mikeandnel

Thanks to all for the kind words. I actually ended up staying up rather later last night, as I was being productive and really in the mood for modelling (which is usually a good sign that the dog is starting to retreat). I have had one of the newer Hornby GWR horseboxes for a while, but never really did anything with it. It's been to two swapmeets in the hope of being sold, but to no avail. So, having seen Nile's modifications of the Lima GWR horsebox, I thought I'd have a bit more of a "hack and slash" attempt.

 

Before I started: one Hornby horsebox - missing a few corner footsteps (I still have two - these will go to the end with the footsteps up to roof level) and a broken buffer. However, the chassis has a lot of very nicely modelled brake gear, of which I'd like to keep as much as possible. The poor, unsuspecting model:

 

IMG_20181221_225818798.jpg

 

It's very long - much too large for a horsebox running around in the 1900s. I can probably lose those cupboards at each end... A razor saw and scalpel made quick work of removing these:

 

IMG_20181221_232058685.jpg

 

The moulded doors made it much easier to get neat, straight cuts. Now, some slicing through the roof, and butting the parts together before plonking on an old Hornby wagon chassis gives this:

 

IMG_20181222_003533707.jpg

 

It feels a bit tall (although it is the same height as the Hornby short clerestory coaches used by the GSR for their mainline services), but a new chassis (to include the rather nice Hornby Mansell wheels) should take care of that, and I'll need to cut some panelling/beading for the groom's compartment (I love the laser cutter!) but it's already looking a lot more suitable. I'd be interested to hear any thoughts.

 

Hello Linney

Like many others I have used the Hull & Barnsley van in a number of variants, including the H & B one itself.

However I note all the Terry Pratchett books behind the rolling stock.

Like you, I have all his books and read them from book 1 to book 23, and then read them over again. I am on my fourth read round at the moment (on Jingo)

Michael

Hello Linny

I like the look of your horsebox. What date have you modelled?

Incidentally, what parts seemed to be rather fragile?

Apart from that, I hope that you have a good Christmas and New Year

All the best

Michael

Well ######.......

 

I did have an update ready for you all. The L has progressed nicely.

 

but...... well...... life.......

 

My daughter was hit by a car after school today, she is going to be OK, but I don't feel much like posting about or doing any modelling at the moment.

 

I'll be back soon

 

Gary

Hello Gary,

That is dreadful news. Please accept our very best wishes for your daughter and we hope that she will fully recover from the experience

And look after yourself as well

'Courage, mon brave'

Best wishes

Michael

Hi Michael,

 

Having played around with the van kit some more, it does seem that it could be built with the standard underframe parts after all, as the wheels don't pass through the baseplate at all. As such, if you want one of the original base plates (as per the instructions), just let me know and I can stick one in the post to you - I think it would allow for a stlightly stronger chassis build.

 

The Open D will use a very similar chassis design, so should accept EM wheels with no trouble at all.

 

(Apologies for the terrible photo!)

 

IMG_20180905_194212958.jpg

Linny 

Thanks for the info.

The chassis has gone together very well so look forward to the Open D.

Are you now doing all your kits with the 'wooden' components, because they are very superior to the early three-layer card ones of the Stroudley coaches?

And are the Stroudley coaches now all 'wood'?

Michael

Hope you enjoy them, Nick. The next kit, the Open D is already getting to the point of test-assembly of various parts, although test-assembly has shown a few bits I'm not entirely happy with (including gaps where there shouldn't be and which will need re-designing) but I'm also hoping to have it be possible to have unpainted MDF with engraved planking for the interiors. I'm also experimenting to see if it is possible to register the parts accurately enough to allow engraving on both sides (which means removing the part from the cutter and replacing it in the same position to within about 1/4mm if I want the engraving to look nice. For now, though, the wagon looks something like this:

 

IMG_20180905_164355425~2.jpg

 

While the MDF isn't perfect for representing bare wooden planks, it's not as visually jarring as, say, unpainted plastic or even plastic in a non-wood colour, and I've always struggled with making things which are not wood look like wood. Those who want to paint it to look even better would be able to, and it ought to react well to weathering powders, but it also doesn't look *too* awful as is. What do people think?

Looks good Linny.

If it of the same quality as the box van kit and has the alternative of an EM gauge chassis that would be good

Michael

Can anyone ID the maker? Are they by any chance still available?

 

Thanks

 

Mike

They look like Jidenco to me

Here are the close ups. Cheers

Ian in Blackpoolnrm 280409 185.jpgnrm 280409 186.jpgnrm 280409 187.jpgnrm 280409 188.jpgnrm 280409 189.jpg

Good morning Ian

Very many thanks for the drawings. These will be very useful

Thanks again

Michael

nrm 280409 184.jpg

This is the drawing at the NRM of Seaford as built by Craven. If of any use, I have a few close up shots also.

Cheers

Ian in Blackpool

Hello Ian

Any chance of seeing the other close-ups please

Thanks and cheers

Michael

Seaford is happening!

1532000169551-187655569.jpg

Hello SEM 34090

You can put me down for 'Seaford' when available please

Michael

Well done, Linny.  An impressive list and an impressive achievement to date.

 

I comment as follows:

 

Released to In Progress are all items that I either have acquired or will wish to acquire (save the 7mil version listed).

 

All excellent.

 

For future plans, dare I suggest a re-ordering of priorities to:

 

- 1909 LSWR Rebuilds to 2-coach branch set, as previously requested and for which plans supplied .  These will give owners of Radials, O2s and M7s something genuinely LSWR to pull.

 

- SE&CR 50' Birdcage 3-set.  This is the earliest and shortest of the 3-sets, would be dark lake, not brown, originally, and form a pendant to the Bachmann coaches.  Dare I suggest that they are a slightly less improbable set for the current RTR SE locos (H and C) to haul than the Bachmann coaches, which are really right at the end of the pre-War period?  I would buy 2 3-sets of these to make up a 6-coach train.

 

Personally, the only item on your list that I would accord equal priority to would be the LB&SCR balloon trailers for motor trains c.1905-14. That plus your Stroudleys and you've covered any pre-Grouping Terrier release pretty much.  A very attractive and sound choice.

 

Regarding the others, again, purely from my own personal perspective:

 

- Railmotor - well, potentially all or any of the SE&CR, LB&SCR and LSWR, but these will take much complex development.

 

- Generic 4-wheel coaches.  I like the idea.  For me, most of my coaches come from somewhere, and I have the home-built WN coaches pretty much covered.  But I like the idea.  For the freelancer, something like ex-NLR 4-wheelers might also be a good bet. 

 

- NBR - I suspect I'll never need/justify any, but it would be refreshing to cover such a subject.

 

- LB&SCR cravens. Good for grounded bodies even for later layouts, but I would be interested in then if I could replicate the pre-Stroudley Hayling set.

I am sure that Edwardian meant to put Craven coaches in as number one, Perhaps he was having a 'senior moment'

Michael

And back off-topic, it looks like I'll be in the south of England (specifically West Sussex, Horsham area) on the weekend of 26th/27th of this month. Is anyone down that part of the world who'd fancy a pub meet or similar for an evening? I don't drive, so would be limited to places within walking distance of a mainline station (accessible from Horsham, ideally!) but it would be lovely to put some faces to screen names!

 

I might even manage to find my way to Gaugemaster in Ford...

Hello Linny

If you can manage the west  side of Horsham, Somewhere like Pulborough, then I could join you on the evening of May 26th

Yikes!

 

From the Thomas the Preying Mantis set....

 

 

Meanwhile

 

The top railmotor just cries out for a Thomas face.....

Good afternoon gentlemen

All interesting comments but can we please get back to the core subject which is discussing with Linny whether it is feasible for him to try and laser cut the majority of parts for  the LBSCR Railmotor 

From what I can see of the photo, the majority is similar to cutting a bogie coach and we would be left with having to source a smokebox and vertical chimney and a front power bogie.

What do you think Linny?

I reckon that most of the loco would be laser-cut on account of its box-like shape. We could, perhaps, offer the horizontally-boilered one too? That might be better with a 3D printed loco part complementing the laser-cut coach part.

 

The latter idea would work well for the likes of the LBSCR railmotors, or the L&Y, GNR, TVR, NSR, etc. The NSR and LBSCR would share the same loco portion.

I am up for that! Would expect a lot of others would be as well

Michael

Oooh, just noticed a *very* interesting drawing of a London & South Western Railway and London, Brighton & South Coast Railway Joint Co Railcar which is a small vertical-boilered railmotor. Now that's a pretty little thing!

Now that would get a lot of us excited if a laser cut kit could be created

Michael

Michael,

 

I am rather enjoying this! There's something supremely satisfying about putting a sheet of card into the laser and watching the design appear out of thin air, plus the satisfaction of making these models (hopefully!) more approachable.

 

I have some drawings of Craven stock although if I were to produce Craven coaches they'd probably end up being more akin to "scratch aids" than true kits - I'm unconvinced by card's ability to make good strong footboards so might provide a bending template for some wire supports and dimensions for brass strip footboards, but this would pull the kits away from the "no soldering required" line a bit.

Sounds good to me and an ideal compromise

Michael

I had a chance to get at the (printed, published) 4mm scale drawings today, and the Stroudley 4-wheelers I've modelled (not the earlier suburban sets but the "mainline" stock) have been drawn with their buffer centres at 3'6" (±1" as that's the limit I can measure to!) above rail level. Looks like I won't have to re-draw the chassis after all.

 

I managed to find what's mainly a sketch drawing of a Billinton buffer in Carriage Stock of the LB&SCR (PJ Newbury, Oakwood Press) at 1/8 full scale (!) so in the worst case I could try to have some made up.

 

I also did another drawing last night of a D88 non-lavatory composite, bringing the 48' coaches to a total of 5. Next up will be a 54' Brake Third, to allow the makeup of several 2-coach sets. In the meantime:

 

48 foot sides.png

 

From top to bottom:

 

D49 First

D159 Brake 3rd (will be modified to produce D158 as well)

D161 Third

D90 Lavatory Composite

D88 Composite

 

This evening's job is to re-draw the 48' solebar/underframe to see if it's possible to make it go around 2nd radius curves.

Linny

Sounds as if you are enjoying developing these carriages. Any thoughts about going the other way into the Craven era?

Michael

Certainly looking very good! One small correction, they are SCOTS pines. Scotch is an amber nectar!

 

Jim

Thanks very much

Text has now been corrected following advice from Siberian Snooper

Certainly looking very good! One small correction, they are SCOTS pines. Scotch is an amber nectar!

 

Jim

Sorry for the error. and thanks for the correction

How do I edit it after later postings?

Please put it down to being a senior moment

As a teetotaller, I would not know what amber nectar you are referring to!

Michael

April 2018

Well, here we are again after a long period without postings. What with the weather, various illnesses and hospital visits with very little opportunity for modelling, some changes have been accomplished.

I must admit that the headshunt had me confused for a while, but I have now come to the conclusion that the bridge over the Bepton Road was built at a time when the weight of locomotives was much less and when the loco weights increased, then the bridge was declared to be inadequate to take their weight. Otherwise why would the headshunt be so long?

The goods yard has now had a crane installed, which incidentally took me the best part of a month to build. I did put a request for Crane information on to the LBSCR Group  and Ian MacCormac very kindly came up with a drawing of a crane which had Seaford written on it. My friend Ian reduced the drawing to scale size, printed it on to Plasticard, and very kindly cut out the two boom sides for me. With the help of Mekpak, pliers and shaking hands, I have managed to complete the crane to the drawing. It is now a fixture outside the goods shed.

Also cosmetic point levers have been added to the goods yard turnouts.

More fencing has been added alongside the Bepton Road boundary, The walkway from the LBSCR station to the LSWR station has been completed, together with the pedestrian bridge over the Bepton Road, and the view from the station yard towards Midhurst has been finished, along with a group of Scots Pines. At the time the station was built, the road to Midhurst would have been a country lane with trees either side, as all houses along the current road would have been built after the station. Gates have been added at the entrance to the station yard and the photo shows  Miss Sugden driving her dog cart into the station forecourt in order to meet her Aunt Julia who should be arriving on the next train from Petworth, There is also a new gate at the base of the ramp leading to the cattle dock in order to contain any animals that might escape from the pens.

Also, as can be seen at the end of the layout, the LSWR station  (or a photo of it) has been added. The LSWR station is taken from a black and white photograph, which my granddaughter Jessica took and completely coloured for me on her computer.

A small hut has been added to make the engine men more comfortable when not on duty, coal staithes have been added at the end of the back siding in the names of I.L.Stent and H. Farley, who were the local coal merchants, and Coal Merchants office buildings have been created and installed by Ian.

Gradient posts have been installed, together with a speed restriction indicator on the turnout connecting to the LSWR headshunt. The LSWR headshunt is in the process of being fenced off from the LBSCR lines and a gate has been installed across the connecting track.

On the station a sign has been erected pointing the way for passengers wishing to cross to the LSWR station, drains have been added at the base of the station roof downpipes, and cattle have been added to the cattle pens. The cattle are the correct size and colour to represent Sussex cattle which were smaller than other breeds at that time.

The tunnel mouth has been finished using a photograph of the  actual tunnel including the fencing across the top which has been perpetuated on West Lavington Hill. Black strips of tissue paper have been attached to the rear of the tunnel entrance to attempt to give an impression of darkness whilst allowing trains to run through in either direction by the train pushing the tissue strips aside, which fall back into place after the train passes. (At least, that is the theory!)

Locomotive stock has been increased by ‘Edward Blount’, acquired from the estate of the late Roger Steele and other locos are in the pipeline.

Here we have the first of the figures to be added to the layout. These are Victorian passengers from Andrew Stadden  which have been painted by my wife Nel. She doesn’t think they are very good but I am pleased with them. The scenario suggests that the three ladies on the left are talking about the two ladies on the right, who are either going on holiday with their luggage, or are fleeing Midhurst  because of the gossip about them.

I have been looking at my rolling stock and it seems to me that I will have to stretch my imagination in order to be able to run some of the trains in my possession. I will perhaps have to think that the 1866 station was in use for a longer than reality, that the Bognor to Midhurst Railway was actually built, and that the West Sussex Railway had running rights to Midhurst. That would then allow me to run LBSCR stock up to the Billinton era, and also my few pieces of WSR stock, The idea of seeing ‘Ringing Rock’ with one coach and a wagon  or the Ford Railcars seems quite appealing.

Anyway, I would only run those when none of you are looking!

More to follow.

A 4mm one would do nicely for the LGWR... or the SSLR (South Sussex Light Railway - Headed East from Selsey towards Aldwick and Bersted, with running powers into Bognor. Later on, circa 1902 when Bognor (LBSCR) was rebuilt the terminus was relocated. In my mind.) to go with the 0-4-2T G6ie type thingy...

You could also suggest running powers over the LBSCR line to Midhurst, and from there on to the Mid Sussex and Midhurst Junction Railway towards Petworth and Pulborough

Michael

I completely agree, I've never seen a drawing for the box tank though

I am not sure what you refer to a 'the box tank' but Number 22 is shown below.

Again a loco with a lot of caricature

Michael

Thanks for reminding me, Michael.

 

Do you have any specific requests?

Hello SEM34090s

Sorry for late reply but was in Holland

My personal liking would be for Craven 0-4-2- Saddle tank number 166 built March 1864 and 0-4-2 Saddle tank number 22  built August 1855

These would really fit in with my layout which is based in 1866

Michael

All in good time Annie! It will be a couple of months off anyway!

 

I forgot to add:

 

LNWR 0-4-2 and 0-6-0 Box Tanks, as shown in previous postings!

I am still hoping for some Craven locos

Michael

I have been watching  this thread and have seen some very useful advice and some not so helpful

Like many of you posters, I have used many Jidenco/Falcon Brass kits to obtain models which are not necessarily 'main stream'

These kits do have their ideosyncracies but on the whole , have been very useful and make up sufficiently well to satisfy me.

A case in point is the LSWR Railmotor attached. Look at the detail in the valve gear!

All this from a Jidenco kit

What else can I say?

Exactly like that, in fact. It's good to see that the design seems to be variable in a way that includes my bodge to get things more easily buildable. 

 

In the meantime, I have given up on writing instructions for this evening - I'm about half way through the instructions that should cover three of the kits, and today has been a very long day with the Trans Pride Scotland march in Edinburgh - and have had a look at some of the drawings that have been sent to me by Edwardian of this parish. Using my previous Stroudleys as a basis for panelling etc, I've managed to produce this much of the design for a D.158 48' Brake 3rd.

 

48 Foot.png

 

I still need to have a long, hard think about how to tackle the bogies, but that is a project for another day!

Hello Skinnyjinny

I would also like a copy of the artwork for the bogie brake please, if that is possible.

My preferred format is .jpg

Thanks in advance

Michael