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Dave John

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Blog Entries posted by Dave John

  1. Dave John
    The body needed a fair amount of sorting out, a lot of bits fell off when it was being stripped. It isn’t the best paint job, but painting is not my favourite activity. As ever with the CR a lot of awkward brightwork but I have tried to tone it down a little to give a practical in use look. I also simplified the lining a bit.
     
     
     

     
     
     

     
     
    The main reason for the rebuild was to improve running. So a bit of video showing 263 on a trip working. It now seems to run fairly smoothly.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    The lining for that was from my last sheet of Modelmasters LNER / CR lining and it seems to be out of stock everywhere. The issues with Modelmaster have been discussed elsewhere on rmweb, so I don’t want to go into them here. Suffice to say it seems I’ll have to find an alternative source with sufficient radii to fit CR locos.
  2. Dave John

    A Caledonian ROD 2-8-0

    By Dave John,


    General
    Following WW1 the Caledonian, like many other railways, were short of locomotives. They therefore hired 53 surplus Robinson ROD 2-8-0 s from the large pool available locally at NBL . They ran 1919 to 1921. A comprehensive thread is available on the CRA forums
     
    Really it is a decade out of my time period, but Hattons were selling them at low prices so I bought one ( BR, ex GWR version ) just to see what I could do with it.
     
    First off loco chassis. I could buy all the stuff and make a proper EM version, but lets see what I could do with the Bachmann one. On examination the axles are 3mm with splined ends reduced to 2mm. These go into a plastic bush press fitted into a cast wheel.
     
     

     
    I dug about and found some perspex rod just over 3mm.  Cut 4 bits , in the lathe, drill 2mm and superglue to the original axle  at one end . When set put the axle back in the lathe and finish the perspex to the axle diameter.
     

     
     
    There followed a session of assembly adjustment and messing about. I made spacers so the front drivers have no sideplay. Even so the slide bars needed a bit of tweaking for the crossheads to clear the crankpins. The thing ran like a lemon first time, a fault traced to the second axle bearing being low. Well, when I say bearing I just mean the square slot in the chassis casting where it sits being low, so stripped down again and a bit of filing. It took a whole evening but eventually I got it running well enough. The bare chassis running round the layout and not derailing though riding a bit roughly through some pointwork. I could turn down all the flanges a bit but I’ll leave it for now.
     
     
     
    You would think that the tender would now be a simple job. Er, nope.
     
    The wheels have the same plastic bush and press onto 3mm axles with 2mm ends. These are a snap fit into the tender frames. Not going to go in if they are set for EM.
     

     
    Second problem, the outer faces of the wheels foul those internal “splashers”. Ok, chop those out.
     

     
    Well, I don’t like axles running in plastic anyway. So I might just as well make a proper tender chassis and bolt it on.
     
     

     
     
    It has the added bonus that I can make a set of pickups while I’m at it.
     

     
     
    Body next .
     

  3. Dave John

    The 1/50 project, A Tank wagon, part 1

    By Dave John,


    The 1/50 scale project
    I’m slowly painting 263 but some setbacks mean it is a bit of a waiting game. So as a background project I have been making this tank wagon.
     
    It all started when I came across a foot of 38 mm o/d waste water pipe about to be thrown out. I squinted at it and thought that it looked about the right size for a tank wagon in 1/50.
     
    Some styrene sheet and a bit of glue later and I had a tank.
     
     

     
     
    I put it on a card frame and sat it on the track with 4 wheels under it. Somehow it looked wrong. Too long a wheelbase and overloaded. A simple sum suggested it would be 19 tonne capacity with a liquid with the same density as water. So I made a pair of bogies.
     
     
     

     
     
    One thing leads to another. Having got a tank and a pair of bogies I needed a frame between the two. Bits of brass and a some soldering sorted that out.
     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
    I think it looks reasonable just sat together for a picture.
     
     

     
     
    Details still to build, but a decent start.
  4. Dave John
    Drummond built two of these small 0-4-2 tanks in 1885 for working the Killin branch. The design ran well and formed the basis for the Caley pug. Superseded by 0-4-4 tanks in 1895 they travelled the CR network before settling at Dawsholm shed where they worked the North Clyde industrial lines and the odd passenger working. So my period and location. Last one withdrawn 1947.
     

     
     
    I made the model mid 1990s I think. Some of the body is the old Jidenco etch made originally for Anchoridge which ended up with Falcon. I bought it in an incomplete state, so much was scratchbuilt, particularly the chassis. Basically I made an 0-4-0 with the rear axle driven and the front pivoting, the trailing wheels were a sort of bogie. That led to crosshead clearance issues and a tendency for it wander badly, the couplings were always off centre. No idea about the origins of the open frame motor and gears, they never meshed well and it was always noisy. It sat for many years until recently when I decided to give it a run.
     
    Hmm, time for a rebuild.
     
    New chassis made up, correct pattern Gibson wheels. I chose to drive the lead axle with a mashima like motor and a HL gearbox. The centre and trailing axle have a simple beam compensation. Took me two tries, the lhs sandbox was above the footplate. The cylinders are still to be stripped and repainted.
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
    Hmm . I had a look at the body. Not happy. A session in the brake fluid and a lot of bits fell off. So a body to rebuild as well.
     
     
  5. Dave John

    The baseboard waltz

    By Dave John,


    General
    Having built all the signals it seems like a good idea to install them. The first step in the process is the baseboard waltz. Way back I was asked about my baseboard construction, and I said I would post some pics when I shifted it all about. Much has been said about baseboard building over the years but it basically boils down to designing them to suit the type of layout you want to build in the space available.

    So firstly, castors. All the boards and for that matter the workbench and various cupboards in the railway room are all on castors. Why ? Well, I am no spring chicken and I am not the fastest modeller about. Building it all from kit or scratch takes a bit of time, and there is nothing rtr out of the box for the followers of pre grouping Caledonian. ( well pre group anything really, in fact if you are EM or P4 the chances are that the boxes rtr comes in are more use than the models ) Anyway, back to castors. I expect this will be the last serious layout I build, I will be well into my dotage by the time I get anywhere near finished, whatever finished is. So to get at things and do maintenance I need to be able to move things about easily. Hence the castors and the lift up boards. Note that they are all on levelling screws; you would not believe the way these big old tenements move about unless you have lived in one.

    So castors on levelling screws.



    All the boards have 2 sets of connectors . The blue ones are 4 pole 20 A lighting connectors on 4core 1.5mm flex to give the bus for the up and down lines. The whole lot can be switched to DCC via the main controller if needed. At that size you are not going to suffer volt drop issues. The grey connector is a 25 way D type for all the control side stuff. You can buy the connecter and wire them ( yes I used to ) but really there are folk out there on the internet that will sell you a male to female 3 m one already wired for a few pounds. They might as well sell them to modellers, who needs a parallel printer cable extension these days?




    So, heres the two curved boards out and rolled back. They are really light and easy to move. I intend to keep the scenery light too.
     

    I have gone for a policy of local control. Making the baseboard framing 8 inches deep give room for all the control panels and more than sufficient sufficient depth for all the underboard stuff. Makes the control panels easy to wire and maintain.



    The signal control panel ready for installation.



    Bonnets up. The rear face of the boards are hinged, so they can be lifted and propped like a car bonnet. Again I did this looking forward to ease of maintenance in the future.





    Backscenes are held on with bolts and wing nuts. The photographic images I will use are going to be easier to apply on the flat, so having them come off easily is a good idea.
     

    These radio controlled plugs are a great idea, no grovelling about under boards to turn all the power to the railway on or off.
     
     


    So there we are. I appreciate that this is just one way of building baseboards but I do see modellers making layouts that will just be impossible to maintain as time goes on. I have done exactly that in the past and can testify that it is really frustrating to damage stuff while trying to get at something that has gone wrong, hence all the castors and hinges.
     

  6. Dave John

    The 1/50 project, A Lorry.

    By Dave John,


    The 1/50 scale project
    I was browsing for some modelling materials and I came across a Tamiya kit for a 1/48 scale Opel Blitz military lorry at a knockdown price due to a damaged box.  So I bought it.
     
    My thinking was that it might be suitable for this project if I could convert it to a civilian version, the difference in scale might not offend if it was a background object. If not I could just enjoy making a plastic kit for a change, a long time since I did one.
     
    A bit of research provided plenty of photos of both military and civilian versions, large numbers of each produced and some well preserved examples. Examination of the excellently designed and moulded kit showed that conversion to a civilian version is simple; leave off the military bits, remove a few lugs and fill a few holes.
     
    A couple of photos, I think it has a certain charm.
     

     
     
     

     
     

     
    While I had a lot of paints out I did a few of those cheap ebay figures, Crude when you are used to Andy Stadden ones but they are less than 10 p each and will do for a start. My first 1/50 scale scene. 
     
     

     
     
    Where next? Well, more rolling stock, maybe another loco. Oh, track. any point in looking for ready to lay 20mm gauge track? . Nope, so thats a scratchbuild then …
  7. Dave John

    A Caledonian ROD 2-8-0 part 2.

    By Dave John,


    General
    All things considered the modifications to the body were straightforward. It all comes apart easily and the plastic seems to work well. The list of things which need to be altered to make a Caledonian version are as follows;
     
    Replace buffers with continental style ones. ( these are from shapeways)
    Fit westinghouse pump, smokebox rhs.
    Remove safety valve cover, fit ross pop valves.
    Square off and slightly reduce chimney height.
    Reposition and fit single whistle.
    Remove boiler topfeed and pipework.
    Remove smokebox door handle, fit handwheel type
    Remove smokebox door number plate.
    Fit plate type smokebox hinge.
    Add lamp irons to cabside and tender rear top.
    Add safety chains to bufferbeams.
    Add header discharge valve, smokebox lhs.
    Add air brake reservoirs under rear footplate.
    Add brake pipes.
    Add 3 number plates. Cabsides and tender rear.
    Add NBL build plate. (I have some, can’t find them atm)
    There should also be a piston rod cover on the front of the cylinders, but since it would foul the front wheels I left it off. Jacks are another issue, some of the CR engines seem to have had them, others didn’t so mine hasn’t.
     
    One thing that the rtr manufacturers seem to do very well these days is backhead details. I wish they would sell all the bits as a separate pack for use in other models.
     
    Anyway, a simple paint job followed by a bit of a light weathering to bring out some of the detail. I need to wotk the weathering in a bit when the light is better.
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     

     
     
     
    So how does it run? Well the honest answer is acceptably but not wonderfully smooth. It rides hard over some pointwork and the flanges hit the inner tops of the chairs in some places. The fact that I had to limit the sideplay of the front drivers so tightly means that it fishtails a bit on curves. That said it hauls 25 wagons happily and gets round most of the layout without falling off.  I am not going to try to turn the wheels down, they are diecast from something a bit soft and I doubt I could do a good job of it.
     
    If this was going to be a mainstay of my loco fleet I would get frames and a full wheel set from agw and build a compensated chassis, I still have the option to do so if I feel I want to run more post war stock.  However the point of the exercise was to see what I could do with a 50 quid bargain and I’m happy with the result for the amount I have spent.
     
  8. Dave John

    Cleaning and a wagon.

    By Dave John,


    General
    Time for spring cleaning so I have given the railway room a good  going over this week. Dust accumulates and I’d rather be making stuff but if I don’t keep on top of it I will have twice as much to do as all the stock fills up with fluff. Not to mention all the points, signal and things that just seem to jam up if you don’t.
     
    However essential cleaning is it cannot be described as photographically interesting.
     
    This is a LNWR D 466 open carriage truck made from the 51L etched brass kit. Would it have run on CR metals ? Possibly, taking a carriage  to the shooting estates of the rich perhaps. Who knows what is under that sheet.
     
    So here it is, tidied up and fitted with magnetic ajs.
     
     
     

     

     
  9. Dave John
    The Diagram 6 brake vans are now in service. I tried to give them the look of vans approaching 20 years in service, used but still kept in decent running order.
     
    The Caledonian often allocated brake vans to a particular branch or section and lettered them accordingly, several examples are shown in the wagon book. I have lettered one for the Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire section which is the line I model. Although I cannot be sure that is correct there are pictures of other vans lettered for the L+D so it is a reasonable assumption.
     
     
    So, some photos;
     

     
     

     
     

     
     
    Oh, go on . A bit of  video too;
     
     
     
     
     
     
    I must fix that bit of droopy point rodding.
  10. Dave John

    Filling in a gap

    By Dave John,


    General
    Mikkel asked what was between the main part of the layout and the Viaduct sections. The simple answer is a gap. The boards need to move towards the window wall to give them enough room to swing round into the room to be worked on, so they stop short of the window wall by a foot or so.
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
    I always had a vague idea that I would build a lightweight scenic extension to take the eye round towards the window. Well, I have finally got round to it. Its mainly made out of foamboard with the curved part from two layers of 1 mm card . The whole thing sits on a small strap on the main board and holds on with a couple of magnets. Weight is only a couple of pounds so it is easy to handle.
     
     

     
     

     
     
     
     
     
    Scenically I think it will be heavily overgrown, a remnant of one of the many old estates to be found along the banks of the Kelvin before the expansion of the city in the nineteenth century. Must try and get rid of those bubbles in the sky as well.
  11. Dave John
    The latest kit from True Line Models is for the CR Diagram 6 brake van.  Build dates range from 1883 to 1889 and cover three known body styles across possibly 55 vans.  Kits are available for two body styles, the narrow and wide panelled builds.
     
    So  a pic of the bare etch.
     

     
    You might think that these look very like the NB D33 vans. Well, the link is that man Drummond again. So since NBR developments do an etch for that it seems sensible that TLM asked them to do the etch for the very similar CR versions. It is an excellent etch, well designed and very accurate. Very little adjustment needed, the parts just fit together perfectly.
     
    The main sections soldered up;
     

     
     
    Roof is held on with a 3mm cube magnet.
     
     

     
     
    A pair complete, a joy to build.
     
     

     
     
     
    Painting next.
  12. Dave John

    Operating the Caledonian

    By Dave John,


    General
    I have been reading “Operating the Caledonian Railway”, volume one, by Jim Summers. It is an excellent book, explaining many of the technical, economic and social reasons that led the railway to operate in the way that it did, and I have learned a lot from it.
     
    Let me give you an example. Here is a picture of a goods train passing through Kelvinbank. It might be argued that it is a bit on the short side and that there should be a few more sheeted opens, but generally the stock and the layout are all in period and modelled to a reasonable degree of accuracy.
     
     
     

     
     
    But let’s have a closer look at the rear of the train.
     
     

     
    You see that is completely wrong. CR brake vans did not have duckets and so it was considered bad practice to marshal a van or similar high vehicle close the the brake, thus obscuring the view forward for the guard. Indeed written instructions to the effect that a few lower vehicles should be in front of the brake were issued.
     
    Now thats a lot better.
     

     
     
    Just looking at the train as a whole it makes obvious sense once you see it.
     
     

     
     
     

     
    I am slowly looking at timetables and the actual makeup of trains. I want to present as far as possible an accurate working picture of the Caledonian. Limitations of modelling mean that in some ways I will never get it totally right but I would like to move towards a working schedule in which the vast majority of the trains run are close to how they would have actually been.
     
    As I said I have learned a lot about how things should be done (and how they should not be done) from Jims book. Volume two should be illuminating.
     
     
  13. Dave John

    A useful timer.

    By Dave John,


    General
    I have had a couple of weeks sorting out a few problems on the layout. I have had some difficulty with the long crossover to the storage sidings which had decided to get themselves out of gauge a bit. Add to that a couple of other electrical problems and all in all it has taken a while to fix.
     
    Of course getting it all sorted meant running a few trains to test it all. Which led me to improve the traverser control panel a bit. I haven’t really mentioned the traverser much, its not the most elegant of things and in some ways it is a compromise to make the space useable. The six tracks on it are automatically switched to the up and down cabs when the traverser is aligned and locked. For the purposes of running round and forming trains there was a local cab switched in from the control panel. Thing is, having prepared a train I would go back to the railway room, pick up the respective cab controller and then look bemused when nothing happened.
     
    Yep, I was always forgetting to switch back from the traverser cab to the main cabs.
     
    So I replaced the switch with a simple timer. Press the button gives traverser cab control. 5 leds light and go out one by one as it counts down over about a minute. if you want more time press the button and it returns to the start of the countdown.
     
     
    A couple of pics
     
     

     
     

     
     
    The circuit diagram.
     
     
     

     
     
    Might be useful for other things, feel free to play about with the idea.
     
     
  14. Dave John

    The 1/50 project, A self uncoupling wagon , part 2

    By Dave John,


    The 1/50 scale project
    The body is made up in my usual way, 10 thou styrene cut by the silhouette and laminated to form the structure. The mechanism takes up about 2/3 of the volume so I had room to form a simple brake compartment. Never all that popular in the UK, but quite common elsewhere in the world.
     
    Four 2x2 mm round magnets hold the body on, as in the loco these carry the current for the marker lights at the ends and the cab light. The leds have come out very bright in the photos, much less to the eye.
     
    A couple of photos
     

     
     
     

     
    I had a plastic box spare, not too large so I made the controller in that. As it happened I had a duff torch sitting on the bench so I took the led module out and built it into the controller, useful sort of thing to have round a layout.
     
     

     
     
    A train. Not quite enough stock for a layout, but it is a change of scene for me.
     

     
  15. Dave John

    The 1/50 project, A self uncoupling wagon, part 1

    By Dave John,


    The 1/50 scale project
    Ok, I know what folk are thinking. A self uncoupling wagon? We have all got one of those, a wagon which uncouples in the middle of a train at the most inconvenient part of the layout when folk are watching for no apparent reason. Indeed I have had a few over the years.
     
    Ah, but how about a wagon which uncouples where you want it to when you want it? Anywhere, not just at a specific point. Could be a fun idea.
     
    The starting point for this was me looking at bits direct from China on ebay. I found these tiny six channel transceiver modules,  4 pounds a pair. Couldn’t resist, bought some and had a play with them over christmas, decided that they worked and then wondered what to actually do with them.
     
     

     
     
    Which got me thinking about a self uncoupling wagon. Some pics of progress so far.
     
    Basic frame soldered up from brass and copperclad.
     
     

     
     
     
    A coat of primer, some internal assembly.
     
     

     
     

     
     
     

     
    The mechanism is basically a duff servo. The usual failure mode for servos is dead driver board or feedback potentiometer wear causing excessive jitter. At which point they get chucked in a box labelled duff servos. However it is still a motor and gearbox with lots of torque. Remove the driver and add a couple of microswitches and diodes and it becomes  a mechanism that moves from a to b when you reverse polarity , and uses almost no power when it isn’t moving, unlike a conventionally driven servo. When not moving it takes just the reverse leakage of the diodes . (typically < 5 microamp) Works down to about 3V , useful if you are running the lot with 3 aaa cells.
     
    This is the circuit. The trailing wires in the pic will be for body leds via magnetic contacts.
     
     

     
     
     
     
    I am thinking about the body. Some sort of road van, brake compartment one end, the rest a van covering the mechanism. Silhouette time.
     
  16. Dave John

    A gap filled in.

    By Dave John,


    General
    Scenic work is not something I am very good at, but there we are a gap filled. I wanted it to look like one of the old estates that got enveloped by the progress of Glasgow to the west but has yet to be developed. The  result is some lengths of very old boundary wall in some odd locations if you dig about in the area.
     
    Anyway, it fills a gap.
     
     

     
     
     
     
    If you are going to have a gate, you might as well have a working one.
     
     
     

     
     
     

     
     
     
     
    Modelling time will be a bit restricted for the next few weeks, house decoration is needed. I’ll be overcome with emulsion, as they say.
  17. Dave John
    The D 34 trolley is now finished and in service. I think it captures the look of the original though without a drawing I cannot be sure it is dimensionally correct. Wheelbase and overall length are from the diagram.
     
    I decided to fit a rather narrow load so as not to lose the open frame look of the trolley and an out of gauge load would foul the platforms. Well sheeted and chained down it gives some mass so that the springs do not make it all too bouncy.
     
     
    Some photos;
     
     

     
     
     

     
     
     

     
     
     

     
     
    Something a bit different, I think it would have run with a couple of handbraked wagons each side.
     
     
  18. 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.
     
  19. 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.
     
     
  20. 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 ?
     
     
     
     
  21. Dave John
    2022 was the year in which the politicians told us it was all going to bounce back to normal. Instead we have production and supply chain issues which are affecting far more important things than model railways whilst the politicians bounce off into financially comfortable obscurity.
     
    However the Caley staff at Kelvinbank continue to work day and night to get the goods delivered. A few pictures on that theme.
     
    Coal from the Lanarkshire collieries to the north Clyde ports was one of the main reasons for the construction of the L&D. A 29 class tank heads a westbound coal train, the 670 class trip working some empty cattle wagons eastbound. Archibald McGregor is just happy it isn’t raining yet.
     
     

     
     
    The coal train crossing the river, the 323 class heads a goods train east.
     
     

     
     
    The goods yard is busy, the scotch derrick unloading crates to a waiting cart. I suspect the carter is thinking about the snug in the Kelvinside bar.
     
     

     
     
    The task of unloading and bagging coal goes on into the late afternoon gloom. When that lot is shifted there are still the horses to be tended before a drink.
     
     

     
     
    There would be an increase in parcels at this time of year too. The signalman watches as a 92 class heads eastbound with additional npcs.
     
     

     
     
     
    I wish everyone the compliments of the season, I hope you all get some quality modelling time.
     
     
     
  22. Dave John

    A pair of Private Owner wagons

    By Dave John,


    General
    These two are wagons built by Pickerings of Wishaw.  The bodies are in resin from True LIne Models, available through the CRA.  A straightforward build, my usual copperclad sub frame with compensation, mainly 51L parts, the buffers are correct RCH pattern in brass from Gibson.
     
    I have good ex works photos of two suitable candidates, Wilsons and Clyde 2329 in a brown livery and Oakbank OIl Co. No 132 which looks to me to be a varnished wood finish. Could well be a yellow pine so some sort of light buff colour.
     
    Having had a go at transfers for coaches I wondered how well the white transfer paper would work for PO wagons. The design was done in affinity with several different fonts needed . I also learned that affinity has some powerful tools for creating drop shadows. A doddle to use when you find them and read the tutorial.
     
    Anyway I printed them out and had a play with them on some scrap plasticard painted in what I thought would be the wagon colours. I knew that I would then have to produce colour to match the transfers to go round them and lose the white edge. That proved to be easier said than done, mixing colours to get the right shade Isn’t one of my skills.
     
    I had a think and decided to do it the other way round. I chose nato brown for the Wilsons and Clyde and a mix of buff and white  for the Oakbank OIl Co. Paint a couple of inch square swatches, scan them into affinity then sample them to give the transfer background colour. That seemed to work reasonably well, transfers applied and carefully painted round.
     
     
    So this is how they came out,
     
     

     
     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
    A lot of messing about to make a couple of PO wagons, but something original I think.
     
  23. Dave John

    Another go at a sheeted wagon

    By Dave John,


    General
    Another go at a sheeted wagon. Fair criticism of the way my early attempts at roping sheets down led me to consider a more realistic way of doing things.
     
    Looks a bit better in terms of roping, but I think I could improve the sit of the sheet itself.
     

     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    The starting point is a CR D15 dropside whitemetal kit from 51L. This is made up in my normal fashion. However in order to tie the ropes down I needed to fit cleats to the solebar right in the corner where it meets the bottom edge of the curb rail. A bit of study suggested that these were a basic hook on the D15, some wagons had a T shaped fitment.  As far as I can tell there were 4 on the sides and 2 on the ends.
     
    I drilled through at about 45 deg , 0.3 mm. Brass wire was inserted through these holes and superglued from the floor side. I say brass, but I’m not sure what it actually is. You know those fizzy wines where you get a net of brassy looking wire round the cork, well its that stuff. Much softer and easier to bend than brass rod, almost like 5 A fuse wire.
     
     

     
     
    The sheet is I think an old exactoscale one. Basically wet it with water and  a tiny spot of pva, mould it round the wagon and foam load. When dry ease it off. Ropes of elastic EZline superglued on to form loops. Thats a fiddly job…..
     
     

     
     
     
    Well, hmm. It does look better than bits of cotton tied round the whole thing. I am still thinking about a way of reinforcing the lower sheet edge and having the rope pass through holes ( doubt I could manage a scale eyelet ) Given the prevalence of sheeted wagons in trains it is something I want to keep nibbling away at, but thats for next time.
  24. Dave John

    CR 29 class in service and shunting.

    By Dave John,


    General
    Well there we are, No. 203 in service. It looks all right from a distance, but harsh close ups show my lining inabilities. I did try some of the 2 part Fox transfers where you overlay black on a red/white line, but I just couldn’t get them to look right. The CR red/black/white was subtle with fine lines, hopefully one day a transfer maker will take pity on us.
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     
     
    Then again what matters is how it runs. These engines were built for trip and shunting work, so a bit of video showing 203 doing just that.
     
     
     
     
    I’m quite pleased with that. It will never win races with a 90-1 reduction, but it has considerable tractive effort and is very smooth, all previous pickup problems eliminated. The acid test is pushing a full train backwards through pointwork buffer to buffer and it passes that easily.
     
     
     
  25. Dave John
    The painting and lining seems to have gone fairly smoothly with this one. I used the same double transfer technique developed for the Grampian Corridor stock which helps. Certainly not as sharp as an expert painter could achieve, but I know my limitations.
     
    I have painted the interior in a simple fashion and added a guard and some parcels, mail bags and a tandem. Very little of that can be seen , but it gives the impression of use.
     
    Anyway, a couple of posed pictures.
     

     
     
     

     
     
     
    A short clip of the D 35 in a very mixed train of npcs,
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Some more wagons next.
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