31A

Thanks all for those very useful and constructive answers. Certainly some stuff to think about there! Chas, you've done really well with the waterslide transfers on those wagons (and a lovely job of painting them). I shall get some Humbrol Decalfix ASAP!

So sorry to hear this, thank you for letting us know. The passing of one of the last great Men of Steam.

Thank you for those pictures Mark and showing the encouraging results you've got from the Halfords Lacquer. I look forward to trying it. Those wagons do look very good!

Thanks Chas, I don't know either, but glad to know I'm not the only one! I gave up on that facility a while ago and tend to just view what comes up on the first pages of each topic. Which is why I don't always keep up with your Workshop as well as I might!

It is a ducket! LNER full brakes (and the brake compartments of passenger coaches) only had them fitted on one side. In picture above of the blue one, it will have been on the side away from the photographer. Although the post war steel panelled ones more usually known as "Thompson" vans (Diagram 344) didn't have any duckets at all. See pictures on my thread "Trainspotting at Finsbury Square" of the models I've just finished building.

Thank you for those kind words Mark, glad you like them! The way I paint coaches seems to be quite similar to the way you describe. Like you, I try to get as glossy a surface as possible to apply waterslide transfers to. With these vans, the 'livery colour' was Halford's Ford Burgundy Red which in itself is supposed to be glossy I suppose, but in practice is not quite so. Then all the maroon areas received a brushed coat of Johnson's Kleer. I'm reluctant to apply too many coats of paint / varnish as the thickness builds up on details (there had already been two coats of primer!), and there's always a risk of causing 'runs' or picking up some 'foreign body', but the sides still weren't as glossy as I wanted, so to make sure I gave the panels which would receive transfers another coat of Kleer. I thought that ought to have been glossy enough so then I put the transfers onto that, and sealed them with yet another coat of Kleer over the whole side. After that, the sides received a coat of Humbrol Satin Varnish from aerosol, before weathering with Humbrol enamels. I have read of Halford's lacquers but haven't got any yet. When I next pay them a visit I'm minded to get one each of gloss, satin and matt and see how I get on with them, especially as Testor's Dullcote which was my favourite matt varnish doesn't seem to be available in the UK any longer. Thank you, I might try and get some of that next time I go to the Model Shop. I did have a very old jar of Carr's Transfix which was very good at doing what you describe, but it has finally run out. I did get some Microscale Micro Set which I hoped would do the same thing, but it seems to react with the Johnson's Kleer and turns it milky. The meths solution that I use for Methfix transfers can also turn Kleer milky, so if I know I'm going to be using Methfix transfers I varnish the relevant panels with Humbrol Gloss varnish instead.

It's time to call these vans finished now! A couple of pictures of E1007E (as it has become) with painting complete, and underframe and roof weathered. It's interesting what a difference the room lighting can make to the shade of red! I like to be able to weather underframes separately to coach bodies; it makes it easier to control where the weathering paint goes, although in this case being mainly parcels train vans, this pair ended up being pretty mucky anyway. I prefer to use Methfix transfers for numbering, but have run out of Es and they don't seem to be available any longer. So the numbers on these vans were made up by 'cut and shut' from sets of waterslide transfers from Modelmasters and Cambridge Custom Transfers. At least that's a bit easier than using individual characters, but as usual I find it difficult to 'lose' the transfer film (despite following the recommendations of applying to a gloss surface, using a new knife blade, etc), and this seems particularly obvious on these smooth sided vehicles. Then some pics of the finished vans on the layout. E1007E is one of the vans that was numbered in the East Coast numbering series, whereas E70380E is in the 'run of the mill' NPCCS number range.

Another book which I don't think has been mentioned so far is "The Alnwick Branch" by Bartle Rippon, published by Kestrel Railway Books in 2008 (ISBN 978-1-905505-11-1). As well as the Alnwick branch, it covers the history of Alnmouth station and depot. It has lot of photos, and drawings of track layouts and Alnwick station building. The only diesels that appear in the pictures are a Clayton Type 1 (Class 17), a Metro Cammel DMU (3 or 4 cars, or two twins) and a Gloucester RC&W 2-car DMU. Also the steam loco types already mentioned.

The net result as far as TPE was concerned would likely have been similar, in that they would have bitten off too big a training commitment regardless whether the coaches were ex 442s or the CAF Mk 5s.

They look perfectly good to me, Gilbert!

An item on the BBC News last night showed the centre of Derby near the River Derwent flooded, including the Museum of Making inundated! If the model railway is on the ground floor, I fear it could be bad news for it.... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-derbyshire-67168494

Thank you, Phil. Perhaps the Southern was Different? On LNER Guard's compartments (and BR Mk1s, for example) the door opens inwards so the hinges are on the inside, and no door stops (hooray). The door opens over the floor, so it is shallower at the bottom and you can see the edge of the floor beneath it. The vans I'm making are similar to these: https://www.flickr.com/photos/blue-diesels/37792935182/in/album-72157604142594351/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/blue-diesels/37155887053/in/album-72157604142594351/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/blue-diesels/37300164714/in/album-72157604142594351/ Sorry to cause you palpitations!😢

Moving on (not so swiftly) to the bodies of these vans. As I said, the sides are from Comet. One pair I'd had for a long time, and was supplied flat, while the other pair I bought recently and came with the tumblehome already formed. So, I put the curve into the flat pair, then decided the pre-formed ones had too much curve on them, so I've attempted to flatten those a bit. There is still a difference between the pairs, though. The sides come with half etched 'pops' on the sides to indicate the positions of the handrails, door handles and door stops, but not the door hinges. On smooth sided coaches like this I don't think you can leave anything off and get away with it, so the first thing was to mark out the positions of the hinges, and drill through all the holes (remembering that the Guard's doors open inwards). At this stage, I realised a BG has more doors than a seven compartment Corridor Third! Albeit fewer droplights. The door furniture is from MJT (from Dart Castings), as are the Guard's lookouts, and the hinges are also from Dart, from the Frogmore Confederacy range and listed as GWR although I defy anyone to tell the difference! The Guard's door handrails are from 0.33mm brass wire. Always interesting making these with their T formation, to get the horizontal ones level and with a robust joint to the vertical ones. Ventilator hoods above the doors are from brass strip (etch scrap). Door stops were made by soldering 0.45mm brass wire through the drilled holes then filing off to length. At this stage, you can also see I've soldered a length of brass etch scrap along the top edges of the sides, above the topligts, to keep the sides straight and give a firm attachment for the roof. After that, it was a quick job to solder up the sides to the brass inner ends. I have added more brass strip across the ends, soldered to the ends and the side reinforcement, to help hold the whole thing square during construction, as much as anything. This needs to take account of the eventual glazing of the toplights, though! The one on the right has been temporarily placed in position on its underframe. Next was to prepare the cast ends. As far as I'm aware nobody makes castings that represent the ends of LNER steel panelled coaches; the MJT 8' 6" wide (for brake vans) ones where used, but all the panelling detail had to be removed by a mixture of filing, scraping and sanding. As I was going to be using the Comet Models plastic roof moulding, the top profile of the ends had to be modified to match this rather than the MJT cast roof ends that it is intended for. So, there was a lot of filing, sanding and scraping and at this point I could imagine @Clive Mortimore telling me to reach for a lump of plasticard instead - if he had done, it would have been good advice! Anyway, eventually it was done. In the picture below the lower ends have been modified and the originals are above. So, the cast ends were attached to the brass inner ends with low melt solder, with attention paid to ensuring there was no gap at the edges where the ends meet the sides. As I imagine these vehicles will spend most of their lives in parcels trains, I decided to fit solid gangways with open ends, rather than the MJT folded paper type with gangway shields that I usually use. Hence one van got Comet gangways, and for the other I used the last of my stash of Westward Models castings - there's a name from the past! The above picture shows the attachment brackets inside the ends that I made to attach the bodies to the underframes. Thanks to @jwealleans for this idea, but I made them from brass that was thick enough to take a 10BA tap rather than fiddle about soldering loose nuts to them. You can also see the reinforcing strut I fitted between the sides half way along, to help keep the bottom of the sides in line. The lack of any interior in vans like this made this easier, although getting the length right was a bit of trial and error, especially as it has to fit a bit up from the bottom to clear the up stands either side of the floor. Then the next thing was fitting the roofs; these were tacked in place with Evo Stick then fixed permanently with Araldite. I had perviously drilled for the vents, and fitted these after the roofs were attached. Thankfully no passenger alarm or water filling fittings on these vans! Which brings us just about up to the current state of play. Basic painting finished; initially with Halford's etching primer (which is grey) followed by a quick squirt of red oxide primer, then the maroon livery which is Halford's Ford Burgundy Red. The one nearest the camera shows the high tech painting jig; long 10BA bolts screwed into the body brackets and sitting in holes in bits of wood.

It was great to be able to look closely at samples of these coaches at the Great Electric Train Show at the weekend, and discuss them with the Ellis Clark reps. There really is a lot of very fine detail on them, and a lot of thought has gone into the design both regarding the articulation / coupling arrangements, and potential conversion by purchasers to EM gauge, etc.

Thanks Tim, the history on your web site is very interesting and I've spent a long time watching the Youtube linked from it - fascinating stuff!

....although passenger trains never stop over those points!

Thank you for setting the context of your layout. I was lucky enough to have a ride on the DFS in June this year, and it's a lovely ride through beautiful countryside. Highly recommended! You have now explained why Beringsmühle station looks like a through station.

I've been told I was at that exhibition too, but I would have been about one year old so I can't remember much about it! I have got a ticket from it, though!

Hi Chas, thank you for asking! I didn't realise they had been posted before the 'crash'; time flies! Anyway, here goes. Basically, my modification consists of brass plates that fit beneath the cab and the front of the tender, to which a brass drawbar is pivoted. The brass plates are attached using the self tapping screws that are already there as part of the loco & tender body attachments. It's fairly straightforward but I seem to recall I had to cut away (by experiment) quite a bit of plastic from the loco & tender drag beams (below the cab and tender front) to allow the loco to go round my curves; making the drawbar thinner might have been easier! As I wanted to keep current collection from the tender, I ran new wires from the motor to the tender; I seem to remember it was quite difficult to find a way for these out through the firebox and cab, and they ended up sandwiched somehow between the mouldings under the cab floor. I terminated them in brass washers screwed into the existing tender pick ups with self tapping screws. On reflection it might have been neater to have routed them above the brass plate on the tender rather than beneath it: This modification is maybe not for the faint hearted, given the cost of the model, but it means the loco and tender can be coupled as closely as you like by making the new drawbar to suit depending on the radius of curve you expect the loco to negotiate - in my case they ended up closer together than they originally were, but for this to work I also had to shorten the cab doors on the tender a bit. It also solves the 'crabbing' issue (although the other suggested solutions were simpler), and eliminates the big lump of plastic between the loco and tender.

So, these brass coaches that I hinted at. I'm making a pair of ex LNER Diagram 198 Full Brakes (BGs), which were Gresley outline coaches but with steel panelled sides rather than the usual teak panelling. A picture of E70365E is on Paul Bartlett's web site: https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/lnerparcels One is for me, and one for a friend. Comet do a kit for these vehicles, but I chose to only use the Comet sides, and the plastic roof moulding from the Comet range - the other parts are from MJT. Various reasons for this; mainly because the cross sectional profile of these vans was different from passenger carrying vehicles, being 8' 6" wide. The profile is the same as the 'inset' portion of a Gresley Brake 3rd, for example. The MJT range includes an underframe / floor kit specifically for this type of van, and they sell the 8' 6" wide ends as pairs which as far as I can see Comet don't. But, perhaps this wasn't the best choice as it turned out! The bogies are also from MJT; I have used the 8' wb 'Heavy' type which I believe is correct for this kind of vehicle. Here are the four bogies assembled: The 'riding tabs' that keep the body upright have only been folded up on half the bogies, and each coach gets one with and one without. This means the bogie with the folded up tabs keeps the body upright while the other bogie is free to rock in any direction as it just rides on the securing nut on the floor, giving a form of three point suspension. The MJT system has the ends as part of the floor as they intend you to build the body up from the floor and put the roof on last. However I prefer to keep the body separate from the floor, and leave it detachable in case you ever need to get inside again. So, I detached the ends from the floor. Here is the beginning of the underframe construction, one floor is assembled and the solebars for the second are in the foreground. The MJT kit provides a nice etched overlay for the solebars giving rivet detail etc., however I then realised these vans had welded underframes with no apparent rivets, so I left these overlays off. I did however run a length of 0.45mm brass wire along the bottom edge of the solebar to represent the bottom flange of the 'bulb angle' steel the LNER used. This would have been simpler of I'd used the Comet underframe! I added steps from 3mm x 1mm brass angle, with the short side sitting on top of the lower solebar flange. It was easier to add these parts before attaching the solebars to the floor. The rest of the underframe was pretty straightforward using MJT components. Guards' steps are made from 3mm x 1.5mm brass angle and etch scrap. My soldering isn't very neat so to avoid embarrassing myself, here's a couple of pictures of the finished underframes after spraying with Halford's Etch Primer. You can see the holes in each corner for 10BA screws which will fasten the body; thanks to @jwealleans for this idea. I've never used the MJT castings for the truss rods and cross bracing before, and found these a bit fiddly to use, as well as adding weight to the finished model, and again I wonder whether the Comet parts would have been easier / better, as the truss rods fold down from the floor. Anyway, it's done now. Here are the two underframes finished and painted black: Bodies next!

Mainly a hunch I supposed, and the J50 on the left! But now you mention it I think that signal gantry appears in several photos taken in that area, albeit most often in later days hen fitted with upper quadrant arms.

That's a nice photograph, I don't think I've seen it before. Is it somewhere in the West Riding?

When I've done this, usually with Romford Markits tender wheels to remove the axle points and make them suitable for a tender with a dummy inside frame, I've just used a big file to remove the points and shorten the axle by as much as it needs shortening, then finished off with a fine needle file to dress the ends smooth. I presume the axles are mild steel, but whatever they are it's easy enough to shorten them with a file!

Thanks, I knew I'd seen a picture recently! 🙄

The second and third coaches in that train look like standard LNER stock; not sure whether the Brake 3rd (next to loco) would be a driving one or not though. Afraid I can't help with the ex NER Driving Brake 3rd though, except to say that maybe D&S Models made a kit once upon a time that might be found second hand, e.g. Ebay?