Tricky

So I’ve decided to go for Beeston Castle & Tarporley box as a suitable prototype. It has the panelled brickwork which I think is a good feature to model. And being a Type E isn’t too big with too many windows! I’ve made a start cutting 3mm MDF blanks which will be laminated to mount board and the brickwork scribed on it. I appreciate it doesn’t look very exciting at the moment but hopefully over the next few days it will start to take shape. I’ve also purchased the LNWR Signaling book which I am sure will prove invaluable.

I’m loving these colourised photos. Amazing clarity and quite eerie in a way, feels like stepping back in time.

I've been trawling the internet for a suitable prototype signal box to base my model on and I think Beeston Castle & Tarpoley Box might be suitable. There are a couple of good photos of the outside on line but I wonder if anyone has any pics of the rear elevation and/or drawings of the externals or internals? Unfortunately its a bit far for me to go and survey in person....!

Yep, I'm loving it too! Ellesmere Port looks an interesting prototype, with a brick base, although I would prefer to represent one with recessed brickwork panels.

No need for track cleaning with radio control! Looking forward to seeing your poo!!!!

Hi Tim, I've messaged you with my entry details.... Richard

I had a quick google at figures at this scale. I’m well catered for if I want a scantily clad young lady it seems...

24’ long, so not sure - 30-35?

Superb photos - will come in very handy. My box will have a brick base.

Great, thanks. I checked it out with Kev that he was ok with me making a box as well as him!!

Water’s edge.

Thanks chaps, I hope it doesn’t disappoint. I’m slightly concerned about the weight of it though; it’s only 6’ long but weighs a ton! Some of the examples in the book look like they could be tucked under your arm! This is a two man lift just to get it on its legs. Plus operating potential is somewhat limited....!

So....I’ve decided to enter this competition with a stab at (another) signal box. As you may know, I’m a Midland man really so quite a change of pace and style to be studying the ‘Premier Line’! My inspiration so far has come from a drawing in LNWR Portrayed of a signal box shown cut away to reveal the construction and the innards. So this is how I’m going to make the model. It will be built at a scale of 1:24 (beautifully imperial 1/2”/ft) and made mostly of wood. Progress might initially be a bit slow as I’m currenty also working on my entry for the MRJ Cameo Competiton and I’m trying not to distract myself too much with this...!

I’ve more or less finished the building site, will probably add some more rubble and ground texture but this will do for now. I’m now concentrating on the groundworks in the yard area to the right. Once this is done, all of a sudden I’ve turned a corner and it’s more or less finished apart from adding the little details that really make a model come to life. Happy days.

I think the vast majority of it would be wood at that size. Not as big as yours, but 6” x 12” o/a.

Page 64 in Portrayed shows a cut-away perspective drawing of a Type 5. How about a model similarly cut away to show all the innards?! I’m thinking a whacky scale like 1/2” / ft...

I have a copy of Portrayed. The Type 5 box looks interesting. I’m guessing the Signalling book would add info on the details missing from the drawings? Not knowing anything about the LNW, where Type 5’s common? There’s also not a lot of info on colour schemes in Portrayed. N

That’s all very very helpful chaps - thanks. I can feel myself slipping further into submission...

Thanks Kev, I’m still trying to weigh up whether I really have the time but I can feel myself getting sucked in....!! Does the other book you kindly mention have more drawings etc in it?

Just thinking still about entering...and flicking through my copy of LNWR Portrayed, and wondering about what (if anything) to do, would it be bad form to attempt a signal box too?!

This has piqued my interest - don't know why as I'm died-in-the-wool Midland (as Compound2632 knows...!), plus I've got more than enough on my plate. But a few wagons won't hurt will it....?!

I have been a railway modeller for all of my life, lets call it 40 years of 'active' modelling. For 38 of those years I have pursued my hobby in total isolation. For about 30 years (or whenever it started) I have quietly collected most editions of MRJ, cherished them and stacked them neatly on a shelf, reading and re-reading over the years; wishing that maybe one day I could achieve something vaguely similar to the works of art contained therein. The 38 years of lonely modelling 'activity' amounted to a 7mm 0-6-0 tank loco that has never run very well and a handful of wagons - no layout and a yard of Peco flexi-track. The last 2 years have flown in a whirl - I have started my home layout, started posting on here, entered the MRJ Cameo Competition, had two articles printed in MRJ and made it onto the cover with my first article (a photo of a horse!!), and possibly another article in the pipeline. Do I think I've 'made it'? Heaven forbid such self-inflating attention-seeking! Do I now get infinitely more satisfaction now than when I was a solitary bloke with a 'marginal'. geeky pastime that I was always slightly embarrassed to own up to? Yes most definitely! I can't really see a)how 'arriving' can be quantified or defined and b) if I ever will, as work I first posted on here about 15 months ago I would do differently or better now. One thing is for certain, feeling part of a community of like-minded artists/engineers/experts that us railway modellers are spurs me on immensely - knowing there are guys on here and out there more knowledgeable and far better than me also spurs me on. A 'well done' from someone on here is great, and helping others to achieve better themselves is even greater.Onward and upward!

Yes, it does say 'Wet Paint', and is a lot clearer on the copy of the photo in Midland Record. I can't quite work out if they were on tracks (sort of visible I think in the photo heading off behind the crane). Mine won't be on tracks though as I haven't got room on the layout to do it justice. The lighter No 9 was indeed the inspiration for mine. Although if any more prototype info ever comes to light my version will no doubt suddenly look woefully inadequate...!

Excellent! I shall look forward to seeing your take on it...!

Excellent photo. What scale is it and can we have some more please?!