Dave John

Nice build , and and interesting quote from Gooch. An excellent blog, shows the rate of development during the early period very well.

I really like this, something very different and well modelled. I fancy having a go with something involving catenary one day, those steeplecabs are very appealing.

Agreed Western Star , the basic deals would be finished to size locally so would probably be off saw finish for transport as shown. There used to be a firm out in the east end with a similar machine to that one, I had custom floorboards and door mouldings run to match the existing victorian ones for a few restoration projects. Gone now unfortunately.

Hi Scott, If the etch has just been proportionally increased to S then I think they should be ok. I had to file back the lower side beading a little to get a snug fit too. It looks ok in the brass but once it is in primer I will be able to judge it better, I suspect a bit of filler may be needed.

The silhouette certainly will Spamcan.

What you could do is use the cutter to create accurate templates. These can then be stuck to the reverse side of the heavy material and used as a cutting guide. I also use that technique for cutting shapes from brass sheet.

Hi Mikkel, I think it makes painting and lining the sides on the flat easier.

I have had some Worsley Works etches in the kit stash for a while, so I thought I’d have a shot at building one. This is a 45 foot Diagram 35 full brake, first lot built 1897. Worsley Works only provide the basic body, though it is a very accurate and nicely etched set. Slots for the guards duckets do need widening a little. The builder supplies the rest. Bogies are Comet 8 foot SR pattern converted to Drummond style by removing the top flange and adding small inserts to give the curved lower edge. Footsteps are fabricated from scrap etch. Other parts are from the bits box, but most could be sourced from 51L I have used the magnetic side technique again, though I found I needed a couple of extra magnets towards the ends of the sides to pull them in smoothly. Won’t be visible in service. The internal half partitions forming the guards compartment add stiffness. The D 35s were built dual braked braked and had a through steam pipe, makes the coach ends rather crowded. There was a gas fired heater and the seat in the guards compartment lifted in the style of a commode with a wc under it. Luxury, Time for a spot of primer.

Hi C126, Don't worry, it has been happening to all of us bloggers to an extent. One tip if you want to get things back in some sort of date order. When you edit a blog there is a bit down the bottom that gives a publish date , or a publish now box which is ticked by default. Click on the publish date box and a wee calendar pops up. This lets you backdate the blog so they all appear in correct historical order.

So, the future...... Really fantastic rtr will require robots with massive ai skills to assemble, and those will be really expensive robots. So expensive that most normal humans will never be able to afford these fantastic rtr models . But these robots are tireless, they will make lots of fantastic expensive rtr that the humans will never be able to afford to buy..... Not only that, robots with fantastic ai will be able to make whole layouts. detailed to the nth rivet. On which to run all the unaffordable rtr. So, er. That will divide the railway modelling community into Two. The very few incredibly rich who can afford to employ robots , and those of us who forego lifes comforts to buy a few sheets of brass and scratchbuild stuff. Nihilistic ? Maybe but I have a solution. Build an enjoyment of model railways into the AI of all the robots. So all of them go home at night and build ever more detailed and complex model railways for themselves, after all the wages they get for making the stuff will let them do so. Since ever more robots will demand ever more models with almost infinite livery variations the market becomes self sustaining, until all humans are gone and the earth is swamped in a vast morass of super detailed model railways run by robots who just love model railways...........

In Scotland the allowance for loss of earnings is only awarded if you attend. I'm self employed. Five times I have been cited as a juror, each time I have done the phone sunday after five, not wanted, phone again monday after five etc through till thursday night. Since I had told customers I would not be available and couldn't book work in at short notice or start a job I might not be able to finish these were weeks with no income. For a self employed person with no spare financial capacity it can be very damaging. The age exemption for jury service is 71 in Scotland Stewart, may be different elsewhere.

Might well be of this type; https://www.flickr.com/photos/callysleeperkid/13126703805/in/pool-midlandrailwaycentre

Looks like the remnants of a horse box to me.

Been watching this develop. How about extending the siding at Doughton Abbey a bit and giving it an end loading dock? The proximity of a stately home would give a reason for some interesting stock. Their Lordships off on holiday sort of thing, Perhaps a family saloon, a carriage truck and horse box for road transport, a couple of coaches for staff and baggage. Good excuse to run some hired in stock from almost anywhere.

Agreed Mick, I have only used the djh box on one loco, since that was the only loco I have built in which it would fit. Also it was a good number of years ago before HL started, so the choice was limited. Since then I have used HL boxes with reasonable success. The Toms trains video was good. The one thing he didn't mention (though might have done) is once the frames are soldered up they need a good scrub to shift any flux residue.

Hmm, the way things are going it might well end up with us lot sitting in a UK factory assembling model trains for an increasingly affluent Chinese market.

Interesting ideas rekoboy. I have been playing with some metre gauge stuff, albeit in a bigger scale. We both came up with a 4 plank dropside with end platforms too.

Just to mention another source for wheels Lacathedrale. I have used the 51L / Wizard coach and wagon wheels for EM for years, they run fine for me.

Hmm. Is it actually important? One day I shall be a dead modelmaker. I have enjoyed building many models. I have enjoyed sharing my experiences with friends via visits and the internet. That matters. But I know that I might be turfed out of here in which case Kelvinbank will go. My rearguard action is to scratchbuild in 1/50 scale. A pic. The problem is that a loco like that is essentially worthless. RTR in a box might have some value but the rest is just some old guy playing with toy trains. Instructions ? Nobody has taken a scrap of notice of instructions I have written for stacks of electrical systems I have written during my long engineering life, the idea of anyone taking notice of instructions for disposal of my "toy trains" when I'm dead is just unrealistic. Sorry to be brutal, but thats life.

A couple, more atmosphere than detail . Kelvinbridge, West end of Glasgow, early 1960s, Those are actually stacks of coal higher than the wagon sides in the second pic. Real urban coal. SHMD, note another trap within a point. This yard was in a tight urban location, the "headshunt" was the main line in the tunnel behind the photographer.

So, a sort of summary of the project so far with regard to the objectives I set myself. I mentioned at the beginning of the blog that I wanted to go a size bigger than 1/76 but perhaps without some of the restrictions of 0 at 1/43.5. Something easier to see and use in my dotage. A couple of photos for comparison. 1/50 does give me a bigger chunkier model, essential since I wanted to use off the shelf batteries and radio gear. I doubt I could have got them into anything smaller and still had fully open cabs. Even with 20 mm track it doesn’t feel small. It will happily negotiate a 600 mm radius curve since it has axle hung traction motors. The buffer / coupling design means it can operate with wagons at that radii. If in the fullness of time if I end up with a 1/50 layout it won’t be large, so that gives 1/50 metre gauge a distinct advantage over O gauge, and possibly over the more scale varieties of OO. I am pleased with the remote coupling system. Again, looking to my dotage with failing eyesight and short arms do I really want to be messing about with 3 links ? Ok, I accept that the buffer/coupling system might be a bit overscale and not to everyone’s taste but for my purposes I shall put operability over appearance. I could even fit a bigger push button to the controller for it if I have to. Availability. If I am going to play with 1/50 th for some time then I don’t want to be stuck with special stuff becoming unavailable. None of this “I must buy all of these locos before they sell out” sort of thing. Well, since it is all scratch built using basic materials we will be in serious trouble if they can’t be got. I have also made a lot of jigs to help with future projects. Cost. I have no idea what my financial future will be in these uncertain times but I have a nasty sneaking feeling affluence will not be a part of it. I have spent about £60 buying stuff, perhaps another £30 or so for material I had in stock. Oh, and £8 for a hundred figures So, let’s call that £100 for about 4 months of fairly intensive model making. Less than £7 a week in real terms. Ye cannae get a fish supper for that these days. How far I go with all this will depend on time and resources. My main interest is still Kelvinbank, but we shall see.

Various colours were tried on a few dummy sides. I felt the greens looked a bit too military and the brighter reds looked a bit too Swiss. The blues I have just didn’t say late 50s austerity, In the end I went for a practical colour, Tamiya hull red. Weathered a bit with powders. I decided to fit the “clearview” style marine windscreen “wipers” Not found that often in railway use, but I thought it would add a bit of style. With a short train. Ok, a very short train, but it is a start. That all looks reasonable, but how does it run ? Eventually it will need a number and perhaps a logo. Still not decided about that, more thought needed.

If you are thinking about an inexpensive way of creating an ambient soundscape have a read at; Plays ordinary mp3 files from a micro sd card.

Cheers Derek. Oddly I was thinking much the same thing earlier today. So order placed, many thanks for the discount, where would brassophiles like me be without you.

Is the big horizontal vac cylinder ex L+Y , or based on a L+Y design ? During the 1930s the LMS were converting ex CR Grampian corridor coaches to vac brakes. The simple solution was to use a double ended vac cylinder of L+Y origin to replace the double ended westinghouse cylinder. The build instructions from Caley coaches notes that the L+Y wagon works at Newton Heath was closed in 1930 with surplus parts being moved to St Rollox. If they are the same type then they continued in use until the late 1950s, albeit on coaching stock.