-pempoul#prettyPhoto
     
    But, for the sake of argument, what if I went freelance? Base the ideas on a variety of prototypes, but not one in particular? It gets round the detailed research bit and just lets me mess about with ideas on the bench. That has a certain appeal.
     
    Many folk will think all this is a bit daft. A scale not used, imaginary but realistically designed stock.  Nothing available off the shelf, so a complete scratchbuild.
    See what I can make without spending very much. But that is the appeal of it.
     
    Anyway, sorry to ramble on a bit. Let’s see what the bits box yields. 
  13. Dave John

    Some CR ballast wagons.

    By Dave John,


    General
    As I mentioned in the last blog I have been building some CR ballast wagons.
     
    These were built using my usual methods, styrene bodies, copperclad sub chassis to take the W irons. The outer pair are from the 1890 drawing, the middle one is a pre-diagram version from the photo. The drawing makes no mention of canvass covers for the axleboxes and without a reference photo I can’t tell whether they were so fitted. I added them to the pre -diagram wagon which did have them. I suppose if a photo ever comes up I can add them to the other two.
     
    What is significant from my point of view is that they are painted with acrylic paints. A bit of a learning curve involved but I think I am reasonably convinced by the result. Comments welcome.
     

     
     
     

     
     
    A couple of snaps of a short pway train. The ballast plough is a kitbash, bits of the cambrian kit combined with new sides and  ends.
     

     
     

     
     
     
     
    I have a few other projects which might be occupying the bench for a while. Might even generate a separate blog for one of them .
  14. Dave John
    A bit of progress. Four bodies are now on frames and I have been playing on the layout to iron out any running issues.
     
    I wanted to try and get it to look as if the coaches are properly coupled. Even with springs I found that screw couplings didn’t really keep the buffers together on curves, and I wanted the buffers to compress to take up and rattle.
     
    I came up with this. Essentially half an aj on a diamond spring it is stiffer then the buffer springs but can be extended to couple the coaches. Making it bogie pivot to bogie pivot also gets round the tendency for a screw coupling to be very tight at an angle when the coaches enter a curve or on reverse curves. It is also reversible, coaches can be turned round. 
     
     
     

     
     
    A lot of time has been spent messing about with corridor connections. Tried all sorts including magnets but none got round the problem of getting the faces of the corridor connections to actually line up particularly on a reverse curve or the side forces on the ends of the coach caused running issues.
     
     
    Well, I was watching a bit of real train video and it dawned on me. What the eye notices is the faces of corridor connections, not the part where they meet the coach. Conveniently the end of the coach has a slot in it, actually the window of the corridor connection internal door.
     
    A bit more lateral thinking. Three bits of foam, medium stiffness but fairly flexible. This is just a proof of concept, needs some rework to tidy it all up.
     

     
     
     
    So thats how they sit between coaches, and how they sit on a curve.
     
     

     
     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
    A bit of a heath robinson solution perhaps, but does it work when a train is running on the layout ?
     
    A bit of rough video, comments welcome. The big pug stretching its legs.
     
     
     
     
     
    I think that gives me the confidence to move on to the next stage, paintwork and interior details.
     
    Er , how many antimacassars ?
     
     
     
     
  15. Dave John
    A bit of progress on the project.
     
    The first underframe. Relatively straightforward though I fixed it down to a flat board when soldering to prevent distortion. The kit provides for a variety of the brake systems fitted during the life of these coaches but for my period the simple westinghouse arrangement is correct.
     
    Some slight removal of the lower edge to clear the wheels on a curve, but that can’t be seen from the side.
     

     
     
    A row of bogies ready and waiting.
     

     
     
    An underframe in position, it pushes round the layout and through pointwork quite smoothly.
     

     
     
    Some more underframes then bodies.
     
     
  16. Dave John

    CR Dia 25 Lime wagon, part 2

    By Dave John,


    General
    For various reasons this one has taken a while to finish. I had a bit of a fight with the lettering, harsh closeups show my errors.
     
    I wanted to weather it as photographed in the wagon book with the lime getting well into the grain of the timber. That was done with rotring white ink and powders, my lack of weathering skills shows up, but it gives the right overall impression I think.
     
    A few pictures in the on the layout;
     

     
     
     

     
     
     

     
     
    Finally the signalman looks on as a mineral train and mixed goods pass in front of the box. The Lime wagon adds a bit of character to the train I think.
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Ok, bench tidied up , what next
  17. Dave John
    I am awaiting some parts for the engine, so I thought I would push on with the tender.
     
    The kit does provide all the spacers and a basic compensation beam for the tender chassis. But as usual I have odd ideas about these things. So the chassis sides are adapted for High Level hornblocks and then connected by a length of double sided copperclad. This gives two large lands on the top for pickups and suppression components.
     

     
    The semi circular compensation beam would be visible through the tender cutouts, so I fabricated this one . Good steel pivots to reduce friction and adjustable for ride height by means of an easily accessible  screw underneath. Yep, completely lockdown madness, but why not.
     

     
    A pic of the chassis made up with wheels and brakegear. The pickups are gold tips from scrapped relays soldered to 12 thou spring steel guitar wire. Hopefully this will produce a low drag 6 wheel pickup to aid good running. Might need a bit of a tweek, but all seems to meet the pushing round the track and through points test.
     

     
     
    The tender body went together fairly smoothly. This class of engine ran with a bewildering array of tenders during their lives, so I have tried to work closely to a known period photo, some slight variations from the kit.  Forming the top flare with its flared corners is a time consuming task, but I think I got it about right. Probably a bit of filling will be needed along the joint, but that will be easier to see after a coat of primer. As ever I see things on photos I missed before, a few bits of tidying up needed. 
     

     
     

     
     
     
    For a while the CR used a strange style of handbrake with a vertical capstan wheel geared to a vertical shaft. I can only assume the gearing gave some mechanical advantage, but having a finer pitch on the threaded end might have been simpler. Anyway I have a tin of watch gears. So I had a go at fabricating the mechanism. The horizontal shaft is actually a tube so you can spin the handwheel round. Did I mention lockdown madness?
     

     
     
    Hope everyone is keeping well.
     
  18. Dave John
    I have made a decent start on the body.
     
    The boiler is in two parts, I would have preferred the boiler etch to go all the way to the smokebox front and have the firebox wrapper go round that. Way round it was to find a bit of tube the right diameter and make a ring to support the smokebox wrapper and solder that to the smokebox front. The boiler and its spacer band can then be formed to the diameter of the tube and just slide into the wrapper.
     
    Someone will tell me I ought to buy a rolling machine. They would be right but, well one day. So the boiler is hand rolled.
     
    Key to that is really taking your time, it is a half etch and very delicate. Annealed first then rolled bit by bit until its the right diameter. Sags a little where its cut out for the motor, but I have an idea about that once I am really sure of the exact motor cut out size.
     
    The cab was fun. You can just see the brass fingers on the spectacle plate which are curved round to meet the roof. Solder generously and then file it back to a profile. I’m rather pleased with the way that came out.
     
    I have also drilled holes. Lost of them. Pipes all over on this one.
     
    Anyway, a rough progress pic. The boiler and cab are just sitting on the footplate, but all the tabs line up. Base of the chimney casting looks a bit plump too. 
     

     
    A badly photographed westinghouse pump assembly.
     

     
     
    Gearbox assembly and chassis next.
  19. Dave John
    At last, a platform building with a roof on it. I’m reasonably pleased with the way it has turned out. Close up photos show the odd bit that needs a touch of paint, that always tends to be the case these days.
    The final position will depend on how the stairs from the upper building work out but thats pretty much in the right place. I have learned a lot along the way, particularly with regard to messing about with photographic textures and some of the finer points of using the silhouette. I will be interested to see how stable a delicate styrene structure is long term, only time will tell on that one. The figures could do with a spot of matt varnish too. Maybe even a bit of light weathering though at the time I’m modelling the building would be barely 10 years old.














     


    Anyway, a bit of wagon building next, will seem like a holiday I think.
  20. Dave John

    A bit of shunting

    By Dave John,

    I have been enjoying a bit of shunting. There are two reasons, firstly I enjoy driving the trains I make, and secondly the layout has been sprinkled with post it notes based on the proposed signal diagram. The idea is to check that the possible train movements could be properly controlled from the signals before actually making and fitting them. So while I was at I thought I would take a few snapshots of moving trains. Just for fun and to see how they turned out. The answer is a bit grainy and of dubious focus, but hopefully conveying a sense of movement.

    Here goes.

    No. 245 bring a coal train in westbound.



    Run past the trailing crossing ready to shunt back to the eastbound line. Shunting signals needed there.





    Across the crossover. Pulling 17 wagons half of which are whitemetal is one thing. Pushing them through pointwork is a stiffer test. Thats them on the eastbound line.





    Ok, time to split the train. Thats a bit of old rail with a 1mm magnet stuck to it attached to a cheap keyring torch. Seems to uncouple AJ s rather neatly.



    Off the main line and onto the headshunt. , I think that would be a ground signal on the siding at the trap, and possibly a dwarf the call the train back. Hmm.



    Half the train into the coal siding.



    Back for the other half, the brakevan uncoupled.



    All in the right place.



    And there we are, 245 and brakevan now running correctly eastbound, a distant just past the box interlocked to the storage sidings.



    Seems like it might just work…..

    Sorry if thats too many photos, I really should learn how to do videos.
  21. Dave John

    A CR 323 class part 1 , wheels

    By Dave John,


    General
    One of the CR engines I have always fancied making is the 323 class, also known as the Jubilee Tanks, first built 1887. There is no kit, so they are rarely modelled, though Jim Watt has made a lovely example in 2 mm fs.
     
    A pic.
     

     
     
     
     
    The first issue is the wheels. As  built they had 4’ 6” 10 spoke T section wheels. Later rebuilds had plain spokes, but thats after my time period. Nobody makes them, nearest offering is Gibson 11 plain spoke, so I’m going to have a go at converting them.
     
    Some parts cut out with the silhouette.
     

     
     
    The rear face of the wheel is skimmed down very carefully on the lathe. Over the christmas period I fitted a new motor to the lathe, one of the sewing machine types with electronic speed control. I really don’t know how I managed with the old 1920s open frame motor it used to have. Thanks to snitzl for that tip.
     

     
     
     
    The silhouette cut parts are then glued to the wheels.
     
     

     
     
    The parts cleaned up, assembled and a spray of paint.
     
     

     
     
     
    I feel that they do look sufficiently like the prototype, certainly in terms of normal viewing distances on the layout. I know that there have been developments in printing custom wheel centres to fit manufacturers tyres, but for now I am content to have a go with the resources available to me.
     
     
  22. Dave John

    The 1/50 project, a cardboard loco.

    By Dave John,


    The 1/50 scale project
    I think it will take me a while to get used to the size of a larger scale. Years of working in 4mm has put me in a mindset of the size of things, experience tells me the kind of internal volumes of things so I can make a reasonable guess at what will fit where.
     
    A change of scale, period and a move to diesel means that I’m not totally sure about things. Spending a bit of time looking at various photos on the net has condensed my ideas. So an imaginary line in an imaginary country or island perhaps somewhere vaguely down towards the med or in the adriatic. Warmer than Glasgow for a start.
     
    The loco would have been built by a private European company sometime in the mid to late 1950s for freight trains. A simple Bo-Bo diesel electric rated I would guess at about 500 kW. So likely a straight 6 cylinder. Twin cab, since I fancy that.  Biggish radiators, warm climate. Fairly simple, lowish gearing, might do 40 kph on a good day with the wind behind it. Mainly pottering on at about 25 kph most of the time with trains of perhaps a dozen wagons. Train brakes would be air, so just a compressor and some blower motors,  a reasonably compact engine compartment then. Multiple unit working ? Maybe, but make one first.
     
    Going straight to a build seems a bit over ambitious. So I made a cardboard loco. Oh, and some cardboard people. 35 mm, so a vaguely average 1.75 m tall.
     
     
     

     
     
     

     
     

     
     
     
     
    Feel free to have a laugh at that, or add to the design.
  23. Dave John
    I have been with pottering on with the far corner of the layout, signals are installed, then unplugged and a lightweight scenic extension knocked up from foamboard and card. All a bit rough at the moment, but taking shape. I think it will enhance that corner and take the eye round to the storage yard in a more transitional way. Some sort of wooded area perhaps.
     
     

     
     
     
    I also painted a couple of figures and added them to this very odd thing that I made quite a while ago. Now you might well think that I have gone round the bend and dived into the world of steampunk which seems to be popular these days. But no, this is actually a model of a real steam locomotive, albeit a road locomotive rather than a rail one.
     

     
     

     
     

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Call it a mad easter quiz……….
  24. Dave John
    I have never been entirely happy with the control of points and signals on Kelvinbank. Three way switches allow a signal to be set to on, off or auto. Switches set the points, in auto mode they also control the signals via short timers. It is vaguely interlocked, but not perfectly. All workable but somehow not in keeping with the period feel of things.
     
    So. Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire section of the CR during the Edwardian era. Built in the 1890s. Boxes would have a Stevens & Sons frame. Like this one;
     
     

     
     
     
     
    Some research on the model frames available showed that none were really what I was after. I only need a frame of nine levers to work Kelvinbank the way I want. The very good ones are expensive and none have that Stevens & Sons geometry, with a lever about 4 “ long. A long lever pulled forward from the vertical rather than an over centre arc.  Hmm, diy time
     
    I have never scratchbuilt a lever frame. Starting with the above sketch it seemed like a good idea to have a mess about with a styrene mockup. Here is the third attempt.
     

     
     

     
     
     
    I think that is what I am after. The stop block is sprung, gravity doesn’t quite scale. I bought some v4 roller microswitches off some lot called temu, 30 for 5 quid and they seem perfectly ok.
     
    Bear in mind that I am not trying to make a scale model of the frame, rather a practical working frame in the style of Stevens & Sons. The lever spacing has to be overscale to avoid getting my fingers stuck.
     
    Next stage, cutting nine levers from 2mm sheet brass.
     
  25. Dave John
    Another year passes. At a first glance it might seem progress at Kelvinbank has been slow, a few wagons made and an old loco refurbished. However from the perspective of me enjoying the layout the major step forward has been the building of a lever frame and sorting out the signalling system. So some pictures on that theme.
     
    1 class No. 2 heads east towards Kelvinbank. The home is off if a correct route is set out of the storage yard and the section switches are set properly. The distant is cleared if the signal protecting the crossover at Kelvinbank is off.
     
     

     
     
    The platform home, No.6 is on as the preceding train is still occupying the next section.
     
     

     
     
    A condensing jumbo, No. 283 is held by the signal at Kelvinbank. Looking at photos the condensing pipes were kept well polished.
     

     
     
    The preceding train has now cleared. ( Actually just correctly stabled in the west sidings) So lever No. 6 can be pulled off. Using the duster of course.
     

     
     
    No. 283 can then proceed westwards.
     
     

     
     
    The signal under the bridge is an odd one. The real Partick Central had a signal at the east end of the platform about 20 yards the other side of the bridge. I can’t put one there so I made a Stevens and Sons tunnel signal which the Caley used elsewhere on the underground lines. 29 class No. 203  is held there, The signal is controlled from the lever frame but will not clear until the traverser is properly set and locked.
     
     

     
     
    No. 263 heads west with a short goods. The distant is cleared only when the signal into the west storage sidings is clear. Archibald McGregor hopes it is going to be clear all the way .
     
     

     
     
     
    Building and installing the lever frame has increased my enjoyment of operating the layout considerably. It is something I have been swithering about for a long time, but all the available solutions were either too small and fiddly or too large and would be visually overpowering in that location. Of course none were  cheap. I think the decision to scratchbuild was the right one, the frame just feels to be the right size and the action is smooth and positive.
     
     
    My compliments of the season to everyone, I hope you get some solid modelmaking time.
     
     
×
×
  • Create New...