Caley 439

Hi I'm looking to see if anyone knows what thread Hornby uses for their crankpins, particularly their (now old version, China made) B12? I've tried 10BA, which is too big, and also ordered some for the T9 and generic 0-6-0; neither of which fit, again being too big

A little bit of fettling and then re-soldering on the wires and I'm happy with the outcome for the upper part of the loco - just pick ups to sort and fit. So tonight both sides of the cab were joined together........starting to look a little more like a NB loco. Will start on the boiler next week, and play around with the design so it fits over the motor and wiring. Cab interior will have a few compromises, but overall should get a good degree of detail in it too. Chimney printed the other day also positioned for the picture

A small bit of progress today, my big issue has been the motor mount and so I decided to draw one out in CAD and 3D print it - did it while cutting some 16mm scale kits on the laser cutter, and then printed. 1st Version was good, but wouldn't do for fitting in the wires of the motor (which have been disconnected for now), 2nd version improved but a 3rd version was done and this is great; will be getting used for the next 4-4-0 too. The cab will still have some of it's space lost but not so much. Will try and get the wires soldered back on tomorrow and hopefully sort out a suitable arrangement for the pickups, when this is done and there's a running chassis then I can recommence with the bodywork. The boiler will probably be laser cut in 6mm plywood, as I have lots of off cuts of it lying around that I can't really use for much else, in a layered construction smoothed out with wood filler. Also drew out a chimney and 3D printed it....didn't come out too well so back to the drawing board with it

Quite a relic, and at least it's going to be covered over rather than torn up.

A rake of old-style mineral wagons now coming together nicely, some will also have outside W-irons to add a little variation. Some spare springs also cut so that the HR Jones van can be continued on (as it was not possible to purchase springs when I bought it several years ago)

Well no transfers, though I do remember there being a 'cheats' method of lining somewhere on this forum (and can't find it now!) which I think covered printing the lining out on paper and then trimming to fit or similar. only issue with this method is the white edge visible at some points on the paper, but this should be fairly simple to sort before the lining is glued in position

No 42 starting to come together, hopefully print out some transfers on Monday for the lining and NB crests

As promised. Still working on the motor mount, need to see if I've got a spare 8BA bolt as it should be possible to secure it using the hole for securing the original motor mounting Fantastic cast buffers from Lanarkshire model Supplies currently just posed for now, will progress with the running plate (and the running of the chassis for that matter!) before they are fixed in place. Also ordered coupling hooks and brake piping from them, these are also wonderful quality castings

Ordered a motor (same type as used for the B12, but in the configuration for the 0-6-0s) and some other parts this week and they arrived yesterday. Have hacked about at the motor mount, and this should be possible to use too. Similarly castings from Lanarkshire Model Supplies also arrived - they supply North British buffers, which I had chosen for use on Glen Douglas (with a spare set maybe for Gordon Highlander). Next step, how to fix the pick-ups on. Once the chassis is running I can think about the boiler assembly and start making a bit more progress. Pictures to follow later

Going back to the subject of scratch building a few early style wagons, I did some drawings when I was away, and this afternoon put these drawings onto CAD and cut a sample. Based on some pictures of old Caledonian mineral wagons, models of NB ones I remember seeing on the Burntisland layout many years ago and some bits (detail for the end doors) from more 'modern' dumb buffered wagons at Bo'ness. A generic wagon, but the aim is to have a few more to capture the feel of those old wagons. Chassis base in laser cut plywood, and the rest in laser cut mount board. Made a mess with the dimensions - sides should be shorter, and the ends wider - but the whole point of a prototype model is to see if there are any issues, and I'll have this model tomorrow when I correct the dimensions

Dumb buffers were done on No 42 yesterday, and have now been filed to shape. The top and sides are plastic card, then the rest filled with Milliput

That's an interesting conversion there to create an 812, though for now my plans for the 700 will be kept on the back burner (I do sort of prefer the Drummond cab to the McIntosh style). All useful ideas for it once it's been run in a little..... I have got a Hornby 0-6-0 chassis somewhere from when I tried to convert a J83 into a J36 so that could also be a suitable candidate for some scratchbuilding

Good morning Ben Alder, I took some measurements of the 700 last night and compared them again the dimensions of the Jumbo plans on the Alba Railway Models site. Wheelbase isn't a problem, and the cab size seems close enough but the 700 length is ~12mm too long over the buffers - the running plate extends too far forward, I'm presuming that this extension was part of their rebuild when receiving extended smokeboxes? For now I won't risk cutting the running plate back.

That you Steve, hope everything is going ok. Your page on building items for your locos has been one of those which (particularly because of which company....) I go back to again and again. The main difference (just now) is that I'm wanting to build other companies 4-4-0s, but overall the Caley is still the dominant force in my 00 fleet - 1 x class 19, 1 x 4-6-0 (seemed to be a take on Cardean, based on a B12 and B17, not working just now), and 3 x CR blue pugs - I know many people hate the Smokey Joe type pugs but I just like them for what they are. Now that I'm back home I''l be getting back to these projects. Whilst away, I picked up a magazine on railway modelling, and while the content inside wasn't quite what I'd hoped for I did spot that Hattons had Drummond 700s going for a very agreeable price - so a phone call was made and on arrival home several weeks later there it was. A beautiful model, but I am thinking of how close is its dimensions to a Drummond Jumbo? Or as a second option, a Highland Barney (with pictures of un-rebuilt 700s and of Barneys it can be difficult to tell which is which!) to save on painting I would probably do it as one of the un-braked ones, or use just modellers licence

To reply to AJCT, funnily I've also enquired about the castings for the buffers used by the 'other' Drummond, looking at pictures of some of the Bens. Thanks for pointing that out Ian, I had got a bit ahead of myself - that's the advantage of posting topics on here. The loco and tender are packed away just now but when I get back to them I'll go over and add the beading at the top. I should have thought of that, especially as I'd filed the corners of the tank

A pleasant trip along the Waverley route yesterday afternoon down to Tweedbank then the walk to Melrose to see the station. On the return journey through Waverley station (there's a theme here) it was natural to visit Harburn Hobbies, especially as my local shop in Glasgow (Pastimes of Maryhill Road) has sadly closed after 40 years - only found this out after getting back from sea in June. I was on the lookout for one of the Oxford Rail NBR Jubilee wagons. Sadly there was none in NB livery, but I still got one. On the train back in Glasgow caught a glimpse of the PS Waverley tied up - might have had an overdose of Waverleys! Comparing the Jubilee wagon to the Diagram 22 has made me think about having a go at scratchbuilding a similar wagon or two - there are plenty of open wagons at the Museum of Scottish Railways for inspiration, and have spare mountboard W irons, bearings and wheels. Need something to counteract the growing Caley wagon presence (and give something for NBR #42 to run with when she's running)! Started painting the Jones 8T van, the red oxide colour used on Highland Railway goods stock seems a very red red-oxide, so the first two coats have been a mix Humbrol's #60 and #100, the colour seems to be building up well. A few more coats to go as the resin body is a very light colour to begin with.

Not a massive amount of progress, though tender is pretty much complete structurally. Looking fitting Highland Railway Jones buffers, from the Highland Railway society, as these appear to be the closest I can find to the NB type. Also compared some which I have for my HR Jones 8T van against the buffers on the Oxford Rail NBR Jubilee wagon, and pretty much identical (just no distinctive bolts), though the Jubilee wagon is much earlier than the Glen class. Paid a visit to Glen Douglas today in what I will describe as one of the worst laid out museums there has to be. Managed to get a good number of pictures of many details and realised that the lining is going to be a challenge! There's something about a simpler way of doing lining IIRC in one of the sections (maybe under painting etc). Do have suitable transfers from Guilplates for the numbers and initials which is very handy. Luckily, Humbrol #155 appears to be a close match for the NBR green which Glen Douglas is in (the flash of the camera doesn't really help here)

Not perfect, but just about done. Yes I've gone for hand lining which is nowhere near the best option - but I don't think there really was a different way of doing it. This loco's been a good test bed for my own skills as well. Still undecided on whether to fit dumb buffers in place as all the G class appear to have had them (and not had sprung buffers fitted, unlike their Caley compatriots) but his will require cutting through the cast buffers at the front. We'll see, the problem is the more I look at prototype pictures then at the model the bigger the list of things gets Have some transfers for the N B to put on either side of the saddle tank, and numbers for the bufferbeams too (if I go ahead with the hacksaw). Next job: fit the new motor. As unfortunately there was a pick-up missing when purchased, this will need to be sorted too. Any issues with a brass pick-up to replace the missing one?

Hi Dave, I must admit that I have been using your Kelvinbank blog as a reference point for the Diagram 3 and 59. Also been enjoying the fantastic modelling of the Caley, and the station style which reminds me particularly of Partick Central. I'll be needing a source of coupling hooks for Glen Douglas and Gordon Highlander as well as for future builds (the HR society Jones 8 ton van needs some) so I'll go for the Smiths option now.

Had the courage to add transfers to the 3 True Line Models wagons today, using ones from the HMRS sheet. All went surprisingly well, though I found that the "Hamilton Section" lettering did curl up a little, matt varnish has been applied over them and while there is still a little curling with them this seems to have sorted out the worst of it. The brake ratchets and handles for the Diagram 3 and Diagram 22 have had a coat of paint applied, so a few more coats then they can be fitted. Work also progressing with the big 50 ton wagon. As the kit doesn't come with coupling hooks (brake pipes are expected to go in their place, according to the instructions) I formed some from scraps of plastic, these have now been fitted in place and painted. Brake pipes have been painted before being fitted in place

Last night saw the springs finished off on the tender (both sides). Very simplified, but it should look ok when painted. Just needing to fit buffers (once something suitable has been found) and brake piping on the buffer beam and it is essentially complete. Will dig out the Caledonian single today and check the weight of the tender so I can add appropriate weight to this tender. Also progressing with the splashers, using blu-tack to hold the parts in place during assembly has made this possible

Good news, the Diagram 59 wagon is now on wheels! Having seen how Nelson's 50t wagon above looked with the wheel rims painted white I decided that I'd do that with the wheels for this too before they were fitted. Yes in real life they probably wouldn't have stayed white for long, but hey ho. A nice line up too of the Caledonian Railway wagon kits, just unsure whether I should now fit tension lock couplings to the True Line kits - makes sense for operating with the rest of my stock but will need to do it in a way so they don't stand out too much and detract from the appearance of these lovely kits. Brake gear next.

As promised: The first image is the start of the hornblock/axlebox detail. So they would stick properly to the surface of the tender frame a hole was drilled out of all 6, then attached in place. Once all set in place a thinner piece of plastic was glued over, hiding the hole/end of the axle, then the black rectangular piece. Image 2 is the frame assembly being attached to the floor Image 3 is the upper half of the tender. The drawings state that a coal plate was added by the LNER to these tenders (4235 gallon type) so I want to see if this was removed when Glen Douglas was restored in 1959 or if it was just left in place, Should point out, the water filler cap on the tender isn't fixed in place yet - was just posed for the picture!

Hi David it's a B12 chassis that's been cut down - I've attached a picture of it after drilling the hole for the rear set of wheels, aft of what is the middle wheel set on the B12. The pencil line which is visible is where later the rear of the chassis was cut off. I did consider using an M7 chassis Gibbo but they're not the easiest to find (did find some Triang-Hornby ones, but more than I wanted to spend) and the L1 chassis seems even more difficult to find. I do agree that the 2mm difference is not too much to worry about though if I scratchbuild a J (Scott) class in future I will probably give it the slightly larger wheelbase Hi Ian, thanks to LNER Encyclopedia I've found that the overall wheelbase difference is 3 and a bit feet and 2 and a bit for just the loco between the D34 and D40 so it will be an interesting one trying to fit the bogie (with larger wheels) in. I've altered the chassis for the Glen so that it is a 9' 6" wheelbase for the driving wheels, will try and get back to Bo'ness to measure the driving and bogie wheelbases of Gordon Highlander as when I went last time I found that I had left my measuring tape on the side at home - nonetheless I did get lots of useful pictures I'll put up some pictures of the North British tender later tonight, as just now the glue is drying. Come quite far today, who knows in a few days might be applying the first coat of paint . The bit I'm not looking forward to is making the springs!

Hi Gibbo, don't have a B12 body to use - I ordered just the chassis