Dave John

Thanks trawest, glad you enjoyed the blog. I have never seen a proper drawing. I measured the front face of the building a long time ago, I noted it was 56 feet (ish) . The rest of the site I scaled from photos, or a rough confirmation from the nls maps. There was a good article in "The True Line" , No 103 . That will still be available on CD for members of the CRA. I also took quite a lot of photos in the early 2000s. Hope that helps.

My original attempts at EM track used K+L parts. I'd agree with the wheel flange issue, Gibson, and Keen Maygib wheels cleared the chairs, the rest including Romfords tended not to. I still find that rtr oo wheels hit the chairs if you just regauge them to EM. So old Romfords and things are no use for scale chaired track. Which of course begs the question, which scale? Take 5 foot oo romford, remove the middle, make a new centre and axle and it becomes an accurately flanged 1 metre dia wheel for 1/50 scale. Mind you, only someone a bit mad would do that .....

Well, many thanks for putting all the effort in. Overall I am pleased with the way it has come out, it would be a lot of work to scratchbuild one. The 3d printing approach is very new, I suspect it might take a while for both designers and builders to work out the best approach. The strengthening of the footsteps with wire makes a difference and I have made a mental note not to push long trains buffer to buffer with it.

The 1870 horsebox is now painted and in service. Once primed I liked the overall level of detail, the top hinges and the dog box end show a slight bowing out but not severe enough to merit a substantial alteration. I think it would be in plain coach brown by the 1900s, compartment interior off white and a simple bench seat added. Lettering is from the HMRS sheet. Some light weathering to bring out the details. A couple of posed pictures. The start of a racing day special perhaps. The new horsebox is followed by a CR Dia 73, built 1907 and a LNWR Dia 436 from the late 1890s. Just about plausible then. I’m still a bit unsure about resin printing. The model has worked out reasonably but I am concerned about the brittle nature of things like buffers and steps. My preference would be etched brass steps and sprung metal buffers, though I appreciate that would increase costs and might not be viable for low manufacturing volumes. Perhaps too printing a model in a number of smaller sections would result in a greater accuracy ?

It might be the case that the CR d2 van in the ops photo is being returned, I don't know know where the photo was taken. The CR dead meat vans were built with hooked rails across the wagon at cantrail height so that whole animal carcasses could be transported. Through pipes and later dual brakes, oil boxes and safety chains were fitted so that they could run as head end traffic with passenger trains. Needed if you had to get meat from Scotland to a London market relatively quickly. As for the return trip they may have been loaded, but clearly needing a good clean out first.

I'd agree, CR Diagram 2 meat van, later planked body style. The trumpet ventilators are a CR thing. There is a detail drawing of them , wagon book p318. As far as I know they were only fitted to CR stock, but as ever any other info would be good. The earlier body style was panelled.

Nice modelmaking. I too use the EZline elastic for ropes and sheet ties. A bit fiddly tp work with but the tautness is very realistic I think.

Veery nice. I must make more 6 wheel stock .

With regard to various heights of pantechnicons and traction engine haulage have a look at ; https://www.crassoc.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=495&p=2957&hilit=furniture#p2957 I'm thinking about it ....

Fair point Compound, the CR didn't have any specific stock for hounds as far as I can tell. I'd agree, a lot less foxhunting in Scotland than England, though historically some significant hunts. All largely wiped out for political reasons. Deer tend to be stalked rather than chased down with deer hounds. These days foxes have become urban, the west end of Glasgow is full of them . “The unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable!”, as Wilde had it in full cry along the Great Western Road would be a sight to behold, and probably far less of a danger to pedestrians than the current hordes of pavement riding cyclists....

Oh, I really enjoy these diversions WF, all sorts of interesting facts come to light. The compartments at the RH end of the model are described as dog boxes so the CR envisaged some traffic to hunts as well as races.

It can get very complicated, certainly the CR built wagons for private traders. The situation is further complicated by wagons built by the CR and then Thirled or hired to a particular company. Add into the mix wagons built by wagon builders for the CR and then thirled or hired to other companies and you have a lot of different angles. Oh, and wagons built by other wagon builders for other owners which went bust without paying for them which were sold to the CR .... Much more can be found in "More on caledonian wagons " by Mike Williams.

Excellent modelmaking as ever Mikkel. I am impressed with the way the printed paper overlays look and the horses are gorgeous. I use 5A fuse wire to make reins. Probably just described as 35 swg tinned copper wire these days.

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.

I wish I could plonk down carriages of that quality. I took a similar approach to track laying , a lot held down with assorted screws and washers til I got things how I wanted . That D2 made by Jim Watt is stunning, as ever. Had a good chat on Saturday.

Well, cables for something. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Aberdare_Cables

Very impressive modelmaking.

Interesting as ever Mike. I note that the sheep truck has slightly higher sides, but still to my eye a bit low. I wonder if they might have had some sort of extra planking to prevent sheep jumping out? Just a wild guess based on later CR wagons for sheep traffic. I'd agree the lithograph by Haghe is rather stylised. However I do note that the footplate staff have a rather Naval look to them. I did a bit of research and note that his main area of interest was shipping or biblical themed. Perhaps those Naval uniforms are a bit whimsical too.

Ah, Letraset. There were never enough Cs or Rs on the sheet...

Hi Torper, I had to remove a bit of the lower part of the solebar. Some pics in part 2.

For the Caledonian it's Caley coaches or some body only etches from Worsley works. I must admit painting and lining is my modelling weakness so I developed a transfer technique for the panels. This and the previous 7 blogs chart my attempt at a rake of Grampian corridor stock. Passable, but I wouldn't claim to be good enough to build for others.

Ah, the early CR coach "W" iron. Not just coaches, the CR recycled a lot of underframes with those for things like empty cask wagons. I have hand filed a couple of sets starting with 4 rectangles of 10 thou brass soldered together. Fiddly. I'd agree Jol. it is a bit specialised. However if some enterprising person did an etch I'd add a few dozen to the overall demand.

The downpipes are just part of the photo. One of these days I might consider a low relief backscence. Maybe.....

I think in the end just the boiler and the tender came from djh, the rest is brass sheet. The Westinghouse pumps are possibly Caley coaches. My usual wheels are Gibson, I have used Ultrascale as well but the lead times are long.

The 83 members of the 709 Class 0-6-0 tender engines were built by McIntosh from 1895 onwards. They were the original Jumbos, all Westinghouse fitted for mixed traffic duties. Five members of the class Nos 583 to 587 were fitted with condensing apparatus for working the Glasgow underground lines. The model dates back to the 90s, some of it from a secondhand djh kit, the rest scratchbuilt. Unusually for me it runs on Gibson sprung hornblocks. I noticed that it had developed a squeal when running, time for a bit of an overhaul. Before and after pictures of the chassis. Better tender pickups cured the squeal. Back on the track, a view of the right hand side. Westinghouse pump configured as a brake air compressor in the usual CR manner. A view of the left hand side. This held a second Westinghouse pump configured as a feedwater injector. Hot water in the tanks, or in this case tender, always caused difficulties with steam fed injectors. Perhaps at some point I might try an improved painting and lining job. As we discussed in the last blog these were very unusual. There were oddities such as this, but I can find nothing else in regular use. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Ramsay_Condensing_Locomotive_Co