Denbridge

2 hours ago, gr.king said:

???

I've long understood it to be the case that ordinary paints adhere poorly to brass unless very throroughly roughened, that etch primers are often consequently recommended, and that nickel silver or tinned brass was a far better base for paint. What do others find or think?

Yes. Paint does adhere to NS than to brass. I've long wished manufacturers would produce their etched kits in NS. Not only does it take paint better, it is a nicer material to work with and to solder.

11 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

I've only ever made a couple and they're certainly not perfect but my tip would be to start with the front part, then the right-angled bends (don't forget to put the front centre knob on the rail, not the loco, before you do this) and finally just trim the straight bits to fit.

I tend to make them in 2 parts. Joining in the front handrail knob. I think the idea came from John Haynes in the MRJ many years ago.

2 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Sorry Jeff,

 

My photo-filing system isn't as efficient as I thought.

 

Here's your 'Castle'...............

 

 

And two other scratch-built locos you brought..........

 

 

 

What fascinating models. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

Sadly, aside from hopefully sorting out the castle, I've done little else since September. Hopefully I'll achieve more in 2022.

7 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

What about August?

 

 

The one EM Gauge loco I sold for the widow was this Martin Finney A3 (builder/painter unknown). 

 

Sandra Orpen bought if for Retford. At first it ran very well, until part of the motion fell off (when I was there). I managed to repair it.

 

However, I'm now told that the friction-fit drivers have slipped on their axles and it'll need a new set of driving wheels (Markits, I'm sure). I'm sorry, Sandra.

 

Is this yet another example of a 'glass case' model; very pretty, but not much cop as a working loco, especially on huge layout like Retford? 

 

None of the locos from the collection worked properly at source. I managed to get most working, or sold off cheaply those which didn't, the new owners being quite capable of getting them to run. 

 

I've said this so many times, but why are so many 'professionally-built' locomotives such poor runners? They look fine inside a cabinet, but ask them to run and it's a catalogue of horrors - tight spots, dud pick-ups, jerky running, frequent derailments, an inability to negotiate even generous curves or, worse still, an inability to run at all. Yet, folks have handed over good money for such things. Don't they know? Don't they care? Don't they have layouts? 

 

Another collection came my way to sell in August, this time on behalf of two surviving daughters, their late father having been a widower for some time..........

 

Most locos didn't run very well to begin with, but, in the end, I managed to get them to perform, and sold everything; including three to myself......

 

 

Built from a DJH kit (builder unknown), it ran like a lame dog. After curing a tight spot (rods off and properly broached) and fitting new pick-ups, it now runs really well. It then featured on the programme I made for BRM's last virtual exhibition (of which, more later). 

 

Its rake of mineral empties now contains fewer ex-PO wagons.

 

A slightly wonky handrail on the offside smoke deflector is typical of 9Fs. 

 

As I delivered the A3 to Retford, I also collected a Crownline J17 I'd built, which Tom Foster had weathered...........................

 

 

I'd painted it.

 

 

But brilliant weathering like this brings a loco to life. Thanks Tom. 

 

 

It's passing another loco I bought from the second collection, a Millholme Ivatt 4MT.

 

 

A bit of a tweak to get it going, but now a fine runner. She's got the road after the J17 heads off towards Bourne, and now heads towards Castle Bytham, taking the single line token with her.

 

Another loco I bought was this A1............

 

 

Again, a bit of a flop running-wise, but not now; another loco which featured in my programme. 

 

Bob Wood brought along some interesting stuff......

 

 

A Millholme 'Dreadnought'.

 

 

And a scratch-built L&Y 0-8-2T. 

 

Finally, Graham Moorfoot brought along the smallest 'loco' ever to run on LB...........

 

 

A Bachmann Wickham trolley.

 

It's seen alongside far more typical LB motive power.

 

September later. 

 

 

 

 

And on the penultimate day of August my castle built from a  Mitchell kit let the side down by lifting its wheels on your pullmans. Hopefully rectified. It 'should' pull a house down, it weighs a ton!

11 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

What about Battlespace and giraffe cars?   On the other hand we could do what Triang always used to do and look at the latest developments from Lionel and get things like diesel loco smoke units and blowing safety valve effects on steam outline models.

No thanks. Gimmicks which are very toy like 

10 minutes ago, Miss Prism said:

Yet another hymn to laser-scanning inaccuracy.
 

More questionable interpretation of laser scanned accuracy.

2 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

 

Maybe they expected Hornby to bring out a Collett one.... years ago!

Doesn't stop manufacturers duplicating  and there were plenty of diagrams to choose from.

3 hours ago, checkrail said:

You're right of course - should have chosen my words more carefully!  Manufacturers are certainly reflecting the revival of interest in the pre-grouping era.  My point was a narrower one, that a GWR prototype that lasted well into BR (W) days has a greater chance of being a success for a manufacturer than one that was extinct by nationalisation, and that we pre-war period modellers just have to accept this.. 

I still regret the decision by Bachmann to model a Hawksworth auto trailer which had such a short time in service,  when a Collett or Churchward diagram would have been far more attractive, carry more livery variations over a much longer spell in traffic.

58 minutes ago, Dunsignalling said:

I'll believe the manufacturers are serious about pre-grouping models when they have picked a few prototypes that carried less ornate liveries than most they've done so far.

 

John

Remember that the vast majority of those buying models aren't what may be termed 'serious' modellers. Colourful liveries sell and the manufacturers have latched on to that, to our benefit.

14 hours ago, checkrail said:

Ha ha!  My initial thoughts were similar - fantastic detail (and I'll certainly be getting one), but when i see it from NVD running through Stoke C in a parcels train I probably won't be able to tell it apart from my Lima version on Bachmann bogies.  But all power to Accurascale  -  if their high quality stuff suits my GWR period I'll buy it, whether or not it's been available from other sources previously.

 

But it does reinforce a trend, and we pre-war period GW modellers must accept that we're a diminishing minority, and that few of items we'd like to see will be produced RTR unless they had a long life stretching well into the BR era or later.  That's the market.

Clearly the manufacturers never got that memo, judging by the amount of grouping and pre grouping releases in recent years

4 minutes ago, Denbridge said:

Something that occurred to me following my wonderful visit was a cover over the tracks beyond the backscene. By reducing the amount of light reaching the tracks the curves may be less conspicuous and a cover would be easily removable for any essential maintenance. 

Of course, those curves aren't at all noticeable during normal viewing 

56 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

It's coming to that time of year where I look back over my last 12 months' modelling. 

 

Two new locos (seen first some little time ago) are ready for the paintshops.............. 

 

 

A DJH A3, to become 60046 DIAMOND JUBILEE. 

 

It tows a K's P2 tender (a survivor from an abandoned project, my having already painted it in LNER lined green), appropriate for this loco, being a streamlined non-corridor type. 

 

As usual, this loco has been thoroughly tested prior to painting. Geoff Haynes will paint her.

 

 

And the Model Loco 9F.

 

I have a BR 1F tender for this, making it more appropriate for the ER.

 

Being plain black, I'll probably paint this. 

 

A problem when shooting in this position is the image of the train curving through a right angle beyond Dave Wager's wonderful girder bridge. Perhaps a view-blocker is needed by the presence of a train on the Up slow? From 'normal' viewing angles, the tight curves at both ends of the scenic section cannot be seen, essential for 'realism'.

 

 

 

 

Something that occurred to me following my wonderful visit was a cover over the tracks beyond the backscene. By reducing the amount of light reaching the tracks the curves may be less conspicuous and a cover would be easily removable for any essential maintenance. 

7 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Good morning Robert,

 

What a fascinating picture.

 

As Mick has observed, the loco is in mid-gear, which tells us little. 

 

I'd surmise a few things. It's more than likely to be a weekend diversion (though during such times the usual route was via Lincoln direct from Doncaster, thence via the - long-closed - foot of the escarpment line to Honington, Barkston and back to the ECML; or via Sleaford, Spalding and back to Werrington on the ECML). If it is a weekend diversion on this road, it'll go via Gainsborough (Torksey Bridge was not RA9). 

 

The reason for the loco being in mid-gear might be because it won't start (top dead centre and all that). The driver appears to be looking at the motion, so maybe he's shifting it between fore and aft to give a better starting moment (both roads from Platform 1 at Retford were tight and tricky to get going from). 

 

Now, the Gainsborough road starter is 'on'. The usual practice was that the appropriate board controlling either way would be 'off', but (because of the train's length?) the loco is beyond the board. No matter, because the east-west route is still protected by another home signal (with Thrumpton's distant below it) at the end of the platform extension (behind the photographer). 

 

The backing signal (GNR somersault) can be seen to the right (which gave us trainspotters access to the famous 'wall'), and the elegant lattice starters have only a year left before their demolition by a derailed freight (to be replaced by a plate & angle substitute). 

 

Oh, and did I say I'd make the telegraph poles for Retford?!

 

Regards,

 

Tony.

I seem to recall reading a comment by Roy Jackson, or yourself that in all the time spent at Retford, no-one had ever seen the backing signal used.

5 minutes ago, Wickham Green too said:

You mean a Siphon J ??!?

Nah, outside frame G's next 

4 minutes ago, HeatonLodge40 said:

Nope I’ll just do 4 day events with more exhibition layouts as well as the trade etc 

 

Makes sense 

13 minutes ago, adb968008 said:

Interesting thought but we might in the next few years be seeing the last coal wagon in service in the UK ?

 

 

Not for a long time, I think. Even once domestic coal extraction has ceased, there will be imported coal for industry that will need moving for decades to come.

23 hours ago, HeatonLodge40 said:

Thanks again…few issues in the morning as I shorted the whole layout by mistake which sent the automation haywire. Apologies if you were there.
As a result the 9F & it’s charter routed itself the wrong way and came to grief on a switched diamond and 4 freights then collided! 
Sorted it but had me running around for a while. Only two of us running it all day though.

 

Lots of modifications due as a result of this experience including far stronger coupling to prevent trains parting.
And I’ll never do a 2 week exhibition again it’s totally exhausting!
 
 

I was hoping to make it to this show but events have conspired against me, sadly.

I note your comment regarding 2 week shows being exhausting and totally get it, will that affect future shows around the country as originally planned?

2 hours ago, Hollar said:

I agree with you in general, but the sound chip in the Sutton Class 24  is a startling confirmation of what can be done - easily the best UK RTR loco I've seen.

 

Tony

Sound can be very effective in diesel models. But the only time I've heard convincing sound fitted steam locomotive models was gauge one locomotives at a German show. They had the bulk to fit decent size speakers and additionally had large bass speakers underneath the layout,  all synchronised together with some clever electronics. 4mm and even 7mm lack the depth of sound of a real steam engine and sound rather toy like. I'm reminded of triang syncrosound with its bit of soundpaper and a brass wiper.

On 08/12/2021 at 17:42, darrel said:

Locomotion would be a no brainer. The 200th anniversary is coming up and rocket proved popular. Even if it was a static model it would sell 

I noticed in a Hornby video some while back that behind Simon Kohler on a shelf was a model of Locomotion No.1. A not so subtle hint at a future release maybe?

8 minutes ago, mgextreme said:

I am sorry to say this is not possible as all locos have to have custom CVs programmed and the pc has to run the locos many time so it can learn the stopping distances.  This is not a layout controlled by a gaugemaster you can simply drop a loco on and play trains. It's a professional setup all designed around computer automation

Though Simon has also said that the layout can be run manually and semi manually in addition to the automation.

4 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

More painting tonight, with two more colours completed.

 

So far we have:

 

Signal Red - for levers

Signal Yellow - for levers

Blue - for levers

Black - for levers and the stove

Brick Red - for the tiles that the stove stands on

Leather - for the armchair

Dark Green - for the Anglepoise lamp

Brown - for the woodwork

 

leaving:

 

White - for dial and instrument faces

Silver - for lever handles

Gold - for brass bits

 

still to go.

 

In other news, the postman delivered two very nice Parkside china clay wagons, built for me under a horse-trading arrangement by @Barry O. Just couplings to fit and they'll be earning their keep.

 

Edit - this post carries the number of Hogwarts Castle, which I saw several times when it was under restoration in a shed at the Procor (formerly Charles Roberts) works at Horbury Junction back in the 1980s.

I remember seeing Olton Hall (Before it became Hogwarts) on shed at the NYMR, where it had failed. It had the worst paint job- BR green I have ever seen on a preserved locomotive. Heavy brush marks, wobbly horrid lining. The Grosmont shed staff said its mechanical and boiler condition matched the paintwork-awful

I remember Tony saying that the great Roy Jackson often left the trailing wheels off completely and most people never noticed.

36 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

'Works' is subjective - can flangeless wheels where there should be flanged ones ever be said to 'work'?

 

Clockwork, four-wheeled 'Pacifics' 'worked' in their time - but wouldn't pass muster as scale models nowadays!

 

CJI.

Do typical OO flanges pass as scale models though? 

2 hours ago, Barry Ten said:

 

 

I still don't get it, sorry. It looks to me like you've engineered a very nice swinging truck arrangement, and then negated its functionality by using flangeless wheels.

 

It could be argued that the flangeless truck wheels are the nearest to scale compared to typical OO wheelsets 

2 hours ago, Nick Gough said:

When you look at the size of those Churchward tenders it's no wonder that the real ones needed a well tank to carry enough water!

You could also say that since a Churchward boiler boiled less water per mile than any other boiler design, they didn't need to haul as much around