JamieR4489

Herringbone

LNER J4, GNR J5

Robert the Bruce

Mons Meg

Saint Johnstoun. I don’t dislike Perth I just think it’s a clunky name not suited to a big express engine. It would have been better on an NBR 4-4-0.

H A Ivatt

Easy, Pretty Polly

Night Hawk

Sea Eagle. It’s so clunky, especially compared to Seagull. I’m probably on my own here but I actually quite like some of the director names, e.g. Miles Beevor, William Whitelaw, Lord Farringdon

Merlin

Thanks Jesse, I’ll bare that in mind.

The BFK is now finished... ... so I’ve started yet another carriage These are Bill Bedford D151 RTP etches. They’ll go on a Hornby Margate donor which I’ve already started hacking into to cut the sides out and lengthen it. Jamie

2020 has been very productive for me in terms of rolling stock. I used to think carriages and wagons were a bit boring but then I started looking at ECML formations I’d like to model and realised how interesting coaches are. This is a Hornby Railroad donor cut down to 52’6” with new sides made from plasticard. I based the conversion on some of the ones Phil Brighton showed on his Potter’s Bar thread but he has the advantage of having a laser cutter. This is a cut’n’shut of a Hornby CK and BCK to make a 52’6” TK... ...and with the other halves of the Hornby donors I made this D149 BFK. It still needs glazing and final detailing. Moving on to locos I started the year by finishing off a Bachmann O4/1 to O4/3 conversion. Like LNER4479, my lockdown project was an LRM superheated D2. This was my first etched brass loco and being a 4-4-0 it was quite challenging. The paint chips are from where I’ve been filing out the frames recently to stop short circuits and I was too lazy to take the body off. I’ll paint over them at some point. I also made one of the new MJT V2s (and I’ve got a second waiting for for a chassis and tender). This J11 had been in out of the box condition for years and decided it was time I renumbered it and weathered it. It turned out to be a bit more involved than that as I swapped the safety valves and made a snifting valve. My biggest project has been the new layout; Tuxford North. As the photo shows, the scenery has barely been started with only the mainlines ballasted. It is however, finished in terms of electrics and track-laying. Jamie

Heaven and Hell - The Who

Another week, another carriage. This time, the D149 BFK I started in the summer. It’s now ready for paint. The photos are quite self explanatory in terms of where the cuts have been and which bits I’ve had to scratchbuild. I’m debating whether or not to replace the ducket. I think I’ll keep it as is for now and in the future I’ll make/buy a replacement. I’ll have to compare it to the duckets on my Hornby super detail BG and Kirk BCK and decide if it looks a bit flat or not. I may also replace the bogies in the future. Jamie

I decided that I really needed to finish off my RF as I have no other catering vehicles so about a week or two ago I finished off the roof and underframe and at the weekend I finally called it 'done' (although it still needs passengers and I've just noticed that I've forgotten the bogie stepboards). Sorry about the last pic being out of focus. The light is abysmal at the moment and getting decent photos is difficult. The coach looks very matt in the pictures but I've since put another coat of gloss varnish on which seems to have helped. The colour is intentionally darker than my other coaches as this would have been quite old by 1938. I suppose I ought to fit 'Scarborough Flier' roof boards but they can wait until I've got some of the other coaches needed to complete that set. Overall, I'm quite pleased with this considering the sides are scratch-built although if I was to do it again I would've filed the sides of the donor vehicle down more below the windows as the tumblehome isn't as pronounced now. Jamie

I’ll look forward to that. Will you be offering the cab separately? If so I’d certainly be in the market to buy one.

Looking good. Will you be offering the correct cab for the first series of K3s (including 227)?

Ah thanks for clearing that up. Not sure where I got the idea from that compos had them from the start.

My apologies. I thought D155s didn't have ventilators on the corridor windows? As in this picture

It's actually a composite, not an all third. You can tell by the alternating windows either with or without the ventilators. The Hornby Railroad composite is too short (58'6" rather than 61'6") and the underframe belongs to an LMS carriage. The body shape itself is fairly good but the bogies are basic. The super-detail carriages are better but not perfect. Hornby got the shape wrong on the lower panels (the tumblehome or turnunder is not pronounced enough so the carriage looks slab-sided) and some of the beading is in the wrong place. There are also some faults on the underframe (though I can't remember what they are). The super-detail carriage would probably be your best bet unless you want to kit build. The faults are far less noticeable than on the Railroad version. HTH

Over the past few weeks I’ve ballasted the main lines and Up lay-by. I used Woodland scenics’ medium grey blend. It’s a bit courser than I’d like but it’s recycled from the old layout and in my usual penny pinching ways, I didn’t want to throw away the old ballast. I washed it and then let it all dry for a few days before laying it. Today I glued it all and most of it seems to have stuck but there are a few bits that need topping up with ballast or a bit more glue. Before laying the ballast, I painted the track dark brown. The goods yard will be ballasted using a mixture of sand (to represent ash/soil) and black and grey ballast. Jamie

If JW has been banished to Upperby, I’ll gladly take the spot at Edinburgh with all the lovely Eastern motive power...

Ah yes I hadn't seen that. The fairing over the water space does indeed look removable but the one over the front of the bunker appears to be moulded integrally, so one would still need to cut it back themselves.

I’ve done a few little projects this last week. I got round to fitting 4489 with full length drain cocks and my other A4s will hopefully soon have them as well. I need to paint the handrails silver at some point. I was looking at my J11 and decided it was about time I renumbered and weathered it. I started doing research but I hadn’t appreciated how many variations there were. It quickly became apparent that I would have to do more than renumber the engine. My options were change the chimney, dome or safety valves, move the lubricator or add a snifting valve. I settled on 5208 which required new safety valves, snifting valve and the lubricator moving. Luckily the parts are all separately fitted so I could pull them out. I had a few spare Ross pop valves so I used these and made a base for them out of plasticard. The snifting valve is two pieces of plastic tube with some filler in the end. I also replaced the tender coupling and the coal load. Then some filth was applied based on a picture on the RCTS website. Jamie