mikemeg

And finally, at least for this small selection, here's one I am still building and have been for some time. This one fell victim to a bout of loco building which has stalled any progress but it will be revisited and completed towards the end of the year. This was one of the fabulous array of such structures which stood at Scarborough, some until the eighties and one until late 2010 - the now famous Falsgrave Signal Bridge; soon to be resurrected on the NYMR.This one stood at the north end of Londesborough Road station and was only around one hundred and fifty yards from the Falsgrave signal bridge. The model spans almost sixteen inches (very nearly 100 feet prototype span) and, again, is entirely scratch built apart from the end lattice posts which are MSE. Even the decking, on this, was scratchbuilt as I needed decking a scale 5' 6" wide. Around 200 strips of plasticard, each 1.5 mm x 22 mm, glued to the lattice 'L' angle cross members, using a very simple home made jig. I think some compromise on driving all of those arms might be necessary. Cheers Mike

And on the other side of the line at Hessle Haven, around two hundred yards east of the one above, stood this one. Correct me if I'm wrong, Mick, but this must have gone in the mid 1960's, possibly even earlier. The construction of these was covered on various threads, a couple of years ago, but they're not kits and they're not etches; these are scratchbuilt. There are no etches for these prototypes. And between the one above and this one, was an even larger signal bridge. Funny how we saw these magnificent McKenzie & Holland structures day in and day out and we took no notice of them; they would always be there. Of course, now they're not there and the last ones are in the process of being replaced and the railway is an aesthetically poorer place without them. Cheers Mike

So, in the spirit of "here's one I built earlier", then here's one I built earlier. This is a model of the down gantry which stood by the shipyard bridge at Hessle Haven, just outside Hull. The gantry was progressively modified as the layout at Hessle Haven was rationalised and simplified but this model represents it as it appeared during the 1940's and 50's. When I built this originally, I fitted route indicators to it, based on the design carried by gantries further down the line towards Hull. Only when I had finished these route indicators did information come to light that this gantry had the standard LNER rectangular half glazed route indicators on it, at least until 1957, when they were replaced by theatre indicators. But at what level were these rectangular route indicators mounted? Testament to the old adage 'everything comes to he who waits', an old modelling friend, from many years ago, sent me a photo of a D49 approaching Hessle. In the background of this photo is this gantry with its rectangular route indicators clearly visible. I can't reproduce the photo, here, for copyright reasons but here's the model, though not yet with its new route indicators. Cheers Mike

I can but echo the comments in the posting above. What you have created, Gilbert, is a masterpiece and a fitting testament to those days of the late 1950's when the railway was a wondrous thing to behold and when steam still ruled supreme. The photograph which Coachman photo-shopped, of the A3, just says it all along with so many more of the photos. So, Gilbert, you can stand once more, at the end of the platform on Peterborough North and just savour the nostalgia. Wonderful, just wonderful. Cheers Mike

Mick, The LNER black and white lining, on your A3 and D49. Is this done using transfers (and if so who supplies this lining) or is it done using a draughtsman's bow pen? The A3 and D49 do look very fine indeed. Cheers Mike

Tom, One of the older inhabitants of our village (he's probably eighty two or three) began his career in 1946 as a sixteen year old apprentice fitter on the LMS Railway, at Mirfield, where he stayed until the early 1960's. He still talks lovingly of the intricacies of the Joy valve gear fitted to some of Aspinall's locomotives. I guess he might have known your Great Uncle. What a small world! Cheers Mike

There really was nothing quite like those steam sheds in their heyday and the sequence of photographs, above, illustrate just how incredible these places were. The layout will be a real testament to that place and to those days, even if it is set twenty five years on from the photographs. I'll look forward to walking up and down row upon row of locomotives, probably on a summer sunday afternoon, when there was almost no sound, save the hissing and dripping from scores of locomotives, many of them the pride of the old LMS and still, then, the pride of the West Coast Main Line. Though you'll struggle to find an excuse for a row of parallel boilered Royal Scots! Wonderful. Cheers Mike

There's no shame in being addicted to A4's, A3's, A1's, etc, etc. Some of us became addicted to these (as I imagine you might well have done) long before we knew what an addiction was and we are still addicted. I know you saw the ECML way back in the days of steam, the last of the glory days, just as I did. Someone told me, or perhaps I read, that the two 'exiled' A4's - Dwight D Eisenhower and Dominion of Canada - are being/have been brought back to the UK on a two year loan, and that the NRM plans to have all six extant A4's on display some time this year. I fancy that many more folk may find they too have the same addiction, on seeing that line up. Cheers Mike

If you're using the Mainly Trains chassis conversion kit, which I did on both a J71 and J72, then the pull rods on the J71 kit were of different spacings. Try just holding both pull rods together and just check for any spacing differences. I found it impossible to fit these pull rods and get a brake linkage which looked right and, as you have found out, which did not move the brake blocks either too far from or too near to the wheel rims. I made new pull rods for the J71, eventually. Cheers Mike

Rarely seen in 50A Tom, just as they were even rarer at Hessle Haven. But, as you say those photos above, of finished Princess's, just look the business. Thread to watch, this one, Horsetan! Tom, wasn't there a rail tour from York to Scarborough and then to Hull, sometime in the summer of 1950 - little publicised and not photographed (wishful thinking)? Might have been a trial run for the Scarborough Spa Express, even if it was half a century later. Cheers Mike

Ken, Much as we'd all like to see you back at your bench and turning out those wonderful models with metronomic regularity, take your time. Glad the operation went well and glad you're back on here. The models can wait; your well being won't. Very best regards Mike

Tim, That is simply beautiful. I can remember when, in 1961, I read that it was rumoured that 60012 might be the first A4 to be withdrawn as it had serious problems with its mainframes. Only a week or two after reading this we were at Doncaster and managed to see the newly painted locos standing outside the Crimpsall erecting shop. There, in all of its glory was newly overhauled and newly painted 60012 and Haymarket A4's only really ever came that far south on the Lizzie or for overhaul at Doncaster. I'd completely forgottten that sight until I saw the photographs above. I know many would disagree with this but, for me, there are few machines which were more intrinsically right than a steam locomotive (and I'll concede Clipper Ships, Spitfires. perhaps Concorde) and within that steam locomotive 'genre' there can be few, if any, to rival Gresley's A4's. They have thrilled the generations for over seventy five years; they continue to thrill to this day. Thanks for the reminder of a fleeting glimpse, which was all I ever saw of Number 12, but a glimpse of her in all of her green, lined glory. Cheers Mike

Mick and Jon, The signals which you guys make are the result of years of practice, researching the prototypes, refining building techniques, identifying and adapting suitable materials. I make signal models too, but would not expect the r-t-r trade to do what we do; that's why folk are prepared to pay the prices which are charged for hand built models and I've quoted (and agreed) a price with four digits of £'s in it for one particular model. Who but someone with quite a lot of money and a very specific requirement would do that; very, very few? Most model railway enthusiasts would not expect, nor would probably be able to pay those prices and even if they were, the relatively few 'professional' model signal builders couldn't produce enough to satisfy the demand. I'm not going to comment on these Dapol models, it wouldn't be right; it's simply not a fair comparison. All I will say is that if one of the r-t-r suppliers - Dapol - has recognised a gap in the market, then good on 'em and I wish them well. The acid test of these signals is whether people buy them and buy them in quantity, not whether a few very knowledgeable and highly skilled model builders (and I'll exlude myself on both counts from this) actually rate them alongside their own efforts. I remember once being taken to task, on here, for comments on one of the r-t-r suppliers locomotive models and, in retrospect, it was probably right that I was taken to task. Far from these Dapol products diminishing the demand for your hand built and exquisite models, surely anything which focuses interest on this aspect of railway operation - signalling - will, ultimately, lead to an increase in demand for your models, just as the availability of r-t-r locomotives has not killed off the professional loco builders, modifiers and weatherers (is that a real word - weatherers?). Cheers Mike

Lovely work Mick. You have that 'happy knack' of capturing the essence of these beautiful machines. There never was an ugly British steam locomotive; just some more aesthetically pleasing than others (oh that might cause a debate)! Cheers Mike

Amen to that; isn't this sort of thread what makes this site so worthwhile? Cheers Mike

Oh I can feel an attack of the A2/3's might be coming on towards the end of this year. Mick, can I pick your brains when that attack occurs? Lovely job. Regards Mike

At the risk of being a real pedant, you could probably take the letter size down a little further Mick; just comparing the start and end points of Sculcoates Junction with Sallyfield Junction. Certainly the lettering on the most recent nameboard has come out very well for colour. Cheers Mike

Cracking job, my old mate. As 7mm Mick observed, above, now you'll have to build the rest of the layout to go around the signal box. As to the signals for your layout, there's a very good book by some character called Mick Nicholson, all about building 4mm (and 7mm) signals. Cheers Mike

And my first attempts went a similar route, they were cr-p. But if we persevere, then eventually we start to produce stuff which is acceptable; it is the individual's own definition of 'acceptable' which is the defining factor. Jack Nicklaus (the golfer) was once asked, during an interview, to explain why he was so lucky in winning major Golf Tournaments. His reply was broadly :- 'Practice. The more I practice, the luckier I get.' Says it all and you're welcome re the comments; the locos are superb. Cheers Mike

Anyone seeking the inspiration to start loco building or simply to improve their loco building should really look no further than this thread, for these are consistently and unfailingly superb. Not just the photos of what is done but the advice and guidance on how it is done. For me, this thread is mandatory reading and my own efforts are inspired by what I see on here. Just the very best of the modeller's skill, techniques and true artistry. Cheers Mike

I managed to find a 4 mm drawing of the Austin 7's, which was published in the December 1987 edition of Railway Modeller. Some salient dimensions (not scaled from the drawing but explicitly stated) :- Driving wheels are 4' 8 1/2" (19 mm) 15 spoke, with the crankpins between spokes. The distance from the rear dragbeam to the centre of the rearmost set of driving wheels is 6' 0" i.e. 24 mm. The wheel base, reading from the front set of drivers, is 6' 9" (27 mm), 5' 9" (23 mm), 5' 9" (23 mm) i.e. a total coupled wheelbase of 18' 3" (73 mm). Yes, the distance between driver sets one and two is 1' 0" (4 mm) larger than between 2 & 3 and 3 & 4. The distance from the front driving wheel centres to the front buffer heads is given as 8' 9 1/4". The overall length of the frames is not shown but the dimension from the drag beam to the front buffer heads is shown as 33' 0 1/4" (132 mm). So subtracting the 1' 9" (7 mm) of the LMS buffer, plus a small (1" or .33 mm) allowance for the plate of the front buffer beam, would give an approximate frame length of :- 132 - 7 - 0.33 = 124.66 mm or 31' 2". The drawing was attributed to Ian Beattie and, in view of the above drawing scaling dichotomy, there is no indication where these actual dimensions were taken from. Hope this helps. Cheers Mike

These last two photosets are just lovely. We are all transported back to a clear, blue, high summer's day in the late 1950's to see, again, the glory that was the railway of that time. Just sitting and watching that seemingly unending procession of trains. Keep them coming, Gilbert (and Tony), they are inspirational. Cheers Mike

This layout really is capturing that 'essence' of those halcyon days of the late 1950's and the last shot, in the posting above, really does tell it like it was. Lovely to see those sweeping curves and the intricacy of the trackwork before the rationalisations of later years. I wouldn't worry too much about the gauge being 'OO', after all it's the overall effect which you have sought and which you have achieved. Just wonderful to watch this layout coming together and it is a fitting tribute to a time which, for those of us who saw it, remains an unforgetable experience. Cheers Mike

For those whose interest is green diesels, then here's another of those much treasured black and white photos, this one taken in 1963 - perhaps the same wet spring or early summer's day (there is blossom on the bush by the house next the gasworks) as the photo of the B16/3 at the start of this thread - and showing an EE Type 3 (they weren't yet Class 37's) on an up fish train. It is these photos which have proved so useful in establishing just how this place looked. One thing, apparent from this photo, is the staggering of the two turnouts which formed the facing junction into New Inward Yard - the two turnouts on the bottom left of the picture. I can only think that this staggering was to compensate for the spacing of the two down roads, which was 10', in order to produce a spacing nearer 6' to the left of the junction on the entry roads into Inward Yard. Also interesting just how much clutter is laid around on the permanent way. Cheers Mike

Craig, Yes, as you surmise, all of the pointwork so far built has used my own stained wood (obechi) sleepers. I build them on paper templates which are stuck to the trackbed. I'll cover the techniques and approaches as I build the next section. The key thing, for me, about this approach is allowing all ballasting, and ballast painting, to be done before any rails are laid - makes the ballasting operation very much easier. The first job I will have to do is to build jigs for the filing and shaping of the switch rails ('C' switches) and for the various crossing noses (1 in 8 and 1 in 9). One thing which will significantly aid the process is the availability of the sets of special chairs for turnouts, diamonds and slips which can now be bought separately from The P4 Track Co. Templates for the various track formations needed can also be purchased from the same Company. Earlier in this thread is a photo showing an ex-NER interlaced, or sleepered turnout, which I built from scratch, largely as an experiment to determine how to do this and what jigs I would need to make to 'mass produce' the various turnouts, diamond crossings and slips on this third section of the railway. Cheers Mike