The Fatadder

More thoughts on signalling, my logic is that everything would be signalled from Goonbarrow box, so I have added the required point rodding and signals to the templot output below. I am assuming that for the double slip you would have a hand leaver frame controlling both sides from one position, with rodding between it and the switches (but if that assumption is incorrect it will of course be easy to just have leavers directly aligned with each switch on the slip. Thinking some more I will probably shift this to the other side of the track to keep it away from the running line. The signal protecting the approach to the switch from the right would be just off scene, I guess a question would be whether the shunt signal would be mounted on the same post as the through signal pushing it off scene as well. (A situation I wouldnt be completely adverse to seeing as it would be one less working shunt signal to build!) All of which does involve shifting the layouts location slightly further up the line, I always had it located somewhere around Luxulyan (part because of it has provided a lot of the inspiration for the station, but also having Goonbarrow down line gives more interesting through traffic.) This throws me a bit of a dilemma, in that ideally I do not want to be having to lay point rodding on the existing Wheal Imogen board. Its been enough of a pain in the backside layout rodding on Brent post ballasting where I had at least laid the slabs for it in advance. It will be much worse doing it here!) Which either means shifting the location past Goonbarrow, or flipping the orientation so that Newquay is on the right of the layout not the left. I am less convinced by this given that looking at the prototype the point to enter the works at Goonbarrow was aligned to the direction of travel so that a train from Par would head straight into the works, not pass the point and propel in. I will dig out the 2mm Assoc. book later and see if it confirms what the absolute maximum length of one rod (inc compensators etc) would be to double check there is no chance this could have been controlled from Par (as the crow flies Luxulyan to Par is about 2 1/4 miles) Would welcome thoughts from those who understand the topic better than I.

I think the tracking with what was recorded delivery, is more a service for the seller than the buyer. It gives you as a seller proof that the item has reached the buyer, protecting you from unscrupulous buyers claiming that your item has not been delivered to get a refund. Of course post Covid it doesnt really help when Royal Mail have an irritating habit of just leaving parcels on doorsteps/behind bins etc even when you click the "do not leave in safe place" button... Which would still result in the parcel being marked as delivered on the tracking...

There are a couple of laser cutting companies who would be able to produce it as a kit, I have ordered the goods shed for Brent from Intentio, definitely has the quality from what Ive seen of deliveries to others (but their lead times are quite long due to a backlog) I had the signalbox for Brent cut by Railmodel.co.uk, I had it made to my design however their website does mention they do custom work.

Baseboard order has now been placed, its taken a little bit of thought as to the best way forward here. Grange and Hodder dont offer a 1200 by 500 board (just a 900 by 500, or 1200 by 400/600). With custom boards costing the price of the next size up. This means an identical board to what I used for Wheal Imogen would be costing me an extra £25 over what I paid a year ago! This got me thinking, the front 100mm or so of the layout is made up of the river along with other scenic parts, with all the track further back on the board. Which naturally leads to the thought why pay for the extra 100mm when you are only going to be cutting holes in it. Either way I still need to buy a 1200 by 600 sheet of ply to build the backscene (of which I only need about half of it), so could easily get some 3 inch deep strips cut from the rest and build an open frame section onto the front of the baseboard. I think I still have a fair amount of foam board tucked away in the garage that could be used to shape the profile..... So with that in mine an order has been placed for a 1200 by 400 board, soon to be followed by an order for a British Finescale RH B7 and double slip. The rest of the track will have to wait until Bristol where I plan on picking up the required lengths of Peco bullhead. I have also almost settled on a name, initial thoughts were focused around place names near to Luxulyan, with Rosevean, Penrose, Trethevie (the latter slightly tweaked). The idea being with the clay works being named for my youngest daughter, the station should in someway incorporate my eldest's name. I also seem to have bought yet another Bachmann 37 body, all be it one thats lacking its noses. So an upgrade to 37057 is now on the cards. I will be reusing the noses, roof pod and nameplates from my existing model. I was never happy with the paint on this respray, it was completed prior to Railtec's release of the transfers for the reflective yellow stripe. So I had masked / sprayed it, alas the masking was slightly too wide. This was hidden with a little more weathering than was really needed for the period (working from a 2000s photo). This will just leave 403 and 710 left with the old tooling, (along with the doner for the 902 conversion and a DRS loco still for the future).

I have been giving some thought to the signalling for the extension, My thinking is that the point between the branchline and the yard (feeding into the double slip) would have a shunt signal on the branch controlling the entrance and another for the exit of the yard. I will probably regret it, but for the moment at least the intention is that they will be working (unlike the plastic ones on Brent). With only two to build its not quite so daunting a task! I am assuming there would also be a need for a signal to protect the yard entrance. Now I am a little unsure as to how far back from the point this would need to be located (ideally I dont really want to be going back over the original board reworking it to include the signal). My current assumption is that it would be on the yard side of the branch fairly close to it (hopefully giving enough of a sight line from the bridge. The baseboard is getting ordered today, looking forward to getting stuck into construction soon... edit: I should have added, I am curious as how the point would be operated on the prototype, would a yard entrance point half way down the Newquay branch be operated by a hand leaver on site, a point motor or rodding from Par/St Blazey? I think the latter is too far away for the max rodding lengths, and an electric point motor seems OTT for a rarely used yard entrance point. So I am assuming it would just be a hand leaver alongside the point. Thinking some more I assume this would actually be a small leaver frame with the leavers for the point and the double slip. If this is the case with a hand operated point, a further aside, how would the interlocking work between the signals and point? Or am I over complicating things and the real thing wouldnt have any signals

Last night I finally made a start on my second Warren Shepard W12 cattle van kit. slowly coming together, soldering on a couple of parts before embossing another bunch of rivets. With all the RTR releases of GW wagons recently a decent cattle van is a clear omission, (likewise a milk tank), I wonder if it will be in Rapido’s plans soon…

Forgot to add this photo earlier from last night, I printed the 6 wheel open sided siphon quite a while ago now, but have never quite managed to get it into service. I still havent got round to adding the brake gear, but I have at least managed to add a false floor. I failed to allow for the thickness of the false floor at the design stange (so really it needs a revision to the cad and another print made, on which I will try to include more of the brake gear as part of the print). So for the moment the floor is black electrical tape stuck to the underside of the model. This at least stops you seeing the track through the sides! For the moment it will now move out to the loco and be positioned in the centre of a formation. Ive long taken the view that when looking at a passing train you notice the loco, the first coach and the end of the train so these need to be the best detailed.

I was trying to work that out, as to whether the labourers would have moved with the farm, or stayed in South Devon and moved to the new owners. it does say "the passengers who accompanied the train were all impressed with the smooth way in which the train was driven", whether that is people travelling in the grooms compartment on a beetle / horsebox or a dedicated coach is a good question

It doesnt specify, but I am assuming there would be equipment being transported, and for the sake of interest I will add in Beetle for the bull as well. From the Calne photo there were also vans containing dry stores and a horsebox, so it should make for quite an interesting set. With 6 cows per van I think I am going to need to build 2 more kits to get the full set.

Thanks to @Neal Ball for sharing that The Great Western Society have uploaded a digital copy of the Great Western's in house magazine (https://didcotrailwaycentre.cook.websds.net/authenticated/Browse.aspx?BrowseID=87&tableName=ta_journals) I find the Locomotive Changes page particularly interesting, for example in the December 47 issue it confirms the final 8fs to be returned to the LMS were 8467 and 8477 (which may come in handy in the future). I am assuming that this data is a month in arrears (although I thought 6971 entered traffic in Oct 47 and its listed in this issue, so maybe its two months in arrears). Also of interest in this issue is a letter from Commander W B Pirie RN D.S.O. D.L. formerly of Kingsbridge who writes to the company to pass on his satisfaction as to how well the GWR handled the movement of his farm from Kingsbridge to Alton. Moving 57 head of cattle departing at 17:30 and arriving in Alton by 10:30 the following morning. There are photos of a similar farm movement train shown in the Wild Swan book on the Calne branch that I had already been debating modelling, now I think it has to be done! The September 47 issue has a good photo of the end of a Hawksworth coach 822 next to a very interesting looking Dean van with interesting grills on the side. The March 47 issue includes a full listing of all loco allocations, which along with the monthly changes in theory allows for a fairly precise month by month allocation over the year. Photos naturally are not the highest quality, but there are some interesting shots mixed in. Ove the next few evenings I plan on going back through the 1940s to see what else of interest is contained within edit: Another interesting spot which I think will make it onto my to do list if I can find a bit more information. Another note of interest, I always thought the 'new' fish vans were a BR introduction, but once again that appears to have been an urban myth. I recall an etched kit being released fairly recently which I didnt buy thinking it was a BR wagon, now I am thinking I need to add one to the build list.

I hadn’t seen that was available, look forward to a read through 1947 this evening.

Last night was spent soldering up another batch of Dinghams, which have now been fitted to the Traffic Services Polybulk, 59003 and some private owner wagons for Brent. For both the polybulk and the 59 the shaft for the coupling had to be filed down by just over 50% to get it to fit in the model's hole. For the plain hook end on the 59 I have modified the Dapol screwlink, the pin was carefully chopped off the Dapol hook allowing the actual coupling to be removed. After soldering a pin into the Dingham hook, the Dapol coupling was fitted before being secured in position with a couple of dots of solder. This is the second loco on which I have fitted this hybrid screwlink / dingham, I think its a good improvement over the plain hook (and is something I will be looking at retrofitting to the existing fleet.) (As mentioned previously my Dinghams dont work in the traditional way, so I havent used the latch on the non loop couplings.

They are rather addictive, other the scribing on the planks the insides of mine just got a coal/brown mix spread over given as you say they will need an interior to hide the lack of detail. Not even sure why I bothered adding the planks to be honest. Presumably you've built the underframes first to avoid damage to the printed sides while painting?

Maybe because they are on temporary 3 hole disk wheels because I don’t have any spoked ones to fit….

Over my lunch brake today I have finished off the paint work on the 4 PO wagons. Once again I started attempting to peel off the carrier film with varying degrees of success. Where it pulled off part of the transfer it was either reapplied, or touched in with white paint. Next was more distressing with wet and dry, followed by a further level of distress with body coloured paint.) The Vallejo paint was drying incredibly quickly, allowing rapid progress. Next up the replacement planks were added (using a random mix of brown, grey and black), before picking out a few extra details for the white end door / floor hatch markings. The final step to blend it all together was a wash of black/brown (using the good old paint on / wipe off technique). There are still a couple of remaining jobs (the Empire wagon needs a false floor adding and a full load, Thewy needs a brake leaver on one side and springs/axle boxes adding. All 4 still need to be fitted with couplings.

A few extra details added, The Thewy wagon has now been fitted with its weight, and a location (both from the HMRS GWR wagons sheet. I need to sort out a set of axle boxes / springs to finish it off. The Gloucester 7 plank has gained a livery of a Cardiff based coal merchant L B Riley. The larger side is less pleasing with the simplified lettering. My hope is once it’s distressed, has replacement planks etc it will look better, though I’m tempted to paint on the remains of some shading after distressing the letters. I’m unsure if I will keep the Cardiff lettering, I think it’s a bit too small. So I may just add replacement planks where the lettering would be… of course both wagons are a work of fiction, using a cut up sheet intended for a Chatterley Whitfield wagon that was too big to use on the 7 plank. edit, need to fix the missing brake lever and fit spokes wheels as well!

More PO wagon modelling last night, first up sorting the distressing of the other side of the Empire wagon. Which is now ready for the replacement planks etc next up another slaters build for a Gloucester 7 plank (a bargain for a whole £1 price at Ally Pally). the Cambrian round top was painted (EWS red!) at the same time, while the Slaters kit was painted light grey. then before work this morning the Cambrian wagon gained some lettering for a made up colliery. The plan had been to do the grey wagon in Chatterley Whitfield based on a photo on google, however the lettering is too wide to fit without going onto the black end plates. So I’m probably going to look at what I can make up with the remaining letters. finally the Parkend wagon has gained a number, but will now need a level of distressing to 1940s condition

Having now done the second side of the PO wagon, I can completely recall why I never use Modelmasters transfers for anything else! Fortunately in 1947 PO wagons looked a mess so I have set to work distressing the transfer. After a failed attempt to peel off the carrier film (something I dont think ive ever succeeded at) I carefully cut around the letters and removed the excess film that way. This was followed by distressing the logos with wet & dry to replicate the bits where the paint has completely worn out. A couple of areas the transfer lifted completely, so this was replicated along the whole plank (which will get repainted as a replacement in the next step.) Finally black paint was over painted both to tone down the bright white, and add more distressed areas. With that done to a satisfactory standard, I tried fitting the transfers to the other side (this time applying onto microsol rather than applying microsol on top. Transfer went on as badly as before, they are just too thick with so much excess carrier film. Tomorrow once dry I will replicate the distressing. For the smaller transfers for weights / numbers etc I cut around the transfer to remove the excess film. I think next time I will take this a step further and cut around each letter before applying. Of course this would have been a lot easier on the Empire wagon (as the next one has about 4 times as a many letters!) I am debating whether I use the other sheet with the lettering cut up to make a couple of fictional colliery owners in a heavily distressed state to finish off the other two kit builds (rather than the Bachmann wagon I had originally intended). While I am a little disappointed with the transfers not doing quite what I had hoped, I am happy with the end result. For a pound you cant really complain too much.

I have used the Gaugemaster ones for one point each on Brent and Wheal Imogen (due to a failed tortoise switch on the former and a hand operated point on the latter). No issues in either case with Co Co diesel sounds, not tried anything smaller. While I will continue using the built in switches where possible to save money, I am more than happy to wire these in as replacements when I get a failed switch, its a lot quicker than wiring in the other tortoise switch (assuming it also still works)

For my prints I include a recess to accept a commercially available etched w iron. Makes life a lot easier (and tbh I find it looks better as well)

Obviously exhibitors are all trustworthy as we could walk straight in. of course getting through the bag search upon re entry to my house without my wife noticing I was returning with more boxes than I left with was a trickier task…

I was pretty pleased, I think I went back 3 times over the day and each time added to the pile! The Parkend wagon is now fully painted, ready for weathering. The remaining un painted areas were painted with a weathered black mix. The interior was then given a dusting of coal dust while the paint was still wet. This was followed by some work on the Cambrian 7 plank, which I am finishing with the Empire transfers from Model Masters. Not overly impressed with the quality of these, the thick carrier film doesn’t help with getting the transfer to sit over the wagons detail. The film also overlaps the top edge of the wagon by over a mm. ive never had much luck with Modelmasters transfer film removal but this one is desperate for it (else I will cut away the excess around the letters by hand.) Will have a look at the POW sides list for the Cambrian round top 5 plan

Pent yesterday demonstrating D&E modelling at Ally Pally with DEMU, i didn’t really get a chance to see much of the show, but did at least manage a little bit of shopping. I picked up the remaining point rodding (4roller) parts from ModelU so there is nothing stopping me from completing the rodding on Brent. I also had a couple of good rummages through the £1 and the skits box on Elis Clark’s stand. A couple of springside bufferstops (one of which will be used on the Kingsbridge scenic fiddleyard along with a Dart castings loading gauge. A set of blacksmith door window grills, smiths wagon sheets, GWR 6 wheel bogies and a set of Comet coach ends (none of which I have plans for, though I think I have a set of Sunshine Stock sides for a composite kicking around somewhere. A couple of sheets of Modelmasters PO wagon transfers (to relivery a Bachmann collectors club wagon and Cambrian kit). and finally 3 kits (Coopercraft mink and AEC monarch) along with a couple of Slaters Gloucester 6 plank PO wagons (one of which was preprinted in Parkend livery.) this morning I’ve put together the Parkend wagon which is now awaiting the remaining bits painting black. The second wagon will follow shortly but I need to find some transfers for it (along with the previously built Cambrian 5 plank wagon with curved ends). Planning to get the previously built Cambrian wagon painted later so I can add the Empire transfers

The amount of times I straightened it up on the stand yesterday. Definitely needs to be replaced. Will get it sorted once the sound kit arrives like the idea off the toothbrush, I’ve used the wife’s cat’s (dropped) whiskers before to similar effect

On the plus side that leaves less to be offended by….. I didn’t make it over to Accurascale, but did get to Rapido given they were pretty close to my stand. The BSet is looking really good! Getting half tempted to get one of the new wagons as well, just as a visual point of reference for doing some brake gear upgrades…